Evening star., 1939-08-06

viding for the 18th or "odd" trick,
which became. as now, the crux, Of
the game and sometimes hard to
make, as we have frequently ex-
perienced in contract.
Cheating, however, continued.
One of the favorite methods came
to be known as piping" when it
was discovered. An onlooker (now
known as kibitZer) would come
in where game was in progress,
smoking his pipe. BY sitting be-
hind one player and observing his
cards he would communicate to
that players partner the character
of his holdings by the manner in
which he handled his pipe, moving
1t from one side of his mouth to
the other, by placing one, two or
three fingers on the stem, or by
removing from his mouth alto
gether. The information he con-
veyed to the partner in this man
ner was of great importance in the
play.
Then there was what was known
as COAlCC-llOuollS. 1llC lIOuClA II
form is frequently called ''conversa-
tional bridge" although it does not
involve cheating. 1t is chiefly in
vogue in afternoon games of con-
tract played by women, who keep
up a stream of talk about Mrs.
Browns new gown and the progress
of little Bobbie in recovering from
his cold, while the tricks are being
won and lost In old-time coffee
housing" the use of commonplace
expressions and words conveyed to
partners meaning which told them
of ones holdings in different de-
nominations and suits. When they
were decoded others were invented
to take their place.
To minimize this evil as much as
possible, Hoyle originated the word
whist which was meant to imply
silence when the hands were being
played
Whist soon became the outstand-
ing game, not only in the coffee
houses, but among the members OF
the court and the nobility. 1t was
Lord Falkstone who, because of
his aristocratic connections, was able
to introduce it into polite society,
where the play proved to be very
popular, even among the members
of the court itself. While Lord
Falkstone's name does not appear
to have been associated with any
other development of the game, it
was he who made its success pos
sible by reason of the prominent
persons he induced to play it. Hoyle
was the master player and the
genius behind the formation of the
rules and the plan of play. Little
else is known concerning him. What
his achievements at the bar were,
if any. is not disclosed by the rec
ords, but he did give to the world its
most fascinating and interesting
pastime in the game of cards, and
it is upon this that his reputation
rests.
So enthusiastic was the recep-
ton which whist received that in
structors were in demand and there
developed a group of teachers in
London 1t is recorded in one news
paper that the we'll -to-do employed
whist masters to instruct their fami-
lies the same as they employed
fencing and dancing masters.
Early in the development of
Hoyle's whist the game was sub
jected to satire. A play was placed
on the boards in London called the
"Humours of Whist" which sought
to redicule it, but it only served
to draw attention to the game and
to increase it's popularity. In re-
sponse to the demand Hoyle was
induced to write a book on whist
which appeared in 1742 1t ran
through many editions and. although
there have been many other pub
lications under his name, his rules
and methods of playing were pre-
served practically in the form in
which he advanced them Within
few years the British public had
abandoned its other card games
and was playing whist. It's popu-
larity spread to the Continent and
Benjamin Franklin. writing to his
wife from Paris. told her that the
other English games were quite