Class. Book. G1//20/ Copyright }l°.. COPYRIGHT DEPOSn; 1 / The American: ook-of'SpoRT BY / D.C.tieard New York U Charles Scrlbners Sons, r 1896 Copyright, i8g6, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS PREFACE Although the present book is addressed to the same class of readers, it is neither a substitute for nor a supple- ment to " The American Boy's Handy Book," from which it will be found to differ in scope and character. " The American Boy's Book of Sport " is not intended as an enc3^clopasdia of games. The purpose of the book is to deal only with subjects whose novelty or practical charac- ter meets the especial need of the up-to-date American boy who demands explicit and intelligent explanations of what is of use to him. The many years spent as a member of the Board of Education in Flushing, Long Island, and as a teacher of art in New York, have impressed upon the author the impor- tance of early training for children in the use of their hands. It is with the purpose of stimulating this sort of schooling that the author appeals to parents and boys to encourage the home production of kites, boats, and sleds, etc. ; for the ingenuity and self-reliance thus developed are valuable qualities in a boy or man. Moreover, a lack of the proper sort of play unfits a boy for the battle of life, and there is scarce!}^ room to doubt vi Preface that the most successful men of to-day in business, states- manship, art, and science are those willing to undergo and capable of enduring the most severe and continued appli- cation ; and as this power is dependent upon a robust phy- sique and a strong, well-balanced mind, there is no doubt that well-directed boyish sport is the best school for the at- tainment of such results. While this work represents many curb-stone interviews with boys, and years of observation and study of the sub- jects that have never lost for the writer the interest they held for him in his boyhood, it also includes the results of many carefully conducted personal interviews with experts in the various sports described, and investigations of ob- scure legends, written and unwritten, connected with games whose origin is older than history itself. Golf and foot-ball are at the present time engrossing so much of the attention of our American boys that their claims have been found too important to be disregarded, while in the necessary exclusion of material in making a volume of suitable and convenient size, base-ball, tennis, and cricket, possessing an extended literature of their own, have not been described. In many cases subjects heretofore thought worthy of little or no attention on the part of authors who write for boys, are here treated of at length. It would not be diffi- cult, for instance, to fill a library with good books on fishing ; 3'et in the numerous boys' books consulted there appeared to be nothing modern, American, and practical, Preface vii or that answered the numerous inquiries the author has received from his juvenile friends on the subject of still fishing ; and this led him to believe that a popular demand for enlightenment on this matter necessitated a chapter on bait. The novel and interesting developments in kite-making and kite-flying that have taken place in the last few years merit, and have obtained, extended description. The great popularity of " The American Boy's Handy Book," and the favor with which its successive editions have been received, encourage its author to hope that " The American Boy's Book of Sport " will be welcomed by all the readers of the first book and will make many new friends. Flushing, Long Island, N. Y., October 15, 1896. CONTENTS SPRING. CHAPTER I. PAGE Marbles 3 Marble Time — History of the Game — Sakya-Muni and Humphrey Potter — How Marbles are Made — Marble Names, Marble Terms, and Ex- pressions — Games from Bull Ring to Long Ring. CHAPTER II. " Fat " AND Other Famous Games of Marbles ig The Uncertainties of " Fat," Sometimes Called " Yank " or " Yankey " — Stand-up Marbles — Follerings — Knucks, the Long Ring, and Patter- son — The Scientific Bull Ring — Duck in a Hole. CHAPTER III. Top Time 37 Whip Tops — Home-made Tops — Peg Tops — Plug in the Ring — Chip Stone — Racing Tops. CHAPTER IV. Latest Things in Kites 46 For Practical Uses — Steering Kites — Life Savers — Men Lifters and Other Novel Forms — Kites as Motive Power — The Malay Variety. X Contents CHAPTER V. PAGE Malay and Other Tailless Kites 67 Some Famous Experiments — How the Malays and Other Oriental Kites are Made — Kites in Tandem — Cannibal and Chinese Butterfly Kites. CHAPTER VI. Aerial Fish and Dragons 90 Paper Dragons or Fish for Kite-strings — A Live Man Kite. CHAPTER VII. Hoops and Wheels 95 The Old and the New Fangled Hoops — How to Trundle a Wheel — Sport with Tin-Can Covers. CHAPTER VIII. How TO Make the Sucker 99' Leather Suckers and Live .Suckers — Turtle-Fishing with Suckers. CHAPTER IX. Up in the Air on Stilts 102 How to Make all Kinds — Stilt-Walking Shepherds — Hand or Arm-Stilts are Best for Beginners — Queer Stilts Used in Various Countries. CHAPTER X. Bait. Live and Dead 115 Salt-Water Worms that Live on Land — Angle-Worms, Hellgramites, Minnows, Crawfish, Grasshoppers, Crickets, Frogs, and " Lampers " — How to Catch and How to Keep Them. CHAPTER XI. Common-Sense Precautions in Fishing 145 Why and How Fish are Easily Frightened — The Lessons of Nature and of Experience. Lo7ttents xi SUMMER. CHAPTER XII. PAGE Aquatic Sports , 151 Rowing Clothes — How to Make a Bathing-suit — How to Avoid Sun- burn — Points about Canoeing. CHAPTER XIII. The Land-Lubber's Chapter, 156 Common Nautical Terms and Expressions Defined — How to Sail a Boat — Boat Rigs. CHAPTER XIV. Rigs of All Kinds for Small Boats 176 How to Distinguish between a Ship, Bark, Brig, and Schooner — Merits and Defects of Cat-Boats — Advantages of the Sloop — Rigs for Canoes — Buckeyes and Sharpies. CHAPTER XV. A " Rough and Ready " Boat -. 187 Just What an Ingenious Boy Must Do to Build It — Detailed In- structions as to How to Make the Boat and How to Rig It. CHAPTER XVL Raft that Will Sail 197 And a Home-Made Catamaran — The Raft is Just the Thing for Camp Life — Pleasurable Occupation for a Camping Party Where -Wood is Plentiful — You Will Need Axes and Hatchets and a Few Other Civilized Implements. xii Contents CHAPTER XVII. PAGE Single Shells and Umbrella Canoes 213 How Old Shells can be Turned into Boj-s' Boats — The Cause of Upsets — Landing from and Embarking in a Shell — What an Umbrella Canoe is and How It is Made. CHAPTER XVIII. Hints for Collectors 222 How to Capture and Preserve Moths and Butterflies — A New Cabinet. CHAPTER XIX. Honey-Bee Messengers 234 How to Send a Cipher Message by the Bee Line — The Key — Bee Stings and How to Avoid Them. CHAPTER XX. A " Zoo." 239 For the Housetop or the Backyard — How to Build a Coop for Animals on the Roof or in the Yard — The Way to Provide Homes for Various Kinds of Pets. CHAPTER XXI. Choosing Up and " It. " 245 "Which Hand is It in?" — " Pick'er Up, Wipe'er Off, and Stone- Holder" — "Last One Over" — Short Straw — Handy, Dandy, Riderly Ro — " Whole Fist or Four Fingers " — " Odd or Even ? " — " Wet or Dr)' ? " CHAPTER XXIT. Counting Out Rhymes 252 How the Game is Played — \'arious Rhymes — An American Version of an Ancient Rhyme — Causes sf Variations — Rhymes of Different Nationalities. Contents xiii CHAPTER XXIII. PAGE In the Water 264 How to Swim — A Wooden "Swimming Master" — Suspension Bridge — Chump's Raft, and Tub Races. CHAPTER XXIV. Games of Tag 279 Origin of this Sport — King's X — Last Tag — Iron Tag — Cross Tag — Old Bloody Tom — Black Man — Prisoner's Base and Other Variations. CHAPTER XXV. I Spy 304 With Instructions also How to Play Hunkety and Kick the Wicket. CHAPTER XXVI. Leap-Frog 310 Teaching the Game to the Esquimaux — Foot-an'-Half — With P'irst Back and a Leader — A Game Requiring Skill — Spanish Fly — The Danger of Quarrelling — Dick's Hat-band. CHAPTER XXVII. Various Sports for Hot Days 320 "Jack's Alive!" — Spirit Tortoise and Dead Turtles — Jack and the Candles — Bowlder On, or Duck on a Rock — Nine and Ten Pins — Skittles, Ancient and Modern. CHAPTER XXVIII. Tip-Cat 332 How the Cat is Made — English-Cat — Country-Cat — American-Cat — A Game Requiring Skill and Quickness. xiv Contents CHAPTER XXIX. PAGE Games of Ball 336 How Town-Ball is Played — One or Two Old-Cat — House-Ball — Hand Up — Bailie Callie — Crackabout — Over the Barn — Stool-Ball — Corner- Ball— Black Baby— Hat-Ball. CHAPTER XXX. MuMBLY Peg, Hop-Scotch, and Jack Stones 350 The Motions of Stick-Knife — Universality of the Game of Hop-Scotch — As Played in Different Countries — Different Games with Jack Stones. CHAPTER XXXI. Practical Hints for Bicyclists 365 Regarding Baggage and how to Carry It — A Photographer's Outfit on a Wheel — A Collector's Box — How to Deal with Punctures — An Ex- temporized Handle Bar — A Rope Tire — A Cleaning Rack, and a Bicycle Stand. AUTUMN. CHAPTER XXXII. Points on Camping Out. . ^ 377 How to Make a Fire in the Woods on a Rainy Day — To Get a Light Without Matches — The Diamond Hitch, and a Home-made Cinch. CHAPTER XXXIII. The Boys' Baby Ballista 391 How to Build this'Warlike Engine, and the Fun that can be had With It — Blow-guns and Their Use — Blow-gun Parachutes — The Lariat, How to Make and Throw It. Contents xv CHAPTER XXXIV. PAGE Tally-Ho " AND Other Cries 407 The Origin of "Hello" and "Tally-ho" — Indian War-whoops and College Yells — Boys' Cries. CHAPTER XXXV. Indian Games Adapted for Boys 419 Squaw, Saddle-bags, or Sky Shinny — The Way the Game is Played— An Exhilarating Sport — Mandan Ring — A Fine Game for Autumn or Winter. CHAPTER XXXVI. On the Foot-Ball Field. The Antiquity of the Game — The General Principles of the Game as It is Played by the College Teams at Present. CHAPTER XXXVII. Golf, Hockey, and Shinny ^2 How to Lay Out Golf Links and Play the Game— Explanation of the Terms Used in the Game— How Hockey and Shinny are Played. WINTER. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Turtle Hunting .., 455 Methods of Capturing "Snappers" and Terrapin Described— The Im- plements Necessary and Where to Search. xvi Contents CHAPTER XXXIX. PAGE On the Ice 460 Plain and Fancy Skating — Begin to Learn Young — Cutting a Circle — The Spread Eagle — The Bull Frog — The Grapevine Garland — The Danger of " Follow the Leader." CHAPTER XL. Stunning Musk-Rats and Fish 470 Sport for Boys on Skates when the Ice is Thin and Clear — How Cat- fish and " Suckers" are Stunned and Captured. CHAPTER XLI. Snow-Ball Battle and Snow Tag 475 The Rules of Snow-ball Battle — How Rome and Carthage is Played in Cuba — The Ingenious Game of Snow Tag. CHAPTER XLII. The " Get-There " and Double-Runners 47S Instructions as to How to Build these Famous Sleds— A Safety Double- Runner. 0jjrm3 The American Boy's Book of Sport CHAPTER I MARBLES Marble Time — History of the Game — Sakya-Muni and Humphrey Pot- ter — How Marbles are Made — Marble Names, Marble Terms, and Expressions — Games from Bull Ring to Long Ring. Marble Time. In the early spring time, while the white frost still jew- elled the grass in the mornings and the ground was alter- nately frozen at night and thawed by the morning sun, mar- ble time used to begin, and on Long Island the custom of playing marbles as soon as old winter has taken off his coat of snow is still in vogue. How my knuckles used to smart where the cold wind had chapped them and "knuckling down" had ground the mud into the raw places. But, pshaw ! What did I care for raw knuckles, as with a pocketful of assorted varieties of marbles I watched eagerly for a playmate, and as soon as one appeared, shouted, " First for keeps ! " In those days I thought that gambling consisted only in playing games for money. Four hundred years before the first incidents occurred that are written of in the New Testament, old Sakya-Muni 4 Spring was dead and buried, but, like John Brown, his spirit keeps marching on. Sakya-Muni was a great man, but I doubt if any of my young readers would like him. Mr. Muni founded a great religion, but he was narrow-minded. Boys in those days were just like the boys of this day — they were fond of fuii, fond of games, and they made little windmills, and they enjoyed seeing the wheels buzz in the breeze. Old Sakya-Muni thought this sinful and silly. He for- got that he was ever a bo}- himself, so he forbade windmills as "detrimental to progress in virtue." Sakya-Muni, or Gautama Buddha, was an ancient Puritan ; he was down on chess or checkers, hop-scotch he abhorred, jack-straws to him were the invention of the evil one, ball was a game of perdition, drawing pictures, blowing horns, racing, archery, and marbles, were equally bad and forbidden sins. There are man}^ estimable, narrow-minded, half-devel- oped people of to-day who think just as Buddha did so long ago, but fortunately for the j^oung people no one now takes them seriously. Sak3^a-Muni had no intention or desire to be of assistance to the author of this book. No doubt if the old pagan were alive he would forbid its publication, but nevertheless he is introduced to the reader because his denunciations of these games prove that the youngsters of his day found entertainment in the same games that occupy the leisure of the school-boys at the close of the nineteenth century. Not many years ago there was a bo}^ named Humphrey Potter, who, sad to relate, in spite of Mr. Muni's harangue against games, would rather play marbles than work; but he was a poor boy, and he would rather work than see his parents deprived of the comforts that his little earnings Marbles could procure. Humphrey was only a boy ; he did not know anything. Not one of the great men who had in- vented the awkward, puffing old steam-engines that were used in those days would have condescended to consult Hump in regard to his invention. The poor little chap had to sit all day on a stick of wood for a stool, and, with one hand on the steam-cock and the other on the water-cock, alternately turn on steam and water. When he turned on the steam this vapor rushed into the cylinder and forced a heavy piston up ; when he turned on the water, that fluid rushed in, cooled off or con- densed the steam and down came the piston. So that with- out a boy at the steam and water cocks this great invention of full-grown men would not work. But Hump had a better head than these men, and the lad wanted to play marbles. So down went his hand into that junk-shop which every boy has, but which he calls his pocket, and out came a piece of string — most likely it was a top-string — and Hump harnessed up the piston to the valves. It was as simple as falling off a log. The piston opened and shut the valves itself, and Humphrey played marbles and drew his pay at the same time. Simple as falling off a log, but like many things it was too simple for a man to think of, and yet simple as it was Humphrey Potter's invention lifted the steam-engine from the plane of a clumsy machine chiefly used for pumping purposes to the higher field where its uses are so manifold as scarcely to be numbered, and Humphrey was only a boy and an inveterate marble-player at that. Boys, when you hear the thunder of the railroad train, the hum of the factory wheels, or the whistle of the big steam-boats, rattle the marbles in your pockets, and say, Spriii " Well, if it were not for one of us, where would all your wonderful inventions be, 3-ou great, big, bald-headed, bearded boys that build your cities without leaving us room for a Bull Ring?" Terms Used in the Game. Before going any farther, I might as well give the mean- ings of the principal terms used in marbles — the phrases which mean so much to boys and so little to those who are unfamiliar with them. The Taw or Shooter, is the marble used for shooting. The Taw Line or Tie Line, or Scratch, as it is often called, is the line drawn for a starting-point in games like the Long Ring. Ducks are the marbles to be shot at. Dubs* means that you take all the marbles knocked out of the ring by one shot. Fen Dubsf means that you must put back all but one marble. Lofting means shooting through the air. When you loft you knuckle down and your taw goes through the air and does not strike the ground until it hits the duck aimed at, or a spot near it. Knuckling down means what the name implies, resting the knuckles on the ground during the act of shooting. Hunching means shoving your hand over the mark as you shoot. Hunching is unfair, and if a good shot is made and the player making it is caught in the act of hunching he should be made to shoot over again and shoot fair. Histing is holding the hand some distance above the ground. Histing is not allowable in the Bull Ring or in Meg-on-a-String. * An abbreviation of doubles. t An abbreviation of defend doubles. Marbles 7 Roundsters means taking a new position on one side or the other of some obstruction. This is not fair in Bull Ring. Sidings means to move your taw from one side to the other in a straight line when about to shoot, and is not allowable in Bull Ring. Burying is the term applied to the act of placing your taw in a good spot and then forcing it into the ground with the heel of your shoe. Burying is sometimes allowed in all games of marbles, but only by unskilled players ; with the others " Fen buryings " is the unwritten rule of the game. Laying in is similar to burying, with the exception that your taw is left on top of the ground. This is also a "baby" game and not often resorted to. " Laying in " also means placing the marbles in the ring. Clearances means removing stones, sticks, or other ob- jects between your taw and the ducks. Sneaking is the act of shooting for a position. Babying is shooting with little force, so as not to knock the ducks far or to cause your taw to fly far. Babying is not of much use in large rings, but is often resorted to in small rings and in such games as Follerings. There is no rule that can make you stop babying, so the other players always try ridicule. This never succeeds to any extent, though it eases the minds of the unsuccessful players when another boy is " skinning " the ring by babying. Playing for Keeps is a game in which all the ducks won are kept. Playing for Fair is an Eastern term with the same meaning, and for Fun means of course that all the marbles are returned to their original owners when the game is over. 8 Spring The Right Spirit. It is not necessary to gamble with marbles, as many sup- pose, and in fact there is little doubt that the game was first played "for keeps" centuries ago when pebbles were used for marbles and the pebbles won were only valued as tro- phies or counters. In reality a marble won is a point won in the game, and it is not necessary to keep the marbles after the game is over, any more than it is necessary to keep the balls and bats of the defeated base-ball players or the balls and rackets of the defeated lawn-tennis players or the foot-bal) of the defeated foot-ball players. What the American boy plays for is to win the game, not the implements of the sport. It is only the occasional " tough " who manages to get into the game who has the real instincts of the gambler, and he is the boy who always cries "grinder," and "snatches up " or " swipes " the marbles of smaller or moi'e timid lads. Such a boy should be avoided just as respectable men avoid the gambler and black-leg. Knuckle Dabsters. Every boy who plays marbles should possess a knuckle dabster ; these can be made from bits of soft woollen cloth, Fig. I. — A Quilted " Knuckle Dabster. Fig. 2.— Mole Skin " Knuckle Dabster." felt, or the skin of small animals. Mole skins make the soft- est and prettiest of knuckle dabsters, but any piece of fur will answer. Some boys wear them fastened to the hand, Marbles but the most expert players seem to prefer to throw them down at the spot from which they are about to shoot and then knuckle down on the soft fur or woollen cloth. A knuckle dabster prevents one's knuckles from becom- ing sore and raw, and adds greatly to the comfort of the player. Your sister, mother, aunt, or grandmother can in a few moments stitch two pieces of thick, soft cloth together for you when marble time arrives, and if they will add to this favor by making you Fig- 3— Mar- ^ J ble Bag. A Marble Bag with strings to draw the mouth together, you are ready for the season. The marble bag should be small enough to slip into your pocket, where it will prevent the loss of many marbles that might work their way through that hole that is always to be found in a boy's pocket after he has worn his clothes for a short time. I remember how I used to plan leather and buckskin pockets that would not wear out, and I made up my mind that when I was old enough to make money and buy my own clothes the tailor should be instructed to put in leather pockets. Alas! when I reached that age it took so much cash to buy the clothes that there was never enough in the pockets to wear them out. Fig. 4. — Same with Strings Drawn. lo spying Whom to Play Marbles With. If Little Lord Fauntleroy had been born in a Western town his life would not have been worth living. He was a gentle little " sissy " aristocrat, who would never have been tolerated by the " Huck" Finns and Tom Sawyers inhabit- ing the valleys of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Imagine, if you can, such a little chap wearing the clothes with which Mr. Birch, in his beautiful illustrations, so appropriately dressed him ; imagine him down on one knee, with his girlish hand chapped with the wind and the cracks, filled with grime, knuckling down and lofting on the ducks in the middle of a bull ring, or with doubled fists standing over his marbles, defending his property against some young highwayman from the rolling mill on the river bank ! As the New York bo)'s would say, " He wouldn't be in it." No, the house is the place for him. This is a rough world, and it requires experiences outside of a gentle, lov- ing mother's care or the sweet lad)^-like tuition of a gov- erness to fit a lad for the battle of life. What we want for a pla3'mate is a fair and square fellow, who will stand by a friend through thick and thin, and, without being quarrelsome, defend his rights and never " weaken." It is unnecessary to say that such a lad's love of justice will always prevent him from imposing upon smaller boys and his manliness will cause him to treat his companion and the girls with courtes3^ You need not watch him in any game, for he will not cheat. Among my old schoolmates I have known many such fellows, and, to a man, they are all good fellows now ; good citizens, good fathers, and they still enjoy watching the boys play the games in which they used to excel themselves. Marbles 1 1 How Marbles Were First Made. With the aid of frost and sun nature splits the rocks, dropping the fragments into the water, and the ever mov- ing water rolls the fragments over each other and against other stones until they become smooth pebbles, many of which are almost as round as the marbles sold in stores. Away back before history was written the children used these natural marbles to play with, but there is nothing to tell us whether they used a " long ring " or a " bull ring," or what rules governed the game. When the Tammany Halls of Rome and the citizens in general became wicked and corrupt it made nature very ill, and she broke out in volcanoes. While the terrible fires from the bowels of the earth were spouting and scattering their ashes and lava over towns and cities, Pompeii was buried with all its streets and houses and with some of its people and dogs. Among the many curious things found in the ruins by the antiquarians who have unearthed the old cities were — what? Marbles left by the boys in their flight from the doomed city, and, I think, if the truth were known, some of the little rascals delayed their departure long enough to secure and carry away with them their " megs," as the New York boys would call the ancient mar- bles. Marbles in America. One hundred and twenty-eight years after Columbus discovered America, and when many of the ancestors of this generation of boys could call themselves Americans, the Dutchmen imported marbles to England, and it is very probable the old Knickerbockers introduced them here, but it matters little who had the honor of introducingf them to 1 2 Spring America. They came to stay, and now, from California to Maine, and from the Calumet and Hecla mines at Red Jacket, Mich,, to New Orleans, the boys all play marbles. Made Abroad Nowadays. Where do they all come from ?. Some of you win them, some of you trade postage-stamps for them, but some per- son bought them, probably, at the little store around the corner. When I attended the Eighth Street District School in Cincinnati we used to replenish our stock from " Ma- laney's." I do not recollect the real name of the proprie- tor of the little store, but that is the name it went by among the boys. There we bought our butterscotch and bull's- eye candy ; our match-sticks for kites, our elastic bands for slings, our tops and top-strings. Local Names of Marbles. But Malaney must have secured his supply from some- where, because I know he did not make them himself, and he always had a quantity on hand of "potteries," "plas- ters," "chinas," "crystals," "agates," " alleys," and "com- mies." Atlantic coast boys do not use these names, but they use the same marbles. We had a tradition that the potteries were made at a pottery near the Brighton Hotel in the suburbs of Cincinnati. What truth, if any, there is in this tradition I am unable to state. In New York I seldom see this rich brown mottled marble, whose glossy surface is marked by three rough dots. The " crockery " never had the splashes of white that distinguished the " burned agate " of New York, nor the green of the " moss agate" of the same place. Both of the Marbles 13 latter were unknown to the Western bo3^s twenty-five years ago. At the beginning of this century marbles were some- times called "bowls," and all came from Nuremberg, down the Rhine to Rotterdam, and thence to all other parts of Europe. How Marbles are Made. They are now manufactured in immense quantities in Saxony for exportation to the United States, India, and China. The common marble is manufactured of hard stone quarried near Coburg, Saxon}^, and the process is prac- tically the same as that used by nature in grinding out the little round pebbles originally used by the children of long ago. Nature, though constantly busy, is slow. We do not want to wait a thousand or ma3^be a million years for her to get our marbles ready. Our fingers might be too old to shoot with them, so we adopt nature's principles, but make more haste. In place of frost man uses a hammer to break the stone into fragments. The hammer breaks the hard stone into small squares, or, more properly, cubical shaped blocks. These are placed on a large millstone one hundred or two hundred at a time. The millstone has several grooves cut in it in the form of rings, one ring inside another, or, as your Geometry would put it, in the form of concentric circles. Over this a block of oak of the same size as the lower stone rests on the small square fragments and is kept turning while water flows upon the bottom stone. Power is supplied by a water-wheel, and when the machiner)^ is set in motion the little cubes are compelled, by the pressure and motion of the upper piece, to roll over and over in their circular tracks, and round and round and 1 4 Spring round they travel like circus horses in a ring. In fifteen minutes' time the mill does what nature takes years to accomplish, and the little blocks of stone are turned into small stone balls. These are the unfinished marbles and need smoothing. One such mill can turn out two thousand marbles a week, and if there are four or five sets of millstones running, eight thousand or ten thousand a week can be manufactured. In another part of the establishment the water-wheel turns a number of wooden barrel-shaped receptacles, something like the copper ones used for making candy in this country. Inside the wooden casks are hard stone cylinders. These revolving cylinders smooth the marbles, which are com- pelled by the motion of the machinery to keep up a con- stant rubbing against each other and against the stone cylinder. When they are smooth enough the dust made by the last process is emptied from the casks and fine emery powder substituted. This gives finish and polish to the marble. Common Marbles. The small, gray marbles are what the Western bo3^s call "commies" or "combos." They are often painted bright colors, but the paint soon wears off and they look like little dried clay balls. They are not much valued, and five " commies " usually represent the value of one " plaster." The Century Dictionary gives an " alley " as one of the definitions of a marble. On what ground it bases this information I am unable to state. " Agate," " meg," "duck" or "real" would be just as good a definition. " Meg " or " duck " would be better, inasmuch as, in dif- ferent sections of the country, both of these terms are Marbles 15 used to define marbles of an}^ description; while "alley" in almost all parts of the country means a particular kind of marble. The Alley. In some parts of Ohio and Kentucky the marble desig^- nated by the latter name is a small, hard sphere with a yellowish - white ground, streaked with wavy lines of bluish green. These are not the same as the " Croton alley "or "Jasper" of New York. 'The latter, I believe, are made of glazed and unglazed china marbled with blue, and are generally larger marbles than the so-called alleys of the West. The China and Plaster. In Cincinnati and the adjoining cities of Covington and Newport, Ky., a china is what its name implies — china. This term, when I was a boy, was used only to designate a glazed china ; the unglazed ones we called plasters, from their resemblance to that substance. Both of the latter marbles are decorated with lines of various colors, sometimes crossing each other, forming plaids, and again arranged in circles and called bull's e3^es. They are made in wooden molds and are dried, baked, and painted like any other chinaware. The Bumbo and Peawee. " Bumbo," " bumboozer" or" bowler " are names applied to very large marbles of any description. A " peawee " is the name used for any very small marble. Crystals is a general name applied in many parts of the country to all glass marbles, including "opals," "glimmers," "bloods," " rubies," etc. They are all very beautiful, but their beauty i6 Spring is only skin deep, and when used much they become dull and full of nicks. Some of these glass marbles are called " agates " in the East, and hence the genuine agate is called a " real," to distinguish it from the counterfeit glass one. Glass marbles are made by melting the glass and pressing the hot substance in polished metal molds, the halves of which fit so neatly that no trace of a seam or line is visible on the glass to mark where the parts of the mold join. The " Lucky Taw." Our lucky taw, or the marble we used when a skilful shot was required, was carefully selected for its weight and symmetry, and was generallj' an agate or real. Agates are beautiful gems of agate or carnelian, varying in color from a smoky gray to a blood red, or variegated with mottlings or stripes of different colors. Agates are made into mar-, bles at Oberstein. The workmen are very skilful. The stone is first broken into fragments of the proper size, and then, by means of a hammer, clipped into rude balls; these balls are then worn down on the face of a large grindstone, and are managed with great dexterity by the workmen, who in a few minutes bring them into perfect spheres, after which they are polished by hand on lapidary wheels. Cunny Thumb or Scrumpy Knuckled. If Little Lord Fauntleroy played mar-, bles, any boy could tell you how he would shoot. He would hold his hand verti- cally, place his taw or shooter against his thumb-nail and his first finger. He would shoot " cunny thumb style," or " scrumpy knuckled." The thumb would Fig. 5. — " Cunny Thumb." Marbles 17 flip out weakly (Fig. 5), and the marble would roll on its way. Tom Sawyer would lay the back of his fist on the ground or on his mole-skin " knuckle dabster," hold his taw between the first and second joints of the second finger and the first joint of the thumb, the three small- er fingers closed and the first finger partially 'open (Fig. 6). From this animated ballista the marble would shoot through the air for four or five feet, alighting on one of the ducks in the middle of the ring, sending it flying outside, while the taw would spin in the spot vacated by the duck. Tom or Huck Finn would display as much skill with his taw as an expert billiard player would with the ivory balls. Fig. 6.— As Tom Would Shoot. Fig. 7. — Western Reserve and New York. Fig. 8. — Another and Better Style. A Southern Way. Down in Dixie I have frequently seen grown men, white and black, playing marbles, and one or two of the expert players held their taw on their second finger, holding the second finger back with their thumb ; then suddenly re- moving the thumb and straightening out the finger, they sent the marble, like a bullet, straight to the mark. This manner of shooting must require much practice, and I doubt if it is more accurate than the one just described as Tom's method. Some boys, skilful in the game, squeeze 1 8 Spring the marble they shoot with between the thumb and the forefinger, wetting it with their mouth to make it slip quickly. The Arabian Way of Shooting. The dark-faced little Arabs have a curious manner of shooting. They place their taw in the hollow between the middle and the forefinger of the left hand, the hand being flat on the ground with the fingers closed. The forefinger of the right hand is then pressed firmly on the end joint of the middle finger, which pushes the middle finger suddenly aside, and the forefinger slips out with sufficient force to propel the shooter very accurately. There are innumerable games of marbles in vogue in different sections of the country. I have watched the boj-s play in every State east of the Mississippi River, and be- tween the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Northern Lakes. and will describe the most popular games. CHAPTER II "FAT" AND OTHER FAMOUS GAMES OF MAR- BLES. The Uncertainties of " Fat," Sometimes Called " Yank " or " Yankey " — Stand-up Marbles — Follerings— Knucks, the Long Ring, and Pat- terson — The Scientific Bull Ring— Duck in a Hole. Fat. Make a ring that will measure a foot and a half or two feet across the centre. Then draw a straight line through the centre from top to bottom, and another straight line from right to left at right angles to the first through the centre of the ring, thus dividing it into quarters (Fig. 9). Each playej lays in a duck, that is, puts a marble in the ring. Where only two play, place one duck on the right and the other on the left hand side of the ring. If four boys play, place a marble at the end of each cross line, and if more boys are in the game put the marbles around the ring, one for each player. Beginning the Game. About ten feet away from the ring scratch a taw or tie line to shoot from. Here the first player places his knuckle dabster, knuckles down and shoots at the marbles. If he is a good marksman and knocks a marble out of the ring he shoots again from the spot where his taw or shooter rests 20 Spring and so continues to shoot until he makes a miss, pocketing all the ducks he knocks out. When he has failed to hit and knock out a marble, his turn is over and he must allow his shooter to lie where it rolled. Number Two's Play. TAW LINE. Fig. 9.— Fat Ring. Number two now takes his turn. Knuckling down at the taw line, he shoots as number one did, or if number one's taw is within range, he shoots at that, and if he is fortunate or skilful enough to hit num- ber one's taw, then number one must hand over to num- ber two all the ducks he (num- ber one) has knocked out of the ring. If number two's luck still continues and he is able to hit number one's taw again, then number one is considered " killed," that is, he must put his taw in his pocket and quit playing until another game is started. When number two misses, number three knuckles down at the taw line and shoots at the ducks in the ring, or at his opponent's taw, if that marble is within range. ''Fat'' and Other Famous Games 21 " Killing." When only two boys are playing if one " kills " the other, of course the killer wins the game, and more ducks are laid in and a new game started. The first man killed is the last to shoot in the next game, and the second man killed is next to the last to shoot, etc. In some sections of the country when three bo37S are playing the -third boy is required al- ways to shoot his taw across the ring, whether he shoots at the other taws or at the ducks. The Uncertainties of "Yank." It will not take a beginner in this game long to learn that his safety lies in keeping his own taw as far as possible away from his neighbors', and when he shoots in their direc- tion he will shoot hard. One player may secure all the ducks but one and then miss, and the next player by strik- ing the first's taw compel him to turn over to him all the ducks he has knocked out. It does not require much wit to see that there is more to be gained by shooting at your neighbor's taw if the neigh- bor has been lucky than there is shooting at the one lone duck in the ring. It sometimes takes good players a half, three quarters, or a full hour to finish one game. Often two or three unlucky players will combine against a lucky one and peg away at the lucky one's taw until he is compelled to give up the ducks he has knocked out. Another way to play this game is to make the player whose taw is hit replace in the ring all the marbles he has previously succeeded in knocking out. Stand-up Marbles. There is no skill required in this game, and the only ex- cuse for its existence is that the rapid growth of our big cities has had the effect of so covering the boys' play-grounds 22 Spring with buildings and other obstructions that the boys are compelled to adopt such games as they can play under the existing conditions. So "Stand-up Megs" has become popular in many places. Make a two-foot ring about six inches from a convenient house or fence. Use a " bum boozer " for a taw and stand at the taw line about six feet from the ring. Hold up your taw and take aim with your right eye, and shoot by hunch- ing at the marbles in the ring. If you miss, pick up your big taw and let the next boy shoot. If any one knocks one or more ducks out, he continues to shoot until he fails. Each boy takes his turn until all the ducks are knocked out of the ring. Another way to play the game is to make a hole in the ground and place a duck for each player in the hole, then standing at the taw mark the players with their "bowlers" or " bumboozers " shoot as already described. If a player's taw or shooter fails to knock out any megs and remains in the hole, then he must put in as many ducks as " are up " before he is allowed to remove his taw. " Follerings," or Followings, is a travelling game, generally played by the boys on their way to school, or often, I am afraid, when they are sent on errands by their mothers. Although this game is a travelling game it is unnecessary to say that it does not lend haste to the traveller. In fact, it must be acknowl- edged that more speed can be made by a boy on an errand if he omits to play the game on his way. The rules of " Follering " are simple. " First " shoots his marble in the direction he wants to travel, and " Second" shoots his marble at the " First's " taw. Thus they shoot each in turn until one boy is lucky enough to hit his oppo- nent's taw. That means a duck for the fortunate one, or " Fat " and Other Famotts Games 23 else a point in the game and another shot at his opponent's marble. He continues to shoot until he misses, and so the game goes on. "Everything," and "Fen everything!" are the cries in this game. If one player before he shoots cries " Every- thing " before his opponent can cry " Fen everything," then the shooter may " hist," that- is, as already explained, hold his marble up and shoot, or he may remove a brick, can, old shoe, or whatever object accident may place be- tween him and his opponent's marble, or he may take " roundsters," going one side or the other of any object that may be in the way. But he cannot go any nearer the other boy's marble than his first position. If, however, the other player cries " Fen everything ! " first, then the shooter must knuckle down and make the best of it. The Art of Babying. If one player hits his opponent's taw and knocks it into a gully, a hole, or the gutter and his own taw does not fly far away, he shouts " Everything ! " if possible before the other player can say " Fen," and then he commences a series of soft, easy shots, each of which counts just the same as a long, difficult one. With care a good shot can baby away until his opponent shouts himself hoarse with cries of " Fen babying ! Fen everything ! Fen histing ! Fen roundsters ! Knuckle down." To all these cries the player pays no at- tention, but continues to shoot until he carelessly makes a miss. Then the other player has his revenge and babies away, to the great discomfort of his opponent. Follerings starts where the two lads meet and lasts until the school-house or some other objective point is reached. It can be played almost anywhere, and is quite exciting enough to meet the approval of most boys. 24 spring Knucks. This is a game of give and take. One boy, called "knucks," places a small marble between his knuckles and rests his hand on the ground. The other player knuckles down at the taw line four or five feet away and shoots at the marble between the fingers of his playmate. It is cus- tomary to knuckle down and loft, or shoot through the air, and not bowl along the ground. The taw marble or shooter used is of medium size. Every time the marble in " knucks' " hand is hit it counts one ; every time " knucks' " Fig. to. — A Game of Knucks. knuckles are hit it gives " knucks " a shot at the first shooter. Suppose that it is agreed that each player should have three shots, and there are two in the game. Number one shoots three times, hits the marble once, and the knuckles twice. Then number one wins one count, and number two, who has been " knucks," takes his three shots, and two shots to pay for the two raps he had on his knuckles. That makes five shots he has at number one. Unless number two is an expert he is going to hit number one's knuckles a number of times in his five shots, but number one grins and bears it, as he knows that the rules of the game will give him satisfaction. There is no " Fat " and Other Famous Gaines 25 end to this game, and it only stops when both boys agree that their knuckles demand a rest. If one boy is a good player and the other a poor one the good player wins the most points, but the bad player makes the other's knuckles suffer for their skill. The Long Ring. About eight feet beyond the taw line, make a ring composed of two parts of a circle crossing each other at the ends (Fig. 1 1), a fish-shaped ring with its head toward taw line. Draw a straight line through the centre of the long ring to lay the mar- bles on. If only two boys are playing and each lays in a duck, one marble should be at each end of the ring. If more than two play, or if more than one duck apiece is laid in, then they should be placed along the line in the centre of the ring. When number one shoots, if there are only two marbles he generally " sneaks," that is, he bowls, as some call it, or shoots his marble with just sufficient force to cause his taw to roll slowly along and come to a rest as near as possible one of the marbles in the ring. In doing this number one runs the risk of being killed by number two, whose turn it now is to shoot, and if there are only two in the game, and number two kills number one, this gives the game to num- ber two, but if there are more in the game it puts number one out, and number two has another shot at the ducks in Fig. II. — The Long Ring. 26 spring the ring, and continues to shoot until he misses. Then number three shoots, or if number one is not dead, and only two are playing, number one shoots from the spot where his taw lies. Any player can sneak whenever he thinks he dare risk it. Of course a sneak is a shot and he must run the chance of being killed ; but if he is killed he can, when his turn comes around, lay in as many ducks as he did at first, and then placing another duck near the taw line, knuckle down and shoot, hittinsr the near duck on one side so as to cause his taw or shooter to fly down toward the ring. It often happens that in this way he can make up for what points he lost by being killed. If he makes a miss he leaves his taw where it rests, and the next player takes his turn. Patterson. This game is played like " Fat," previously described, and often goes by that name, but in place of the round ring used in real Fat the Patterson boys use the taw line and the oblong or fish-shaped ring of the Long Ring game. The principal difference between Long Ring and Patterson is that you must hit your opponent's taw twice to kill him, and he cannot come to life again by laying in when his turn comes and shooting at a duck near the taw line. The first time you hit his taw you win all the points he may have made, the second time you strike his taw you put him out of the game and there is one less to fight against; hence there is not much sneaking in Patterson. Gambling Games. " Sports" among boys may frequently be seen trying to entice otlier boys to pay a stated number of marbles a shot at a notched and numbered shingle. The " sport " holds the ''Fat'' and Other Famous Games 2*] shingle with his hand and rests the edge with the notches in it on the ground, while the player shoots from taw at the notch with the biggest number. He seldom goes through, but if he succeeds, the " sport " pays him back as many marbles as are designated by the number over the notch his marble went through. This is a great game for cheating ; a slight movement of the shingle from one side to the other will make the best shot miss, and, like all gambling games, create ill feeling, and frequently the game is only decided by the fists of the players. The Bull Ring. One of the really scientific games is the old-fashioned Bull Ring, which is from four to ten feet in diameter. The ducks are placed a few inches apart on a cross scratched in the middle of the ring. The number of ducks varies ac- cording to how many " a whack," or how many " up " or to "lay in" may be agreed upon. If four or five boys are in the game, " one up " makes a nice pot of ducks to shoot at. If but tv/o boys are playing they sometimes lay in three, four, or even more ducks apiece, according to their wealth. The boy who cries " First " soonest is accorded the first shot, and the others in their order. In case of dispute they " lag " for turn. Each player knuckles down and shoots for the opposite side of the ring, and their turns come in the order of their success ; the nearest first and the most dis- tant last. Of course the object of the game is to knock out all the ducks if possible. Sometimes the first player, by a combi- nation of luck and skill, will " skin the ring " before the others have had a shot. The first player knuckles down and lofts at the ducks in the middle of the ring. If he strikes one properly, his taw should stand or spin in place of 28 spring the fleeing duck. The duck must reach or pass the line that makes the ring to be out and pocketed by the player, who now shoots from the place where his taw stands. Sometimes his shooter will fly out of the ring, but if the duck is knocked out he continues to shoot, again knuckling down on the ring. In case he misses one shot, number two takes his turn. Whenever a slip is made or a hit fails to knock the duck from the rins: and the shooter comes to Fig. 12. — A Game in a Bull Ring. rest inside the bull ring, it must remain where it is until the player's turn comes again or until the shooter is knocked out by one of the other players. If the shooter or taw in the ring is knocked out by another player's taw, the owner of the latter is out of the game, or killed, and there is one less to fight against. The player who knocks the taw out not only has another shot, but is entitled to pick one of the ducks from the ring as a reward for his luck. He continues to shoot until he misses. In case two or more ducks are knocked out at one shot, if the player succeeds in crying " Dubs ! " before the others " Fat " and Other Famous Games 29 cry " J"en dubs ! " he is entitled to all he knocks out, other- wise he must replace all but one marble, but continue to shoot until he fails to knock out a duck. If a player is caught " hunching," that is, shoving his fist beyond the ring while shooting, and makes a lucky hit, he must replace the marble and shoot over again. " Histings " and the use of " bowlers " are debarred in the bull ring. Sneaking or Dribbling. Sneaking is allowed ; that is, shooting the taw slowly, so that it will stop in or near the centre. This counts as a turn, and the marble is allowed to rest there until the sneak- er's turn comes round again, in which case, if he has not been killed by some other player, he shoots from the spot occupied by his taw. If a dead man's turn comes around and there are enough ducks in the ring to warrant the risk, the dead man may re-enter by laying in the middle twice as many ducks as the game required at first and placing still another duck near the edge of the ring to carom on. He shoots at the carom duck with the hopes of knocking it out and flying in the centre, where, if he is " any good " he will " skin the ring." Often the dead man is unsuccessful and the game goes on. Duck-in-a-Hole. This game is played with three shallow holes in a line at right angles with a taw line which should be about ten feet distant from the first hole. The holes are three feet apart. The object of each player is to shoot his marble so that it will go in and remain in the first hole. If successful in this he is allowed to place his thumb on the edge of the first hole, and using his hand as a pair of dividers, by a twist of 30 Spring the wrist he describes, that is, traces with the ends of his fin- gers, a curved line on the ground. This is called taking a span, and the player then knuckles down on the span line and shoots for the second hole. Tak- ing another span he shoots for the third, and if successful he now takes a span back toward the middle hole and shoots for that. If he again succeeds he takes a span and shoots for the first hole, and if he fails not in this he is a " duck " and can take two spans from the spot where his marble lies every time he shoots. When he has gone forward and backward twice he is allowed three spans, and when he has gone backward and forward three times he is a " King Duck " and can take four spans. If the first player misses the first hole, player number two shoots. If number two's marble rolls in the first hole and stays there he looks around for the first player's taw, and when he discovers it, if he feels certain he can hit it,' he takes a span, knuckles down and cracks away at number one's taw. If he hits it he places his own marble in the sec- ond hole and proceeds to try for the next until he misses. Then the next player tries his luck. When number one's turn comes around again he shoots for the first hole, knuckling down on the spot to which number two knocked his (number one's) taw. King Duck. Each player strives to be King Duck first. Each time one player hits another player's taw the lucky player counts one point, and the one hit loses a point. When one pla3^er is King Duck it is hard on the others, because as soon as they miss a hole he is on them. For his four spans from the nearest hole will almost always bring him within short shooting distance of any marble that has " Fat " and Other Faniotts Games 31 missed a hole, and when he hits that marble he generally manages to hit it hard enough to send it flying. By the time three boys have won the title of King Duck the game is over. At the advent of .the second King Duck the first monarch divides with him and gives him one of the end holes to command, and he keeps the other two. When the third man is King the first King assigns him the remaining end hole and retains command of the middle hole, but by this time the boys are ready to stop for a rest. Each time a player hits a marble it counts one point, and the game may be for ten points or ten thousand points. Meg-in-a-Hole differs from the preceding game of Duck-in-a-Hole, first, in the fact that there is no taw line. The first player shoots from one end hole at the middle hole. After he suc- ceeds in shooting into the middle hole he is entitled to a span, but he has no more than a span until he is King, having gone backward and forward three times. The King can take one foot (his own foot for a measure) and a span from the first hole, two feet and a span from the second hole, and three feet and a span from the third hole before shooting at any other player's marble that has made a miss. This gives the King great power, and it is hard to escape him. It often happens that the King knocks the other marbles fifteen or more feet away from their holes, and it is no easy matter for the unfortunate player to ap- proach the holes again. If a second player wins the title of King, the first King assigns him the first hole to guard, because there is less shooting for it, for the players only go in it three times, while they go six times in the middle hole. The third hole 32 spring is next best to the middle, or, as I heard one boy put it, *' next worse to the first hole." If a player misses it and a King is loafing around, the player does not stand much chance of getting near it again. When all have become Kings the game is over. Meg-on-a-String. This is a game of skill, and at this day finds little favor. The boys seem to prefer the less skilful and ruder games, such as Stand-up marbles, a game I notice the lads playing under the lamp-posts after dark ; and so primitive has the sport become in the great cities, that in place of the beautiful agate for a taw these boys use stones, which they hold up to one eye, then pitch at a group of shamefaced marbles hud- dled together in a hole in the ground. But Meg-on-a-String requires a higher sort of skill to play, and the successful player must be a good shot at fair knuckling-down shooting. In a crack in a friendly fence a small stick is so thrust that its free end is about three feet outside the fence line. From near the end of the stick threads are hung about three inches apart, and on the ends of the threads are small lumps of shoemaker's wax. By pressing the wax against a small alley, commie, crystal, china, plaster, or agate, the marbles will adhere and swing from the ends of the threads. The latter should be so adjusted that the marbles clear the ground by an inch or two. There is no ring in this game, but a taw line is scratched about four feet from the meg stick, and a marble for each player hangs from the stick. It is all knuckling down and lofting in this game, and the swinging marbles are kept in motion, it being against the rules for any boy to shoot at a stationary duck. He is only allowed to wait until the " Fat " and Other Famous Games 33 marbles cease to strike against each other, then he must shoot. When the first player misses, the second player shoots. If the first player's taw is within reach he may shoot at that, and if he hits it then the owner of the unlucky taw is dead and out of the game, and the boy who killed him has another shot at the swinging marbles, or if there are only two players, he wins the game. What Counts. To make a successful hit it is deemed necessary to knock the swinging duck off the string, otherwise the shot does not count. When a player's taw is too near the fence he can cry " Sidings," and move to one side far enough to enable him to shoot with comfort. But if the other boys cry " Fen Sidings " before he cries " Sidings," then the player must make the best of his ill luck and shoot. It is allowable to sneak, that is, to shoot with so little force that your taw will only roll to the spot near the swinging marbles and rest there, but a sneaker always runs the risk of being killed and put out of the game by the next in turn. " Dubs " and " Fen dubs," " Sidings " and " Fen sidings " are all the cries in this game, because the rules of the game are " Fen histings," " Fen clearances," " Fen, fen every- thing," except sidings and dubs, and it is even fen to these if a player shouts the word in time. The reader can readily see that no bad shot at marbles need try this game with any hope of success, but to the real sportsmen among the boys the game will be popular. Old players try to get a position flanking the swinging ducks, as this position has a double advantage. First, if the player misses the first marble, he is liable to hit one of 3 34 Spring the others, and second, as it is necessary to loft and shoot hard in order to knock a marble off the string, if he misses his taw he strikes against the fence and bounds back to practically the same position he shot from, in place of hurtling off ten or twelve feet, or away or back over the taw line. For over two thousand )^ears boys have been playing marbles, and have developed some really scientific games, which much older people might play without loss of dignity. But since the game is confined practically to the youngsters, it behooves them to see to it that the noble and ancient games of marbles are not degraded into shingle gambling boards and pitch rock. Injun, Block, or Square Ring. After reading over the preceding description of mar- ble games to a young Brooklyn friend of mine, he exclaimed, " Well ! You have left out Block, We play Block in Brook- lyn." Now it is not the intention of the author to slight Brook- lyn in this book, and a game that they can play there must be adapted to any large city. Block is played with a square ring, if we may be allowed to call a square a ring, and the ring is quartered as it is in Fat, a game to which Block is akin. As in Fat, the marbles are laid in on the intersections of the cross lines, but the taw line is about thirty feet away. This game is sometimes called Injun, a corruption of Ind- ian, probably because the game is a game of extermina- tion. For, in order to win, you must kill all the other players. Hence, you can see that "First" plays at a disad- vantage, there being no one for him to kill ; if he knocks out a duck he must replace it. If a taw stops inside the ring, that is a fatal shot, for he has killed himself and is out " Fat " and Other Famous Games 35 \ / \ / \ Fig. 53. — Cannibal Kite. Reverse bow bent and fastened in place. Use the greatest of care during this process, and see that you keep the ribs and spine at exact right angles with the temporary stretcher or measure-stick. At a distance of three and a quarter inches below the top bow, bind the bottom bow to the two shorter ribs. Then bring the ends up slightly to a point on the top bow about three inches be- yond the juncture of the short rib and the bow, lash it Fig. 54. — Cannibal Kite. First bottom bow in place. securely in place and then cut off the protruding ends. Make two more bow sticks, each about half the thickness and half the length of the first one described, and with your strong waxed thread bind the two ends crossed on the bot- tom end of the spine stick. Then firmly bind the ends of the first pair of ribs in place, and bind the bottom bows to 84 Spring the remaining ribs at points nine, seven, and four and one- half inches respectively below the top bow, and to the top bow at the point four and one-half inches below where the Fig. 55. — Cannibal Kite. Frame Completed. latter crossed, the temporary stretcher. Cut off the pro. truding ends, and the temporary stretcher may now be removed, and your frame will have the form of Fig. 55. Kite Covering. Of course it is admitted that silk is the ideal covering for a kite, but silk costs money, and that is an article usually absent from the museum concealed in a boy's pocket. But for big kites common silesia, such as is used in dress linings, is an excellent substitute. We will suppose, however, this to be a paper kite. How to Cover the Cannibal. Spread your paper smoothly on the floor. Lay your frame on the paper and hold it in place by some paper- weights, books, or other handy weights. With a sharp pair of shears cut the paper into the form of the frame, leaving just sufficient margin to turn over and paste. About every six inches make a cut from the outer edge to the frame. When this is done, you can begin past- ing, using good flour paste and pasting one section at a time, pressing each down with a towel until it adheres firmly. Malay and Other Tailless Kites 8s The Belly Band. Attach each end of a piece of string, about six inches long, to the bow each side of the spine. Fasten another string to this, and connect it with the spine where the mid- dle bow crosses. This string should be between eight and nine inches long. Attach the kite string to the bellyband at a point about three inches from the top loop (Fig. 56). Fig. 56— The Great Cannibal Kite. These are approximate figures for a kite of the dimen- sions described, but each kite varies so that the flier must by experiment find the proper manner of adjusting the string of the belly-band. Mr. W. C. Bixby after some difficulty procured one of these kites from some natives and gave a short description of it in Harper s Young People of April 15, 1884. His kite had a spread of thirteen feet and a height of thirty-four and one-half inches. 86 Spring For a fair-weather kite for tandem teams the " cannibal " should excel the short, dumpy Eddy or the Holland kite. Possibly it will never be a favorite in the East, where strong winds blow, but it should fly beautifully in the central parts of this country. A Chinese Butterfly Kite. The Aeronautical Annual, published in Boston by VV. B. Clarke, is really a kite-flier's magazine and it is edited by an enthusiastic kite-flier, Mr. James Means. When this gen- tleman was attending the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel- phia, he saw in the Chinese exhibit a tailless butterfly kite which he has since flown with great success. The form of this butterfly kite so nearl)^ approaches that of the Wing and Wing that there is scarcely room for doubt that with longer booms the latter kite will also fly without a tail, which will add immeasurably to its popularity. Mr. Means has had great success with double kites, that is, two or three kites one above the other with one spine, boom, or middle stick to answer for all. Mr. C. H. Lanson, of Portland, Me., uses two Malay kites with only one back- bone. It would be well for all boys who enter into this sport to make experiments in this line. There can be scarcely a doubt that a double Cannibal kite would be a grand flier. Messrs. William H. Pickering, Albert A. Merrill, and James Means, the Executive Committee of the Boston Aeronautical Society, offer five prizes for kite-fliers to compete for. Here is a chance for some bright American boy, some youthful Ben Franklin, to distinguish himself. The writer is unable to state what the prizes are, but the real value of such a prize lies in the glory of winning it, Malay and Other Tailless Kites ^rj and there is no good reason why a boy should not win any or all of them. The McAdie-Hammon California Barrel Kite. From the latest reports from the Pacific it would appear that our Far West does not intend to be left behind in kite building and they are now flying a paper barrel with a bow- sprit in place of a belly-band, the description of which I must quote from the San Francisco Chronicle. "For some months past W. H. Hammon and A. G. Mc- Adie, of the United States Weather Bureau, have been ex- perimenting with a great variet}' of sizes and shapes in kites, in the hope of finding one that will safely carry an aluminum thermograph to a height of i,ooo feet, so that the instrument may record, and, when returned to earth, inform them of the condition of the atmosphere far above the house tops. From some such observations they would be able to foretell many of the pranks of the weather, but their service in this line would be of most value to shipping, as the fact that a fog was coming in could be ascertained so long before its arrival as to give ample time for warning every ship in the bay of the danger which threatened mov- ing vessels. " On Tuesday Hammon and McAdie tried a queerly shaped apparatus, which rose into the air with such a re- markable willingness as to highly elate its inventors. In appearance the new kite bears a close resemblance to a paper barrel, with bowsprit projecting from one end. Its form is cylindrical. It is about four feet long and two feet in diameter. It is made up of four very light hoops, and braced together with thin strips of wood. The twelve-inch space between the pair of hoops at either end is covered with a collar of paper, and the string by which 88 Spring the kite is held is attached to a stick which passes diago- nally through the inside of the cylinder from end to end, projecting from that end nearest the operator. The ar- rangement is something of a modification of the Australian kite, invented by Professor Hargrave, but a wonderful im- provement over his apparatus, as shown by Tuesday's test. Hammon and McAdie worked on their new kite for some weeks before giving it a trial, and as they have met with many disappointments expected little else when they hoisted their paper barrel. The trial took place in the ten-acre lot just north of the German Hospital, and there were fifty or sixty boys of the neighborhood on hand to guy the invent- ors had their latest device proved a fizzle. McAdie held the odd-looking object, and Hammon walked off with the string tied to the bowsprit in his hand. He looked ahead of him to see that there w^ere no boys over which to stumble and cried out: '''All right, McAdie!' " McAdie let go the kite, Hammon ran and the new- fangled kite soared up into the air, not so gracefully, but with less apparent effort than a sea-gull shows as it flits across the waters of the bay. For a few minutes Hammon had all he could do to let out string, but McAdie, who was at leisure after the hoisting, gazed at the object of their labor with a delighted smile and yelled, 'Eureka!' while the small boys cheered the artificial bird on its upward flight. " In the air the body of the kite maintains a horizontal position, and the bowsprit attachment, of course, points downward. Although at Tuesday's trial the new kite did not rise to as high an altitude as have some of the Malay or flat kites which the weather men have experimented with, it carried the string which held it to an angle much nearer a perpendicular than any of the others have. This Malay and Other Tailless Kites 89 tendency of the new kite to stand more nearl}^ over its anchor, when in the air, leads to the belief that ultimately it will be an easy matter to send the kite up 1,000 feet. " McAdie recently informed the Chief of the Weather Bureau at Washington, Willis Moore, that he would sur- prise him some day by sending him in a report of the at- mospherical conditions existing 1,000 feet above San Fran- cisco. He and Hammon propose that the San Francisco Bureau shall be the first to officially record such observa- tions." CHAPTER VI AERIAL FISH AND DRAGONS When a gang of kites is sent up tandem, each kite helps to lift the string and prevent it from sagging. Conse- quently not only flags but all manner of queer things can be attached to the main kite-string. Paper streamers of bright colors and large pa- per Japanese fish and dragons weigh very little, and will make a display most won- derful to behold. The author attached a Jap anese fish about five feet long to the string of an old-fashioned hexagonal kite, the latter was about three feet high. With the aid of a good wind the kite kept that great fish flapping up aloft all day. Paper Dragon or Fish for Kite Strings. With a pencil mark out a pattern on a piece of wrapping paper, and after you have secured the shape you desire, cut it out with the scissors. Take some red or yellow tissue paper and cut it according to the brown-paper pattern. You will see by the diagrams (Figs. 57 and 58) that the mouth should be very large. This is because a hoop is pasted in Figs. 57, 58. — Paper Dragon and Paper Fish. Aerial Fish and Dragons 91 the mouth to admit the breeze which is to inflate the dragon or fish. After cutting out two tissue-paper dragons, ac- cording to your pattern (Figs. 59 and 60), paste the edges together, except at the mouth (Fig. 61), which must be left open. When the paste is perfectly dry take the scissors and cut slits of about half an inch long all around the mouth opening (Fig. 64). For the hoop use any light elastic wood that you can bend into a circular form. Make a hoop of this material the exact size of the mouth opening of the Fig. 59.- -One-half of Paper Skin. Fig. 60.— The Other Half with Flaps for Pasting. Fig. 61. — Showing the Two ' Halves Partly Pasted. \ dragon or fish (Fig. 63), and then paste it in by folding the parts divided by the slits over the hoop as in Fig. 65, and allow it to dry. When it is dry attach strings to the hoop from opposite sides and let the loops form a sort of belly-band (Figs. 57, 58 and 65). The fish will then be ready to be attached to the kite- string, and when it is aloft it will swell out like a balloon and look very comical in the air. (Fig. 46, Chap. IV.) If a heavy black line is painted on each side of the head to represent the mouth, and two big black circles to represent the eyes, it will add greatly to the effect. (Figs. 57 and 58 show how to paint the dragon and fish.) 92 spring Pennants Can be made bv simply cutting a triangle from colored tis- sue paper and pasting the edges together, as described with the fish. A hoop must also be fastened in at the larger Fig. 62.— The Paper. Fig. 63.— The Hoop. Fig. 64. — Hoop in Place. Fig. 65. — Finished Pen- nant. Hoop PASTED IN and belu'y band attached. Pennants. end and a belly-band arranged as described in the case of the fish. (See Figs. 62, 6^, 64 and 65.) Comical Figures. Not only reptiles and beasts, but men and women can be made in the same manner and with little difficulty. Use Aerial Fish and Dragons ■ 93 pink paper for the hands and face of the men and women and put the hoop in the top of their heads, as shown in the accompanying diagrams of dragon and fish. A good tandem team of five or six kites will support quite a number of these queer devices and will reward your trouble with no end of fun. You need not fear that your work will be unappreciated, for when the passers- by see fish, alligators, and men and women bobbing around in the sky they not only will stop and look, but will linger and look again and again ; and as the pay of all who appear before the public is public applause you will be well paid. A Live-Man Kite. In the " American Boy's Handy Book," there is described a man kite, but since then a real live-man kite has appeared in the person of Mr. Otto Lilienthal of Berlin. His kite consists of two wooden frames covered with cotton twill, or in other words, two cloth-covered kites one above the other. These kites are capable of being folded up when not in use. Mr. Lilienthal jumps off of high places and then by means of his kite sails a long distance. From a hill a hundred feet high he can sail like a fiying squirrel about seven hundred feet. See illustration from a photo- graph of a live-man kite in Chapter IV. If Mr. Lilienthal would build himself a number of big Cannibal kites and send up a tandem of them, he might take his wings with him and go up with the kites five or six hundred feet. From such a perch he could easily soar nearly a mile ! Or since his wings are really kites, he might, if he is brave enough, and no one doubts his cour- age, fasten a string to himself and go up like any other kite as far as he could, and then cast loose the string and sail down. But seriously, the wonderful advancement in 94 Spring kites and flying machines is so rapid that there is reason to believe that some such feat as suggested will actually be performed before what has been written here can go through the printer's hands and come out in the form of a book. Do not try to forestall these experiments. Give the gentlemen already in the field a chance first, and then the author of this book will not feel that he is responsible to parents for the broken heads or limbs of his boy readers. CHAPTER VII HOOPS AND WHEELS The Old and the New Fangled Hoops— How to Trundle a Wheel— Sport with Tin-Can Covers. Several years ago an effort was made to make wire or iron hoops popular. They were neatly made, and propelled by an iron hook, which kept the hoop upright and pushed it along in place of being propelled by a succession of blows, as in the old-fashioned primitive barrel hoop. But the very points that the manufacturers thought would rec- ommend these toys to the small boys, eventually caused their downfall and the substitution for them of a wooden hoop, much neater than the clumsy barrel hoop, and bet- ter adapted to the boy's ideas than the metal one. Like the former, it is propelled by means of a short stick, with which the boy belabors his toy. This has re- tained its popularity for the last twenty-five years. Various attempts have been made to improve on it by adding bells and metal jinglers of odd shapes, producing what was ex- pected to be pleasant and popular noises ; but no boy out of kilts will sacrifice the dignity of his knickerbockers by causing them to chase after such a baby rattle. So these elaborate affairs are relegated to the little girls and kilted boys, while the sturdy legs of the real small boy run tire- lessly after the old wooden hoop. 96 Spring A Reminiscence. The greatest triumph of my hoop-time days was when my parents bought some sugar hogsheads, which were cut up for kindling-wood. 1 secured the largest of the hoops, which stood some distance above my head, and from one of the staves of the hogshead made myself a beautiful club to hammer my giant with. Then 1 sallied forth, and Fig. 66. — Hoop-time. when I bore down on a street full of my play-mates rolling this giant hoop in front of me, all the metal store-hoops and wooden barrel hoops ceased rolling, while the boys stood respectfully aside to let me pass. It was a great triumph, and was talked about long afterward as the lads gathered on the sidewalk to play Jack and the Candles in the dusk of a summer evening. There was one freckled-face boy who tried to mar my triumph by securing a big cart wheel, but he only caused a laugh, because he could not manage his heavy-spoked and hubbed hoop, which insisted upon Hoops and Wheels 97 going its own gait and taking its own direction, in spite of the severest clubbing, to the great alarm of passing pedes- trians. But small Wheels are very popular during hoop-time, and make an interest- ing toy, requiring more skill to guide than the ordinary hoop. To trundle a wheel the boy uses a long stick, one end of which he places under the hub, and with which he both pushes and guides the wheel in a very interesting and skilful manner, as he runs after it, Tin-Can Cover. Generally it is the top of a big, old - fashioned blacking- box that is used for this pur- pose. First, the boy finds the centre of the box-lid, after a manner known to himself, but not recorded in any work on geometry. Next, he places the lid on a board, and, with an puncher, and half of a brick or hammer, he drives the nail through the centre of the tin. From the mysterious depths of his pocket he produces about a yard of top-cord, and, putting one end of the string ^' his mouth, he brings the ravelled end to a point, which ^^ threads through the hole in the box-cover. At the ^th^r end he makes a big, round hard-knot, and pulls the stnn^ through until the knot rests against the cover. This accomplished, he starts to run, and, by the exercise 7 Fig. 67. — Trundling a Wheel. old rusty nail a cobble-stone for for 98 Spring of his art, he causes the tin to trundle on the side-walk along side of him. There are no very new things in hoops, and if any man should attempt to bring his scientific experience and knowledge to bear upon the subject, and invent a new toy in that line, he would find it a difficult operation when he attempted to per- suade the conservative small boy to adopt his in- vention. What a boy uses, it seems, must be what has been tried for centuries by his predecessors and proved faithful, and any change in form must be the gradual and almost imperceptible growth of natural evolution, caused by the change of surroundings or, as their parents would say, environments. Fig. 68.— Racing with the Tin Wheel. CHAPTER VIII HOW TO MAKE THE SUCKER Leather Suckers and Live Suckers — Turtle-Fishing with Suckers. A PIECE of sole-leather, three or four inches square, is the first thing necessary in order to make a sucker. A sharp knife is the next thing, and a bright boy who can use the knife without cutting his fingers is the third. Let the boy trim the corners of the leather until the edges are circular in form, or, as he would say, round. Lay the leather on a flat surface, and pare or bevel off the edge until it is thin enough to be called a paper edge. Now the boy may bore a small hole through the centre of the sucker, just large enough to force the end of a good strong top-string through. Near the end of the top-string, which has just been pushed through the leather, tie a good hard-knot, and make it big enough to prevent the possi- bility of its slipping back through the leather. It is now only necessary to pull the string through the leather until the knot fits against the under part of the sucker, and to cut off the superfluous string beyond the knot. How to Use the Sucker. Soak the leather in water until it is very soft and " flabby." Find a loose brick, place the sucker on top of the brick, and, with one foot, press it as flat as possible. Then slowh^ and carefully try to lift the sucker by the lOO spring Fig. 6o. Fig. 70. Fig. 71. Fig. 72. Figs. 69, 70, 71, 72. — How to Make a Sucker. string. Air is heavy, as your school-books will tell you, and it will press so hard all around the leather, that, if your sucker is a good one, you ma}^ lift the brick before the sucker will loosen its hold. There is a fish in the Atlantic Ocean that the author has seen and sketched from life, which has an arrange- ment on top of its head made on the same prin- ciple. Fishermen call it the " shark -sucker," although its proper name is the re mora. When the remora wants to travel fast, and is too lazy to do so by his own exertions, he steals up to some terrible old shark and noiselessly and gently flattens his sucker on the shark's belly or side, and there he sticks fast. The shark may be a terrible man-eater or, worse than that for the marine How io Make ike Sucker loi world, a voracious fish-eater, but it matters little to the remora, he is safer sticking to the shark's body than any- where else, and does not need to even wag his tail, but goes tearing through the water as fast as the shark can swim. A Live Sucker for Turtles. This remora has been used, according to some French writers, to catch turtles. A line having been fastened to a rubber ring around the remora's tail, the fish is allowed to swim off, and when he sees a turtle he sticks fast to him, and the fisherman pulls both in. So it may be that to the remora belongs the honor of suggesting the boy's sucker. CHAPTER IX UP IN THE AIR ON STILTS How to Make all Kinds— Stilt- Walking Shepherds— Hand or Arm-Stilts are Best for Beginners — Queer Stilts Used in Various Countries. The other day a magician appeared to me. Instead of a peaked cap he wore a derby hat, and, in place of the long black gown, his garb was the ordinary suit of a New York man. There was nothing mysterious in his manner, but, with a smiling face, he looked into my studio and said : " The boys want a new book, and put in something on stilts." Tom's Wooden Legs. I believe in magic. Let me try it on myself and see if I can bring back a scene of my youth in Kentucky. Ab-ra-ca-dab-ra Stilts ! Who is that pale-faced, curly haired boy straddling over the blue-grass lawn on long, wooden legs ? Why, it's my old playfellow, Tom ! Hello, Tom ! Where did you get those stilts? But what a foolish question ! I might know what the answer would be : " Made 'em." It took me all one Saturday to finish a pair of wooden legs like Tom's. I begged a pair of Aunt Annie's clothes- poles for the sticks, and sawed them off the proper length, then, with my jack-knife, I shaped the handles and smoothed them with a piece of sand-paper. Next I took a sound piece of two-inch pine board, and marked with a piece of soft up in the Air on Stilts 103 brick the outline of one block. With a hand-saw I soon cut this out, and, placing it on the remains of the two-inch plank, outlined a duplicate block. After this the blocks were smoothed off with my knife. Hand Stilts. I then heated a small piece of iron and bored holes for the nails and screws, and fas- tened the blocks on to the sticks. We called these " hand - stilts," because the sticks are just long enough above the block to reach the hands of the walker. (See Fig- 73.) In those days there were only a few of us who had money in our pockets, but that is about the only thing that was not there — bits of string, mar- bles, tops, leather slings, with old nails as ** hummers " to throw from them, jack-knives, occasionally one with a whole blade, "rubber" buttons for finger-rings, in all stages of manufacture, with sand-paper, buckskin and pumice-stone for polishing them, " lucky ^ Wan OLE >^. Fig. 73. — Tom's Wooden Legs. I04 Spring stones " from the head of a fish, to make us certain winners at marbles; two or three buck-eyes for ballast, fish-lines, hooks and sinkers, .y^Ni&MONN Q-ADABout and an apple or two