Curling is essentially a Scottish game, and one over which t_Harper's Round Table, January 21, 1896

Scotsmen manage to work up considerable enthusiasm and excitement. It

has been imported into this country, and especially in Canada have

American curlers become almost as proficient as any in the world. Few

games afford better sport and exercise, and a certain amount of muscular

strength is demanded of the players. The game is played on ice, of

course, and the space marked out for playing is called a "rink." This is

usually a strip of ice on a pond or a stream, forty-two yards long and

eight or nine yards wide, swept clear of snow. A "tee," or goal, is set

down at each end of the rink. The tees are 39-1/2 yards apart. Seven

feet behind each tee is a small circle called a "foot-circle," from

which the curlers launch their stones. From each tee as a centre a

circle must be drawn, with a radius of seven feet, and every stone which

is not outside of this circle when it has stopped moving counts as one

point in the reckoning. Outside and beyond the tee circle a line is

drawn across to the rink, and the stones which pass this boundary are

called dead--that is, they do not count. Seven or eight yards inside of

each tee another line is drawn across the rink, and every stone that

does not pass this "hog-score," as this line is called, is removed from

the ice, out of the way of coming stones. The "middle line" is drawn

half-way between the tees across the rink. Perhaps a better idea of this

complicated delineation of a curling-rink may be gathered from the

diagram at the top of the next page.

[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF A CURLING-RINK.]

There are usually four players on a side, and each player is armed with

two stones. These stones are of circular shape, with flattened sides,

and must not weigh more than fifty pounds nor less than thirty pounds.

Neither must they be more than thirty-six inches around, nor less in

height than one-eighth of the greatest circumference. Curling

enthusiasts attach great importance to their stones. They have them of

various weights to suit their own fancy, and of every possible variation

of form. Some players prefer flat stones, while others have a liking for

high ones. As a rule, however, the favorite is that which is neither

very flat nor very high, the reason for this being that such a stone is

well "centred," having the centre of gravity about in the middle, and

being therefore more easily handled. These stones are usually cut out of

granite; they are then highly polished, and frequently fitted with very

ornamental and highly expensive handles.

The players are also provided with brooms, with which they sweep off the

snow and other obstacles from the rink. One point of judgment in curling

is to know when to sweep the way clear for a coming stone and when not

to, the sweeper knowing about how fast the stone will go for its weight,

and about where it will land if allowed to travel over a rough or a

smooth surface. The number of points ordinarily appointed as decisive of

a curling-match is thirty-one, and the side which first scores that

total is the winner. The chief aim in the game is to hurl the stone with

the proper amount of strength, so that it will take its place close to

the tee. Then a certain amount of generalship must be used by one side

to so distribute its stones that the opponents may not be able to

dislodge those nearest to the centre of the tee circle. It will be seen

that curling is a sort of giant game of shuffle-board, but much more

susceptible to scientific work than the latter. A close finish in

curling frequently arouses both parties to the highest excitement, and

many funny stories have been written about staid Scottish squires and

dignified dominies who have found themselves hotly disputing with one

another on a curling-rink. For those who may be interested in the sport,

and who care to become more familiar with it or to learn the many rules

which experience and practice have shown to be necessary, I recommend an

article on curling in the volume on skating in the Badminton Library.

The many protests in the recent contests held by the New York

I. S. A. A. have led the officers of that organization to formulate and

adopt some new rules which will now make the conditions of contests

perfectly clear. The changes in the constitution recently adopted are

good ones, and have all been framed with a view to purifying sport, and

with the intention of holding all New York school-boy athletes to the

closest interpretation of the spirit of amateurism.

A very vague idea of the rules and regulations which govern amateur

sport has been held by the majority of school athletes in this city

until recently. I think this must have been because they were not as

familiar as they might have been with the laws enacted by their own

association. These laws were perhaps not as strict as they should have

been, and I am now glad to see that the managers are tightening the

reins. Every boy who goes into athletics here or anywhere else should

know exactly what his rights and his duties are in matters of sport, and

especially in the matter of eligibility in these days, when

professionalism is so steadily trying to steal into the camp. I cannot

but believe that if every scholar in this town had known by heart the

N. Y. I. S. A. A. rules of eligibility last year, the errors of some

misguided athletes would never have been made.

The new rules governing eligibility are clear and unequivocal, and it is

hard to see how even the most professionally inclined can now beat about

the stump. The first section of the new Article XI. states that "no one

shall represent any school as a competitor in any athletic contest who

has not been a member of that school from the first of January of the

school year in which the contest is held, or who has actually been paid

wages for services during the school year, or who has been enrolled as a

member of any college, or who has attained the age of twenty years, or

who is not in good standing with the Amateur Athletic Union of the

United States."

The article proceeds to explain that having been a member of the

sub-Freshman class of the College of the City of New York does not debar

a scholar from competing, and this is eminently just. A most important

provision follows, and I cannot urge too strongly upon the I.S.A.A.

committee to enforce this rule to the letter if it results in having

only one contest a year. It is to the effect that any school wishing to

enter a team for the baseball, football, tennis, or track-athletic

championship must file a list of all players or competitors with the

chairman of the committee governing that special branch before such team

can enter any contest. The next two sections specify that in such list

the ages of all players or competitors shall be given, and the list must

be signed by the principal of the school, to certify that all the

intended players or competitors are eligible.

In view of recent events, the revision of Article XIV. also cannot be

too gladly welcomed: "Section 1. No school shall, through any of its

officers or by any other means, directly or indirectly, by offering any

inducements, influence or try to influence a pupil of any other school

to sever his connection with said school. Section 2. The offering of a

regularly established or other scholarship by any school or officer

thereof, as an inducement to change from one school to another, shall be

considered an inducement." Much annoyance would have been saved if these

paragraphs had been in the constitution when it was first formulated,

and I think that this revision might be even further fortified by

inserting the words "directly or indirectly" in the second section as

well as in the first.

It is a wise provision also that any school entering a team for the

baseball or football championship must play all games for which they are

scheduled under penalty of $5 fine for each game forfeited. My only

criticism is that the penalty might be doubled or trebled. The

championship series of football games last fall, in Brooklyn, was

greatly interfered with by the continual forfeiting of games by the

weaker teams. This Department spoke of the evil at the time, and I would

now urge the Long Island League legislators to insert some such by-law

in their code as the New Yorkers have just established.

Athletics are progressing so vigorously in Philadelphia that a new

interscholastic league, in addition to the Inter-Academic A. A. of some

years standing, has been organized. Tho new association held a meeting a

few weeks ago, at which delegates from the Central High-school,

Wilmington High-school, and the Central and Northeast Manual Training

schools were present. A committee was appointed to see the Friends'

Central, Catholic High and Swarthmore College Grammar Schools, and

invite them to join the association. The meeting then adjourned to meet

at the call of the chair to receive the report of this committee. This

committee should at once communicate with the officers of the National

I. S. A. A., and apply for membership. The new league has some strong

schools in it, as readers of this Department may see by glancing over

the list. The Central High-school of Philadelphia is probably the

largest school in that city, and both the Wilmington and Swarthmore

Grammar schools have already acquired enviable records in sport.

An Interscholastic Polo League has been formed in Boston, under the

auspices of the B.A.A., with the following schools as members: Melrose

High, Cambridge High and Latin, Roxbury Latin, and English High. A

provisional schedule has been arranged, but as the weather is an

important factor in polo, it may be necessary to postpone several of the

contests. The dates chosen are:

CAMBRIDGE H. AND L.

Dec. 31.--E. H. S. on Spy Pond.

Jan. 17.--Roxbury Latin on Spy Pond.

Jan. 25.--Melrose on Spy Pond.

ENGLISH HIGH.

Dec. 31.--Cambridge on Spy Pond.

Jan. 14.--Roxbury Latin (undecided).

Jan. 17.--Melrose at Melrose.

ROXBURY LATIN.

Jan. 14.--English High (undecided).

Jan. 17.--Cambridge on Spy Pond.

Jan. 21.--Melrose at Melrose.

MELROSE HIGH.

Jan. 17.--English High at Melrose.

Jan. 21.--Roxbury Latin at Melrose.

Jan. 25.--Cambridge at Spy Pond.

It is to be hoped, if the season proves a successful one and the cold

weather holds out, that the winner in this Boston League will arrange

for a championship game with the winner in the Connecticut League.

[Illustration: H. D. CAREY, JUN.,

Hamilton Institute.]

[Illustration: THEODORE LUTKINS,

Brooklyn Latin School.]

On account of this delay in receiving the portraits of Messrs. Carey and

Lutkins, who were selected for members of the All-New-York football

team, the pictures could not be reproduced until this week. Carey of the

Hamilton Institute would play right half-back, and Lutkins would rank as

first substitute on the All-New-York eleven, the full details of which

were given in the ROUND TABLE of January 7th.

The game of basket-ball promises to become popular among the colleges

and the larger schools of the country this winter. This Department will

devote some space to the game at an early date, which is taking up the

attention of scholastic sportsmen in Connecticut.

J. A. BAKER, B. BAY, MASSACHUSETTS.--There is no rule prohibiting

tackling above the shoulders, unless Section B of Rule 27 of the

Football Rules of 1895 can be construed as such. It is a matter for

the umpire to decide in every case.

H. C. MORRIS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.--There will be an article on

running in this Department some time during the winter. I should

advise you to use sprinting shoes without spikes to train in, but

wear spikes in a contest or when running for time.

W. H. B., MINNEAPOLIS.--You can find out what you want to know in

_Walter Camp's Book of College Sports_ (The Century Company, New

York), or in the _American Boy's Handy Book_ (Charles Scribner's

Sons, New York).

J. J. SMITH, RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.--There is a very good chapter

on "Toy-boat Making and Sailing" in _Coventry Pastimes for Boys_

(Longmans, Green, & Company, New York).

H. C. D., MERIDEN.--The arrangement of players for the game of ice

polo, described briefly in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE for January 14th,

is as follows:

[Illustration]

THE GRADUATE.

* * * * *

A POUND OF FACTS

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Curling is essentially a Scottish game, and one over which the stolid