Evening Star Newspaper, January 18, 1931, Page 90

RIDGE players from all parts of the country begin to head South around this time of the year. They are the big league base ball stars on their way to the Spring training camps. The vanguard is already at the boiling-out points, in most cases the older and more fleshy ones who have the hardest job to do in order to get in shape. In short order the main body will follow, and it will be only a few weeks be- fore they are all hard at it drilling for the long season’s grind. The hours spentson bridge at " ¢he camps and on the trains will be second only to the time invested in base ball. EBridge has been the avocation of the ball player for many a year now. It used to be poker, and frequently enough a dice game, that filled the idle hours of most big leaguers on the road or at the training camp. Many a big league manager has issued edicts against those games, as breeders of ill feeling and ruiners of tcamwork. There is not yet, however, a single case of ban on bridge. Thz upgrowth of bridge as the pastime of American and National Leaguers has been co- incident with the improvement in the type of men making up the teams. Your professional bas: ball star of today is no tobacco-chewing roughneck, whd wears his hat on the side of bhis brow, and talks out of the side of his mouth. He is as high-grade a young man as may be located in any sizable group. He dresses, talks and acts like a college man and frequent- ly is cne. i Bridge really broke-into the big leagues 15 years ago, when Chrsty Mathewson was still pitching for the New York Giants. Big Six used to sit in with John McGraw, the manager; Pred Merkle, first baseman, and Heywood Broun, then a base ball writer, in the first bridge foursome in base ball of which there is any record. Tcling about it, Broun says that Matty was the best player, McGraw the most aggres- sive, ofien treating his partners like umpires, and Merkle the most studious. By elimination . 1t might be deduced that Broun was the most prolific Joser. He intimates as much by saying that at the end of the Spring training trip a telegram was sent to his managing editor ask- ing that he be assigned to all trips made by th: Giants. From that small beginning the number of bridge players in big league base ball has in- creased steadily until now it is probably true that from 60 to 80 per cent of them all play the game, or at least “play at it.” Just how many have taken up contract is a moot guestion, but another year will probably see auction sup- planted among them just as poker was driven out of the leagues 15 years past. The Sage Says: ’I‘nzmnwhomnbbmkeplaymdonotn- quire courage, will power and self-control has never me! the bug who explains his own private bidding system to every one he en- eounters. Big Business. "BRmOlhbecmhcmmmmmola sport,” says the Wall Street Journal, “and has even entered the stage where inter- national competitions are held.” Incidentally, it has entered the field of big business if the Wal)l Street Journal editorializes about it. Worthy of Its Author. 'ro any one who knows Harold S. Vanderbilt and his splendid skill that heading says everything possible about his latest book, “The New Contract Bridge.” It does a most thor- ough job in explaining what has been beyond any doubt the most grossly misunderstood of all the efficient systems of bidding. When prop- erly employed his method, based on the artificial one-club bid to proclaim general strength, has proved fitself in competition with any other method. In its present form the system is much more effective than originally, chiefly due to the in- clusion of certain forcing bids to handle specific kinds of situations. Som= general advice in the book may well be used by the followers of any system. “Once you decide to play a convention,” he urg?s ‘“‘do not deviate from it; if you do your partner will lose that confidence in you which is vital to a partnership in contract. “Above all, tell the truth to your partner when bidding—that is of paramount importance. “Learn t0 bid correctly. To impart accu- rate information to your partner i= next in importance to holding aces and kings . “Mcrely because you cannot make a game unless you bid it, do not try to bid almost every hand up to a game contract Taking tricks, not chances, wins rubbers. “Pause at the beginning of the play of diffi- cult hands, particularly when you are the de- clarer, to count up the number of immediately available tricks and to plan a campaign of action ™ A Law a Week. “mn"r occurs if the player who cuts the cards should also complete the cut by plac- ing the original bottom portion of the deck on the top portion, instead of letting the dealer do it? A new shuffle and a new cut may be demanded by any player. What occurs if a player redoubles an op- ponent’s bid which has been doubled by his own partner? - Contract Systems. HOW much difference between systems is there in the strength required to bid one no trump over partner’s original bid of one in ® suit? THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 18 1931 & 7Tue BriDGE FOrRuUM * Big League Ball Players Are Now Making Bridge Their Chief Avocation. - By Shepard Barélay. Nemests. I know a certain player Who’s a contract Jekyll-Hyde, Who acts just like d4n expert When he’s on the other side; His bidding’s sound and steady And his play a treat to see And he gets his greatest pleasure Making mincemeat out of me. Then when he is my partner He’s the rawest of the raw, & His bids and plays are terrible— The worst you ever saw; I tell him he’s as stupid & As a man could ever be, But he only sneers and grimaces And says the same of me. The various systems are practically together oh this. After a dealer's bid of one spade all of them would prescribe a partner’s ¢all of one no trump with this hand: 432 WA42 9gK432 g54:2 Likewise, all of them would prescribc a pass with this hana- $32 VA42 ¢® Q432 5432 The strength )s measured by various stand- ards, but approximately the same amount is necessary under all of them, in the vast ma- jority of hands. Those who use “quick tricks” as the yardstick require one and a half of them divided between two suits other than the one which has been bid. Users of the “honor trick” gauge likewise call for one and a half, if the hand contains no biddable suit and inade- quate support for partner's suit. Those wheo employ the “count” rating an ace at 4, king 3, queen 2, jack 1 and two 10s 1, require a total “of 7 with two other suits stopped, some asking only 6 if the other three suits are all stopped. Those who use the “count” of 6 for an ace, 4 for a king, 3 for a quéen, 2 for a jack, 1 for a 10 and also 1 for two 9s or 8s, insist on a total of 10 when only two cards of partiner’s suit are held or there is a 4—3—3—3 distri- bution; cnly 7 total if holding a singleton trump or none. It will bz secen, herefore, that there are slight diflerences, particularly when cards smaller than aces and kings are held—which are counted in some systems and not in others. In general, however, the strength recommended s the cquivalent of an ace and a king. How much difference between systems Is there is the strength required to bid two of a suit over partner’s original one no trump? Auction Problems. How would you bid and play the following hand, South being the dealer? $10985 VA543 eK1 »73 WORTH ;4 SOUTH AKQJIT43 vQ ¢ A10982 *»4 South’s opening auction bid of one spade gives no hint of the “contract” type of bidding due to come. After East’s two-heart overcall South bids three diamonds, which North takes to three spades. East shows his clubs with a four bid, so South’s four spades are topped by West’s five clubs. North mounts to five spades, East to six clubs and South to six spades—a & None YKJ10982 ¢ QJ SAQJI109 Paradise for Hunters Near D. C. Continued from Fifteenth Page fireplace is named General Braddock and con- tains a stone taken from the camp used by the British army chief during a Winter he spent on the ground which is now a part of the Woodmgnt preserve The third fireplace is named for George Washington, the stone in it being taken from a wall the first President built nearby at Berkeley Springs in 1746, when he was then a young surveyor, sent by Lord Fairfax into that country to survey the terri- tory. History says that it was Washington who discovered the warm springs at Berkeley Springs, now a famous resort. Wash! told in the report to Lord Fairfax of a spring in which he could take a bath in the coldest days of Winter, so warm was the water. The stones were secured and named by William Green, who directed the erection of the club house. Tablets are placed upon each of the three stones, giving a brief history. Robert Lee Hill, the man who led the Wood- mon‘t Club’s founder to that section, has been dead now six years, but the name of the veteran guide is revered even more than any of fits distinguished members who have passed on. Many a night before the roaring fires after a hard day’s hunt will be told the story of how Hill's brother, the distinguished Western United States Senator, who had come to the club to hunt, was reunited with his long lost brother in a little log house on the preserve, and how the wealthy Senator sought to persuade the guide to give up his life in the mountains for one of luxury, only to hear from the guide's own lips: “I am happy and contented here, brother, and I'm going to stay.” Henry Bridges, who accompanied the Sen- ator to the little log house on the night the brothers were reunited, likes to tell how the Senator then journeyed to Hancock and bought all the provisions in a store there and sent them to his brother. Robert Hill remained there and reared his family of five children until his death. most unusual auction call—which West prop= erly doubles. Correct contract bidding, under any system, would arrive at the same final point, but more quickly. When West opened his 7 of hearts—the cor- rect lead in view of his partner having bid that suit first—it looked as if the declarer was in for a thrashing. Apparently a club must be lost in addition to the ace of trumps. Edwin P. Skillman, who played this hand in the tour- nament of the Advertising Club of New York recently, refused to. accept defeat without first canvassing the situation, It was plain that the lone club in the South hand could not be discarded on anything held by the dummy. The one chance, then, was to discard the two losing clubs from the dummy hand. There was a possibility of this if West held all of the three outstanding trumps. In that event, however, the discards must be made before the other side’ got in with the trump lead; otherwise declarer would be set one trick, The king of diamonds was led, East’s jack appearipg, and the small diamond to the ace brought forth the queen. Now came the big test. The 10 of diamonds was led. West fol- lowed suit, North discarded a club and—Allah be praised!—East could not trump, but had to discard. The 9 of diamonds now furnished a .discard of the remaining club, and the worry was over. There was no longer any earthly way whereby the adversaries could take any trick :‘xleem the trump ace, and the contract was e. Thé New Problem. HAT would you lead, as West, from the following hand, if North had opened the bidding with one spade and South had taken him out with two diamonds, which became the final contract? What if South had opened with one heart, North had bid one spade and South two diamonds, which became the final con- tract? Why? 49753 WK4S @82 Guard Food and >Dru'gs. ON! of the really important services rendered to the people of the country, and a service which goes on unheeded but nevertheless effi- ciently, is the guarding of the food and drug supplies of the Nation. This work, which is carried on under the direction of the Depart- ment of Agriculture, keeps a constant vigil over the supplies that are being sold to the public, and infractions of any of the various strict regulations bring about prompt correc- tive measures. A recent illustration of the Government's activities is the case of & New England whole- sale drug concern which sold digitalis and nux vomica misbranded as to their strength. The HE653 - latter was twice as strong as its label indicated, and as strychnine is the principal alkaloid of the compound the double strength was dane gerous, for strychnine, while a valuable stimue lant in proper proportions, is dangerous in over- doses, becoming an active poison. ‘The digitalis, used in treating heart trouble, was only half strength, and would have resulted seriously if used at a doctor’s direction in which the dose was based on the strength the label indicated. The company selling the misbranded drugs was fined after pleading guilty to the charge. Packing Industry Grows. Tfll meat-packing industry during 1929 showed a tremendous gain in value of product over the preceding census year of 1927, the total value of the output, $3,394,672.995, being 11 per cent higher than the 1927 figures, Fresh beef, with over four and half billion pounds, led all other products, but this was a decrease of 9 per cent, although the value in dollars was up 13 per cent. The meat-packing industry has long been held up as one which exploits to the full the by-product utilization possibilities offered dur- ing the processing of the meats. Figures for 1929 well illustrate this. Sausage casings netted the industry $21,809,000. Lard to a total weight of 2,000,000,000 pounds yielded $246.000.¢00. Hides, skins and pelts returned more than $110,000,000. Wool produced nearly $20,000,000, . and even the hair from the hides of hogs and cattle brought in more than $1,000.000. Miscellaneous by-products not specifically classified accounted for nearly a quarter of a biflion dollars of the return to the industry. Science in Pecan Growing. THE restless quest of science after more facts and the refusal to “let well enough alone™ has shown the pecan grower how to increase his crop by a substantial percentage by the proper care of the trees after they have become established. The old idea that it is only necessary to help a tree to become well rooted and then leave the rest to Nature has been upset. ¢ Tests carried on by Department of Agrie culture tree experte hswe siypwn that pecans which are cultivated, fertilized and given covere crop organic matter thrive far more luxuriantly than those which are allowed to develop by themselves. The increased output yields a well worthwhile profit even after deductions for the cost of labor and material in the extra work.