The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 17, 1896, Page 27

HE American public little know how nezr they came to losing Mark Twain, their greatest humorist, by his becoming a pocket-miner, and if it had not been for a heavy rain the probabilities are that Twain would to-day be still panning out on Jackass Hili. camp that the humorist got bis jumping- frog story, which brought bim promi- nently before the public as 2 writer. Asthe incidents leading up to his celebrity as a writer are extremely humorous in them selves, and as they bave never been wri ten, I will take this o n 1o set them before the public. Mark had been reporting on the San Francisco Carr, and becoming tired of newspaper work he thought he would try the mines, Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County. and got acquainted with Jim Gillis, then as well as | now a leac miner. He found Gillis a 15SE) fiemmmq 1t was close by this famous mining | Accordingly he dropped into | 4, PockgT Mmer{. every once in a while whirling the water round and round in his pan, an astonished expression settled on his face. He panned the dirt down very fine, aud did not even find a ‘color.’” He sat on the side of the panhole for a short time, apparently lost in profound meditation, and then looking across at the frog sternly, remarked, ‘You —— green-coated, white-bellied cuss, if you ever interfere in my business again I will kill you.’ Jack then picked up a | rock and hurled it at the frog, who avoided | the deadly missile by diving to the bottom of the hole. Jack started for another pan and when he got back the frog was not in | sight. Jack set to work panning again | and was rewarded by finding two ounces | of gold in the pan. "He then departed for | the mine in a more cheerful frame of mind after carefully looking to see that the frog ‘was not in sight. ick Stoker happened along and in- "q\lired why Jack was ruining the panhole. Jack then related the outrageous conduct of the frog and seriously sccused Diek and | the other miners of meanly, through | jealousy and envy, inciting that froe to | bewitching the gold out of his van. Dick | could not mollify him, and Jack stated | that he would not only kill the frog, but all the frog’s friends. =~ Stoker told the af- | fair as a good joke to the boys, but it did THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 17, 1896. cold victuals. This is satisfactory to Charley, and he devotes his whole time to his flock. There is only one way to get into Char- ley’s place, and that is not very biz. The door 1s under a porch, and in_front of it are a number of boxes that Charley uses for tables. The inside of the coop is not more than five feet high and seven feet square. In one corner there is a pile of straw and rags that serves Charley for a bed, and the rest of the place is filled with roosts. Itis here that he spends most of his time looking after the chickens. There is quite a flock, and Charley feeas them and attends to the setting Lens and youn, chicks. He has not much to do, an spends the rest of his time sleeping in the corner. Charley has had his job for over a year, and is proud of the fact that he has never lost a single fowl. They are all very tame, and will fly on the bench while he is at his meals. If one ventures many feei away from the door Le has only to whistle to bring it back. As for stealing one at night, that would be absolutely impossi- ble, for Cnarley would be wide awake at the first sound. TALE OF THE ANIMATED JUG. Told by Captain O'Haver, the Prince of Wales of the Memphis Police Force. ““Several years ago,” the captain began, “Bill Pryde and I had to go to Little Rock to appear as witnesses in a burglary trail. One mile this side of the town of Carlisle, Ark., there was a freight wreck. The cars were torn up and the track was twisted. There were very poor facilities for clearing | the track, and Bill and I saw it sticking 5 out plain that we would has |in the woods all day if we waited for the | track to be cleared. We might have stood | it all right, but we couldn’t get anything to drink. | to the next town. We were delighted to | find that Carlisle was only a mile farther. | That was just like having drinks sent up | down the track for the town. | “We walked down the main street and kindred nd the two formed a |notseem so funny when a day or two later . e Gillis, who is noted as a|Jack madea murderous attempt on the | toyour room, and Pryde and I struck ous SR er tires of telling how funny lives of two of his brother miners by hurl- vmu-nle«lr, ir = | ing big rocks down on them at the bottom Twain w | of a shaft. He savs the humorist was never more 2 n when angry. *“After I had in- Mark in the mysteries of pocket- ng,” says Mr. Gillis, “we went into partnersbip in a claim on what is now known as Thompsons Hill. One cold winter morning, when gold, grub and i else had run very short, we went to work. I had dugz out two pans of dirt and got a very good prospect when s heavy rain came on. To this was added a cold north wind. One can rever appre- ciate b cold it is panning out ona morning like that unless he has had the 1] experience. Twain stood by squeal- T stuck pig about the cold weather. ‘Oh, come, Jim, let’s go hom s nothing in the —— grouna any .' I had just dug another pan of dirt had started to wash it when he began to bellow again, and this time I threw the dirt out on the side of the hill and started for home with bim. “It continued to rain for four days, and we did not go back to the claim, taking a trip to Angeis Camp shortly after. At that time a mining lccation was only good for one month if it was not worked. The pan of dirt that I threw on the hillside was wasked out by the rain, and it con- tained five ounces of gold. Two Austrians that w saw it and waited a our notice to run out, relocated out $10,000 in two days. Thus 10w near Mark came to get- i pocket and becoming a pocket-miner. “Shortly sfter this we started from Mur- phys Camp for Angels. An hour after we started it became very dark and began to rain in torrents. We had only gone a short way when we discovered we were on ng road by running into a pile of ush. We retraced our steps to the road had left and there discovered two roads. “As there were a good many brush roads that country at the time, we agreed to separate, each’taking a different road, and as'soon as one discovered his to be the road he was to notify the other by ng. In a short time I heard voice calling me. I went back and took his road. When I got up to where he was he was seated on a fence, surrounded by a lot of dogs, barking and apping at him. Mark had accidentally found an Italian vegetable garden. men of the ranch followed their dogs out, but as none of them could speak English it did not benefit us an; I actually think they took us for robbe: When I asked Twain to come on to the other road he would not stir, but sut there and cursed the United States Government for allow- ing anybody to come here who could not talk the English language. Although he sat there in a heavy rain, howling like a coyote against the G vernment, foreigners and everything vertaining to foreigners, I throughly enjoyed it and even forpot the rain. We finally found the road and got to Angels a_little before 12 o’clock, but all efforts to divert Twain’s mind from any- thing else but the Government and those glish-speaking Italians were futile, were nicely tucked in a warm bed in Angels but a short time when the fire- bells began to ring for New Year's da; v, Sam,’ I saia, ‘let’s exchange keep- | ‘Well, all I've got is a button,’ he He handed me the button and I gave him a dime. Many years after I re- ceived a letter from him stating that he still retained my keepsake; but I always suspicion that 1t went over the bar g. It was here Clemens I3 umping-frog story, and it actually occurred. It was in the leading hotel there that a frog-jnmping match was ar- ranged, while one of the I:Arlicnpams loaded his opponent’s frog with shot. _ “‘We had an eccentric character on the hill named Jack Joyce. Jack's eccen- tricity frequently crossed the border line and finaliy resuited in positive msanity; but Le was regarded kindly by the little community of pocket-miners, and his many escapades were only laughed at, no | one thinking that possibly he might be a dangerous character. Jack was a firm be- liever in witches and spirits and the occult knowledge of birds and animals, and a hater of every man whom he thought pos- sessed more intelligence than nimself; and one of his stereotyped remarks, made in all earnestness, was that such and such & man was ‘too smart to live,” Jack had a thorough contempt for the recognized mode of searching for pockets and placed bis dependence on the guidance of sglriu and jaybirds and Jacobs (a little black wood pecker who gets his name from his peculiar ery of ‘Jacob! Jacob!"). “One day Jack notified one of his friends, Dick Stoker, that he had received a com- bined pointer from a Jaybird and a Jacob, and was sure of striking a handsome pocket of gold, 8o he shouldered his pick, pan and shovel and started for his hidden treasure. An hour or two later Jack was observed stirring up a panful of earth and quartz in the large ‘panhole’ which was the common property of the miners on the hill. Shortly he was heard to give a whoop and to sing out with the whole strength of his lungs, ‘Struck it!’ And he bad, for in the bottom of his pros- pecting-pan lay three or four ounces of shining gold. He deposited his find in an empty oyster-can and rushed back to his diggings for another pan of dirt. “In the panhole a littie spring frog had made his home, and as Ee was a very reticent frog and a frog that mindea bis own business and never interfered with that of others he was never disturbed by the miners, but was aliowed to enjoy his little life in peace and comfort. ““When Jack got back with his second pan of dirt the frog was sitting on the op- posite side of the water-hole, panting in the warm sun. As Jack stooped to put his pan in the hole the frog, contrary to his usual custom of Keeping his mouth shut 2nd attending to his own business, ejacu- lated in a loud, squeaky tone, ‘Struck it! struck it!” Jack locked up with great surprise at the oflicious remark of the frog and contemptuously observed, ‘Oh, yes, .struck it! ou are just like the balance of the — smarti-s on the Hill. Yon are very wise after the event. You saw by my first pan that I nad struck it, and now you want to play yourself off fora prophet.’ Then Jack proceeded to finish his pan. As be wuhecf the dirt lower and lower, The | This opened the eyes of the men as to his dangerous condition of mind, and they bad him arrested and | taken to Sonora, whence he was con- | signed to the insane asvlum at Stockton. “Jack, on his examination, admitted |then up and down all the others, and never a place did we see where a man could get a drink. Finally we inquired of a citizen if there was a drop of liquor sold in the town. The man looked uneasy and to stay there | So we inquired how far it was | INDIANA' POLITICS AND POLITICIANS, A State Where the Women Are as Bitter Partisans as the Men. GOVERNOR MATTHEWS' BOOM. A Hoosier Statesman Who Has the President'al Bee in His Bonnet. The esoteric meaning, as a certain cult would say, of Governor Claude Matthews’ candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President is that Indiana intends to have a good deal to say in the Chicago convention. Matthews is & man of con- siderable ability and his ambition in the direction of political preferment reaches to two if not three terms in the White House. But heis too good a politician to play a losing game. That is to say, if he finds that a rival candidate is pretty sure of the nomination he would abanaon his own place in the race and work like a beaver for the other fellow, but the price of the Indiana delegation and his other following woula be nothing less than a mortga:e upon the Federal paironage in his State. The chief end of man, accord- ing to the Indiana Democracy’s catechism, is to hold public office, with a *“pull” ag the next best thinz. The good fortune happened to me sev- eral years ago, during the Blaine-Cleve- | land campaign, to be assigned to Indiana as staff correspondent of a metropolitan an S .’/lll | | | | \) & & R o Wy 3 A e “There I saw Mark scated on a fence and a lot of dogs barking and snarling at him.” | that he had made up his mind some | weeks previonsly to kill all the miners on the Hill with one exception as opportun- ity offered, and that the incident of the frog had merely precipitated matters. When questioned as to the exception he =aid: At first [ made up my mind to kill 'em all, but after gemng better acquainted with that Sam Clemens Ifound out he | was such a —— fool that he was not worth | killing.”” J. J. McDaip, [LIVES IN A 2 CHICKEN-COOP, THE VERY QUEER HABITATION | THAT CHARLEY GEORGE CALLS His HoME, | The home of Charley George, on Broad- | way, near Dupont street, is not a large | one. Neither is it very clean or well lighted. The other inmates are not such as most people would desire, and they oc- casionally make & good deal of noise. To tell the truth Charley lives in a chicken- | coop. It is near the end of the alley that runs Charley Always Eats Surrounded by His Flock. [From a skelch.] back from 612 Broadway, and crowded un- der one of the oldest buildings there. A more undesirable vlace of residence would be hard to find. And yet Charley says he is comfortably fixed and would be sorry to be turned out. The chicken-coop does mnot belong to Charley, nor do the chickens, but in con- sideration for taking care of them heis allowed to sleep in the same place they do, aud is also given a certain quantity of said: ‘Not since the local option law went into effect.’ Then we tumbled. After | walking a mile we had struck a dry town. | There wasn't even any icewater, Pryde and I were both accustomed to looking for blind places, but try as hard as we could we couldn’t find any hole that looked like a ‘tiger.’ Our mouth were as dry as bones. The day after local option carried 1h Carlisle the town well went dry out of syrmpathy. We were in despair when we met a friend. He opened our eyes by tell. ing us that we had been recognized.” The story had immediately gone around the town that some Memphis policemen had been bired to come to Carlisie and run out the blind tigers. Ten minutes after we struck the town every blind tiger in the place was closed as’ tight as our fist, and the proprietors had all left the country. Our friend said that while we were tapping on doors end looking into stairways some of the good citizens of the town were quaking in their shoes, How- ever, he told us that he would put us on to something. He directed us to a little frame house in an 1solated part of the town, and told us if we would work the thing right we could get a drink there; in fact several of them. ““We joyously started for the Iittle house and boited in. There was only oneroom so far as we could see. In the center way a table. On the table was a jug, a bowl of sugar, a _pitcher of water and several glasses. Pryde and I walked right up and were just going to pour out a few fingers when' right before our eyes that jug be- gan to soar aloft. ‘Grabit!’ I hollered to Pryde, butit was too late. From the way the jug hung in the air, I thought it must have a string tied to the handle. In a seg- ond it was outof sight. ““Well,” put in the reporter. *‘the pitcher of water was still there, wasn’t it?"’ The captain only indulged in a pained look and continued: “Bili and 1 wanted a drink worse than ever then, for we haa smelt it and almost tasted it. We were almost wild when Bill was struck by a happy thonght. ‘Blow your breath, Geurge, blow your breath ! he exclaimed excitedly. I found a quarterin my clothes and laid it on the table. You may not be. lieve it, but the jug came back as'if it had dropped from theceiling. Thistime I dis- tinctly saw_the string tied to the handle. ‘We poured out our stuff and were so thirsty that we did not notice half how bad it was. The rest of the story is short. Every time we wanted some more we laid down a quarter and hit the jug. Aftera while we thought we and the jug were good friends, and Pryde suggested that we try and see if we couldn’t work it without putting up a quarter, just for the fun of the thing. We voted down that scheme, how- ever, for we were afraid the jug might get mad next time and not come’ back. Well, when we left we had few r quarters and the jug wasn't nearly so hard to lift by the string as it was when we came in.”’—Mem- phis Commereial Appeal. —_—— Misunderstood. “Woula you like to take a chance?” asked the timid, rosy-cheeked maiden of the stranger at the church fair. “Would 1?”’ exclaimed the stranger ra- diantly. “Well, I should say I would, but—"’ his voice fel! to whisper and the eager light in his eyes died to a faraway, sad expression, “I am already married."" ‘Washington Times, daily. It was not by any means my first experience in that kind of work, but I am free to say one will know more about prac- tical politics after spendin: & month in Indiana during a Presidential campaign than he would learn in any other State “doing’’ a half dozen campaigns. What at first surprised me most was the intense and bitter partisanship of the women of 1l parties.” I went to a little city in the northern part of the State one day to report a grand rally of Republicans. Calkins, candidate for Governor, General Harrizon, Governor Porter and a host of other distinguished speakers were adver- tied to be on hand, which they were not, but the announcement served to draw an ) evidently to escape from the enraged woman. I was interested, of course, for 1 had no dounbt that the woman had taken advantage of the occasion to get even with him for reasons not at all political. I ran a great big ‘‘buster head” nc{ item in the incident, but the woman disabused my mind of there being a *‘racy item’” when she yelled loud enough to be heard a mile: “The ungrateful wretch! To think that a son e{ mine would disgrace me by anding the streets with a Black Repub- ican club. I would thrash him if he wetre as big as a mountain.”’ : A few days after this little affair I went down to Shelbyville to reporta Democratic barbecue. It was advertised to be the ‘“‘biggest thing’’ ot the campaign—and it was. Fully 20,600 of the unterrified were on hand, and Senator Voorhees, Isaac P. Gray, candidate for Governor, ‘‘Saddle- bags” McDonald, “*Objector’” Holman and other big Democratic guns were on band to preach the gospel of volitics according to General Jackson, for whom not a few Shelby County Democrats were still voting for President.” After some delay the pro- cession started for a_grove a mile away to feast upon barbecued meat and listen to sound Democraticdoctrine, The long line of hungry patriots came to an abrupt stop after marching a little way and there appeared to be a commotion at the head of the colurun. I hastily moyed to the front and upon asking, “What's the trouble?” I was informed that “A Blaine banner is stretched across the street down there, and as it is against the principles of a Shelby County Democrat to march under a banner of that kind we have sent a committee to notify tbe Republican bosses of this town that if that banner 1s not down in five minutes we will tear it down. Thisis Democratic day in Shelbyville and things have to go our way.” Before the five minutes were up the Blaine banner had been hauled in, and the line of hungry Democrats was on the march for the barbecue pits. A newspaper man told a joke after the crowd had reached the grove which came very near costing him a thrashing that he would have remembered all the days of his life. He said a colporteur told him a few days be- fore that he, the colporteur, was making a | tour of Shelby County, distributing re- | ligious literature; that he accosted a farmer in the highway and asked him if he was standing up for Jesus Christ. After a few moments of anxious thought, as if trying to recall something he had forgotten, the | old farmer said: “I believe I've hearn of | that feller afore, but I can’t jest locate him. But that don’t make no difference, mister. 1f he is any kin to Tom Hendricks and is a-rannin’ for sgomethin’, you can bet that critter you're ridin’ that I am ‘standin’ up’ for him.” Dan Voorhees, better known as the Tall Sycamore of the Wabash, came home to help entertain the rank and file, but some | vainful reminiscences were being huried at him, to which he did not venture a reply. During the war Voorhees was | under suspicion of being one of the ring- leaders of the order of Southern sympa- thizers known as the Knights oi the Golden Circle, and one day ‘‘Daniel talked too much with his mouth,” as an old soldier expressed it to me. Voorhees was on a Vandalia train en route to Terre Haute and on the same train were a lot of | old soldiers poing home on a furlough. When it was found that the Tall Sy more was a fellow-passenger some one su gested that they hang him then and there. Buiting the action to the word. the belirope of the train was quickly hauled | in and a hangman’s noose that would | about fit Voorhees' neck was made, and | but for the prompt interference of cooler | heads his political career would have been | out off before he reached the next station. Another thing that bothered Holman, Voorhees andthe other “dyed-in-the-wool" | Democratic leaders was the way lsaac P. Gray, candidate for Governor, was draw- ing Democrats to his side, and who per- sisted in .making a Democratic bero of him. Before the ‘‘Greeley movement’ Gray was known to be the most rabid Re- publican and the most bitter and uncom- Yromising hater of Democrats in Indiana. n a stump specch, on one occasion, he | said if he were a member of the Legisia- ture, he would introduce a bill making it a penitentiary offense for a Democrat, man or woman, 10 marry one of the “emanci- pated.” His purpose would be, he said, to protect ignorant and unsuspecting col- ored people aeainst such depraved influ- ences as would naturally low upon and about them from social contact with In- diana Democrats. But Gray was a thor- ough politician and selfish to the endso his fingers. He had peen in turn a Free- Soiler, a Know-Nothing, a “rebel-exter- minating” soldier Republican, a Republi- can politic an, a Greeleyite and a Bourbon Democrat, but in and throush it all he was for I-aac P. Gray, first, tast and all the | time. He had that most desirable pift, which is such a tower of strength in the professional politician. He never forzot names or faces, and he was the best baby- kisser that ever pulled the wool over the eyes of a Hoosier voter. Hendricke is dead, McDonald is dead, Gray is dead, Hoiman is completely played out, Senator Voorhees is now measured at his true worth—a ward poli- tician possessing great National power. Senator Turpie, one of the most scholarly men in the Senate, is aitogether the most indifferent Indianian as concerning | political preferment. Thus it will be seen Claude Matthews' political lines are cast in pleasant places for an aspiring politician, and, as he possesses the dignity of Hendricks, the cunning of Gray and a_good deal of the spread-eagle oratory of Voorhees, he has reason for be- lieving that he is in a position to demand a good deal at the handsof the Chicago convention. Besides, the Golden Cirele charges could not be rung on him, for at least one of the very prominent Repubh- can politicians of Indiana wasa member CLAUDE MATTHEWS, GOVERNOR OF INDIANA. immense crowd. By a"nh% excitement was at a high pitch, and the fighting con- tingent of both parties was waiting impa- tiently for the ball to open. 5 About this time a torchlight procession, headed by the Blaine Club of the county, turned the corner into the main street to be reviewed by the bosses. Near me stood a woman_ of fine appearance and well dressed. Like a flash she darted into the nrett} jerked the torch from the hand of one of the “‘club,’”’ a youth, and pounded him unmercifully with the pole of his | torch. The fellow ran to the sidewalk, of the order before he was converted to Republicanism. My word for it, Indiana poflfichns forget more about practical politics every day than those of some Btates ever knew or could know in a year. ARMOND. A remedy for the removal of insects from a conservatory iway oe found, with- out destroying the littie intruder, by con- centrating tobacco smoke for a 1ew min- utes and then to open the sashes, thus allowing them an opportunity to escape. | 8-Q,7.10.5, H.—K.10, 7, 2. C.—8. 0—A,9, 3. 27 PN [All communications concerning whist, an- swers to problems, etc., should be addressed “Whist Editor,” CALL, City.] A gentleman atthe “post mortem” table in the rooms of the Trist Duplicate Whist Club the other evening remarked after the play of the deal was over: “If there is one thing that bothers me more than an- other it is to know just the time to stop leading from the suit I originally open. For example, I lead thie ace, then king. Now, whether to go on once more or not with the same suit is where I am weak.” With all beginnersat whist this is a crit- ical position. What should you do? If youa wish to do right, as a general rule push the suit the third time. It is a certainty that one of the other three can tramp. It is not possible for this suit to go around more than twice without some one being out, ace followed by king never being led originally except from five cards in suite, Your object in opening high caras from a long suit 1s to take all the tricks you can and win with the smaller ones later in the play of the deal—after the suit is estab- lished, If the queen don’t fall on your ace and king lead your suit is blocked, and tbe remaining cards in your hand cannot be brought in until this card is out of the way. Of course the chances are two to one that your partner has not got it. If he has not he can trump if he wishesor pass, a sure trick, which, in whist, has a very significant meaning. In other worde, the information vyou get, no matter what happens, is so valuable that you can always consider it good whist play to go on with the suit. If the leader held ace, king, queen and two or more, after leading the queen—the correct opening—he should, if he holds four trumps, lead them at once; he holds only three it is generally right to lead them after leading the queen; if the | leader only holds two trumps it is better to go on with your suit for the second round; then “switch.”” When the leader opens with a trump for the purpose of exhausting his opponents to bring in a long suit keep up the lead long enough to accomplish what you start out to do; if you find one of your adversaries very weak, holding only one, 1t is not ai- ways right to go on then; or, we might put it stronger and say it is not ‘‘gener- ally” right.” If at any time during the play of a hand you see the possibility of a | cross ruff get the lead at any cost and lead a trump, no matter how many you hold. A great deal can be said on this subject, and the textbooks on the game overlook it. THE CaLn will be pleased to receive a few lines from Mr. Trist. Cavendish, Fisher Ames, Milton C.. Work, Gereral Dravson, George L. Bunn, or our whist queen, Miss Kate Wheelock. We are trying hard to point the way to the goal and a mite from any or all of the above great authorities will be “casting bread upon the waters.” We give below a very interesting deal that came in _play 1n a match game in the rooms of the Trist Club. Tue CaLn offers a prize of a whist book for the best analysis of the play. No inno- vations on the opening lead will be recog- nized in our determination of who gives the best analysis: 3 | —Q, Que en of Diamonds trump. West to lead. Among the many very interesting arti- cles in Whist for April we quote the follow- ing from a letter of Major-General A, W. Drayson, who is recognized as one of the best writers on the game now living: In my very young days, when my partner at whist made a series of biunders, I attributed his mistakes to ina i as to whether he played well or badly. on, when the same or similar errors were com- mitted, I concluded that mental laziness was the cause, and that my pariner had never troubled himself to study the principles of whist. Eventually I bave come to the conclu- sion that just as different guns have a greater or less range, so there are various mental or- ganizations ' which differ in their range or capacity as much as do our ean- non. In eiectricity there s & quantity and intensity, or, to put this in a more popular form, there is brandy above and Polow proof. 'No mount of brandy below proof will produce the same results as a very £mall amount of brandy sbove proof. So with the mind. No amount of thought, where quantity alone exists, will yield the results which are obtained by a small amount of thought where intensity is present. No amount of study of whist will make the man possessing only & quantity brain the equal a8 a whist-player of the man gifted with in- tensity. The former may play & fairly good game (if he has studied),” he may not make any very great blunders and he may be a satisiactory artner, but he can never rise to the condi- ion of play which, disregaraing all rule, wiil enablo him o win'or save & game by 'some brilliant coup. Such a proceeding would be beyond his mental range. ANSWERS TO QUERIES. We have received several letters of in- quiry in regard to the arrangements for the Brooklyn Whist Congress. In answer we will state that the congress will meet at the Oriental Hotel, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, on Monday, Juve 22, and con- tiuue in session during the entire week. The arrangements are in charge of the league’s tournament committee, which ts of Robert H. Meems of Brookiyn (chairman), E. T. Baker of Brooklyn, Milton C. Work of Philadelphia, John T, Mitchell of Chicago, E. Le Roy Smith of Albany and P.J. Tormey of San Fran- cisco. No doubt there will be at least 800 layers take part in the various matches. E‘heu will be nine general contests as follows: Contest for the Hamilton trophy for the year 1896-97. Contest for the first possession of the Ameri- can Whist League trophy for the year 1896-97. Contest for the Minneapolis trophy for pairs representing league clubs. ontest for the Brooklyn trophy for teams revresenting auxiliary associations. Contest at progressive whist for fours, tricks to determine. 3 Contest at progressive whist 'for fours, matches to determine. Contest Mfimgruuive whist for pairs. 5 Free for all contest between the East and West at duplicate whist. :inz for all contest at progressive straight ‘whis With the exception of the first day there will be matches both aiternoon and evening. Every individual whist-player that visits Brooklyn, if he be a member of a club be- longing to the American Wkist League, can have all the whist play he wants. He can enter and playin five of the above contests by reporting to any member of the tournament committee. It 1s theduty of this committee to see that every visitor to the congress plays all the whist he cares to. If anyone from this section wants information in regard to cost, ete., of get- ting there, or what the entire round trip will cost, our whist editor will send a cir- cular giving in detail all this information. No. Whist playing for money in the rooms of the Trist Club at any time or under any circumstances subjects the offender 10 immediate expulsion. The initiation fee is $2 50, dues §1 a month, and 1 lovers of the game can join if their so- cial standing is go d. We are asked by our correspondent in Hollister what are considered the best and proper leads from the following in plain suits: Ace, queen, jack, one or more. King, jack, ten, one or more. Queen, jack, ten, one or more. Jack, ten, nine, one or more. Our answer is, stick to the textbook. The first, lead ace, follow with queen, if! four in suit; but with five in suit, lead ace and follow with juck. Second—Lead ten with four or five in suit. ’;“hiru~Lead queen with four or five in suit. Fourth—Lead the fourth best. You will findamong amateurs a few who know more than the books. Our advice is to keep in the path that you know will get you there safe; don’t go ¥ 'cross lots,”” We have tried it, and have generally fallen in a hole. No! Nooneis allowed to look at the last trick or any one card of the last trick afrer they have all been once turned and quitted. In duplicate whist, as long as there is one card that is not turned the rest can be seen by any or every one at the table. There isa severe penalty attached to the violation of the above, which is, a suit may be called from the one offend- ing or his partner the first time it is the turn of either of them to lead. This pen- alty can be enforced only by the adversary on the right of the player from whom a suit can lawfully be called. If the suit is called by the wrong party no penalty can be_exacted. Yes, there are two ways of ‘‘revoking, one of which is not generally known. One is not following suit when you can; the other is not complying with the terms of a. venalty. For example: A player looks 3 tbe last trick—or last card if in"duplic and becomes liable to a penalty; a suit is called, say hearts. If he plays anything else and has a heart he has “revoked.” A “quint’ is five cards in sequence; a “quart” is four cards in sequence;a ‘‘tierce” is three cards in sequence;a “quint minor” is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; a “‘quint major” is ace, king, q jack, ten. es. The Master ““Cavendish” will be at the Brooklyn congress. The whist ed- itor of THE CALL receiv d a letter from Robert H. Weems, corresponding secre- tary of the American Whist League, say ing: “Cavendish will arrive from England on the 13th of June and will sail for home again on the 4th of July, and I will accom- him.” N. B. Trist, the father of “American Leads,” will also be there. Yes. We know of several from this who will be at the Brooklyn congre least four and probably five from th Ciub will be present. WHISTLETS. The St. Nicholas Hotel Whist Club meets every Friday night in the ladies’ arlor of the hotel. The whist editor of HE CaLL was nicely enter ed there last week. The evening’s play was pro- gressive mnemonic duplicate. Every whist-player on the Pacific Coast can have a sample copy of Whist for May by sending his address'to the whist editor of this paper. Mr. E. C. Hill and Mr. d’Arcy acknowl- edze receipt of CALL prizes. Miss Kate Wheelock, the whist queen, in a letter to our whist editor says: “I ap- preciste the article on ‘Fads,’ for I am in a city, as you welil know, where they are used more than any other place in the country, and the poor beginner trying to do woat the experts only can.” A match game for the Rideout trophy was played in the rooms of the San Fran- cisco Whist Club Saturd. May 9. Mr, George A. Singer of the Trist Club acted as referee in the absence of President P.J. Tormey. It was a very close game and great credit is due to the Vallejo club for putting up such a strong game. They evidently got “rattled” in the last round and only lost the match by five tricks. The team revresenting the Vallejo club were: F.J. Waiter, C. F. Colvin, D. W. Harrier, A. Pennycook. The San Francisco team were: George E. Bates, H. C. Richards, D. R. Wilson, A. D. Eyre. The following schedule shows the full score, divided into deals of eight: At e Trist | 1| 2] 8| & 8 6 7 5 Towl I"o| 2|0l 1| 0{ 1[0 8 0l 0} 1 3 o100 1 Vailejo. [ " Deals. 117118 1';‘.!0 212228 fivl‘Totll San Francisco....| 0| 0| 0 2 0 0| 0 4 Valleio. 1j 1] o of of 1i 2| 5 Deals. |2526|27|28 28| 30| 31| 32 Total 3711700/ 1|00 o/ Vallejo olof110 160 3 " Deals. 18318435 3673738890 Total San Francl: "o Vallejo.. Deals. 170/ 0| 0l o] of 0 ‘_) ol 0 B Francisco. Total gain for Valiejo.. 2 o Net gain for San Francisco. . Mrs, Lillian Blake, Mrs. A. H. Keeler and Mrs. C. Buhne of the Trist Club bave left for the East. They will all be in at- tendance at the Brookiyn Whist Congress, The April number of Whist gave a‘‘ Yar- borough” hand held by Mr. E. Le Roy Smith of Alban)y, N. Y., as follows: In a ‘‘compass’” match in the Trist Club rooms Saturday evening, May 9, Deal No, 18, East dealt and turned up the three of hearts. His hand was as follows: Spades—7, 5, 8, 2. Hearts—8, 5, 3. Clubs—7, 6, 4. Diamonds 4, 2. Practical Helen. Heler is 7 years old. The other day she came into the house with a thoughtful face and the question, “Mamma, what is stepmother?” After the explanation had been made she pondered the matter for a moment, then a lizht came into her eyes, and she said with a satisfied sigh, *'Well, mamma, if God ever takes you to be with him, I'l} ask papa to marry Aunut Sally, and save us children the trouble of getting sc- quainted with a stranger.”—New York World. ————————————————————— NEW TO-DAY. TOBACCO CAUSGD CONSUMPTION. Used 8% Pounds of Tobacco Weekly for Thirty-Two Years. Takes No=To=-Rac—Gets Quick Cure— Gains 4234 Pounds—Consumption Gone, Two RIVERS, Wis., May 16.—Great excitement 15 being manifested over the miraculous recovs ery of Mr. Joseph Bunker, who for several years has been considered a hopeless consump- tive, Investigation shows that for over thirty- two years he used threeand a half pounds of tobacco a week. A short time ago he was in duced to {ry a tobacco habit cure called “No- To-Bac.” Talking about his cure to-day he said: *Yes, I used No-To-Bac and two boxes completely cured me. I thought, and so did all my friends, that I had consumption. Now they say, as you say, ‘how healthy and strong vou 100k, Jog,' and whenever they ask me what cued my consumption I tell them No-To-Bac. The last'week I used tobacco I lost four ponnds. The morning I began the use of No-To-Bac I weighed 126)4 pounds; to-day I weigh 169, a gain of 4215 pounds. 1 eat heartily and sleep welil. Before I used No-To-Bac I was so nerv. ous that when I went to drink I had to hold the glass in both hands. To-day my nervesare perfecily steady. Where did I get No-To-Bac? At the drugstore. Itis made by the Steriing Remedy Co., Chicago, Montreal and New York, who will meil the famous booklet ‘Don’t To- bacco Spit and Smoke Your Life Away,’ writ- ten guarantee and free sample for the asking, All druggists sell No-To-Bac under absoluté guarantee to cure.” AR ‘The most certain and safe Pain Remody. Instantly Telleves and s00n cures all Colds, Hoarseness, Sare Throat, Brouchitis, Congestions and Inflammae tons. 90c per boitle. Sold by Drugglsta