The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 20, 1902, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALTL. ALANCING nimbly on one shapely leg for minutes and minutes at a time, while twisting the other in & frou of snow-white lingerie, ty little English girl make up the Pony ballet at the Or- w pheum this week are showing the fascin- st result of the unique training they have received from London’s most famous ballet master, Professor Von Tiller. clever Jot, eight pretty of the Pony ballet. The s perfectly devilish. In ts and spangies, of lace and throats ming shoulders, of late suppers diamonds, rich gowns and_costly f gay young _suitors and doddering old roues, and all the myste- rious allurements of the greenroom. Sad- disappointing though it may seem, . popular _tradition is = myth to the eight pretty litt is of the Pony ballet as to any hc one else Nevertheless the name fits them like a Not one of them is more than 17 glove years old nor more than five feet in height. The heaviest welghs less than 130 and yet they are all marveis of endurance, grace and agllity. are so very peiite and y and diminutive that they were called the Pony ballet. The name is ly expressive. They are as high-spir- i unmanageable as young coits, like the name so well that they ad it copyrighted. And now, woe many imitators who have been ating, not only their speclaities, the name itself. v there were sixteen little Eng- in the Pony ballet, but for their in America Lederer the prettiest. This veyor of extravaganzas want- to learn all our ways and make ves thoroughly at home. He su very well in his ambition. precocious pupils from the very em on as they discovered what a gold f opportunity American vaudeville is they decided -on a masterstroke ; n enterprise. They cast restraint and deserted gerial man was super- They would have no more r they would conduct the s on the socialistic plan. inted the oldest to act as and interview _theatrical gements. The result {0 a vote of the whole majority rules. It was a but the plan has well for a year now. the training of the Pony bal- wondrous process. It fs not al! iry poses and silk fleshings. If k it is, just try the little five- e shown on the bottom of this hat you have to do is to stand on one foot, raise the other @ horizonta! position and hold it with the foot pointed straight out you while vyou point a saucily ning finger at your arched toes. This est your nerves. Simple, fsn't it? efore you practice this very long you will jearn that the art of pointing a pret- tily arched foot is a study of years in itself. It is rarely brought to perfection eve: the Pony ballet. for it requires much assistance and long and careful STRENGTHEN THE Bony, <L ERRNING 7o Tumn CTAR rwHEE 9 ” And now, whisper: Here is the 85 of the pretty little Ponies. They train each other. One of them tak dancer in both hands nkle with one hand, the foot of the Holding it by the e bends the toes down and back into a perfect arch with the other, and then keeping it securely in that position she twists the whole leg FLEXING from front to back with that peculiar THE corkscrew motion that makes the ballet dancer so fascinating in all her poses. LEe 7 When you have learned-that your next For s lesson will be high kicking. Doubtless - ou may already be proficient in the art, e but it is not sufficient that you can kick P the chandeliers. It must be done without the least sign of effort, as if the whole Kicre body was made of rubber instead of flesh N and bone. The true test of the finished ballet dancer is shown in this seeming disjointedness ofsevery limb. The Ponies acquire their skijj afier methods pecu- liarly their own. Orne of them seats herself upon the floor. The other standing behind her as a body brace stoops over her shoulder and taking hold of her foot draws the leg straight up in the air uniil the girl on the floor is cloged up like a jack Khife. Sounds easy, doesn’t it. Just try it and see. Wken FrnvmL 7£5] or Sreevers anp Q:xw/z/r/ straight up in the air. If you can hold this pose .or only one minute you will ain a very good idea of how mueh train- ng is necessary to perfect a Pony ballet. Following all this come various and sundry lessons in acrobatics just to loosen up every joint in the whole body. Every one of the Ponies can turn somersault: handsprings and cartwheels. This exe PoE? | cise is the secret of their surprisin, dikE strength and endurance. e . THIy One Pony stands on her hands and, For swings her legs straight up in the alir un- til her feet rest on the shoulders of a FIVE second Pony, who, grasping both - feet ~ firmly in her hands. stoops quickly for- ward and with a sudden jerk throws the inverted Pony clear over her head. There are two pictures of this excrcise on this page, %0 you can see precisely how it Is orfe. Looks somewhat strange for ballet dancing, doesn’t it? But in the Von Tiller system this acrobatic training is one of the most essential features and not the least spectacular, as these pictures amply, demonstrate. Until the Ponies become thoroughly ‘proficient there i{s always a third girl to help in these cartwheel ex- ercises. Then there are varied other ground and lofty tumbling feats. One of t‘}fem is .{gé human arch. It takes a very strong and active girl to form the upper part of the human arch, And the girls who make the pillars of this same pose must passess n INUTE/' you can stand on one leg and hold the other straight up beside your ear like a musket without falling you are quite pro- ficlent. After this there are several five-minute One of them is t-hand corner of The Pony stands on one foot, ‘orward until her hand touches the and then points the other leg exercises in balancing. shown in the upper rfgh this page. stoops floor, something more than puny strength. One Pony grasps the shoulders of an- other Pony stanaing firmly braced -before her. A third Pony grasps one leg of the first Pony, and with a sudden twist swings her high in the ‘air and holds her thus ele- vated, with all her bedy held taut and rigid, supported solely with her arms and one leg. This exercise is designed to de- velop every muscle in the whole body. ‘Without muscle—fine, sinewy muscle at that—it is impossible' to become a Pony, no matter how pretty and piquant you may he. And yet the Pony must néver spoil the plump and dimpled curves of her dainty figure. Not a muscle must show anywhere. The brawny athletic girl could never belong to the Pony ballet. As a finai test of strength and flexi- bility there is a human pyramid that is both picturgsque and surprising. = One Pony clasps her hands securely together behind her. A second Pony steps with one foot into the stirrup thus formed and grasping the other foot-in her hand, elevates her leg into the air and holds it there. T&s tests every muscle in the body, and the nerve and grace of both girls as well. Unless they are excel- lently well trained they will do this feat very awkwardly infleed. - T P .- . in hist. J. TORMEY, president of the American Whist ~ League, is a leading worker .in the cause of o §00d whist. Mr. Tormey was born in Platts- . burg, N. Y., in 1847. He came to California in ‘1886, and is now one of the promirent merchants in druggists’ sundries. . About fifteen years ago he took up the study of scientific whist, although he ‘had been a whist player of some note be- fore then. As.a clese student of the game Mr. Tormey has from time to time made suggestions and Iimprovements which have been recognized by the whist world. In January, 189, he arnnounced the ro- tary discard, which has been commended by “Cavendish,” Foster and others, and practiced by most of the very best play- ers in this country. He is one of the founders of the San Francisco Whist Club, a large and effi- clent organization, which was formed:in 1892 and to-day has a membership of M. 1598 he was elected one of the dl- rectors of the American Whist League. The interest in league matters taken on the Paclfic Coast is largely due to his individual efforts. Mr. Tormey is essentially an advocate of the long suit game, which I 'will ex- emplify ig‘ mg" tn.l'fl(:les on the subject of scientific whist. ¥, Finesde Is an artifice or stratagem in whist which adds greatly to the interest and scientific value of the game. 'To finesse is to tcy to take a trick with a card which is not the best that you could have played. As, for instance, holding ace, queen and oth- ers, you play the queen upon the lead of a low card in the hope that the king Mes to your right. If you are correct in your inference you have gained a trick. Finesses are made second or third hand and upon cards led by opponents as well as those led by partner. . Finesse deeply in your own or oppo- nent’s suits, at the same time taking care if possible to leave your hand in good con- dition, In case the finesse should fail. As a rule, do not finesse in your partner's suit; you do not wish to save the high cards in it, but rather to get rid of them, s¢ as not to block his game. Almost all modern players agree that the third hand should never finesse, except with ace, queen, ‘on partner's original lead of a strong suit; they also agree that if the card led i{s not partner’s strong suit you stould finesse mgre deeply, the ten from ace, jack, ten, and the jack from king, jack and others being thé proper thing. There are quite a number who object to age-queen finesse on partner’s strong suit. They say it Is a loss of time, if noth- ing else, when klnfi is on your left, and that if it is not there it must be twice guarded on the right, and would most likely have gone up on the first trick. It must be admitted that If the finesse loses it permits the adversary to get into_the Iéad and at least get out one round of his own suit. which may result in getting 1t established, and will certainly cost you a card of re-entry or a trump, leaving the opponents in a better position to get the trumps out later on. In discussing finessing in one’s own suit the theory is advanced that it is of the utmost Importance to retain possession of command as long as you®can with safety. . You should also bear in mind it is dan- gerous to finesse with ace, queen and three small on partner’s lead of low card. If the king lies on left hand your queen is lost and ace very likely to be trumped. The question often arises when holding the major tenace in trumps, whether to finesse ‘the queen or show number. I think the question is most ably handled by Mr. Beverly Smith, with this simple solution of the difficulty: . 1. With ace-queen only, play ace, return queen; this necesarily shows only two. 2. With ace-queen and one small, finesse, queen, return ace and then small; this play should show exactly three. 3. With ace, queen and two small, play ace and return fourth best. Here partner can read that third hand held at least four originally, and also knows that the queen may be one of these. This knowledge may be of material as- sistance in preventing an unnecessary round of trumps as well as encouraging him ta play a forward game. One situation in which it is of the ut- most importance to finesse is upon the return of your trump lead. It is seldom advisable to take the second round un- less you can take the third. It is gener- ally better to finesse, playing your second best, no matter how low a card it may be, or making no effort to take this trick. , It is very necessary for you to remember the trump card turned, as it often makes your finesse easier. If the ace or queen is turned, the fin- esse of jack from king, jack, etc., on partner’s low lead 1s simflar in effect io the finesse of queen, from queen, ace and others under ordinary .conditions; that is to say, it is a finesse against one card only. Second Hand Finesse. Second hand finesse, which appears to be sufficiently sound to warrant its i clusion in the sect Q.95 4 C.—A, J, 10 D.—A, 2. Queen of trumps and we!; to lead: V. B. Tks. N. h w. L s s z Ah® 6h 3. Te 4. 8c 5. 3 6. K 7 As* 8. Jar 9. 10d 10. 108 1. Js 12 Ke* 3. % *Winning card. North and south take ten tricks. Trick 1 North makes an unusyal but a sound second hand finesse. He can readily count but one card against him and that possibly in his’ partner’s hand. South can read the distribution of spades and holds an exceptional strong suit of trumps and fair protection in two other suits. He seems to be justified in call- ing. It is patent to North that his part- ner has commenced a signal, and if East should be calling there would still be & low card uns ounted for. At trick 2 must go up with king or lose a i Trick 4 trump 10 or nome remaining, in the latter case South can- not do better than throw the lead to East, n‘akmfi; North, last player. Trick® 5 North must have spades come up through West, and may need his of club for re-entry. s discard cannot be read with the ision as if he bad not already same pre declared strength in spades, still on prin- ciple ought to indicate greater strength in clubs than in diamonds, and so point to the latter as South’s probable suit. Trick 9, North n safely discard a club for his partner is marked with the deuce of spades and another trump. At trick 1, § rth does not finesse but plays queen South is in no way em- lightened as to the distribution of spades and Is not justified in calling, and there- fore there will be a loss of twe tricks in the score