The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 11, 1902, Page 6

THE SUNDAY CALL Qhiguita of Chaparita by Robert Howard Rus- repeatec ol wing my in- vouchsafed a “*Mexicans? doubts if I'm an of Mexi- when a Cau- all can jestice. surface s K in the over anizin y who s s bad as s igoted that Doc Peets is the one white gent I en v willin' to mete out to . from a squ ) vere equities s r reap from his You scientist No; They s a crop. »m. ar's a corral con- of posts an’ laria x t f the mat of grain, burros, an they cattle, got a hoof; menagerie dden ards e loose Ise' that” th is tr jams out. SO you can estimate how trampled suf- off the grain stalks to atches for the ’dobies; > the dust an’ wheat clinibs onto the roof of pours it down slow onto the s0 it gives the wind a openin’ blow away the chaff an’ When it's ket a But ageries the use of dilatin’ on sav- It's sickenin’. I could ate how they makes flour lin’ pin in a stone trough; 8o for'a with a stone r how they grinds coffee by wroppin® it in a g ack an’ beatin’ it with a rock, but where's the good? It would simply erjn’ your estimates of hoomanity g00d end atever be their amoosements? Ev- on earth amooses 'em. They hot griddles is examples of listless ab- holidays, Mexicans does, straction to 'em. With sech weapons, pirootin’ about constant, too, as guitars, an’ fiddles, an’ a gourd tterin’ like a outfit of half-full of gravel to shake and beat ain't singers none. out the time, they can shore make the an’ his fingers, that scenery ring with melodies. Thar they is moosical. They stops, however. A greaser’'s moosic never emerges a heap strong at dancin' an’ gets higher than his hands. At singin’, when it come to a fandango, hens on crows and guinea chickens lays over R N this important question, What shall be played with ace and four thers? It is truly a difficult question to answer. Believing that an inflexible rule should not be adopted in this case, except, possibly, by beginners, I will quote some rules which are somewhat dependent upon individ- ual adaptability. From a hand consisting of ace and four small in one plain suit, a single 4 in & second plain suit and no honor in third suit, even if you hold four trumps one honor, lead the ace. The fact suit that five cards are held in and a singleton in another would imply an unequal dis- of suits will be held by the ers at the table; with every that your pertner may be short five-card suit, & cross ruff is in your one of the probablilities. That your part- n five-card suit would more than likely be the one in which you hold the singleton seems to present the greatest possibilities From a similar hand, with a high honor in @ third suit (a possible re-entry) and four trumps with two honors, the value of the cards with the ace gives oppor- tunity for the exercise of individual judg- ment as to the advantage most likely to be gained by an attempt to bring in the long suit in place of playing for the cross ruff. 1f, instead of a singleton, two cards are held in the second suit, “SON, YOU SEOULD HAVE ‘em like a spade flush over nines up. ‘‘Most likely, if I relates to you-all the story of a day among Mexicans, you comes to a cl'arer glimpse of their loves an’ hates, an’ wars, an’ merrymakin's. Among palefaces, Mexicans, like Injuns, retreats a whole lot into shyness and timidity, same as-one of these yere cot- tontail rabbits. But among themse'fs, « fQnother Easy Lesson {ou;th best is beyond doubt the proper ead. From a hand containing ace and four others in one plain suit, the remairder of the hand being fairly evenly divided, with some strength in epch suit, lead the fourth best. 1f, with the ace, queen, ten &nd two others, or the queen and any three be- low the ten are held, the lead depends upon the balance of the hand. f you hold good trump strength and a re-entry, lead fourth best. If hold- ing no strength in the other plain suits, even if four trumps are held, lead the ace. The greater the all-round trick-taking possibilities of the hand, the more ap- arent becomes the advisability of the ead of the fourth best. Some claim that the weaker the hand the greater the reason for leading fourth best as a protection to your partner by the refusal to at once give up the com- mand of that suit. On the other hand, there is the possi- bility that partner, in case he wi the trick, may lead trumps from medium strength in an effort to bring in the suit, and loss result thereby. strength If partner has shown in trumps, & lead of the fourth best from ace and four or five others in an eff: to put him in_for a continuation of g: How to Open Ace and Four Others. BY MRS. E. P. SCHELL. < e 1 trump lead is preferable to a lead from a short suit. g Trumps having been exhausted, long plain suits, headed by ace, often may be managed like trumps and leads made which would not be safe under other conditions. This deal is a remarkable whist curi- osity; the lead of the ace gains nine tricks over’'the fourth best lead. A, Spades. earts, 10, 8, 7, ubs, A, 9, 6, 4, 3. Diamonds, 10, 6, 5, 4. Zz. T. Spades, 4, .8, 4. Spades, K, 10,7,5, 2. earts, A, ¥, Q, 7. earts, 2. Clubs, Q. ubs, K, 2, Diamonds, Q, 9, 8, 3. Diamonds,A,K,J.1,3. B. Bpades, Q, 8, 6 & WITNESSED THAT BATTLEM that a-way, when they feels onbuckled an’ at home like a hossthief in Looslana, their play runs off plenty different. Thar- fore, a gent’s got to study Mexicans from the angle of their own home life if he's eager to rope on to concloosions con- cernin’ ’‘em that'll stand the test f trooth. “It's one time when I'm camped for & i WHisk = Hearts, 9, 5, 4, 8. Clubs, J, 10, §, 7, 5. @ Diamonds. ueen of hearts trump, A to lead. Tck. A. ki B. Z. L 4 2c 10¢ Qc* 2. ¢h 2h 3h Kh* R Kc 4h Jh* 4 $h 25 5h Qh? 5. 10h [7] Sh Ah* 6 4d 3d b Qa 7. bd Jas Te 8d 8 6d Ad* | sc 8d 9. 10d Kd* Je 24 0. 3c 7a* 38 as i 6 Ks* 68 ss 2. % 108 9s Js* 13, s Qs As* Ac *Winning card. Y and Z make every trick. A and B lose every trick. Trick 1. This lead is responsible for all the loss on the hand. Trick 2. As his partner must have either ace or king of;clubs, and as he himself has protection in both diamonds and of course, leads his quart major discard of a club and two spades clearly indicates that his best suit is diamonds, and Z accordingly gives him ;hc:l be:lt card he h:.l' '.hm (I;‘n ll\lxlh_ u;l;h"n is ec gorrect, s In- stance I{ makes no m&’.‘;‘um ‘whether he week, mebby on the Plaza Chaparita. It's doorin’ the epock when I freights from Vegas to the Canadian over the old Fort Bascom trail. One of my mules— the nigh swing mule he is—quits out on me plumb sick—what the greasers ecall ‘mucho infirmo,’ an’ I has to lay by ontil that mule recovers his sperits. “It's a fiesta or holiday at the Plaza leads the queen or a small card. Trick 11. Y in turn gives Z his best card in spades, for he can count A with four clul and B and Z with four spades aplece. On the ove:glay of this hand nine tricks were gained: Tck. A, B. 2. 1 %Ac Be Qe 2 4 *4h 8d 3. *h 3s 8s 4. 6d *3h 24 5. *6h 6s 48 6. 6d *h 94 7. *8h 88 Js 8. 10d *5h Qd 9. *10h Qs As 10. 4c c *Jh 1. 3¢ 8c *Ah 12. 6s 10c, *Kh 13. 9¢ Ad Je *Qh *Winning card. A and B make a gain of nine tricks. Trick 1. This {s the common-sense openlng from the hand. As there is not hope of more‘than one trick in clubs, and the four-card diamond suit Is so weak the trumps are out of the question, so A “runs” with his ace of clubs and gets it in out of the wet. Trick 2. A has four trumps, and does not wish to give Z a ruff if B has the king- of clubs, but as his best suit is not established, he cannot lead trumps when vold of spades, so he tries the diamonds. A and B find a cross ruff already develop- ed, which they play for all it is worth, while Z gignals vainly for trumps. Chaparita. The first local sport I con- nects with is the padre. He's little, lean, brown an’ friendly? an’ has twinklin’ beady eyes like a rattlesnake; the big dierence being that the padre’s eyes is kindly an’ full of fun, whereas the optic of rattlesnakes is baleful that a-away an’ devoid of humor utter. Shore; rattlesnakes wouldn't know a joke from the ace of clubs. “The padre’s on his way to the 'dobe church, an’ what do you-all figger now that divine’s got onder his arm? Hymn books, says you? That's where your sur- mises gets onto a dead kyard. The pad- re’s packin’ a game chicken—which the teel gaffs, drop socket they be, of latest sort, is In his pocket—an’ as I goes squan- derin’ along in his company, he informs me that followin’ the services thar’ll be a fight between his chicken an’ a rival brass-back belongin’ to a party named Romero. The padre desires my presence, en’ in a sperit of p’liteness I allows I'll come {dlin’ over onless otherwise engaged, the same bein’ onlikely. “Son, you should have witnessed that battle! It's lively.carnage; yes; the pad- re's bird wins, downs Romero’s entry the second buckle.’ “On the hocks of the padre’s triumph, one of his parishioners gets excited, shakes a chicken outen a bag an’ pro- claims that he'll fight him ag'in the world for two dollars a side. At that another enthoosiast gives notice that if the first parishioner will pinch down. his bluff to one dollar—he says he don’t believe in losin’ an’ winnin’ fortunes on a chicken— he'll prodoose a bird an’ go him once. “The match is made, an’ while the chickens is facin’ each other a heap fever- ish an’ fretful, peckin’ an’ see-sawin’ with their ‘heads for a openin’, the various Greasers who's bet money on ’'em, lugs out their beads an’ begins to pray like they ain’t got a minute to live. Shore, they’re prayin’ that their partic’lar chick- en’ll win. Still, when I considers that about as many Greasers is throwin’ them- se’fs at the throne of grace for one as for the other, if Providence is payin’ any at- tention to 'em—an’ I deems it doubtful—I figgers them orisons s & stand-off. s the birds goes to the center, one party sprinkies something on his chicken At that the opp'sition grabs up his bird an’ appeals to the padre. He challenges the other’s bird becau: sprinkled with hols he says he's been water. “The padre enquires, an” the holy'water sharp confesses his guilt. Also, he admits that he hides the gaffs onder the altar cloth doorin’ the recent church services, 80 they’ll acquire extra grace an’ power. “The padre waxes plumb severe at this, 1 an’ the fight off, an’ forfeits the doctored chicken an’ the gaffs to him- se’f a w lot—he’s representin’ the church—to teach the holy-water sharp that yercafter he’s not to go seizin’ onfair advantages, an’ to lead a happler an’ a better life. That culprit don't say a word; he simply passes over his chicken an’ the steel regalia for its heels; you can bet that padre’s word is law In the Plaza Chapari “Followin® this vere fi watered chicken themse'fs to o of the holy the Mexicans disperse pulque an’ monte an’' the dance. The padre an' me sort o’ sa'nters about; me bein’ a Americano an’ him what you might call professionally se- date, we-all don't go buttin® into the baile nor the pulque nor the gamblin’. The padre su'gests that we go a-weavin’ over to his camp, which he refers to as the Casa Dolores—though thar's nothin’ dolorous about it, the same bein’ the home camp of mirth an’ hilarity, that a-way—an' he allows he’s got some Val- ley Tan hived-up that'll make me forget my nationality if studiously adhered to. It's neediess to observe that I accom- panles the beady-eyed padre without a struggle. An' I admits, free an’ without Umitatlon, that said Valley Tan merits ‘he padre’s encomiums an’ fixes me in my tav'rite theory that no matter what hap- pens, only the best happens to the church. ““As we crosses the little plaza on our way to Casa Dolores we passes in front of the church. I relates a incident sim’lar yeretofore; but thar on. the grass, same as I tells you-all former, lays the wooden image of the patron saint of the Plaza Chaparita.. This figger is about four foot long, an’ thar’s a hosshair lariat looped on to it where them Mexicans who gets malcontent with the saint ropes him off his perch up in front of the church. They've been haulin’ the image about an’ beatin’ it with cactus sticks an’ all ex- pressive of disdain. I asks the padre why his congregation engages itse’f in studied contoomely toward the plaza's saint. He shrugs his shoulders, spreads his hands a lot, palm out, an’ says it's because the plaza's sheep gets sick. I su'gests that him an’ me cut in on the play an’ rescoo the saint; more especial since the image Is all alone an’ the outfit that's been beatin’ him up has abandoned said corrections to drink pulque an’ exer- cise their moccasins in the padre shakes his head. heap better to let the feelin’s concernin’ the s that when the sheep get gation’ll round up the reproachful talk an’ a an’ put him back on saint’ll come winner on the padre says “ ‘Besides,’ argues the necessary for pore come pawin’ about These yere images,’ He allows it's a public vent its to he insist: an look after themse'fs an’ oring to a focus. They finds the way their troubles whenever they gets re “At that we proceeds for'ard to the Casa Dolores an’ that promised Valley Tan, an’ leaves the wooden int to his meditations on the grass. After all, I agrees with the padre. It's the saint’s business to ride herd on the interests of the Plaza Chaparita; an’ if he to sleep on the lookout's stool an’ takes to goes overlookin’ sech plays as them sheep get- tin’ sick, whatever is the Greasers goin’ They're shore bound an’ to do? their disapproval to express I reckons as good scheme as any t a-way Is to caper up, yank the careless image outen his niche with a lariat, an’ lam loose an’ cavil him an’ criticize him with a club. ich if images has a savey, that par- ticlar image mighty likely acquires a notion from sech treatment of how bad the public feels over his condue! “This yere flesta at the Plaza aparita is a day an’ night of laughter, dance an’ mirth. But it ends bad e padre an’ I is over to the dance hall followin’ out in- vestigations touchin’ the Valley Tan, an’ the padre explains to me how, nacherally. he permits to his people a different be- havior from what’s possible among Amer- icanos. * T studles for the church in Baltimore,” the padre says, ‘an’ thar the priest must keep a curb on his Americano parish- foners. They are not like Mexicanos. They're flerce an’ headlong an’ go too far. If you let them gamble, they gamble too much; if you let them drink, they drink too much. The evil iof the Americano is that he overplays. It is not so with the Mexicano. If the Mexcano gambles, it is only a trifie an’ for pleasure drinks, it is but enough to free a bird’s song In his heact. All my people drink an’ dance an’ gamble, but it's only play; it is never earnest. See! In the whole Plaza Chapa- rita you find no drunkard, no pauper; no one is too bad or too good or too rich or too poor or too unhappy.” “Then the priest beams on me like he shore disposes of the question 've just been drinkin call e turn a whole lot. atever is that bad endin odes to? forgets concernin’ that not; shore sad ‘As me an’ the padre dance, a senorita e is like all padre—with a d drifts into the tiv" Son, padre ble: she goes on. I don’t pay no enusu: tention; though, as me an’ talks, I notes her, stands with her in a corner of th “Across from this Chiqe Greaser an’ his sweethear pretty, too; but her head; an’ s their smiles an’ love glances is & happiest of nights. ‘That looks like you'll have a weddin’ on your hands,” I says to the padre, indi- catin’ where the two is courtin’ ‘Chiquita should not stay the padre, talkin’ to himse’f. With that he organizes like he’s goin’ over to the little shawled senorita in the corner. “It strikes me at the time that the pad- re's remark is a heap irrelevant, that-a- way. But I soon sees that he onderstands them topics he tackles from time to time a mighty sight better than me. The pad- re’s hardly moved when the senorita Chi- quita saveys he's out to head her off, crosses the dance hall swift as a cat, an’ flashes a knife into the heart of the laughing girl. The next moment the knife is planted in her own. “Son, it's the old story—so old an’ com- mon thar’'s not a new word to be said. Two dead girls; love the reason, an’ the knife the trail jealous Thar's mot a scream, not a word; that entire baile stands transfixed. As the padre raises the little Chiquita’s head life still flutters onder her bodic the tears swimmin’ in his eyes. one time I comes nearest thinkin’ well of a Mexican; that padre, at least, can be described as ‘tolerable’.’” e OLDSMOBILES, THE MANUFACTURERS’ CO., 26 FREMONT ST. SOLE AGENTS FOR PACIFIC COAST. Price $750.00; With Top $800.00 ‘WESTERN AUTOMOBILE CO., 203 l‘rk!sn street. GENERAT, DESCRIPTIO! The Oldsmobile is a gasoline carri range of speed is from three to twenty mi boulevards or country road enabling the carriage to run smoothly over rough would be quite impassable for those of a heavier type. an Francisco, Sales Agents. welsillng but 300 pov es per hour, T or heavy roads, that It is tested before shipping with a load on a 20 per cent grade. and as the grade of the aver: age power for any section of the country The supply tank holds about four - The er city streets, the i'ght weight and mode of construction {1l 1s only 10 or 12 per cent, our tests show the vehicle to have ample gallons of gasoline, a. quantity suffl- clent for running about 100 miles, depending on conditions of the road. SUB AGENTS C. H. LETCHER, San Jose. Electrical Engineering and Supply GREGORY & CO., Fresno. CRIPPEN & CHURCH, Los Angeles. A. H. WRIGHT, St b ol elmrie, gy W V. R. BROWN, Marysville. J. C. CUNNINGHAM, Le Grand, Merced County. We want agents in every county. 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