The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 26, 1902, Page 10

RIDAY, October 3L, will be econ- in the annals e it is the ven Second, because the date occurs on a Friday, w! charms are more po- draughts work most d when because the soothsayers have hat th shall be Night of the century ears backward and for because 2 fate day falls nd when that Frida are brought to bear tain elements that ex- the future cer t er time. ow Even is the night when Cu- The elf sleeps on other nights does he wake at unseemly But on Halloween the midnight is @ signal for his waking, and out nto the world to go his rounds lly sly and shy, but on Healloween he is very bold. He plays his tricks openly and he makes no secret of his preferences. On Halloween, for one night of the year, the maiden, be she ever so modest, can declare her love. She can peer into the future and strive to read the book of fate which is opened to her in mystic ways She can study the stars, consult the vegetatio the earth, peer into the fire ané bring all the forces seen and unsecn to bear to aid her in her magic love arch. The object of Halloween, as it is now d to us, is the unraveling of the girl who is not married and ¥ marry some day, fates will- can learn the character of her true ve. Often she can see his face mirrored in the glass; occasionally when the winds ere clear she can- hear his voice; not in- it is hers to study out the let- s name and all but determine al identity. element of uncertainty always lin- around the Halloween rites and it is lement which makes the evening ail the more mysterious. It is doubtful if the actual sight of the man-to-be would be one If as interesting to the girl who is seeking to learn her fortune. It is much r to peer for him, study him out and £0 to bed, finatly, with the question only he Halloween search is considered a enly thing, too. At other times it is the part of the maid to be mute. She make no sign, speak n word, but t wait and, by and if she be e Fates will reveal to her a fu- be darkness ahead of her and may learn such @s is meant to be revealed to her. The ancients believed that the future be plerced by a combination of the three elemen earth, fire and water. They dug into the ground, lighted twigs end looked into running stream: of to-day pulls heads of a dark garden, walking she sits in front of the grate , looking for a favor- d swain the while; and she “ducks” into @ tub to bring out the nuts and apples hat may be her share, by fate. e gay old time just before the fif- ry they made of all things a ome frolic. On Halloween the Was- Bowl was mixed and sweetened milk poured into it. Baked apples lay in the b om and nuts, small fruits and ange green herbs were seen upon the i! was drunk by every one and a genuine love potion it proved to be. It might be mentioned that in the bowl was a generous dose of that which cheers; and after drinking all were in such & merry mood that the night ended By Mrs. E. P. Schell. HEN opening a four-card trump suit it must be borne in mind that a similar number will not infrequently be found in a hand against you, four trumps be- ing the average strength; it is from this holding that the lead will most often be made. When but four are held originally it will happen €38 times in 1000. It has been proved that about once in three times the opposing hands will be exhausted and two-thirds of the times one or more trumps will remain with the adversaries after the third round. Your play must therefore be regulated with a view to securing a favorable position at the close of the engagement. You should therefore keep the command as long as possible; it celdom pays to win or attempt to win the second round, if by finessing in it you can make sure of the third, which; as has been indicated by the foregoing, is in the majority of cases the most criti- cal round of the sult and of the game. “Ea5y Lesson in Whist. with its proposals all around. Of all the festivals of the year that of Halloween remains the same. It does not change from year to year nor from gen- ration to generati and the games er played are the vill play and the tricks by which she unraveled the future are tricks by which you will unravel it also. andle, light of other da he light of the future c the depths of a candle lighted mirror strange shadows lurk; and the face that looks out from it is one of serious import, where one’s own future is concerned To. do the candle tr:ck correctly you must walk backward into a dark room with a lighted candle. Suddenly in front of a mirror you must pause. Here you must wheel quickly around and look at yourself in the glass. You must gaze long and intently and, over your shoul- der, will come a shadow; and out of the dow will come a face. 4 This face is the one you must hold in your memory forever and forever for it 15 the face of the one who will come inio your future. The apple peeling is sure as far as re- vealing the letter of your future name. It is the alphabetic feature of Halloween. The apple must be large; -the peel long and sinewy. Carefully must it be parad and cautiously must it be swung around the head. If the peel break then there is calamity ahead and an interrupted love. It it break twice, once while being pared and again while being thrown, then it means still more disaster, for the twice parted peel means—twice parted love. But if the peel be safely taken from the apple, safely tossed around the bead and safely thrown to the ground, £0 that It makes a letter on the floor, it becomes an agent of fate and such will help the girl in deciphering t which is to come. peel must be twirled around the three times and must then be sed lightly from the finger. It will ind its way in a great whirling swirl to the fioor and there it will lie, ready to be read. If the moon be full the peeling must be read from the north as it lles on the floor; if the time be midnight it must be read from the south; if the night be rainy it must be read from the east, and if it be clear it is read from the west. The letter is studied out and the girl knows what letter shall be embroidered upon her linen in the days that are to come. The girl who has four young men and who loves them all can decide between them on the night of Halloween. Let her light four candles and set them all burn- irg. Let her seat herself at a table in front of them, to keep all glowing. Now the candle that burns longest is the ore that will be most constant, for she has named them all after her beaux. The one that burns most evenly is the one that will make her "happlest; that can that fifickers and goes out is the one that will make her life a series of heartaches and will fill life with its bick- erings; while the candle that burns up quickest is the one that indicates a short and brilliant life. Let the girl study the flame and read wisdom -in its light. Do ngt#ry, on Halloween, to beoriginal. Do not yearn for new things. The same old tricks in the same oid way are the ones for you. All the saints come on earth, on this night, as in the good old days; and who knows but that their spirits revisit the earth In these. Surely one might believe that they do, for this one evening. For one night let skepticlsm be dead. Let bogies rule and spirits walk, and goblins stalk. While through their midst sly Cupid will walk touching with soft finger the candle, the peeling, the popping nuts and the cracking flames until out of all, and above all, will rise a spirit of love which shall be the spirit of Halloween. folteioiode @ You should bear in mind that the four- trump adversary is more than likely seeking the same advantage, and in a similar manner, and the play of the sec- ond round is to be taken with the pro- verbial grain of salt. It may happen that having opened trumps, the develop- ment may make it unwise to continue. Vacillation is one of the worst faults of whist. A trump attack in the face of preponderating strength will often in- timidate the enemy, so without recom- mending rashness it may be impressed upon the novice ‘that having formed a plan of action he should not ‘aliow him- self to be easily deterred from carrying it into effect. Holding four trumps and three cards each in the main suits, it is, as a rule, best to lead a trump. If your partner is weak in all the plain suits you will not get many tricks in any event. Parmner will usually be able to read* the situation, and if he wins the first tricks he will not return your lead unless it is best for his hand to have trumps come out. As an original lead you do not- lead from four trumps, if you have any other suit of four or more cards, unless you have fair strength in all the plain suits, or four very good trumps and a great suit, and are in danger of being forced in one of the weak suits. Holding any four trumps and com- manding cards in all plain suits, you may safely lead from your trumps at once, for no suit can be brought in against you, and the trump lead wil protect your master cards from being trumped by the weak trump hand of the enemy.” In such cascs as this you do not lead trumps with the idea of merely exhausting them 28 much as a protection against ruffing. The lead from weak trumps is often justifigble, and sometimes mandatory. With the complete command in all the guits you should not hesitate to lead trumps, although you hold but one. An cstablished suit and considerable strength in two others will warrant a lead from weak trumps, also when a cons'deration of your hand prompts the conclusion that its lue would be enhanced if trumps were out, it will usually be right to lead them, provided you are not unprotected ir any suit. Again, after opponents have led tpumps and ceased on account of your partner’s exhaustion, it will often be drop two adverse trumps together, and well to continue the trump, if you can especially if holding winning cards. - This procees is seldom advisable, how- ever, unless you and your partner have at least average strength and.you a unable to ruff the suit, for which trum; ‘were origmaily led. Lead from trumps. North, B.—A. H— 8, 4, 38 C. K, J, 9, 4 8 2 D.~10, 6, South, B.—10, 8, 4, 3 H-K, 8 3, C—A, Q. D—A, Q, J, 8. Eight of hearts trumps, East leads, Tks, N, B B, W, 1, 3h &h 2h *Jh 2, 4h *Ah 6h Th 8, 8h zh *Kh Ta 4. 6d 4d *Ad 2d 5. 104 7d Qd *Kd 6 *As 3 28 68 7. % Be *Ae s 8. 3¢ 8d *Ja 84 e Qe s 10c 6d s *10h & Js Ks 98 Qs 58 108 8d North and South, 9; East and West, 4. Trick 1—East makes the regular opening from four trumps. Trick 2—1It 1s useless for East to finesse, since the king cannot be in North's hand. The heart returned by West must be his last trump, the lower ones being all ac- :gun.ted for and North having turned up o 8, Trick 3—Fast therefore gets rid of the lead, drawing two trumps for one. * Trick 6—North, playing spade ace sec- ond in hand on the small card led In an o ordinary situation, indicates no mors ot tne suit. Trick 7—Observe that it would be clearly bad play for South to finesse the queen of clubs. He knows North to hold the 9 of trumps (if East had it he would have led it ace, queen, 10, 9) or five clubs. If South wins with the queen, then ace of clubs, he can only eventually lead losing dlamonds or losing spades, and North will at most make the losing trump, but Jf North is strong enough in clubs to win the queen and force the best trump; North and South’ will win all the other trick The possible gain by the finesse Is qui out of proportion to what it may lose. Un@ler ordinary conditions the finesse ‘would be taken. Trick 8—South makes sure of his jack of dlamonds before giving back the club.