Gatehouse
F. J. Osmond, W. G. H. Bramson, Scheltema-Beduin, and last, but by no means least, in distance work, F. T. Bidlake, who finished second to Shorland in the first "Cuca " 24 hours race.
The tandem tricycle also figured on the racing path, many good pairs being found, and perhaps mention should be made of one couple, Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Smith, who competed successfully in path races, Mrs.
Smith being-as far as I know the first lady to appear in open amateur cycle racing upon the path.
The safety bicycle, so called, was first introduced in a practical form by J. K.
Starley. The idea, embodied in the reardriven cycle of to-day, of employing as a medium of propulsion a chain or band, appears to have originated with Mr. Henry Bate, but to Mr. Starley is due the credit of making the first practical machine of the type. Many makers followed his lead, and it was not long before the rear-driving safety found its way on to the racing path.
In 1885 H. E. Laurie rode 21 miles 125 yards in the hour upon it at Long Eaton.
In the following year the Union added Safety Championships to its list of fixtures, and Osmond at his best on the ordinary was riding when the rear-driver began to establish itself as a racing cycle. Ordinary versus Safety matches were arranged at several meetings; but the ordinary men usually won, probably because they possessed the experience which is of such great importance in actual racing, and the merits of the two types were discussed at considerable length, until the advent of the pneumatic tyre. This was better adapted, for many obvious reasons, to the safety than the ordinary, and the former naturally rose rapidly in favour with the racing men, so that the users of the high machine became fewer year by year.
The noticeable improvement in speed which followed was not only due to the tyre.
The racing men of the post-ordinary days were drawn from a much larger field than in the earlier times of racing. To succeed in the old days certain physical advantages were almost absolutely necessary. A man had to be big, and gifted with long legs, ere he could propel and master the larger wheels, 58 or 60 inches in diameter, which told most effectively upon the path. Possibly not one hundred men out of a thousand possessed the physical qualifications, and scarcely 10 per cent. of that limited number had the other qualities necessary to develop a champion; whereas, with the system of gearing up applied to the safety, every man of the thousand could ride and master his racing machine; and, the field for selection being larger, the fitting survivors were more numerous, and the chances of finding a phenomenon were vastly increased.
Nevertheless, the early winners on the safety bicycle were often old ordinary riders. They possessed experience and racing knowledge, and, as a natural consequence, they scored. Amongst them may MR. F. J. OSMOND. be noticed such riders as H. H. Sansom, R. J. Mecredy, P. W. Scheltema-Beduin, and F. J. Osmond, all old ordinary bicycle racing men prior to the advent of the safety.
The men who practically started racing on the safety failed at first when in competition with older riders; but they did well in record attempts, and amongst them may be mentioned H. E. Laurie, R. A. Lloyd, W. C..
Jones, H. Parsons, and R. L. Ede.
Despite the number of old and new racing men who came to the front in the earlier days of safety racing, there was no one man who singled himself out as clearly in front of all competitors until the arrival from America in 1892 of A. A. Zimmerman.
This rider provided the phenomenal development which had been anxiously looked for. He took some time to get acclimatised, and was a long while getting fit, as was always the case with him; but when he suddenly jumped into form he showed himself practically invincible as a short distance rider. He was not a distance man, though he rode in and won the 50 Miles Amateur Championship, the field, however, not being representative of the best of our distance men.
His few defeats after he once got fit-as, for example, when he was unexpectedly beaten by Verheyen at Berlin-were simply due to his holding unknown competitors too cheaply, and also to his failing to allow for the ease which a rider may be "shut in" upon European tracks, which are narrow compared with the wide sweeps of American courses. Many American visitors have suffered in this way at first.
After this period a large number of fine riders were developed-too many, as a matter of fact, inasmuch as for many seasons there have been several men, any one of whom might win a short-distance race in which they all started. It is a curious fact that the British public appear to take much more interest in seeing one undoubted champion win easily than in seeing half-a-dozen first-class men fighting out a finish right up to the tape. Why this should be so I do not know, but the biggest interest has always been shown when "the champion" was a feature in the racing; and the fact that no single rider of superlative class has come to the front has had much to do with the lack of interest in cycle racing in recent years.
In long-distance work of late one rider has stood head and shoulders above his fellows-Leon Meredith-who is a very good man at short-distance work, whilst behind pace, especially motor pacing, he is as good an amateur as we have seen, riding in excellent form with great judgment and tremendous determination. C. H. Bartlett at middle distances, and W. J. Bailey in sprints, are worthy successors of the Champions of the past. To give a complete list of the men, home grown and foreign, who have made their mark upon the racing path in short, middle, and distance racing would be impossible here; but there is one thing which no writer on the subject can pass over, the very sore point with the uninitiated as to "waiting."
This proceeding, which is certainly most annoying to the spectator who does not understand the game, has become more emphasised as speed rates increased, and it is, unfortunately, inevitable.
The explanation is simple. At a speed of 30 miles an hour, the wind pressure is negligible factor. It therefore not a [CYCLING follows that no rider wishes to be in front, and that all the riders wish to avail themselves of the shelter provided by the man in front; the value of such shelter is equal to at least 150 yards in the mile, probably more at ordinary unpaced speed. When, instead of another competitor, the rider has in front of him a high-powered motor-cycle, with its rider sitting upright, or with a wind shield such as used to be used in Continental racing, he gets not only the shelter, but is actually sucked along by the mass in front of him, and the 30 miles an hour becomes 60 under suitable conditions.
It is therefore evident that, unsatisfactory as the result may be from the spectator's point of view, the man in unpaced racing who wishes to win must "wait," and if he is forced in front can only give himself a chance by riding as slowly as possible and using every endeavour to get at least into second place.
It is clear that the increase in speed, inducing greater wind pressure, has made this result inevitable, and the only possible remedy other than pacing would be to run shortdistance races in the equivalent of the strings used in sprint running; but even if that were attempted on modern tracks it would be difficult to arrange matters fairly for all competitors, as the outside man, even if the distance were adjusted, would have to climb to the top of heavy banking at the ends of the track. In long-distance racing the remedy has already been found in pacing.
The improvement in racing tracks, referred to above in connection with Cortis's hour's record, has been very remarkable.
The old cinder paths, laid for running, were flat, with sharp corners and soft surfaces, quite unsuited in every way for the speed attained by the cyclist. In due time efforts were made to improve the paths for cycle racing; the surfaces were laid with harder and more binding material, so hard that runners wearing spiked shoes could not use them with comfort.
Then certain tracks were laid with wooden battens, at right angles to the course of the rider, and proved very successful when kept clean. Cement tracks were laid on the Continent. They were at first much too smooth, as at Ghent, where four tricyclists engaged in a race slipped sideways down the banking, when a heavy shower of rain fell; the remedy was found in putting down a rougher surface. “ A further improvement was found in banking "that is, raising the surface of the path from the inside to the outside on the curves, so that the riding surface is at CYCLING] a very sharp angle with the horizontal, the height outside increasing gradually from the level of the straights to a maximum at the middle of the curve. The effect of high speeds, such as are reached by motor-cycles, on the bends is curious, the rider and his machine leaning over towards the inside, so as to approach the horizontal-in fact, if he could let go he could touch the ground with his left hand. In the case of a serious accident in motor-cycle racing in Paris, a rider, taking the curve at great speed, swerved out to avoid a fallen competitor, and actually rode along the vertical fence to within a few inches of the top, his machine being almost at right angles to it; the projecting foot rest struck the heads of two spectators, who were leaning over the fence, fatally injuring them. The rider, it may be added, regained the track, slowed up, and dismounted quite uninjured.
It has been objected that track racing under these conditions is artificial. The objection is reasonable; but then all of the higher forms of competition are, in a varying degree, artificial. The sprint track, the racecourse, the racing yacht, the racing boat are all more or less specialised and thus artificial; but the provision of the very best conditions permits of accurate comparisons being made between the various performances, and the experience and data thus secured are of immense use to the sport and pastime, as, for example, the data secured on the motor racing track, are of the greatest service to the sport and trade.
The records made, all over the world, upon tracks which, being up to date, are very much the same as to size, height of banking, and so on, can be compared, whereas before tracks were thus improved the conditions differed so materially as to make all useful comparisons impossible.
The National Cyclists' Union, which organises and conducts these championships, has been properly termed the Jockey Club of cycling, for it discharges towards the racing side of the sport exactly the functions which the Jockey Club discharges as regards horse racing.
The Union, with a view to securing greater control of the racing path, has adopted a licensing scheme; and every cyclist-amateur or professional-expert or novice-who desires to race must first ask for a permit and undertake to obey the rules of the Union.
This course is a direct result of the more liberal reading of the Amateur Definition, which was one of the first reforms instituted by the Union; and to the Union belongs the credit of being the first body THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTON, S.W. ruling amateur sport to erase from its definition of an amateur what is known as the "Mechanics' Clause." Up to the date of the Union formation the Amateur Definition excluded from the amateur ranks the "Mechanic, Artisan, and Labourer."
The new definition enabled any man-whatever his position in life-to be an amateur if he chose to submit to the rules. Of course, so wide a gate admitted some who should not have been admitted, and this has necessitated the Licensing Rules. These rules, which permit the governing body to deal with an individual case, are clearly to MR. C. H. BARTLETT. (Winner of Fifty Miles Championship, 1908 and 1909.) be preferred to a definition which absolutely barred whole classes of the community without discrimination.
It may be well to add that although the racing work of the Union secures most publicity, it also does a great deal of other and useful work in the interests of the genuine road rider and the tourist.
Training for cycle racing falls very much within the lines of training for any other athletic sport, with one marked and important exception. The running man, whatever his distance, necessarily carries his own weight, and as seven pounds extra weight will stop a horse, it is quite easy to understand that the flat-racing athlete gets rid of every ounce he can spare. Often, in practice, he contrives to divest himself of a pound or two too much, as a natural consequence going weak, and probably failing in the contest for which he has prepared himself. With the cyclist this necessity and the dangers it involves do not exist; for just as it is easier to wheel a heavy weight in a four-wheeled truck than to carry it on one's shoulders, so the few pounds of extra weight on the form of a cyclist, being wheeled rather than carried, make little material difference to his progress; and it is this point that requires to be borne in mind when anything in the nature of training is undertaken. The systems and methods of the modern schools of trainers differ entirely from those of the old-time trainers of athletes. New ideas have been introduced into the art of training, and in no section of sport have they wider expression than in training for cycle racing. This expression takes the form of a separate régime for every individual athlete, the individual's capacities and capabilities being considered in the course and extent of his training-a very great change from the time when the trainer put every aspirant for honours on the racing path through exactly the same preparatory programme, a programme which, whilst occasionally successful with certain men, more often ended in the break-down and collapse of those submitted to it.. a Until recently the athletes who came to this country from America underwent much more intelligent and consequently successful course of training than was practised here; but experience keeps a hard school, and quite a number of English racing men are now under as careful and successful a system as any of their competitors.
The error into which most young riders fall is not too much, but too fast work.
If we take a line from the course pursued in training horses for racing in great events we cannot go very far wrong; and no one ever heard, for example, of a horse in training for the Derby being sent the full distance every day at top speed throughout the whole of the season preceding the big race. Yet plenty of young cycling amateurs, when making their first essays on the path, ride themselves out night after night in training, not to mention two or more severe races on the Saturday, with perhaps a mid-week meeting in between.
What wonder that after a time they go stale, even if they do not suffer more ill effects from so drastic a course of treatment.
The men who successfully take part in cycle racing are the men who, within certain limits, take most care of themselves in [CYCLING training. Suppose such a one to have time and opportunities for training. His work, if he be of ordinary build and average fleshiness, will come out somewhat as follows. In the early part of the day, after some sort of meal for it is very unwise to ride on an empty stomach-he should repair to the track, and, studiously keeping his rate of speed down within moderate limits, ride for half an hour, in sufficient clothing, simply as a pipe-opener.
During this half-hour's ride, when sprinting should be rigorously avoided, he may study the various points of position on the machine, ankle work, steering, and so onin other words he may essay to acquire "style." He will improve faster if he be coached from time to time by an experienced friend who will watch him on the track.
Once let a man acquire a good style, a comfortable position, and an easy and effective ankle action, and if he possess the qualities needful to develop pace, his pace will unquestionably assert itself. So this easy canter, this half-hour's spin, is really of quite as much importance to his ultimate success as the faster work which follows later.
The day's business done, he may return to the track in the afternoon or evening, and take another short turn upon it, and upon this occasion he may for the moment discard form and style and put in one or two short sprints with the view of acquiring speed, and the mastery of his machine at high speed. But here again a caution is necessary. It is highly unadvisable that his sprints should involve very hard work.
They should be as a rule over a distance of about one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, and before the wind for preference. In fact, they should be calculated to give the rider the "knack" of speed. They will not in the ordinary course provide the muscles necessary to maintain great speed over relatively long distances. These are, for the most part, grown and developed during the slower and easier spins of the morning exercise; but it is well to bear in mind that the rider should not omit, from time to time, to run a trial against the watch, and force himself at top speed over something more than a fast quarter, and to engage in actual competition as often as he can within reason. a One of the most important features in modern training is what is termed "massage," practised and introduced here by professional riders from the Continent.
Adopted by the more intelligent trainers in England, it has now become a most important part of the system. The rider in CYCLING] training, having finished his work, stretches himself on a narrow carpet-covered table in the dressing-room, and his trainer thoroughly kneads and works his muscles, the process naturally occupying a considerable time. This massaging of the muscles supplements the work done on the track in training, and cleans, "supples," and strengthens them in a most effectual manner. a As soon as the work done under the foregoing conditions produces results which show that the rider is possessed of powers worth developing, it is obviously to his advantage to secure the services of a competent trainer, because he has reached a stage beyond which he will in most cases MESSRS. MCKAIG AND PEIRCY WINNING THE ONE MILE TANDEM RACE OF THE N.C.U., 1910. show but little advance, unless an experienced attendant looks after him throughout his further work, to advise him (in the quality of the spectator who proverbially sees most of the game), to time him in his spins, and to undertake the somewhat arduous duties of rubber-down and masseur, there are a number of professional trainers to-day who can aid most materially in all capacities in the development of their charge's powers.
Diet in training is another matter in which great changes have been made since the raw beef steak" period. ،، The régime in earlier times was no doubt based on the training of professional pugilists; their trainers forbade them to drink, with the certainty that they would drink sufficient on the sly. When these same VOL. II trainers laid down the same rule for amateurs, the amateurs strictly obeyed them, with disastrous results. Now that the difference between the old time "pro and the modern amateur is understood, the severity of the old rules has been relaxed. وو A cyclist in training may eat and drink any plain viands or liquors which do not disagree with him in moderation--of course, subject to these conditions-the diet should be varied and should include vegetables and fruit. The rider will soon learn by experience what to avoid, as a man in the full stress of training is very often most sensitive on such matters, and the best diet is the diet which suits.
The two final arbiters in training are the watch and the weighing machine, the latter a most reliable guide. The rider should weigh himself at regular intervals at the same hour of the day and under the same conditions at least three times a week, keeping a careful record of his weight. He will presently learn the weight at which he did best, and can base his training operations on the data thus obtained. Many a man who has ridden badly when he expected to do well, and has been worried by the fact, would, if he had kept a weight record, have discovered that he had suddenly and unconsciously gained or lost weight, which would have explained his failure and relieved his mind. The watch is equally important, but it is not always possible to get timed, whereas a man can always weigh himself.
Cycle racing is a fine sport; it develops the body. Involving as it does the frequent applications of small amount of power, it does not overstrain the vital organs, except in exceptional cases of weakness. The rapid recovery from exhaustion of competitors in long-distance races up to 24 hours, as compared with the collapse of competitors in other forms of sport, establishes this fact. The reason has been indicated above: the weight is wheeled not carried. It cultivates quickness of the eye and movement, steadies the nerves, and develops the capacity for rapid decision.
Many physically weak and undeveloped men have been built up by steady and careful training and racing-in fact, there is no other form of sport so useful in that direction, and the youth who pursues it when his path career is run, retains in after years many of the lessons he learnt, and in returning to the road as a simple cyclist, finds his work easier and his pleasure greater than would have been the case had he not learnt, in the hard school of experience upon the racing path, the right way to apply and use his powers.
F BRITISH CYCLING RECORDS.
Standing start Flying start وو وو Standing start Flying start دو دو Standing start ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
QUARTER MILE. ... ... ... ... ... ... paced A. E. Wills 1905 unpaced V. L. Johnson... 1909 paced H. W. Payne ... 1898 unpaced W. J. Bailey 1909 ...
ONE MILE. ... ... ... ... ... 1907 paced F. G. Crowley ... 1899 unpaced V. Johnson paced unpaced A. L. Reed ... ...
H. W. Payne... 1898 1902 FIVE MILES. ... ... ... ... ... ...
SECS. 28% 28 24 25 M. S.
I 48 3 I 39% 2 2 2 252 1904 ... 19 22 48 25 TWENTY-FIVE MILES.
W. J. Pett FIFTY MILES. ... 40. ...
L. Meredith ONE MILE TANDEM. 1908 ...
H. M. S.
I 44 5 paced L. Meredith ... 1904 ... 9 30 TEN MILES.
Standing start paced L. Meredith Standing start ... paced Standing start paced J. Matthews and A. Rushden TIME RECORDS. 1906 ONE HOUR- Amateur W. J. Pett 1908 ...
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS- Amateur J. H. Bishop ... 1909 ... 513 1430 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1904 ...
ROAD RECORDS- UNPACED.
M. S. 2 10% MLS. YDS. 30 1170 1 50 Tandem Safety.
FIFTY MILES H. M. S.
H. Green ...
E. H. Grimsdell & C. Bryer ... 1909 2 1903 2 I 2 Safety.
ONE HUNDRED MILES H. Green ... 1902 R. J. & A. F. Ilsley 1902 4 36 22 4 36 29 Safety.
Tandem Safety.
LONDON TO EDINBURGH R. Shirley... ... 1905 23 43 O Safety.
E. Bright & P. H. Miles ... 1905 27 54 O Tandem Safety.
LONDON TO BATH & BACK R. Shirley ... ... 1907 II 57 42 Safety.
E. H. Grimsdell & J. C. Paget 1903 12 O 4 Tandem Safety.
LONDON TO YORK H. Green ... ... 1900 10 19 O Safety. 1907 9 30 O Tandem Safety. ... 1909 5 12 14 Safety. ... 1909 4 53 48 Tandem Safety. ... ... 1906 7 29 4 Safety. 1904 7 13 10 Tandem Safety Tandem Safety.
F. H. & R. A. Wingrave ...
LONDON TO BRIGHTON AND BACK H. Green G. H. Briault & E. Ward LONDON TO PORTSMOUTH AND BACK R. Shirley F. H. & R. A. Wingrave LONDON TO LIVERPOOL H. Green ... .. ... ... 1900 II O O L. V. Peiser & P. W. Fawley 1909 10 50 O LIVERPOOL TO EDINBURGH W. Jones R. L. L. Knipe & E. J. Cody EDINBURGH TO YORK C. Hilhouse ... ...
R. L. L. Knipe & S. Irving LAND'S END TO LONDON C. W. D. C. Ball ...
L. Drake & A. Payne LAND'S END TO JOHN O'GROATS ... 1909 12 20 O 1907 13 23 O 1905 1905 12 35 II 35 o O Tandem Safety.
Tandem Safety. 1907 20 59 O Safety. 1905 21 6 O Tandem Safety.
DAYS H. M. 2 19 50 Safety.
H. Green ... ... 1908 ONE THOUSAND MILES W. Welsh... ... 1909 3 15 57 Safety.
TWELVE HOURS MILES.
H. Green ... 226 Safety.
E. H. Grimsdell & M. R. Mott 1909 Tandem Safety.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS H. Green...
Safety.
G. LACEY HILLIER.
DAB (Pleuronectes limanda). [DACE MEASUREMENTS, &c. -Length of head 4월 to 5, of caudal fin 53, height of body 2 in the total length. Eyes-the lower slightly anterior to the upper, diameter 5 to 6 in the length of the head, to I diameter from the end of the snout, and separated by a narrow osseous ridge. Lower jaw prominent; the maxilla, which is as long as the orbit, extends to beneath the first third of the eye. Teeth a row of about 22, closely set, lanceolate on the blind side.
Fins-the dorsal commences above the middle of the upper eye, the rays gradually increase in length to about the centre of their number (37 to 40), when they commence decreasing in height; the fin does not reach the base of the caudal, leaving an uncovered space equal to about half the height of the free portion of the tail. Pectoral as long as the post-orbital portion of the head. Ventral not joined to anal. A small spine, directed forward, at the commencement of the anal fin. Caudal slightly rounded. Scales-on coloured side with ctenoid margins, those between the eyes and on the cheeks smaller than those on the body. A row along each dorsal and anal ray. Lateral line-smooth; at its commencement it has a semicircular curve above the pectoral fin, while it sends a branch over the occiput. Intestinesthree or four short cæcal appendages. Colours-brownish with some cloudy markings and spots; dorsal and anal fin, with whitish margins. Occasionally white spots are seen on the coloured side of the body.
Day's Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. II., p. 32.
DACE (Leuciscus vulgaris).
MEASUREMENTS, &c. -Length of head 54, of caudal fin 51, height of body 4 in the total length. Eyes-situated slightly above the centre of the depth of the head, diameter + of the length of the head, diameters from the end of the snout, and also apart. Suborbital ring of bones narrow. Body oblong and somewhat elongated, sides compressed. Cleft of mouth rather shallow, the posterior extremity of the maxilla reaching to almost beneath the front edge of the eye, lower jaw shorter than the upper. Teeth, pharyngeal-somewhat hooked at their extremities, 5, 2-2, 5. Fins-dorsal commences about midway from the front edge of the eye and the base of the caudal fin; the length of its base equals about twothirds the height of the longest undivided ray, which equals three-fourths of that of the body below it; its last rays half the DACE height of its front ones; upper edge of fin concave. Pectoral inserted in the lower fourth of the depth of the body, as long as the head excluding the snout, and pointed. It does not extend much more than half-way to the base of the ventral, which latter is inserted on a vertical line beneath the first few rays of the dorsal, and does not reach the anal. Front edge of anal in the commencement of the last third of the distance between the margin of the eye and the base of the caudal fin, the length [Photo. by W. B. and S. C. Johnson.
DACE. of its base equals three-fourths of the height of its front rays. Caudal rather deeply forked. Scales-four rows between the lateral line and the base of the ventral fin, where an angular one exists. Lateral line -slightly concave, continued to the centre of the base of the caudal fin. Coloursbluish along the back, silvery-white upon the sides and beneath. Dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins tipped with black; the ventral and anal have merely a slight tinge of red or yellowish.
Day's Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. II., p. 181. a DECK SPORTS. - Our survey may reasonably begin with Deck Quoits, for this pastime is more than a century old, and was played in the old ships of the line when Nelson won his laurels.
Many generations of British tars have killed time with it, and thousands of travellers have sought the sport to destroy the monotony of long, uneventful days in midocean. The game, as now played, admits of various methods of scoring according to the fancy of the players, but the practical part is only capable of three variations.
The quoits may be flung from a chalked line or mark-(1) at a peg, over which they must fall to score; (2) to a target of circles, of different values, chalked upon the deck; a or (3) into a bucket. In the last case the range is much increased; but Deck Quoits proper, with a peg as mark, is a difficult game, not indeed admitting the science and variety of land quoits, but none the less requiring plenty of skill. Four or five yards is quite far enough from the peg for beginners; and even at this range they will probably be much astonished to find how lengthy a task is the compilation of a dozen "ringers." The peg should stand about eight inches off the deck, and the quoits, which are made of stout rope, usually have circumference of about sixteen inches.
This, however, varies much with the fancy of the mariner responsible for their construction. The golden rule for all deck sportsmen is to win favour with a boatswain, and he will introduce them to the carpenter, upon whom much depends. As a ship's game, Deck Quoits is far removed from the first rank. Much practice, patience, and determination are necessary to play it well-qualities which no man ever yet brought to bear upon the game or ever will. Great accuracy is necessary to get on the peg, even at short range, and, with a high wind blowing and the ship lively, scoring becomes slow, and a good length almost impossible to keep.
Bull is another ancient pastime, which has this interest: that it may be considered a ship's game pure and simple, while most other nautical amusements are adapted or developed from a sport or exercise proper to terra firma. Bull seems to have been born and bred on the wave. The materials are a scoring-board about a yard and a half square, and quoits made of lead cased in leather. These should be somewhat larger than a crown piece, and they are flung from the hand to the board at any range agreeable to the players. Upon the scoringboard, which is covered with tarpaulin, are painted twelve squares with the numerical value of each written therein. The numbers range from IO to 100, rising in each case by ten at a time, and the 100 square” lies at the top of the board between two unnumbered compartments of similar size. These two top corners contain either a capital letter B, or, if the designer of the board was an artist, the representation of a bull's head. The concern is laid upon the deck, and its upper end propped up so as to slope the whole slightly. There are two methods of playing. By the first, a definite game-say of 1,500 up-may be played.
But the number must be exactly scored, and if a player passes "game in his last hand and totals perhaps 1,540 instead of 1,500he is not out, but must throw 40 in his next دو F2 66 innings to reduce the score to "game." In attempting to do so he may very possibly fall below the necessary total, in which case yet another hand must be played until the exact number of 1,500 is shown. Thus, though a man be leading by 1,000 points, it by no means follows that he will win. If either player throws a Bor Bull, or fails to hit the board altogether, everything scored in that hand is cancelled. The better and more popular game is known as "going round the board," a feat accomplished by throwing first 10, then 20, and so forth to 100. The left B is next played, and the right B completes half the game.
The return journey is thrown in reverse order: from the right B back again to the IO square. In this variety no penalty attaches to a miss, but a B thrown out of turn cancels the hand. At both games any quoit overlapping a line between the squares is ignored in the score. a The vitality of Bull is remarkable. It has not very much to commend it, and I never met a man who spoke of it with common respect, yet who has travelled in passenger vessel which lacked a battered Bull-board amongst its resources for the idle traveller? Ladies, it may be noted, derive some pleasure from the sport, but before certain new games presently to be described, Bull must be doomed.
A better game is Deck Croquet, wherein a wooden disc is substituted for a ball, and weapons which may be described as a cross between a golf and a polo club take the place of mallets. The hoops can be arranged according to the facilities afforded by the ship, and a game involving plenty of skill is the result. Shuffle-board and Deck Billiards resemble the last-named pastime in some degree, though the "cue" for both sports is peculiar to itself, being a flat piece of wood fastened to the end of a broomstick, and having a half-moon shaped disc cut out of it to fit the quoit. These games, however, are now dying out before the greater attractions of one in some measure sprung from them. This infinitely better sport will presently meet the attention it deserves, for in my opinion it is the best ship's game ever yet invented.
Cricket as played at sea may be good fun on a big ship. The tethered ball variety is feeble sport, and soon palls upon the most enthusiastic, but the bigger game, on a cocoa-nut matting pitch, with nets spread from awning to rail, can be played with pleasure and profit. Upon the "Castle" liners there is plenty of good marine cricket, and these great vessels carry special herring [DECK SPORTS nets which, when rigged, give a very considerable practical pitch even with room for fielding. The Australians usually play a little cricket in mid-ocean on their way to this country, though it must be admitted that the highest professional praise won for the game is not great. They hold the sport is good enough to kill time, but deny that as practice for cricket it has any value.
By way of a curiosity I may note that I have seen Association Football played aboard ship; but the game cannot be recommended.
Of the usual Gymkhana as practised on ship-board, much might be said, and the possible events may be multiplied ad-infinitum according to the ingenuity and energy of those responsible for the sports.
The programmes, of course, vary, but from a dozen different ones it is possible to pick a series of athletic items which shall embrace every physical qualification of skill, speed, pluck, and strength in the performers, and of interest and amusement for the lookers-on. In a programme of this sort the promoters should be careful to arrange at least a couple of contests exclusively for ladies. The following dozen or more events are always popular and never fail to command good entries.
Tug-of-war is a great marine pastime, and affords wide scope for a variety of different matches on any big passenger ship.
The different classes of travellers may pull against one another, and against the ship's crew, or officers. An excellent contest is assured if every contingent on board enter a picked team of five men; and on a "liner" "the result should be a fine struggle contested by at least six or eight teams. The rules governing Tug-of-war are almost too well known to need repetition. A handkerchief is tied round the centre of the rope, and the rival tuggers take their places at equal distances from it. Upon the deck a chalk line is marked; the umpire adjusts the handkerchief on the rope exactly above it; and upon the word being given it is then the business of the rival teams each to drag the other over the line. The best of three tugs usually decides a match, and, given a big entry, a singles" Tug-of-war is also good sport. Sailors, it is to be remarked, possess considerable advantage average landsmen at Tug-of-war. They know exactly how to hang on to a rope with the greatest possible effect, and with their naked feet they have the knack of winning a closer grip on the deck than any landlubber, despite his lawn tennis or gymnasium shoes. a ،، over DECK SPORTS 66 Cock-fighting has not much to commend it from the performer's point of view, but a "main" will always command a good audience, for it is laughable to watch. Into a ring chalked upon the deck, and having a diameter of about three yards, the rivals are placed, having first been trussed in the approved manner. Trussing" consists in seating the bird on the ground, then putting a walking stick under his knees. Beneath the stick his elbows are also linked, and he is bound firmly in this position. That a man thus crooked into a ball has not much fight about him is clear, but in the extreme helplessness of the combatants such fun as Cock-fighting possesses is to be found.
The rivals are placed toe to toe, and the first to get the point of his boot fairly under his opponent's promptly topples the helpless foe over in a heap. He will probably fall pretty hard on the back of his head, and the winner's next task is to roll, shove, or hustle the prostrate "cock" out of the circle. In this endeavour he sometimes loses his own centre of gravity, in which case both performers are set up again to renew the struggle if they have not had enough of it.
Slinging the Monkey or Bowline Stretching is another sort of horseplay very amusing to the spectator. The performer must allow himself to be triced up by the legs with ropes. He then swings headdownwards clear of the deck, which his hands are just able to reach. He is now given a piece of chalk, and the game consists in his efforts to draw or write upon the deck. He may be directed to represent a pig or indite a love-letter at the fancy of his tormentors, and his efforts to accomplish the required task, especially if the ship is rolling free, are entertaining enoughto the looker-on. No man, however, "slings the monkey" twice.
Many of the ordinary fixtures at an athletic meeting can be happily carried through on a big ship, but you must order your Sports according to your craft. Thus only the shortest Sprint is possible, even on a big deck, and then no more than two runners should compete in each heat, and ample room be allowed behind the tape.
Long and High Jumping are both practicable, the latter especially so. A bundle of engineer's waste makes good material to alight on.
The Hop, Step, and Jump is similarly a capital sport, and no nautical Gymkhana is complete without a Sack Race; a Wheelbarrow Race, with human wheelbarrows; and a Potato Race, in which the spoil is scattered along the deck in fixed positions, and has to be transferred, one potato at a time, to a bucket.
For ladies, the Egg and Spoon Race is always popular, and the Needle-Threading competition not less so. The former is sufficiently well known; the latter generally requires the assistance of men at the turning point of the race, where the needles are threaded. Here a man to each lady runner stands with a needle, and the competitors, as they reach the crucial point of the race, produce a piece of thread which each carries and pass it through the needle-a feat requiring delicate skill even in fine weather.
The Obstacle Race is the grand event of a Gymkhana aboard-ship, and of this sport it may be said that a vessel usually offers a finer course than could be imagined or devised ashore. Jack is an absolute genius in such matters, and with the skipper's permission he will turn you out a course with complications and difficulties bristling at every few yards. And he will also teach you how to negotiate it. Swinging lifebuoys or barrels, to be climbed through; a water jump, to be fallen into (for Jack takes very good care that C. B. Fry himself could not get over); floured sails, to be crawled under; hanging nets to be climbed— these are a few of the problems set for solution in an Obstacle Race, and such an encounter has this charm, that the whole course is within easy sight of the spectator.
The latest arrival among ships' games is a pastime, "Spiropole," which has now found its way to sea. The game may be contested by two or four players who take up sides, the partners facing one another at the four corners of a square chalked upon the deck. In the centre of this figure rises a stout post, ten feet high, and from the summit there hangs a tennis ball fastened by a strong cord. The players, who are armed with small wooden rackets, serve or strike off alternately, and the object of the game is for a player or players to wind the string holding the ball completely round the post. One side strike to wind it from their right to left, and the opposers attempt the reverse, which means that each side is bent on getting the string wound in an opposite direction to the other; the side finally completing the spiral scores a point, and the game is usually nine up. Only the ball must be hit by the racket, and should a player strike the cord, and thus foul the ball, his opponent will restart the game by taking the ball in hand and hitting off anew; but the cord must not be unwound from the position it then occupies. Should a player strike the ball over the line, or whilst it is in the adversary's court, the Umpire (and an umpire is very necessary) must add one point to the side which is thus unfairly assaulted. Tether-ball, as it is also called, must be seen to be enjoyed, and played to be thoroughly appreciated. The wild vagaries of the flying ball, the futile efforts of the strikers to take it on the wing," and the various comic surprises incidental to the sport cannot easily be described. 66 "links" Last numerically, and to my mind first in importance, comes the game before alluded to as perhaps the best ever played aboard a ship. Marine Golf, though a ghost of the real pastime, is worthy of widest consideration as a sport at once novel, varied, and interesting. Much, of course, depends on the nature of your ship and the good-nature of your skipper, but given decks of reasonable size and an easy-going commander, who offers no objection to "putting greens,” excellent sport is a certainty. The necessary materials are extremely simple.
A round disc or quoit of heavy wood about 4½ inches in diameter takes the place of a ball, and, instead of a club, a fairly heavy walking-stick with a flat head, or handle, is used. The holes may be either a spot of chalk, to be covered by the disc, or a circle, about half as large again as the disc, into which it has to be played. Hitting will be found useless, and the stroke for drive, approach, or put alike is a drag or push.
On a smooth deck, with the wind behind you, a disc can be pushed 40 yards, which is a much longer stroke than any save those on the biggest steamers would admit. For driving, the best position is to stand with both feet slightly in front of the disc; in putting, one foot in front and one behind produces the most satisfactory results. Unlike golf, the position of the club and ball with regard each to the other being happily assured before the stroke is made, it is better in the act of striking to fix the eye on the distant spot where it is desired to bring your disc. "Links" may be much diversified so as to give opportunities for a variety of strokes and the display of much skill. The cannon is admissible, and sometimes a hole, which can only be played direct in two, may be achieved with a single shot by a cannon off bollard or grating edge. Such shots carry their special danger, and the loss of "ball" by falling into the sea means a penalty, to be fixed according to the fancy of the players. In hole matches the hole is, of course, lost if the disc goes overboard; in matches by score two strokes should be the penalty. Holes soon get their own a 66 دو [DECK SPORTS names, as on links ashore. One hole which I well remember was named the "Devil."
It lay behind the mouth of a coal bunker, and its proper number was theoretically three, but a man thought himself lucky to hole out in four. It was a heart-breaking hole in times of head-wind, for the effect of driving at a big wind when playing marine golf is peculiar. The disc in such a case promptly gets up on its side, stops dead, and then starts with the wind and rolls aft, its career being a spectacle of horror, terminating either in the scuppers, many yards behind the place from which it was originally struck, or in the sea. Marine golf is rapidly developing its own terminology. To be "scuppered" is a condition of affairs which speaks for itself to anybody who knows a ship; while a "coalbunkered" player can also be imagined without difficulty. The frequency of the ،، stimey" is rather a nuisance at the game, and the best rule is to make the player whose disc is nearest the hole strike first. 66 دو A beauty of the game is the variation in condition of the greens and consequent unexpected difficulties in "putting." It might be supposed that a deck of bare boards was incapable of much change as to surface, but this is not so. Climatic conditions make tremendous differences, and a "green," so keen under bright sunshine that the shortest and slowest of puts goes too far, will, on a grey day, be as slow again; while if there happens to be any spray. coming aboard, the difficulties are still further increased, for you never can be sure in a wet place whether the disc will "drag " or "slide." In putting, the danger of a foul shot is as great as in pushing at billiards, and rules have yet to be made concerning the contact of disc and club over strokes of a yard or less. Indeed, the game is worth a complete code of rules, and when once taken in hand by a well-regulated golfing mind it should speedily eclipse all other pastimes afloat. I witnessed its infancy, and unhesitatingly predict for it a successful career.
Doubtless human ingenuity and high spirits bred of sea breezes have, between them, produced many another excellent device for killing time on the ocean; but in my experiences, than those mentioned, I have observed no other sport, or pastime, worth recording, or of a sort to make just claim to a place upon this page. Many of the games here set down are sufficiently trivial, but they serve to lessen the monotony of long days circled by the rim of the sea.
EDEN PHILLPOTTS.
DECOYS] DECOYS.-A decoy is a contrivance for taking wildfowl, introduced from Holland; hence the name, from the Dutch eend, duck, and kooi, cage. The earliest method of capturing ducks in this country, as described by Willughby (1678) and other authors, was by driving them into tunnel nets at a time of year when the young birds were unable to fly, and the old ones were moulting. This plan, which was in vogue as early as the reign of King John, and gave rise to litigation in Lincolnshire in 1280 and again in 1432, was found to be so destructive that in Henry VIII.'s time (1534) an Act of Parliament was passed to prohibit PLAN OF A DECOY POOL. it. In the subsequent reign of Edward VI. (1551) the law was altered by protecting the eggs instead of the birds, and this protection was afforded to certain species of wildfowl, as well as game, by what is now known as the principal Game Act of William IV. (1 and 2 Will. IV. c. 32), which is still in force.
Another method of duck-catching, which, like "driving," has long become obsolete, was by means of a wire cage, which was worked with cords and pulleys and lowered on to a platform in the water, to which the THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTON, S.W.71 birds were enticed by feeding. An example of this contrivance may be seen at Hardwick Hall, Derby, and a plan of it is given in Sir R. Payne Gallwey's Book of Duck Decoys, 1886 (p. 71). In this volume may also be found a description of a so-called trap-decoy" (examples of which exist at