Important: Safety Warning
This page gives first-aid or emergency advice that predates modern medicine and can make an emergency worse. Do not follow it. In any medical emergency, call emergency services and follow current first-aid guidance.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Wherry
in his Alpine Notes, points out another peril which comes unexpectedly, that of thunderstorms. Should a comrade be struck by lightning and lie unconscious, the best hope of restoring him to life is to resort at once to artificial respiration, as described in the rules for the restoration of the apparently drowned. (See SWIMMING.) The so-called "Mountain Sickness" is a malady which is induced by the change in atmospheric conditions at high altitudes, and particularly the lack of a due proportion of oxygen in the air. In its worst form it is not seen in Europe, but its symptoms have been graphically reported by Mr. Whymper and Sir W. M. Conway from the Andes and the Himalayas. To avoid mal de montagne in climbing these lofty mountains it is necessary to postpone heroic ascents until lesser feats have trained the heart and lungs.
Of the conjunctivitis or inflammation of the eyes, which follows exposure to sunlight reflected from snow, it is unnecessary to say much, for everyone who has been on a mountain knows how necessary it is to pro- BANDAGE FOR FRACTURE OF THE LOWER JAW-BONE. tect the eyes while on snow by smoked glasses. It is best treated by frequent bathing with warm water and keeping the eyes covered from the light by a large shade.
The intense cold met with on mountain tops offers a danger to the climber in the form of frost bite. The parts attacked are first blue and inflamed, and afterwards white and cold. This condition, if allowed to go on, may even lead to the loss of toes or fingers from gangrene. Friction is the proper treatment, and on no account should the return to warmth be too sudden. The ARM-SLING FOR BROKEN COLLAR-BONE. patient should not be allowed near a fire until the circulation has returned.
Rowing. The remarkable diet a rowing man is induced to adopt when he trains for racing is chiefly responsible for the appearance of those troublesome boils from which he so frequently suffers. The sudden change in diet, and particularly the excessive amount of animal food taken, leads to an alteration of blood condition, of which boils are the outcome. They appear especially in parts exposed to friction, and are certainly less common with sliding than when fixed seats are used. The best thing to do when there is the least threatening of a boil is to protect the inflamed spot from pressure and friction by a ring of thick feltplaster. This often prevents the formation of matter, and the inflammation may subside. When once matter is formed, however, the boil should be opened without delay by a surgeon. The discharge from a boil, by if rubbed into the surrounding skin, will readily produce a crop of others. For this reason poultices and fomentations should only be used with careful precaution under medical direction, and care should be taken to change the clothing frequently, and by strict cleanliness to lessen the chance of inoculation.
Shooting accidents are much more common than they ought to be. They almost invariably reveal a carelessness which is inexcusable, and almost criminal, in handling [FIRST AID a weapon so dangerous as a loaded gun.
The arch-offender is the young or untrained shooter. Gunshot wounds are often most disastrous in their results, and their prevention is infinitely easier than their cure. At a short range a shot gun will inflict a far worse injury than a rifle. The aperture of entrance of the wound is round and comparatively small, and its edges are blackened with unburnt powder. The shot, in passing through the tissue, quickly spread, tearing muscles and splintering bone in their passage. The exit of the charge leaves a huge lacerated hole. Such wounds are liable to bleed furiously from division of arteries, and to stop the bleeding at once is an urgent duty. To this end a tourniquet should, if possible, be applied. If the wound is in such a situation that this cannot be done, an attempt to check the blood by tight plugging and bandaging should be made.
At a long range less damage is done, for the clothes largely break the force of the shot, which spread considerably. The principal danger is the loss of sight from a stray pellet.
Swimming. The question of the restoration of the apparently drowned is dealt with under the sport of SWIMMING.
J. B. BYLES.
SAMUEL OSBORN. [The photographs are taken by kind permission of W. M. Warneuke from "Ambulance Illustrated."] FIVES. Nothing definite is known of the origin of the game of Fives. To hit a ball in turn with the hand above a line on a wall is Fives in its simplest form, and the game is played by boys who have never seen a Fives Court, nor heard the name of Fives.
From this instinctive desire to hit a ball against a wall, the modern game-with rackets its "fairer daughter "-has been developed. At Eton a fortunate accident influenced the character of the game. The earliest Eton court was between the Chapel buttresses, and the end of the balustrade of the Chapel steps, projecting into the court, was the first "pepper-box" in the history of Fives. From this ancient court, too, were derived the step and the hole which, with the "pepper-box," have given the Eton game its special character. But elsewhere the game was played without these accidental obstacles and advantages, and the plain court, or Rugby game, as it is called, has as many adherents as the other. Of the great schools, Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Charterhouse, and Wellington play the one; Rugby, Winchester, Marlborough, Clifton, and Repton play the other.
FIVES] In both games the aim of the players is to hit the ball above a line or ledge on the front wall, in such a way that their opponents shall not be able to hit it back again above the line before it has touched the floor of the court for the second time. The ،، bully" or "rally" begins by the server so tossing the ball against the walls that it first hits the front wall above the line and then the right side wall; his opponent, on getting a service which suits him, returns it back to the front wall, hitting the right wall first; this is called "first-cut," and THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTC, 234. the other makes Fives possible in wet and snowy weather when other exercise is hard to get. Both games afford most excellent exercise to all muscles of the body; so excellent, indeed, that it is a matter both for surprise and regret that few men continue to play after they have left school. The game costs little in time or money, and can still be played with success at an age when football has long ceased to be possible, and when cricket is beginning to lose some of its charm. A speculator might do worse than build Fives courts in our big towns.
ETON FIVES. THE GAME IN PROGRESS. after it the ball is hit back to the front wall by either side in turn. In both games the laws and method of scoring are much the same, and in both the chief qualifications for success are skill in placing, a good eye for volleying, and a left hand which is "not afraid of work."
In the Eton court the line is twenty inches higher up than in the Rugby; there is no back wall, and the presence of the pepperbox, the hole, and the step, make the game in practice as different from Rugby Fives as in theory it is similar. The Eton court is almost invariably open, the Rugby court is generally covered in. The one has the advantage of better light and fresher air, [Photograph by Hills and Saunders, Eton.
There are so many hundreds of Public School men in London who miss the opportunities for exercise which they have had at school, that the building of courts ought to be a remunerative investment.
The Balls. In the Rugby game the ball weighs 1 oz.; the Eton balls are larger, and weigh 17/4 oz.; they vary greatly in quality, and much of the enjoyment of the game depends on getting good balls.
THE ETON GAME. A few hints may be useful to beginners on the position of the four players in a game in which A and B with first innings are playing C and D.
The Server.-A, who begins serving, is bound to give C-who is said to be "in holes "the sort of service which he prefers. Some players have eccentric preferences, but they must be humoured; otherwise time is wasted, and the enjoyment of Ground Line.
ETON FIVES COURT, FRONT WALL AND GROUND PLAN. the game, which depends greatly on the prevalence of good temper, may easily be lessened. In serving, and in serving only, A's aim should be to give C exactly what he wants. After serving, A has to decide where he will await "first-cut." If he has a good eye for volleying, and a left hand little inferior to his right, he should stand just in front of the pepper-box and about a yard from the left wall, prepared to volley the first-cut with either hand, or to move out of the way of a ball which will go to his partner in the outer court as a plain long-hop. If he has a weak left hand he should move forward and nearer the left wall. In this position he will be able to volley with his right many balls which in the other he would have missed with his left. Some players, whose weak point is volleying, move across to the left front corner and face the pepper-box, in order to get up on the bound the common first-cut which hits first the left wall and then the pepper-box. The innings of a player of this sort will not often add much to the score; but if he cannot volley, this course is probably his wisest, though, like "standing back" in wicket keeping, it is a confession of weakness, and such a player when serving fails to accomplish half his proper work. First-Cut.-C, on getting a service exactly to his mind, must above all avoid so returning it that it comes into the middle of the outer court as a long-hop; long-hops in the open are as easy in Fives as full pitches are in cricket. But if C's first-cut is of this kind, he must take great care, by moving forward at once, to get out of the way of B, his opponent in the back court.
A "let" at this point of the game is justly irritating to B. Chas made a bad stroke, a [FIVES and ought to give B the most ample opportunity to profit by it. C in returning the service should, usually, hit hard at the right wall about a foot from the corner and a little above the line. Such a first-cut will, if not volleyed by A, hit first the left wall and then the pepper-box, and A in volleying will have to use his left and presumably weaker hand, unless he has moved nearer the left corner, as described above, in order to take it with his right.
If C sees this forward movement of A in time, he should either aim a little higher and direct at the right corner, which may bring the ball out of reach of A's right, or else, by aiming about two yards to the right of the corner, he will give A a much more difficult volley at close quarters. If A has moved across to the right corner, it is best to hit rather gently at the corner, in order that the ball may go straight to the pepperbox without first hitting the left wall. Such back along the left wall before A can get a ball may either go into the hole, or run across, but the stroke should not be hard enough to let A eventually take it off the front wall.
If the server is conspicuously the stronger opponent, a very useful first-cut is the stroke which, hitting only the front wall as described in the second part of Law VI. -keeps close to the right hand wall all the way to the end of the court. The stroke needs practice, or it will degenerate into a long hop in the open, or hit the side wall too soon and be quite easy. It should keep as near to the right wall as possible without actually touching it, and look likely, if left alone by B, to hit the projecting pier at the end of the court.
Above all, C must vary his first-cuts.
The one the server at first finds most diffi- ETON FIVES COURT, RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES.
KAJ0 cult will become quite easy if constantly repeated, and the best volleyer can often be got rid of by a simple return which pitches before it reaches him.
The Server's Partner. -B should stand near the right wall at the back of the outer court. He must expect every first-cut to FIVES] be hit straight down to him, and only move forward when he sees it is not so hit. If he is too near the middle of the court or off his guard for a minute, a quite easy firstcut down the right wall will make him look foolish. But if he is in his place and ready, he will get some easy opportunities for good strokes from first-cuts which have gone round the three walls without hitting the pepperbox or have been hit down the righthand wall with better intentions than results. same time, he must stand more to the left, and the server should stand a little more to the right than usual.
The Fourth Player. - D at first has nothing to do except to prevent any first-cut from pitching out of court. He will naturally stand as far back as possible, but must remember that if he has to jump he must alight on the floor of the court.
The Bully. As soon as the first-cut has been got up, and the ' bully " has com- “ ETON FIVES. GAME-BALL.
These he should return hard and low into the pepper-box-unless A has stupidly put himself in front of it, or C is in a good position for volleying or else he should hit them into the left hand corner of the outer court, where the pepper-box in front of him makes D's stroke an awkward one.
The really difficult first-cut, which hugs the right wall, B had better take before it reaches the end of the court, where the projection will only add a new difficulty: if he is not too ambitious and is content to get behind the ball and half push, half hit it, he is more likely to get it up than if he hits hard at it or tries to do something brilliant with it. B's greatest difficulty will be when the walls are wet. Then, first-cuts aimed at the corner will, after hitting the right wall, come off the front at a much sharper angle than usual, direct to the left corner of the outer court. On such days, as B will have to look out for both corners at the [Photo. by A. D Kissack, Eton. menced, all players alike will avoid hitting long-hops into the open or giving their opponents easy opportunities to volley.
They should aim as much as possible at the hole and the pepper-box and at the corners of the outer court. A player in the inner court will volley whenever he gets a chance; he should keep near the left wall, but must leave his left arm room to work, and must be careful when his partner is hitting not to guard the pepper-box with his body. He should keep his head below the line, and, without turning his body, watch what is going on behind him, and when he gets an easy volley he should hit his very hardest, getting rather over the ball, and so aiming that the ball will come straight at the head of his opponent in the inner court, or go to whichever back corner is at the moment unguarded. A common fault is a want of agility in getting out of the way of an opponent; it must be remembered that a "let," in forcing the "bully" to begin again, is often unfair to one side or the other, and a player who is frequently in the way either annoys his opponents or irritates his partner by spoiling his winning strokes.
The players on the outer court must be always backing up, ready to take anything their partner cannot reach. The harder they hit the better, as the more difficult it will be for their opponents to volley, but they must aim low, or they will hit out of court. A soft, high stroke is usually bad, but it is useful if it brings the ball just behind the pepper-box, and often, when in [FIVES 9 ft. 9 in. from the front wall. This naturally divides the players into up and back pairs, but in a court with no buttress one partner takes everything on the left and the other on the right side. The buttress court is certainly a modification of the original court-probably the Eton pepperbox making itself felt beyond its legitimate sphere of influence and at Rugby itself, Marlborough, Clifton, and Repton, the courts are all without it. That the buttress improves the game most impartial players who have tried both kinds of court are agreed, but its presence or absence has by RUGBY FIVES. A RUGBY COURT WITHOUT A BUTTRESS. the left back corner a hard stroke is difficult to place properly, a soft, high stroke brings the ball back to the same corner with a bound high enough to reach the ledge. A soft, low stroke only pays if your opponent is so far in the right front corner that your stroke hits the pepper-box before he can get across. All good judges agree that players in the outer court should hit at the front wall first.
THE RUGBY GAME.—In discussing the Rugby game it must be remembered that all Rugby Courts are not the same.
All alike differ from Eton Courts in having no pepper-box, hole, or step; they are generally covered in and have a back wall which makes slogging less dangerous. But at Oxford and Winchester there is a little buttress on the left hand wall, projecting at an angle of 135°, and at a distance of [By bermission of Mr. Eustace Miles. this time become a matter of tradition in public schools, and in matters of this sort changes are impossible.
The Stroke. The leg furthest from the hand which is making the stroke should be advanced, with the weight of the body thrown forward upon it. The best style of stroke at Rugby Fives closely resembles a jerk, the twist of the wrist putting on the cut. a The Server.-In double game the Server, if there is a buttress, is expected to take all balls in the front part of the court and to leave the back of the court to his partner. He should stand rather in front of the buttress and well away from the side wall. If there is no buttress-or, in a single game, even if there is he must stand further back, ready to return any sort of first-cut and to take everything that pitches on the left side of the court. He must FIVES] of course serve as his opponent may direct.
The Player who returns the Service should vary as much as he can the pace and angle at which his strokes come off the wall, and must notice the weak points of his opponent's play. First-cuts should usually be hard and low, and should hit the left wall 7f 20ft6" 6 6 Side 18 f Door L 2fE6 Side 28f Back Wall GROUND-PLAN OF A RUGBY FIVES COURT, SHOWING BUTTRESS. Note. The usual height of the back wall is 5 ft. before they pitch, but variety is the great thing to aim at, and a too frequent use of a favourite stroke has lost many a game.
Many players ask for a service which falls close to the right wall, and then hit low and hard at the corner where the right wall joins the front wall. The ball, especially if it is new, comes off very fast, and with a great deal of cut, straight to the back left corner and is very difficult to get up.
Another favourite stroke which needs, and repays, practice, is made off a ball rather far out, by hitting the side wall so far from the corner that the ball comes on to the front wall to the left of its centre, just above the line, and falls at the very bottom of the left wall near the front corner.
Such a ball will often not rise at all. In a single game a soft stroke is sometimes useful. It should hit the right wall very softly, not very near the corner, come on to the front wall to the right of its centre, and fall very close to the front too softly to reach the left wall at all. But in the double game soft first-cuts are not very profitable; it is wiser to hit hard and low.
If a first-cut is hit high, it should be hit very hard indeed. The ball will then hit the left wall more than half way up and come off the back on to the right in the back corner.
The Rally. When the rally has once begun, the beginner should try to watch his opponents. This not only aids him in placing his own strokes, but enables him to judge the direction in which his opponents are going to hit, so much so, indeed, that, while the poor player is always running after the ball, the good player seems to make the ball come to him. There is much less volleying than in Eton Fives. Low volleying pays well, but needs a good eye: high volleying the back wall makes of little use, for the rapidity of the volley which makes it so useful in the Eton game avails nothing when the ball can be waited for and taken off the back wall. With no pepperbox, and at best only a little buttress at which to aim, and with volleying difficult or useless, the beginner who wishes his strokes to score cannot pay too much attention to placing the ball. It is to his skill in placing he must chiefly look for success.
Strokes into corners, or just falling short of corners, or hugging the side walls, or hitting the walls at their angle with the floor, can never be practised too much.
Opponents who are elderly or in bad training should be given plenty of running-e.g., when both are at the back of the court a soft stroke into a front corner, hitting the result of the rally, still influence the result side wall first, may, without affecting the of the game.
In taking balls in back corners, beginners must not get too near the side wall, or the ball coming off it on to the back wall will be a little too far from the ball is a mistake prove difficult. Generally, in a corner, to more easy to remedy than the opposite one of being too near. A ball close to the front aimed that it will nick the side wall at its wall can be killed by a gentle low stroke so angle with the floor. In the course of the rally the beginner must expect to get many balls which it will take all his skill simply to get up; but, when he does get an easy return, he should try to do something definite with it. For instance, if he gets a ball in the middle of the right hand court, he may, with a hard low stroke at the left front corner, hitting the front wall first, To the practised Fives player many other bring the ball into the right back corner. strokes will suggest themselves, and beginner can learn more from watching good players than by any other means. a The Literature of the Game is scanty, but all Fives players may be referred to Mr.
Arnan Tait's brilliant treatise on Fives in the All England Series, to the Badminton Fives, and to an article by Mr. G. C.
Harrison, the old Oxford slow bowler, in the Fettes College Magazine for December. 1896. Mr. Ainger's interesting article in the Badminton Series deals mainly with Eton Fives. Mr. Harrison writes on the Rugby plain court game, but Mr. Tait's essay leaves no detail of either game untouched.
E. L. Fox.
THE ETON RULES.
Printed by permission of Messrs. SPOTTISWOODE & CO., Eton College.
The court is enclosed on three sides and open at the back. The "front" wall is the wall facing the player, and the "right-hand" and "left-hand" walls are the walls on his right hand and left hand respectively. The "step" is a shallow step dividing the court into two portions, an inner and an outer court.
The vertical face of the "step" does not reckon as part of the floor of the court. a "On-wall" and "off-wall" denote the floors of the inner and outer court respectively.
The "pepper-box" is buttress projecting from the left-hand wall. With the " step" it encloses a small square portion of the floor called the "hole." 4 The "line" is the ledge running across the front-wall at the height of 4ft. 6 in.
A vertical line is marked on the front-wall at a distance of 3ft. 8in. from the right-hand wall.
I. The ball must in every case be hit "up," i.e., it must be returned against the front-wall on or above the lower angle of the "line." Any ball except "the service," which drops on the top of any of the walls of the inner court, or which, after going "up," touches the ground first outside the court, or touches any object or person outside the court, invariably counts against the striker, and is called a "good 'un."
II. The ball must be fairly hit with a single blow of the hand or wrist, and must not touch any other part of the striker's person under the penalty of losing a stroke. It must not be caught or held in any way except to "serve," or to stop a "blackguard" (See Rule VI.), or to save a "good 'un" (See Rule XIII.).
Position of the Players.
III. The game is usually played by four persons, two against two. Thus, if A and B (with first innings) play C and D, A, who goes in first, stands upon the "on-wall," near the pepperbox"; "; B, his partner, on the "off-wall" near the right-hand outer corner; C stands near the middle of the "off-wall" ready to return the "service," and is said to be "in holes"; and D, his partner, on the "off-wall" near the left-hand outer corner.
Holes Innings.
IV. In the first innings of a game A (who goes in first) is said to have "holes innings," i.e., when both A and B have been put out, A will be "in holes." This rule only applies to the side which goes in first at the beginning of a game; afterwards partners take it in turns to be "in holes." If in the first game A has "holes innings" and Cis "in holes," then in the second game C has "holes innings" and A is "in holes," in the third game Bhas "holes innings" and D is "in holes," and in the fourth game Dhas "holes innings" and B is " in holes."
The Service. [FIVES V. The ball when served must hit first the front wall above the "line," and then the righthand wall, and must fall on the "off-wall." The player "in holes" need not return the first or any "service" till he gets one to his mind, and if he fails to return the "service" above the "line" no stroke is counted. Serving a "good 'un" does not put a player out.
The First-Cut.
VI. The player "in holes" must not return the "service" before the first bound. This return is called the "first-cut." He must return it so that it should hit either (1) first the right-hand wall and then the front wall above the "line"; or (2) the front wall above the "line" between the right-hand side wall and the vertical line marked on the front wall. In both these cases the ball may afterwards hit any wall or walls, and may "off-wall." fall anywhere on the "on-wall" or Only the player "in holes" may return the service. A first-cut which is "up," but not in accordance with these conditions, is called "blackguard." The player "in holes" or his partner may then touch or catch the ball before the first bound, and if this is done no stroke is counted. If the ball is not touched or caught, it may be returned or not by either of the opposite players at their option; and if it is not returned above the "line" no stroke is counted. The Bully. a VII. After the "service" and the "first cut" the ball is returned alternately by either side. It may be returned by either of the partners before the first or before the second bound, and may or may not hit the side walls. A "bully" is lost to his side by the player who fails to return the ball above the line or hits a "good 'un."
Lets.
VIII. A "let" may be claimed when the player is in any way prevented from returning, or impeded in his attempt to return the ball, by one of the opposite side. A stroke which would have hit the front wall above the "line," but is prevented from doing so by one of the opposite side, counts as a "let." A " let" cannot be claimed when a when a "good 'un" is hit, nor when a player is impeded by bystanders. In all cases of dispute the umpire's decision is final. Note. If there is no umpire a claim is generally allowed. 66 IX. If a ball while being returned first strikes one of the opposite side, and then the front wall above the "line," it counts as "up"; if it first strikes one of the same side it counts against the striker, whether it goes "up or not. دو X. If a ball returned by A or B strike A or B after going "up" before the second bound, it may be returned or not by C or D at their option, and vice versa. If not returned it counts "let." If returned above the " line" no "let" can be claimed. as a Scoring.
XI. The game consists of fifteen points. Only the "in" side can score points. When A is put out, B takes his place; when B is put out the side is out and their opponents go in, the player "in holes" having first innings. The result of each "bully" (except in the case of a "let") is either to add one to the score of the "in" side, or to put one of them out, as the case may be.
Two Out.