MARBLES

      THE old‑fashioned marbles were made by the attrition of pieces of stone against each other in a kind of mill, and were far better than many of those now in use, which are made of porcelain. When we were young the painted marbles, now a deal in vogue, were called “Chinese,” and were not valued so much as others. They are generally too smooth to shoot well. Marbles then, and still are wherever marbles is much played, divided into common marbles and “alleys.” Of these last a ‘’red alley” is equal to two common marbles, a “black alley” equal to three, and a “white alley” to four. Very large marbles called “tomtrollers,” are sometimes, but not often used‑never in the ring games and the very small marbles, called “peewees,” are only fit for children with very small hands.

     There are three ways of shooting a marble. 1, Trolling, which consists in projecting the marble so that it rolls along the ground, until it strikes the marble at which it is aimed; 2, Hoisting, where the marble is shot from at

or above the level of the knee, while the party stands; and Knuckling down, where the player shoots with the middle knuckle of his fore‑finger touching the ground, but makes his marble describe a curve in the air on its way to the ring. A boy has to be a good player, a “dabster,” as they say, to knuckle down well.  

    To shoot marble properly, it must be held between the tip of the fore finger and the first joint of the thumb, resting on the bend of the  second finger, and propelled forward by suddenly  forcing up  the thumb-nail.  Some boys place it between  the  bend of  the first finger and the thumb-joint. This is called “shooting cunnethumb,” and not only subjects those who do it to the ridicule of their associates, but tires the thumb very much.

    Marbles is a game played in different ways. We play it in the United States different somewhat from the English, and in different parts of the country various games prevail. The old-fashioned

PICKING CHERRIES

    (In England "Picking Plums”) is played by laying the marbles of the players in a row, instead of a ring, and shooting them under  the same rules of gain and loss as in the “Pile game.”

DIE-SHOT

    Is an English game. We  have never seen it played here. A marble is rubbed  nearly square  ‑ at least enough to stand firmly, and to have a flat upper surface. On this last part an ivory die is placed. The player is to strike the  marble so that the die will fall off, paying first one marble for his shot. If he succeeds, whatever number is uppermost on the die indicates the number of marbles he is to receive.

THE POT GAME

     Is played by making three holes, or "pots," in the ground about four feet apart. To determine who shoots first, one boy takes a marble and places his hand behind his back. He then shows  his closed fists to one of the others, who guesses which hand holds  the marble. If he guesses right, the other goes last , and the successful one tries with another. If he succeeds  with him, he tries another, and so on. If he fails he is next to last, and the one who guessed right goes before him, and takes his place to try. For instance: four boys are to play. John Smith takes a marble, and puts it in one hand behind his back.  He then shows his fists to Peter Brown, and asks which hand has the marble. Peter Brown touches the right hard. The hands are opened, and the marble is found to be in the left hand. Peter Brown is last to play. John Smith now tries Andrew Jones. Andrew guesses the right hand, and it is found there. Now John Smith is next to last, and Andrew Jones tries Alfred Williams. Alfred guesses the left hand, and the marble was in the right hand. Consequently he falls back; and the players shoot in the following order: 1. Andrew Jones. 2. Alfred Williams 3. John Smith 4. Peter Brown. Andrew now knuckles down at a six feet from the first hole and shoots. If his marble gets into the hole, he shoots from there to the second; and if he gets into that, then into the third, and wins a marble from each of the others. If he misses, he puts his alley, or another instead, into the first hole; and Alfred takes his turn. So it goes in succession. If the player who wins the first hole chooses, he can make each of his opponents in turn put down their alleys for him shoot at. If he hits them they are his. If he misses, the one whose alley he aimed at may shoot at his alley. If that be hit, lie is out of the game and his alley gone.

    Another method of playing this grime is as follows: Make three holes in the ground at about a yard and a half distance from each other. Then make a mark at a yard and a half distance from the first hole. The first player knuckles down at the mark and shoots his marble into the first hole if lie can. If he succeed, he then takes a span toward the second hole, and shoots his marble again toward that hole, and so on. If lie does not succeed, the next player tries his luck with his own marble, and if  he enters the hole and his adversary's marble is near it, he may either try to knock, the former player's marble away with his own or try to enter the second hole. If he succeed, he goes on again to the next, taking a span toward it as the former did, and throughout the whole game, having the privilege of knocking his adversary's marble away if lie can, whenever he has first entered a hole; and when he has knocked it away, he continues from the place his marble goes to. If he miss either the marble or the hole, the first player goes on again, or if there be a third player he takes his turn in like manner, and whoever plays may, if he can, knock away all other marbles that surround either of the holes, thus rendering it more difficult for the next player to get in his marble. Whoever first gets his marble into the ninth hole wins

the game. The ninth hole is reckoned thus. First, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1. So that he goes up and down the three holes twice. The loser must pay to him whatever they agree to play for. Sometimes the loser puts his knuckles on the ground at a certain distance, and allows the winner to shoot his marble at them from that distance, then from wherever the marble goes to.

CONQUEROR

    Is played  in some places. A piece of hard ground, and free from stones, is chosen for the spot. The first player lays his marble on the ground, and the second throws his own at it wits all his force, and endeavors to break it. If he succeeds, his marble counts one, and the vanquished player lays down another marble. If two players have marbles that have already vanquished others, the "Conqueror" counts all the conquered of the other party in addition to his own. For example, suppose A, being conqueror of twenty, breaks B, also a conqueror, of twenty, A counts forty‑one, i. e., twenty of its own, twenty for the vanquished belonging to B, and one for B itself.

    Is played by knocking marbles against a wall, or perpendicular board set up for the purpose; and the skill displayed in it depends upon the player's attention to what is called in mechanics the resolution of forces. For instance, if an object be struck against the wall at A from the mark at B, it will return again to B in a straight line; if it be sent from C to A, it will, instead of returning to C, pass off aslant to D, and its course will form the angle C D; the angles of incidence being equal to the angle of reflection.

    The game is played by any number of players; the first player throws his marble against the wall, so that it may rebound and fall about a yard distant from it; the other players then, in succession, throw their marbles against the wall, in such a way as to cause them to strike any of those already lagged out, and the marble struck is considered won by the owner of the marble that strikes it, in addition to which, the winner has another throw. When only two boys play, each successively throws out till one of the ''laggers'' is struck, and he who strikes takes up all.

    This game may also be played by spanning the marbles, as in Spans and Snops.

    As they call it in England, is the great game of marbles. The English mode is as follows: Two rings are drawn upon the ground, a small one six inches in diameter, enclosed by a larger one, six feet in diameter. Into the small ring each player puts a marble, called “shot." The players then proceed to any part of the large ring, and from thence, as an offing, shoot at the marbles is they centre. If a player knocks a marble out of the ring he wins it, and he is entitled to shoot again before his companions can have a shot. When all the players have shot their marbles, they shoot from the places at which their marbles rested at the last shot. If the shooter's marble remain in the small circle, he is out, and has to drop a marble in the ring, and he must put in besides all the marbles he had previously won in that game. It is a rule, also, that, when one player shoots at and strikes another's marble, the one so struck is considered dead, and its owner must give up to the striker of the taw all the marbles he may have previously won during the game. The game is concluded when all the marbles are shot out of the ring, or all the players' marbles are killed.

    In this country it is played that way in some few places. In others it is varied. The general way is as follows:‑Instead of the outer ring, a line six feet off is drawn, and called the base. (See illustration at beginning of marbles.) From this the players knuckle down, unless some one prefers to hoist, when he must call out, "hoistings.'' Each player puts one alley in the ring. If the first shooter knocks any or all the marbles out they are his, and he shoots on until the ring is cleared, or he misses. If his alley remains inside of the ring, it is "fat," that is, he loses it, and is out of the game, unless it remains after shooting out the last marble. After any one misses, the next one may, if he chooses, shoot at the alley of the other, and if he its it, the other is killed, and is out of the game, and his alley gone.

    The player who has just killed one of his antagonists may then go to base and shoot at the ring. If, however, he kills all his antagonists, he takes the ring marbles without shooting at them. And when any one is killed, he gives to the victor all the marbles he has won during the game, whether he got them from the ring or by killing his antagonist. If his opponent's marble has got in a hole or behind any obstacle, he may cry "puts," which will give him a right to place it in an eligible position, at the same distance, or may cry " clearance," and then remove any thing from between him and the marble. But if his antagonist cries "fen puts," or "fen clearance," fore he cries "puts" or " clearance," he must shoot as it lies. And he must shoot from where his marble lies always. In some places, however, if he cries "roundings" before his antagonist cries "fen roundings," he can go around to some more eligible point at the same distance, and shoot from thence.

    Another way, in vogue in some parts of the West: a ring is made, and one marble placed in the centre, and the others at points on the edge of the circle. The player may either hoist, troll, or knuckle down, as suits him, he knocks out the centre marble at the first shot, it counts him one. If  he hits one of the others lie shoots on, till he has hit all, or misses. If he clears the ring it counts one, or if he kills all his antagonists it counts one. The players who follow the first may neglect the ring and follow him to shoot at his alley, and he do the same with them. Whoever counts three first wins the game.

    In all these games the players "lag" for first shot. That is, they troll from base to a marble placed in the centre of the ring, and whoever nearest, shoots first. Whoever wins a game always shoots first in the next game.

     Remember that a "taw" and " marble" are the same; but in this country the word " taw" is rarely used. Strictly speaking, it only applies to the marble a player shoots with.