Caddie

“ I put in, "a caddie with no pockets is a very safe person to intrust with golf balls."
"That's very true," said Adonis, "and I suppose the cherubs make as good caddies as we can expect. Caddies will be caddies, and that's the end of it. You can't expect a caddie to do just right any more than you can expect water to flow uphill. There are certain immutable laws of the universe which [Pg 85] are as unchangeable in Olympus as on earth or in Hades. Ice is cold, fire is hot, water is wet, and caddies are caddies." ”

“ The caddie is an indispensable adjunct to the game of golf, and for the most part he fulfils his functions very capably; but there are caddies of every imaginable variety, and their vagaries are such as to cause wonderment on the part of their employers sometimes, amusement at others, and not infrequently exasperation. ”

“ A peculiarly caustic but half-unconscious humour is the characteristic of caddies everywhere, but particularly in the north, and while golfers continue to lack absolute perfection, and their ministering attendants to expect it from them every time, it will probably remain a characteristic. A fair specimen was the remark of his caddie to a player whose handicap was several strokes removed from scratch, and who, having become badly bunkered on one occasion, tried nearly every iron club in his bag in a vain endeavour to get out. ”

“ The weakness of this system is that the caddie, by force of circumstances, can know little or nothing of the progress of the match, he is not one of the party, and he cares nothing at all about our good shots. He lacks the sympathy of the real caddie, but he is marvellously efficient all the same. ”

“ Her head is usually bare, or perhaps she wears a motor-veil tied under her chin; at any rate, the unstable edifice of former days no longer flaps in the breeze and obscures her vision. She is independent too. She does not take the first club the caddie offers: she chooses her own, and rates the boy for not having cleaned it better. ”

“ When you have no caddie allow players who have caddies to pass you. They will go faster than you and should have the right of way.
Never make unfavorable criticisms of others’ play. Never, above all, laugh at any of their blunders. ”

“ If you have no caddie, do not order your opponent's caddie about as if you were paying for his services. Any assistance that he may give you is an act of courtesy extended to you by your opponent.
Always fill in afterwards every hole that you make in a bunker. If all players do that, both you and the others will benefit constantly. ”

“ The ignorant caddie is trying, but not less is the one who knows too much about the game, or thinks he does, and insists upon inflicting his superior knowledge upon you during the whole course of the round. Once when I was playing for the Championship, my clubs were carried by a caddie who swore horribly at me all the time, notwithstanding that from the beginning I was going strongly for the first place. ”

“ The class of human p. 57beings known as caddies are the offspring of golf, and have peculiar traits which distinguish them from the professional cricketer, the waterman, the keeper, the gillie, and all other professionals. It is not very easy to account for their little peculiarities. One thing is certain—that when golf was introduced by Scotchmen into France, and found a home at Pau, in the shadow of the Pyrenees, the French caddie sprang, so to speak, from the ground, the perfect likeness of his Scottish brother. ”

“ This latter use of the term arose in France, where it was applied to the younger sons of the noblesse who gained commissioned rank, not by serving in the ranks or by entering the écoles militaires, but by becoming attached to corps without pay but with certain privileges. “Cadet Corps,” in the British service, are bodies of boys or youths organized, armed and trained on volunteer military lines. Derived from “cadet,” through the Scots form “cadee,” comes “caddie,” a messenger-boy, and particularly one who carries clubs at golf, and also the slang word “cad,” a vulgar, ill-bred person. ”

“ But for caddies and for professional players who have no other trade golf is somewhat intermittent, and if I could dare to give advice to the nation generally, I should advise those responsible for the education of professional youth to insist on the teaching of something besides the mere playing of golf. If you think of the life of a caddie you will see at once that it is somewhat of an intermittent and loafing character. The employer plays two rounds a day ”

“ She's never been known to slice, pull or foozle. When she gets her eye on the ball it's there for keeps. Outside of that, she's a nice girl.”
“Why don't you learn the game yourself?” Tish demanded.
“Because I can't. I've tried. You must have heard me trying. I can't even caddie for her. I look at her and lose the ball, and it has got to a stage new where the mere sight of me on the links costs her a stroke a hole. I'll be frank with you,” he added after a slight pause. “I'm in love with her. Outside of golf hours she likes me too. ”

“ On a steep incline it pays very well to use a mashie, for length in these circumstances can often be judged very accurately, and, the ball having been given its little pitch to begin with, does not then begin to roll along nearly so quickly as if the putter had been acting upon it. There are times, even when the hole is only a yard away, when it might pay best to ask for the mashie instead of the instrument which the caddie will offer. ”

“ There are a good many varieties of caddies made. One is known as the “skeleton” caddy, from the fact that the bottom is made to take out, so that the company can look through all three compartments. The sliding drawer in this case is bottomless, and is so351 arranged as only to slide when the performer releases it by pressing upon a particular spot in the ornamental moulding round the bottom of the caddy. This pressure withdraws a little pin, which normally rests in a little hole in the side of the sliding drawer, and thus renders it for the time being a fixture. ”

“ Other tests were in leaping hurdles four feet high, and as the cadets vaulted, taking a suspending ring on a lance, in leaping clean over a running horse and in forming pyramids, with ten cadets on four horses.
The last test was, perhaps, the most difficult of all. It consisted in one cadet lying on the ground, and another riding toward him at full speed. The one on the horse had to pick up his comrade from the earth, by leaning over and grasping his up-stretched hand, and then assisting him up behind him on his horse, continuing to gallop away. ”

“ The horses did not like to face the blast, but the young cadets forced them about, and the unwilling steeds started down the slope.
Protected though they were by their heavy winter clothing and overcoats, the two lads felt the cold bitterly. But they were too plucky to give up. ”

“ There lies the proof. At West Point, and in fact at every military school, the cadets are sometimes practiced to ride with a scrap of paper held to the saddle by the knee while they leap a bar, and at the same time thrust or cut with the sabre at a convenient dummy foe. I have seen a silver dollar so held between the knee and saddle. But the bar is not a succession of high stone walls, nor is the cadet riding a burst of several miles. And with a longer stirrup it is more natural to keep the foot parallel with the horse's side. To-day, the best riders do not so hold their feet. ”

“ Like most other cadets, [323] he learned to fence expertly; and you will find an intimate knowledge of this accomplishment in his treatment of one of the most dramatic scenes in "Richard Carvel." He took to horseback riding, also to golf and to tennis, in short, to all the pastimes that strengthen the body and enliven the mind. It is his devotion to physical exercise which has enabled him to work long and hard without distress.
He felt, before his graduation from Annapolis, that his place was at the writing table, not on the deck of a man-o'-war. ”

“ I had barely touched the saddle before I was fast asleep, and did not awake until daylight, and then looking around, could not see a man that I recognized as belonging to my own troop. As far as the eye could reach, both front and rear, was a moving mass of horses with motionless riders all wrapped in slumber. The horses were moving along with drooping heads and eyes half-closed. Some walked faster than others and, as a consequence, would gradually pull away from their companions through the column in front; others would fall back. ”

“ Dick Hamilton's Cadet Days.
But those who envied him his good fortune realized that he had earned it. "Now, gentlemen, ready for the finals," ordered Major Webster. "I want you all to be careful, and take no unnecessary risks, at the same time, don't be afraid, for no one ever became a good horseman who was afraid."
The final tests consisted in riding bareback, in different postures, such as might become necessary during a battle, in riding at different speeds, in removing the saddle from the horse while at full gallop, in leaping hurdles, and taking water jumps. ”

“ The new cadet whose name comes first in alphabetical order is the “class-marcher” whenever the class is called out by itself, and it is his duty to call the roll of the class and to report absentees. After our preliminary examination Baily became the class-marcher, and he marched us over to the Library, where we took the oath of allegiance. [16] We were now assigned to Companies, the [56] tallest were put in A and D and the rest in B and C Companies, but the new cadets were still drilled by themselves in small squads, then in larger ones, and later on all in one squad as a company. ”

“ Her heart had been full of rejoicing and thanksgiving when graduation came, barely a fortnight agone—yet when, for the last time in cadet uniform Geordie stood before her, so soldierly, so manly, so honored by his comrades in the Corps, and she followed him with brimming eyes when, leaving his diploma in her hand, he turned away to his room, in the tower of the old first division, to lay aside forever the plume and sash, the sword and chevrons of the first captaincy, to shed the academy uniform for good and all, she knew she wished the whole year could be lived over again ”

“ Suddenly there rose on the still evening air the tramp of coming soldiery, quick and alert, louder and louder, swifter than the bounding of his heart and far more regular. Suddenly through the broad space between the academic and the north end of the mess-hall, straight as a ruler, came the foremost subdivision, the first platoon [31] of Company A, and instantly in response to the ringing order, "Column right," from some deep manly voice farther towards the rear, the young cadet officer in front whirled about and ordered "Right wheel." ”

“ There were drills to attend, lessons in tactics to learn, the best method to observe on a march, and illustrations given in artillery firing, for several field pieces had been brought along to use in the sham battle.
Cavalry exercises occupied a part of every day, and though the cadets had plenty of leisure they found that their time was pretty fully occupied, for Colonel Masterly and his staff wanted practical benefit to be derived from the camp life. Target practice in the open proved to many a cadet who had done well on the ranges that he had plenty yet to learn. ”

“ On, or before, that date the result of the examination held in the preceding month is announced and Cadets are advanced from one class to another. At no other time is a Cadet advanced from one class to another, unless prevented by sickness, or authorized absence, from attending the aforesaid examination; in such a case a special examination is granted; but in no case is a Cadet advanced from one class to another without having satisfied the Academic Board of his proficiency in each branch of study pursued by his class. ”

“ That kind of rough riding was as good a training as they could have had, and when once they had grown used to the feel of a saddle between their knees, and had learned the right use of rein and spur, they became almost at once excellent and fearless riders, and enjoyed shivering a lance or carrying off a ring or a handkerchief from a pole as well as any of their comrades. ”

“ The target practice soon began, and Dick, to his own surprise, made a good score, getting forty-nine out of a possible fifty.
"We have decided to have a practice march, around the lake, to-morrow," Major Webster announced to the cadets after target practice was over. "Fatigue uniforms of khaki be worn, and the affair will last all day. Lunch will be taken in the field. ”

“ Cadets who elect to devote their time to other forms of athletics, however, are regarded with no reproach, but men who absent themselves in order to attend teas or to go “spooning” are looked upon with some disfavor. Corps spirit ranks everything in the eyes of the cadet, and he justly demands that it come first. ”

“ Many an hour of his boyhood had been spent watching the men at work on their arms, pouches, boxes, sling-belts, etc., and learning how to put the handsomest polish on either brown steel or black walnut. Buff board, heel ball, beeswax, linseed oil—all their stock in trade he had long since found the use of, and already his rifle and accoutrements had been touched up as new cadets never saw them; but not until this evening had he unboxed his trooper kit; and with a dozen class-mates eagerly looking on, Geordie squatted on his pile of blankets and worked away by candle-light. ”