Matchstick

“ For a foot in the middle of the stick, cut half of the thickness away and hold this part over the fire until it can be bent easily to bring the two ends together, then fasten a crosspiece to hold the ends close together, shape the ends so that anything that drops into the fire can be seized by them, and a serviceable pair of tongs is the result. Any sort of a stick that is easily handled will serve as a poker. ”

“ With a wild yell, in which every spectator joins, the player then produces the little stick—from the ball of grass, from under a knee or a foot, or from one of his closed palms, as the case may be. If he has been cunning enough to deceive the sharp eye of his opponent, the stakes are his; but if the guesser correctly locates the stick, the umpire throws to him the string of wampum, or whatever the stake may be. The sticks are then thrown across to the opposite players, and the game goes on. ”

“ Stick play is a fine test of a man’s condition. At first every hit leaves an ugly mark, but as soon as the player gets really “fit,” it takes a very heavy blow indeed to bruise him. The sticks themselves should be ash-plants, about forty inches in length and as thick as a man’s thumb, without knots and unpeeled.
If you want them to last any time it is as well to keep a trough of water in the gymnasium, and leave your ash-plants to soak in it until they are wanted. ”

“ A split ash-plant is as dangerous as a buttonless foil, and just as likely as not to go through the meshes of a mask, and blind where you only meant to score. As the chief fault of single-stick as a training for the use of the sabre is that the stick does not properly represent the weight of the weapon which it simulates, it is not a bad thing to accustom yourself to using the heaviest sticks in the gymnasium. This will strengthen your wrist, and when in a competition you get hold of a light ash-plant, you will be all the quicker for your practice with a heavier stick. ”

“ The hands are then played, and whoever gains two tricks takes one of the sticks. If two persons make each a trick, they play together until one loses his trick, when the other takes a stick. The cards are again dealt, and the process is continued until all the sticks are taken, If four persons have each a stick, they continue to play, to the exclusion of the unsuccessful gamesters. When a player wins two sticks, four cards are dealt to him, that he may take his choice of them. If a player wins three sticks, six cards are dealt to him, and should he take the fourth stick he wins the stake. ”

“ These are thrown loosely in a confused heap upon the table, and the players have to remove them, one by one, by means of a longer stick, hooked or pointed as desired, without, in the process of removing one stick, touching or disturbing any other. The first player removes as many as he can in this way, but as soon as he disturbs any other than the one to be removed, in the slightest degree, or touches any other one, he gives place to the next player, and so on. At the end of the game, the player has won who has secured the largest number of sticks. ”

“ To do this wonderful feat, you must have two sticks made, both of one bigness, and both of a likeness; so that none can know the one from the other; one of the sticks must be made so artificially as to conceal a card in the middle, as thus; you must have one of your sticks turned hollow quite through, and then an artificial spring to throw the card in the egg at your pleasure. The operation is thus: Take and peel any card in the pack, which you please, and so roll it up, and then put it into your false stick, and there let it be till you have occasion to make use of it ”

“ The moment your adversary sees your hand go back, he will come out. As you retire for the spring, he will spring. Time is the very essence of single-stick, and the chief object of the player should be to make his attack in the fewest possible motions. For this reason a slightly bent arm is necessary when on guard. Of course if the arm is unduly bent the elbow will be exposed, but a little practice will soon enable any moderately supple man to so hold his arm as to be ready to cut direct from his guard and yet keep his elbow out of peril. ”

“ In either modification of the game the player whose answer or word leads the questioner to discovery becomes the one to go from the room.
Tossing The Rings.
Fasten securely a stick two feet long and an inch or more in diameter to the centre of a block of wood or piece of board, so that the block forms a substantial base for the stick, which should be slightly tapered at its upper end. Make out of wire six hoops or rings, three of them nine inches in diameter, two of them seven inches, and one five inches. They should be heavy enough to toss easily, perhaps half an inch in thickness. ”

“ Each player takes a position in front of his stick. The object of the game is to knock over the opponents' sticks. Should a player knock over his own stick accidentally, or that of any player on his side, it counts as though it were knocked over by the opponent. When a player's stick is knocked over, that player is dead and takes his stick and leaves the game. The side first succeeding in knocking over all of their opponents' sticks wins the game. The players are not allowed to step over the centre line. ”

“ SINGLE-STICK, a slender, round stick of ash about 34 in. long and thicker at one end than the other, used as a weapon of attack and defence, the thicker end being thrust through a cup-shaped hilt of basket-work to protect the hand. The original form of the single-stick was the “waster,” which appeared in the 16th century and was merely a wooden sword used in practice for the back-sword (see Sabre-fencing) , and of the same general shape. ”

“ The players, who usually go in and out by turns each time, after a preliminary series of tippings of the spell with the stick in one hand, and catches of the ball with the other, in the process of calculating the momentum necessary for reach of hand, are also allowed two trial ‘rises’ in a striking attitude, and distance is reckoned by scores of yards. The long pliable stick, with a loose club end, used in the game, is called the ‘tribit’ or ‘trivit’ stick. ”

“ The weapon is a good stout ash-stick with a large basket handle, heavier and somewhat shorter than a common single-stick. The players are called " old gamesters,"—why, I can't tell you,—and their object is simply to break one another's heads: for the moment that blood runs an inch anywhere above the eyebrow, the old gamester to whom it belongs is beaten, and has to stop. ”

“ No bow was used, the so-called arrows being but straight slender sticks about 80 cm. long, neither sharpened nor feathered. The set in the collection contains 39 sticks, 28 of which are plain, 4 burned black at one end and 7 decorated with a spiral burned band. We have no information as to the significance of these divisions. In the game the players take an equal number of sticks. They are thrown by hand, poising them on a small heap of earth. The player throwing the greatest distance, takes all the sticks thrown. As in other games, the play continues until one has all the sticks. ”

“ For the points gained in hurling the sticks an equal number of rocks in the circle are counted and the counting stick is moved forward to the position between the last rock tally and the next cobble-stone in the direction the counting stick is being moved. In moving the counting stick, should it chance to be placed in the space between two rocks that an opponent's counting stick is occupying, the opponent's counting stick, that is, the first stick occupying the space is taken up and its owner must begin the game again. ”

“ The more you play the sooner you will become an adept in the art, and the better you can handle your stick the more effective a player you will be, because stick-handling is one of the essentials of the game. ”

“ The most perfect throwing-stick of all is that of the Mahlemut, in Norton Sound, in which are present the handle, thumb-groove, finger-grooves, and pegs, cavities for the finger-tips, index finger cavity, shaft-groove, and hook for the harpoon. In short, all the characteristics present on the rest are combined here.
Classifications of these implements may be varied according to the organ selected. As to the hook for the attachment of the weapon, in Greenland this is on the shaft, in all other parts of the world it is on the throwing-stick. ”

“ You begin to see how difficult it is to achieve the perfect stick.
Well, each one of us must let go those properties which his own stick can do best without. For myself I insist on this—my stick must be good for hitting and good to hit with. A stick, we are agreed, is something to have in the hand when walking. But there are times when we sit down; and if our journey shall have taken us to the beach, our stick must at once be propped in the sand while from a suitable distance we throw stones at it. ”

“ On entering the ring the men face each other, come on the engaging guard, and begin at the judge’s word of command. The sticks must have been fairly crossed before hits may be counted. But it is as well the moment your stick has crossed your opponent’s to step out of distance again, by taking a short pace to the rear with the left foot and bringing the right foot, after it. You can always come in again at short notice; but if you do not keep a sharp look out, a very alert opponent may cross swords with you and tap you on the arm almost in the same movement. ”

“ Nearly all first-rate stick-players have served their apprenticeship with the foils, and, where this education has [Pg 17] been omitted, one may generally detect the ugly carving-knife-and-fork style, so unpleasant to watch. Whereas with a good fencer—“foiler” perhaps I should say—everything is done with neatness, whether he has in his hand a single-stick, a cutlass, or the leg of an old chair. ”

“ Upon the captain very often depends the fate of his team, and he should always be a cool, clear-headed, experienced player, thoroughly up to all the tricks and subtleties of the game. The lacrosse-sticks, or crosses as they are called, are light, strong sticks, made of either hickory, ash, or rock elm; the Indian preferring the first because of its strength, and the white man the other two because of their lightness. There is no rule as to the length of a stick, but practical experience has shown that the most convenient length is equal to the distance from the toe to the hollow under the arm. ”

“ The players who have been guessed throw their peon sticks across to their opponents. For the ones not guessed a chip or short stick is laid in front of the player. The opponent must continue until he guesses all the hands, when his side goes through the same performance. There are fourteen chips and one set or side must be in possession of all of them before the game is concluded; so it may be seen that it can last many hours. Sometimes the early morning finds the singers and players weary but undaunted, as the game is unfinished, and each side is reluctant to give up without scoring. ”

“ To the right we see that the plain stick held in the centre gave the first idea of a defensive weapon, and was used to parry off the darts of the assailant; an aperture was then made in the stick for the hand, and the face of it became broader, developing into a shield, the narrow ends, however, being still retained for parrying. [38] Below I have shown that the long stick simply pointed at one end became a lance; a row of sharp flints were gummed on to one side to produce a cutting edge, and these were then imitated in wood, and by pointing them obliquely they were converted into barbs. ”

“ Each player who reaches the enemy's goal safely may carry one stick back to his own goal, and may not be caught while carrying it back. If caught in the enemy's territory before reaching the goal, a player must remain a prisoner in the goal until touched by one of his own side; neither may be caught while returning. Any player may catch any opponent, except under the rules just stated. No stick may be taken by a side while any of its men are prisoners. The game is won by the side gaining all of the sticks. ”

“ At the front end of the throwing-stick a narrow piece of ivory is pegged to prevent splitting. As before intimated, this type of throwing-stick is radically different from all others in its adjustment to the pegs on the heavy harpoon. In all other examples in the world the hook or spur is on the stick and not on the weapon. ”

“ Single stick is a different weapon, a cane or light cudgel with a basket-hilt covering the back of the hand, like the imperfect guard of the Highland Clay-more; it is straight, not curved, and as the rod has no edges, so in practice every blow equally represents a cut. ”

“ It seems, then, to me, that single-stick is the most thoroughly practical form of sword-play for use in those “tight places” where men care nothing for rules, but only want to make the most out of that weapon which the chance of the moment has put into their hands. ”

“ Anybody returning from the Alps should bring back an Alpine stock with him; every one who has visited Ireland upon his return has presented some close friend with a blackthorn stick; nobody has made a walking tour of England without an ash stick. In London all adult males above the rank of costers carry "sticks"; in New York sticks are customary with many who would be ashamed to assume them did they live in the Middle West, where the infrequent sticks to be seen upon the city streets are in many cases the sign of transient mummers. ”