GERMAN BALLS.
Luck and skill combined in about equal degrees make the principal charm of this game, which is a very simple one, and which in many respects resembles the game of marbles known as "Die Shot."
The game may be played equally well in-doors on a carpeted floor or out of doors on a lawn, or any other level surface. The materials required are a number of balls, and a larger ball shaped as a die with eight sides, numbered respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. The die is placed on the ground with the figure 8 downwards, and the players, each being supplied with a ball, bowl alternately at the die from some point at a distance from the die to be agreed upon. If the die is missed, nothing is scored, and in some places the player who misses pays one to a pool. If the die is hit, the player whose ball hit it scores the number on the side of the die which remains uppermost.
Under some rules each player puts a stake into a pool, and he who attains the highest score in a certain number of throws wins the pool. If, however, any player should succeed in turning the die so that the number 8 remains uppermost, he takes the pool at once, and a new game is then commenced.
German Billiards.