THE GAME OF POLO.
The Polo family have always been great travellers. The adventurous Venetian, Marco Polo, who started Eastward long enough before Columbus thought of discovering America—or, indeed, before anybody thought of Columbus—was the first of the long line to make himself known throughout the world. This was about the year 1280, or more than six hundred years ago; and almost as long ago as that, according to all accounts, another branch of this distinguished family, which we have come to know as the game of Polo, was known and liked in other parts of the Orient. Travellers tell us that for centuries the inhabitants of certain districts of India have played the game, and liked it so well that they gave it a name signifying in their language "the game of all games." This game was born in a country where there were no telegraphs, no railroads, not even an old-fashioned stage-coach. All travelling was done on horseback, and all business depended upon the skill and fidelity of the horsemen. A game that taught the dusky lads to be good horsemen was more than an amusement—it was a national blessing. Polo was for ages, and is still, the national game of these districts. The boys are hardly large enough to lay their hand on a pony's back before they learn to play Polo. The English in India have taken up the game, but even with their superior ponies and equipments they can not vanquish the natives in a friendly contest with the ball and mallet. This is because the Indians from their earliest boyhood are taught to play the game, just as we, at a similar age, are taught the beauties of the Latin grammar. The English are almost as fond of good horsemanship as the East Indians, and as soon as their soldiers in India saw the game, they learned it and played it. Thus Polo travelled from India to England. Five or six years ago it took a trip to America; and although it still makes New York its head-quarters on this side the Atlantic, it has travelled all over the United States, visiting nearly every principal city, and generally making a long stay.
A GAME OF POLO.—Drawn by J. E. Kelly.
The only thing to prevent American boys from learning to play this exciting game is the great lack of ponies. While an East Indian boy would have a pony, even if he were too poor to have a coat, many an American boy with plenty of coats is not able to have a pony. But with the ponies once at hand, and boys who can ride them well, the game is easily learned. It is no more, indeed, than "shinny" on horseback, and if there is any American boy who does not know how to play shinny, he is yet to be heard from. Ordinary horses are too large for Polo, even when the players are full-grown men, for the higher a player is from the ground, the more difficult it is for him to strike the ball. The smaller the pony, the better for the player; and it should be as gentle as a kitten, as quick as a flash, and as swift as a deer. The ponies generally used in New York and Newport are brought from Texas and Mexico, and, as most boys know, these animals do not unite all the good qualities of the Arabian steed. They are a little too fond of kicking, and of stopping suddenly, and smiling with their ears, while their rider slides over their head. Sometimes, however, a young member of the party appears mounted upon a Shetland pony, a shining, bright-eyed little animal, as gentle as it is beautiful. These ponies are scarce, and often expensive; but it will be good news to some of the boys to hear that a gentleman has recently stocked a farm with them in Westchester County, only a few miles from New York, and that he intends to raise hundreds of them for sale.
The Polo costume is a very bright one, generally consisting of a colored shirt, tight-fitting cloth pantaloons, and gaiters, with the small cap that is well known as a "Polo cap." There may be any number of players on a side, from one to a dozen. The ball is made of wood, painted white, and looks like a base-ball. The mallet, which is called a "stick," has a handle six or seven feet long, and is used to drive the ball into the home of the enemy. Each side has its goal, made by driving two poles into the ground about six feet apart. The ball is laid in the centre of the ground, and at a signal the players make a dash for it. Whichever side succeeds in driving it through the goal of its opponents is the victor. The games that are played on the Polo Grounds in the upper part of New York city are usually very pretty sights. They are attended almost always by a number of ladies and gentlemen of fashion, who drive out in four-horse coaches, and are shielded from the sun either by the stationary awning, or by bright-colored tents, often made of the finest materials. In the heat of the summer the Polo centre is changed from New York to Newport, where most of the players are gathered. The last game at Newport for this season was played only a few days ago. A number of the fortunate New York boys who have spent the summer at Newport have been practicing frequently, with a view to making their first appearance in public in this city next spring. Some of them by a few months' practice have become very expert players.
[GARFIELD'S BOYHOOD.]
The late President Garfield was born in a log-cabin—a real cabin, for it had only one room. The roof was of rude split shingles, and the floor of puncheons. His father died while the boy was still a baby, leaving the mother very poor, with four children to bring up as best she could. The country, Northern Ohio, was wild and new, and the boys had small opportunity for education, and few companions of their own age. Except the Bible, there were almost no books in that region, and there were no periodicals for young people then, so that even if the young Garfields had been able to spare time for reading, they had nothing to read.
MOLLIE GARFIELD.
From a Photograph by J. F. Ryder, Cleveland, Ohio.
The boy who afterward became President of the United States found himself born apparently to a life of hard country work. As soon as he could do anything on the farm, he began to help, and as he grew older, the only change that came to him was a steady increase in the amount and difficulty of the work he had to do. It was only by hard work, indeed, that the family could live at all. His mother—the dear, brave old lady to whom we have all become attached—not only attended to all her household duties, but toiled hard besides. She made the clothes for her family, and took in sewing from the neighbors. She worked in the fields, too, and even helped in the clearing of timber land, her boys working with her.
HARRY A. GARFIELD.
From a Photograph by C. M. Bell, Washington, D.C.
James went to the country school to learn to read and spell and cipher a little; for very little more than this could be learned in country schools then. It is said that he had many fights there, frequently having battles with lads larger than himself; and throughout his boyhood he showed as much pluck and spirit in the discharge of duty as he did in these school battles. In the haying season he would walk ten miles to get a day's work to do, and he was always ready to do whatever there was to be done. He labored sometimes as a carpenter, and once, when he had no money, and wanted to attend a boarding-school, he hired himself out to a carpenter, and earned enough to pay his way by the labor of his hands on Saturdays.
At one time he hired himself to the owner of an ashery, at nine dollars a month, and worked in ashes until the ends of his hair were bleached. He next undertook to chop one hundred cords of hard oak wood for fifty dollars, and did it. He tried to secure employment as a sailor on the lakes, but failing in that, he took a place as driver to a canal-boat. No work was too hard or too humble for him, if only it were honest, and promised him a little money.
JAMES R. GARFIELD.
From a Photograph by C. M. Bell, Washington, D.C.
After his canal-boat experience he fell sick, and before he got well again he had spent all the money he had, and more—for he was in debt for his doctor's bill. He set to work to save money, and soon paid off his debt. Meantime the thirst for knowledge had been awakened in him, and he began that severe struggle for education which ended only when he had accomplished his purpose. At first he dreamed of nothing more than going through the studies taught in the little academy at Chester, Ohio; and truly that seemed task enough to set himself, for he had neither money nor friends able to help him, and he must earn with his hands all that it would cost him for board, lodging, and tuition. He began with only seventeen dollars. This was spent during the first term. All that he could earn during vacation went to pay off the old score of his doctor, and he began the second term with but a sixpence in his pocket. Dropping this into the contribution box at church, he left himself actually penniless; but difficulties of this kind did not appall the brave, resolute boy. Had he not always earned all that he spent? He had provided for himself in the past by the labor of his hands, and he would do the same now. It was then that he hired himself to the carpenter as has been related already.
During the next winter young Garfield undertook to control and teach the school in a district from which the last teacher had been driven away by unruly boys. It was a brave thing to do, for he was scarcely more than a boy himself, and it was certain that the young bullies of the district would contest the question of mastery with him. There was danger of defeat and failure, but he braved all and took the school. The question whether he or the big boys were to control the school was soon brought to a test. The largest, strongest, and most daring boy became unruly, and after the custom of that time the teacher must chastise him, or the discipline of the school would have been utterly broken up. It was a question whether Garfield would thrash the boy or the boy thrash Garfield, and the school was much interested in its decision. There was a severe struggle, at the end of which there was no longer any doubt who was master of that school, for the big boy had had his thrashing, and "Jim Garfield," whom the boys had regarded as a raw youth, was ever afterward respected as "Mr. Garfield, the teacher."
It was not long after this that young Garfield began to entertain larger hopes in the matter of education. He was earning his way through the academy at Chester: why might he not earn his way also through a preparatory school, and finally through college? Young Garfield was willing and glad to be a country school-master so long as that seemed necessary, just as he was always willing to do any honest work that came in his way; but he was not content to be a half-educated school-teacher all his life, if a fuller education could be had; and after looking into the matter he was convinced that a complete college training was not beyond his reach. It would require patience, hard work, and close economy to accomplish this, but it could be accomplished, and for this resolute young fellow, with his stout heart and strong arms, that was enough. As nearly as he could tell, it would take him twelve years to fit himself for college and to go through the college course, for he must work and teach one year to earn his school or college expenses during the next. But the thought of twelve years of toil, economy, and study did not daunt him in the least, and so he set to work at once.
How he accomplished more than he had thought possible, doing in three years what he had planned to do in four, and otherwise getting on faster and better than he had expected, is too long a story to tell here; but it is to be wished that every reader of Young People would read not only about Mr. Garfield's youth, but the whole story of his life, in the biographies that have been written of him.
It is very interesting and very profitable reading, not because Mr. Garfield was a Major-General, a member of Congress, a distinguished statesman, and finally President, but because he was always a man of high character and great courage; because he knew, even in boyhood, how to master himself; because he made his own way in life by patience, perseverance, and conscientious industry; because all the high honors that have been heaped upon him were his by right of his worth. This whole great country of fifty millions of people is in real mourning for his death, not because he was President, but because every one of the fifty millions has learned to honor and love the man for his noble character.
Mr. Garfield left five children, two others having died. We give portraits of the two elder boys and of the only girl. Mollie, who is a bright, winning lass of about thirteen years, has come to be the pet of the whole American people. On the very day of his death Mr. Garfield asked especially to have Mollie sit with him, and he and she talked together until he grew drowsy. Then, still to bear him company, Mollie sat down near the foot of the bed, where, after a little while, she fainted, and was carried out of the room. That was her last visit to her father's bed-side, the last time she spoke to him or heard him speak.
Harry and James Garfield were with their father when he was shot, and their manly bearing and tender devotion to their parents during these many sad days have won for them the love and admiration of the country. Harry is said to be a fine musician. Both are at Williams College, where the late President graduated nearly thirty years ago. The younger children, Irwin and Abram, remained at Mentor with their aged grandmother during the whole time of their father's fatal illness.
[A BIT OF POVERTY.]
BY W. T. PETERS.
I know a little maiden
In a most tremendous bonnet,
All manufactured out of black,
With nodding poppies on it.
Her shoes are two old rubbers,
Full of many a hole and leak,
And—bless you—these are only worn
On one day of the week.
But her laugh is molten silver,
And her hair is burnished gold,
And the treasures in her jewelled eyes
Are riches manifold.
And no one on the broad round earth
Is happier than she,
Although this little maiden
Is as poor as she can be.