Young and old alike enjoy the game whose object is merely to strike a small ball backward and forward over a net stretched across a table. If you have never played the game it will seem very simple, but upon first trial you will probably realize that keeping the ball in motion is not as easy as it appears, for, instead of returning over the net in an orderly manner, the ball shows an uncontrollable inclination to jump down on the floor and hide in some obscure corner, thereby causing the player to enter reluctantly into a game of hide-and-seek with the tantalizing little object. However, it requires only slight practice to gain control of the ball, and the game is then very fascinating.
Any girl may have a set of Ping Pong, for she can make it at the cost of
Three Cents
The only thing in the game necessary to purchase is a celluloid Fig. 604.
Fig. 605. ball, the price of which is three cents. Other implements needed are two rackets, a net, and the frame or stakes supporting the net. The racket can be manufactured from a piece of wooden box, or possibly a shingle
Fig. 606. which is sound and free from knots. Wood about a quarter of an inch thick, or more, is best for the purpose. Cut a paper pattern first as a guide for the shape of the racket. Take a piece of paper twelve and a quarter inches long and six wide; fold lengthwise through the centre and cut according to dotted lines in Fig. 604. Open the paper pattern and place it over the wood; with a lead-pencil draw a line completely around it, then carefully saw or cut out the racket, and smooth down the rough edges with sand-paper; make
Fig 607.