Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do

by Unknown

The tail is made by folding paper. Take a number of pieces about five inches long and four broad, and fold them as though you were making spills for the lighting of candles. How long the tail should be is a matter for experiment. Try it with forty and a tassel at the end, and you will see afterwards when you try to fly the kite if that is the right length and weight. Attach your long flying line now to the string that connects E and F, about four and a half inches below E.

Choose a breezy day and ask someone to face the wind and hold the kite aloft. Keeping the line tight, run a few yards in the face of the wind to give the kite a start upon its upward journey. Now is the time to see if the tail is too heavy or too light. If the kite labours upwards and shows a tendency to come straight down, tail first, then it may be inferred that the tail is too heavy, and by reducing the number of “chickens” as they are called in some parts of the country, and by taking from the tassel the kite may be relieved of its too heavy burden. If, on the other hand, the tail is not heavy enough, the kite will plunge madly from side to side and will dive downwards head foremost, demanding more “chickens” or a heavier tassel. The kite may be flown in the dark with a Chinese lantern where the tassel is.

Rackets.—A racket ground is in the form of a parallelogram, not less than fifty yards long and twenty-five broad. Sometimes a wall of a garden may be adapted by fixing boards and net-work along the top, if there is space enough below. The wall should be painted black, and the ground be divided into four equal divisions, distinctly marked. The flooring of the court should be paved. The divisions are, two close to the wall, A and B, and two in front of them, C and D. These divisions are occupied by those who play the game. The wall should be marked by a broad line of white paint E at forty-two inches from the ground, and above this line each ball should strike. The ball weighs one ounce, and should be white. When it becomes dirty its whiteness is renewed by dipping it into a bag of chalk, so that it may be seen against the black wall. The game may be played by two or more players. When it is played by four, one stands in each of the compartments, A, B, C, D; those near the wall being called in-hand, and those furthest from it out-hand players. When two play, each player has two of the divisions, and the one who takes the A and B is called in-hand player, and the other out-hand player. Having decided who is to begin the game, the in-hand player nearest the wall strikes his ball against the wall; if it strikes under the line, goes over the wall, does not rebound into the out-hand spaces, or goes beyond the racket ground, the striker is out, and the out-hand player takes his place; but if the player is successful, and the ball rebounds into the out-hand spaces, and as it rises is sent back to the wall, to rebound into one of the in spaces, the game proceeds. In a close-court game the “server” who serves the ball properly above the line but not into his adversary’s court is allowed three trials before his “hand” is out. The game is, that the in-player should send the ball in such a manner against the wall that, on its rebound, the opposite player, or players, shall be able to pick it up or strike it. When this happens, he who struck the ball counts one point, or an ace, and the play proceeds until one player or players scores eleven, or fifteen, as the players decide.

This game may be played either in an open court, that is in a court with only one wall, against which the game is played, or in a closed court surrounded by four walls. Sometimes there is an ordinary high front wall, and a smaller back wall, omitting the side walls. The close-court game is the best, but the expense compels many to adopt the open-court game.

Fives.—This game needs a high wall, free from abutments, and under it a smooth, dry, paved ground. A line is drawn on the wall, about three feet from the ground; another line is drawn upon the ground itself about 10 feet from the wall, A; and two others are drawn on each side as boundaries, B, C. The player needs a ball of tightly-sewn leather and a fives-bat. This has a long handle, and an oval bowl of wood. The ball is hard, capable of bouncing, small and white. The game may be played by two or four people; in the last arrangement, two on each side. The game may be played either single-handed or with partners. When it is played with partners, the players toss up for first innings. The first player takes the ball, and strikes it against the wall with his bat above the line on the wall, and so that it may fall outside the line on the ground. The other then strikes it, and the players continue to hit it against the wall, either before it comes to the ground or at the first rebound, until one of them missing it, or driving it out of bounds, or beneath the wall-line, loses or goes out. The ball may fall anywhere within the side boundaries, after being once struck up by the player who is in. The game is usually fifteen, but is sometimes extended to twenty-five. This is bat-fives, and is not unlike rackets, except that it may be played in any open court, and that another kind of bat and a larger ball are used. Fives was originally played with the hand, instead of a racket.

Prisoners’ Base.—Appoint the two best players captains, and let them choose their men alternately. Next mark the homes and prisons. Two semicircles are drawn, large enough to hold the two sides, the distance between the semicircles being about twenty yards. These are the “homes,” or “bounds.” Twenty yards in front of these, two other semicircles, of a rather larger size, are drawn. These are the prisons, and the prison of each party is in a line with the enemy’s home. Having settled which side shall commence the game the captain of that side orders out one of his own side who must run at least beyond the prisons before he returns. As soon as he has started, the Captain of the other side sends out one of his men to try to touch him before he can regain his own home. If this is accomplished, the successful runner is permitted to return home while the boy who has been touched must go to the prison belonging to his enemies’ side; from which he cannot move until someone from his own side releases him, by evading the enemy and touching him. This is not easy, because in order to reach the prison, the player must cross the enemy’s headquarters. It is allowable for the prisoner to stretch his hand as far towards his rescuer as possible, but he must keep some part of his body within the prison; and if a number of prisoners are captured, it is sufficient for one to remain within the prison, while the rest, by joining hands make a line towards the boy who is trying to release them. When this is done, both the prisoner and his rescuer return home, no one being able to touch them until they have reached their home and started off again. The game, however, is not only confined to the two originally sent out. As soon as a captain sees his man in difficulty he sends out a third, who is in his turn pursued by another from the other side; each being able to touch any who have preceded, but none who have left their home after him. The captains direct, and hold themselves ready in case of an emergency, and the side wins which imprisons the whole of the boys upon the other side.

French and English.—Choose two sides in the usual way. One side takes hold of one end of a stout rope, and the other side of the other end. A line is made midway between the sides, each strives to pull the other over it, and those who are so pulled over, lose the game.

Two captains should be appointed, and each should have a code of signals to communicate with his own side, that he may direct them when to stop, when to slacken, or when to pull hard.