This contest is usually held in colleges between the rival freshman
and sophomore classes. A cane is held by some non-contestant and the
two classes endeavour by pulling and pushing and hauling to reach the
cane and to hold their hands on it. At the end of a stated time, the
class or side having the most hands on the cane is declared the
winner. It is a very rough and sometimes dangerous game and in many
colleges has been abolished on account of serious injuries resulting
to some of the contestants.
CANOE TILTING
This is a revival of the ancient game of tilting as described in
“Ivanhoe,” except that the tilters use canoes instead of horses and
blunt sticks in place of spears and lances. The object is for the
tilter to shove his opponent out of his canoe, meanwhile seeing to it
that the same undesirable fate does not fall to his own lot. In
singles each contestant paddles his own canoe with one end of his pike
pole, but the sport is much greater if each canoe has two occupants,
one to paddle and the other to do the “tilting”.
CAT
A small block of wood pointed at both ends is used in this game. The
batter strikes it with a light stick and as it flies into the air
attempts to bat it with the stick. If the cat is caught the batter is
out. Otherwise he is entitled to a score equal to the number of jumps
it will take him to reach the place where the cat has fallen. He then
returns to bat again and continues until he is caught out.
COUNTING-OUT RHYMES
Almost every section has some favourite counting-out rhyme of its own.
Probably the two most generally used are:
“_My mother told me to take this one_,”
and that old classic—
“_Eeny, meeny, miny, mo._
_Catch a nigger by the toe;_
_If he hollers, let him go._
_Eeny, meeny, miny, mo._”
This is also varied into
“_Ena, mena, mona, mite._
_Pasca, laura, bona, bite._
_Eggs, butter, cheese, bread._
_Stick, stock, stone dead._”
The object of a counting-out rhyme is to determine who is to be “it”
for a game. As each word is pronounced by the counter some one is
pointed at, and at the end of the verse the one last pointed at is
“it.”
COURT TENNIS
This game, though very similar to rackets and squash, is more
scientific than either. The court is enclosed by four walls. A net
midway down the court divides the “service” side from the “hazard”
side. The rackets used in court tennis have long handles and a large
face. The balls used are the same size as tennis balls, but are
heavier and stronger. In play, the ball rebounds over the court and
many shots are made against the roof. While somewhat similar to lawn
tennis, the rules of court tennis are extremely complicated. The game
is scored just as in lawn tennis, except that instead of calling the
server’s score first the marker always announces the score of the
winner of the last stroke.
CRICKET
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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