Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1901 — GAMES FOR THANKSGIVING. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GAMES FOR THANKSGIVING.

Nothing Essentially New, Perhaps, but Much that la Amusing. For the amusement of a company, where people of all ages and tastes are gathered together, games of one sort or another are almost a necessity; at any rate, they are decidedly useful, and the one who can suggest and tell how to play the most entertaining games is sure to find herself the favorite of the day. It is always better to prepare one's self beforehand for such occasions as this. Two or three games are usually enough to amuse a company for several hours, but these should be carefully planned and all the necessary accessories provided. Some of the games here given will be familiar to persons in certain localities, but they will serve as reminders to those who remember playing them out have forgotten some essential details. A game which requires music to play it, but not of any special kind, is that which is called “Magic Music.” Even a mouth organ will serve, if there i? nothing better. The game is played in this way: One person goes out and the remainder of the company decide what he is to do when he comes back. Perhaps it is to go up to one of the young ladies of the party and lead her out to the middle of the floor for a waltz; or It may be to untie somebody’s shoe. There is great chance for ingenuity in suggesting funny things to do. When the victim comes

in some one begins to play on the piano, if there is one. As he approaches the object which has been decided upon the music softens, but when he is wrong, the music is loud. It is very amusing, sometimes, when the victim is in the very act —say of sitting down beside a lady—and the music comes out with a bang, which makes the victim jump as if he had been suddenly caught in the act of doing something he ought not to do. An amusing trick which must be practiced upon each member of the party separately is called “Initiating into Polite Society.” The victim is brought into the room and directed to stretch out his arm and point the index finger toward the head of a pin that has been stuck into the wall some six feet away. After he has taken good aim he Is told to keep his arm and finger in that position, and is then blindfolded. The demonstrator then explains that if he is able to walk forward, blindfolded, and touch the head of the pin with the end of his finger he is fitted to enter polite society. A good talker must be chosen to make the explanation, so that the victim will be convinced that the real test is to be able to keep the arm in its original position long enough to reach the pin head; he will then start forward, holding his arm out stiff and straight, and being blindfolded he will not see the person who slips noiselessly in front of him ready to receive the extended index finger between two rows of shining teeth. When this is well done it makes a great deal of fun for everybody—except the victim, but he gets in his innings upon the next one who does not know the trick. The game of geography, though somewhat simple, affords considerable entertainment for both old and young. Each person is provided with pencil and paper, and is instructed to write as many as he can recall of geographical names, which begin with a letter of the alphabet that has been previously agreed upon. For instance, if the letter A has been chosen, everybody begins to write as fast as the names occur to him: Asia, Africa, Australia, Augusta, Andes, Amazon, Aurora County, Arabia, etc. A time limit of five minutes is allowed, and for every one which any member has which nobody else has written he counts five. Two funny games that are somewhat similar are the “Peanut” and the “Potato” games. In the peanut game each member is provided with a pile of two dozen peanuts and a case knife. At a given signal each one takes his knife, picks up as many of his peanuts as he can on its blade, and carries them across the room, depositing on a plate set for the purpose. Then he goes back and repeats the operation, and continues until he gets them all transported. If any drop on the floor In the transit they must be picked up in the same way. The one who first succeeds in transferring his pile from one place to the other gets a prize. In playing the potato game, twelve potatoes of various sizes are used. They are laid in two rows of six each, at intervals of eighteen inches between the potatoes. At the end of each row is a plata. Two ladies are then called forward, and each is provided with a tablespoon, with which she is told to gather up the potatoes In her row and carry them to her plate. The one who first gets her potatoes gathered up and piled on the plate is allowed to challenge another lady to a similar contest, and so on until the last one has played, the one who wins last being the champion. An old game, which has been adapted especially to suit the Thanksgiving season, is tho turkey gobbler game. It Is understood that each member is Instruct* ed by the leader to give the call of some animal, upon a signal agreed upon. Some* one who has never played the game is told in a whisper to gobble like a turkey. The leader, while pretending to give the name of some animal to every member, really tells all others to keep quiet, and when the signal is given the gobbler is the only animal that is heard, which. Indeed, is quite appropriate, considering what day It is, but the victim of the

joke feels rather uncomfortable. There are numerous other which are more or less old, but these ar* enough to furnish entertainment for on* afternoon, with a few left over for th* evening parties that have been planned for the younger members of the family.

PLACED HIS FINGER BETWEEN TWO ROWS OF SHINING TEETH.