HIDE AND SEEK

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 257, 26 July 1930, Page 26

HIDE AND SEEK

The Elusive Ball JOYS OF PING-PONG (By J.L.G.) Cold weather having descended upon us in full force, indoor games are exceedingly popular. Of these sports, ping-pong is having a great vogue. Every few years ping-pong comes into fashion and remains “in” for a season or two, and then more or less dies out until someone decides to revive it again. At present the craze is at its height, and many are the ping-pong evenings being given. Magnetic Influence. There is something magnetic about a ping-pong table and outfit. No matter how one tries to get away from it, one gets drawn back. It really is fascinating. Stout people find it an excellent method of reducing weight, and thin people find it a splendid means of keepng warm on a cold night. Like golf, it is a first-rate test for temper. To those who do not know how to play ping-pong, the following description may be of some use:— Firstly, ping-pong is played by two or four people. Two is the better number. Your host conducts you to the ping-pong table and explains the game to you. “Oh, you’ll love it. It’s just like tennis. Miss Smashem, you play a couple of games with me, and Mr. Netbat can see what to do.” Miss Smashem remarks that really she is not half good enough to play with Mr. Servlowe, the host. However, she does not need to be asked a second time. Each player takes a small bat, and they stand at opposite ends of the table. There is a net across the centre of the table, and the players use a small celluloid ball that looks quite harmless, but is really endowed with all the elusive properties of quicksilver—only more so. Many Arguments.

And then the game begins. No it doesn’t! Miss Smashem and Mr. Servlowe have a rather heated argument concerning the mtehod of scoring. Miss Smashem scores the same as she does in tennis. Mr. Servlowe counts by points —1 to 31. He won last year’s championship at the club, so he ought to know. Then there is another argument. Miss Smashem’s service is all wrong. “My dear woman, you musn’t serve like that! You must stand back from the table, hit the ball, and let it bounce on your side of the net;” Find the Ball. When that matter has been settled, play really be-ins—so does the hard work. The two players engage in a really good volley, and Mr. Servlowe takes a smashing shot that sends the ball right over the other side of the room. Then a search begins. Let it be remembered that there is no limit to the number of places in which a ping-pong ball can hide. It would disappear in thin air if it had its way. It will seek out the most unlikely crevices to fall into. If there is any furniture in the room the ball will get tucked away where no one can find it. It will fall into vases, behind cushions, into bowls, and into the fire. It will get wedged behind sideboards, behind pictures, and will roll all over the floor. In fact, the greater part of the time taken up by a game of ping-pong is expended in searching for the elusive ball. It is quite common to go into a pingpong room and find a couple of usually normal people crawling about on all fours, peering beneath sofas and behind chairs, and stretching their necks over vases in their attempts to find the ball. What is the Score? Mr. Serv lowe and Miss Smashem perform all these feats, and when the ball has been located the game is ready to proceed. By this time, however, Miss Smashem has quite forgotten whether the score was (5—4 or 4—6. When that has been settled the game goes on —or at least it is all ready to do so, when Miss Smashem suddenly realises that it • should be her serve. “Oh, Mr. Servlowe, I’m sure it’s my serve,” she says. “My dear Xliss Smashem, I assure you it’s—no, a thousand pardons, my mistake, it is yours.” Miss Smashem gleefully flicks the celluloid sphere to her opponent’s side of the table, Mr. Servlowe smashes back, the ball goes straight for that part of the room that contains the most hiding places, picks out the most inaccessible one. and for the next few minutes the players again take a little creeping exercise. And so the game goes on. It is not hard to learn. It may be a trifle hard on the system, and it may be a little strenuous—but, as I said before—it is splendid for reducing.