Cricket Fights.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1890, 23 April 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

Cricket Fights.

ADhgcsiiag Form ot Sport whiuh is Very Popular in China.

Thesis scarc?ly any form of gport that in do} maia the oao43ion of gambling, buS ore oltharaost out-of-the-way examples ia tha following. Th 9 game is riot veiy elevating, nor doea it seem that in tho long run is aoald ba found very exciting ; but it does no:; take maoh to amuse children, uo matter how uid tnsy.are.

Wo halted in a corner to watch a fight between trained crickets. I had seen a number 0? these little creafcureq offered for sale in liny bamboo cages, but had not realized their position in ths gambling world. Oricket rights, however, seem to be as s&tisfacio?y a medium for gambling aa cooa£;hting or asy kindred sport ; so thsse poor iitde inasota are most eoioctifically extracted from their bidiug places in old wails, and oarefully secured uatil the day 0? battle, when two at a time are placed "on a flat tr3y with a deep rim, and are encouraged to fight, whioii they do with heatty good wil), seizing one another, and wieatiiag in good earnest.

The owner of the victor will, probably, clear quite a handful of oash — possibly a whole pennyarortU, which would be OUtIS a fortune for the day. But th'a form of amail betting is by no means connned to strset beggars. Miny rich reen dslight in it, and pay for heavy sums, amounting to hundreds of dollars, so that a well-provided champion oricket fetohes quite a large price. I ara told that many of the Buddhist priest* ara keen orioket gamblers, this mild spors apparently ranking among the legitimate clerical amusements of Cairm, as the anglsr'a arfi does in Britain. In Southern China there are regular eriokefc clubs, whioh hoid th >ir meetings in sheds ereoted for the pnrposa. Here the combatants are oarefolly weighed and measured, the beta recorded, and money deposited and weighed, to insure honesty. *"*" Tae care 0! these little creatures ia quite in elaborate business. Their diet and geatral health are most anxiously attended to £ha former inclades fish of two cores, honey, •isecta and boiled c'aeßtnusa and jrioe. In h-136 of illncs3 there is a variety of racaa■Jies. If the poor inseot has had a ouiil, n mosquito is administered. An asthmatic srieket is fed on bamboo butterflies, white jroung shoots of grfn pea correct fever. Bathing Is provided for by a tiny cap of water. At death tha distinguished winner of nanny fights ara honored with silver, oaifiaa and the afflicted ownero " bury thacr. darkly at dead of night," the reason for Beoreoy being the oonvioSion that the spirits Df the dead oriakets will bo thirst for fresh ricaraa that, in tha following Bpring, they will return to their burial plaOQ,tb«riSa ani> roaje new oriofeets, whioh, in turn, can ba lipiured anj trained.

Am, the world's a stage, and moat of &? men and women on it merely supers.

Wszk yon forget to fee tha waftesfttthe poansry botel, look out for wiDgs and necks is your chicken frieassag,

"Airoyon nre certain that you love ras, irianrx" said the pretty editress, ss her i;vsr hung over her in the bay window if Sfca mountain hotel. " Yoa are carlain ?'' " Will yoa say is again," sha asked, •• not necessarily for publication, but as aguarantee of good faith ?"

' J J any it again," he said, " I love you !" " Then," said she, " J &«t <?fttUfa3 an<? sre may now go to press'"

Iff those people who have hard, dirty v?oik to do will go to work and thoroughly cieanso themselves and put on clean clothing throughout, they will find themselves 20 per cent, mora rested and refreshed than if tbey had remained still and kept on their soiled garments. Lst everybedy try this plan.

The supply of water to plants through thrr roots is alwßys more abundant when the soil ia kept warm ; hence, when plants begin to wilt, mera warming the earth around the rools will sometimes oauee them to revive. But it must be remembered that rootß (except thoee of aquatios) need air to breathe, and hence must not be drowned,