FAMILY FUN

New Zealand Tablet, 25 February 1915, Page 62

FAMILY FUN

TRICKS, ILLUSIONS, AND INDOOR ;AMUSEMENTS. , .. : • (Special to the N.Z. Tablet by Mahatma.) The Human Ninepins.-This is a very laughable competition. Persuade ’ half a dozen pr more young people to join in the game. These you form in a line, each touching his neighbor. The game then proceeds this way You, as director and master of ceremonies, standing at the extreme end of the line, say to on© of " your company, standing next to you, ‘Solomon had a dog.’ To this most original remark it is his duty to remark, ‘ And what did Solomon’s dog do?’ ‘Solomon’s dog,’ you reply, for instance, ‘waggled his front paw,’ and you proceed to follow the dog’s example by waggling your hand in front of you and as you do so everyone in the line must imitate you. You now repeat your first remark, ‘Solomon had a dog whereupon No. 2 in the line follows up with ‘ And what did Solomon’s dog do?’ And you proceed to show another trick performed by Solomon’s dog, perhaps crouching on hands and knees or any other antic which may suggest itself to you everyone, as before, must imitate you in all you do. Again you remark that ‘ Solomon had a dog,’ and this time No. 3 inquires as to the dog’s actions, and so on to the last person in the line. The last deed of this animal is to stand on one leg and to hold the other leg with both hands. Here the fun starts. When you see that everyone is in position, you turn quickly and give a swift push to your nearest neighbor. In the twinkling of an eye the whole line of players will be sent rolling on the floor, one over the other like a set of ninepins bowled down by a well-directed ball. A Feat of Dexterity.—This is hardly a trick, although I have never yet done it without overhearing remarks to the effect that ‘ there’s a trick in it somewhere.’ I can assure the reader there is no trick in it. You place a penny on the palm of your right hand, contract the palm over the edge of the coin, and then spring it out of the hand. The left hand catches it. If the right hand is turned over at the moment the penny leaves it, the coin is not seen as it passes from one hand to the other, and the audience will give you the credit of having performed a very neat sleight-of-hand trick. Grab the Orange.—Fix a stick to the top of the door, tie a string to it, and tie an orange to the end of the string. • Then set the orange swinging, and ask the boys to come and grab it. They must do this with their mouths, and their hands must be held behind them all the time. To get the maximum amount of effect out of this'little pastime, the person arranging it should blacken the orange at a grate, and start the game in the hall or some other place where the light is not bright. Then, .after a boy has made various vain grabs for the orange, switch on the light, and you will not have long to wait for the laugh from the spectators. The Egg Race.—The worried bachelor uncle who does not know what to do with those boys at a party, will find this a pleasant and amusing way of passing the time: He must get the boys to take off their coats, and submit to the process of having their hands tied behind their backs. He then places a number of eggs in a large basin, and tells the competitors that at the ■word ‘ Go,’ each boy is to approach the basin, pick up an egg with his mouth, carry it in that way to another room, and deposit it in a basin there. - Any boy breaking an egg is disqualified. This game can be played with small oranges or apples instead of eggs.