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Show Cuban Jai-Alay Player Is Star in Fascinating Game HAVANA. March 5 His salary li I ;03 a day; he works only eight days a monlh, only seven months In the year, and hu la only 13 yesra of age. He Is Kmillo Koullus. crack Jal-alal plaver of Cuba, and the Idol of the Cuban devotees of this thrilling and fascinating game, upon which hundreds of doll are are bet every month by na-tive na-tive and other fans. Jai-Alal, meaning a merry game. Is even more popular than horse racing In Havana. One playing court. or fronton, as It la called, seats 3.'00 persons, per-sons, but the crowds have been so great that another fronton is being erected at a cost of Ifvoo.ooo, and this one will cat Knot) persons. Kmillo Kiiulllx. a tHtt, hnndwome Cuban, has been playing lal-akal for even years, and has become such an expert that he has little difficulty In defeating his opponents. The result has been the starring of this agile otilh. and he Is featured somewhat like motion mo-tion picture stars are tn the I'nlted Stales. He plays only on the big days, Saturday and Sunday. Whenever Kuuilux Is billed to play, standing room I is at a premium. The best plavers In the Islands are pitted agiWnst him. but seldom has he been outdone. So popular pop-ular has he become that the Jai-alal fans a few days ago presented htm with g big automobile. But Kmillo Is modeat. He admits that Ma salary from the fronton company Is $2it a month; that he plays only eight dava a monlh and only seven months In the year, because there are no games from June to October. OAME KEEPS VOU FIT. "You don't have to take any exercise to be In condition to play this game, said Kquilui. "The game ltlf keeps vou fit and brines into play every muscle mus-cle of your bodv and you muat not let the become too hard. There la one thing I am careful atout eating. I don t overeat over-eat and I feel in perfect health. 1 am si feet bill and I weigh 194 pounds. "I wish Jat-Alal could be played In the I'nlted States. The Americans who come to Cuba get very eaclted over the snort. They stand on their feet and cheer and I am sure it would be a success in your "jai'-AlHl is the Spanish national ba'.t game, known there aa l'elota. It belongs to nn ancient family of games and has developed Into a gieat variety of forms In different countries. The Italians have the Giluoco della I 'alia, the French the Jeu de I'aume and the Germane the Rail-spiel. Rail-spiel. Handball, court tennis, lawn tennis ten-nis and similar games of Iwll are fmlliar to moat Knglish-speakin people. Jal-Alal is more like hnndball and yet is different. Of all athletic sports none chIIs for greater atrength. endurance, skill and tirx -j terity on the part of the player, perhaps, than Jai-Alal. The game Is played In a Fronton. Karh i one la known by a special name. The one at Havana la aaid to be the most im- 1 port ant In l he wor Id. The court or playing ground fCanchn) Is a rectangle 210 feet long and 34 feet wide, paved with cement. The front, rear and side walls are of granite blocks, laid wit hthe greatest care. On the front w1l tfrontisi three nurrow strips of thin metal are fastened, one parallel to the floor, three feet and three inches above It: the 1 second, parallel to the first, thirty -six feet higher. The third Is a vertical band connecting the outer ends of the other two. The back wall (pared de re bote) is provided pro-vided with two metal stris, laid In the same positions as the second and third strips on the front wall. The side wnll (pared tsuulerda) haa a single horizontal atrip running the entire length of the court at a height of thirty-nine feet three inches above the floor. HOW TO TELL A FOUL. Theae metal stripe limit the space within w hich the ball, m hen In play, must strike to be considered fair. Any ball touching any of the metal strips, or striking the front wnll below the lower strip, or ir the front or rear walls outside out-side of the vertical strips, or any of the three walla above the upper strips.' Is considered foul, and the side guilty of the fault loses one point. Which Is credited cred-ited to Its opponent. The floor of the court Is divided into' equal spaces, or blocks, twelve feet wide, indii-ated by vertical line on the side wall. Theae lines are numbered consecutively consec-utively from the front wa II to the rear. A I the four h and seven t li block marks lines are drawn acraea the floor. These lines limit the space of floor within which the ball, when served acatnst the front wa't at the beginning of piny, must strike in order to be fair. Of these two lines. No. 4 la called the faul tine and No. 7 the pasa line. As a rule, match giimes are p!ayed he- If the serel strikes the floor be tween the fault line and the pass line, the service is good. The receiving side must then take the ball on or liefore the first bound and return re-turn It to the front wall. A ball so returned re-turned may, on rebounding from the front wall, to be good, strike the floor at thn court or the side or the back wall at any point within the spaces limited by the metal strips; otherwise the point Is lost. The opposing side must then take the ball on or before Hs first bound from the i f.oor and return It to the front wall. I Failure to return the ball timely and properly or retaining it In ihe ceaia longer than necessary la considered a fault and the guilty side loses the Kint. After catching the ball the player muat return it to the front wall immediately and with, out shift fug the position of his arm a or bodv. The breaking of this rule i a fault. In Individual games (Quuilelast the players are numbered by lot. Number 1 begins the play by serving to No. 2. and 4U; point is played out between the two a In the case of mtch games. The loeer Of the point retiree and player No. 3 takes his place. The winner of the first point serve the ball to player No. 3. and the point la played out as before. In .this way the game continues, the players coming out in. succession until one has scored the required number usually six) points. It Is In the Individual games that Kmilio Kqullus shines out as the Jal-Alal star of Cuba, a though his work hi the games im brilliant. The ball used is about the site of an ordinary tennis ball, but Is made of solid Hrasihan gum and costs $.". The price of seats for the games runs from 0 cents for gallery ticket to H- for a box of six seats. The show starts at 8 20 p. m. There are usually two team gamea and two Individual games during the evening. A band plays during Intermission and Ihe netting, mostly Parl-mutuet, progresses. Hook makers weanng red caps mingle with the audience, writing their tick eta It's a great sport, and if you see one game you 11 go back for ntonv a, taeen four men two players to a aide but sometimes three men are teamed .i gainst three. In s H- cases the rules and regualtlons are always the same. In match games the players of the opposing oppos-ing teams are distinguished by the color of their shirts whit and blue. At the beginning of a game the toe of m coin determines which team shall first serve the ball. Thereafter, the team scoring one point wins the right of serving serv-ing for ihe next play. The side which first score the atipulaten number of points usually 25 or .10 wins the game. The name of the players, the color to be worn by each tesm and the number m points to he plned are conspicuously posted before ihe game starts. Aa the game progresses the score Is kept by an attendant In view of the spectators. THI GAME. To start the game the server drops the ball to the floor at the designated service serv-ice I'ne, catching tt on the bound in his peculiar baaket (cestal. and throwing It against the front wall. If the ball, in I rebounding after hitting the wall, strike I the floor on or short of the fault line I a foul is called and the serving side loses the point, which goes to the opponent. When the ball strikes the floor on or beyond the pas line the service la no good arid the server may repeat the plav. A second pass amounts to a fault ' and loses the point to the serving aide. i |