* * *

The rules of knucks up, with marbles, vary greatly. Here is one way to
play it: Dig three holes in the ground three inches in diameter and four
feet or more apart. The first player starting at the first hole tries to
get his marble into the second hole. If he succeeds he takes a span with
his hand and proceeds to the third; if he fails, the next player
follows. Should he manage to get into the hole, he plays again, and can
either try for the third hole or try to knock his opponent further away
from the hole. He also has the privilege of a span. If he should hit his
opponent's marble, the hit counts another hole for him, but he must put
his marble into the hole he was playing for before he can shoot at his
opponent's marble. There is a point to be gained in carrying your
opponent's marble from hole to hole. You can finish the game in this
way.

The players continue in this way until one or the other has gone up and
down three times. The player who has lost the game places his clinched
fist on one side of any of the holes, with his marble in front of his
fist. The winner gets on the opposite side. He then takes aim, closes
his eyes, and shoots. He does this three times, his eyes closed, and
every time he misses, or hits his opponent's marble, he has to put his
knuckles up on his side of the hole while the loser shoots at them.
These are called the "blind" shots. Then he shoots three times at the
loser's knuckles with his eyes open. These shots he very seldom misses.
It is best not to have too many players, because there is likely to be
confusion in the marbles and the holes. You can also play partners in
the same way.

* * * * *

The largest city in the United States is New York, and its population,
recently enumerated, is only a little below 2,000,000. The following
States fought for the Southern cause of 1861, passing secession
ordinances on dates in the order named: South Carolina, Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North
Carolina, and Tennessee. The States of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and
Delaware refused to secede, but passed ordinances declaring themselves
to be neutral.

A VILLAGE OF CHESS-PLAYERS.

We learn from a foreign journal that the village of Stroebeck is known
throughout the whole of Germany as the "chess-playing village." For
centuries every native of that village, from the prosperous freeholder