Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/246

* POLO. 210 POLO. Tolo Club arc those which practically {.'Ovcrn all American plav. Tlioy liavc been essentially the name all through the game; only minor altera- tions, like forbidding hooking mallets and raising the height of the ponies, first in 1879 from thir- teen hands to fourteen one, and subsequently to fourteen two, having been niade. The game is played on a smoothly rolled green, when possible about 750 feet long and 500 wide. A white board ten inches high forms a bounilary along the sides of the course, the ends being ojjen, except that in the centre of each end there stand two goal posts 24 feet apart, made of very light material so as to break easily in case of collision. The hall is of basswood painted white, S% inches in diameter, and weighs live ounces. The mallets or sticks are generally of JIalacea cane, or other light wood, covered at the handle with rubber or leather, and fnini tifty to fifty-six inches long. The mallet head is generally cigar- shaped, two inches thick and eight or nine iiu'hes long, of strong wood, and fixed on the handle at any angle the ))layer finds most etVective to his wrist action. A loop of thin leather (to break easily) is slipped over the wrist, and the mallets weigh from 15 to 20 oinc'cs. The ponies are not limited to any [jartieular breed, but those that have been broken to the game give a great ad- vantage to the players. They must be active, spirited, and sympathetic with the game. Each rider changes his jjony with every |)eriod of play. The game can be played by teams of two, three, or preferably four on each side. If two on each side play the periods are two of 15 minutes each, with two minutes' rest after each goal and five minutes 'between periods. Teams of three play four periods of 15 miniites: of four, four periods of 15 minutes each, with seven minutes' rest be- tween them, and two minutes' rest after each Each team chooses an innpire, and they ap- point a referee, who watches the game from a ])ony's back. The teams toss for position on the field. The eight players face eacli other in fours on the centre of the field. The captain usually takes the jilace of 'back' to defend his goal and direct his team. In front of liim is the 'half- back,' while the two forwards (Nos. 1 and 2) are close >ip to the op])osing team. Play begins as the referee throws the ball, or, in case it is decided to open the game with a charge, the teams arc ordered back to within thirty feet of their respective goals, the ball is then <lropped in the centre of the field, and at the sound of the time-keeper's gong all rush for a strike and the game is on. A player may not with his hands or stick touch an opponent or his horse or stick, nor muh4 he put his stick over his op- ponent's horse. In 'riding olT,' that is. crowding an opponent away from the ball, a player must not push or strike with his arm or elbow. When the ball goes (Uit of bounds over the side line, it is thrown back at the point it crossed, the teams lining up as in the beginning of the game. When a ball crosses the end line, without ])assing be- tween the goal posts, the side defending that goal has the privilege of a knock-out from the point at which the ball crossed the line. When a player knocks the ball behind the line, at the end at which his goal is situated, it is a safety knock-out. and scores % "f ""<" K"^''! against his side. If the ball is caromed out or kicked out by a pony it does not thus score. A player in possession of the ball (he who hit it last) has the right of way, and must not be crossed except at a safe distance. Polo is a rough, exciting game. The breaking of sticks anil the iinseating of riders is a fre- quent oecurrcnci', and occasionally a pony has a bad fall. Fresh relays of ponies must be on hand at every game, as the sport is an exlumsting one. It brings out, however, the natural instinct ot the horse, who frequently seems to enter fully into the spirit of the contest. POLO, p<V16, GAsrAR Gil (c.1530?-?). A Spanish poet, born at Valencia. While he was town clerk at his birthplace his talents for ollice became known to Philip II., wlio appointed him. in 1572, coadjutor to the president of the upper financial chamber of the Kingdom of Valcni'ia, and in 1580 sent him to superintend the royal patrimony at Barcelona, where lie died. Besides his Canto dc Tiiiiti in praise of his native city, he wrote a continuation of Montemayor's Diaiw, under the title Primcra parte de Diana enamo- rada, cinco lihros, que prosiyuen los siete de Jirr(je Montcmai/or. This work appeared first at Valen- cia in 1504. Though inferior to the original ro- mance in invention, the continuation so greatly .surpasses it in clearness of tliouglit and expres- sion throughout the metrical i)ortions that Cer- vantes exempts it from the condemnation of Don Quixote's other books as deserving as mucli re-, spect "as though Apollo himself had written it." The best edition of the Diana cnamorada is that of Cerda, which is accompanied by a commentary on the Canto de Turia (Madrid." 1778; new ed. I802; see also the edition in the Bibliolcci cldsica cspai'ioki, Barcelona, 1886). Polo's Diana was translated into English, along with the first part by Jloiitcmayor and the second liy Alonzo Perez, by Bartholomew Young at London in 158.3-92. POLO, Marco (e.l250-1.3'241. The most cele- brated traveler of the iliddle Ages. He be- longed to a noble Venetian family. His father, Niccolo Polo, and his uncle, Maft'eo Polo, went about 1249 to the Crimea and from there jour- neyed to Cathay or China. Here they were re- ceived by the famous Kublai Khan (q.v.), re- turning "home in 1209. When they set out again for the East in 1271 Marco Polo, who had l)een born during his father's absence, went with them. The three travelers crossed Western Asia and "Tartary," and reached China and the Great Khan in 1275. They were received with great honors, and young Marco received various high oflices; at one time he administered a wliole province for three years. The three Europeans finally became restless in this distant land, and, though the Khan was unwilling to allow them to depart, they at last obtained permission to ac- company an embassy to Persia. From there they journeyed to Venice, reaching their native city in 1295. ' Marco Polo some time after his return commanded a licet in a war against Genoa. He was taken juisoncr in 1298. and was not released until the following year. Meanwhile he dictated in French an account of his journey to Rustigiclo di Pisa, who entitled the work The Book of Marco Polo. It was translated almost immedi- ately from the French text of Rustigiclo into many other languages. For centuries it com- prised all the knowledge Europe possessed of the extreme East, and though Marco Polo was at one