Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/561

* WHISPERING GALLERY. uttered near one wall may be distinctly heard at the opposite wall 108 feet away. WHIST (variant of whisk, so ealled from the whisking or sweepinj,' of the tricks from the board, from Icel. viak, wisp of hay, rubber, OlKi. icisc, Cier. Wiscli, whisk; perhaps connected with Lat. viryu, rod, .switch). A game of cards played with a full ])ack by four persons, two in partner- ship against the other two. Its origin, like that of most card games, is very obscure. Un- der its old name of 'triumiih' it had become so commonly understood that when liishop l^ati- nicr preached the Cliristmas sermon at Cam- briilgc in 1520, he had no doubt his hearers could follow his allegories based upon it. Its first serious study and the f<irnuilatiim of its rules came about by the freciuent meetings of a party of whist-players at the Crown ( oH'ee Hoise in Bedford Row, London, of whom Kdniond Hoyle (r|.v. ) was one. Up to this time it had been usual to discard the deuces, so that the tricks were often even, six on each side. By bringing the entire pack of cards into play they added the potent factor of the odd trick. In 1700 the laws were revised by the members of two celebrated London clubs. Whites and Saun- ders, and the rules so revised remained in exist- ence until 1S62. when 'Cavendish' published his celebrated treatise^ of which more than thirty editions have since been issued. The next im- portant change in the methods of play was the adaptation by 'Cavendish' of the 'American leads.' a method suggested liv Nicholas B. Trist of New Orleans, in 188.3-84, to classify the vari- ous scattered rules for leading, so as to make it possible to establish general principles. This system involves a systematic course of play when opening, and the continuing of leads from strong suits. The rules revised by the Portland Club of London govern whist, except where it is necessary to adopt those of the American Whist League, or where 'German whist,' or 'bridge" (q.v.) is played. The two pairs of partners sit facing each other, and the entire fifty-two cards are dealt face down, thirteen to each player, the last card being turned face upward and its suit determining trumps : the player at the left of the dealer leads first, and the succeeding player must follow suit if he can. The highest card of the suit led (imless some player not having a card of that suit has played a trump) wins the trick. The wiinier of the trick then leads, play- ing any card of any suit he chooses, and .so on in turn, until all the cards, making thirteen tricks, have been played. Long whist, a game of ten points in which honors are scored, is now seldom played. Short- whist, a game of five )ioints. where honors are scored, is popular in England. The American game is of seven points without lienors. Dummy ii'hist is a ganu: played by three persons, the fourth hand, ealled the dummy, being exposed on the table. The dummy deals at the beginning of each ridiber. and is not liable to a jienalty for a revoke, neither is the dummy's partner liable to any penalty for an error from wdiich he can gain no advantage, but otherwise the laws are the same as those of whist proper. Dotihlf dummii is played by two persons, each player having a dummy or exposed hand for his partner. In this game there is no misdeal and the laws are the same as for dummy whist. In dnpli- VOL. X.X.— 31. 475 WHISTLER. rule whist the deal is played but once by each player, but in order to bring the play of teams, pairs, or individuals into comparison each hand is played over again. When it comes tiie turn of a player to play, he is i-c(|uirej to place his card face up before him and let it remain until the others play to the trick, after which he turns it over with the ends toward the winners of the trick. When the deal is played, each player places his hand in the tray or whatever device is employed, face downward, and the trump card is placed face upward on top of the dealer's hand. Russian ti.'hist closely r<'sembles the American game, except that there arc no trumps and the scoring varies according to agreement, although it is generally as in long whist. There is a very large bibliography of whist which is easily accessible. The standard work is Cavendish, J'rineiplcs of Whist, Stated and I'Jxplaincd (21st ed., London, 1902). WHISTLER, .Tames AnnoTT McNeill (1834- 11103). An American painter and etcher, of French training, the most original and gifted artist of American lineage. The events of his early life are dillicult to ascertain, owing to his own contradictory statements an<l desire to veil them in mystery; but it seems certain that he was born at Lowell, Mass., July 10, 18.34. His father. Major George Washington Whistler, of the I'nited States Army, was a distinguished engineer. His mother, a Baltimore lady of re- tinenient, was the constant companion and in- structor of his boyhood. In 1837 the family re- moved to Stonington, Conn., and in 1842 to Saint Petersburg, Russia, Major Whistler having been intrusted by the Czar with an important commission in the construction of the railroad between .Saint Petersburg and Moscow. After the Major's death (184;)) the family returned to Stonington and the lad was sent to school at Pomfret, near by, |)re]iaratory to entering West Point in 1851. Jlilitary discipline and attention to detail were very odious to him, and although he distinguished himself in drawing, his record in other subjects was such that he was dismissed from the academy. He was, however, assigned to the United States Coast Survey, in which he did not remain long, because of a prank in en- graving caricatures on the margin of a plate executed in that .service. In 1856 he became a pupil of the classicist Gleyre in Paris, but was not perceptibly influenced by this master. Ho was for some time a follower of Courbet, whose sincere realism he deeply admired. The low tones and the grand lines of his works remind somewhat of Velazquez, though he never saw the best of the great Spaniard's works in Madrid. From the Hiroshige and Hokusai he probably learned most of all — subtle decorative effects and the principles of selection. But none of these elements dominate his art to such an extent that he can with propriety be called' any man's pupil. His individuality was from the beginning entirely unique. From 1857 to 18(33 his pictures were refused at the Salon; but in the latter year his "Little White Girl" achieved a signal success in the Salon des Refuses. As an etcher he found ■ earlier recognition. His LittJr French Series (1858) representing Parisian views, some of a genre character, established his reputation, and the wonderful Thames Scries (1871) placed him