America at present, over 300 centers, and proba
bly more than 3000 students pursuing a regular
sequence of studies. This looks like permanence.
The American Association is located at Phildel
phia but natural headquarters have arisen at differ
ent places, from which the local centers are organ
ized. Thus, Brown University, University of
North Carolina, Indiana University, Chicago, Wis
consin, Kansas, Leland Stanford, and, recently,
Harvard have become centers, of radiation. In
many of these institutions, there is a course in
University. Extension with its own faculty, who
teach at the adjacent centers as they are organized.
New York State has officially recognized it by ap
propriating money for its support, and placing
it in the University of the State of New York.
The working of the movement is very simple. A
body of people in any community, seeing the num
ber of persons who desire an education higher than
the public schools are able to give, or than they
have been able to secure, call a meeting, secure
names of those who wish to engage in such work,
organize a centre, and, after deciding what study.
the majority desire to pursue, apply to the nearest
Association for a lecturer on that subject. The
expense is shared by season tickets to the course,
generally of six lectures, the large number making
the admission fee very small. After the lecture
a class is held for those who desire to do
more work than simple attendance involves. A
systematic course of reading in the shape of a syl
abus is given to each member at the opening of a
course of lectures.
If it will carry the university or college to those
who cannot come to it, if it will teach the use of
good reading matter to replace the useless and of
ten vicious, if it will form a permanent bond be•
tween those interested in gaining knowledge, it
will be worth the effort it costs.
CHESS.
Of the origin of this, the most purply intellect
ual of all games, little is positively Icnown; anti
THE FREE LANCE.
hence much speculation has been indulged it
and many theories have been advanced.
It is interesting to note some of the attempts
that have been made to trace the invention of the
pastime to certain peoples, and still further, as
some have essayed, to certain individuals. The
Greeks, Babylonians, Romans, Egyptians, Jews,
Persians, Arabians, and others have all been cred
ited with the invention ; and amongst others,
Japhet, Shem, King Soloman, Xerxes, Aristotle.
and Han Sing, a Chinese mandarin, have been
named as possible inventors. The truth is, no
positive statement in regard to the birthplace or
the inventor is given in any record ; the origin of
the game is apparently beyond the memory of his
tory.
Some of the earlier chess historians tried to
prove by means of certain Sanskrit manuscripts
that a game called "chaturanga" was the primitive
form, and that this was played in India long before
the Christian era. Later writers, however, treat this
and other origin theories as mere myths. At present
all agree that chess certainly existed in Hindoos
tan in the eighth century, and that probably that
country was the place of its birth. From India it
crossed over into Persia, and thence spread into
Arabia. The Arabs, it would appear, introduced
it into Spain and Italy, whence it was carried
northward to France and England.
The histoty of our modern game dates from
about the middle of the fifteenth century. In the
work of Ruy Lopez de Segura, a Spaniard, we have
the first important treatise on modern chess. His
time was about 1560. Now, "the books that have
been written upon chess would form a tolerably
large library."
In 1562-1575 the first international chess tour
naments were held. Nowadays considerable
space in the daily papers is given to accounts of
tournaments and cable chess matches. Blindfold
chess•play was exhibited in the eleventh century
by Persian and Arabian experts, and was taken
again by English players about 1784, when exhi•
bitions were given in London,