GOLIATH 



2532 



GOMPERS 



To Develop Good "Form." An article of this 

 nature cannot give playing rules or directions 

 the "golfer" should follow. How to stand 

 beside the ball, how to handle the clubs, how 

 to effect a stroke all these require technical 

 descriptions 

 which the novice 

 sometimes finds 

 difficult to inter- 

 pret. The best 

 way to secure 

 improvement i s 

 to study carefully 

 the methods of "I'm a sinker !" 



the best players, unless one is able to hire a 

 professional for a number of lessons. 



Golf when entered upon in the proper spirit 

 compels courtesy, patience, control of the emo- 

 tions and prompt acknowledgment of the rights 

 of others. 



Brief History. It is believed that a game 

 similar to modern golf originated with the 

 Dutch, but credit belongs to Scotland for de- 

 veloping it to its present standards and hand- 

 ing down its traditions. Formerly it was solely 

 a "gentleman's game," reserved to few men, 

 whose wealth made great courses possible. 

 These men observed to the highest degree the 

 ethical and social requirements so dear to the 

 Scotch golfer, and with such a standard the 

 game reached America in 1888. For many 

 years only men of leisure played; the partici- 

 pation of women did not follow for a dozen 

 years. Gradually in city parks golf courses 

 were laid out, and the response of the general 

 public was instantaneous. By 1910 many 

 women were playing, their number constantly 

 increasing until on some city courses the sexes 

 are nearly equally represented. Chicago is 

 reputed to hold a greater proportion of players 

 to the total number of inhabitants than any 

 other city in America; there the public courses 

 are so crowded that on rest days people are 

 in line at two o'clock in the morning to secure 

 early playing privileges. There are in that 

 city seven public courses, and within twenty 

 miles of the business center over thirty private 

 courses are maintained. New York City pro- 

 vides three public courses, but within a short 

 distance from the center of business there are 

 over a hundred private clubs. E.D.F. 



Consult Clark's Golf: A Royal and Ancient 

 Game; Hutchinson's The New Book of Golf; 

 Travers's The Trovers Golf Book. 



GOLI'ATH, the giant from Gath, famous 

 only for the fact that he was killed by the 



youth David (which see). The Philistines had 

 come up to make war against Saul, and as the 

 rival camps lay opposite each other this giant 

 came out each day to challenge one of his 

 enemy in single combat. Finally David, armed 

 simply with a sling and pebbles, went out and 

 quickly slew him. Then all the Philistines, 

 upon seeing their champion killed, were dis- 

 heartened and easily put to flight. See GIANTS. 



GOMEZ Y BAEZ, go maze' e bah'aze, 

 MAXIMO (1826-1905), a general of Cuban in- 

 surgents, was born at Bani, Santo Domingo. 

 In the revolt of the island against Spain in 

 1844, he served as a lieutenant of cavalry in 

 the Spanish army, which he accompanied to 

 Cuba but afterwards left on account of Gen- 

 eral Villar's abuse of some Cuban refugees. 

 In 1868 he joined the Cuban rebellion, and be- 

 came a major-general. He was instrumental 

 in bringing about the insurrection of 1895, and 

 was made commander-in-chief of the Cuban 

 army. In the Spanish-American War in 1898, 

 when the Americans landed in Cuba, he gladly 

 cooperated with them, placed his force of sol- 

 diers at their command and remained on terms 

 of friendship with them throughout the cam- 

 paign. In the same year he was deprived of 

 his command by the Cuban Assembly, who 

 believed that his acceptance of $3,000,000 for 

 his army from the United States constituted an 

 act of disloyalty. Gomez was at one time 

 mentioned as a candidate for the presidency of 

 the Cuban republic. 



GOMPERS, gom'perz, SAMUEL (1850- ), 

 an American labor leader whose efforts in be- 

 half of organized labor have brought him into 

 national prominence. He was one of the or- 

 ganizers of the American Federation of Labor, 

 and, with the ex- 

 ception of the 

 year 1894, has 

 served continu- 

 ously as its 

 president since 

 1882. He was 

 also elected first 

 vice-president of 

 the National 

 Crtic Federation. 

 G o m p ers was 

 born . in London, 

 but emigrated to 

 America when he was thirteen years old; a 

 year later he began his association with or- 

 ganized labor by becoming the first registered 

 member of the Cigar-Makers' International 



SAMUEL GOMPERS 



