Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-28
BORN CENTURIES AGO.
The Game Of Tennis, Now 50 Popular,
Delighted the Ancients.
DISCOVERIES IN RUINED CITIES
Show that Aztec and Toltec Played IL In
Mexico and Yucatan.
THE EVOLUTION OF TIE RACQUET
WRITTEN FOR THE DrsfATcH.I

uo'osoeeJ i0"s petnepSs usfe ohy euSqunfe
idea of the great antiquity of tennis. AS g
hand and ball game, Its ancient European
analogies were the asphairisis of the Greeks,
and the pila of the Romans. Excavations
in Egypt have also brought to light certain
small leather and wooden balls, presumably
used for similar purpose. A hand and
ball game under the name of jeu de paume,
is also mentioned in the Autherian legends
of ancient Britain. and the inception OF ten
mis- itself can be traced as far back as the
Dark Ages.
The first detailed account Of 1t, however,
dates from the fifteenth century. The
game then came into great vogue in France
first, among royalty and afterward among
all classes OF the people as well. The
French derived their knowledge Of it from
the Italians, among whom it was known
simply as la palla, and the English learned
it in turn from the French, who still re-
The word tennis" is an Anglo-Saxon adap-
tation OF the French 'Tenez," formerly used
during service by that nation. About this
time, too, the pastime was known under
various designations, in Spain, Germany,
and other European countries, and some ot
the more ancient methods OF playing it,
still hold good here and there
ORIGIN OF THE RACQUET.
The ball was originally struck with the
palm. The first protection given the hand
was heavy leather glove, still in use in
the Basque country. Upon the glove strings
were subsequently stretched and cross
stretched to give increased resistant power
and greater impetus to the ball. The same
arrangement OF strings attached to PALM
shaped frame, eventually finished off with a
handle, completed the transition to the
modern racquet Originally, however,
these frames took on the semblance Of q
battoir or battledore, being covered, as a
rule, with tightly drawn parchment. So
popular were these battoirs, indeed, that
every available bit Of. parchment was used
up in their construction. A portion of one
OF the missing books of Livy was discovered
so used-too late, however, to save the re-
mainder of the precious manuscript.
In 1866 one Messer Antonio Sciano, o
learned doctor of the Church, published a
valuable treatise, "Traltato della Palla,"
which did much to assimilate and co-ordi-
nate the rules of the game in the different
countries where it was played. Some of the
terms of which he made use survive to the
present day in our more modern game. But
as matter Of course the passage of all these
centuries since Its inception, has wrought
many and important changes in the manner
of playing. Lawn tennis in its simplest
and most modern adaptation dates from the
year 1874. 1t is now by far the most popu-
lar form of the game, but q large number of
tennis courts proper are still In use in En-
gland and on the Continent.
AN OLD NEW WORLD GAME.
1t remained, however, for recent explora-
tions among the ancient cities Of the So
called New World, to bring to light still
further proof OF the antiquity Of tennis.
Mention OF the game, as played by the
ancient Mexicans, had indeed been made by
old Spanish writers, as tar back as the con-
quest by Cortez But such accounts up to
recent times, were very generally discredited
or rather, the game was supposed TO have
been introduced by the Spanish themselves,
the old chronicles and relations" to the
contrary Notwithstanding. And the ruin
that followed in after days, destroyed or
concealed the necessary addendum OF native
proof. This proof, the French traveller and
explorer, Charney, furnishes conclusively-
as he thinks-in his recent work on the
"Ancient Cities of America"
Among the Toltec ruins on the Palpan
Hill, overlooking Tula, town not far from
the city of Mexico. he found his first tennis
ring, large carved stone, some 8 feet 5
in diameter and having hole in the center
about 10 inches in circumference. Known as
tlacheo, tlachtli. the game, he says, was first
in Anahuac, and transmitted to
the Chichemecs, Acolhuans and Aztecs BY the
Toltecs, who carried 1t with them to Tabas-
CO, Yucatan Uxmal and Chichen. In the
latter place he found perfect tennis court
nkt -, al, L. L
says, was played in buildings consisting of
two parallel walls, ordinarily 80 feet high,
at distance apart OF SO feet, having q ring
fixed about % feet high ia the center Of
each. 1t was played with q large india
send the ball through one of the rings, when
4 scramble, rush and much confusion fol-
lowed, the winner having right to
PLUNDER THE SPECTATORS
,f their valuables. Sending the ball through
he ring, which seems to have answered the
modern grills, required so much dexterity
hat lie who succeeded was credited with q
bad conscience, or supposed to be doomed to
IN early death. The game was accompanied |
1y much betting, when they staked eyery- |
hing they possessed, even their liberty. Ac- |
,ording to the old Spanish writers, tennis |
playing seems to have been as popular !
lmong the ancient Mexicans as is baseball |
lmong US moderns. Match games were ire- |
Iuently played between city and city, and, |
What strikes US as exceedingly odd, all such |
contests were opened by religious exercises |
n small temples invariably erected at each |
or the court. Veytia, one of the |
lIoresaid writers, afirms, indeed, that the |
Az,ecs dedicated the game in honor OF their |
rod, Huitzilopochtli; but NJ. Charney, with |
tut denying the religious character given
he game, shows that its origin was pre-
4 ztec or Toltec.
He finds the tennis court feature of some |
# the most prominent Toltec ruins, AT |
Jhichen, Yucatan, he found the largest and
,est preserved of tennis courts, with the two |
ings yet in place, the vast proportions of
his tlachtli indicating that ''the national
Nahua game was as eagerly played in Yucca
his vast court, he adds, is finely decorated
With sculpture in bas relief" and on the
outhern facade is Beautifully executed
rieze OF tigers. /
EVOLUTION OF THE TIGER.
Apropos Of the tigers; Mendieta, in his
Hist Eccles. Indiana, 'relates how Teza.
atlipoca came down from his celestial
bode on spiders ladder and how. in his
lula, brought thither By jealousy
{ Quetzalcoatl, whom he challenged
, play tennis; but the latter
urning into a tiger, disconifitted him Mt.
erly. "This tradition" says II. Charney.
shows plainly that tennis existed in the
emote period OF Quetzalcoatl's reign at
'ula, e y 4 and that Quetzalcoati was
imself good tennis player, and that the
xpression 'he has turned into a tiger is
urely honorifc, and applied to him on the
pot ior having sent his ball through the
ing" The almost identical significatiou
ttached to the modern expression, to "give
he tiger" is another illustration of the
lite truth that there Is nothing new uuder