Morning journal and courier., 1890-10-15
OLD wOMAN,s ADVICE TO GIRLs. Who Wish to Play Lawn Tennis or
 namenfaIIy.


 namentalIy.
 From the New York Tribune.l
 An ederly woman, we'll dressed and jolly looking. sat on the big cool veranda of the Brighton Beach hotel one day last week watching four young women dressed in showy costumes play lawn tennis on the well-kept court that lies between the hotel and the ocean, having its seaward edge banked up with big bags of sand to keep the wild winter surf from knocking the sod into little pieces and covering it with sand and seaweed.
 The court is surrounded on all sides by by fence, along which ranged great number of benches, and nearly all the seats were filled on this occasion by peo- pie who seemed to derive more or less en- tertainment from watching the tennis players. The girls were all pretty, and they knew it, and their clothes were styl- ish and expensive, but they could not play tennis.
 ''Look at them," said the old woman to some younger companions who sat near her. "Poor little geese, perspiring away there in the sun, seeking for admiration. See how at every turn of their bodies they look out of the corners of their eyes to see if any one is observing them. But, after all, what makes me despise them is not so much their thirst for admiration, for that is natural, as the awkward way they go about to attract it. None of them can serve tennis ball properly and none of them can return difficult stroke to their opponent. Yet they persist in serving swift balls to one another, which are i'm variAbly missed, after awkward attempts to hit them.
 'Iook at those men over there laughing at the awkwardness of the players. They evidently understand tennis, and do you think they are anything like as much i'm pressed with the girls as if the dear things could play the game just little bitl Then look at those people who do not under stand the game and yet know what lawn tennis is, have heard of its charms and are glad of Q chance to see it played. They watch with interest as the girls begin The first one to serve takes her position. raises her racket, losses the ball up catches some one gazing at her, forgets the ball in wondering how she looks, and lands the little sphere in the net. The failure an- noys her, and she hits the next one sharp but ill judged rap that sends it far beyond the court of her adversary, and causes the AdttCE bo SCOWi III hil dlIDSclucT unlOFtlY fashion as she walks lazily after it.
 'The server resents the scowl and sends the next ball as swiftly as she can. Her opponent, hampered by graceful but far too heavy skirts, big knotted sash, jaunty jacket, and hat which will not sit just exactly straight if the head is moved too violently, makes an awkward hit at the ball about ten seconds after it has passed her, turns around in vexation, and watches it roll away out to the boundary. Then the game stops until she has walked rather sulkily out to field it, and brings it back.
 ''This goes on for an indfinite period with slight variations. Now and again a return is made, and sometimes two in succession, and the onlookers begin to think that they are going to see something interesting at last; but their hopes are dashed at once by the inevitable miss, due as much to the heavy costumes of the players and their constant watch for admiring glances as to anything else. By this sort of work they defeat the very object for which they un- dergo all this uncongenial exertion.
 'tNow why don't they have the sense or get it from some one who has" continued the old lady, ''to do what tennis-players call rally; that is, merely toss the ball back and forth across the net, placing the ROCo41A~ time for your opponent to return it, in stead of making it as hard as possible foI her to do so. Never mind about the lines ! of the courts, or about counting points ol anything of the kind, but bend all your energies to seeing how many times you and your opponent, who is really partner in this case, on the other side of the net, can return the ball without letting it roll away and stopping the game. It does not mat ter how many times the ball bounds before you return it, so long as you do so at all,
 Just baby tennis,' you say. What of that. It will give you all the exercise you want. Instead of scowls and jealousy and efforts to make your companions miss the ball and look clumsy, you do as you would be done by, and good nature beams from your face, and echoes in your peals oi laughter. The spectators who do not understand the fine points of the game ar, delighted with the lively sport, and thinl you must be splendid players. Those who do understand it see that you are out fol fun only, and admire your graceful pose: and agile movements all the more because their criticism is not aroused by your pool play"