New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-07-26
FASHIONS IN ATHLETICS.
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF ARCHERY AND
CROQUET-TENNIS A CLUB GAME NOW.

CROQUET-TENNIS A CLUB GAME NOW
1t might be thought that in the domain OF sports
would DO allowed TO exercise his Individual
preference without regard to whether the athletic
game he happened fancy were popular or not
Such is far from being the casc Fashions. appar-
entity we must have. IN our amusements as we'll as
In our clothes and on. ways Of living In general.
And in no department. perhaps does fashion make
its laws more severe than in that OF sports. When
a game has once begun TO lose favor, 1t follows the
downward path swiftly. and when 1t has so nearly
reached the bottom that 1t may be said TO have
gone out" no power IL great enough TO bring II
back 1t may possibly be revived many years later.
in the way that other oldstyle things are dragged
forth and made new but With sports this process Is
uphill work. and It's success rather uncommon.
The doomed game. whatever II may be. gets its
death blow first In and the large cities. Grad
ually the OF lis downfall spreads outward from
these centres until in time 1t has relentlessly
tracked the sport down to all the localities where 1t
has ever been introduced. The only places where
may find a game which has once gone thor
oughy out OF fashion are the remote country dis
tricts. Some OF these many years behind the
times that croQuet. and even archery. may now be
at the height of their popularity there. But few
small places cannot be said to have any effect upon
the general standing Of the game.
Archery is Of the best examples OF dead
sport. In its day. which lasted from 1876 into the
early $685. II had Juror almost great as that OF
cycling at present. Archery sets were to be seen on
every lawn Of sufficient size. and men. women and
children prided themselves on drawing the bow in
true Indian style Then people grew tired of 1t quite
suddenly. 1t Is hard TO say what killed 1t. though
the suggestion has oeen made that 1t was too weari-
task to walk up to tho target each time and
gather the shot arrows. Other games. however, re-
quire just as much trouble this and objection
Is raised to them on that score. that 1t Is prob
ably nearer the truth to assume that archery had
run its course and IT'S former adherents ready
for something
Bows and arrows like those then used may be
bought now In few places. and at prices varying
from one-th third to one-quarter of what they orig
nally sold for. The best bows. Of yew and snake
wood. which formerly $50 and SIS, go at s.
and Sc, and not rapidly at that Arrows and tar
gets show about the same decrease in value. There
Is practically money in keeping such stock, but
1t is done by few large houses. in order that their
lines Of sporting goods may be complete.
It Is not strictly true 10 that crouuet Is en-
tirey Of date. though far as Its old form Is
concerned this IS about the case. From the mild
lawn game once familiar. a scientific croquet
has been developed, which is much like billiards In
the skill which 1t requires to play 1t well. Dirt
courts levelled until perfectly true. wickets so
small as just to admit the passage Of the ball, end
short handled long-headod mallets the charac-
teristcs OF the game. Mucn attention is paid to the
material and construction of the balls and macis.
from SIS to So Put the popularity OF even this
rlety is somewhat limited and for the primitive
when lawn-tenns first came in. and has dropped
steadily away since. Croquet sets consisting OF
m s be ed bOug ana now es for ee exactly oneh q
what they cost a few years ago 49,, ..ou,..
Even good game as lacrosse, the favorite
sport o. Canada, has been suffering some neslect
for season or two Julian W. Cprtss' OF ne wel,.
Co.. said in spealing of lacrosse:
Of eaS not only IN this coenry but
the Canadians. who have always beer the strongess
t cam D nd us is hat is too active ne exerce Of
sending the ball through the goals and rushing i
a man snail be remarkably quick on his feet and
willing 10 undergo constant exerton. Then there Is
the charms OF baseball. which is much p,ayel there
now, and our game may be IN fir way TO SUP
here was aptly represented in the last Princeton
,3s n oe M of the evoG to a ws
the name lacrosse and below it. in the middle Of
the blank St space tb so far from there being any
falling off in the liking for baseball runorcd
said that his firm had made more baseball uniforms
this season than ever before. baseball is here TO
more than cricket will in England"
Whether lawn-tennis has seen It's best days Is ,,a
has charmed away few Of It's friends but 1t is
also trle that In most cases these were the vetsr
sport an excuse for dropping the one when they
were beginning to find TOO acy re- Tennis rs no%
courts. which used TO be seen on country places
everywhere having been largely abandoned .
There is justice in the general claim that cycling
has hurt all other sports to some extent but there
another side Of the question not generally recog-
nized. Cycling has brought thousands OF people.
who never before took any. exercise whatever, or
interested themselves at all in athletic pastimes.
into relation with other sports through the very
fact of being engaged in one 1t provides such an
course or tennis court ball field that in
scores Of Instances which might be cited /. has led
It's followers take up those sports as we'll one OF
lis greatest advantages is that II need not neces-
sary interfere with the pursuit OF other exercise,
bur NAV be- and often Is. combined with them with
the happiest results