The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-22
GOULD AND ENGLISH TENNIS,
HOW A PAIR OF SPECTACLES m
FLUENCED THE VENTURE.

Youth VIII Gain In Match Playing txperi'
ence. Even II He Does Not Win 0ut
English Title Hal Had But Few
Holdcrs-Eustace ii. Mles'sLo Reign
Out OF the ordinary in international
snort is the sailing Of Jay Gould, the seven
t~een-year-old court tennis champion o.
the United States, t O play in the British
amateur championship at the game. IL
will begin at the Queens Club West
Kensineton, on April 80. The winner
according to the custom that corresponds
with our national lawn tennis champion
ship, earns the right to play the ttiehoider'
Pennell did this last year, then oslng 70
Eustace H. Miles, who has been for years
the best English amateur at raoquets or
tennis. But for a pair Of spectaclee' II Is
likely that Jay Gould would not nave gone
on the trip.
So saw the wiseacres, who, having first
decided that the youngsters defeat OIL
Joshua Crane, Jr., in the semi-hnal, was
largely due to the breathing spell caused
by the fateful pair Of spectacles, now opine
that to the same cause must be awarded
his chance of going abroad to play, The
line Of reasoning hinges on the clrcurn-
stance that if Jay Gould won he had been
promised the opportunity to play in the
London courts by his father, George d,
Gould. II Crane had won, as a matter OF
course, the trip would have lost all special
significance, II und. .Irtaken at all.
Now for the story, which may perhaps
not be too easy for a non-player OF the
court game to comprehend, fully although
IL will be a simple matter to appreciate the
point of view of the wise old hands at tennis
who are responsible for the pair OF spectacles
rumor. The spectacles came into the game
with a tinkle OF breaking glass, not much
louder than il one had crushed a champagne
glass in the hand. The eyeglasses were
dropped by somebody in the upper gallery
into the court on the grille end and close 70
Gould. He had returned the ball ana
simultaneously with the fall OF the glasses
Crane volleyed the ball into the grille open
ing, counting is and winning the game thai
had been four times to deuce and vantage
by the point. The game made Crane Al
on the seooEd set.
There was a delay Of about five minutes
to let one of the markers obtain a brush and
sweep up the tiny fragments OF glass and
gold wire, This delay allowed Gould to get
his second wind, while it stiffened up Crane,
or at least cooled of his impetuous and
winning streak. Also. the delay gave an
opportlnity to some watchful supporters
of Gould to whisper, as he left the court
for n drink of water, Avoid forces and high
returnsl"
As to the physical value Of the rest-for,
az will be shown, Gould had then bellows
To mend,p while Crane was as cool as a Gu.
cumber as to wind and in full control Of his
great a~ctivity-think Of what such a pause
would mean to any athlete who had reached
the fading way point. To a boxer lying
nrostrate, the oarsman whose heart il
heating in triphammer bursts, the runner
going groggy and wabbly from fatigue
to any contender whose wind and strength
are waning fast-a few moments Of breath
ing time are worth a ton of purest gold
The rest to Gould was more cheering thar
new wine; to Crane. as depressing as to be
bound in shackles and told to play on!
sYou can't warm up an old horse twice,
remarked a cool critic, when play was re
slmed, and this in a nutshell ia the way
the rest affected Crane. The man Of II
had been seized in the shaokles Of Father
Time during the wait. his blood ran slower
his feet were not 80 light, his bones anc
muscles were stiffened and no longer al
springs and s%uppleness.
Now, us to the mental effects Of the breath
ing spell occasioned by this pair of spec
tacles. Gould had stepped nto the oour
as bold as O cockerel should be who haC
never known defeat. From his debut, IL
the holidays, when he and George stand
ing easily defeated Charles y. Sands, thu
1905 amateur champion, and Peter Latham
greatest of English players, Gould haS
never been extended. he had won al
sorts Of practice matches at Georgian
| Court and at Tuxedo had but one mattel
for the gold racquet championship, winning
most easily from Pierre Lorillard, Jr, Their
was another reason, too, why Gould shoulC
feel that the match with Crane was to b.
merely q stepping stone TO the thal Wit
Charles f.. Sands, and the latter matol
he deemed already won, as SANDS had' &C
cording to the critics, shown IN the matche
with Austin Potter and q. Fear
ing a loss Of his best form. ,z
Hope makes mountains OF molehiIls
and. with the remembrance OF the poo
showing made by Crane in some fou
handed matches with Sands, Lat ham an
Tom Petit at Tuxedo or January / an,
that an accident on the ice had kept Gran
from entering for the Tuxedo gold racquet
or the Racquet and Tennis Clubs ow'
championship, the hopes OF Gould for a
easy win, coupled with his own good rec
ord. had q more than ordinary reason I
be mountainous. But Crane, as with B're