Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-08-31
AS a Matter of Fact America Has
Not Yet Cleaned up the
Board.
AMERICAN ATHLETES HOPES.
All-Round British Sport Says That
L. :. is in Fair Way to Annex
Those That Remain.
Special Correspondence.

Special Correspondence.
| ONDON, Aug. 2l.-England has
lost so many international cham
l. pionshlps in the last few years
that one might suppose there was
nothing left for American athletes, for
instance, to carry away-especially
since Mark Twain confesses to have
taken the Ascot cup.
That isn't so, by long shot, but per-
haps it will be soon to judge by what
Eustace Miles, the English former ANA
teur tennis champion and all-round
athlete, has just been saying to me.
II would be hard to find any one bet
ter qualified to discuss the subject of
England's vanishing athletic suprem-
acy than Miles, who, though his cham
pionship laurels We're taken from him
recently by JAY Gould. remains one OF
the leading authorities on sport I'm this
country. Besides being a football and
cricket expert and a master of racquets
and tennis, he is a close student of
physical fitness. So before going into
this question of what English cups
there are left for Americans to lift leg
us hear what the former tennis cham
pion has to say about it.
ONLY A NATTER OF TIME.
ut is only "A matter of time and ef-
fort he declared when practically
all the English championships which
depend upon skill and technique will
pass into the hands of the Americans.
In point Of endurace / believe we arc
stii in front. Athletics In the United
States are approached from an entirely
different standpoint from ours. Amer
leans develop their game study the fin
or points and use their heads much
more than we do. They are never sat
isfied with their game, even though
they can defeat every other competitor
IN the field. There Is no good enough
for the American. He studies his fa-
Norlte game like a science, and in time
1t becomes real business to him.
HIGH LEVEL OF FITNESS.
Take young Jay Gould for an in
stance of what ! mean. Gould Just
lives for tennis, II Is his chief inter-
est in life. In his case what was In
tended for a sport becomes real busl g.
ness, This is TO be regretted In
Goud's case, because / do not think
he Is very robust boy and am afraid
his health will be undermined.
HIGH LEVEL OF FITNESS.
This habit of the American athlete
of studying the fine points of his game
mas resulted In n general high level
of fitness Ia all forms of sports. TO
refer again To tennis, there are prob
ably four or Ave mon IN the United
States who are really only Just below
Gould In ability and could give him a
good close game, When the latter
came over here there was no one eX-
cept myself who could make even n
remblance of an interesting contest out
= u. As matter or rart ! am prac-
ucally the only man Q. Iris side OF the
water playing at the present time who
has given the game of tennis real hard
study In England we have no high
leV.l of cleYerness In sports. but Just
2 rev individuals who reach great
heights When men OF this character,
IKE the Dohertv brothers retire, there
y no one 20 M their shoes. That is
the weakness OF England.
HAVE A BRIGHT SIDE
But these defeats have q bright
SIDE They may reach the English
mans understanding. Therc Is abso-
lutely no other way Of teaching our
peonle anything, Defeat alone VIII
reach lhom the weakness of our sys-
TENS and practises.n
The foregoing prophecy by Miles can
MOI tail TO encourage transa tlantlc as
pNah's for sporting honors, and nov