Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-07-19
AGE NO BAR TO
TENNIS HONORS
VETERANS AT GAME HOLDING
THEIR OWN
MANY NOTABLE EXAMPLES ARE
EASY OF CITATION
Numerous Racquet Experts of The
World Have Passed the Score and
Ten Notch That Is Dreaded
in Other Sports
BY CHESTER LAWRENCE

BY CHESTER LAWRENCE
Age cannot wither nor custom stai,
ms lnhnlte Variety."-Cleopatra Shake
speare. ne
AS If in REPUTATION of the famous
theory OF DR.. Osler, it is singular tba1
the majority of lawn tennis honors
snoulu pc held by men who no Ionge,,
may De properly spoken of as young i'm
Yeas Inc waxing and waning of sum
Il l.a, appear only to add skill to The
WleIqeTs OF the racquet, who still keen
up their campaigning after the bono,.s
OF the courts. 1t may be explained hv
one local expert, who discussed az
matter that cooler and well balanced
judgment such a potent factor n, 1,,i,,
ning lawn tennis matches, comes to its
a,,,,,,,e IteVglopIhent only as the players
AS an example of this. the oasa 10
Wlitlam A. Larned, the present holder
OF the national championship was citad
Larned now is regarded as slnren,a
ePo. the Ainefican courts, and that at
a tlme when he is 3S years of see
After many years of striving Tarnei
won his first national title on The Ia.
toric courts of Newport when he No.,
81 years of age. was
In many branches of sport. +rac1-
athletics in particular, the title win
nefs are beginning to retrograde ubon
the years'reach score and ten. Amono
tnose at the top of the heap in ths
american tennis game, Clarence Ho1
part, VINO is in Los Angeles and IN
tehds TO play as soon as he RECEIVERS
from a temporary sickness and who
ranked sixth last year in America 10
a year older than the champion. Yes
HOBART sun is very much to be recll-
oIieu with IN any titular meeting i'm
Whlch ne may enter, for 1t has been his
fortune to miss the highest honors sew
Graz tlmes only by the narrowest of
margins Richard Stevens. active nm
10 season ago and always among the
upper class, has passed his fortieth
birthday, which likewise is the approxi
mate age of Robert D. Wrenn. The
FORMER champion, Henry w. SIoeun,
still is to be seen in few tournaments
each season, despite his 46 years, which
appear to touch him but lightly.
Few of the top flight are under 30.
In fact that seems to be the magic
number of years at which they round
into their fullest and best game. and
an Illustration of this is afforded in
the supremacy of Frederick w. Alex-
ander and Harold H. Hackett, whose
unapproachable performances in the
doubles have brought them the ma
tfonal titles in that event, in addition
to causing them relatively to outclass
any one pair in this country as to gem
eral all-round excellence. Yet. again.
it must be recorded that these honors
came to them only after passing the
30 mark, although they often had
sought the championship.
We have more proof of this in Los
Angeles when we consider such men as
Archibald c. Way, Tom Bundy and S.
M. Sfnsabaugh and Mclaughlin, all of
San Francisco, all over 80 or there
abouts. and the former more than 10,
and yet puts up a very strong game,
being the favorite of Miss May Sutton
when she plays her championship
double matches.
In England the top class experts
range considerably older than the
Americans. A w. Gore is As, and both
of the famous Doherty brothers are
only eight and ten years his junior.
George w. Hillyard, rated as the dean
of English tennis, has reached the half
century mark and is an active figure
upon the courts and in all that per-
tains to the sport abroad In all of tho
English and foreign tournaments so
much dependence is placed upon the
older players that in each a so-called
veterans singles is played under q
handicap system. All below 40 years
of age play from scratch while for
every year above 40 they receive one
sixth on each game.
Arthur S. Westfall, the Their of Her
bert l.. Westfall, of some international
achievement, has recently proposed in
all seriousness that a special tourna-
ment, limited to the more elderly ex-
ponents of the game, be decided in this
country. So many fathers of young
experts are devoted to the game that
he at first proposed to limit it to these
alone. Qualifying under the conditions
which A. S. Westfall proposes would
include Louis ]. Grant, who, as a law
yer, has defended policemen against
the ISLANDERS of persecution from the
present day of Commissioner Bingham
back through many administrations.
He is the father of Wylie c. Grant,
who sailed for the Olympics. and he has
not missed competing in a big tourna-
ment in many years. Herman lie Roy,
father of Robert lie Roy, also keeps up
his game, but mostly upon indoor
courts. Then there is John w. Hall,
father of w. Merrill Hall, the Hamil-
ton Grange champion, and the list
might be much further extended, even
to Including the snowy-haired father of
Anthony F. Wilding, the great Aus"
tralian, who possess as much keenness
for the game as his son.
The thing that makes lawn tennis
attractive for these men, just as it
does for President Roosevelt and the
right reverend bishop of London, Is
that it may be played with the utmost
vigor, yielding the greatest amount or
exercise in a short time, or it may be
continued throughout the entire after
noon, with varying degrees of speed
and skill. Tennis is often played with
the soft pedal on in way, or 1t may
attain to the wild dash of the football
field. -