The Washington herald., 1908-06-21


1t is singular that Of all vigorous ath-
letic sports requiring an immense amount
OF endurance. Drawn. and brain, the ma
jority Of lawn tennis honors should be
held by men who may no longer be prop
erly spoken Of as young in point OF
years.
The waxing and waning OF summers
appear only to add skill TO the wlelders
Of the racquet. who still keep up their
campaigning after the trophies Of the
courts. It may be. as explained by one
expert who discussed the matter, that
cooler and well-balanced judgment, such
a potent factor in the winning of lawn
tennis matches. only comes to its fullest
development as the players approach the
meridian Of life.
Lnrned an Example.
As an example Of this the case Of Will
lam A. Larned, the present holder Of the
national singles championship, was cited
Larned is now regarded as supreme upon
the American courts. and that at a time
when he is thirty-eight years OF age.
After many years Of striving Larned only
won his first national title on the his
toric courts Of the Newport when he was
thirty-one years of age. In many
branches Of sport, track athletics in par
ticular the title winners are beginning 10
retrograde when the years reach score
and ten.
Among those at the top Of the American
I rod afw q &
year. is a year older than the champion
Yet Hobart is stnl much 10 be reckoned
with in any titular meeting in which he
may enter, for IL has been his fortune
only 10 miss the highest hOnors several
times by the narrcwest Of margins. Rich
ard Stevens, active up 70 a season ago,
and always among the upper class, has
passed his fortieth birthday. which IS
likewise the approximate age OF Robert
d Wrenn. The ex-ChampiOn. Henry ".
SIocum. is still 10 be seen IN q few
| tournaments each season, despite his
| fOrty-six years. which appear Ito touch
! him but lightly
/ Few Of the top flight are under thirty.
In fact. that seems 70 be the magic num-
( Der OF years at which they round out
1 into their fullest and best game and an
Illustration Of this is afforded in the su-
] D
/ Harold H. Hackett. whose ulapproaCh-
/ able performances in the doubles have
/ brought them the national titles in that
/ event. IN addition 10 causing them 10
/ relatively outclass any other pair in this
country as 20 general all-arOUnd excel
/ lenoe Yet again it must be recorded that
/ these honors only came TO them after
passing the thirty mark. although they
. had often sought the championship.
English Experts Aged.
In England the top-class experts range
! considerably older than the Americans.
/ A. w. Gore is forty-fve, while both Of the
/ famous Doherty brothers are but eight
and ten years his junior. George W. Hill
yard. rated as the dean Of English tennis,
/ has reached the half-century mark and is
/ a most active figure upon the courts and
\ in all that pertains 10 the sport abroad.
\ In all Of the English and foreign tourna-
ments so much dependence is placed upon
+ the older players that IN each a so-called
veterans singles IS played under handi-
cap system. All below forty years Of age
play from scratch. while for every year
above forty they receive ope-sixth on each
game.
~ Arthur $ Westfan. the father OF Her
/ bert L. Westfall. of some International
/ achievements. has recently proposed in
/ all seriousness that a special tournament.
I confined 10 the more elderly eXpouents Of
the game. be decided IN this country. So
many fathers Of younger experts are de-
voted 10 the game that he al first pro
posed TO limit il 20 these alone. This pa
| tron OF the Kings Country Club. who has
more recently turned his activities 10
the KnickerbOCker Field Club is a grand
. cather at that. This young-old man has
/ cOntrived 4 keep Father Time al a dis
( tance He never misses an afternoon
/ session at his favorite sport. and his
/ enthusiasm for the tournament he is fos-
tering was recently stimulated by his
winning a challenge match against
/ Charles NJ. Bull the former president OF
the Crescent Athletic Club and the father
. OF c. NJ. 3. jr.. who so impressively
Z trimmed Raymond y. Little in the met
ropOntan championship last week. Both
of these men are nearly at the three
score limit Of years.
List of Granddaddies.
Qualifying under the conditions which
A. s Westfan proposes would include
Louis J Grant. who. as lawyer. has de-
/ Tended policemen against the ISLANDERS OF
persecution from the present day OF Com
missioner Bingham back through many
administrations He is the father o.
Wylie c.. who sailed for the Olympics
two weeks ago. and he has not missed
competing in a big tournament for many
years. Herman lie Roy, father Of Rob
ert lie Roy. also keeps up his game. but
mostly upon indoor courts. Then there
is John W. Han. father Of w Merrieu
Hall. the Hamilton Grange champion.
and the list might be much further eX-
tended. even TO including the snowy
haired father OF Anthony F. Wilding. the
great Australian. who possesses as much
keenness for the game as his son.
The thing that makes lawn tennis at
tractive for these men just as it does for
President Roosevelt and the Right Rev
Bishop or London. is that II may be
played with the utmost vigOr. yielding
the greatest amount OF exercise in a
short time. or II may be continued
throughout an entire afternoon with
varying degrees OF speed and skill Win
ming tennis is often played with the soft
pedal on in way. or il may attain 70
the wild dash Of the football field L car
be made TO produce the highest type OF
skill and results either way. and il is
so that it holds its devotees 20 theiI
places on the courts