El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-27
The Great Game Of Lawn Tennis
and Its Increasing Popularity
BEST OF EXERCISES.

,ooda This wear with oil courts, and they
have nroyed popular wherever tried
They possess many advantages chieh
among which Is their freedom from
dust. their springy surface and their
dark color. which serves to prevent the
~efIaction of the suns rays from the
courts into the faces of the players
In Montana, tennis clubs have been ex-
nerimenting with a mOlaSSeS dressing
for the courts, with some success III
making beet sugar there is a rosidua or
solids and water, which is not greatly
differeht from other forms or moIasses-
When this material is applied 10 the
courts it is at first sticky ana unsatls-
factory, but a few days of sunshine
drives it into the earthfand puts the
ground into ideal condition for the ten
mis- n1ayer Clubs elsewhere have been
watching these experiments with mo-
Iasses and it is probable it will be rath-
er widely used next year
No other game is so generally played
BIZ prominent men throughout the
world as the game OF tennis, unless it be
Golf The whole world is familiar with
the tennis cabinet of the Roosevelt
administration, and in Europe the game
has been equally well patroniZed by
kings and potentates. The late KING
of Portugal was one of the enthusiasts
of the game. and there are many pic
lures extant showing how well ne
handled the racquet Few games re-
quire such a constant strain on the
part of the player.
Once the ball is put into play, it is
a case of keeping everlastingly at IT
for nearly two hours, as rule In
many of the great tournaments she
principal contestants undergo perloos
of training almost as strenuous as
those of a professional boxer. No one
who keeps late hours, or otherwise VI
olates the laws which make for superb
manhood, stands much chance OF WIN
ming the honors in an important match
Like the man who would be skilled
marksnan, the good tennis player must
have a remarkably keen eye and a
steady nerve, and no form Of dissipa-
ton will permit a man to retain these
| qualities.
Is Young Game.
Although the game Of lawn tennis
! is still less than 40 years old, there is
much dispute as to its origin We are
/ told that a game closely related to II
was played on court under the bal
comics of Queen Elizabeth's palace and
! that she greatly enjoyed watching
| its progress. It is doubted If there is
any single feature in the modern ten
mis- game that is absolutely original
| The Romans are said to have been the
4 first people who ever played with a
| ball. In Europe a game involving some
Of the ideas of tennis was played by
the kings and mobiles of feudal times.
/ It seem to have been to tennis what the
! old fashioned Iong-town game of ball
was to modern baseball Tennis first
was played with a cork ball and the
bare hands. The grounds were shaped
/ something like an hour glass Later
| a glove was used on the hand, and this
glove was afterwards so improved that
| there were strings leading from the
! forefinger to the thnmb. thus extend
| ing the hitting surface of the hand
| It was an easy stage of transition
I from this to the modern racquet. AL
sizes, shapes and conditions of racquets
have been used.
Origin of Name.
The name of tennis is believed to
| have originated from the French word
"tenez", a command to play The mod
e-n name is but phonetic rendition OF
anis term. When the game first at
tanned a national standing in England
| it had the euphonistic title of "sphair
stike". This name was given 1t by Ma
jor W. c. Wingfield, an officer OF the
British army, who Is generally re-
! garded as the father of the modern
game He brought it out in 1874
| Members of>the bennington club CLAIM
| that they played it fifteen years be
fore the advent of Wingfield's "sphair
| stike". The first organized laws fol
the game were formulatedI in March
1875, by the Marylebone Cricket club
At the urgent suggestion Of Henri,
Jones, afterward the 'Cavendish' o
quet club at Wimbledon was induced