El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-31
May Take CupFrom BrittOns
Seven Nations Interested In Contest
Of Tennis Champions For In
teTnatiOnaI Trophy.
-rlv Frederic TF-gt-fu
-Gy Frederic J. Hasl5in-


are interested in the Davis
silver cup. the contest for which is to
take Mace between the lawn tennis
champions OF Australia and the United
States at the West Side Tennis club
in New Yerk next week The cup was
presented in 1900 as a trophy for in
fernational tennis contests and pos
session of it denotes the worlds cham
pionship. Belgium, France, Germany,
Australia Canada and the United
Z states have challenged the BrltOnS for
its possession and the first of the pre-
liminary matches is that scheduled IN
New York. After that the champions
will sail for England to play the Brit
ish contests which open on June d
In accordance with the time honOred
custom the first and third days viii
be devoted to single matches and the
intermediate day given up to doubles
Daily Attendance Reaches 1CGO.
The attendance upon these matches
indicate the amazing interest which is
taken in the game of tennis by the gen.
eraI public no less than by the play
ers themselves At the match held in
Australia last November the daily at
tendance reached 1000, packing the
stands to their fullest capacity The
gate receipts exceeded $4,000.
Tennis is descended frpm game
known as Tongue paume, which was
played in the chateaus of France and
Italy as far back as the middle ages.
From the 14th century, enclosed courts
were used in France upon which in
door tennis was played by the mem
bers of the nobility One Of the IA
nous documents Of French history is
known as the oath Of the Tennis
Court because ii was taken by mem
bers Of an assembly who were denied
admission to the palace of Versailles
and therefore held meeting in a hall
furnished as tennis court. At this
meeting the members signed a doc
s.H I'll
ever the constitution may demand and
never TO separate until the kingdom
is established upon solid founda-
ton"
A game Of outdoor sport similar to
tennis was played in the days of queen
Elizabeth in England when a company
Of SOmersetshire men gathered under
her window and did lave out lines in
o square Of green sward marking out
the form Of a tennis court with a
cross line in the middle and there with
a hand ball, bOrd and cord did play
game TO the liking Of Her HiEhness-'
POpularizCd by Gcrc.
The history OF the game as a pOpu-
lar sport really begun with the first
championship which was Won by c. ".
Gore in 1877. From that time on the
interest in the game became pheuQme-
nal throughout the British Isles and
soon extended to their dependencies.
In ireland especially the game became
popular and some Of the best British
champions have been Of Irish extrac-
ton
Tennis was brought to America IN
1879. and the first court was laid out
at Nahant a country place outside Of
Boston The United States Lawn Ten
MS association was organized soon aft
er and the first American lawn tennis
tournament was held in 1850 under the
direction of the Staten Island Cricket
and Baseball club r. D. Sears. whose
brother was responsible for inCrOduC-
ing tennis in America. was the first
champion and maintained the cham
pionship in doubles for six years in
partnership with J. Dwight Now
mighty tennis champions come from
every part of the country. and state.
interstate. city and county tournaments
are frequent events.
From Africa to Alaska
No game has ever grown into such
TldcTT-~"i popularity in the history Of
the word Although lawn tennis as
nov played is less than half a century
old, its courts may be found from
Alaska to Africa from East India to
South America. Wherever civilization
has gained any fOOthOld the white
marked courts appear. In the tropics
where turf grounds cannot be had as
Dhalt. concrete or macadam is used as
substitute. n Perhaps in no trOpicat
country is lawn tennis played with
more enthusiasm than on the Panama
canal zone, which now includes no less
than Is courts on its so square miles Of
territory. The first two courts we're
laid out in 1906 in the city of Panama
upon the site Of one Of the old fort
resses Of that historic old city. These
courts were laid directly over the case
ments of the fort which was built into
the city wall nearly 800 years ago and
are 80 feet above the street level Of
the present city.
Tennis at Ne CnnaI.
The first courts were under the Joint
auspices Of the English and American
RESIDENTS or the Panamauian capital
but as the number of Americans in
creased upon the canal zone tennis ac-
Invites increased and concrete courts
painted green with white markings
were distributed along the railroad :
crossing the Isthmus of CUlebra. Cora
s'al. Las CasCad. Gatun. Obisoo and sew
veraI other points At Gatun. where
the world famous locks are located {
there is an electrically lighted court
which IS considered one of the finest
In the world. although the night plavfne-
was discontinued because of the pest
Of insects attracted by the glare Of the !
lights.
First Woman Champion.
The first American woman champion
was Miss A. T. HanselL who won high
est hOnors in 1887. The western women
have had more practice in tournament
playing than the eastern women. which I
IS doubtless responsible for the fact
that California has been so well rem
resented by the Misses Sutton and Z
also By Miss Hazel Hotchkiss, the lat
ter having held the national champion (
hon5rs for three years. Miss Mary X I
Browne, of Los Angeles. held the cham I
plonshlp last wear. while the runneruD /
honor went TO Miss E-sGnOr Sears. Of /
BOSTON The championship in clay /
court tennis which is now becoming 4
distinct from the turf court was award I
ell to Miss MAY Sr,ton. an ex-national /
champion VINO has recently become /
the bride of Thomas Clark Bundy. him 1
SELF player Of international reputa- Z
ton, thus Indicating that Cupid coca
turns tennis loves" to "ad- /
vantage In England the women have
taken active part in national tennis
events almost from the beginning of I
the game and have thus achieved q
larger number of national honors than
nave been accredited to American wonl- I
en-, but Miss Nav Sutton demonstrated /
the superior skill of the American
women tennis players by winning the
English EonOrs in 1905 am 1907
Formerly the expense of building a
tennis court prevented tennis from be-
coming a popular game with people OF Z
moderate means. Now the value of the
exercise has become so well recognized [
tnat the public parks of every large
CITY are providing free tennis courts
upon which anyone may be permitted to
play. In New York. park commissioner
Slower has arranged for % asDbaIt
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