The Washington herald., 1914-09-20
Art Of Gallerying to Tennis Match;
Echoes From the Davis Cup Tourney
The Reverence for His Game
Possessed By WieIder Of
Racquet Forbids Violation
Of the Known Ethics.

Who will deny that the tennis man
possesses a deep reverement for his Ia
vorite outdoor pastime, and an almost
holy devotion for the skilled perform
ers Of international reputation? This
was exemplified at the recent Davis Cup
matches at Forest Hills OF course, IN
a crowd OF i3 900 persons, comprising the
spectators at any branch of competition,
there are sure 70 be many who are NOT
thoroughly conversant with the par
ticuIar game Many perhaps never tav-
ing played the game fail to possess 1.-THE
slightest familiarity with the method OF
scoring IL, or even the object OF the
competing players. This Is always more
pronounced II the contest be an inter
national one. as the patriotic spirit OF
pride in their eountry's success In COM
| petition, athletic or otherwise, brings
great numbers to International contests
who have never witnessed the game play
ed, II at all. by others than "dubs-
II Is not to be wondered at therefore.
nor can IL be considered a reflection on
the nations department as whole.
| when a considerable number OF specta-
tors in crowd totaling tens OF thoo-
| sands display a lack OF knowledge OF
the ethics incumbent upon them to prop
eriy gallery to the contests.
| The conduct OF the vast assemblage
at the recent Davis Cup matches. despite
the fact that the ethics Of a gallery at
a tennis match are more involved and
less known 10 the uninitiated than In
any other branch Of sport. was as near
perfect as would be possible for 50 vast
an assemblage to be. No one. no mat
| ter how much Of a gentleman he might
| be, could be expected 10 be an ethical
| spectator by following the ordinary
proper usages. 1t is absolutely necessary
that one have tennis experience In com
petitive play for them to recognize a
breach of tennis ethics and to realize
the handicap Of an unethical gallery.
signs 10 Instruct Gallery.
It caused a ripple of laughter TO run
| over the stands, INDUCED in no doubt by
the unthinking gallery experts, when the
ball boys of the West Side Club held
up before each of the four stands the
large and Iegible signs Of instruction.
| which read: DO not applaud until the
point is finished. Do not applaud er-
rors." They laughed at the thought Of
! any one committing such breach in
1 either case Yet II was this clever and
thoughtful precaution which was respon-
sible for the best behaved gallery in pro-
portion to its size in the history Of in
| ternational lawn tennis competition.
1t is perfectly true that on a number
| Of occasions applause followed errors,
/ but II was usually well-intentioned ap-
1 plause, and invariably II was meant for
/ the skilful shots Of both players in the
! rally leading up to the error which
4 ended the point. Never in the course OF
] the match did the gallery applaud point
| gained by the Americans at the expense
Of an error made on the Antipoleans'
/ first return.
| The much discussed incident of Brookes
/ throwing down his racket, holding his
/ hand up, shaking his head in a dis
| gusted fashion and then childishly put
ting his fingers in his ears to shut out
/ the applause was most unwarranted-
/ This applause followed a series of the
most brilliant shots seen in the entire
| three days OF play. There were thou
| sands of spectators who had seen Will
| Jams play and knew what he could do.
There were thousands more who had
| seen players perform who had been
/ beaten by Williams decisively. All were
disappointed and mystifed by the poor
| showing of the Philadelphian. Natural
ly. therefore. when, after being appar-
4 emily beaten. Williams gave a fash OF
| his known form at the end OF the third
| set against Brookes. and after a series
| OF marvellous angles and miraculous
placements delivered at kiting speed,
| which permitted him to break through
/ Brookes' service for the first time. a
Il
Nothing could check it Everybody par
| ticipated. and Brookes should have ex-
pected II, for none knew better than he
that it was deserved and entirely eth
| icaL
Call for "Forty Love-"
Had the West Side officials not taken
| the precaution to discourage ill-timed
applause, however. the many hundreds
| Of spectators present who had never
/ seen competitive tennis whose knowl-
i edge of the game consisted of the stereo-
typed witticism, forty love-" which they
1 always had on tap and which they call
red Justify amid sea of their own laugh
/ ter whenever they saw a tennis court
occupied, would have been likely to have
become obnoxious. This call was self
considered excruciatingly comical when
delivered in rasping falsetto. True. the
| only tennis which this overprevalent
| species have seen, that Of beginners on
| the public courts in the parks on picnic
days, made more hopeless than ever by
the mixed doubles germ which turks
about in the grass on the public courts
and infects most beginners. would per-
haps warrant some sort of attempted
| humorous comment. II they only had
the intelligence to at least yell thirty"
| or "fifteen love" for a change. But no:
forty love- II was when the prole-
tariats Knocked King Louis XIV OF
France when he sought recreation from
| the affairs OF state on his tennis court,
and forty love- II will ever be until
the doctrine of initiative is more gener-
ally spread and absorbed through cubist
| craniums
The signs with the succinct lesson in
tennis ethics which were held up before
the crowds at Forest Hills unquestion-
| ably had the effect OF squelching into
silence many who might not have been
satisfied with iil-timed applause, for we
are quite sure that somewhere in that
huge amphitheater there lurked a de-
mon who would have given much for
the nerve to lurch his fayorite giggling
forty love" at Williams and wilding as
they walked on the court for the" opening
i match.
R. NJ. Kidson. the Australian expert
and editor Of the Sydney Referee, the
leading tennis magazine of the Anti
! podes, has written lengthy article
! criticising what he terms the at times
partisan and overlengthy applause. He
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