Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1923-02-03
NEWS IN THE
WORLD OF SPORT

Probably the most picturesque
woman athlete Of recent times is tn,
French tennis champion, Suzann.
Lenglen. Just why she is picturesque
is hard matter to determine. Per
haps it is because she is French, am
we Anglo-Saxons are unused to TIT
spectacle of Gallo prowess in ath
letics. Perhaps it is because she is
young claimed a worlds cham
pionship in 1914, when she had just
turned fifteen years. Perhaps it i
because her game is a matter o.
brilliant strategy and bewilderine
speed rather than of crushing endur.
ance. More likely it is because of ar
intricate combination of all these
things and many others. In any event
she seems to have the same unstudied
spontaneous, elusive dramatic faculty
that has made the unprecedented
popularity of her countryman, Geor-
ges Carpenter. No matter what she
does, she manages to do it dramati-
cally. Even the pathos of her disap-
pointing breakdown when she lost by
default to the American champion,
Mrs. Mallory, over a year ago at For
est Hills was dramatic. And the
startling ease of her comeback, when
she defeated her conqueror and won
a clean-cut revenge at Wimbledon
last summer, was a thunderbolt of
dramatic climax.
One of the picturesque touches of
her remarkable career has been the
unprecedented adulation and intimacy
she has won from royal personalities.
The English call her 'tthe champion
Of kings" Manuel of Portugal and
Gustav of Sweden have frequently
measure .rackets with her. Alfonso
of Spain has vainly sought to entlce
her to Madrid for series of exhibi-
ton matches on several occasions.
King George of England and Albert
of Belgium are close followers of her
career and have sought more than one
opportunity to meet her and congratu-
late her on her successes. AS for
mere cabinet ministers, field marshals,
and fleet admirals, she has to shoe
them away. In 1914 she narrowly es-
capped being lionized by Kaiser HIM
self. William, the story runs, had or
rlered the staging of a special tourna-
ment at Potsdam to which she was to
have been invited and which he plan
ned to witness for the express pur-
pose Of seeing "that marvellous little
phenomenon" He was diverted from
this laudable project by a somewhat
weightier enterprise which engaged
his undivided attention during the
next four years.
Even more remarkable than the col
orful personality of Mademoiselle
Lenglein is the black-and-white record
O: her achievements. Starting with a
world championship in 1914 at the age
Of fifteen she closed last years season
or the courts with eighteen world
championships in various categories
to her credit, ten championships of
France, and two Olympic champion
ships. She has performed the un-
heard-of feat for woman of winning
four times running against all corners
at Wimbledon, England--conceded by
most people to be the tennis lists of
the worlds championship for individu-
al play. Twice at Wimbledon she has
swung a winning racket in all three
categories of play-women's singles.
women's doubles, and mixed doubles.
Jack Dempsey, heavyweight cham
pion of the world, wants to go to
work. Nothing too heavy, of course.
Just a light job of delivering hooks,
jabs and swings for somewhat less
than an hour some afternoon or even
ing in the not too distant future. OBJ
ject-a generous slice Of the public
wealth.
Dempsey hasn't done anything more
fatiguing than knocking 'em dead a
cross the footlights or waded into any
f;stic encounters more desperate than
two-up-and-two-d exhibitions with
sparring partners since he defended
his title against Carpenter on Tex
Richards playground in Jersey City
eighteen months ago. Some of the ex-
perts who watched that set-to say
that Dempsey wasn't as good that day
as he had been a year earlier when he
slapped big Jess Willard into the dis.
card. If they are right Carpenter
has lot to be thankful for.
Long spells of idleness aren't good
for ring champs-neither for their
fighting form nor for their pocket
hooks It's unite n0SSihle that TODAY