The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-08-09

"and the first thing we did was
the courts. We were told this co
official protest. We made an off
Later we found that almost any.
thing we wanted had to be done by
official protest. Even to get a
drink of water on the courts this
was necessary"
Practically nothing had been done
for the comfort of the players; not
only the Americans, but all the play
ers. Julian s. Myrick, chairman Of
the Olympic tennic committee,
threatened to withdraw the whole
American team unless some convent.
ences were supplied.
There was two dressing rooms
provided, one for men and one for
women. They were bare Of every.
thing except a long bench. There
were no lockers, not even hooks on
the wall; no showers, no towels, not
even drinking water.
Gas it turned out" explained
Williams, "the clothes hooks would
not have been of much use because
we were warned not to leave
things hanging about as they
would probably be stolen"
An official protest to get showers
brought permission to use those In
the Colonies Stadium where the
track and field teams dressed.
This helped a little" said Will.
Jams, but as the stadium was some
distance from the tennis courts, and
we had to walk nearly all around
the enclosure to get to the entrance
It meant nearly a two-mile hike
there and back for a shower, and, OF
course, carrying your clothes both
ways.
Finally an American in the
Olympic village offered us the use
of his quarters during the day TO
dress in. This was only about 400
yards away"
The arrangements for play were
all right after the first day but for
the opening matches the schedule
was badly mixed.
Williams saw his name entered
from Argentine and concluded II
must be another Williams so he
did not bring his tennis things out
from Paris.
- was wrongly said Williams.
They means me and we had to
put in another official protest.
"The best Helen Wills could
lind to her was that one H.
wills, of JugO-SlOvakia,' was to
play someone. As she was the
only III. Wills entered, she con.
GUIDED it must mean herself. It
The only regular officials provid-
% were the umpires. Linesmen
were selected by the volunteer meth.
.od from the stands or anywhere
This led to much confusion.
I'm almost every match" con-
tinued Williams. disputes arose he.
tween the umpire and some lines.
man. And usually the players stood
around while they argued it out,
Occasionally the gallery elected
Itself to decide disputed points and
this introduced further complica-
tons and argument. Sometimes
the umpire decided in favor of the
nnesman, sometimes in favor of
the spectators"
But these apparently were not
the only Interruptions. Champion.
snip matches are usually conduct.
ed In England or America amid
strict silence and galleries are re.
quested not to applaud except at
the end of rallies.
At the Olympics, however, the
players had to get used to sew.
eral new kind Of din. Vendors
were permitted to wander through
the stands which banked three
sides OF the courts. And these were
allowed to hawk their wares.
The French this summer are par.
ticularly fond of an American con-
fection known as Eskimo pie"
said Williams, land these pie men
mingled their cries with the orange.
ade and fruit statesmen.
Almost every rally was accom-.
panied by shouts of 'Es-kee-mo, Els.
kee-mo' and the French equivalents
Of soft drinks, bananas, oranges and
lemons"
Over in the Colonies Stadium
the French had installed a series
OF telephone loud-speakers to an.
nounce results. This met with such
nearly approval among the specta-
w SAAS II oSh dIlu ll0lu gaines
that the Olympic officials decided
II 1T was a good thing there it
would be a good thing anywhere.
Consequently these loud speakers
were strung over to the tennis
stands. This done all Olympic re-
suits were broadcast through them.
Right in the middle Of a match
you would suddenly be startled by
O loud, raucous voice, scarcely hu.
man, shouting, Hello, hello,'" said
Williams. This was a preamble
to an announcement lasting any.
where from one to fifteen minutes
OF the result, say, Of a swimming
race miles away or some other
competition in the stadium.
"These loud speakers barked
right down into your ears and the
Hello, hello part became SO COM
mon that we adopted is as a call.
word for the American team"
Williams made It clear that the
French officials as individuals were
most courteous and the PLAYERS
were treated without partisanship
by the galleries.
THE trouble was" he added, that