Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895 Part 11

Mile run Phillips Academy, Andover.

Mile walk Hillhouse H.-S., New Haven.

120-yard hurdle De La Salle, N.Y.

220-yard hurdle Hartford H.-S.

Mile bicycle Cutler, N.Y.

Two-mile bicycle Hotchkiss, Lakeville, Conn.

Running high jump Harvard, N.Y.

Running broad jump Hopkinson, Boston.

Pole vault Worcester Academy.

Throwing 12-lb. hammer Brookline H.-S.

Throwing 16-lb. hammer Hillhouse H.-S.

Putting 12-lb. shot Condon, N.Y.

Putting 16-lb. shot Boston English H.-S.

Event. Time and place.

100-yard dash N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.

220-yard run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.

440-yard run N.E.I S.A.A. games, 1894.

Half-mile inn N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.

Mile run N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894 Mile walk Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895 120-yard hurdle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.

220-yard hurdle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895.

Mile bicycle N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.

Two-mile bicycle Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895.

Running high jump N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.

Running broad jump N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1890.

Pole vault N.E.I.S.A.A. games, June 15, 1895.

Throwing 12-lb. hammer N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.

Throwing 16-lb. hammer Conn. H.-S.A.A. games, June 8, 1895.

Putting 12-lb. shot N.Y.I.S.A.A. games, May 11, 1895.

Putting 16-lb. shot N.E.I.S.A.A. games, 1894.

INTER-COLLEGIATE RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1895.

Event. Record. Made by.

{ E. J. Wendell, Harvard; W.

{ Baker, Harvard; C. H.

100-yard dash 10 sec. { Sherrill, Yale; L. Cary, { Princeton; E. S. Ramsdell, { Penn.

220-yard dash 21-4/5 " L. H. Cary, Princeton.

Quarter-mile run 47-3/4 " W. Baker, Harvard.

Half-mile run 1 m. 55-1/4 " W. C. Dohm, Princeton.

Mile run 4 " 23-2/5 " G. W. Orton, Penn.

Mile walk 6 " 42-4/5 " F. A. Borcheling, Princeton.

120-yard hurdle 15-4/5 " H. L. Williams, Yale.

220-yard hurdle 24-3/5 " J. L. Bremer, Harvard.

Two-mile bicycle 4 " 10 " W. D. Osgood, Penn.

Running high jump 6 ft. 4 in. W. B. Page, Penn.

Running broad jump 23 " L. P. Sheldon, Yale.

Pole vault 11 " 2-3/4 " C. T. Buckholz, Penn.

Throwing 16-lb. ham'r 135 " 7-1/2 " W. O. Hickok, Yale.

Putting 16-lb. shot 44 " 1-1/2 " W. O. Hickok, Yale.

How is it possible to gauge the performances of school champions with those of others--college-men and athletic club amateurs--when we have no common ratio? We cannot, of course. For instance, take Beers's record of 15-3/5 sec. in the high hurdles, made at the New York Interscholastics last May. On paper this looks very well. It apparently beats the inter-collegiate record made by Harry Williams in 1891, by one-fifth of a second. But it really does not. Beers ran his race over lower hurdles, and so it is not possible to make a comparison. The hurdles used by the N.Y.I.S.A.A. are only 3 feet high, whereas the inter-collegiate sticks are 3 ft. 6 in. Some of the interscholastic a.s.sociations use the standard 3 ft. 6 in. hurdles, but as it was impossible to ascertain exactly what the records were that had been made over these at school meetings in the past, I took the fastest time over the dwarfed hurdles, and let it go in as a fit companion for the 12-lb. shot and hammer and the mile bicycle-race.

In the future, however, I shall give little attention to these one-eyed records. The college a.s.sociations have set up a standard of distance and weight which experience has shown to be a good one. A sufficient number of interscholastic a.s.sociations have adopted the same standard, thereby making it clearly evident that it is none too high for school-boy athletes. Therefore, in making out a comparative table of college and school records, this Department will accept the standard established by the I.C.A.A.A. and adopted by the majority of the interscholastic a.s.sociations. If in the near future a general interscholastic league is formed, I feel sure that its legislators will agree with me in this, and will adopt the same course when they lay out their programme.

It is to be regretted that the Oakland, Cal., High-School athletic team was unable to accept the Stockton High-School's challenge for dual games to be held on June 15th last, but unless something unforeseen turns up the meeting will be held soon after the next school term begins, which is in August. The California schools open about five weeks earlier than our Eastern inst.i.tutions, and the football season with them, therefore, starts in the closing days of summer. There will also be the semi-annual field day of the Academic Athletic League at about that time, or in September, and bicycle road races, in which teams from the several schools of the A.A.L. will be matched against one another. At the field day there will be a contest for the all 'round champions.h.i.+p of the Pacific Coast a.s.sociation. Five or six events will be selected from the programme, and every compet.i.tor for the champions.h.i.+p will have to compete in each one, the champion to be the winner of the greatest number of points.

The object of this athletic Department in HARPER'S ROUND TABLE is not only to criticise and comment upon the various sports of the calender, but also to explain any intricate points of these games, to answer questions on matters of sport and athletics, and to give all such information as shall justly come under the head of Interscholastic Sport. A number of correspondents have requested that some s.p.a.ce be devoted to an explanation of the "100-up" method of scoring in tennis, and to give the rules for odds. This "100-up" method, sometimes called the "Pastime" system, was devised a few years ago to meet the defects of the old system of scoring, which had been handed down to us from the ancient English game of tennis. The latter has a good many disadvantages in spite of its universal use, the chief objection being that it frequently happens in a match that a player scores more strokes, or even more games, than his antagonist, and yet is beaten. This, of course, is manifestly unfair; and as for handicaps, in which more than two players are competing, the complex and unsatisfactory system of adjusting the odds according to the old way is unnecessarily complicated.

The rules for the "100-up" method are comparatively simple and very easily remembered after having been used once or twice. The player who serves first must serve six times in succession, and then his opponent does the same, the service changing always after each one has served six consecutive times. One fault and one good service; two faults; or one good service counts as a service. After the first, third, fifth, or, in other words, every alternate series of service, the players change courts, thus making each six successive services one series of services.

The first player to score one hundred points wins the game; but the match can be played for any number of points--more or less than a hundred--as the contestants may agree upon beforehand. The usual figure, however, is one hundred. If the score comes to be 99-all, play goes on as before, until one of the players has a majority of two points. He then wins; but no game can be won by a lesser majority than two points.

The odds in the regular old-fas.h.i.+oned method of counting are, briefly, thus: A "bisque" is one point that can be taken by the receiver of the odds at any time during the set except after a service is delivered, or, if he is serving, after a fault. "Half fifteen" is one stroke given at the beginning of the second, fourth, and every alternate game of a set, and "fifteen" is one stroke given at the beginning of every game. In the same way "thirty" is two strokes given at the beginning of every game, whereas "half thirty" is one stroke given at the beginning of the first game, two at the beginning of the second, one at the beginning of the third, and so on, two and one, alternately, until the end of the set.

"Forty" is three strokes before every game, "half forty" three and two, alternately, as before. "Owed odds" signifies that the giver of the odds starts behind scratch. Thus "owe half fifteen" means that one stroke is owed at the beginning of the first, third, fifth, and every alternate game of the set. Other "owed odds" are reckoned inversely in the same manner as given odds. If a player gives odds of "half court," he agrees to play in a certain half of the court, either the right or the left, and he loses a stroke whenever he returns a ball outside any of the lines that bound that half court.

But the newest of all the systems of odds, and the one now most generally used by experts, is called the "quarter" system. In this method fifteen is divided into four quarters, and thus a closer handicap may be obtained. "One quarter" of fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of the second, sixth, and every fourth game thereafter in the set. "Two quarters" (the "half fifteen" spoken of above) is one stroke at the beginning of the second, fourth, sixth, etc., games. "Three quarters" is one stroke at the beginning of the second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth games, and so on. When it is "odds owed," as before, "one quarter" is one stroke in the first and fifth games; "two quarters" is one stroke in the first and third; and "three quarters" is one stroke in the first, third, and fourth games, and so on to the end of the set. In order to get odds at a similar ratio when the match is being scored on the "100-up" system, the following table of equivalents has been adopted:

1 quarter of 15 = 5 points per 100 2 quarters " 11 " "

3 " " 16 " "

15 " " 22 " "

15.1 " " 27 " "

15.2 " " 32 " "

15.3 " " 38 " "

30 " " 43 " "

30.1 " " 49 " "

30.2 " " 54 " "

30.3 " " 59 " "

40 " " 65 " "

The princ.i.p.al difficulty about this new system of odds, except for experts and for those who play constantly, is the difficulty of remembering it. It certainly takes more study to become familiar with it than with the old half-point system. In that the odds change at every game, and change directly back again even when most complicated, so that really all there is to remember is which odds came with the service. The chief advantage of the "quarter" system is that it affords greater accuracy, and to experts this is a sufficient compensation for its intricacy. I should not advise the average player, however, to bother with it, for, unless he intends to try for a national champions.h.i.+p, life is too short to devote many hours of study to the "quarter" system.

Another correspondent asks for information as to the best way to get up a tennis tournament, and now that we are on the subject of tennis, his query might just as well be disposed of. A tournament, like anything else, demands time and care in preparation if it is to be a success.

Don't put off everything until the last moment, or the day will surely be a failure; whereas, if thought is given to all the small details that go to make such an occasion enjoyable, everything will go as easily as rolling off a log. In the first place, those who want to arrange a tournament, or the committee which has been chosen to make the arrangements, should get together and discuss the situation and decide what they want to do and how they want to do it. In this preliminary talk a calculation of expenses should first be made. Find out how much money will probably be required, and then, as a measure of safety, add about ten per cent. to that, for expenses are usually underestimated.

Having determined how much money will be needed, make arrangements for securing that amount either by subscription, entrance fees, or sale of tickets. If the tournament is to be conducted by a club, there will probably be some money in the treasury that can be used. It is not usually advisable, and seldom practicable at an impromptu summer tennis tournament, to demand admission fees of the spectators.

The financial part of the enterprise having now been attended to, a treasurer should be appointed to take charge of the funds, and to keep an account of all receipts and expenditures. Of course, if, as I have said before, the tournament is being held by a club, many of these details are already fulfilled by previous organization. The date should be the next thing decided. In each instance there will be many circ.u.mstances affecting this date. If the idea of having a tournament is being discussed with a view to holding it later in the summer, find out what players will be in the neighborhood at that time, and try to invite players to visit the locality at about that period. If you only have a week or ten days in which to make your preparations (for a small tournament), try to fix on a day when there will be nothing else of importance going on near by. The chief object of the managers or of the committee should be to secure as large an attendance as possible, for a crowd will encourage the players to better effort.

The date having been settled upon, send out notices. State clearly all the facts. Say at what place, on what date, and at what time of day the tournament is to be held; and also under whose auspices. Give a list of the events--such as men's singles, doubles, women's singles, mixed doubles, or whatever there is to be; state the requirements for entrances, and give the date when entries close. Be sure to give the name and address of the person who has been a.s.signed to receive these entries. State also in the notice the hours of play, the number of sets to the match, the kind of b.a.l.l.s that are to be used, and announce any special regulations that it may have been found necessary to adopt.

Finally, enumerate the prizes; but remember that it is always in better taste to make these inexpensive and more in the nature of souvenirs of the occasion than trophies.

The notices disposed of and sent out, the managers should now see that the courts are rolled and otherwise put in order, so that they may be in the best possible condition on the day set for the tournament. There should be a plentiful supply of b.a.l.l.s, for sometimes an entire box is used in a match. In large tournaments I have seen the players dispose of a box every set. At each end of the net put up a couple of chairs on boxes for the umpires, and arrange seats about the court for the spectators. If there are not enough chairs and benches handy, lay boards on boxes, and so produce impromptu settees. Don't fail to hire a couple of boys to pick up the b.a.l.l.s.

All these details are necessary ones; there are a few others that might be termed luxuries, such as having printed tickets and programmes, and an awning stretched along one side of the court to shelter the ladies from the sun. One more necessary point, however, is to secure competent judges and umpires, otherwise something might occur during play that would mar the pleasure of the day. Of course it would be a misunderstanding, but this can be easily avoided by having officials fully conversant with the game and familiar with the duties required of them.

After all the entries have been received, make the drawings, and, if possible, post them somewhere where all those interested in the coming tournament will be able to see them. When, on the day set, the hour to begin play arrives, start promptly. Delay is always fatal to the success of any sporting event. People don't like to sit around and wait. But all that I have said here is merely in the line of suggestion. Many little matters crop up as soon as any enterprise of this kind is entered into, and these questions have to be settled according to the emergency. Let the central idea be to antic.i.p.ate anything that might happen; then, as a rule, nothing will happen.

THE GRADUATE.