buzz of triumph. "Why didn't we think of it before?" he cried.
"Of what?" asked the Queen, eagerly.
"Your eldest daughter is twins," cried the Trade Secretary. "One
can have one twin and the other the other."
"So they are!" said the Queen, joyously. "I had forgotten that.
Their hands shall be awarded as you suggest."
And so it was decided; and on Christmas morning the announcement
was made. To one bee one daughter was affianced, and to the other
the other, and all were satisfied; and on New-Year's day, a week
later, they were all four married, and lived happily ever after.
The little bee stopped here and looked at me.
"That's a very nice little tale," said I, smiling upon my friend the
bee.
"Thank you," said he. "If you like it you can have it all for your own."
"It is very good of you," I replied. "But can't you use it?"
"No," he said. "None of the magazines would print a story sent in by a
bee; but even if they would you could have it, because we owe you some
return."
"What for, pray?" I cried.
"Your baby's kisses," he said, simply. "We've made eight dollars out of
him this year."
I looked at him for a moment, and then, as he buzzed back to the window,
I called out,
"Don't be in a hurry."
"I must," he said. "It's getting late."
"Well, come again," I said, "and tell me some more."
"Oh, you can count on that," he answered, as he flew out of the window
with a joyous buzz. "I'll be back before you know it."
And with that he was gone; and when next morning I told his story to my
children, they all liked it so much that I have put it down to tell you,
for possibly the bees made eight or ten dollars out of you when you were
a baby, and you are as much entitled to the return as I am.
[Illustration: INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT]
The next important interscholastic event of the year will be the tennis
tournament at Newport, August 13th. It is not possible at the date of
writing to state exactly what players will participate, the entries not
having all been received as yet; but if the winners of the various
interscholastic tournaments of this spring all gather at Newport this
week, the 1896 tournament should prove the most interesting and
important of any held heretofore.
The most promising of the interscholastic players seems to be Reginald
Fincke, of the Hotchkiss School, who won the Yale interscholastic
tournament. Fincke out-classed all the other players in this tournament,
and made the very creditable record of winning first place without
dropping a set. He has been keeping in good practice all summer, and did
some good work at the recent Wentworth tournament. He is a cool-headed
player, and has excellent control of his racket. He is particularly
strong on cross-drives and in placing.
His strongest opponent at Newport will probably be C. W. Beggs, Jun.,
the winner of the Princeton interscholastic tournament, and a student at
the Lawrenceville School. Beggs won the Chicago interscholastic
tournament last year, and developed his game considerably this spring.
He won handily over all the other men in his local contest, and is
undoubtedly the best tennis-player Lawrenceville ever had.
The Boston schools will be represented by Y. M. Edwards, of the English
High-School, who won the Harvard interscholastic tournament in May.
Edwards, however, is not so strong a player as the two men already
mentioned. In fact, this year the Boston schools did not develop any
high-class man on the courts, which perhaps might have been expected,
they having turned out such men as Ware and Whitman last year. The
Inter-Academic League's tennis tournament in Philadelphia was won by
J. K. Willing, of Delancey School, who did some pretty good work on the
Belmont Cricket Club courts, but from whom little can be expected if he
appears at Newport. Pell of Berkeley, the winner of the N.Y.I.S.A.A.
tournament, is not entitled to compete in the National event; and if the
New York schools are represented at all it will be by Walton, the winner
of the Columbia interscholastic tournament. The Maine tourney resulted
in a victory for Dana of Portland, but it is uncertain if he will appear
at Newport.
The interscholastic matches at the National event have been held yearly
since 1891. The record of the winners since then is as follows:
Year. Played at. Winner. School.
1891. Cambridge. R. D. Wrenn. Cambridge Latin.
1892. Cambridge. M. G. Chace. Univ. Grammar, Prov.
1893. Newport. C. R. Budlong. High, Providence.
1894. Newport. W. G. Parker. Tutor, New York.
1895. Newport. L. E. Ware. Roxbury Latin.
A glance at this list will show that the winners of the interscholastic
matches have all, with the possible exception of Parker, become players
of ability; and although Ware cannot yet be ranked with Chace or Wrenn,
he certainly will achieve that distinction before long. It is pleasing
to see that the schools are developing such good men in this line of
sport, the winners of the tournaments of '91, '92, '93, and '95 being
graduates of large schools, whereas the winner of '94, who has not
achieved any particular prominence since, was not a graduate of any
institution. Perhaps this shows the advantage of attending a large
school, for this surely affords a greater opportunity for good practice,
and a player gets the chance to brush up against many different styles.
This question of practice is a very important one, and no player who
hopes to become proficient in tennis can ever hope to do so unless he
keeps himself in shape by working daily on the court during the open
season. In tennis, as in everything else, there is no high-road to
success, and while it is possible that some men may have a greater
facility for making strokes and covering the court than others, there is
no such thing as a born tennis-player, and all who have succeeded in the
game have earned their laurels by hard and persistent work.
It has sometimes been asked if a tennis-player should maintain any
especial kind of training. He should--that is, he should keep in
training in the sense of keeping in good condition and, as I have said
above, in keeping in form. If a man wishes to win a closely contested
five-set match, he has got to be absolutely fit. Such a game requires
endurance as much as skill, and the man who is in the better condition,
even if he is the poorer player, so far as science goes, is likely to be
the winner.
Every one who has played tennis, no matter how little, knows what an
amount of exertion and lung-power is expended in a three or five set
match, especially if the weather is at all warm or humid, as it
usually is in this part of the country on the day set for a
tennis-match--(unless it rains!) In order to be able to stand the strain
of such an exertion, any one who is going to play tennis regularly and
in tournaments during the summer should make it a point to lead as much
as possible a regular life. One of the most important things is to get a
good long rest every night, and especially on the night preceding a hard
match. A good night's rest may only be obtained by retiring early. The
trouble with a good many of our tennis-players is that, being at hotels
or summer resorts for the playing of tournaments, they are apt to be led
into sitting up late at night by the company or the entertainment which
is at hand.
Two hours sleep before midnight is recognized to be worth more than four
hours of sleep in the morning, so far as refreshing the tissues of the
body is concerned. For this reason tennis-players, and especially the
younger men among them, to whom I hope to appeal in these columns,
should avoid hops and dances at summer resorts, for this is the most
common reason for sitting up late at night. A couple of hours' dancing
in the evening, while it is fun, is exercise, and tires one. The man who
has to play a match in the morning will feel that unpleasant weary
sensation under the knees if he has danced the night before, and in the
middle of about the second set he will wish he had gone to bed instead
of to the ballroom.
As for diet, there is no particular reason why this should be especially
restricted. Good wholesome food will strengthen any one who is
exercising, and constant exercise will likewise usually overcome the
effect of a certain amount of rich food; but it is better for the
general health not to tax the system with pastry and sweets and rich
sauces. Especially at luncheon, before an afternoon match, should these
dishes be shunned. It goes without saying that smoking should be
avoided, for there is nothing worse than such indulgence for the "wind."
While playing, either a match or practice sets, never under any
circumstances drink anything. It is bad on general principles to drink
when overheated, and while exercising in this way cold drinks will
surely make a player feel badly, and eventually give him dyspepsia, if
nothing worse. It is well to have a pail of fresh water--better still,
oatmeal water--near the court, and there is no reason why the players
should not occasionally wash out their mouths. In England, where there
is even a greater fear of ice-water than there is among our own sensible
people, tennis-players frequently take a little warm tea between sets
when playing important matches. The tea, which is served not hot but
only lukewarm, quenches the thirst very satisfactorily, and, in
addition, acts as a stimulant to the system.
After an afternoon of play on the courts it is a very good thing to
retire to your room and use a pair of light wooden dumbbells for two or
three minutes. This exercise is not fatiguing and does not take up any
time, and makes a man feel refreshed and somewhat rested, for it brings
into play a number of muscles that were not used on the court. It goes
without saying that bathing is imperative after tennis, as it is, after
all, exercise, and after the bath a rub down with a rough towel. The man
who takes a cold bath in the morning will find himself better set up for
the coming day's play, and it cannot be too strongly urged upon players
at the sea-side to take a plunge before breakfast, if they can, in the
salt water.
To lay a grass court is not such a difficult matter as it might seem to
one who has never attempted it, and as some of the readers of this
Department seem to wish to be enlightened on this subject, it may be
well to devote a few lines of explanation. We will suppose, of course,
that the grass court is to be laid out on a lawn, and not on a bare
space that must be sodded down. The portion of the lawn selected should
be, of course, as flat and even as possible, and the court should be
carefully measured out, but not necessarily marked out, before anything
else is done. Then with sharp spades remove entirely all the existing
turf. When this has been done the bare ground must be properly levelled
and turned over, and a layer of fine soil about two inches deep should
be laid on. Then replace the turf and beat it well down. It sounds like
a heavy undertaking to remove the sod from the entire court space, but
the results will justify the labor expended, and the court will be a
much better one when completed than if the rough spots only had been
taken up and smoothed over.
This court should then be left for a week or two, to settle down, so to
speak; and after that the grass should be carefully mowed. There is a
good deal of skill in the use of a lawn-mower, and a good gardener can
do more for the turf with this little machine than might at first be
supposed. The grass ought not to be cut more frequently than once a week
in the spring-time, but as the summer becomes older and the grass grows
faster, it may be well to mow the court twice and possibly even three
times in the week. In the early days of the court's construction, if it
is not in demand for playing, the best thing is to allow the cut grass
to remain on the lawn, for it acts eventually as a sort of fertilizer
and develops a superior quality of turf.
Next in importance to mowing is rolling. A lawn-roller need not be a
large one, but its use should not be spared, and while the ground is
soft in the spring the court should be rolled a little almost every day.
On one day roll the lawn from end to end, and on the next roll it from
side to side. But in spite of the most careful mowing and rolling, weeds
will appear on every lawn, and if they are not attended to at once they
will multiply so rapidly that the entire sodding will have to be torn up
again and relaid. A very good way, in the spring, is to call in a couple
of small boys and set them to work at pulling up weeds. The twenty-five
or fifty cents that the small boys will consider ample payment for their
labors is nothing compared to the nuisance and annoyance that weeds
might cause later in the season. Recognizing this fact, it might be
well, if the boys proved efficient as weed-pullers, to have them come in
throughout the playing season, every fortnight or so, and thus keep the
court in good condition.
In this Department last year, at just about this season, were printed a
couple of paragraphs telling of the construction of dirt and clay
courts; it seems, therefore, unnecessary to return to that subject again
this summer; but any of the readers of the Department who desire
information on that subject may obtain it by addressing the Editor. It
is not always possible, as I have said before, to answer by letter the
many inquiries that come to this Department, but correspondents may feel
assured that sooner or later their questions, if they are of general
interest to sportsmen, will be answered here.
[Illustration: Conger. Walsh. Bannister (Capt.).
Dannatt. Armstrong. Mongovern. Davis. Flournoy. Whitson. Kelster.
Carmichael. Berrien. Lake. Van Allen. Holmes. Lachmund.
THE CLINTON, IOWA, HIGH-SCHOOL TRACK-ATHLETIC TEAM.]
The Clinton High-School track-athletic team, a picture of which is given
on another page, is the champion of the Iowa State High-School A.A.,
having taken the greatest number of points again this year at their
annual field-meeting. One of the most promising of the young athletes in
the group is Flournoy, who came on with the Iowa team to the National
Games, and participated in the high jump. Since the formation of the
National Association there has been a great boom in track athletics in
many of the Western States, where hitherto the interest had been more or
less desultory, especially among the graduates, and without graduate
interest little can be done by the young sportsmen themselves. Now,
however, it looks as if Iowa and Wisconsin, and Ohio and Minnesota were
in a fair way to develop strong school athletes, and within the next
year or so these lads will surely become a factor in the interscholastic
athletic development of this country.
While it is perhaps a little early to begin the discussion of football,
it is not out of place to call the attention of captains to the fact
that the University Athletic Club has revised the rules of the game, and
that in all probability this fall their code will be accepted by all the
colleges in the country. Last year, as we all remember, there were two
or three sets of rules, and Harvard played one way, while Yale played
another way, and when matches were arranged between colleges that had
early in the season adopted varying regulations, it was first necessary
for the managers to meet and decide upon what should be considered fair
ruling in the proposed match.
Now this is done away with, and a new code has been accepted--a code
that I feel sure will be better than anything we have had before. For
the best heads evolved it, and the idea of the committee representing
the University Athletic Club was to do away with the worst features of
roughness in the game, at the same time retaining the science and the
keen edge of the sport.
These rules may not yet have been published, but I should advise every
school football captain to inform himself concerning this, and to secure
a copy of the book as soon as possible, in order that when he gets back
to the gridiron he may be familiar with the changes and innovations that
have been made, and thus gain time which must be spent in the study of
the rules.
No captain can be efficient unless he has the rules of the game at his
fingers' ends; not only the general rules, but the various
interpretations that can be put on points that only come up perhaps once
in a season, but which often cause long delays and discussions when they
do crop up, and the captains and umpires are uninformed concerning the
penalties required.
In the next issue of the ROUND TABLE we shall begin a series of
descriptive articles on swimming and diving, which will run from rime to
time in this Department, as the articles on track athletics were printed
last year. The descriptions will be illustrated from instantaneous
photographs taken of one of the most expert swimmers in the country, and
it will be the object of the papers to so describe the science of
swimming and diving that any boy who does not know how, but who has a
pond near his home, may go out and soon learn the necessary strokes.
"TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL."--ILLUSTRATED.--8VO, CLOTH, ORNAMENTAL,
$1.25.
THE GRADUATE.
[Illustration: STAMPS]
This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin
collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question
on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address
Editor Stamp Department.
The discovery of a misspelled word on the new $1 silver certificate
(tranquility instead of tranquillity) has led thousands of persons to
believe that the government will call in all the bills, with the
consequence that those remaining in the hands of the public will command
a premium from "collectors." Nothing can be more erroneous.
The marvellous growth in value of rare stamps has led to a widespread
idea that there is an immense number of "collectors" in every
department, that these "collectors" are waiting with money in their
hands anxious to pay fancy prices for anything which is old or odd. As a
matter of fact neither age nor scarcity makes a thing valuable. It is
entirely a question of demand and supply. For instance, any book printed
by Caxton (1474 to 1492) would be worth $5000 at least, and some of his
books would bring $15,000 or more, each. Many other older books printed
previous to these dates can be bought for $10 each. Why the difference?
Simply this: Caxton was the first English printer, and his books are
eagerly sought for in England by the great libraries and by English
bibliophiles. The demand is great, the supply exceeding small, hence the
continuous growth in values. On the other hand, thousands of big folio
volumes of sermons and theological disquisitions in the Latin language,
printed in Germany and elsewhere, at the same time as the Caxtons, or
earlier, are in the market. The supply is immense, the demand very
small, hence the very small prices, despite the fact that some of these
books are quite as scarce as some of the Caxtons, and just as old.
The same remarks apply to coins and other objects. Every week I receive
requests to price old silver and copper coins, and when I reply that the
U.S. coins are worth their face, and that the foreign coins are usually
worth their weight as old silver, I do so convinced that my
correspondents will feel disappointed. Previous to 1834 most of the
silver money used in the U.S. was Spanish. Millions of these coins are
still in existence, and to-day they are not current in any country, and
are bought up by coin-dealers at about forty-five per cent. of their
face value, and are melted into bullion.
Old Roman and Greek coins are found in large quantities every year in
tombs and in the ruins of old houses. Messrs. Hunt and Grenfell found
two large jars of Roman silver and gold coins in Lower Egypt last winter
in which were over 4000 coins in perfect preservation. The latest coins
were those of Hadrian (A.D. 138) and Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161). All
over Europe, Asia, and Africa similar finds are frequent. In June, 1833,
some boys found a box containing 7000 coins, which were mostly English,
of the reigns of William the Conqueror (A.D. 1066) and William Rufus
(A.D. 1109). In 1832 the sexton of Hexham Church, while digging a grave,
found a brass bucket containing over 8000 coins of the early Saxon Kings
of England (about A.D. 800). In High Wycombe a shepherd boy found a
large number of British gold coins which had been hidden over 1800
years. In 1831 a chest containing over 200,000 coins of Edward I. and
II. (about A.D. 1300) was unearthed at Tutbury, and not far from this
find another box was dug up containing over 7000 gold and silver coins,
mostly Saxon (about A.D. 850), but containing many foreign coins. It was
probably the entire stock of some money-broker who was obliged to flee
for his life.
This list of great finds could be continued indefinitely, but enough has
been said to show how common old coins are. The old Greek gold coins are
scarce, and lately a demand for these has arisen, which has pushed up
prices to nearly double what they were a year ago. Ordinary coins remain
the same. Now nothing is more interesting than a collection of coins.
For instance, specimens of the common coins of all countries and all
ages. They are just as interesting as if they were all rare, and can be
picked up at small prices with patience and a little going about. Gold
coins would, of course, be out of the question, but copper and silver
illustrate the different periods just as well. I know a collector who
has over 500 coins, no two of the same reign, and representing over one
hundred different countries. They give the owner and his friends much
pleasure and information, and their entire cost was less than $125.
PHILATUS.
ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Illustration: ROYAL BAKING POWDER]
A cream-of-tartar baking powder. Highest of all in leavening
strength.--_Latest United States Government Food Report._
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK.
[Illustration: THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]
[Illustration: BICYCLING]
This Department is conducted in the Interest of Bicyclers, and the
Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our
maps and tours contain many valuable data kindly supplied from the
official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen.
Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L.A.W., the
Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership
blanks and information so far as possible.
[Illustration: Copyright, 1896, by Harper & Brothers.]
This week we begin describing the trip from Chicago to Waukesha. A trip
in the vicinity of Waukesha was given last week as being one of the best
rides in that part of the country. The quickest way, of course, to reach
Waukesha is by train, but it is a pleasant ride all the way from Chicago
there on the wheel, and there is no reason why a wheelman with some time
on his hands should not begin his journey at Chicago instead of at
Waukesha. There are several ways of reaching Waukesha, but the one that
we shall give in the next three weeks is usually considered the best,
since it goes through the most attractive country, and over, on the
whole, the best roads, although the distance is somewhat greater than by
one or two other routes.