ILLUSTRATED MISCELLANY

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 102, 29 April 1908, Page 6

ILLUSTRATED MISCELLANY

'FRISCO'S CHINATOWN. San Francisco's new Chinatown is again occupied by merchants and tradesmen who were scattered to the four winds by the terrible earthquake and fire of two years ago. All movements looking toward the transfer of the Chinese to a less desirable part of the city failed utterly, and the new Chinatown has risen on the site of the old, under the shadow of Nob Hill and touching shoulders with the financial district. The building .epartment and the health authorities insiyted that the _ew Chinatown be built according to law. This included cement cellars and prohibited the curious underground establishments, to see which was one of the principal features of a visit to Chinatown before the fire. The Chinese themselves decided that it was not wise to erect high buildings, and that three of four storey buildings of brick or cement were preferable to larger structures. The architects were asked to give the quarter a distinctive cast. They found many difficulties in the way of giving a building Oriental features and still conforming to the building laws. The

fire escapes offered some opportunity. They were elongated into balconies or or-, namental design. Deep recesses about the windows are filled with, quaint screens or grilles. The architectures went even further and added padoga-like towers to the corner buildings. They used copper tiling when the Chinese owner would bear the expense, and by treating the tiles with acids got green and brown effects. Great Chinese lanterns -were hung out from the cornices to give heightened Oriental effects. Some of the new buildings of concrete have been treated with stucco, which permits high colouring. Chinatown is in spots a blending of lavender, green and ecru, which seems giddy at first glance, but proves a harmonious combination. The new Chinatown has thrown out more dragon flags than the old ever possessed. Gay banners of red silk with gold lettering are hung in the street, and the window displays are even more magnificent than they were before the fire. The new Chinatown has, of course, lost such picturesqueness as was found in the dirt and the squalor and the tumbledown effect of the old buildings. To offset this, however, there will be a heavy gain ia healthfulness.

Opera-goers in London and New York have been ' enraptured by the extraordinary ease with which Mme. Tetrazzini, the new prima donna at Covent Garden, sings her top notes. Her trill on E flat in alt is the admiration of professed vocalists as well as the public. In fact, people are asking themselves what is the limit of this marvellous voice. Among the great prime donne of the

world there is not a great difference in the height of their voices. No operatic soprano is thoroughly equipped without a reliable E flat or E in alt This was Adelina Patti's limit in her prime, while her sister Carlotta could touch the F. Melba is credited with an F sharp, while Christine Nilsson was able to touch G, and Jenny Lind even an A.

These ranges are, of course, phenomenal, and are rarely found among concert singers.

The server must hit the ball above the high tape (which is over the net) and into the opposite corner section. Thus from A he must serve so that the Ball pitches in H, or else his service counts as a "fault." From C he must serve similarly into Oh

A NEW GAME FOR OLD PEOPLE. (By Eustace Miles, ex Tennis Champion.) It is very unfortunate for two of the best ball games that they have such silly names as Squash and Sticke. While racquets and tennis are games for comparatively few individuals, Squash is a game for the- thousands. Sticke, br walled lawn tennis, is a game for the hundreds. The court costs less to build than a racquet or tennis court (the latter may mean an outlay of several thousands of pounds), more to build than a Squash court (which, if one makes use of already existing walls, may be put up for ten or twenty pounds). I believe that a Sticke court could be made for about £80, without a spectators' gallery; with that gallery and a really good granolithic floor (which makes the play less dependent on the weather), the price might be about £200. There are already courts at Gosport, Golden Hill, Spike Island, Dover, Esher, etc.; and in Bermuda, Boston, and Halifax (Nova Scotia). I believe that in all these places the game has proved popular. Beyond the initial expense of the court itself—the floor and the walls and netting—there is scarcely any expense. As to details, though these need not be considered as hard and fast and binding, they may prove useful. The length of the court should be just short of eighty feet (seventy-eight feet), and the breadth twenty-seven feet. The net should be just over 3ft Cm (3ft 7in) at the sides, the tape over the net about Sft high, and the walls Oft Gin high, with netting abo»:e. The court is marked cut as in the diagram. The server must hit the ball above the high tape (which is over thenet), and into the opposite e.rner _*/*>-

tion. Thus from A ho must serve so that the ball pitches in H; or else his service counts as a "fault." From Che must serve similarly into G. Now, suppose that there is a single between Jones and Brown. Jones serves over the tape and into the opposite corner; Brown returns the ball, but the ball goes into the net or on the high netting, or out of court. Jones then scores one ace, or point, and now serves from the other corner—not from A into H, but from C into G. This time Brown volleys the service, find returns the ball _31 _ig3it, and Jones fails to return the ball. This puts Jones "out," and Brown now serves, the score being o—l. If Brown wins his service he scores one ace, or point, and makes the scorw I—l (or "one all"); if he loses, then Jones serves again. Whoever gets fifteen points first wins the game. The implements are, preferably, a rather smaller-sized lawn tennis racket and ball. Young people find a single capita] exercise—as vigorous as anyone need ask for. Elderly people can go on playing doubles for two hours or more without being exhausted. The game is best played in the open air. I tried it one frosty morning, and felt as if I could go on all day. The nearest thing I could compare it -frith, in respect of vigour, is skating. There is plen.y of scope for skill and finesse. The hard-hitter is not necessarily the winter, though a hard stroke now and then pays well. But I think the best stroke is a good length one into the corner, keeping close to the side-walls. It is the play upon and off the walls that makes much of the fascination of the game. The different angles are not easily mastered, so that the experienced ihari of mature years may be ofi a level —at any rate in a four-handed garnet— < .with-the inexperienced "slasher-."-' -'- -