LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 250, 21 October 1919, Page 9

LAWN TENNIS.

(By FOOTFAULT.) It is with great pleasure that I once more take up my pen and endeavour to help the interest in lawn tennis to be , maintained. With so many clubs, some large some small, players will, I feel sure, fully realise that it"is impossible to be everywhere at once, and for this reason '■ I now take the opportunity of asking [ club secretaries to send along any item ■ oi news t-hey may have from time to time The warm spring days we have experienced during October (not too many, certainly) have made us turn our thoughts to the good old summer game. The weather during the month of October, however is never by any means reliable, and any club that does decide to open in this month is. in my humble opinion, looking for trouble. The gTass ie too full of moisture to stand 'the wear : and tear, and in consequence the courts j soon show eijnis of near. Players are ! very perturbed about the late arrival of the new season's racquets. So far as I j can gather, not even any advice has been j received of shipments, so it may be well I on into December before the new stock arrives. This simply means thai our old racquet wil! have to be restrung. The ; old proverb, "It's an ill wind that blows i nobody any pood, , ' seems to apply here, i TXCREASED ■POPULARITY. In England last summer the wonderful relief after the strain of the war set all the out-of-door games going at a pace . never been known before, and, judging by the interest shown here in the winter games. I rather fancy that the popularity of all summer games will be more marked than ever. In the Army, the instructors always found that they got far better work from their men when they gave them plenty of good recreational training. If a man who is outside all day finds recreittonal training improves bis health, how much more beneficial must it be to the man who is cooped up in an office all day? That's all very well, but when and wbere are we to get this very necessary "out-of-door exercise ? DAYLIGHT SAVIX« BILL. This brings us to a subject that we here in New Zealand know little about. Mr. Sidey. M.P., has many times brought up a bill in Parliament called the Daylight Saving Bill, but after some hard bard fighting, it has been thrown out every time. " Xo good for the farmers" was the conclusion come to. This was very unfortunate indeed, as no better move could help the community as a whole to secure this necessary recreation. Tn England the House of Commons decided to give it a trial, and it has proved Hβ great value in England, where by the way, they have more twilight than we do. The French Chamber also carried the same measure. It simply means that on the Ist of October of each year the clock is put forward one hour, and not put back again till, say. the 20th , April. In this manner we would secure another hour's daylight in "the evenings. It is too late for this year, of course, but now is the time for all sports clube to organise anil get the promise of all candidates for the coming elections to support the bill in the House. ■ MORE LAWKS XEEDE'D. The local Association has always been fully aware of its great responsibilities, and I feel sure that they will now push forward schemes to secure association courts in some central position. Owing ', to the war. the old West End Club had to close down, and now a croquet club has secured a lease of the ground, so the western suburb is without a club of any ~ize. Several small clubs have secured ' grounds in various parts of the suburbs, but what is wanted is about four, or even more large clubs to secure grounds and start. They need have no fear of ; not heing able to fill their membership list, as I feel confident that they would be rushed. The difficulty always is to ' secure suitable grounds, but waiting ; won't improve matters. ' The Remuera Club held their annual , meeting at the cli\b pavilion on Friday last. The attendance was most disap- ' pointing, as those present consisted . mainly of members of the ladies' and ', gentlemen's committees. Generally ! speaking, it is really extraordinary what ; little interest members take in the management of the affairs of a club. This proposes to open next Saturday if the weather permits. Bo as to enable its ' %*™ hei3 to & et a fuU day in onXabour

I understand that the Association has c decided to hold a handicap tournament ] at Christmas, and the Auckland cham- 5 pionships on January 29th. The New f Zealand championship meeting will take ' place in Wellington at New Year. j £ The Parnell lawns are looking very £ 'veil indeed, and this club should have a ] very busy season. |« One old champion, Dr. Keith, is with j us again, and I believe is joining the Eden and Epsom Chrb. I had the plea- j sure of a chat -with him a few days ago, 1 and he feels confident ol reproducing his t old form once again. 1 A recommendation that two teams be \ entered in the A grade competition was passed by the members of the Remuera \ I Tennis Club on Friday last. The club I, J is a very strong one. and should have' no j 1 difficulty "In picking two really good j i teams. ' Some members of one of our leading tlubs are endeavouring to get the lawns 1 ' opened for play on Sundays. I noticed , last wee-k that" the question of Sunday . play was brought up at a meeting of j the" Victoria College Council, and after i, ! a general discussion a motion to permit j, fsunday play was defeated on the canting I, vote of the chairman. At the piesent ; time none of our clubs allow Sunday], play, but the demand for sport is- be- icoming so great that this question Will ] have to be faced at an early date. 1 AQUATICS. FINE WEEK-ENDS MAKE OWNERS : HUSTLE. BIG FLEET OF 22-FOOTERS. (By SPEEDWELL.) I The very fine weather of the past two j weeks hae" enabled all boat-ownera to get well ahead with the necessary painting and varnishing work on our local plea- ; sure fleet, and already tlie various bays are beginning to fill up with boate. Last Saturday fully a dozen white wings could be seen on different parts of the harbour, I several of them going for their initial week-end trip. Those who did go away over-night had rather a good dusting coming home in the westerly breeze ot Sunday. THE 22-FOOTERS. The 22-footers will be a strong class! this season, and the three or four new boats will make the racing very interest-1 ing. For some years past this been j the most popular class, and by the time i of the first race on November 15 there 1 should be a fleet of about fifteen of these' handy craft, and the judge's task in distin;niicliing them will be no sinecure. Fortunately several will he painted dif- . ferentlq. For instance, VaJeria has green topsides, Lucille wil be blue, j. Venus and Dulcie are red, Marie is brown, and Waima looks smart in a coat of black enamel. This will greatly facilitate the work of distinguishing these boats and be easier for the. public once their colours are known, and be better than any device on the mainsail. Besides the boats mentioned there will be :• Dorecn, Puawanga, Wairangi, the new boatri of D. Spencer, A. Spencer, J. Ben- ' ders, and one or two others, while the Arcadia will most likely .be brought up from Tauranga by her former owner, Mr. j Saundere. This will make quite a for-1 midable fleet, and will require plenty of 1 room on the starting-line, and should give some splendid finishes, as the handicaps, except in the case of Valeria, will not be more than a few minutes. JOTTIXGS. Mr. V. Lidgard, of Xorthcote, late owmer of Varuna, which he sold before I enlisting, hae purchased the Champion j 26-footer Celox from Mr. H. George, and : has got her looking well. She was ;!launched on Saturday. J Mr. H. A. Adam.-' launch Ariel and Mr. i.A. N. Breckon's Zeila were put into the ! water on Sunday at Xorthcote, also the I 2l>ioot auxiliary Curlew. j Mr. J. A. Hofloway's new 43 by 10 foot l J launch is practically finished at Bailey ! and Lowe's yard, Northcote, and only waits for her 50 h.p. engine, which is due I tomorrow by the Niagara. This firm a 25-foot V-bottom launch,! equipped with a 17/23 h.p. engine, to Kai- - koura by the laet trip of the Mokoia. Mr. Mills, of Devonport, for several years owner of the launch Romance, has j sold her and is having a 35-footer built. j will be similar in every way to CoL I Andrews' Manu, and should be ready by Christinas. Mr. Chas. Court's new 45-foot cruiser is well advanced. The hull is finished off and painted, and a start has been made! with her internal fittings. She will bo ready early in December. The 26-foot auxiliary Colleen lias been sold .by "Danny" Holland to go fishino at the Thaine§, and left on Saturday for . her new horneT Mr. A. Spencer's new 22-footer was launched laet week, and was out for a trial spin on Sunday, she stood up well to the fresh breeze, her 10ft of-beara standing her in good stead. Mr. Dale Spencer's new 22-footer was launched last Saturday, and was out " Sunday with two reefs down in the fresh ; £«terly. she appears a bit too light, but no doubt her owner will 6Oo n get i her in good racing trim. J" , , 6 , cxM k anukau keol yacht Anahera, . which has been purchased by two /Auckland yachtsmen, was brought across the 1 W °A e K. Wa S° n ' and arriveJ at the i \lctorla Clubfl shp O n Saturday -. The yacht Peri w as launched on Sun- ' •V-μ n dgCS ' Hay beach - I™ and • .\aldora will go off about Labour Day : Maybelle is not so far advanced, but wfli be ready early in November I Snrfwl; DaWßOn f, y-bottom launch 1 Surf looks very well, having aji exoen . tionally good coat of white and^cleanW . cuMvaterlme. She will go off on Labour nearly ready and will be down" I atec.the- big rMr' 1 X - Testers launch VVaripori? ' l£ "7 7 nm , ° f the J" ach * Daisy, . outer and she will take the water in ; Member in good form. This boat \Z , bu.lt m 1803 for Mr. t\m. Lind b, Cte I ? r alle - v ' \ ho ri,ce d her for severaj veart I.He sold her to Mr. L. Harvey aid nex t 1 \<Y "IT WaS b0 "" llt b .v -Mr. F. Herbert . After three years he parted with her ; the late Mr. E J. Fenrf, who toik a £ e £ t pride ,„ her, both himself and hi/wtfe , handling her equally well in all weather" When Mr Fenn's estate was sold she ! 1 sold to the present owners. This boat i= J I strongly built, with three .left and a _ I careful examination on Saturday showed L ! her to be as sound as ever. 1 , Mr - F - S - button, of Parnell, has r bought the 24-footer Zoe. He put n ' er t the water at St. Ilelier's Bay last week . and took her to Judges' Bay'to finish off' , and will moor her within a few yard? of f her original moorings. , The 14-footer Desert Gold could .be c seen laet Saturday towing a 30-foot launch whose engine, refused duty. The

diminutive tug took the launch from Ponsonby to Hobson Bay, and it was surprising how well ehe kept her tow going. A new 14-footer of the flattie type had a trial of speed with Desert Gold on Saturday, and quite held her own in the J pulls. When the wind lightened the extra 80ft of sail told, and Desert Gold gradually got away from her 150 ft canvassed rival. ' The 14-footer Square Rigger, which. 1 ! was bo badly damaged after winning her ■ i race in the Anniversary Regatta of 1915,; i has been repaired, and seems to go better > i than ever with her new sails. | > The 'ZU-footer Sadie was launched a, : week ago, and looks well with her brown i topsides. Rahiri, Glady, Cynthia, Way- I ward, Lorelei, Zoe, Pauwanga, Duleie, and the launches Sceptre, Ngaroma, and Okere were all put afloat this week-end. | ( More than ordinary bad luck seemed. - to trouble the crew of Sceptre on Sun- j j day. She was safely floated off, but!; when her engine was started up the pro-! ] peller fouled her warp, and brought her * up all standing. Mr. W. Casey kindly I, came to the rescue with his launch Ima- j j nota, and towed Sceptre to her moor-' ] ings in St. Mary's Bay. No sooner did ' she get on her moorings than they ' 'parted, and in running out an anchor to,' help her clear another boat the dinghy ; swamped, and two of her crew had an. < ■exceedingly cold quarter of an hour be- ' fore regaining her cabin. ( Mr. P. Hickson's Countess, which ha 3 been in commission all winter, was" hauled up on Saturday for an overhaul. | f She will be off in plenty of time for the '• first rates. Oood progress is being made with Mr. '■ Colebrook's 44ft launch at Slattery's ehed. She is now far enough advanced to give a good idea of her size, her 10ft j of beam ibeing carried all the way from | ten or twelve from her stem to within' 'a few feet of her 6hort compromise stern. I The main cabin is 13ft long, the engineroom 9ft. with a fore-cabin of Bft, besides a roomy cockpit, over which a standing canopy will be built with canvas *. dodgers. Mollie, as she will be called, is a raised cabin boat with fore-deck and good side-decks. The cabin-top gives (ift 3in headroom all ovpr, and as she is a Jeep-bodied boat, with the flbor well down, it does not appear at all high. The [3-cylinder.engine is already installed, and , ! looks a sturdy job, as indeed it needs to! :be to drive this hefty boat at 9 knots.' j Mollies internal arrangements have been ■ well thought out, and the best use made jof the space. She will have a lavatory,' I with tip-up hand basin built in jon the port side, also big galley j and sink, with water laid on, and plenty of lockers everywhere. Rack and pinion steering gear is to 'be i fitted, and all engine controls lead to the j , cockpit, giving her a one-man cfcntrol, a I very desirable feature at any time, j j Electric lighting is provided by a West-, i, inghouee generator charging a 100 amp. hour storage battery, which will allow five, main cabin lights, two in therengine- 1 room, and one each in forecabin and cockpit, with a searchlight on top of the' deckhouse, controlled from the cockpit.' The benzine tank forms a steering eeat in the cockpit, while water tanks are placed under the side seats. Mollie will I have two masts and a fairly good spread lof canvas, which should come in handy I for long cruises which her owner is look- ' ing forward to enjoying this summer. She will be launched about the end of November. The launch Banshee, which wintered on Curran Street btaeh, was launched last Saturday, looking very neat. During the operation of lowering this boat on to the beach from where she was blocked up, an accident happened which might have been fraught with very serious if not fatal consequences to two of her crew. It seems that a start had been made to lower her when, through someone letting go one of the guys, the laungh fell down on her starboard side, fortunately a post, left by another boat, .caught her and checked her fall long enough to allow two of her crew who were underneath her to get out. Beyond leaking a little when put afloat, Banshee is none the worse for her fall. It would be weU if owners took extra care when 'hi, ow n? '/ SPeCla i ly When a boat h « tO A NOVEL INVENTION ■Kpumo th ,° , f ° rm ° f a " * iot of P ' i l lCh P , Ulnps the bil Se ™ter out of a yacht or launch entirely without power, whether under way or lying sin^ 6 mO ° n T- This Mention VVerv simple and effective, and reliable, and yacht aTI 1 a T g " felt Wa - nt - ln future yacht and launch owners, with this i- uvention installed in their boats, will be able to leave them without fear of them -wamprng at their moorings!'" New Zealand r.ghta of thi s invention are on sale, and manufacturers likely to be in- i