People and Their Doings

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20485, 11 December 1934, Page 6

People and Their Doings

Men in Christchurch Tennis Who Play Torehand Shots With Both Hands : How a Charitably-minded Man was Relieved of More Clothes Than He Intended. *

J)E STEFANI. the Italian Davis Cup player, has been impressing Melbourne with the extraordinarily wide angle shots that he gets on ground strokes by using either hand, and it is stated that he is the only first-class player in the world playing normal forehand shots on either hand. Certainly players like this are extremely rare. There have been men like Sims, who won the New Zealand championship once, who served with one arm and made all their subsequent shots with the other, but in Sims’s case that was due to a disability that prevented him from raising his playing arm to its full height. But there are two other players at least in Christchbrch who- play forehand shots with both hands. One of them is Duffield, who was a New Zealand University finalist in the men’s doubles last season. Another United Club player who does the same is Noel Roake, the manager of the Regent Theatre, who plays a very steady g*ime, especially in singles, where his opponents find it hard to open the court against a man who has a long reaching forehand on either hand. These players, of course, can use the backhand in an emergency, sometimes for a very fast centre-line service. ® ** T HE ROYAL VISITORS who Stayed at Buckingham Palace for the wedding found that gratuities to the palace servants were on a much less lavish scale than in pre-war days. Most liberal of all Royal guests was the late Czar of Russia. Though he spent only t\*r> days with Queen Victoria at Windsor, he left £2OOO for the castle servants and more than £3OOO for charities. Besides these gratuities, he gave dozens of valuable snuff-boxes, brooches, rings, watches and other presents to Royal officials. The German Emperor also had a partiality for snuff-boxes as presents. He gave a large number of them to officials at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle when he visited the Queen in 1891. _ 1 1 is tips, however, amounted to only £SOO. Another lavish visitor was Louis Napoleon, who, after three days’ stay at Windsor, distributed £ISOO among the staff. For State visits of this kind there used to be an unofficial tariff of £SO per day in gratuities, but this was often exceeded.

JF A TENNIS PLAYER, usually very

neat in his dress, turns up at his club \vith a very old brown pair of shoes on, his friends almost expect an explanation for the new fashion. Mr W. H. Lee found himself in this situation on Saturday, and his story was a very interesting one. During the week a man called one evening and offered to work about the place for some old clothes. There was no work to be done, but the caller was assured that he would not go short on that account. Mr Lee fitted him out with a suit of clothes, and his son added a pair of trousers. The man was very grateful and asked leave to change the clothes there and then. He did so and went away with many thanks. When Saturday came Mr Lee’s son found that a golf coat had disappeared from the room where the man had changed. Then Mr Lee found that his own tennis shoes were gone and his son’s as well. The shops were closed and it was a case of making shift with what he could lay his hands on. Hence the old shoes. The police have been informed of the loss, and Mr Lee hopes for the sake of other charitably minded persons that the telling of the story may avert further victimisation.

the Selsey (Sussex) lifeboat was launched last month to search for a fishing boat reported lost in the darkness, while a 60-mile-an-hour gale swept the coast, local fishermen shook their heads and said. “ Well, that’s another wasted lifeboat trip.” They said this because one of the two men in the smack was 40-vear-old Leonard Homer, a Selsey fisherman, known here as “ The man they cannot drown.” Three times the Selsey lifeboat has been launched to rescue Leonard Homer. Three times he has got home in his boat while the lifeboat was still out searching for him. Homer's companion was a young fisherman named Barnes. They were long overdue. While the lifeboat was still out on its search, the two fishermen were home safe and sound.

& ® ® YEARS AGO (from the ‘‘Star of December 11, 1874); —

News from Europe, via San Francisco.— The French lawyer, named Founens. who secured the election of himself as King of Patagonia, has been arrested as a usurper. Wellington, December 10.—The Presbyterian General Assembly prorogued last night. A resolution was passed recommending that steps be taken with a view to in-

m H IS MAJESTY THE KING has approved of the award of the medal of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire to Omara. a native of China in the Northern province of Uganda. The medal was awarded “ for conspicuous gallantry on two occasions.” A game scout had wounded two bull elephants, one of which attacked him and pinned him to the ground. Omara pnlled the scout’s rifle from between the elephant’s feet, but, being unable to reload it. attacked the animal with his spear, drove it off. and eventuallv killed it. Then he returned, and for three hours

creasing stipends to country clergymen. It resolved that the first week in the new year should be agreed upon as a time of special effort throughout New Zealand on the part of the Presbyterian Church, witn

a view to arousing a spirit of religious revival as in Scotland at present. The next .meeting of the General Assembly' will be held in Christchurch in December, 1875. Melbourne, December 5.—A severe shock of earthquake was felt in the Gipps Land district on the morning of November 30. Mining machinery was stopped, under- ! ground workings displaced, and articles fell | from shelves The shocks lasted over an hour and a half.

carried the scottt. whose injuries proved fatal, to Adilang. In February last, at very great risk to himself. Omara killed, with a heavy hunting spear, another elephant which had terrorised the local population.