Athletics and Love Affairs.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 1, 5 January 1910, Page 63

Athletics and Love Affairs.

Miss May Sutton, the American tennis champion, who was born in England of English parents, is still the favourite authority in the States respecting all affairs of the heart. She is cited as declaring that she is more than ever convinced that women should not marry until they are twenty-five. “Athletics,”’ she announced, after her return from a long championship tour, “are an antidote for a person of premature romance. I say twenty-five years, because I judge entirely by almost universal happiness of English’wives, and they do not marry young. Do you hear much of divorce in England’ No; and here it has grown to be a distinct feature. I have often thought that perhaps the English girl's tendency to sports has something to do with her levelheadedness concerning men. Athletics are not especially conducive to sentiment. Any athletic girl, American or English, is not so apt to marry as young as the typical society girl. The society girl lives in an atmosphere of dancing, music, soft lights, and flattery. She ,js entangled in a web of romance, whether she cares for it or not, and the usual outcome is an early marriage. In fact, the mammas’" rather help, for it is considered quite poor- form for a debutante not to marry within two years after her' coming out. I do not mean that society is not necessary to a girl’s development, but I do mean that athletics are the best antidote for a person of premature love affairs/’ Miss Sutton’s views thus clearly expressed in a telegram from Los Angeles secures the reproduction of her photograph in scores of newspapers by way of illustiation, and tends to increase her popularity as champion tennis player.