Harper's Round Table, August 6, 1895 Part 8

It may be that some of Ware's weakness was due to his lack of practice, as he injured his wrist in June and did not touch a racquet for four weeks; but I doubt if he could have defeated Whitman at Longwood, even if he had been in the form that made him champion at the Interscholastics. He will have to do some hard work between now and the date of the Newport Tournament if he wishes to hold his own there. He must pull himself together and keep from falling into that listless style of play which proved so disastrous to him in the last two sets against Whitman. The latter now stands a good chance of carrying off the honors of the year, if present form may be depended upon to be prophetic. He has beaten at Longwood men who were considered his superiors, and he only met defeat at the hands of a man who is rated as the fourth player in the United States.

The Hovey-Whitman match was one of the most interesting of the week, in spite of the fact that it was evident from the start that the school player was outcla.s.sed. This fact might not have been so patent if Whitman had kept his nerve better, but he seemed to be afraid of his antagonist from the very outset, and did not put up anywhere near so good a game as he did against Ware. Hovey apparently realized this weakness, and kept close up to the net. Whitman made his greatest mistake in falling back, for Hovey's net game is hard to beat. This also gave the champion an opportunity to do some sharp volleying with a stiff wrist and forearm--strokes that the younger player was unable to return.

Occasionally Whitman made some brilliant plays, but he was overshadowed by the veteran.

Hovey took the first four games largely on his opponent's nervousness, but in the fifth he drove out of court twice, and Whitman got in a first-rate side-line place. Thus with the score 40-15 in his favor he ought to have taken the game, but he let Hovey pull it up to deuce, and then he drove out, giving Hovey vantage, which was followed by a hot rally, ending in a sharp stroke that Whitman was unable to reach. In this set Whitman made but ten points to Hovey's twenty-six, and not until the third game of the second set did the Interscholastic player secure a game. Even this was somewhat of a gift, for Hovey started in with a double fault and then drove into the net. The fifth game showed some pretty rocky playing on both sides, but Whitman finally secured his vantage on a clever side-line place, and made game on Hovey's wild drive out of court. The sixth game of this set was also deuce--for Whitman was doing his best work at this juncture--but it went to Hovey, who, having coaxed his opponent into back court, dropped a teaser just over the net.

The set score was 38-28, the closest of the match.

In the last set Whitman began to lose some of the timidity which had characterized his play up to this point, and in the third game, when Hovey had him 40-0, he worked it up to deuce, but unfortunately eventually lost on drives out of court. He kept his nerve, nevertheless, and earned the fourth game with steady, and at times, brilliant work.

Hovey could not connect on the young man's serve and drove out. Whitman then ran up to the net and scored a beautiful side place, making it 40-0. I cannot help feeling that if he had done more of this work he would have kept Hovey playing an hour longer for his win. The score then went from 40-0 to 40-30, but Hovey followed with a drive out, and it was Whitman's game. This was the end of the latter's good work. Hovey took a brace and had it all his own way until the end, giving Whitman only two points in the next three games, closing the set with the score 27-13.

Whitman is only seventeen years old, and goes to Harvard in the fall.

His school in Boston was Hopkinson's, although for five years previous to this last he attended the Roxbury Latin School. Ware is a Roxbury Latin player, and also enters Harvard with the cla.s.s of '99.

Besides Whitman and Ware another scholastic player at Longwood was W. M.

Scudder, of St. Paul's. He has the making of a good player, but only got as far as the first round, when he met Paret, and was defeated, 1-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Scudder played a good game in this match, in spite of his ill-success, volleying and smas.h.i.+ng with a degree of proficiency that would have done credit to many an older player. Paret won by better head-work, but I am confident Scudder will be heard from later on.

The reference to New England football made in these columns two weeks ago has aroused the interest of a number of readers in that section, and several questions have been asked about the origin of the present a.s.sociation. The subject is of enough general interest to receive a little more s.p.a.ce than it was possible to devote to it last time. It is of enough general interest, because this football league, with the possible exception of the New York Interscholastic track-athletic organization, was the first interscholastic a.s.sociation formed in this country. It came about in a very natural way in the fall of 1888.

Harvard football men had for several years been deploring the necessity of devoting two or three weeks at the beginning of each fall term to the weeding out and selection of new football material, and the idea finally suggested itself that if the schools could be used for this purpose the university would gain much by such an arrangement. It then became clear that the way to use the schools would be to get up some sort of a football league that would train players who would eventually enter Harvard, and furnish material for the university eleven.

This idea of organizing an interscholastic league emanated from the fertile brain of R. Seaver Hale, then in college. He consulted with Captain Sears, of the 'Varsity football team, with F. C. Woodman, C. A.

Porter, and A. P. Butler, members of the eleven, and with Fred Fisk, who took a living interest in the athletic welfare of the college. These six men discussed Hale's idea, and then decided to put in $25 apiece and to offer a cup which should be contested for by football teams from the Boston schools.

When the question was submitted to the school football players it was looked upon favorably at once by them, and the interscholastic a.s.sociation was formed. The schools to come in were the Cambridge High and Latin, the Roxbury Latin, the Boston Latin, Chauncy Hall, Hopkinson's, n.o.bles, and Hale's, Nichol's, and Stone's combined. The six Harvard men then got together again, and drew up rules and regulations which should govern the playing for the cup. Hale was the Thomas Jefferson of the crowd, and turned out a code of laws that suited the schools perfectly.

The formation of the league created a great boom in football in the schools. Up to that time playing had been of a desultory nature, and games had been arranged from week to week as the captains chose. There had never been any training or system. Now all this changed. Schedules were prepared and adhered to, and the players all made it a point to keep in as good training as possible. Each school had its eye on the cup. The Harvard men were much pleased at the success of their scheme, and the 'Varsity Captain looked hopefully toward the development of good material for the next year. The donors of the cup acted as a sort of advisory committee, and kept a general supervision over the league.

Things progressed fairly on this line for a while, until the sport was so generally taken up all over the country that the college players no longer felt the necessity for taking that parental interest in the schools which had prompted the offering of a cup. Succeeding 'Varsity Captains, who had not gone through the labors of Sears and his predecessors to get good material, did not quite see the necessity for devoting their time to overseeing scholastic matches, and so the schools gradually took the management of their league into their own hands. The teams belonging to the a.s.sociation increased so in number, that the a.s.sociation had to be divided into two parts, known respectively as the Senior League and the Junior League, the Seniors playing each year for the cup, the Juniors playing for a pennant. The winner of the Junior League entered the Senior League the following year. The latter was kept under the management of the donors of the cup, but the Juniors more or less ran themselves.

This method has now again been changed, as described in the ROUND TABLE two weeks ago. There is henceforth to be only one League playing in two divisions. In the first are six Seniors playing for the cup; in the second, all the rest playing for a pennant. At the end of the season, or at the beginning of the next season, the last team of the first section will play the first team in the second to see whether they change places. This arrangement will serve to keep the first division always made up of six teams.

The management of both divisions rests in one committee composed of three members of the schools, the Captain of the Harvard eleven, two Harvard men, who replace the original cup donors, and one graduate of the schools, who may be a Harvard man, but who at present is a Tufts College man, a graduate of the English High-School. This makes seven in all. It is well that one of the committee should not be a Harvard man, and so the presence of the Tufts man makes the arrangement as just as it should be. Harvard having offered the cup, should, of course, always retain a controlling voice in the councils of the a.s.sociation.

The High-School of Stockton, California, will apply for members.h.i.+p in the Academic Athletic League of the Pacific coast at the opening of the next school term, and as there is no reason to suppose admission will be refused we shall doubtless see some Stocktonians in the front ranks at the next semiannual field-day. Stockton H.-S. has a good record in athletics, and in addition to the regulation sports of the school list they indulge in rowing. The Stockton Athletic Club has for some time allowed the High-School oarsmen to use their barges, and the interest in aquatics has become so lively that a race may soon be arranged with the Oakland High-School. O. H.-S. has not rowed any yet, but there is a movement on foot to get the use of the University of California boats that are kept on Oakland Creek, not far from the school, and as this courtesy will doubtless be granted to the boys by the U.C. Navy, a water contest may not be far distant.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Steele. Luce. Field. Chapman.

Inghalls. Howard (Manager). Daly (Trainer). Lawrence (Captain.) Parkhurst. Cady.

Ingraham. Bradin. Sturtevant.

HARTFORD HIGH-SCHOOL TRACK-ATHLETIC TEAM.

Champions of the Connecticut High-School Athletic a.s.sociation.]

Of the eleven men who carried off the champions.h.i.+p of the Connecticut High-School A.A. for the Hartford High-School, Lawrence, Field, Ingraham, and Parkhurst have graduated, and Cady will go to Andover for a year before entering Yale. These departures will greatly weaken the H.H.-S. team, and the Captain must now look to the development of new material, or else those ponies from Lakeville will come down again next spring and this time take the champions.h.i.+p back with them to the Hotchkiss School.

Hartford's loss is Andover's gain. At the New England Interscholastics last June, Andover took both the high and the low hurdles with Hine; and in the dual games against Worcester, Andover got the high hurdles with Holt, losing the low race to Worcester through Barker. Both Hine and Holt graduated this year, however, and Andover would have been left without a hurdler if Cady had not decided to spend a year in Ma.s.sachusetts. Cady did not make a very strong showing at the Connecticut H.-S.A.A. games this year because of a dislocated shoulder.

He ran second to Field in the high, and third in the low hurdles. But I feel confident that he has good speed, which careful and systematic training is sure to bring out. He will make a valuable acquisition to Andover's athletic team. Some day he will be as good a man as his brother.

THE GRADUATE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CAMERA CLUB]

Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly answered by the editor of this column, and we should be glad to hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.

PAPERS FOR BEGINNERS, NO. 10.

PRINTING PROCESSES: THE BLUE PRINT.

The number of processes used for photography are many. The very simplest is the blue-print paper. This quality is not the only one which recommends it alike to the beginner and the advanced amateur. It is nearly equal to the best silver prints in detail and clearness, and, unlike them, is absolutely permanent. It does not require any manipulation after printing except was.h.i.+ng in clear water. It is only half the price of silvered paper, and if prepared at home is still less expensive. Then blue paper is specially adapted to water pictures and to landscapes where there are plenty of clouds in the sky, and to those which have a long perspective with hills or mountains in the distance.

The ready-prepared paper costs twenty cents for a 4 x 5 package containing two dozen sheets. That prepared at home will cost about five cents for the same quant.i.ty.

The process of printing with blue paper is as follows: Place the negative in the printing-frame, gla.s.s side out, lay a sheet of blue paper on the film side, fasten in the frame and expose to bright sunlight. Blue prints may be made on a cloudy day, but the quicker they are printed the clearer and sharper will be the picture. Print until the shadows are slightly bronzed--that is, have a sort of metallic or s.h.i.+ny look, and are a bluish-green in color.

Take the print from the frame and place it face up in a tray of clear water, and let it stand in the sun for a minute or two, and then wash for fifteen or twenty minutes in running water. If one has not running water, wash the print in a few changes of water till the water ceases to be tinged with the blue color of the print. If the fine details of the picture wash out, the picture has not been printed long enough. If the high or white lights in the picture are tinged with blue, then the picture has been printed too long.

After the print is washed sufficiently, lay it between two clean pieces of white blotting-paper to absorb the moisture, then pin it up by the corner to dry.

It is very easy to sensitize the blue paper. Any unglazed paper will answer, but the Rives paper is the best. The following formula was sent a few days ago by Sir Knight Willis H. Kerr, University of Omaha, Bellevue, Wisconsin:

No. 1.

Citrate of iron and ammonia 1 oz.

Water 4 "

No. 2.

Red prussiate of potash 1 "

Water 4 "

Keep the bottles in a dark place or wrapped in black paper. Mix equal parts of No. 1 and No. 2, and having first dampened the paper with a brush or sponge put on enough of the solution to tint the paper evenly and apply lightly to avoid streaks. As soon as the paper is dry it is ready for use. The operation of sensitizing the paper must be done by gas or lamp light.

SIR KNIGHT FRANK S. WHITNEY asks how to mount prints made on Omega paper without removing the gloss, and also wishes a good formula for paste, and to know just how mounting of prints is done. Trim the prints ready for mounting before they are toned. Tone them, and squeegee them to the ferrotype plate. When they are thoroughly dry apply paste to the back of the print before removing it from the ferrotype. This will moisten the print just enough to let it be removed from the plate without tearing or sticking, loosening the corner first with the point of a pen-knife. Have the card-mount ready, and lay the picture carefully on it just where it is to be pasted. The prints treated in this way lose little of the gloss made by the ferrotype plate. When first beginning to mount pictures it is best to mark the place on the card where the picture is to be pasted. Lay a piece of tissue-paper over the face of the print, and rub the squeegee over it lightly. Take off the paper, and if any paste has oozed out from the edges of the print, wipe it off carefully. Then lay a fresh piece of paper over the print and rub down smoothly. If one has no squeegee, a smooth gla.s.s bottle answers well for small prints. For a formula for good paste see No. 784.

ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nTS.

Highest of all in Leavening Power.--Latest U. S. Gov't Report.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Royal Baking Powder]