The American Girl's Handy Book

by Lina Beard

  The Little Quakeress.

  Little Quakeress.

  Half an egg-shell, with the face and hair painted on it, forms the head. The cap is made of white tissue paper cut in four strips; one, for the crown, is six and a half inches long, and a little over one and a half wide; another, for the brim, is four and a half inches long and one inch wide; while the strings are each three and a half inches long, and one and a half wide. The crown is plaited in the centre, the brim folded lengthwise through the middle, and sewed to the crown. The strings are fastened on either side of the cap, and crossed in front; then the cap is pasted on the head, the surplus paper folded back, and the whole glued on a card. The ends of the strings are also fastened to the card, forming a Quaker kerchief.

  Lawn-Tennis with Our Own Net.

  CHAPTER V.

  HOW TO MAKE A LAWN-TENNIS NET.

  LET us see; it was that old medical gentleman, Galen the Greek, who first wrote upon tennis, speaking of the sport as healthy exercise, was it not? Well, girls, it really does not matter much to us whether he was the first to write it up and the Greeks the first to play it, or whether the game originated in France in the fifteenth century, as some claim. What we want to know is, can we all learn to play tennis? Does it cost much? What kind of gowns and shoes must we wear? And is it an enjoyable game?

  There is no doubt, we think, of its being a right royal pastime, as it has been called both the “king of games” and the “game of kings;” the latter because it was enjoyed by princes and nobles—so much enjoyed, that in both England and France edicts were published forbidding the common people to play it.

  Girls, do you wonder if they always had the choice of courts, and so never took part in the fun of spinning the racket in the air while the adversary called out “rough” or “smooth;” or whether they played as we do, taking their defeats pleasantly and wearing their honors gracefully, while always doing their very best?

  They must have played well, for it is said that Louis XI., Henry II., and Charles IX., were experts, and that Henry VIII. of England was extremely fond of the sport.

  We can easily learn to play this most popular and exhilarating of games. But we must be suitably clothed in order to thoroughly enjoy it and receive all the benefit the recreation brings to both mind and body.

  Flannel seems to be the best material for a tennis suit—it is so soft and yielding, and so well adapted for a defence against either cold or heat. Then, make your tennis gown of flannel; the skirt in plaits, without drapery; the postilion basque of Jersey cloth, soft and elastic, matching the skirt in color.

  An Old Game.

  Sew the skirt of your gown on a sleeveless waist, made of lining or muslin. The Jersey will fit nicely over this, and you can play better and feel far more comfortable than when the weight is allowed to drag on the hips. For it is nonsense to attempt to take part in any athletic game unless you can have perfect freedom of action; in short, you should be so dressed as to be utterly unconscious of your clothing.

  Either crochet a Tam O’ Shanter hat or make one of the dress material, as these are not so apt to fall off while running as a straw hat. “Last, but not least,” come the shoes. Of course, rubber-soled shoes are the best. But if these are not to be had, remove the heels from an old pair of ordinary shoes, and they will do very well; heels roughen and cut the courts.

  The actual cost of a lawn-tennis set need only be the price of the rackets and balls, and rope and cord necessary when you learn

  How to Make a Lawn-Tennis Net,

  which is not difficult.

  First procure two pieces of cotton rope, three-sixteenths of an inch in size, each thirty-four feet long, costing about twenty-five cents apiece. Then one and a half pound of hammock twine or macrimé cord, No. 24, which will not cost more than fifty cents. Next, two lengths of cotton rope for guy-ropes, each five feet, price, both included, ten cents; making the total amount $1.10 for a strong, firm, tenniss net which will prove serviceable and last many a season.

  Fig 12

  Stake.

  Fig 13

  Peg.

  Fig 14

  Runner.

  Fig 15

  Runner and Guy-rope.

  Fig 16

  The Fid.

  The other materials necessary are all home-made. These consist of two stakes, each five feet long (Fig. 12). Any kind of a strong pole, when sharpened at one end and a notch cut at the other, will answer the purpose. Four pegs, each one foot long (Fig. 13). These may be easily made of old broomsticks. Four runners (Fig. 14), each five inches long, one and a quarter wide, and about half an inch thick, with holes bored near each end large enough to allow the guy-rope (Fig. 15) to pass through. A fid or mesh-stick of any kind of wood (Fig. 16), about a foot or ten inches long, with circumference measuring three inches. A hammock-needle (Fig. 17), nine or ten inches long and one wide, which may be bought for ten cents, or whittled out of a piece of ash or hickory by some kind brother. Tassels are not necessary, though it is much better to have them, as they make the top line of the net more distinct and add to its appearance. Make about forty bright-colored tassels of worsted, or bits of flannel cut in very narrow strips, three inches long, allowing ten or twelve strips to each tassel. Commence your tennis net by first threading the needle; take it in the left hand, and use the thumb to hold the end of the cord in place while looping it over the tongue (see Fig. 18); pass the cord down under the needle to the opposite side, and catch it over the tongue. Repeat this until the needle is full.

  Fig 17

  Hammock-needle.

  Fig 18

  Needle Threaded.

  Fig 19

  Fig 20

  Next, take a piece of rope thirty-four feet long, and make a long loop in one end, tying the knot so that it can readily be untied again. Throw the loop over some convenient hook or door-knob (Fig. 19) with the knot at the knob or hook. Tie the cord on the needle to the loop, place the fid or mesh-stick under the cord close to the loop (Fig. 20), with the thumb on the cord to hold it in place (Fig. 25), while you pass the needle around the mesh-stick, and, with its point toward you, pass it through the loop from the top, bringing it over the mesh-stick. This will make the first half of the knot (Fig. 21). Pull this tight, holding it in place with the thumb while you throw the cord over your hand, which forms the loop as seen in Fig. 22. Then pass the needle from under through the loop, pulling it tight to fasten the knot. Hold it in place with the thumb, and repeat these movements for the next knot. Fig. 23 shows a number of these knots finished. A in Fig. 23 is a knot before it is drawn tight; B in Figs. 21, 22, 23 is the string that runs to the needle, C is the rope, and D is the mesh-stick. About two hundred and sixty-four of these knots or meshes will make the net the regular length, thirty-three feet.

  Fig 21

  Fig 22

  Fig 23

  Knots.

  In knitting across, the meshes will accumulate on the fid; shove them off to the left, a few at a time, to make space for others. When the desired number of meshes are finished to form the first row, shove them all off the fid, as shown in Fig. 24.

  Fig 24

  Begin the next row by again placing the fid under the cord (Fig. 24). Take up the first mesh, drawing it close to the mesh-stick, hold it in place with the thumb while throwing the cord over your hand, pass the needle on the left-hand side of the mesh from under through the loop (Fig. 25); pull this tight, and you will have tied the common knitting-knot. Repeat this with all the loops until the row is finished.

  When it becomes necessary to thread or fill the needle, tie the ends of the cord with the knot shown in Fig. 26, which, when properly tightened, cannot slip. Wrap each end of the cord from the knot securely to the main cord with strong thread, to give the net a neat appearance.

  Fig. 25.

  Fig. 26.

  Continue netting until the net is three feet wide. Then untie the rope, and spread the net by sliding the knots apart, and fasten the second rope to the bottom of the ne
t by tying the rope securely to the first mesh with the cord on the needle; then carry the rope and cord to the next mesh, hold the rope, cord, and mesh firmly in place, and throw the cord over your hand, passing the needle down through the mesh under the rope and cord out through the loop (Fig. 27). Pull this tight, and continue in like manner, knitting each successive mesh to the rope until the net is all fastened on. Turn back the end of the rope and wrap it down neatly with strong string (Fig. 28). In the same way secure the other end, and also the ends of the first or top rope.

  This completes the lawn-tennis net proper. The bright tassels can now be tied at intervals along the top of the net, and four pieces of twine fastened on each end of the net at equal distances apart. These are for tying the net to the poles (Fig. 29).

  Fig 27

  Fig 28

  To erect the lawn-tennis net, plant the two poles firmly in the ground a little over thirty-three feet apart, tie the net to the poles, then drive in the pegs, two to each pole, about five feet from the pole (Fig. 30); slide a runner on each end of the two guy-ropes by first threading the rope through one of the holes in the runner, then pass the rope over the side down through the other hole and fasten it with a knot (Fig. 15). Next tie around the notch in the top of the poles the guy-ropes, with runners attached, and slip each loop made by the runner over each peg (Fig. 31), allowing the rope to fall in the groove A near the top of the peg; tighten the rope by pushing up the runners. The stakes are thus held in position by ropes running out to the pegs in the ground (Fig. 30).

  Fig 29

  Now we understand how to make and erect a lawn-tennis net; but what shall we do about the court? Of course, that must be all ready before we can set up the net. We must now learn how to lay out a

  Fig. 30.—The Home-Made Net.

  Lawn-Tennis Court.

  The best ground for this is turf, though it may be of asphalt, or earth mixed with fine gravel; sometimes wood is used.

  The diagram on page 64 (Fig. 32) shows the construction of a lawn-tennis court for two, three, or four-handed games.

  Lay out the court with a hundred-foot measuring-tape, by marking the lines with whitewash, chalk, paint, or plaster-of-Paris.

  First the side line, seventy-eight feet, AB. This gives you one side of your court. Then the base line, thirty-six feet, AC, which, with their parallel lines CD and DB, form the boundaries of a court for four-handed games. Now lay off the side lines of the single court, EG and FH, which are parallel to the others and four and a half feet inside of them. Divide the court across the centre by the net, fastened to the poles O and P. The lines EF and GH are called base lines. Twenty-one feet from the net, mark the service lines, MN and TV. Then make the central longitudinal line, IJ, and the court is complete.

  Fig 31

  Now everything is prepared for the game. Hold your racket firmly, and try to keep the ball flying over the net, back and forth, as often as possible.

  For the guidance of those who have had no opportunity of learning to play lawn-tennis the following rules are given, as adopted by the United States National Lawn-Tennis Association.

  First, however, we would say that it is not necessary always to have an umpire or a referee, as spoken of in the

  Rules for Lawn-Tennis.

  THE GAME.

  1. The choice of sides, and the right to serve in the first game, shall be decided by toss; provided that, if the winner of the toss choose the right to serve, the other player shall have choice of sides, and vice versa. If one player choose the court, the other may elect not to serve.

  2. The players shall stand on opposite sides of the net; the player who first delivers the ball shall be called the server, and the other the striker-out.

  Fig. 32

  LAWN-TENNIS COURT.

  3. At the end of the first game the striker-out shall become server, and the server shall become striker-out; and so on, alternately, in all the subsequent games of the set, or series of sets.

  4. The server shall serve with one foot on the base line, and with the other foot behind that line, but not necessarily upon the ground. He shall deliver the service from the right to the left courts alternately, beginning from the right.

  5. The ball served must drop between the service line, half-court line, and side line of the court, diagonally opposite to that from which it was served.

  6. It is a fault if the server fail to strike the ball, or if the ball served drop in the net, or beyond the service line, or out of court, or in the wrong court; or if the server do not stand as directed by law 4.

  7. A ball falling on a line is regarded as falling in the court bounded by that line.

  8. A fault cannot be taken.

  9. After a fault the server shall serve again from the same court from which he served that fault, unless it was a fault because he served from the wrong court.

  10. A fault cannot be claimed after the next service is delivered.

  11. The server shall not serve till the striker-out is ready. If the latter attempt to return the service he shall be deemed ready.

  12. A service or fault, delivered when the striker-out is not ready counts for nothing.

  13. The service shall not be volleyed, i.e., taken, before it has touched the ground.

  14. A ball is in play on leaving the server’s racket, except as provided for in law 6.

  15. It is a good return, although the ball touch the net; but a service, otherwise good, which touches the net, shall count for nothing.

  16. The server wins a stroke if the striker-out volley the service, or if he fail to return the service or the ball in play; or if he return the service or the ball in play so that it drops outside of his opponent’s court; or if he otherwise lose a stroke, as provided by law 18.

  17. The striker-out wins a stroke if the server serve two consecutive faults; or if he fail to return the ball in play; or if he return the ball in play so that it drops outside of his opponent’s court; or if he otherwise lose a stroke as provided by law 18.

  18. Either player loses a stroke if he return the service or the ball in play so that it touches a post of the net; or if the ball touch him or anything that he wears or carries, except his racket in the act of striking; or if he touch the ball with his racket more than once; or if he touch the net or any of its supports while the ball is in play; or if he volley the ball before it has passed the net.

  19. In case any player is obstructed by any accident, the ball shall be considered a let.

  20. On either player winning his first stroke, the score is called 15 for that player; on either player winning his second stroke, the score is called 30 for that player; on either player winning his third stroke, the score is called 40 for that player; and the fourth stroke won by either player is scored game for that player, except as below: If both players have won three strokes, the score is called deuce; and the next stroke won by either player is scored advantage for that player. If the same player wins the next stroke, he wins the game; if he loses the next stroke the score returns to deuce; and so on, until one player wins the two strokes immediately following the score of deuce, when game is scored for that player.

  21. The player who first wins six games wins the set; except as follows: If both players win five games, the score is called games all; and the next game won by either player is scored advantage game for that player. If the same player wins the next game, he wins the set; if he loses the next game, the score returns to games all; and so on, until either player wins the two games immediately following the score of games all, when he wins the set. But individual clubs, at their own tournaments, may modify this rule at their discretion.

  22. The players shall change sides at the end of every set; but the umpire, on appeal from either player, before the toss for choice, may direct the players to change sides at the end of every game of each set, if, in his opinion, either side have a distinct advantage, owing to the sun, wind, or any other accidental cause; but if the appeal be made after the toss for choice, the ump
ire can only direct the players to change sides at the end of every game of the odd or deciding set.

  23. When a series of sets is played, the player who served in the last game of one set shall be striker-out in the first game of the next.

  24. The referee shall call the game after an interval of five minutes between sets, if either player so order.

  25. The above laws shall apply to the three-handed and four-handed games, except as below:

  26. In the three-handed game, the single player shall serve in every alternate game.

  27. In the four-handed game, the pair who have the right to serve in the first game shall decide which partner shall do so; and the opposing pair shall decide in like manner for the second game. The partner of the player who served in the first game shall serve in the third, and the partner of the player who served in the second game shall serve in the fourth; and the same order shall be maintained in all the subsequent games of the set.

  28. At the beginning of the next set, either partner of the pair which struck out in the last game of the last set may serve, and the same privilege is given to their opponents in the second game of the new set.

  29. The players shall take the service alternately throughout the game; a player cannot receive a service delivered to his partner; and the order of service and striking out once established shall not be altered, nor shall the striker-out change courts to receive the service, till the end of the set.