Doubles Championship against the assault of F. L. and A. H. Riseley. The Lady Champion, Miss Cooper, was deprived of her Challenge Cup by Miss E. L. Austin by 2 sets to 1. Play on grass courts began with the Fitzwilliam Tournament at Dublin, where the International Match between England and Ireland was the first event on the programme. In this, England was victorious both in the Singles and the Doubles by 5 matches to 1 and 5 to 4 respectively. In the Championship of Ireland, H. S. Mahony, having defeated his whilom conqueror, W. V. Eaves, was in his turn beaten by W. Baddeley, who thus succeeded to the title, the holder, J. Pim, resigning on account of want of practice, which was shown by his being easily beaten in the International Match by Baddeley. Miss L. Martin carried off the Ladies' Championship and W. and H. Baddeley the Doubles. Among the players at Dublin was an American gentleman, Mr. W. A. Larned, who in his own country has for some time been reckoned among the highest class. He continued to take part

in the principal tournaments up to and including the Championships at Wimbledon, and his style, in which exceptional quickness in volleying was combined with a powerful drive, received general admiration. At Liverpool, where the Northern Championship meeting took place, Larned reached the final round of the principal event, and won two sets before succumbing to H. S. Mahony. The latter in his turn just failed to wrest the Northern Championship from W. Baddeley, the holder, securing one of the four sets played, and making a very close fight in two others. The Ladies' Championship at this meeting was in like manner defended and retained by Miss Mar. tin, the holder, er challenger being Mrs. Hillyard, who had

at Wimbledon, on July 13, and lasted until the 21st. A very large entry was received for the gentlemen's events, and the play was most exciting throughout the rounds. Mahony had very hard matches with R. F. Doherty and F. L. Riseley, and only just escaped defeat in the semi-final from H. A. Nisbet. In the meantime Larned had been narrowly beaten by H. Baddeley, who in his turn was brilliantly and decisively overthrown by W. V. Eaves. The final was a disappointing display on the part of Eaves, but some amends were made in the Championship round, in which the holder, W. Baddeley, succumbed to the endurance and pertinacity of Mahony after "two sets all" had been called. H. S. Mahony thus became All England Champion for the first time. In the Ladies' Championship, the entry was poor both in numbers and quality, and Miss C. Cooper had only to face Mrs. Pickering, not by any means at her best, in order to retain the Challenge Cup. Much more interesting was the struggle for the Doubles Championships, for

which the brothers W. and H. Baddeley were challenged by a pair of very fine volleyers, H. A. Nisbet and R. F. Doherty, who had played together for Surrey in the County Cup Competition. The holders lost two sets in succession, but outstayed their opponents and won each of the next three with increasing ease. A new competition, called the All England Plate, for players defeated in the first two rounds of the open Singles, ended in the victory of A. W. Gore. The remaining All England Championship, that of the Ladies' Doubles, belongs by prescription to the Buxton Tournament, and at this meeting in August it was carried off by Mrs. Hillyard and Miss Steedman. Neither of the Scottish Champions, R. F. Doherty and Miss L. Paterson, was beaten in the Singles at Moffat, but the Doubles Championship passed into the hands of C. G. and E. R. Allen, the former holders, C. H. Martin and S. L. Bathurst, failing to appear in court. Without entering into the details of the other big meetings of the season, attention may be called to the fine hard-driving which enabled S. H. Smith, after losing to W. V. Eaves at Edgbaston, to win the Northumberland Championship at Newcastle, where also Miss Cooper, the All England Champion, found herself no match for Mrs. Hillyard. In September W. Baddeley and Mrs. Hillyard won the South of England Championships at Eastbourne, and won also victories at Brighton.

beaten Miss Cooper, the All England Champion, by 2 sets to 1. In the Northern Doubles Championships G. W. Hillyard and C. H. L. Cazalet, the survivors of ten strong pairs, including the brothers Allen and the Riseleys, challenged W. and H. Baddeley but quite fruitlessly; nor did the All England Mixed Doubles Championship, which is annually contested at this meeting, pass from the keeping of Mahony and Miss Cooper, who defeated C. H. Martin and Miss Martin quite easily. In the tournaments preceding the All England Championships, Mahony continued his victorious career. The London Challenge Cup fell to him at the Queen's Club Meeting, and the West of England Championship at Clifton, where Larned having defeated H. Baddeley was his rival in the last round. Almost precisely parrallel to his experience was that of Miss Cooper, and the similarity was crowned by the success of both these players in the All England Championships. These commenced

With the exception of the Open Tournaments and the International Match to which allusion has already been made, the only lawn tennis contest which can be considered of exceptional public interest is the two days' match between the University teams. This took place at the

THE Amateur Championship was carried out during April and May at the Queen's Club, receiving thirteen entries. Eventually E. H. Miles came through the competition, and thus became entitled to challenge H. E. Crawley, the holder of the second prize. A very hard match ended in favour of the latter by 3 sets to 2. A similar struggle between the winner and Sir E. Grey, the Champion, left the title undisturbed, 3 sets to 2 being again the score. By defeating Miles and Crawley, J. B. Gribble worked his way through the preliminary matches for the M.C.C. Challenge Prizes, now for the first time thrown open to all amateurs instead of being confined to the members of the Club. On challenging Sir Edward Grey for the Silver Prize, he was beaten, July 6, by 3 sets to 1, an easier victory than was expected after the good form displayed by the challenger in his previous matches. The event of the season was provided by the contest between Sir E. Grey and

the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, M.P., for the Gold Prize. This has been held by the latter without interruption since 1887, but it was now taken from him by his challenger (July 18) by 3 sets to 1. The University matches, played at Lord's on July 10 and 11, were productive of but little sport on account of the immense superiority of the Light Blue Champions. In the Singles, P. W. Cobbold, Cambridge, beat R. H. Hotham, Oxford; and in the Doubles Cobbold and E. Talbot beat Hotham and B. A. Bailey, the score in both cases being 3 sets to 0.

Numerous professional exhibition matches were played during the season, but none of great importance, since the Champion, P. Latham, found no rival able to meet him on level terms, and in his games with Fennell he was able to concede the odds of 15 and a bisque. A new private court was opened in April by Mr. C. D. Rose at his residence near Pangbourne.

seen

OF a short, and by no means eventful, season, the principal events were the Amateur Championships, the Oxford and Cambridge matches, and the Public Schools Challenge Cup Competition. Of the ten players who entered for the Championship Singles, which was played during April at the Queen's Club, five withdrew. A good match was between E. H. Miles and V. Pennell, which Miles secured after losing the first two games out of five. He could not, however, make much impression on the holder, H. K. Foster, and indeed did well to capture one, the second, game of the four played. Only three pairs put in an appearance in the Doubles, the final round of which was a very one-sided victory for Foster and P. Ashworth over W. G. Price and M. C. Kemp. This also decided the Championship, as the holders, P. Dames Longworth and F. H. Browning, resigned without playing. The conspicuous ability of Foster went far in determining the University matches in favour of Oxford on April 11 and 13. In the Doubles, partnered by L. J. Johnstone, he

had much difficulty in disposing of P. W. Cobbold and E. Garnett, each pair gaining two games, and Oxford securing the fifth. Though Cobbold could not win a game from Foster in the Singles, two of the three played had to be "set" to 5 and 3 respectively before Oxford's victory was assured. Eleven schools entered for the Public Schools Challenge Cup on April 14, and Rugby were the eventual winners. Having with great difficulty disposed of Charterhouse in the first round, they had a long and exciting match of 1 hr. 20 min. with Malvern (R. E. Foster and R. S. T. Cochrane) in the second, Malvern's score standing at 17-13 in the seventh game before their opponents got the innings which decided the contest. Rugby subsequently beat Clifton, and in the final round met Eton, who had dismissed Marlborough and Cheltenham. Another close and exciting match ensued, three games falling to each pair, and the seventh, by 15-12, giving Rugby (W. E. Wilson-Johnston and G. T. Hawes) the victory. The Etonians were H. C. B. Underdown and E. A. Biedermann.

WITH one of the most exciting struggles ever witnessed on the Thames in the annual University Boat Race, besides an extraordinarily successful Henley Regatta, a remarkable contest for the Wingfield Sculls, and two matches for the Championship of the World, the rowing season of 1896 has provided its full share of sport. During the autumn and winter, as usual, little rowing of importance took place elsewhere than at the Universities. On Nov. 8, at Oxford, a New College crew, consisting of J. J. De Knoop, C. K. Phillips, W. E. Crum, and A. Whitworth, beat Magdalen and four other boats in the University Fours. At Cambridge, Caius College, after being behind

First Trinity, just won, on Nov. 2, through the excellent watermanship and steering of Orme their stroke. The Colquhoun Sculls on Nov. 12 were easily carried off at Cambridge by A. S. Bell (Trinity Hall). A couple of good trial eights from Cambridge rowed at Littleport, near Ely, on Nov. 28; Fernie's crew, which, besides its stroke, afterwards contributed Beeber and Game to the University eight, winning by 23 lengths. The Oxford Trial Eights tried conclusions at Moulsford two days later, the winning boat being stroked by H. G. Gold, and containing two other future Blues, De Knoop and Carr.

The Oxford and Cambridge race of 1896 will

tussles between Trinity Hall and First Trinity, but the former retained the leading place. The third place was yielded by Third Trinity to Lady Margaret, and the fourth was taken by Emmanuel, who started sixth. The Oxford season ended with the decision of the University Challenge Pairs and Sculls. The former were won on June 9 by Crum and Phillips of New College, and, in the final heat for the Scul's, Phillips defeated R. O. Dunlop, of Magdalen, by three lengths.

Henley Regatta next engaged the attention of the rowing world. Fine weather and the exceptional interest caused by a visit from the Yale University crew caused the attendance of visitors to be immense, and the sport provided was of first-rate quality. The Americans, who were looked upon in their own country as oarsmen of well-nigh invincible character among their class, aspired to win the Grand Challenge Cup, and they were considered by the public to have an excellent chance of fulfilling their ambition. To the expert critic, however, their short, quick stroke and their use of American oars, in which a good deal of leverage is sacrificed, did not forbode success against such crews as were sent by Leander and New College, Oxford. As it turned out Leander, stroked by H. G. Gold, the hero of the University race, met Yale in the first heat, and after the first half-mile took the lead and kept it, the Americans falling to pieces in their desperate efforts to overtake their antagonists, and being comfortably beaten by nearly two lengths in 7 min. 14 sec. First Trinity and New College respectively won their heats from Leander and Trinity Hall. On the second day a very hard struggle, which practically decided the whole contest, took place between New College and Leander, the latter winning by half a length in 7 min. 6 sec. First Trinity succumbed to Thames, who in turn fell to Leander in the final heat. Another foreign crew, that of the Société d'Encouragement au Sport Nautique of Paris, had entered for the Thames Challenge Cup and reached the final heat, when it was easily defeated by Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The Ladies' Challenge Plate yielded a brilliant victory to the Eton boys, who had to meet Balliol College in the final. Of the four-oared races the Wyfold Challenge Cup was carried off by Trinity College, Oxford, who, to the general surprise, just beat the Leander R.C. by a third of a length; the Visitors' Cup fell to Caius College, Cambridge, and the Stewards' to Leander, the runners up being respectively Magdalen College and Thames. Some notable racing was seen in the heats of the Diamond Sculls, which were eventually captured by the Hon. R. Guinness, of the Leander R.C. An American sculler, W. S. McDowell, from Chicago, was rowed down in a sensational race for three-quarters of a mile by R. K. Beaumont, of the Burton R.C., though he had previously beaten with ease the Hon. E. A. Guinness. Having defeated Vivian Nickalls the Hon. R. Guinness found a plucky opponent in Beaumont, who held him until quite near the finish, but was two lengths to the bad on reaching the judge. For the Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup the brothers G. and V. Nickalls easily overcame the New College pair, W. E. Crum and C. M. Pitman. After his victory in the Diamond Sculls the Hon. R. Guinness, as challenger for the Wingfield Sculls, carrying with them the title of Amateur Champion, had another opportunity of meeting his old rival, V. Nickalls. In a

magnificent race on Friday, July 17, in which the issue was uncertain until the very finish, the holder was beaten by a length and a third in 24 min. 10 sec.

Of the Thames Regattas, following Henley, the Metropolitan is recognised as the most important. It fell on July 27, but though the weather was delightful it was not extensively patronised. The London Challenge Cup for scullers was carried off by the Hon.. E. A. Guinness, the brother of the Amateur Champion, Beaumont, and two others being easily beaten. A Thames crew, in which the brothers Guinness sat, and which was stroked by G. G. Taylor, and included E. Campbell Muir, W. G. Ross, G. E. Gill, G. Hering and A. Boyle, won the Senicr Cup for eights, and a selection from this eight were equally successful in the fours. Thames also carried everything before them at other Thames regattas, winning the eights and fours at Walton, Kingston, Staines, and Molesey.

An event of the greatest importance in the annals of professional rowing in the shape of a match for the Sculling Championship of the World-came off on July 13 on the Thames. The competitors were J. Stanbury, of New South Wales, and C. R. Harding, of Chelsea. Stanbury, after the death of H. E. Searle, had gained the title by defeating O'Connor, of Toronto, and had held it against McLean, of New South Wales, and Sullivan, of New Zealand. Harding's double success against Sullivan for the Championship of England was the cause of the challenge being sent in his name to Stanbury, whose title had been unquestioned since 1892. But though the Englishman found ample support and his opponent was thought to have seen his best days, the race proved a very hollow affair, the Australian paddling, in six lengths to the good, in the fast time of 21 min. 51 sec. The best on record stands to the credit of G. Bubear (April 23, 1894) at 21 min. 44 sec. A challenge received immediately after the race from J. Gaudaur, of Toronto, led to a second match for the Championship taking place on the Thames on Sept. 7. In this the Australian was easily bereft of his newly won laurels, his opponent, though in his 38th year, showing remarkable pace, and winning by 300 yards.

The Watermen's races for Doggett's Coat and Badge, after the preliminary heats had been rowed on July 20, were confined to five candidates, of whom, on Aug. 6, R. J. Carter, of Greenwich, showed himself to be by far the best oarsman, winning by five lengths from W. W. Thompson, of Putney.

Since the close of the rowing season of 1895 the sport has lost three oarsmen of eminence. On October 22, at Davos Platz, Switzerland, the lamented death took place of Mr. H. B. Cotton, the bow of the winning Oxford crews of 1892-3-4-5- The Rev. Stanlake Lee, rector of Broughton, Stockbridge, Hants, who rowed in 1837 in the match between the head boats of Oxford and Cambridge, and in 1839 was the bow oarsman of the Oxford beat, died on March 20. On April 12 there passed away one of the most celebrated of University rowing men, Mr. J. H. D. Goldie, who stroked the Cambridge crews of 1869-70-71-72, and rendered such inestimable service to Cambridge rowing that a new boathouse, built by subscription some years later, was named after him. His victory of 1870 broke the spell of a long series of nine defeats.