Lawn tennis in the middle 'nineties was still a predominantly British pastime. In his account of the Northern Tournament in 1895 not a single American or foreign competitor is named, and Punch bewails the absence of the old heroes, the Renshaws and Lawford, and the defection of Miss Lottie Dod, who had already given up lawn tennis for golf. In 1906 the prowess of Miss May Sutton, the American girl who carried off the Ladies' Championship at Wimbledon, is celebrated in eulogistic "Limericks." But it was still a far cry to the Wimbledon of even seven years later, when French and German, as well as American and Australian players, entered the arena. Uncle Sam had been busy collecting championships in the interval, and in August, 1913, Punch represented him, carrying a model yacht, a tennis racket and a polo stick (he might have added a golf club in view of Mr. Travis's triumph at Sandwich in 1904), saying to a rather rueful-looking John Bull in cricketing costume: "Say, John, what's this game, anyway? Cricket? Well, see here; mail me a copy of the rules, with date of next international championship. I'm just crazy on Cups." The Olympic Games furore left Punch cold. The Duke of Westminster's letter on the "national disaster" of 1912 prompts a satirical cartoon in which John Bull, "prostrate with shame," remarks: "My place in the Council of Europe may be higher than ever, but what's the use of that when the Olympic palm for the kneeling high jump is borne by another?" The "Olympic Catechism," published in the following number, is a bitter but not wholly undeserved criticism of the spirit, organization and results of these contests, and the evasion by their promoters of the difficulty of discriminating between professionals and amateurs. To the question, "How is the Olympic spirit acquired?" Punch supplies the following answer:—
A. By taking part in the Olympic games; by subscribing to the Duke of Westminster's fund; by devoting oneself to the discovery of champions; by advertising; by organizing a boom; by promising a public reception to successful athletes; by paying their expenses; by——
Q. I see. Then I suppose Great Britain has no athletics at present?
A. No, none of the right sort.
Q. What is the right sort?
A. The sort that is imbued with the Olympic spirit.
Q. Does everybody like the Olympic spirit?
A. Yes, everybody who is anybody.
Q. But if somebody says he dislikes it?
A. Then he is a crank.
Q. What is a crank?
A. One who has not got the Olympic spirit.
Q. Are the subscriptions coming in?
A. I refuse to answer further questions.
The search for Olympic talent inspired a succession of burlesque pictures; and the fostering of the "Olympic Spirit" is reduced to absurdity by the drawing of the lady presenting a classic wreath to the winner of the sack-race in some village sports.
The introduction of base-ball in 1892 is chronicled pictorially in a grotesque illustration of the attitudes of the players. But the interest now taken in the game, and reflected in the publication of "base-ball results" on the tape and in the sporting columns of the Press, was essentially a post-war product. Cricket reigned paramount in Punch's affections, at any rate in the 'nineties. When Mr. C. I. Thornton was presented with a silver trophy during the Scarborough Week in 1894, as a memento of the great part he had taken in the Scarborough Festival since its institution in 1869, Punch paid lyrical homage to "Buns," the "great slogger of sixes." The Preface to vol. cviii. (1895) is headed by a picture of Punch, "W. G." and the shade of Alfred Mynn. Reference is made in the text to the National Testimonial to Grace which was got up this year, and Punch suggests that "W. G." ought to receive a knighthood. He was not alone in the suggestion, for The Times subsequently referred to "Dr. W. G. Grace, whose name has been everywhere of late—except where it might well have been, in the Birthday Honours List," and Punch improved on the text in June:—
Gentleman and Players
True, Thunderer, true! He stands the test Unmatched, unchallengeable Best At our best game! Requite him! For thirty years to hold first place And still, unpassed, keep up the pace Pleases a stout, sport-loving race. By Jove! "Sir William Gilbert Grace" Sounds splendid. Punch says, "Knight him!"
In the same summer "W. G." is glorified in "The Cricket Three":—
Men of one skill though varying in race,
Maclaren, Ranjitsinhji, Grand Old Grace.