The other thought to which one is prompted is sallsfoction at the revival of Verdi, not only the Verdi of the latest blossoming, but all Verdi." Wagner taught us that it might seem perfectly natural. for actors and actresses to sing instead of speaking. their paris in a com~ [Paratively modern comedy like "Meistersinger," a story of ordinary human beings' devoid of magical association, And from Wagner we have come back to the man against whose methods he revolted, to realize that the old-fashioned opera could be as dramatic as music drama, Though for most of his life Verdi, stuck to the old conventions, no one can stir our feelings more deeply by the intensity and appropriateness of hhis rich melody, And it is melody that does this, not declamation to an orchestral tapestry of leit-moti/s, nor ordinary speech, but musie, making us, again, forget the intrinsi¢ absurd-on which all opera rests, In the decorous "Morning Post' to-day I saw the startling headline "Miss Stammers' Whizbangs May Be Too Much for Senorita Lizana." In, fact they were, though Senorita Lizana made her opponent go all the way to retain the British hard court shamplonship at Bournemouth 1-5, Women Tennis Players Nevertheless the little Chilean is playing extraordinarily good tennis, 'The crowd loves her because of the funny little gurgling eries she utters, and for her way of throwing up her racket and catching it when she misses an easy shot. But that happens very seldom. Senorita Lizana tun of deadly purpose and a' wide variety of telling shots, Her use of the drop-shot is particularly effective. "The only chance for an oppon cent is to attack harder than she does, This was Mrs. King's mistake in the Semi-finals yesterday. Having won the second set by forceful tactics and the comfortable margin of O-1, Mrs, King for some unknown reason suddenly decided to go on the defensive, which sulted Senorita Lizana down to the ground and a victory by G-1, Miss Stammers, of course, hits like a kicking mule and beneath her alm exterior maintains the ferocity fof a mountain eat. Also her back-liliand strokes, once weak, are now full of power. Yet not a few thought that the Chilean would win, There is time for her yet as she is, I think, barely 21 and this is but her second season in world tennis, Miss Dorothy Round is going through a bad" period and suffers from neives as she never used to do, As T wrote last week she really had to pull herself together in the second set with the little Chinese girl Gem Hoahing. In her match with Mrs, King she bogan with all her usual calm assurance; then came one or two unlucky strokes and she plainly got rattled and was beaten.
Miss Round and Miss Stammers have been designing tennis costumes which are to be smart as well as allowing full freedom of movement. Miss Round favours the shorts-dress, which is generally the most popular. One pattern is of slub-linen with a neat turn-down collar and buttons down the skirt, which is pleated at front and back' and belted. Another hag a Peter Pan collar and is made either in wool taffeta or linen, Miss Stammers has chosen pale blue pleated shorts in herringbone flannel and with this a fine woollen shirt in ivory with a pale blue collar and ribbed edging of blue on the short sleeves, She also wears pale blue socks.
Everyone of course plays with togs bare. It is only four years since the first bare legs at Wimbledon—was it Miss Helen Jacobs who launch ed this ating innovation?—ralsed grave doubts as to whether the owner of them could be allowed on the Centre Court, Many people not absolutely an-fique can remember old ladies being shocked when man only took off their coats to play lawn tennis garden parties, A Great Poet For many years to come books are likely to be written on the genius and mystery of A. E, Housman the combined post and Cambridge don, who died this week. No poet, per hhaps, except Gray (also a Cambridge don) has built up so great and well-deserved a reputation on such a slender basis—iwo little books "Shropshire Lad" published over 40 years ago, and, in 1922, "Last Poems, in the preface to wh he announced that he would write no) more poetry.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.