EVERY MODERN IMPROVEMENT.

On the old ground the sound of the passing trains was, to those players on the railway side, a perennial irritation. Here, in this almost countryside enclosure, there will be no disturbing sound. When the old centre court was reconstructed it was thought that ample “surround” had been provided. So it proved for ordinary lob-chasing purposes, but not for the latest modern requirements, which ordain that the player, running wide for a cross drive or volley, shall not find himself almost touching the encircling gallery. Nor does his ear want to catch, in the throes of making a desperate return, some excited comment from an onlooker. In the new centre court an additional 60ft, 30ft at each side, will be provided. The background here at the ends will be almost as high as a house. No longer will the competitor at Wimbledon feel that he is struggling; in an oven, hermetically sealed. He will play, as he plays in America, on an open court. The crowds will be there, more numerous than ever before, but they will not envelop and distract him. He will be able to breathe. There is little doubt that this factor will improve the standard of play. The new centre court, augmenting alike the confidence and the vision of the player, will essentially benefit speeding-up development.

I gathered several other points of interest about the new ground. The ticket public will have their own entrance, independent of the turnstiles. The King, still patron of the Allengland Club, as he has been a former president, will be able to drive almost to the door of the Royal box. There will be spacious tea lawns on the shady side of the stand, and a permanent tea hall, capable of seating 1,000 people, should the weather be unpropitious. The ventilation of the amphitheatre will be carried out on scientific lines. The dressing rooms will be so near the centre court that competitors can enter it without passing through the crowd. Ample arrangements for parking motor-cars will be made. Those who come by train will walk or drive either from Wimbledon or Southfields.