THE SPORTING WORLD

September 5. ATHLETICS. An important matter concerning the appeals for £100,000 for Olympic Games purposes has arisen. That" well-known Australian sportsman, Mr Hugh MTntosh, has undertaken to collect £5,000 m Australia providing the scope is widened to include Australasia, In other words, he advocates an Empire team. Readers of these notes well know how the writer has preached this doctrine. Prior to the 1908 games he drew attention to the mistake which had been made m dividing the Empire into sections. Subsequently he approached _\lr Merrick, of the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union, on the subject This was during the Festival of Empire Games m London (1911).. Mr Merrick brought the idea, to the tnotice of Mr R. Coombes, of Australia, who m due course made a formal suggestion to the English authorities. We have heard vainous rumors from time to time since, but little progress seems to have been made. There aro difficulties m the way, of course, but every real patriot who is anxious to see the Empire more closely united, with every part of it represented m. an Imperial Parliament, must deplore the division for Olympic Games purposes. Contests between the Mother Country and the oversear, part of the Empire are splendid, but when it comes to an international contest, m which foreigners compete, we should be united, as m war time. The German Empire consists of several kingdoms, but there is only one German Olympic team. Nor do we 'see the United States divided into teams from iihe East and West. Tlje difficulty with, some people is to make them recognise that Australians and Canadians are fellow-citizsene of the Empire and not foi'eigners. If only they could recognise that going from England to Canada or New Zealand is no different from moving from one country to another we might make headway m the matter of an Empire team. We ought to have it, and with it a British Empire Olympiad every four years. This would be held one month before the International Olympic Games, and would serve as a guide to the selectors of the team. ~ Patriotism, enthusiasm, and enterprise is what we want, and all are more important than any £100,000 fund. —J. E. Sullivan's Little Joke.— One cannot wonder jit Mr J. E. Sullivan, the secretary and treasurer of th** Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, seizing on the controversy anent the Olympic fund to give us a Roland for an Oliver. Prejudiced critics made wicked attacks on the American athletes after the last games > and it is only human if Mr Sullivan hits back. We have people m England saying that the raising of £100,000 for Olympic Games purposes is \ nothing but professionalism. Mr Sullivan ' is credited with saying : "If the funds are to he spent m taking men from their employment, and making it Avorth their while to train, it is flagrant professionalism. America will not tolerate this, and will promptly withdraw from the games." ■ One can easily picture the inward smile of America's greatest figure m the athletic world when he expressed himself thus. Of course he knows that the heads of athletic affairs m England will see that the amateur spirit is observed. What is proposed is to provide coaches for our athletes, swimmers, cyclists, etc., just as we now have coaches for our amateur cricketers, footballers, oarsmen, golfers, racquet and tennis players, boxers, billiard players. budding musicians, painters, amd so on. The providing of coaching facilities for our rren is putting them on more equal terms with their American rivals. All the important clubs and colleges, and many of the schools, have athletic coaches across the Atlantic, as a matter of course; the only difference is that the expense is not met by the Olympic authorities, as is proposed here. — England Wins m Germany. — A few lines must be spared to the performances of a little party %i English athletes at the International Games held at Berlin last Sunday. J. , J. Barker, D'Arcy, and W. A. Applegarth finished as written m the 100 Metres, with the watch showing 10 9-10 sec for the 109 yards. Applegarth probably got away badly, for he beat D'Arcy m the 200 Me. res, with a German third. His time of 21 9-10 sec is not sensational for 218 yards, but it .beat Rau's German record. G. Nicol (of London) was also to the fore, his win m the 400 Metres being gained m 49_fi'ec. CYCLING. Embodied m the National Cyclists' Union scheme for the Olympic Games is the proposal to appoint an Honorary Advisory Committee, which will supervise the work of th-s professional trainers. This is indeed pleasing, for as the founder of the Athletes' Advisory Club the writer is naturally keen about amateur coaches. The professional coach and trainer is invaluable, but old amateurs of experience can alsohelp the cause by passing on the lessons learned m many hard struggles on field and path.

Writing about cycling, the news that W. J. Bailey, the world's short-distance champion, has decided to make America his home is a bit startling. Possibly he may alter his mind after a brief sojourn m the United States. We can ill afford to lose such a crack as Bailey, m spite of the promising youngsters now coming to the fore. Of these, Tom Bancroft appears the best, the manner m which he beat V. Johnson at Leigh on Sat arday being an eyeopener. This was m the level "half-mile race, though the fact that Johnson was badly placed en entering the straight should not bo overlooked. • FOOTBALL. The English football season opened on ! September 1, the feature being the ' nonl success of home clubs. Blackburn Rovers managed to prevail when entertaining Newcastle, but m six other matches visitors either won or drew. The best performance was accomplished by Tottenham Hotspur, the London team beating Sheffield United by 4 goals to 1. Considerable interest centred m the match between Sunderland and Preston North End, the champions of the first and second divisions last season. The North Enders were satisfied to play the same team which gained promotion, and m drawing (2-2) with their visitors may be said to have done very well. Aniother notable performance on the opening day was the victory of Swindon over Queen's Park Rangers m a Southern League match at Swindon. The clubs are great rivals, and to prevail by 3 goals to 0 is a fine start for the Wiltshire team. CRICKET. As P. F. Fane found ho could not take parkin the M.C.C. tour m South Africa, the captaincy will be filled by J. W. H. T. Douglas. He ably fulfilled his duties m Australia when P. F. Warner was taken ill, so that he ought to prove a success m South Africa. His inclusion still further strengthens the team, and the visitors will be hard to beat. Douglas can make centuries and take wickets, and he is right m the front rank among the amateur allrounders.

AN EXCITING FINISH. The spectators at Lords were treated to an exciting finish m the Middlesex v. Kent match. With seven wickets m hand, Kent held a lead of 178 runs, but Hearne (J. W.) and Weston bowled so well that the • last four wickets only added 22 runs. Mid- - dlesex made a good start, thanks to W. P. - Robertson (4-7) and Hearne (97), and tho , necessary 230 runs appeared likely to b° ■ made. The Kent bowlers rose to the ccca-. > sion, however, and, Humphreys taking ; three wickets for 28 towards the end, Mid- : dlesex just failed by 5 runs. ; The wicket has favored the bowlers of I late, and some capital 'performances hay© i been accomplished. During the second m.- . ningsof Gloucestershire against Hants, Ken- ■ nedy took six wickets for 52, and Newman : four for 20. Jt was good bowling which enabled Sussex to triumph over' Surrey at , Hastings, Cox taking six wickets for 54 runs and four for 22, whilst Relf got four for 22. ■ HOLIDAY CRICKET. Mr Lionel Robinson, of Old Buckenham , Hall, gets up a cricket festival at this season of the year, and it is usual for some famous cricketers to make a reappearance. A. C. Maclaren (141) and B. J. Bosanquet (108) were to the fore, m tha first match, and the latter was top scorer with 79 m the second. Bosanquet brought " googlie " bowling to the fore, and one of his disciples (m D. W. Carr, of Kent) did well m the match under notice by talcing five wickets for 41 runs. Barnes was also successful m getting seven wickets for 88. THE TURF. Russia, is to be the future home of Aboyeur, who was raised to the dignity of a Derby winner through the disqualification of Craganour. Thus the first and second m that memorable race are now lost to England. Russia has taken three Derby winners— viz., Galtee More, Minoru, and Aboyeur. A big surprise- was furnished by the defeat of Louvois m the Breeders' St. Leger of l,lß2sovs, at Derby. Danny Maher rode a beautiful raoe on Itoseworthy; Mr Basset's colt beating Louvois by half a length. They ' met on equal . terms, ' but possibly Louvois may be better suited by the extra three furlongs m the St. Leger. Still, as Roseworthy. is by William the Third, stamina, ought to be his forte. —The Weights.— In spite of Catmint's great performance m the Goodwood Cup, top weight m the Cesarewitch has been awarded to Jackdaw and Houli, whilst another French entrant receives a pound. Then comes Catmint with 9st, or 21b less than the top, Junior sharing the mark. Another notable entrant m Lady Eileen gets Bst slb, whilst the unreliable Uncle Pat receives 7st 7Jb. Long Set, 9st 71b, naturally tops the Cambridgeshire, Junior being m receipt of 91b, with Catmint on the Bst 81b mark. Limon, Bst 31b, looks nicely m, and Dunmore, 7st 111 b, is another candidate who .' should command attention. IN GENERAL. H. H. Gayler, of the Polytechnic CC, recently rode 220| miles m an unpaced road race of 12 hours. Tom Burrows made a plucky attempt to swing a pair pf clubs for 100 consecutive hours, but went fast asleep between the 97th and 98th hours. The Football Association do not see their way to accept the invitations to send touring teams to Australia, and South Africa m 1914 F. P. Giles, who is a City of London policeman, just beat W. H. Melhuish (holder) m the Southern One-mile Swimming Championship, his time being 26min 26_sec. Remarkable limes were accomplished by ' A. J. Hancock on a 25 h.p. Vauxhall car at the Brooklands track early m the week. He passed the 500 miles mark m 3h 15m m 24sec, and 500 miles occupied 5h 24min lOsec, and 700 miles m 7h 58min 42sec, tho average throughout being 87.76 miles perhour.