ATHLETIC.

NOTES. (By SPRINTER.) Matt Roseingrave is likely to be. once ' more %n important factor in Australasian athletics. The genial Irishman will be a competitor at the New Zealand championship meeting to be held in Christchurch On March 17 and 18, and unless some of our field experts ' show much improved form he will most certainly get away with a goldimedal / or two. Roseingrave has been training .steadily for a month now, the first few weeks at Timaru, under the supervision of Constable J: T. Irwin, and more recently at Lancaster Park. He is in I magnificent health, scaling list odd stripped, and looks fit to run and jump for a kingddm. True, a shockingly ugly scar at the back of his instep, the remnants of an operation, during which his sinews were cut, looks bad on an athlete, but there's not much wrong - with a man who can clear 42ft in a practice hop, step and jump. As Matt says, " I'll let them see what I can do with one sound leg." Williams, the Canterbury runner, was greatly disappointed at being unable to accompany Hartland to the, Dunedin meeting on Saturday. An hour before the express left, business matters interfered with his intended trip. Young Hobson, the cash runner, is putting in excellent work at Lancaster Park just now# He seems to be sprinting as well as ever. A picmc this week is his only engagement before St Patrick's Day. Lancaster Park is looking its best just now, and,- with excellent weather during the past week, there has bein

a noticeable increase in the number of athletes training. The majority ate doing steady work at present for the big meeting in March. Jones, the young Canterbury distance runner, is trailing steadily for the championship meeting. He trains consistently ahd enthusiastically, ani will probably secure championship honours as a result; not this year", of course. Mr 11. J. Meechan has taken up his residence in Napier, with tlie intention of establishing physical culture classes in the northern town. . Burkes performances at Dunedin, on Saturday, are evidence that the southern distance champion is in fine form. A half mile in about 2miri 3sec and a mile in 4min' 35 2-osec, the same afternoon, constitutes a first-class achievement. The time for the mile would beat any other New Zealand runner, with the exception of Simpson. I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of tho Wellington programme for the Shmbb-Duffey meeting, to be held there on' March 25. If the committeo shows anything like the .ability and. energy shown in working up tho last championship meeting, it should score an even more brilliant success than last year. At tho reception in Melbourne on Thursday of- Shrubb imd Duffey, Mr David Mills welcomed them on behalf of the New Zealand Association, while the colony was represented at the subsequent conference by Mr Parkinson, a .ni ember of the Victoria n Athletic Council.' '■'-""'' '■'" ' " ' "i '"' """' '" ";" ' A new aspirant for wrestling - honours is in the field (says an Auckland writer) ih the person of Tiaki Manaia, a young native, and, I believe, a nephew Jof King Mahuta. In theccurse of a challenge published in the advertising columns of the Auckland daily papers during the week, Tiaki describes himself as the recognised Maori champion strong man., of the Waikato, and gives some of his measurements, showing clearly that he is a fine speciman of manhood, and offers to make a match with any man in Auckland (Skinner preferred), either in Cumberland or eatch-as-catch-can style. Skinner is quite prepared to get into holds just for the sake of testing the burly Maori, who seems so anxious to try his •skill 'with the pakeha, and a match in catch-as-catch-can style will probably ,be arranged. Writing to the Sydney, " Referee, Harry Pearce, the wrestler, pays a very high compliment to the hospitality at the New "Zealanders, and has a specially good word foi* Mr " Dick " Powley.. Clarence Weber, strong man and professor of physical culture in Melbourne, haa been making an excellent showing in contests with Hackenschmidt, and has greatly impressed the Russian athlete Weber lasted for fifteen minutes at Lancashire style against the Russian. ,' , , ' . At a recent meeting on the Melbourno Exhibition grounds, G. A. Wheatley, who is expected to compete at the Duffey-Shrubb meetings, was credited with running a half-mile heat in lmin 59 2-ssec, and the final in lmin 58sec. It was understood that- the course was a trifle short, but, even taking this into account, the fact remains that the Victorian must be in fine form. . „ Writing on February 4; Harrier, in the "Australasian." says:— G. A. Moir, the ex-Austr*_laslan champion, finds himself unable to train to meet the Yankee flyer, Duffey, and the only Victorians any way class enough to contest on about equal terms are therefore H. H. Turner H. E. Jones, and, possibly, F. C. Mueller. Unfortunately, the former has a " leg," and is at present under Mr Pascal for electric and hot-air treatment, but it is hoped he may be got fit in time for the big meetings. ' .^ President Roosevelt is .much interested in the Japanese style of Wrestling, cordially approves the attention of Mr Morton, Secretary of the • United States Navy, to have jiu-jitsu taught in the naval academy. The annual wrestling tournament at Paris under Graeco-Roman rules was concluded %on 19, and resulted in a win for the Frenchman Paul Pons( who was also victor in 1902 and 1903. 'Madrali the Turk and Siegfried, of Germany, were amongst the contestantS * fir ■&"■-. m • When Jap meets Jap. Yuko Tarn, after issuing open challenges, in London theatres and music-balls for a couple of years and defeating all comers by his marvellous skill in the Japanese styleof wrestling, has at last met his match. One night recently, when the usual challenge was made, another Jap mount^l the stage. It turned out that he was a champion in his own country at ju-jitsu, and, being two stone heavier than Tfani,- the later could do nothing with him. and after ten minute-? wrestling, gave up the attempt. In ac-tat with the representative of an English paper, Alfred Shrubb says it cripples him to run to a schedule. He says he never *felt more miserable j than on the occasion of his last futile attempt, at Stamford Bridge, to break the ten-mile record, where he was made to run his first mile in 4min 52 2-ssec, twojmiles in lOmiii 4, l-ssec and three miles in 15min 8 4-ssec. He sim- . ply went fy*om bad to worse; and when; after making him go slowly, his friends i began scouting to him; " Now, you're too slow* Shrubb*" he said Iv*. " couldn't

help it." He had dropped into sluggishness, from which there was no escape. At Glasgow he was full of running from the start, happy in mind, free from worries of figures, schedules, times— everything. His one idea was to 'get' there." And he ."got, Shrubb's mechod of running is eiftu-ely his own. Peoole who want to see mm at his best must let him go along in Ms own sweet way. \ A Michigan telegram in the San Francisco '" Examiner " has the following with reference, to Rose, the shotputter who accomplished a number of noteworthy performances last season at this branch of sport :— Measured on. December 30, Ralph Rose was pronounced the most perfect physique ever seen at the University of Michigan. The measurements were made according to the anthropometric chart in use at all American colleges. It covers both size- of muscles and symmetry. Before Rose there was never, even among Michigan's greatest athletes, one who did not in some particular fall short of either the size or the symmetry required to draw 1 an -.incurving line on the chart at the 100. mark, which is the highest notch on the system. The big shot-putter was not perfect when he came from Healdsburg^ California, ancl entered Michigan a year ago. Ho is now nineteen years old, and his measurements are as follow:—Height, 6ft 3in* weight, 2461 b; shoulders, 18.8 in ;. chest, \ transverse, 13.4 i n; chest and posteria, " 10.4 i n; girth neck 15.9 in; chest, muscular, _6.6 in; chest, natural, 44.5 in; chest, expanded, 47.6 in ; waist, 39in ; hips, 45.1 i n; right arm, down, 14in«; right arm, up, 15in ; right forearm, 12.6 in * left arm, .down, 13.6 in* left arm, up, 14.5 in* left forearm, 12.1ih; right thigh, 29.9 in; right calf, 16.8 in* left thigh, 25.6 in; left calf, 17in* lung capacity, 375. . '