SPORTING NOTES.

The home papers record the death of two well-known cricketers, namely, John Smith of Cambridgeshire, and Joseph Guy of Nottinghamshire. It is the intention of Sir 'Joseph Hawley to sell nearly the whole of his valuable stud of race horses by auction during the present month. The only reserve will be made in the case of Roscrucian, whose reserve price is 5000 guineas. At the Epsom Spring Meeting, the City and Suburban and the Great Metropolitan Stakes were both won by Mr Brayley's Mornington, by Arthur Wellesley, out of Blondelle. For the former race, Cremorne ran a good second with the top weight, 9st 21b. From the accounts received of the Spring Meeting of the St. Andrew's Golf Club we are glad to notice that the Lord JusticeGeneral of Scotland, the Right Hon.. John Inglis, is still able to take an active part in his favourite recreation. The rowing season, from all we (Graphic) hear, is likely to be a very prosperous one. Old clubs have been " rejuvenising " themselves, and new ones coming into existence ; indeed, there is hardly a stretch of water in the kingdom moderately near a town which has not its rowing club. At the Spring meeting of the Eoyal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew, there were forty-eight competitors for the Silver Cross and the Bombay Medal. Mr H. D. Lamb, Mr T. Hodge, and Mr R. Claris having tied with 99 strokes each, another round had to be played, when Mr Lamb came in the winner of the Cross with 95 strokes ; Mr Hodge came in second with 9S strokes, and was consequently declared the winner of the Medal. Bell's Life, remarking upon the close of the billiard season, says :—": — " At present we do not hear of anything that is likely to cause a stir amongst billiard players. No one seems inclined to tackle the champion, and handicaps that were talked about have evidently become a ' dead letter.' So it seems that the season, which cannot be said in any way to have been a prosperous one, will end without any event worthy of notice to mark its close." "We take the following from Land and Water :—": — " A man at Bath, Mr P., the other ' day backed himself to be rolled like a barrel eighty feet while his opponent ran threequarters of a mile. The roller won in 3| rain. , and took his £5, but we doubt whether the money will cover the inconvenience that he has suffered within himself since. We know a rolling stone gathers no moss. Mr P. pro- 1 bably gathered a considerable amount of' mud." Land and Water learns that a cock-fighting tournament on a large scale was instituted lately at Greenock, which, unfortunately for the originators, was interfered with by the police shortly after the proceedings had commenced. No less than 120 cocks, duly { spurred, were ready for the encounter when the police interfered. One cock was left dead on the field, and the rest, we under- j stand, were forfeited to the police, who are to institute proceedings against several persons for taking part in this illegal sport. The annual objections to the small grants made for Queen's plates in Ireland and Scotland were raised in the House of Commons on the discussion of the Civil Service Esti- 1 mates on Friday, the 2nd May. Mr Bowring moved the omission of the £217 granted to Scotland, on the ground that the people of Scotland themselves were not in favour of the grant. Mr Alderman Lusk, Sir R. Anstruther, Mr R. N. Fowler, and Mr Pease also opposed the vote, on the general ground I that the grant had no effect in improving the i breed of horses. Mr M'Fie objected to Scotland being singled out, and said there was great complaint agaiast the reductions already made. Mr Hamilton and Sir P. O'Brien supported the vote,

and on a division it was carried by 63 against 52. The £1560 granted to Ireland was opposed by Mr Trevelyan (who moved its rejection), Mr Whalley (who thought the money had better be given to agricultural shows), Sir D. Wedderburn, Mr Muntz, and Alderman Lusk. On the other hand, Sir H. Storks pointed out that every regiment of cavalry in the service, except one, was mounted from Ireland, and he attributed much of the excellence of the horses to the stamina of the Irish blood stock. Sir P. O'Brien snpported the vote. The Marquis of Hartington endorsed the views of Sir H. Storks, and said he would be sorry to see national recognition withdrawn from the sport of horse racing. On a division the vote was confirmed by 65 against 43.

On Saturday, 12th April, a match for the Champion Challenge Cup and £25 a side was brought off at the Daltnarnock Quoiting Ground, Glasgow, between J. Adams (holder) and W. M'Gregor of Glasgow, at 2L yards, 6L up. At the close of an hour the game stood — M'Gregor 21 to Adams 8, for 20 ends. Shortly after M'Gregor had scored 28 to Adams 10, when 5 to 1 was offered against the latter. Mac followed up and brought Vs score to 34 to Adams 17, at which point Adams remained until his opponent had scored 40. When Mac was credited with 51, Adams had reached 29, and when the game stood at 5S to 32, M'Gregor made two singles and two pairs, scoring game to Adams's 38.

On April 23rd the Ashford road was the scene of a walking match of a highly interesting character. The conditions were that the walker was to fairly cover five miles within an hour, carrying a 71b. brick in each hand, the bricks in no case to touch the body, but to be held throughout, and in the event of the walker being obliged at any time to put them down such time to go against him. The gentleman who undertook this task was Major the Hon. J. Colborne, and Mr "Brownlow North backed the "scythebearer "to the tune of £50. In this he was justified by public form, the major having attempted the same feat about a, week previously, and suffered defeat by three minutes. A week's training;, however, made all the difference, and on the day named, although still unfit, he looked as "hard as nails." Two o'clock was the time fixed for the start, and all being in readiness, Mr Kennedy, the umpire, despatched the major on his journey, starting about a mile from Ashford, walking three miles out and two back. Directly the signal was given, the walker set off at a rapid pace, and it was soon evident that the layers of odds would have a bad time of it, unless a break-down occurred. Of this, however, there was no chance, as, keeping at a good steady pace throughout, the major won very easily by four minutes. The first mile occupied lOmin. 3sec, and three miles were done at the rate of 11 minutes per mile. A considerable amount changed hands over the affair, the betting ruling chiefly at 12 to 10 on time.

The Echo states that on the night of April 21st " the old Baptist Chapel, now Graf ton Hall, Grafton street, Soho, was the scene of a disgraceful fight for the Marquis of Queensberry's boxing prize for light- weighted professionals, and a stake of £100. Although the admission was £1 per head, several hundred persons assembled to witness the competition, which was between Napper, the champion of the light weights in pugilistic circles, and a sturdy young fellow named Davis. The men stripped to the waist, and were attended by seconds, as in a prize fight. Napper wasf the favourite, a good deal of money being laid out at 2tol on him. The early part of the performance consisted of light play, but after an hour and upwards had been spent without any apparent advantage being gained by either, the men repeatedly got to close quarters, when they fought with terrific vigilance, Davis, the stronger man, throwing his opponent on the hard boards at the conclusion of the rounds. Napper, much distressed, but with neverfailing pluck, came up again and again until his partisans, seeing their money was in jeopardy, rushed into the ring. The scene that followed bafSes description, the men being continually intercepted by the interlopers, but failing nature at last gave way, and Napper was unable to come up to time, upon which the referee gave the battle in favour of Davis, amid the greatest possible confusion and uproar. There was great excitemant in the neighbourhood of the fight, many of the partisans of the combatants who could not afford the high figure of admission remaining outside the building. The affair was one of the most disgraceful exhibitions perhaps ever witnesssed." Referring to the foregoing, the following letter appears in the Daily Telegraph :—"Sir—lt.: — "Sir— lt. appears to me that 1 am to be made the scapegoat of the so-called prize fight in London. Allow me to make the following state ment : I have given no cup or prize whatever, with the exception of the Challenge Cups to the Amateur Athletic Club. I was neither present at, nor did I know anything at all about, the sparring .match on Tuesday j night at the Graf ton Hall. Had I known of it, it is quite probable that I should have been present, as, thank God, I have no objection to see a good fight with gloves, or without them, for the matter of that. I have nothing to say for the blackguardism which appears to have predominated on Tuesday nighfc. Unfortunately, this has always been one of the evils that has attended the encouragement of the still ' noble art of self-defenpe.' It appears to me to be doomed by public opinion ; let it be so. Yet England may regret some cUy that her sons should substitute for the use of their fists the first deadly weapon that comes to their hands. —l am, sir,' &c,, Queexsjberky. ' Turf Club, AprU 23."

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