UNKNOWN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 282, 29 November 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

UNKNOWN.

Tin: Amateur Athletic Club has always boon wonderfully fortunate In the choice of a day on which to hold its carnival. Since its resuscitation tho day first chosen has been web bub once, and then a postponement bo tho following Saturday gave even better results than would havo boon ob. tainccl on tho original day. It is to be hoped this good lack will continue ; for tho Clnb has alway3 done ifcs best to deserve it by giving good sport to tho public and good prizes feo the winners of its races. The crowd oa Saturday last did not scorn quite so largo as usual, but. I faticy ie was only in •'seeming" chat ifc w<l3 smaller. The people were more scattered, and kepfi moving round tho civoiu move freely. Tho ladiea wore present in. large numbers and too!; a lively interest in the nporfcs ; for v.o.c not; :r,u:y of the runners doing for that bracelet to clasp on a fair one's arm ? The takings at too gates were about £174, or £20 more than at last meeting in .March. A good deal ot the extra money wag gained through the exertions of the Secretary, who had struck on a. new plan of chefiidnjr tho entrance to the grounds. f-Jfcil!, scene sli.irp practice was indulged in, iuvl a more oilicient plan will be introduced noxfc meeting—that is, at tho championship inmfcing. Vory few members of tho Club are aware of tho ar.ioun;-. of work dona by the Secretary unci tho Treasurer of tho Club in order to in.ilco tho meetings a success. Tho foniior especially docs a. wonderful lot. I have ha:.! more intimate knowledge of the tsoik during this last mooting than during any other, and my respect for tho work dono has nob been decreased by that inbiinrtto knowledge. Tho stand was not so largely patronised on Saturday as might have been expected. The reason was, 1 fancy, that the majority of people did not know that ifc was opon to the public. A notice to the effect that admisaion could ho gained on tho payment Oi ona " robort'"' would draw a bigger crowd. Some members of the Club grumble, and not without reason, that they had to pay extra to take a lady on the stand. Wo do not want all running or cycling men in tho Club—in fact, the more honorary mombors we can got the better. But there ia no inducement for such to join if they get no further privilege for their money than the light of admission to fcllO ground. In racing and oilier cluba tho member's tickot lias considerable value; theAthlobicClub should bring its ticket to near the same value. I .havo beforo now advocated a similar course in regard to the Rugby Union's honorary members , tickets. The only trouble is that tho pavilion stand is not in the hands of tho Club, but in those of the Domain Ground Committee. At present: the Club is in no position to give its members privileges in regard to that stand, and anyone inclined to grumble will please remember tho fact. Tho stand itself is nob the beat in the world in regard to appearance. 1 ?. Moreover, jfc will require an awning to make it a oomfortablo spot in hot weather. However, t>, general sigh of pleasure went up when people .saw on Saturday the great improvement that was being mado in the place. A suggestion has been made which I consider a very good one, and it is that in view especially of the championship meeting the members of the Club should all woar a distinguishing hat. It would give the public and strangers an idea of the strength of the Club ; and would servo to mark put our own men from all outsiders. If the suggestion bo adopted J should advise that white bslltoppers bo not adopted. They wouldn't suit oar complexions" A good, many people reckon that there is too much racing in our B porta. I havo the same opinion myself, and lilie them, I should liko fco see more jumping of one kind and another, weight - putting, hammer(Jiro'.ving, wrestling, etc., in facb s more like the Caledonian games. But the trouble is that the members won't compete in each events. Look at tho long jump on Saturday. Only Upfill went for ifc, though good handicaps were allowed. it is in country districts that all-round athletic sports eeom to flourish best. Ab the came time it is to be hoped that the Committee of the Club will continue to encourage members to try for other than running events.

There i 3 one thing very clear from the results of the sports, and thab is that both in running and bicycling the amounb of starts Will have to be reduced. In the bicycling events ©specially, the starta were for several of the men much too big. The handicapping for the bicycle races has always given dissatisfaction and seome to be very difficult. The men improve so quickly that it ie hard to gauge their merits for one meeting from previous ones. There has been some talk of classifying them ; bub the number_of riders is small, and I'm afraid classification would give the handicapper aa much difficulty as_ he has now. In tho running events it is cloar that the men are nearly all well trained for thair races.: and such being the case, they cannot bo allowed anything at the rate of ten yards in a hundred. There are quite enough runners to juetify the handicappers in raying, "If you can't geb near a win with Bych or so in the hundred you should nob bo running." There baa been some grumbling among competitors at the late Sports in regard to jostling and striking being indulged in by ono or two men. The names of some offenders havo been given me. It will be well for any who are tempted to try such tactics to remember that expulsion from the Club is a pretty severe penalty. The races musb bo run fair and square. I cshfess I Raw nothing that looked like deliberate jostling. Of course, when a crowd of men run in a race and come to close quarters, accidental knocks must happen. The times for the races were, on the whole, much better than usual. Of course tho scratch men did nob win ; but ab previous meetings limit men have won in much slower time. Three watches were out on each race, too. The fast times are partly to be accounted for by tho fact that tho track was in splendid order, and partly by the fact that most of the men were im condition. By February there should be a track in splendid condition for running.' Tho bicycling times, too, were excellent on Saturday.

Tho runners who intended to compete in the first heat of the Maiden Race got a lesson of great value when they had the

pleasure of seeing Collins, the only man on his mark to time, sent off for ef-.trot by himself. I don't think ifc made much difference in the final, bub it had a salutary effect on others. The time for the Maiden was a bib poor, and I didn't expect after it was run to see any of the men live in'the 120 yds or Bracelet. Burgess ran very pluckily, and wheti welltrained should bo able to go with good men. Hales is a strong runner, but lie does not geb going quickly, and he docs nob appear to run himself right out. Owen was decidedly out of condition.. He-had hia head down in the 120, bub it was no use. In the Hardies, too, he showed want of form. On the ffoing ho should have won easily, and he looked likely at the back of tho coarse. Mowbray was "eat upon " as ho feared. He runs nicely. Whiteside wenfc nicely in his heat, bub the final killed him. Atkinson cracked up a bib in the half. He couldn't keep the pace going, lie was running nicely too. Langsford ran fairly, but his cut heel must have done him considerable harm. Rhodes, A. A. Martin, and Ballot were nob in the hunt.

Lundon didn't do badly, and well trained ha should be dangerous. Laird ran splendidly. Beaton though he wa?, his 120 and 250 ware worth looking at. The times, 11 i5-sth and 25 l-sth, were a bit too good for him. Oα a straight track he would havo goaa even closer than he did fco the Bracelet.

Madig&a ran strongly, bub I thought) he waa nob so good as made out. It is a nice little game to run a man up in tho public mouth, so that everybody phall talk about him, Madigan certainly thought himself thnfc ho could do the double.

Vealo wasn't in ifc. Wesfcon and Harvey were also too far back. liar ton, Lewis, and Short, disappointed many, ghort'a halfmile was no bad exhibition.

Chatfield, who won tho double, has greatly improved, Ho waa In good condition ; bub the start carried him through. lio has room for further improvement, chiefly as to slrade and style. Hutchison divides with Laird the honours of tho day for hia splendid run in tho quarter, lie ran up to lug trial time, and a 3yds beating in such a field was no disgrace. His rush at) the finish has never been equalled in Auckland. Kilfoyle v/aa somewhat disappointing. TTo had fair start?, but; ran a> bit weakly, iio i 3 not done with yet, for I fancy wo havo never seen him at his boot. Bavia, Johnson and Waite were among the modern tee. Upfill ran very sluggishly. liupoy v/ill be heard of again. Barnes will improve and bo a dangerous man. Boyd, Bull and Bri<;bnm will improve. Hesketh hits nothing to thank the handieappers for, but thoy wororiyht nob to treat him too lightly. Roberts will run well with more training, and big start?; to him will annoy other?. Myers has a very ugly style, and docs not «ro fast, partly for that reason. Peace did a splendid walk, but walked himself into giving big starts. He £joes along very fairly and with lots of dash. Creamer came very well and can possibly do better. O'Dowd was very good. Those two reflected great credit on Goodman's training. Croker dooa not strido enough, Burns walked nicely, but he is nob iirst-cks*. Most of the raoa who Started want ;i bit of coaching. Tho Half-Mile was too faab for all tho back-mark men. ISlixon, tho winner, went strongly and well, Myera did not_ run very nicoly, bub his good sbarb and improved form assisted him. If he could gob into perief.'O condition he wouid bo dangerous. Tiiylor found tho pace too merry. Simpson's knock-up in his trial ior tho hurdles put the killer on him. Clarke ran a fine mile, and should givo Winks a big race oil'scratch. Still ho wants stride. Lynch kept to his work well, and showed thab he never was in better form. Davis, who won tho Steoplechaso, ran pluckily, and as he trained specially for the race, everybody was glad to see him coino first.

Short, in hi 3 bicycle racos, rodo wibh great) judgment, and is not far behind the bost. Bub Buchanon deserves most kudos for his pluck. Hia time was good for tho live mile?. Reynolds ia a nice rider. His machine was made by Service. Hammond did not ride so well as I expected, and Hoffmann's staying powers were nob good. Short quite out-gonoralled him. Howard did not bother when he saw how uphill was his task.