JONATHAN MUMFORD. Died December 14, 1892.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 300, 17 December 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

JONATHAN MUMFORD. Died December 14, 1892.

'Leaves have their time to fall And flowers to wither at the North wind's breath, And stars to set; but ali, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, 0 • Death!'

Needless to say, the news of the awfully sudden death of that veteran cricketer, Mr J. Mumford, on Wednesday last, fell like a thunderbolt amongsb local cricketers. Only last Saturday ' Mum.', as he was familiarly known, was as usual engaged in a cricket match, playing for his old Club, the Auckland UnitedC.C, against the Gordon junior team. He then appeared to be in his usual health, and cracking joke 3as was his wonk

J, Mumford was as well known to Auckland cricketers aa perhaps cha Domain itself. Ha first connected himself with Auckland cricket in 1863, when ho became a member of tho Auckland United CO., a team he has played with ever since, for a poriod of nearly thirty years, and occupied the position of captain for twenty years. Mr Mumford has played regularly for this lengthy period, and has been a very consistent scorer every season. This year the deceased expressed his intention of retiring from cup matches, but I have noticed him every Saturday on the pavilion ot the Cricket Ground watchinsr with intersst tho various contests, and chiofly the games ia which hi 3 old Club, the United C.C., were interested in. Only la*t Saturday he played in the scratch match against Gordon 11., and scored 3 not out. Mr Mumford has represented Auckland on numerous occasions in her foreign matches, and was one of the members of the Auckland team of 1873, which toured the colony without meeting a reverse. The last time ho played as a representative for Auckland was in 18S2, against the All England eleven, brought to the colonies by Messrs Shaw and Shrewsbury. J.lr Mumford was manager and caretaker of the Domain Cricket Ground for the trustees of the Domain Board, for a term of seven years, and retired from that position when the ground was taken over by the City Council thres years ago. The deceased was also one of those, who with Messrs R. J. Yates, G. Lankham, C. A. Harris, A, Whitakor, W. F. Buckland and other enthusiastsl who were instrumental in first forming a. criclcet ground in the Domain.

Mr Mumford was also well known and respected by all country clubs, for it was to him that they sent for their cricketing materials, and generally once a year he organised a team and paid visits to the country districts, and he always looked forward to a trip to Bombay, where he has many friends who will feel very grieved at losing so unexpectedly such a warm ally. Mr Mumford wa3 generally the gentleman chosen by visiting teams to act as umpire for them, and last season, when the Canterbury reps, played Auckland, he, at the special request of bha visitors, officiated as umpire for them. The deceased was born in Baling, Middlesex, where he loarnb the rudiments of his favourite game, and often, at his criekeb emporium in High-street, where I, as well as many other cricketers, were wonb to meet, Mr Mumford delighted to teJl of the doings of such men as the Walkers, Hearnes, Caflyn, and George Parr. No one was more closely connected with the deceased than Mr A. E. Wbitaker, and it was a curious incidenb that these two old cricket friends should have been partnered ab the wickets when Mr Mumford breathed his last. His death scene was akin to that of the soldier who, after serving his country for a number of years, expires in active service. ATHLETICS. W. Hayward, the Canterbury sprinter, who ran second to Hempton in the last 100 yds championship, has gone to reside in Wellington. It may be good news to the Graf ton district to know that Bob Whiteside intends donning the football jersey nexb season. Bob considers that his knee has sufficiently recovered to withstand another game of Rugby, which he is dearly longing for. A. A. Davies does not intend training for the test races. He tells me that in all probability he will nob run again for twelve months. A number of our athletes intend staring training without delay, with a view of qualifying for the New Zealand championship meeting which i 3 to bo held at Wellington early in February. The following athletes are, I hear, likely to compete ab the tesb meeting which the Amateur Athletic Club will hold, prior to the departure of the team. Sprints : Buchanan, Laird, Western, Hesketh. Distances: Beere, Musker, Bull, and Farquhar. Hurdles: Roberts, Martin, and Hacketb. Walks : A. F. Burton. Jumps : Brownlee, Hackett, and Upfill. Putting the weight and throwing tha hammer: T. B. O'Connor. The Foresters' Sports Committee and the Caledonian Society havo plac6d a number of professional and amateur events on their programmes, which, no doubt, will attract numerous entries. For the Foresters' sports entries will be received by the Secretary, Mr E. Nordon, up to Tuesday next. Entries for tha Caledonian Society's sports close on Monday evening next ab the British Hotel.

A nurnbev of athletes are training on the Domain each morning and evening for the Foresters' and Caledonian Society's sports. I ('Prodigal,'of the Sydney 'Referee') have received a communication from a subscriber who follows amateur doings closely, asking if I consider Australians or New Zealanders would have any chance in purely amateur contests during the proposed PanBritannic festival at Chicago. He further asks if Bradley(England), Jawettf America), Macpherson(Australia), and .Hempton (New Zealand), went on the mark for the World's 100 yds Championship, who would, in my opinion, win. In answer to question one, there is little or no need mincing matters, so I may as well oub with my candid opinion at once. Australasian amateurs, barring Macpherson, would have but; little chance of actually winning, although in some events they would not be far oub of it. In k>n</ sprints, Macpherson would probably hold his own anywhere. Taking the only possible line I have to go on in order to answer question number two, Bradley should beat Hempfcon, who has beaten Macpherson. This reduces ib to the Hudderstield man and the Detroit flyer. Now Jewett, from all accounts, beat Luther Gary pretty comfortably, and Cary, when in England, showed his spikes pretty often to the English cracks, although from memory 1 cannot say whether he boas Bradley, although I think he did. For tha benefit of my friend, who seems bo value my opinion, I think if these four men wenb on the mark all fib and well and ab their best they would finish : Jewetb, 1; Bradley, 2; Hempton, 3 ; Macpherson, 4. If the dißtance was either 220 yds or 250 yds, ib might be: Macpherson, 1; Jewett, 2; Hempton, 3; Bradley, 4. To reverb to question number one, ib would not surprise me in the least to see J. F. Dalrympla make a great fight of ib from half-a-mile up bo a mile with the beab of bhe Americans, although the English disbance men would probable beab him. If. F. Sweeney, the amateur champion of America, beat the high jump record of 6fh 4in by W. B. Page by a quarber of an inch, at tho New York Athletic Club's meetings, on October Sth, and E. W. Goff, of the Manhattan A.C., cleared 23fb 9in in the Long Jump, which is only half an inch below the American record made by C. S. Reber last year. Ab the same gathering, J. S. Mitchell beat his previous record for throwing the hammer by nearly three and a-half feet, tho distance being 145 ft Of in. He also created a world's amateur record by throwing the 561b weight 35ft 6iin. On October 19th S. Thomas established amateur records for six and twelve miles, ab bhe Herne Hill track, covering the former distance in oOmin 17 4-stb eec, and the labter in 62min 43sec. CYCLING. I was very pleased to see that the local Amateur Athletic Club despatched E. Reynolds to represent Auckland ab the Championship Cyclists' Meeting, and ib will do a vast amount of good by way of encouragement to our cyclists, for somehow, since 1891 when the Southern cyclists took all the racing spirit out oc our riders, by showing us bhab we knew very little about fast riding, bicycle races have been on bho wane in Auckland. Reynolds is certainly the fastest rider that we ever possessed, bub I do nob think for a minute bhab he will have any show against Wally Kerr, bhe New South Wales champion or the numerous Southern cracks, but bhe liberal acbion of the Auckland A. A. and C. Club must show the local riders that the Committee intend giving overy encouragement to foster fast pedlars. Last week a Christchurch rider, F. J. Dunn, attempted to lower the New Zealand road record for 50 miles, which stands at 2hr 59?>rnin. Unfortunately for Dunn, the tyre of the rear wheel of his machine punctured, and ha had to ride about 3 miies on the rim. He covered the fifty miles in 3hr Srcin, or SJmin longer than the record. Concerning Johnson's one mile record referred to in the previous issue of this journal, the ' Athletic Nev^s ' says :—The American papers are just as down on Johnson's wonderful records (?) as we are. The ' SportingLife1 of Philadelphia declares the whole business is a fake. And this journal is usually pretty well informed. (I. lil. Kingston, the Dunedin cyclist who rode so well last season, was killed last weok in Melbourne. It appears that the deceased collided with a dog and was thrown off his machine on to his head, receiving such injuries that he never regained consciousness Kingston was 26 years of age at the time of his death, and was a very promising rider. His performances last season included the 3 and smiles ordinary champion- I chips, beating such good men as Wihaob I Wilson, Hnyward and Pither, while he secured third place in the 10 miles ordinary championship behind Clarkeon and Hayward. At the Dunedin pl^'is

ing a couple of weeks later he won the Five Miles Championship of Otago and the Two Miles Handicap from scratch, ba« sides being second in the Ladies' Bracelet, also from scratch. These are the principal performances, bub Kingston alsowon several minor events. He wenb to Sydney some months ago, but has taken parb in bub few races there. Zimmerman, Johnson, Windle, and all the leading American cyclists havo publicly stated their intention of running for cash next season. Zimmerman's possession of four horses, btvo carriages, and about fivn hundred other trophies, says an exchange, has just; about) sickened him and others of the now behind-the-times amateur restriction. Five local cyclists, viz., Reynolds, Firth, Nicholson, Surman and Taylor rode to Mercer on Saturday afternoon last, and returned the following evening. The roada were in good order, and the time occupied on the journey waß four and a half hours each way. Tbey thoroughly enjoyed their excursion, and intend making many more such journeye. AaUATICS. Considering the boisterous state of the weathor last Saturday the evolutions of the fleeb belonging to the Auckland Yacht Club, under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency Lord Glasgow, were most) satisfactory. The various evolutions were performed in a very creditable and masterly manner, which should satisfy the publics that there is very .little danger in yachting while our yachts are handled by such smart exponents as those who had charge of the forty boats lasb Saturday. The smaller fry were at times difficult to manage on account of the big sea running, bub the afternoon's oub cruising was nob marred by any accidents. His Excellency expressed himself as being delighted with the cruise, and the popular comhiodore, Mr J, Wiseman, and the rear officials deserve great credit for the manner in which they carried oub their duties as masters of ceremonies. After paying their respects to the gubernatorial party, most of the yachts left for' the various cruising rendezvous, the majority visiting Home Bay, Mobutapu. The two new yachts Aorere and Miharo were among those that journeyed to Home Bay, and much interesb was caused among the other yachtsmen when they got underway almost simultaneously on Sunday afternoon. Both were single reefed. The

Aorere had a slight lead at the start, which she nob only maintained on the beat home, but drew away from the Miharo, and was at her moorings in Judge's Bay, when tha Miharo had just weathered the Bastion, a distance of about one and a-half miles. To the surprise of all, the Aorere appeared to do better in the broken water. There can be no doubt that both yachts are very fast, for they were both overhauling tha Matangi rapidly, and the Aorere passed tha big yacht. The Matangi, however, carried away her jib, and I have seen Mr Wisoman's yacht sail very much faster.

The Rita was gebting through the water aba speedy rate last week. Everyone would like bo see Mr Henderson enber her for tho next Regatta, for a race between the Matangi, Arawa and Rita, would alone be worth walking miles to see. The Arawa was sailing very well last) Saturday. Ib book her pilob all he knew to keep the little flyer in her position. Sha looked like a race horse, fighting for her head to be leb loose.

The New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association meet on Wednesday evening nexb to consider the report of the Subcommittee appointed to revise bhe rules. The principal alterations suggested by the Committee consist of an addition to the definition of an amateur, and a proposal to revert to ' best and best' boabs for all championship races. The proposed new definition of an amateur is as follows :— 'An amateur oarsman or sculler is one who (a) has never knowingly entered or competed with or against a professional; (b) baa never entered or competed for a stako or money prizo ; (c) has never derived any pecuniary profit directly or indirectly from rowing or sculling in races or from the funds of his Club; provided always thab no person competing for money for the sole benefit of hia Club shall thereby loss hia amateur ebatua. Provided further, that the Committee of the Association may, for a good cause shown, reinsbate as an amateur any oarsman who may have infringed tho above rule.' The proposal to row all championship races in best and beab boaba will probably meet with some opposition, but the general opinion is thab ib will be carried. • SWIMMING. Ib might be useful fco those who go in for racing and tournaments to know thati a little oil rubbed well into the muscles, or all over the body, makes a wonderful difference in keeping oub the cold. Ib should be well rubbed in and nob allowed to lie on the skin. Vaseline is very good, bub cocoanut oil is the best. Ab the Easb Chrisbchurch Swimming Club's Sporba, J. R. Murphy won the 100 yards handicap from scrabch in 79 4-sbh sees. RING. A cable from Scranton, Pennsylvania, dabed October 13th, to bhe London 'Sportaman,' says : ' Jame3 Corbebb said yesterday, "As soon as I am ready to fight I Bhall pub money up for a match with Charley Mitchell. If he fails bo cover ib I will meeb 1 any man. in bhe world, Peter Jackson preferred."' The London • Sportsman* of October 11th says: • Yesterday a cablegram was despatched to America offering a purse of £3,000 for Jackson and Corbett to spar aft the National Sporting Club. Jackson has backing in England for £1,000 for tke match.