THE FOOTBALL MATCH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 200, 22 August 1904, Page 4

THE FOOTBALL MATCH.

The victory of the Auckland fifteen over the British team on Saturday deserves to be recognised as one of the most rem_.rka.ble events in out athletic annals. Nothing was wanting to stamp the match as an altogether exceptional and noteworthy occurrence. The immense throng of spectators which from an early hour in the morning streamed into Alexandra Park was by far the largest gathering that has ever been seen on such an occasion in Auckland. The enthusiasm which had emptied the city and brought hundreds and thousands of our country folk from the farthest end= of the province to see bhi* "battle of giants" was manifested throughout the match in the most unmistakable fashion. The huge crowd that waited patiently for the gajne through the greater part of a day was in itself a most imp.-essive spectacle; nnd eager as the majority of tbe onlookers were for the triumph of the local players, they displayed throughout the long ordeal an unusual degree of good humour and self-control. No one watching the crowd could fail to be convinced that however closely football matches may sometimes approximate to the ancient gladiatorial shows, the spectators as well as th/- players are more likely to improve than to deteriorate under the influence of tbe game. Nor could any one who was not altogether a cynic or a stoic fail to be moved by the enthusiastic delight of that vast concourse when once the victory of the local men was beyond a doubt secured. The whole scene was a most striking proof of our devotion to or:r splendid national gimp and of the intensity of our pride in our own achievements—a sentiment which far from being igroble is perhaps the best form of patriotism that, colonial life has yet evolved. We gladly leave to football ex-perts the task of discussing the details of the great game. But while we do not wi-h to detract in any way from the splendid performance of the. Auc.kla.nd players, it must be conceded that the British team played below its best form on Saturday. Men are not machines, and no players, however hardy or skilful, can play

through a long tour, in -.—bich two matches a week are separated by spells of travel on land and sea, without showing signs of wear and tear towards the end. The Englishmen were unmistakably "stale" on Saturday; and the fact that one of their best forwards and their full-back were practically disabled early in the game certainly did not improve their prospects. But even allowing for all this, no one who saw the match could hesitate to admit that ihe Aucklanders on Saturday's playwould have been most formidable antagonists for any team that has ever played in this colony. It is very doubtful if the British forwards fit nnd well would have been able to stand up against the dashing assaults of the Auckland pack; and it is an axiom of the Rugby game that not eve" the Lest backs in the world can win a match if their own forwards are really beaten. On Saturday our own back team could not be said bo be out-classed by tne Englishmen, and our superiority forward was so marked that the score registered in our favour might easily have been much larger. But the Englishmen struggled manfully to the end. and though the crowd naturally gave most attention to our own men, we believe that it very large proportion of the spectators recognised the disadvantages. under which the English-men laboured and sympathised with them in their -•lucky ef.orts to avert defeat. Taken in conjunction with the result of the New Zealand match, this decisive victory will ' ensure the despat-h of a New Zealand j team to England in 1905; and it may ' not be too soon to remind our foot- ; bailers that they can hardly expect the same measure of success when they are playing two matches a week themselves and hive to meet the picked teams of the United Kingdom on thpir own grounds. But this is perhaps prema ture. and : n the meantime we offer our hearty congratulations to th« Auckland team and our sympathetic condolences to Mr Bedell-StvTight and his men.

The folio-wing is Captain Ed-win's -weather forecast for 24 hours from nine a_n, this day: "Strong winds from between north-west and west and south, glass rise, tides moderate, sea moderate, rain probable." A very heavy thunder and rain storm, which was accompanied by vivid lightning, burst over the city between nine and ten o'clock last night. It was, however, of short duration. The total births in the four centres during July amounted to 506, against 504 in June, an increase of two. The deaths in July were 220, an increase of eight on the number in June. Of the total deaths males contributed 117, females 103. Forty-seven of the deaths were of children under five years of age, being 20.43 per cent of the whole number. Thirty-nine of these were under one year of age. There were 87 deaths of persons of 75 years of age and upwards. In Auckland and suburbs there were registered 150 births and 69 deaths; the figures for Wellington being 113 and 52, Christchurch 107 and 44, Dunedin 45 and 32. A well-known resident of Coromandel named Edward Cailnan died somewhat suddenly last night. He was taken with a seizure something in the nature of a paralytic stroke when in front of the Central Hotel on Thursday evening. Dr. Cheeseman was called in, and advised his removal to the Hospital, where he died last night. Deceased W_e 72 year* of age, and was. highly respected. Mr McGregor, foreman of works for the City Council, was knocked down by a van at the foot of Wellesley-street on Saturday, but being thrown clear of the wheels, was not seriously hurt. Dr. Parkes had an exciting experience on Saturday about 9.30 o'clock, ' while going through Newmarket. He was in his motor-car, and attempted to . cross the tram line when two cars were | approaching from opposite directions. Ord : narily, he would have had time enough to get through, but apparently the wheels of the motor-car skidded on the lines with the result that a serious smash up seemed certain, and was only averted by the promptitude of the two motormen in applying their emergency brakes. One car was driven by W. Twinning and the other by W. Haslam, both of whom displayed commendable ceh ity of action, and thus prevented a collision. Dr. Parkes expressed to the motormen his admiration of their promptitude, and they were also applauded by the onlookers. Another case also occurred in which an omnibus got in dangerous proximity to a tram car, and it was only the prompt action of the motorman that averted a collision. On Saturday, Miss Bella Tanner, of Katikati, had her wrist fractured through being k : cked by a horse. She was sent to Waihi for treatment. A man named Gladding also sustained a nasty cut on his head and injury to one arm by falling from a plank at Waikino. A middle-aged man named Vivian Hill, who was stated to have held a Govern ment position at the tune of hi ß arrest, was charged before Mr Kettle, S.M.. in the Police Court to-day with receiving £5 9/3 and fraudulently omitting to ac count for the amount to Sidney Lewis Jones. He was also charged with stealing 33 pieces of electroplated ware, value £22 6/, the property of Messrs Tanfield. Totter and Co., on" April 10th. ChiefDetective Marsack secured a remand un t Monday next, explaining that time was wanted to recover some of the property. Mr Hackett, solicitor for the accused, asked that he should be allowed bail. He said the accused had given every facility to the police to recover the property. The charges were really in respect to the same transaction. Chief - Detective Marsack said the amount involved altogether was between £50 and £60. Bail was allowed in two sureties of £20 each. Mrs. P. A. Pople, of Symonds-street, Onehunga, was taken to the Auckland public hospital about two o'clock yes terday afternoon, and she died at about half-past three, before the medical officers had had an opportunity to accurately diagnose her case, which was one of illness, and not casualty. As the medical officers of the hospital and no other medical men know enough of the case to ;ive a certificate of the cause of death, n inquest will probably be held. . There was a great array of wigged .tnd gowned counsel in the Auckland Supreme Court this morning, when the order of hearing of numerous important civil actions was arranged. Counsel overflowed their usual benches, filled the witnesses' seat, and stood in a bunch in the doorway.

Yoz Yujnovich. a gum digger, was today sentenced to five years' imprisonment for an attempted outrage on a Maori woman nearly 70 years of age on the gumfields. For assaulting an Aratapu boardinghouse keeper named Byrne with a table knife, Thomas Hermann, a Norwegian sailor, was to-day sent to prison for three years. The members of the Auckland Minis ters' Association exchanged pulpits yesterday, on account of it being "Citizens' Sunday." The duties of citizenship were dealt with by most of the speakers. The West End Rowing Club received four clinker practice outriggers by the s.s. Moana, which arrived from Sydney yesterday. The boats were built by Mr Greenland, of Melbourne. A farewell social will be tendered to the Rev. F. L. Snow by All Saints' parish ionera tIU evening in all Saints' Schoolroom. A leap year ball will be tendered by the N.Z. Natives' Association to the members of the Auckland football team in honour of their victory over Great Britain. His Worship the Mayor will attpnd to congratulate the team. The best corsets require least fitting. See the dainty models in the celebrated C.B. corsets now shown. There are C.B. corsets to suit every figure, and the price is moderate.—Ad.

GOVERNMENT GEOLOGIST. 1 a (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.! WELLINGTON, this ctay. It ,- «s not anticipated that the selection of the ColoTiilal Geologist to till the place vacated by the resignation of Sir James Hector will be made before th? end of the session. The qualifications of the 56 applicants are being carefully gone through, and a precis of their attainments and experience is be'ng tabulated for the use of* Cabinet. Applications have come in from Britain. Canada, the Malay Archipelago, Australia and New Zealand. The Government were desirous of securin? the services of Mr McLaren, formerly of Coromandel, and now in the service of the Indian Government, but the salary offered (£6OO per anmrm) w _s not sufficient to tempt him.

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.! WELLINGTON, this day. It ,- s not anticipated that the selection of the Colonilal Geologist to till the place vacated by the resignation of tMr James Hector will be made before tlip end of the session. The qualification.' of the 56 applicants are being carefully gone through, and a precis of their attainments and experirnce is be'ng tabulated for the use of* Cabinet. Applications have come in from Britain. Canada, the Archipelago, Australia and New Zealand. The Government were desirous of securin? the services of Mr McLaren, formerly of Coromandel, and now in the service of the Indian Government, but the salary offered (£6OO per anmm) was not sufficient to tempt him.