TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9882, 12 November 1897, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The event of the first A Cricket match played by Stoddart'f? Sensation. team in Australia was,

after the appearance and play of Banjitsinhji, the no-baUing of Jones, the South Australian fast bowler, and it was generally regarded as having far more than merely local or temporary consequences. "Observer," the well-known cricket writer of the Argus, who saw the match, says that Phillips, the umpire, had been fairly startled by some of the early I ones from Jones on the second day of the match, and had said on several occasions to him, " For heaven's sake, keep your arm straight; that's not your English action." "In a quiet way most of the Englishmen were growling a good deal, and all declared ! that with his fast ones—those that cut the air with a whistle like Martini rifle bullets— Jones was bending his arm beyond all reason. Phillips had warned him again, and finally 'no-balled , him, when Jones dropped at once to a slower pace, and an unquestionably tair delivery." Before this the South Australian captain h*d been urged to indues Jones to alter hie style, but whatever Lyons may have done in the matter did not apparently count for much. After the match Jonet declared, in

defence, that he did not " knowingly chuck them," and that he did not believe he had ever dono so, ''The fact i 3," he - said, " that ever since I left Broken Hill I have never been able to throw a be.ll as fast or as far as I can bowl it. With this.particular ball my foot slipped just on the crease, and I was on the point of turning for another run, but wheeled it up with an effort of the arm that may have made it look like a tlirow."

As we have said, the aotion The Effect taken by the umpire may of the have aa important effect upon Incident, the great cricket matches

this season, and will undoubtedly affect more fast bowlers than Jones, " Phillips's action," says " Observer," " taken as it was with reluctance and regret, means much more than a caution to Jones to be careful in the future." In his individual case it only puts a stop to his extremely fast " wind jammers," and even as a medium pace bowler he would be a most useful man in a team. Bat that one call of "No ball" is regarded as the fjrst note of a mutiny against doubtful bowling. Australian cricketers look for trouble during the Englishmen's tour. Jones's self-oonfi-dence, they asserted, had been shaken. "He will be afraid to. bowl fast ones, and half the venom of his bowling is gone. It is a serious thing for us and a grand thing for England." They grumbled that during the Australians' tour in England Jones's bowling was not called in question by the umpires—though cricket writers referred to it more than once. The Englishmen declared, on the other hand, that "he didn't bowl those in England." It is generally conceded that, in consequence of Phillips's action the delivery of several prominent English bowlers, notably Mold, will be called in question at the earliest oppor tunity. The Argus writer quotes an incident which happened during a matoh at Lord's in 1896. "Some cultured critics were audibly discussing the possibility of Jones being able to bowl so fast fairly, when Spofforth, who stood by, iuterjeoted, ' If you are game to back your opinion on the point I'll bet you £50 that I'll strap Jones's arm from the wrist to below the shoulder, and that he'll bowl as fast as ever. , •And I'll risk another £50 on it myself,' Jones added, but no one cared for the wagor." Still that proves nothing, except that Spofforth and Jones were willing to back their opinion for £50 each. The fact remains that Jones was " no-balled" for a ball whioh competent Australian critics admit deserved no better treatment, and that in future he and other bowlera with doubtful deliveries must calculate on a firmer stand being taken on this matter than has hitherto been the custom.

Titß announcement that the

The services of the Christchurch Garrison Garrison Band had been disBand. pensed with by the officer

commanding the forces was received by many people with great surprise and by all with regret, for the band has always been deservedly popular with the public. The Garrison Band has been in existence, it may bo said, for some fourteen years. Many of its old members belonged to the old Cavalry Band, then they became known as Kohler's Band, and afterwards as the City Guards Band. When they elected to accept service as a garrison band they became amonable to the laws governing volunteering, and abided by them until recently, when dereliction of duty occurred on two occasions, and led to the Commanding Officer dispensing with them. It is stated trouble has been looming for some months, owing to a split among,the members. An effort to adjust matters was made by Colonel Gordon, who met the members and urged them to pull together, and last Friday they met in the band-room to discuss the position, but without any satisfactory result. As no notice had bsen posted in the room by any of the officers, and as the band , master was absent at Oamaru, tho members appear to have been in a dilemma as to what they should do on the day of the Governor's reception, and everybody's business being nobody's, they failed to turn out. On the morning of the Governor's levee one of the band officers was called before Colonel Pole-Penton and asked if he could get the band together for the afternoon. It is understood that he saw some eighteen members, but only four, three of whom were performers, put in an appearance. This second neglect of duty could not be passed over by the authorities. It ie urged in mitigation of their neglect that members cannot well turn out at any time during an ordinary week day, while on the other hand some of the members admit that enough could have been brought together to "fill their instruments." From what we can gather there appears to be a strong desire on the part of some of the members to find a Jonah and throw him overboard, and an equally strong difference .of opinion aa to the precise identity of the Jonah. It is understood, however, that many ofjthem are anxious to continue as a Garrison Band, and may take steps to ascertain if their services will be again accepted if they succeed in reorganising the band.

The Johnny Armstrong to

Johnny whom we allude is not the Armstrong, mythical jockey, whose

strength of arm ,is alleged to be sometimes used to check the energy of a too-ambitious racehorse, but the most famous Armstrong of them all—the celebrated moss-trooper, whose name was feared throughout a great portion of the English and Scottish borders more than 350 years ago. "Johnnie" Armstrong, as we believe his name should be spelled, was one of the moat renowned heroes of the Border, and it is said his name still lingers in song and story in that romantic country. He was a laird in Teviotdak, and a chief of one of the branches of his family, with a stronghold on the banks of tho Ks'Jf, from which he appears to have sallied out, as occasion required, to replenish his larder. On all and sundry he levied a tribute "winch hi 9 admirer* call 'protection money, , and his detractors * blackmail. , " Those who declined to pay were robbed, and those who thought it wiser to yield lived under his protection, which was probably quite worth what it cost. Hie fame spread on both sides of the Border, and as far south as Newcastle. He was wont to claim that he never plundered his countrymen, and though this is hardly borne out by facts, he does seem to have done most damage on the English side of the Border. Bat at any rate the Armstrongs, of which he wae the head, in years destroyed fifty-two pariah churches in Scotland, and tins, coupled with his openly expressed scorn for King James V. of Scotland and King Henry VIII., led the former monarch to take measures for his suppression. Afc tho bead of 12,000 men the Kinjj marched from Edinburgh into Teviotdale, and invited the redoubtable " Johnnie" to come and sec him. The invitation appears to have been tafeen by Armstrong as implying protection, but King James did not mean to waste opportunities and, having got the freebooter in his power, he soon caused him to be executed. He and bis men were hanged in July, 1530, at Carelanrigg, about ten miles from Hawick, and at this long interval after the deed the good folk of Hawick have opened a shilling subscription list to raise fond* for erecting » "suitable memorial , '

[to the bold mosstrooper. It is a remarkable idea, but the Border people have taken it up and the required amount has been nearly made .np. There will be some curiosity to learn the Hawick people's idea of a " suitable memorial" to such a freeliving individual. Hero worship takes its devotees a long way sometimes.