SOME BIZARRE SPORT.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18674, 24 April 1926, Page 16

SOME BIZARRE SPORT.

'* !• io thb amro* o» "to wutss." '•.,*;■ Sydney correspondent's jittusing description 'of the ostrich racttg, in; Adelaide reminds me' r of some very odd contests I have seen on raceeowrws and sports grounds. I have . seen an ostrich in action, but he can'go some pace if he can teat an emu. This is by the way, In Coolgardie, in the eirly days, horses were almost unknown, th« whole of the carrying business being done by camels, and it ; was only natural that the,'*sports" of the day should conceive the idea of utilising . , this(ungaiJ»Jy .*»in}«l' tot sporting purposes. At an athletic gathering in Cooliardie 'on St. r Patrick's Day, 1896, a camel race was included in the pro- . gramiM. The'; course wa« simply ,an 'opep space, no fence or rails, and' cover? led with small stumps. A few flags here ', and there,' denoted the course. lam sure ~ the ostrich '" go " was' not in t it ■■ from a spectacular;point of vle.w.,>i- About a 1 down. came. to. the post, all mounted by . [ Afghans, dressed, in ,most gorgeous colours'. The* ,animal's "bit" passes j through his nose, and is not intended as ; steering gear, Hke'the bridle of a'horse. j SO)!«t th*word, k '6ot" the poor beasts ; (never intended by Nature to run), like the-ostriches,.had stage fright,, and j started>6ff,f% all directions. The crowd ! yelied X K'ltoioilhtkl *» (which means, in ~. j camel 'language,.'"lie down"), which .- and nothing would ; shift) them. Others fell over the stumps l riders, and two or three got amongst the spectators, and ■;, .a general stampede- for safety , took ■■■"•;•- place^f a'Mantferriljis , brute' is the i cartel a',"tempeT^ It was quite i impossibliS ■to*' piek'the winner—wtiioh ,wasla|t^lted!. which: first,'was merely 1 was; selected, al- ' claimed a. pla?e, and the officials had a"lying timei endeavouring tOi.'istraigttett'ltliiugs out. '"'l never heart, of any inbre camel races. : asioisiate "billy goats" ; point of i , equaDy ( «rtWng"'tyaf ) 'an.ite*in, of, sport I took J J h ? *NT. , eMt'ea 4n Greymouth had a i club.of our own, but. instead - of<'trotters, our equine heroes were billy- c goats, and some rare fun. we got out of i them: Every.Saturday afternoon races ( *6pk jilaee in. different parts of : the s town, and'so popular did the sport be- * come that at an athletic gathering on I tlje, racecourse a." goat ,race " appeared * o^ the'programme, and it was "the" ? eyfiiit'-of the day."There were about ' fifteen started, duly weighted, and.;with j colours of the riders (or, rather, J dijiyers), T,he orthodox "bit" and { reins guided the "billies," but, like j the ostriches and the camels, they would , not face the crowd at the winning.post, , and started to butt into everything and , everybody that got in the way. The re- ] salt was that the three placed "horses" < by the horns and pulled past 1 the j(uHgeis 'bbid. ''The 'winner, was the c late-^Byan'a.Nugget,the Gloaming 1 of the The writer was'second. The * crowd i the fun.*- i Xo.urs,'."iote^"• > ,-> : '..".'' -• • f V-'r -.-^V.-r^V;': -y,.;- 1 ,,! ; n. McD. •