ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 146, 14 March 1908, Page 9

ATHLETICS.

———' (By Merodet.) COMING EVENTS. . :■ ■ - To-day.—Hibernian Society's Sports (Basin Reserve). March 17.—Combined Banks' Meeting, v March Benefit -Meeting -..(Basin .Reserve). ' . ■ t •' - July;— Olympic. Games (London); The "New ■ Zealand University Colleges' Athletic Championships will bo decided /at the ."Garisbrook Ground, Dunodin, on EasterMonday (April 20). Best wishes for tho success of the Hibernian Society's meeting at the Basin Reservo this afternoon: - It will be remenlberod Jthat the Club had. the misfortune ;to striko a bad day. for its 'gathering last year, and,-a good i recovery' to-day, is necessary for its well-being. Tho'SocietyThas worked hard to place '• its athletic .section on. a ' sound basis, , and in doing, so it has , done amateur' athleticism in. thecity a _ good turn -,in • ridding it of onciof its cash, rivals. The entries are • first class, ; and' a glance at. Mr. L'arkin's handicaps gives every indication of 'good keen contests,- and an exciting afternoon's sport can be depended upon • by all intending spectators. The usual running events will be diversified by catch-as-catch-can wrestling bouts and a novel event that should prove very entertaining in the shape'of an .Irish: jig competition. '-.■■■ . The - performance of:the Y.M.C.A. ..Club in disposing . of the events at- its evening meeting pn Wednesday night- must go close to establishing a record for celerity. Including . the heats, foi;- the sprint event,; a milo bicycle race! and a one mile run, nino events were got ■ 'through . in. twenty-five miiiutes. •• Dr. Showman's suggestion that , tho .Dominion should bo represented at tho Olympic Games in' London ill ■ July'. next by Harry liorr is .uphold by Mr. R. Coombes, and tho proposal '. should receive a, good help along by his expression of opinion, on tho mattci' as given in the following interview published •'by"an exchange:—-"Kerr's career as a walker has been an eventful ono. :As you remem.ber, wo refused his Application tho other night for an Australasian record, becauso his walking 1 had bd'en faulty"last'yfor in 'Ncw .Zealand. '• - Ho had, created inimenso excitement over (there, for he had been winning . race, after-race in : marvellous-;,tinie. : i.But his style was faulty, and . he was last' February 'disqualified./ ■ 1 have paid the closest attention to him at this meeting, and, find ho has taken, a lesson; ; walking at Hobart is slower than it was in New Zealand,, but lie thoro put-up times which cannot'bo made under the new rules. ■ His form now is excellent; it is a form that will'pass tho whole world over. ('-should, like .to seo him sent to'the Olympian Games in London." ; 'Now possibility.of Kerr being;sent, to London has - come' within , the range , "of practical politics .it is interesting 'to,note the views of expert's in. the Old Country on the same' old vexed question' of .stylo. As is generally - known thero •' is no hard and fast code in existence at Homo regulating the carriage of tho • body,, etc., ,as is the case here, , and the consequenco' is that the standard.', of correct walking is in ;a degretf l sel'by the ideas of the individual judges. It follows therefore'that the; uniformity; of stylo aimed af by .- the Australasian Union is -practically non-existent, and that • the track walker is-not governed so much by. rule as by the tasto, and' perhaps tho liver of. the judge of tho moment. Tnis stato of things would; tell "strongly against a' competitor from. Australia or New Zealand who adhered Strictly to.our code, under which it is confessedly "impossible to make the' samo times as-in the more . or less go-as-you-pleaseras long-as-you-don!t-lift;, 5ty10..." The following, will show; how much more elastic than ours is the English idea. .-' "Expert," of tho "Sporting Life," contributes his views thus:—"The more I consider, tho'matter, the more I am convinced that few judges are practical enough in analysing progress of . a walker to be able to.deiiiie a 'doubtful style.' They will talk of tho man's movement, with his shoulders, hips, knees, or in fact, anything but his feat. .' I call a man doubtful when you cannot satisfy yourself that at certain points in. his movement ho has. not lost contact with the ground. Bent knees, hip action, shoulder ;movement, etc., have'no connection with the true definition of walkiiig. Mannerisms, however ugly, should not deceivo tho critic. There is, .too, this advantage, that confining a judge's'.,duty to. the supremo test relieves him of much responsibility, but it" must bo accompanied by ,tho stipulation that if lie has reasonable doubt ho must disqualify. But any attempt to judge a man by , the movement of his body is fallacious, just much as was the idea of calculating the value of a lift by ; estimating the rise and fall of the centre" of gravity. I have often wished for a'few instantaneous photographs' of walkers at speed, taken at track lovel. Such would, I think, prove instructive, and also indicate that the more level a walker maintains his body, the greater the tendency to lift, especially with a straight leg." In this connection it is interesting to note the walking rules of tho. Amateur Athletic Union of-Australasia, which stato that "Tho body must be kept - strictly upright. Non-com-plianco with this rulo will only bo allowed if,' in" tho opinion of tho judge or . judges, such non-compliance arises from some cause beyond the control of the competitor." At the beginning of the present-season I urged strongly in this column that our local Centro ' should . provide its representatives with-bamboo, poles for vaulting. - As" is known the poles wero procured, and if. any. proof of their efficacy is required it is to bo found in "Prodigal's" column in tho latest "Referee,"-'in'which in a description of tho various events at the-big Hobart meeting ,ho states ."The pole vault was ono of tho most exciting contests of the carnival. Tho bamboo polo used by M'Kay probably won .him .-this event." I don't believe this to bo so ds I consider that it was tho man wlio used the.polo that won tho'evont, but.tho tributo-to the implement is"there. ' In- tho reports to hand" of the proceedings of,tho.Board.of Control of the Australasian Union in Hobart no ' .mention appears of Kerr's performance of Gmin. 26sce. for tho milo walk, which was up for adoption' as an Australasian record. Tho Board was "left sitting," but as other records wero dealt with it looks ominous though it is peculiar that no mention is mado of tho matter. / Tho following-' records wero. adopted :— 440 yds. fiat running.—N. C.' Barker (New South Wales), 485scc., November 11, 1905, Sydney. ; 440 yds. hurdles, 10 flights, 3ft. 6in.—J. L. Davis (Victoria), 58 l-ssec., November 12, 11)06, Melbourno C.C. Ground (provisionally accepted, subject to . tho approval of the Executive). If tho time 58 l-ssec. for the hurdle event ,ia not a misprint it would appear that Murray did not, as waa thought, equal

Davis's record in his run in this event at Hobart, the time for which was 53 2-ssec. Last.weok I made mention of Guy P. Haskins, an ox-Canterbury student noiv in America, as : a . likely representative of tho Dominion at tho Olympic Games. In the American budget of tho' "Before®" appears an , account of his latest performance which appears to have rosnltetl in a most unseemly fracas. I append the account. Thero was quite a row at tho annual indoor track meet of tho First Regiment of tho Pennsylvania National Guard'at-Philadelphia,'January 24. It was tho outcome of an attack made by Jielvin Sheppard, of the Irish-American Athletic Club of New York, on Guy liaskius, tho Now Zealander, who competed in the colours of tho University of Pennsylvania. Haskins outran Sheppard, who had long been looked upon as invinciblo, in a middledistanco event not very long ago, and on tho ■ occasion of the regimental games thoy wero sent together in a special event, tho distanco being ono-thousand yards. They- had-com-pleted six lap's when I-laskins tried to pass Sheppard, who had taken the lead early in tho race. Sheppard, 1 supposes, felt that'ho was beaten. Anyhow, tho men jostled on one of tho turns, and -as Haskins started to'go by tho New Yorker seized the Maorilander and threw him'to tho floor with a'"Hying mare," or'somo other hip a-nd thigh movement peculiar to wrestlers. A large-sized riot ensued. Friends of Haskins fell upon Sheppard and hammered and kicked him. , Friends of tho other runher took a hand, and for. a while there was a free fight. •. .The polico wero' summoned to quell tho disturbance,,-and ib:took.a dozen,of tn-e finest to subduo the enraged adherents of tho" iwo famous runners.- ■< George Orton,, who was referee, promptly disqualified Shepnard and awarded tho race to Haskins. / Shfeppard, small thanks to him, acknowledged ho had done wrong. He said I his act was that of "a tired'and irritated man," and that lie, regretted his, conduct exceedingly. - . That tho Combined Banks meeting .has developed into a. factor in' tho local';sporting world is evident from'the number of.-entrants in ca'oh ; event, fpr:Tuesday next,.which must constitute a record. The 120 yards -handicap has, sixty-two',. tho' 220 and 440 yards, twenty-seven and forty-two respectively. The half-mile championship, and mile handicap, thirty-seven and' forty-two each,, while tho halt-mile handicap has 'drawn' twenty-five.-Thirty-six have entered.,for tho: milo walk,_ owenty-four for tho mile, bicvclo handicap ■ and-so on'right-through tho piece. There .would.-.seom''to be ''sufficient material hero to make an afternoon's sport for tho most fastidious. ty}} finds thirty-two men running ten miles under, a.li hour in ono club race there can; bo no/fear of .England's decadence at long-distance : runniiig.*: That .was tho performance accomplished on tho Bellevuo track, Manchester, 911 Saturday, January 18 in. the Salford Harriers' ten miles championship. Tho first four men wero covered by 4?; sccoiicls.' .W, H. Whittingslow repeated 11s victory of 1907. .-His time was's6min lOsec. : -