ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 175, 18 April 1908, Page 9

ATHLETICS.

(Bt MEnconT.)

COMING EVENTS. , Easter Monday.—lnter-University • Tournament (Dunedin). , . July.—Olympian Games (London). ' Last Saturday saw tho curtain rung down on the series, of athletic meetings set'down for tho season 1907-8 as far as Wellington is concerned. Tho last act provided a fitting climax to a good year's work, which has not boon without its spices of oomedy and tragedy. Tho former element was to a largo oxtent provided by the N.Z.A.A.A. Council in its great Dominion Teams Selection Act' in'connection with the' Australasian championship meeting, , and the latter'by the Wellington \Cantre in its revolt' against tho constitution of the governing body.' Howover,; it is not tho' intention now to review tho season in toto—that is another story—but to deal with tho closing scenes as enacted at the Carruthers' bonefit meeting. In'the firet place congratulations'are in order, first to the, promoters of- the gathering on its successful issue, secondly to the public on account of tho manner in which it supported tho affaii',-and last, but not least, ;':to the 1 performers ..for-, tho way : in which -they turned-out to assist in the cause of their late comrade. Also a special ■word is due to the Highland Pipe' Band for its well-appreciated efforts to help in' the afternoon's entertainment. . The- music, and dancing provided by the "Kilties" made, a very agroeablo .diversion, and, moreover, I am informed that they, refused to tako advantage of the ground-passes issued to:them, which they-tore up at tho 'ticket box and, insisted on contributing their quota to the gate-money. This kindly, act was'in strong contrast ,to the behaviour of the .usual deadhead throng- who lined the' outsido of the. fence and, enjoyed the fare provided on the " nod." •- ~ . , i.

' The handicappers of the short sprint ovents ; gave the judges a deal of : trouble in . sorting out tho': placed men, 1 and made a .good beginning by bringing, off a dead-heat in .the first", run of, the 50 yards-handicap, , a per-, fonnanoe'th'at was repeated in the first heat of tho 300' yards handicap. The. versatile M'Kay. .annexed _ the 150. yar.ds *.by four yards, beating Freddy Roberts (to whom ho was conc"Edjngl'Ori6. : arid:a half'iyarilsV'lby. inches, Golds being Very " contagious "-'from tho 31 yards mark-.-;.; ;T

.- Old-timer;-,.W..,H. Pollock., pulkd.-'off 'the' hundred' after a vc-ry-: strong L ru'n from ;'2s' yards,- and was 1 , rather ; lucky in so doing, inasmuch as through -a misunderstanding as to his number, he. dressed after his: neat' under, the delusion that he : w;as, not !placed : .therein'. Fortunately,' his mistake (Was- disoovercd in time for him to .again, array-him-self for tho fray, with thi' result as .above. Turnbull and, Hubbard, who have been filling places very , consistently _lately, had the pleasure of doing so again in that order. Both these events filled very well, each requiring - four ; full beats to dispose of the runners engaged. . ■ . . '-.

. Harry .Henderson was scratch' in .both, but was-rather short in condition, and could 'do'; no morethan. get amongst his ■ field/,' Goodbehero- started'.-off with two /yards ' in '' thj' 100 yards,' and-rati .into-a-good. seQ'ofid 'in'his. heat, but ,'didyiot finish'it-'out'ih the", filial;' I '.''' ; The'3oo yards handicap. .(Carrutliers Memo-; rial 1 race);' 'provided. three 'preliminary' runs, in which :! the;'places Jvei'oi filled by'the.middle-; markers. ■ ? As" previously stated,';th-6 'first' t heat;' .provided a' : dead-lieati'..Turnbhll; and...Golds, tft-; gcther Jiist 'beatingiPollock',' froin : 'iyiipm. 'were receiving 19 ~ and 'IS -yards; respectively;' These two finished .-.first ,and; third oin .the final, with' Turnbuir iu front and M'Keown off 21 .-yards separating'.them.'' \

S. Wilson ; \yon his maiden event by appropriating the'lOOO yards handicap rat-hcr comfortably from the limit.-of(80: yards'.'--From-an entry, of-sixteon only five started! -Gordon';off ten yards, beinjg the backmarkcr! Wilson was- never., in. serious -.troujble, '.'though-.' Murray's jsprint round .thjß homo curyp flattered .his supporter's, ~'a'nd ."brought him Up .to 'a .yard . or. so ; of the leader. •'. Ho; Could- not hold .the position, however j-'aiidV,fell, away again in .the.final,effort;, AYilson won by five yards,' with' Gordon third, about fifteen yards away. •. . The-mile■ brought? 'out a good field, Rigg bearing;, the honours •of scratch"man.- The time of the winner, Oram, off : . 70 too hqt JorL.him,. the journeyt.bein^.;,done.■;in, 4min.',36 ; .3^psec'.,.but. his performance. for>iso.; young"; .tf .'xjiniier /was!-, distinctly :;crSit : a;blefi' Ho arid scoyered; - thej :distdricej in 4mi.nV 45sec. ...Fitzger'aid,' off BO; in his '.Usual : solid seoond.', .' " r t , Tho>interest: in.''.the; three centred ;in .Sharpe;. who was'askdd-W'coiicixld a limit of 340. yards; He started' offin' good' stylo, and put the first'mile away in smiiil ssec,, ; but .was unable to. hold/'to "the' pace, and 'eventually had to content hipiself with second place to Mulcahy. This Gunner is ahard man to reckon with, his performances being so in and out in merit and' ; he had rather the best of the handicap, having an allowance of 120 yards, but the time of the race, lomin. 44 2-osec'.; should have-teen well within'Sharpo's reach, had-he been'running up to his championship form. '

'As I anticipated last week, the footballers' relay race .aroused much'interest.'■ -.Tlio-win-ning. Old Boys' team, Blias; Johnson, Robin-, son, and Dawson, held! the third, position ineach section;-in thei last" of : which". Dawson) •had a gap of_ fifteen yards . to /make.-upon; 'Kitte; the representative,; and; cut it-out'''iif good' style) getting - homo^ by) about a.^ard,jl, should, lilpe.-te., see<'R'abihson,;, . whom T also noted as sho'wingl-gcHxl l fomiEat 'the Banks' sports, :v take -iip the . sport soriously next season,' and Hope liis win wilLhavo ■the effcct-of-'inalnrig. him do' so.y';';'"^:'!;

The finisll'of: tho, ; milo walk was' orie of. tho closest:seen , on the Basin for-, a. long while; Marshall, of-the Hutt; Valley A.A.C.', just beating : tho scratch: man,, Fitzgerald, by. a 'chest; The'race was rather spoilt otherwise by the, dropping,out .of all the other-com r petitors engaged, for which the pace-cer-tainly gave them no excuse. The quality of-the field event performances call for no mention, except M'Kay's pole- 1 ;vaiidting ; exhibition.! M'Kay got over 10ft. •after two- attempts, and ; then cleared, 10ft. 6in. 'The bar was then, raised another .'three inches, but thtro came an ominous " crack.", frpm the .bamboo pole at tho first attempt, and "Mac," with the 'memory of his: spill' in Sydney fresh in,his mind,; wisely, but reluctantly, relinquished tho jump; ■Rex Bridge met with a nasty mishap dur T , ing the afternoon, dislocating his shoulder' while lon'g-jumping.i,.... . -V . - : The public meeting oonvened by Mr. J. EL. Pollock, deal with - tho Kerr-Murray proposition was but sparsely attended, but what was lacking in numbers was to a certain extent made up by the enthusiasm of tlioso present and tteir determination v to ■ see the thing through. . The outcome is' that, subscription lists aro already ' in circulation in tiro city,' aind-are on the way to,amateur enthusiasts in other towns in the, North Island, accompanied by the following, circular, which sets forth tho case very clearly-;—"' Sir, —Tho majority of amateur-athletic'enthusi-astsin New, Zealand were in accord- with the president of - the' Wellington Centre, of the N.Z.A.A.A. when he expressed tho opinion ,th«t steps ' should bo takon to send Harry Kerr, the Australasian and New Zealand amateur champion walker, to London, to represent New Zealand at the forthcoming Olympic Games.. (Dr. Jfewman's opinion has since bcon eridorsedby Mr. Richard Coombos,' president of the Amateur Athletic Union of Australasia, and later , by a unanimous resolution of the Council of the New Zoaland Amateur Athletic Association. Tlio latter body' promptly, communicated their views to tho various Centres, and urged them to take steps to raise the funds necessary to defray! the expenses to; London of Messrs/Kerr and H. St.-A. Murray, 4 'tho Australasian and Now .Zealand, amateur 440 yards hurdlo champion. Mr. J. E.' Green, who managed the Now Zealand team during their victorious invasion of Australasia, referred (whilst speaking' at the recoption extended to. the team on' their return) in most eulogistic terms to the perform an era of, Messrs. Kerr' and Murray; Mr. Green strongly advocated that stcos .oo taken tc - ktn at redaahtaH&iffij&it

Home; Murray's quarter-mile hurdle performance, he declared, was easily l ahead of . anything yet accomplished in either America, the Continent, or England. Referring to Kerr, Mr. Green said that ho had not yet been fully extended; his stylo had, however, met with tho approval of the highest amateur athlotic authorities, and ho should hold his own with tho very best of _ the world's amateur walkers. Under such circumstances New Zealand sportsmen will, no doubt,, agree that this Dominion would be sadly lacking in loyalty to itself should it ■ remain unrepresented at the Olympic Games for -jio other reason than lack- of funds to defray the expenses of two such worthy representatives. I feel that our wealthy patjons of sport liavo only to be made aware of the fact that their aid is required., in which case tho sum necessary will bo promptly forthcoming.—J. H. Pollock, 19 Roxburgh Street."

Personally, the movement has m.y heartiest support. and. sympathy, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see -it Drought to a successful issue, and, moreover, •I feel sure that the next two or three weeks will see this consummation attained. .