ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 775, 26 March 1910, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

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, : '. ; f'■■:: :; 'FIXTURES;- :;■;;,- . ] To-day.—Hawora 7 inaugural ',' ■■ meeting. •';.■.; -■ Easter Monday.—University ■ Tqurna- ; ment, New Plymouth A.A.C. meet- ;' ring;-' : ; "' • .' !■'-'■ ",'■'■' •April 2.—Auckland A.A.C. meeting. April" -6.— Poilding. A.A.C.. meeting, : Woodvillo A.A.C. meeting. ..: ; ,. , What should bo .the last','- atbietic "meet" of the season in Wellington is to take place at Miramar. on' April 2. The affair is under-the control of the i Athletic :■• football. I Club,;' •;; and' Vi -.will; precede the usual football practice. The running events ; are: 60 yards . club championship, -75 : yards handicap for junior -members, and a 440 yards football relay race., This last .event will be a proper football competition, from goalline to. goal-line—each competitor - to' carry a ball, to be passedito;his,colleague;a forward or otherwise irregular pass to-bring about disqualification.: ■AH events iiiust bo run-in football boots and jerseys. -A place-Kicking competi-tion-is to ; be held - in ,'conf unction' with tho'athletic, events. . .'Last Saturday .saw the'last of, the season's'.' meetings bn^'the Basin; Reserve, .arid;'the; gathering■ was : a worthy' wind.iip, to';a successful .season./;. The ."gate". Was'a.Burprisingly'gobd:one, considering the.number of,meetings that have been held'recently^":■'..;ln .this connection it must-be said that it is not a bad thingfor the sport-that the season .has now closed. With sports gatherings : as with, everything else, there can bo .too much of a good thing,'and in this .connection the bid adages regarding the'goose and' the golden. eggs, and the pitcher and' : the well, have a very close application.. Both .the running ,mari and tho specta- • tor have had.a'good innings,, but both 'hove-had'enongh. ; ' -And' so .it were'well to 'let well alone.' ■.'&/ % '■< .:■('.' - > : -i ■"':! ; -" ;■■'•

■ : .To'return/toUast Saturday's:doings. ./The -programme" was more, diversified than usual, owing to the inclusion of the dancing,;piping,, etc.i necessary to tho Celtic nature/of the occasion. The ,'tug-of-war and, wrestling y.also wore iri- "•"■ teresting items—tho .-former; .especially. 60. No fewer than eight. teams [ competed—four/of them; (two. seamen;-com-; / binations, one stoker contingent,'and a marine 'detachment) represented--'warships in port.;/-The other.four-were; '. "home-made," '/.consisting'/of -/hefty. oc-: ;tettes representing the : local police (the "Pioneer" team), Cable's Foundry; the Colonial Carrying ■;■ C 0.,; and' the City' \ Drivers. /The native-born proved too much for the imported article,-| and the process of elimination, left'the issue be-: ■ tween. Cable's;men" and''•tho ; -;'Driyers.

.The. foundry/ representatives won. out

; in the pull-off, but they certainly knew /'that they had been pulling before : a ./-Bettleihent • was'/Teached, for./the final - '•A-.nii '■■'&:■ long-pull: and -/a ; strong 'pull; in-. ';'■:■ .deed:'"!/-:,' ■'■"■'.:.'"'•';/- : '-'- ; ;:/y : '- : ' ; ; : -/ ; /- '.'-;!:>'. ■' : 'Strickland, . the Petone. sprinter, and Baxter gained thb-track.hohours; The former rati-second in the; 75 yards han- ' dicapoff ■ s'yards' to' Oyerend (8 yards),' .-■■■'• in 7; 4-ssec„ both in heat and final, he, .;•; won the 100 yards handicap.from the v.6;yards/mark m/lOsec;,- and ..was. beaten 1 /by inches in the.22o yards'.'Handicap off ;• ,; v :B:yards. in: 22." 4-ssec;.. In this event ;be. 11 yard's,' 1 :r : i.r:but.,af&..Hi3,(SprintVruns,. Mn Jio W? /:' Heenan Tecd'nsidered /-the- ' allotments';;' '■'.;': and penalised him two yards.- -Mr; '• Les- '■{• i lie,'the ."starter. 1 .: also/took. -and. •/; mulcted-'Strickland a -yard-jbr break-' "■''' iiig, delicate/attentions," that' just pr> ; ■;•:;,vented the.:speedy ; Petorieite from,hoist-' '■;' \ir double. - ,;.- .:./^;/,"v/i'/.-' ; ;;b-;':- : ; ,i;->--/r '■■•" ;'- ///Baxter showed.(to/'advantage iii : the j /i/'one and three .mile! runs.;, In\the shor,...ter.distance he wa's'Holding a good.posi- r ,'.;tJon,/:and'/ : was-full-of; running ; when: ,'.~' ; %e;:bell .went for/thelast lap, when he; .--losta,shoe,-and-did:.the round-with'-one ■■': . bare foot,/., and 'then, ran- , vthirdi In the.three mile -he ; made no / mistake, and ; ran-' 'a::; very. Heady '..race, . ■ ;•; concluding-' ■ with ~■ a'■•'•; sensational . sprint ,'// over the last'-; 100.-yards; that took Hifn .-"■ ';honie ; an" easy winner -in 15min".'/51sec?, V;/./off■: 120' :yards: //'Heffer -made/his..first.' .'./ appearance as a three-milcr,-. and shared ' •'■; the' post of honour on the scratch mafk . •.;..; with T. .Rigg, ..the. iViotoria; College .run-, ;.'. / ner. . He-took matters -very, easily oyer' .-'- .the. first half distance—too : easily, in , : fact- r and : allowed-hia field to get'away ; from him, leaving all tHe handicaps to- ;,. be pulled/up.in;the last li miles. His'. .-•■ vilast: mile, was'/very; fast, and took .'Him, :/..;mto.. second/place at.vthe, finish.: his' time .being 16min.' 3sec.,a good,run for . ,-»' maiden effort: over the distance! Rigg .-..-■: was very;.handy—third.'■•'.-■■■' ■ ' .... • ..The .■ one ■,and,/a half-mile',-walk -/•: was productive ! of-.:-, a well-earned ■' V j popular ! win'. /for -that., hard ■'■; ■ ;tned; : M.. Tracy,./' and ' of'' a,'. sound '■'■ -exposition from Cashman,.'the'Vscratchmsn: There were /two disqualifications ,'. : for, faulty walking, Brook 'and Fitzger- - , ..aid being i he .recipients thereof. /By the 'way, what has happened to 'the' genial ■ /. "Paddy" ? , Ho is. far from/ being the .-■; walker/that .won-the Three-mile' New Zealand : Championship / last /season. ..' Cashman walked inigood stylesthroughr / : ( :Out, "and got- within : striking distance of .' 'the,winner,in the last lap,• but Tracy ■■■; was carrying -too : . much, condition; and - .managed to stallihim-off,-covering the ■journey in 10min.36sec.,/with Cash: ■-.'' man 10 yards or so away/ -■-'' ,' In the field' games' the; jumping; was y/ A good. /Mr'.',-Talbot,', :the'Handicapper, , ;■:'. measured his ''adjustments. very nicely, . ~,and got closr, finishes and -two dead ' /heats for secaiid places. L. M. M'Kay ... was again, in good fettle. Ho: won the .three,standing:jumps'.with 31ft./llin., ./.- tied/for -second place, in- the high jump . at sft.; 6Jin. .with/M'Namara, covered ':.;■; 44ft. - ifiinv in the/hop, step," arid-jump, :and,l9ft. odd in.the broad jump, be- ': '/sides : gettiug second ; place in th'o ham-. . ; mer-throwing •' contest. ■ ,In; the. •'_■ broad •-.''"jump Hubbard, the New-Zoaland oham'./pion,'cleared.over.2oft. ~.,:, '.'.\ .;.' ''.:, Before-..'leaving /Saturday's" .meeting,. : mention should,be! made' of J. P. Wflson's:. half-mile./run. v Starting.-from .scratch,: he ran/into second.place, cov- :. ering the^,distance in 2min. 3-ssec. - ••'■• ■'. --Runners are reminded, that entries •',- for the inaugural meeting of,the newly-. : formed club at Woodville , on April 6 .-,,' close on March 30., '..',-"■.-.': .. ; : '-There : is trouble/'in : the amateur:ath.'iletio camp in' Wellington. The outward '.visible.signs thereof-.are to bo found in the fact that the Messrsi.'Poll6ck,'.pere ct fils, bavo handed in ihoir Tesigna- : tions to: the'council of the N.Z.A.R.A. ;. :' /The trouble is not rwith the council.-- :; That, body is ,in the unfortunate position of being made the loser of two of ..■'■' its most-valuable members through out-' / side influences. The why and wherefore . of .this action' on. tlio part of these ';:. two'gentlemen is-contained/in tod long .':-'■'■ a/story for full exposition' Here,, hut the /position: may be briefly summed up as -■:•..follows:—At the; last meeting ; of the Wellington Centre, Mr. H. S. Robinson tabled a motion .reading:, "That / this centre, controlling as it does the .-, sport in: Wellington,. would liko to assure the Auckland Centro that corro- ...'.'; sppndehco sent to'the latter.city other than that sent through the secretary of ' ; this centre, is.of no official;value, and '. Has not the approval of members of the '-': Wellington Centre;".... This motion waß ■ carried by tlio centre by 10 votes to 1. .Coming as it did right upon the top of .the 'action of. the- Wellington A. A.O. in inviting 1). Wilsqn to compete hern / on 3 March ,-5. .this motion -.'-.was -inter- .-'. pretcd-byitho oflicials of tlic W.A;A.C. as boiii's:directly pointed at.the club's

action "in so .doing, and was greatHy resented as.being a gross interference by tho centre wjth the private workings ,of- a.club within its .jurisdiction. Mr. Pollock, ssn., is the president of the: W.A.A.C., and Mr. Pollock, jnn.., is one of tho club's most enthusiastic workers, and is a -lifo- member thereof. .Both occapy. seats on tho. New Zealai id Council, a fact that debars them from sitting on. the centre; :.60 they have resigned, in order that they can the better figbtVtheir club's battle on the local body. Mr. W; H.'-Pollock has already .been returned thither as a delegate from •the.-Harrier-.Club.-.-.- ■'-.'...'-:....■... .'■ Briefly, that is the position. As <fco Mr. Robinson's:motion, it is hard 1» .understand .what it. was intended . to convey, and it is certain that its fudl import was not understood by the menabors of the centre when passing it. Htid the Auckland Centre, been mentioned instead of the : Auckland city as • being :the 'recipient', of-! unauthorised correspondence,' there would-have been nothing to cavil at. To say, however, that private "correspondence-from a club or individual in Wellington to a club or individual in' Auckland on athletic business is'-without: value because it does not pass thfough-tbo Wellington Centre; and that it has not the approval of the ' centre' for the'.' Barney reason, is ridiculous beyond oxprossidn.. Whether! it has, any. value or-hot is entirely in: .'the opinion and! whether or not-it meets with the ap-' proval of the Wellington Centre is a. matter of the most absoluts indifference! ito the ;partie3 'coocernjd.; - '' ';'• ' : 'Thero 'can' be no - disputing • the • right, of;any.ebb,pr..of any official of anyclubj as far as' that., club's centre isi concerned, to invito any member of any other club affiliated to any other, cen,tre to at its meetings, ,provided of: course there : is no' transgression of the: amateur rules regarding ex-' penses, etc. Any. attempt by any centre to "question this right is decidedly : • ultra- -'vires, and is;:. moreover,' as: -the W.A.'A.O. holds : a ,' most impertinent and unwarrantable interference with tho club's'!domestic affairs. . In the present case all; the correspondence was. with Wilson direct, the prize offered by Mr. J. : H. Pollock -was within the limit allowed by,, the amateur rules,- 1 and the question of expenses was'not mentioned. "Mercury" is- convinced that 'this aspect -' of the question .did not occur either to Mr. Robinson or to the mem-bers'of-the centre, and that: they were hot conversant-,with .these facts, or: else the,motion would !not have been carried, even if proposed.

■; The executive': of tho W.A.A.C.- con-sidered-..the; matter last Monday and the president brought .down the following motion: / "This-, committee strongly. Tesbnts'.'an ill-advised attempt; oh/ the part of the local, centre to ■usurp" the .'functions of /amateur ath-' :letio /'clubs within-, its .-jurisdiction, and-further',-repudiates the' right,of - the ceh-.:tre-,tp dictate to ,this-or ! any club's offi.cialsiwith reference- to the -manner.in wllioh clubs' domestic arraingemonts. arb conducted so long as the amateur rules are : complied.witn." . Mr. Robinson,. the mover of ■ tie. motion, .objected to,'. was present and explained -His attitude and .ultimately ; it' was.-debided: to "adjourn' until; after.,the next- meeting of the centre in order-,to,see/what: steps tba-t body was ready to take in-the matter. In:.tlio/meanwhile; as 'stated above, the Council; of-':the.iN..Z;A.R;A.,"is\the,.,im-mediate sufferer'andAwiU,be .baTd;' put , to'-it-.to satisfactorily fill .the seats' 1 vacated through 1 the' unfortuna-te' im- ;,„';;■.. '.... _' .to-D.-jWilson's'letter, which ~was noted v la"st.week,-as coming.tohand ,'tpo .late' to. bo/dealt with' then, and which -' contradicted;, certain ■ statements made in tbis column regarding Mt. R: Coombes and tho walker's "gait, the .writer.'has -.tb. express his -regretvif a memory;;:*otherwise rather,"reliable in these 'matters has. led lum" into ;error : and ,to apologise;, to .Mr.^Wilson for tacking .the' incident, quoted on to him. However, "Mercury" has-a distinct re-' collection of; - the /incident happening' to. one/of our Australasian, champion' ..walkers'and to make:things quite dear' has: written Mr.'Coombes for full par-' ticulars,-.so;/the;'matter ; may come up "again./ 1 -': '■:■ -.y'. l ' .''';'.' ... :■! ,' '■ ~.:

■ .On the subject of.walking in general, and' Wilson's walking in particular,, Mr/ Coombes; has:rnucH to say in the last . f Qßeferee"' !to I .'.Hand. -Ho. writes: "I;,greatly- fear,that the time is not very-far distant:'when the walking -ovents;(and possibly, the shot, putt also) will not find a place on the championship programmes j owing • to the ever-pre-sent: difficulty of securing officials,' both competent, and with sufficient firmness, 'to interpret' the, rules "governing these branches, of sport. .-In,this respect, so far, as' walking- is concerned, we. are only following m the footsteps of those >t,.the/Head of-affairs in the United States;, in which country heel-and-toe events /now-' seldom, find a place on! a -prograiumb. ■; The, dropping of walking events/on account of their being so unsatisfo/;tory is,: however,' but a rough-and-ready method of dealing with the trouble.. /There is, really' no parallel .between.:the United, Sta.te» and -Australasia, however.,-,ln: America the judges ;of walking are vested, with full powers to ■ determine tho-fairness or, otherwise of the gait,-although there is ho'rule describing' 1 what -is legitimate heel-ahd-too / progression—everything is.. left to the judge, whose own personal" opinioj, is final. In. Australasia; we have defined walking. in plain and understandable language,, and, furthermore; wo have laid down a style in walking. Having evolved a, code supposed to.be intelligible alike to the competitor,: the judge,-and the general public, one would imagine that everything would be plain sailing. But, alasl.it is not so,, and woare again and. agahi confronted with .tho'spectaclo/of absolute disregard for the rules meeting, with no word even .of;.caution,: let alono disqualification. Judges, are appointed; 60mo with little or no knowledge of the rules, others with no force of- character, others with a mixture of both. We 6eemto be hurrying along tb the period when there must be a limit'/to. tho patienco.of the various assbcia-tions, and when the mandate will go .'forth thai the fa-rco must bb ended." ../ /

,; Surely Mr. Coombes is taking a pesiiimistio: view of the trouble. That Buch-a trouble exists is undoubted, but it is .extremely doubtful if it is moro of a trouble now than, it has - been in the past. In s any casb surely,; again, if the' sport' 'is- threatened by . evil practices, then it is. the evil practices that should bo "scotched," and not the 'sport./ And therb is no reason why this., particular . evil' should; not be "scotched" if the centres will take some little trouble in the matter: , If at. every- sports meeting ; whereat a walking judge of roputo is ; engaged,' He were given '. a --staff of three or four officials willing to acquire tho training necessary to fit them for -the post later on,; who could assist him'in bis duties and at the samo time could be coached and given practical demonstration by Him, it would not be niany years before a number of capable judges was in oxistenco., ...

Of Wilson's gait Mr. Coombes goes on to say:—"l approach, the subject of the 'defeat of.ll. E. Kerr by D. Wilson with an absolutely open mind, knowing both men .well,- and thoroughly understanding their modes of progression, etc. It would appear that Wilson, beyond any reasonable dqubt; broke the '. rules of the'A.A. Union, whilst Kerr is reported to havo. admitted breaking the rules (in the second race, the mile, he said that, whilst.labouring under great irritation, he ran as hard as heicouldon his heels) without-even a : ward-of.warning apparently being given. Evan admitting tlwt

he wag greatly; upset and provoked by ■ supposed , unfair treatment, I am, indeed, sorry to hear that Kerr admitted running (ho certainly did not run on his heels) becafiso an opponent was allowed to run. And something very similar occurred at a previous Australasian champion meeting, although the famous H.EJK. had nothing to do with that. I allude to a race in 1904. I understand that a lot of capital has been mado out of the alleged fact that Mr. Coombes passed the style of Wilson in 1901, the inforenco being that if Wilson was 'correct' in 1901 ho must also have been in 1910. I have no desire to enter into any controversy at this period aB to tho stylo of D. Wilson in tho past, but it is absolutely necessary to again say this, much: Firstly, the Australasian championship racos on the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1897 wero not. under tho present rules of tho A.A.U. of A.; whilst for tho Auckland eTents tho.. amended rules wero not operated also there were two judges of walking, each taking half of the, ground—Mr.,! Mahon that portion embracing the start and finish, and Mr. Coombes tho far side—with no interference by cither judge with tho doings and happenings in tho domain of his follow-offieial. I reproduce what I wrote in 'The Referee' after the Australasian championships in Auckland in 1901:— 'To me the walking races in Auckland on December 18, 20, and 21 will be remembered with mixed feelings. They yere unsatisfactory, and yet something was achieved, because it was clearlydemonstrated that no matter how drastic' the rules governing walking may be made, it is often hardly possible to see the breaches thereof, or to find judges sufficiently stern and unbending, even if capable, to administer them rigorously.' : ..,.-., • "In the Australasian championships B. Wilson and A. O. Barrett practically had -.the', events' to themselves. Both in the mile and three miles after the .-.Victorian veteran' had done air the pacemaking, and tried to break up the other,- Benedick, Wilson put on a terrific spurt and won easily. In each I case the spurt was made on the curve some 190 to 200 yards from the finish. Now, let mo speak of the styles from careful observation, and.the aid of a camera. D. Wilson, probably from abi sence from the track,'has-retrograded since,l Baw him on the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1907. He, did not carry his body quite as erect as of old, and often did not quite straighten the leg of tho front foot as its heel found contact with the ground. Going along the straights' almost fully .extended, ho was doing some fine heel and" too work, but round the curves somo of his efforts were bad, and I am quite satisfied he at times, then jumped from heel to heel in the mile event." ■

' Thus decidedly did Wilson displease Mr. Coombes in, 1901. The Mr. Mahon mentioned as being- Mr.' : Coombes's fellow judge, .and whose leniency ho apparently took to then, is the same gentleman that officiated in Auckland, at /the recent .championship meeting/' .-■::.. ■■■•■ ■'- .' •' .'■ ..■ ■■■-

' The Auckland Centre -has/applied for and has been granted permission from 'the ■N.Z.A.A:A: to.pay Harry Kerrls expenses to-;Auckland-to.meet Wilson at the' meeting there on .April 2.