ATHLETICS

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 840, 11 June 1910, Page 12

ATHLETICS

(By "Mercury.")

DO "PICNIC" EUXS DO IIAKlt?

Wellington Harriers. Another disappointing muster of the Wellington Harriers was recorded at the weekly run. last Saturday at Ngahauranga, when the pack consisted ot barely a score of runners. Among the missing ones wa's the man with the paper, whose absence- prevented the usual trail being laid. A course was set from the drtssiug'shed to the hills on tho northern side of Ngahuuranga, at the top of which some ideal harrier country exists, thence through the Paparangi Settlement, and by a big detour to a point beyond Joluisouville overlooking tlio Oliariii Valley. From here a turn to the left brought the pack past Johnconville p.nd over a number of paddocks back to the Gorge, about a mile and a half from home. Down the Gorge a steady pace was maintained till within SIM yards from the finish, when the whistle sounded for the final gallop, which after a strenuous struggle ended in a win for P. Wilton, with B. W. Curry second, and A. W. Muir, who misjudged the distance, u close third.- Altogether, about ten mileswas covered during the afternoon, the conditions being' entirely favourable "for the outing. To-day a run from Lyall Ball will b-s held, the rendezvous being the wharo of Mr. L. Johnson, which has been placed at the club's disposal for the afternoon. A finul reminder that entries for next | week's Palmer Cup race close to-day is given. The Brooklyn Club. Brooklyn Hurriers evidently require galvanising into a- more active state of being, judging by their poor muster at Tb An. Baths on Saturday. After tho record muster at the. picnic run of the previous week that of last Saturday,' when only ten toed the mark, requires som« explaining. Apparently picnics are demoralising to a pack, as it is noticeable that a poor muster invariably follow» mi a run of this nature in all clubs both hn-e and elsewhere. Whj ? 0. .Hunger as pacemaker was not able tu break any new ground, having perforco to follow practically, the same old route from this point, viz., to Kilbivnife by way of Evans Bat ami Itntaitai, and back over Alt. Victoria.- Near the signal station the' -"run in" was 'commenced each man being left to select his own course down the hill. Whether by superior pace or better: local knowledge, this deponent knoweth not, but C. Murray easily out-distanced his comrades, and reached the Baths well ahead of J. Don (second), and l l '. Delaney (third), the remainder straggling homo at intervals. To-day a general handicap (sealed) will be run off at Miramar, over a three mile course for club trophies. Thirteen entries have been received, and as this is tho club's first' open race, an interesting contest should result. An Inter-'Varsity Crack. Commenting on the splendid performances of Leslie Davis, at the recent Inter-'Varsity tournament in Sydney, which wero remarked ' upon by ".Mercury" last week, ".Prodigal" says in tho "Referee"-.—"Coming across 'to Sydney, he first won the 100 yds. in 10 3-ssec, He then took -the running bijiad jump at 21ft. Sin. (at the first, jump;, : and followed it up by winning the 120 yds. hurdles in IS 4-osi-c.—which heats the N.S.W. record of 1G l-ssec, and ties the Australasian record held, by Geo. Smith. On thn second duv of the meeting he ran -110 yds. over 10 flights of lift. Gin. hurdles,, 40yds. apart, in 57 Wsec—a world's record. T might add that in this event Davis was disinclined to compete at all, and only consented to strip after Messrs. Coonibes (a vice-president), B. 11. French (captain), V. M. . Fisher (committee), and W. K. Inglis (lion, sec.) had interviewed him. It was pointed out that the public bad been led to understand he was going to attempt to break the record, and there would be great disappointment of he did not compote. After hearing this -Davis agreed to run. It may interest my readers to know that after each, hurdle race the officials' re-measured the . tracks, height', of hurdles, etc., and found everything right. The 120 yds. course was 7Jin. over, and the dlOyds.a yard over. N.Z.A.A.A.: Two Important Matters. Two matters of great importance to Dominion athletics were adjudicated upon at the meeting of tho Council of the N.Z.A.A.A. on Monday night. These were, first, . the question of the limitation of the territory controlled by the "Wellington Centre, and. secondly, the status ot "League" Kugby footballers. Unfortunately, pressure of space precludes a lengthy dissertation on these matters, and they will be dealt with more fully next week. However, a brief summary of the questions will bo timely. ■ Does Wellington Control Too: Much? ■ The first matter was the outcome of an exuression of opinion by the Canterbury 'delegates nt the Conference of Centres in Dunediu in March, 1909, that the Wellington Centre was too big from n territorial viewpoint, comprising as -it did the Wellington. Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, unci intermediate districts in tho North Island and Nelson in the South. Sinco then Ihe force of this contenton has been strengthened by the formation of new clubs in ■ the Taranaki and Egmont districts, and at tho last conference in Auckland the matter was again brought up. It was then decided by the cDnferenco that in its opinion tho Wellington Centre's sphere of influence should be reduced. Following upon a recommendation to this effect the council set up a sub-com-mittee to go into the matter, and Monday's deliberations were the result of a report presented by this body. The report suggested that Wellington-should bo mulcted bv the attachment of Nelson to the Canterbury Centre, and the direct affiliation of the Egmout, Taranaki,- and Hawke's Bay clubs to the council, thus depriving tliese latter institutions of tho advantages o! centre government. It was further suggested that Canterbury s area should be augmented -further by the addition thereto of the West. Coast of tho South Island, hitherto unattached. In the matters of the West Coast and Nelson districts (he report found favour, but the proposition that the clubs outside the proposed Wellington territory should be governed directly by the council was' not favourably received. It, was quite apparent that these clubs were, not vet competent to carry out nor desirous of obtaining "home rule" by forming a centre of their own—on this point the councillors were agreed. It remained then to decide how they could be disposed of in the best interests of sport as a whole. To the credit of the executive all provincial aspects of the question were ignored, so much so in fact that the solution ultimately agrefd to. that is, that these clubs remain under the sway of the. Wellington Centre as at present, was proposed and seconded by the two Canterbury delegates. Status of League Footballers. . ' The second matter was brought before the council by the Australasian Union, which body asked for an expression of opinionas'to whether the N.SJ.A.A.A. approved of its ruling that a League .footballer had not forfeited his amateur status, provided that he had not accepted any 'remuneration for playing, and had not in any other way contravened (he laws of amateurism. Naturally, the discussion opened up many side issues, and was provocative of much argument as to the ethics of professional football in relation lo amateur athletics, but as (he nnestia.i before the council was simply one of lnw. and the application thereof to ■me specified ease, it could not be all'ecled iiv these extraneous inlluences. Conseq'uentlv ihe union's decision was upheld. U (lie same time (he council individually in arte no secret of its opinion dial, while I his ruling v. us unoJ in law, it was bad in principle.