The Dominion SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1915. SPORT AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2558, 4 September 1915, Page 4

The Dominion SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1915. SPORT AND WAR

■ /'■ :At a „ meeting held in Sydney recently for the purposo of forming a Sportsmen's Battalion for servico abioacl one of the speakers remarked tnat sport wap-a sort of practice for war, aiid the time had how.'arrived tor practice to cease and the real game to be entered upon. There is no class in tlio community to which the Empire has a better right to look for lighting men than the young,men who excel in pur national games. I 1 iolcl sports havo played a very material part in the evolution of our national character. ■'■ They should not be- regarded'. as ail end in themselves, but as a moans"whereby the yvuth,of (,ho country fit themselves to perforrn their duties as good citizens, and one of the first duties of a citizen is to defend his country, l'otn tho point of view, of physical ■r1 ess l■ c a Metic sportsmen aro tho elite. of the community, and . they should bo tho first to place their services at the disposal of the State in times of national peril. Their recreation should be' a preparation for tho more serious business of life. They have now a magnificent opportunity of proving that tho strength, alertness, staying power, self-disci-pline, and ' sense of comradeship which they have acquired on the playing fields can be put to good lise ion the field of battle. It is to the credit of sport that so many of its most brilliant devotees have responded enthusiastically to tho Empire's call for soldiers, and numbers of them have already given their lives for their country. Every form of sport is sending its best men to the war. Football, cricket, tennis, golf, boxing, and rowing are all well represented in camp or at the front; but some are still "practising" while their comrades are "up' against the real thing." Major Jordan, a wellknown Canterbury footballer, in the course of a stirring letter from Gallipoii, remarks: lots more footballers might very well lie with us, talcing part in the greatest of nil games. Long ere this, I'm thinking that many in New Zealand will bo mourning the loss of many of tho best of our boys. ■ May tho pride they must feel in tho splendid courage sbiown by tlioso who have gono from us comfort them somewhat in their sorrow. And wbat of thoso footballers, aiid spectators, who have not yet volunteered ?—and especially those lyho have played ivith or against those particularly lino comrades who went under during tho "first quarter.*' Are tlior pressing iorward to take their places iii this team of ours? I wonder! Or does their comradeship end at the door of tho recruiting office? There's plenty of room for emergency players here for both "forwards" and "backs." Let's hopo tliey'll prove themselves "forward," and there's plenty of places offering for tlioso standing on the bank and cheering; Let. them strip and get into it. . There's no limit to the mimbcr of players in tliis' team. The whistle of the bullet is sweeter by farthan that of tho referee/ and for the raalflne wo strive to "fbuch down" in the enemy's trenches. This letter is saturated with tho true sporting spirit. There should be no hanging back, from tho great adventure on tho part of men who pride themselves on their "gameness." ■ The faso ; nation of living dangerously is almost irresistible to tho "real sport." Now Zealand athletes are doing their part nobly. The brief biographies of tho killed and wounded which have been published in The Dominion indicate that a Large proportion of our men at the front have been prominent in outdoor sports. During tho last fe,v days tho names cf quite a number of New Zealand athletes have been added to the ioll of honour. In the..sketch of tho career of Private W. J. Mansell, of Canterbury; it is stated that "he was a very fine all-round amateur athlete." Of Trooper W. It. Pyle, of Otago, it is recorded that he "in turn represented Southland, Wellington, Canterbury,.and South Island in the football field." Sergeant Henry Dewar "was a member ,of the All, Black team which toured California," and "was also: a boxer of no mean order." The record of Private E. LmxBJOHN, of Nelson,- tells us that "he had been a prominent athlete and had gained ropl'drcntot.ivo >&Mwurs on the football field," Pju.)

vate L. C. Larkin, of Wellington, "took a keen interest in vowing, shimming, football and gymnastics."' These are but a few typical examples. Similar references are to be found in many of the biographical notices of those killed in action which appear almost daily in the Now Zealand Press. Tho sportsmen of other parts of tho Empire have an equally fine record to their credit. A few days ago it was stated that 1253 New South Wales llugby Union footballers have been accepted for service at the front. It was recently announced in an Australian paper that six of the best swimmers in Victoria have joined tho colours. In Britain the University athletes have enlisted in large numbers, and nil branches of sport aro well represented in the firing lines. Corporal Brigstock, a well-known boxer, has. been awarded the D.S.M. for being instrumental in saving three- lines of trenches with his maxim gun on the first occasion that the Germans used poison gas. A cablegram wHch appeared in The Dominion a few days ago stated that CJarpentier, the champion boxer, who is on _activc service with the French Aviation Corps, has mot with a serious accident. Anthony Wilding, the world-renowned tennis player, has made the supreme, sacrifice. Golf has .lost Lord. Anneslejt, W:-A. Henderson, and Julian MAu-tin-Smith; also Miss Neill Fraser, who died of typhus in Servia. All the belligerents have lost distinguished athletes, but Britain's losses ,in this respect have been the heaviest. Tho best of our athletes realise that war is tho only "game-" worth playing at the present moment, and they are'giving a practical demonstration of the national valuo of sport. Physical fitness and the sporting spirit arc priceless assets to a country in times of war.