Athletics,

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 70, 23 March 1907, Page 14

Athletics,

[By "Ajiatettk."] Though ths weather was far from pleasant on Saturday' last, a large crowd attended the Catholic Young Men'a A.C.'s f-ports at the Basin Reserve. Tho ■committeo was considerably handicapped in drawing up the programme by the laxity of competitors in sending in their entries. It is a noteworthy fact that throughout the season no club has closed its entries on the advertised date, owing simply to the fa<t that competitors never think of entering till at least two or three days after the nominal closing of nominations. The- clubs must, however, take their shnre of blame for this stato of affairs, which will continue till home club has the courage to rcftue entries sent in after the dato advertised for cloning. There were too many ehort sprints on Saturday's programme. The finishes in these races were as usual very close, -but the only runner who calls for mention is L. A. Chapman, a promising sprinter, who lias shown good form right through the season. Blame, winner ot the Consolation Race, in undoubtedly ono of the fastest in training here, but for some reason or other he seldom wins. Henderson jus-i tified in the 200 yds Invitation Scratch Race his form in the 220 yds Championship last month. Jumping quickly out of the holes, ho never gave his opponents a chance, and won with ridiculous easo from Fisher. The fact of the matter seems to bo that Henderson, though ho is running hundreds 'ns well as ever, can run one excellent 220 yds in an afternoon, but not two. At Chrisstchurch he ran far better in his heut than in the finul. Cioodbehere ran badly throughout the day, which was not surprising, as he had dono no training for the past ' fortnight. If Goodbehere imagines that ho can race frequently without any preparation, tho mistake will bo brought home to him very forcibly in a season or two. It would be far 'better for him if he were to keep in light, but steady, training, and not race too much. Sensational is the only word that enn rightly bo used to describe Burge's perfotmances on Saturday. In tho half ho clung to W. Goaling (who made the pace a cracker) all the way, and fairly worried dim out of the race. With the possible exception of tho 440 yds Provincial Championship on Now Year's Day, it was tho most exciting race seen hero this year. How fast the race win run can bo gathered • from the fuct that the third man was fully twenty yardq away" at the finish.' ' With '6syds stnit, the mile was little moro than an exorcise gallop for him, If Prentlevillo, Bradbury and Buigo wero to meet at a mile just now, Burg-e would, in my opinion, be returned tlio winner. iho Two-miles Handicap wna a poor race, only three finishing. M'Kay' went to the-, front cur'y and stopped thcro,,

Cashman again delighted his supporters by his fine walking. He was somewhat lucky in winning the longer event, Gow being called oft" when he appeared to have the race well irr hand. The surprise of the mile was Hogben's fine showing, lie walked with surprising pace oil through, and was only beaten on the tape. Tho feature of the field events was Evenson's fine effort in the high jump. '1 hough he had not competed in this branch of sport for more than a year, he had no difficulty in dealing sft 5in — a very good performance under the circumstances. He won the pole vault (having 2ft handicap) with a leap of Bft 6in, and his display was very good for a novice. M'Kay kept up his reputation as an all-round performer by winning two and securing second place in three events. He had a day off with the shot, but was only beaten a few inches by a competitor witn 4ft handicap. Matches between amateurs are of sufficently rare occurrence in Now Zealand to merit attention when one eventuates. At Auckland last t veek C. G. Dickeson and ij. Williams, who tied with an equal number of points for the Victor Ludorum Cup at tho Auckland Amateur Athletic Club's sports last December, contested a match over a 440 yds course to de. cide who should hold the cup, Williams winning an exciting race by a foot in 53iec. The match is reported to have aroused considerable interest. Our Auckland friends would keep the public interest alive if they followed the ex. ample of local <*lubs and held a few evening meetings. Andrew Carnegie baa evidently tired of spending his millions endowing \\- braries, and is seeking fresh fields in which to sow the seed of his benevo. knee. Recently ho gave £200 to the New York PuDiic Schools' Athletic League, to be disposed of by the executive in any manner they think fit. It is to bo hoped that the millionaire's latest _ humour will cling to him for some considerable time. In the meantime there seems no immediate prospect of any local well-endowed enthusiast doing the same for athletics in this country, where monetary assistance is more urgently needed.