OLD-TIME SPORT

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 61, 9 September 1924, Page 5

OLD-TIME SPORT

"TOM" BARKER'S PERFORM-

ANCES,

Mr. T.L. Barker/ whose retirement from tho Public Service (Government Life Insurance : branch) is announced, was one, of. 'Wellington's ; foremost' athj letos in .the 'eighties.; As a nmner, his ! favourite.. distances were the rriile and the half-mile, with a preference for' the' latter. He was also,prominent in quar-ter-mile events. ■" During the period from 1883 to 1887. inclusive, he put up the line total: of 29 firsts, 6 seconds, arid 13 thk'ds—a,-very-meritorious record, when it is considered that he had to compete against such famous athletes as Moniior:k. Poole. J. Hempton, J.- M. King, Cyrus'Webb, and others of note in those days. As a maiden runner, "Tom" Barkur did the '-hat-trick," scoring three firsts on the Basin Reserve, "in 1883. This fe:>.t he repeated on-two subsequent occasions, viz., at Nelson and at Bloomfield Park, Lower Hutt. At the latter sports one' of the oonipetitors was the famous Jonathan Roberts, who,' after getting what was regarded as a rather severe' sentnnce; for" allegedly: stealing' a horse, created a; sensation .by making a second escape 'from custody. ' That was many years ago,1 and RoLerls lias never been -recaptured. . ■ 7 : ■"■""""*

"Tom" Barker-was-ever a believer in keeping, fit, and to this •he doubtless owed much -of;, his success. In Mr. J. Stagpoole lie had a severe trainer of the old school, wlio frequently' accompanied him in long runs before breakfast over Ihn'-slopes* of Mount Victoria, which' were then very bushy. The name Hataitai was not known in those days. It is a tribute to Mr. -Barker's.- greatness on the track'that he only failed to get a place-sixteen times, these occasions being mostly towards the end of his career, when, as a. result of. his prowess, he i had. to concede liberal handicaps to less favoured companions. After his retirement from the track he acted for. some years as a handicapper with marked success. > • . '