SPORT IN THE OLD COUNTRY.

Evening Star, Issue 12899, 23 August 1906, Page 2

SPORT IN THE OLD COUNTRY.

CHAMPIONSHIPS ON LAND AND WATER. ; tFaoM Oto Sracuu, Cobsespondent.] "LONDON, July 13. Glorious weather favored the English Amateur Athletic Association championship meeting, held at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, and though tbe meeting _ lacked the international flavor of some of its pre- [ deoessors, tho sport on the whole was very good, and the performances of the successful competitors well up to the standard. The stranger element in the ranks of aspirants to championship honors was confined to the Sydney University crack, Nigel Barker, who could do no better than finish third in his heats in tho 220 and 440 Yards; C. B. Bacon, the Ameri-can-Irish runner, who was beaten off in the Half-mile; Harrigan, the West Indian cricketer, who achieved a bloodless victory in the Pole Jump, for which event fte was the only competitor; and Hagerman, of California, who was a very respectable second .to O'Connor in the Long Jump. As usual, proceedings opened with the 100 Yards, and the five preliminary heats (all run in tather slow time) left the holder (J. W. Morton, of the South London Harriers), Dennis Murray (of Dublin), Lieutenant Halswell (of Edinburgh), Pankhurst (of Salford), and Tremeer (of the L.A.C.) to fight for the major honor. As usual, Morton was slow off his mark, but at forty yards he began to forgo ahead, and, drawing steadily away, h° won by a long yard from Murray in lOfsec, Halswell losing second place by a foot. The track was on the holding side, but there was no wind, so tho time must bo reckoned poor. Dennis Horgan did not defend his title in the Weight-putting, and a new champion was found in T. Kirkwood, a Liverpool volunteer, who put the 161b lump of iron the very respectable distance of 45ft 4^in. Tho Mile Race produced a fine field and a fine race. The holder, George Butterfield, of the Darlington Harriers, was opposed by J. M'Gough, the Scot, and nine other runners of repute. The chamoion was content to occupy an inconspicuous position until a furlong from home, when he put in an electric sprint, which took him to the head of affairs, and soon opened up an eight-yards' gap between him and his nearest opponent. A few seconds later M'Gough came out of tho ruck in hot pnrsnit, but though he drew up a little, he could make no impression on Butterfield, who ran home a gallant winner by half a dozen yards in tho splendid time of 4min 18§sec, only If sec outside J. Binks's British amateur record, created on the samo track in 1902. Butterfield finislied so fresh and strong that had he been poshed in the last quarter he might easily have got inside Binks's figures. The Long Jump brought out half a dozen good men, including the holder, Pat O'Connor, who also holds tho British amateur record with a leap of 24ft ll|in. Ho could not get anywhere near those figures, but his best jump, 23ft s£in, was good enough to enable him to retain his title. H?eerman, the Californian, cleared 22ft o\!,in, and Cornish, of the L.A.C, 22ft s?in, whilst the remaining men all dul better than 21ft. This was O'Connor's sixth successive win. Tho Half-mil? had to be run in two meats, the first three in eaeh qualifying to compete in the final. Blunden, the holder, competed in the first heat, and ran second to J. Woolley, of the United Harriers, Bacon, the American, being third. The second heat went to A. Astley, of the Salford Harriers, who was chased home by Hellstrom and Lintott, both Ranelagh Harriers. The final was run at a fast pace, and Blunden and Bacon were soon in trouble. Woolley did the donkey's work from the start until a furlong from home, where Astley ran up to him. and having the pace of the United Harrier, beat him easily in the run home, four yards separating them at the finish. Astley's time was lmin 57isec. ' The 220 Yards Race brought out the holder, C. H. Jupp, of tho L.A.C, and he won his heat easily in 22§sec. Longhurst, of the South London Harriers, took the second in 23|sec, Nigel Barker being put into third place yards off; Hai-greaves, of Southport, took the next in 22|sec; and ■H. J. Pankhurst, of Salford, won tho fourth, in the samo time. The final saw Jupp clear out tho field easily, and win by three yards from # Pankhurst, who boat Hargreaves by six inches for second place. Jtrpp's time was 221spc. Trie field for tho 120 Yards Hurdle Race numbered eleven, but contained no timbertopper of the class of the American Kranzlein of the New Zealand?? G. W. Smith. R. Si Stronach (the holder) won his heat Si 16jsec, and Hussey, of Oxford, and roening, of tho "Polv," accounted for the second and third. The final produced a neck-and-neck race between this trio from start to finish. Inches only separated the men all the way, and finally Stronach just squeezed home on tho post a noso in front of Groening, with Hussey almost in a line with them. The timo fl6|sec) was poor for the championship, and compares very badly with Kranzlcin's British amateur record of 15£ sec. Tho Hammer-thTowing ovent fell to Leske, of Cambridge University, who hurled the 161b missile 123 ft lin—a poor achievement compared to Flanagan's 1900 record throw of 163 ft 4in. Perhaps the most exciting race of the day was the Four Miles. For this event no less than twenty well-known runners turned out, including J. Smith, of tho Salford Harriers, who created a mild sensation in this race last year by beating A. A. Sbjubb, who had won it easily in the four preceding year 3. On Saturday Smith took the lead at two miles, pursued by F. H. Hulford of tbe Birchfield Barriers, Roberts of Sefton, and Shee of Salford, and between these men the issue lay. Entering the last lap Hulford and Roberts were in front, with Shee and Smith as their nearest attendants. Both these runners however, were completely "baked," and at a sprint pace Hulford and Roberts made for the tape. Unhappily they ran into a batch of lapped competitors, and in the jostle they collided with each other, Hulford being forced off the traok. By this time both were completely done up, and it was only by a great effort of will that Hulford managed to raise some sort of rolling trot which enabled him to pass the post 6yds ahead of Roberts, who was so much done up that he could barely crawl home The winner's time was 20min 27|scc. The High Jump, as anticipated, fell to tho holder, Con Leahy, of Dublin, who cleared 6ft. The Quarter-mile Race also proved the good thing it looked on paper form for Lieutenant W. Halswell, of Edinburgh. Nigel Barker was ono of the competitors, but was beaten into third place in his heat and took no part in tho final. In this Halswell got badly away, and was shut in soon after the start.. Once an opening showed itself, however, the Soot , came through his field like a bullet, and running his race right out ho won by Byds from J. P George, of the South London Harriers in the grand time of 48isec, which is little lafwior to Tindall'g British amateur record of 484aec. Had Halswell had a clear course there can be little doubt be would, have set fm » h Britbh r<soord for tne distance That dmry spectacle, the Two-mite Walking it should 2 called—was easily won by A. T. Yeoman* of Swansea, in I4mi» 20J S8C (very tS time); and ths Two-mile Steeplechase was a gift for Unwell, the holder, who Tan away from his fbor rivals, and won bv —A "Back Number."— During the past few years the race for the amateur long«distance swimming championship has produced some ramarkabiv cioßa and exciting finish**. In 1904 the race wA* an ail-the-way fight between J. A. Jarvis and Dave BMington, and last year Billington and the ill-fated Barney kieran indulged in a memorable struggle which resulted in the Australian craok soing under by some fiyda. Both these races may be dubbed "memorable, M but for aheer excitement both were btaten last Saturday when J. A. Jarvis, after a great struggle with H, .Taylor, of Chadderton, got home by a bare yard and a-half after swimming 5 miles and 60yds in the fastest time on record for this particular race—'vi** lh Satin 40sec.

** tem than thkbtfow; men jAwai

into the Thames just above the Anglian' boathouse. at Kew. for the long swim to Putney Pier last Saturday, but though sixteen of them completed the course in time to get the standard medal awarded to all who finish within lOmin of the winner, and no less than covered the full distance, the interest of the event centred from first to last on Jarvis and. Taylor. Some of us have looked tip6n Jarvis as being "a back number." Last year Billington and Kieran botli beat him in this race fairly easily, and though both his conquercra wore out of the way on Satur r day last, it was scarcely expectod that Jarvis would be equal to winning the race for the eighth time. Taylor, with youth on his side, was expected to beat the Leicester crack, and for a long timo looked like doing so. The pair singled themselves ont from the start, and went off. at a pace that disclosed the fact that each thought that if he could only cracky up the other the race was his own.

They dropped the remaining competitors veiy quickly, and, travelling the faster, Taylor soon claimed quite a commanding aavantage. He was quite 30yds ahead after ' swimming eight minutes, but Jarvis, putting in all he know, had drawn to within 10yds ero the leader passed under Barnes bridge, nineteen minutes from the start. Taylor, getting into a fast patch, dicw away again, but passing Chiswick Eyot Jarvis, favored by the stream, drew up so rapidly that no got on level terms with his man soon after passing Chiswick Church. Then the great tussle began. For 300 yds the pair swam almost neck and n>?ck, and then Taylor spurted and passed under Hammersmith bridge, leading by a couple of yards (42min 37sec). Jarvk now put in a fast 100 yds. and drew level. Taylor answered the challenge, hut the run of tbo water favored' the veteran, and Jarvis began to draw away, and at Crab Tree wharf bad annexed a 15yds lead. Urged on by bis pilot, Taylor .made a despente effort to turn the tables. Trudging as hard as ho could the Chadderton swimmer tried to wrest the lead from the Leicester crack. Ho did not appear to be making much impression, but just at this point both men had to Hteer out of their course to avoid a n.oored dredge. Jarvis chose to sheer over to the Surrey shore, whilst Taylor elected to go towards the Middlesex side. And he made tho better selection, for a slant of the curront quickly carried him back on Km course, and whilst Jarvis was getting back into the stream Taylor had made up all but 2yds of his leeway. Now came the tug of war. Answering spurt by apurt, tho two struggled on towards the ;>ost, Jarvis on his aide and Taylor trudging, and both putting in every ounce of power left to them. At times there were 3yds between them, once only a couple of feet, the advantage always being with the ex-champion. In tho last lOyda Taylor made an expiring effort to get past his man, but Jarvis was just equal to holding his own, and amid great enthusiasm passed the judge's boat four or five feet ahead of the plucky Cbaddertonian. Jarvis beat his own record, made in ISO 3, by Bisec, and Taylor bettered it by 6s.sec. A. G. Harvey, of the Ravensbourne Club, finished third, some five minutes after the leading pair; R. H. Hassell, of the Holloway S.C., wa6 fourth, some 20yds away; and the veteran " Billy " Hawes, of tho City of Westminster, was a good fifth. Among the sixteen standard medallists was F. Gadsby, the one-legged Notts swimmer, who finished twelfth in lh llmjn 38sec, a really marvellous performance considering his physical disability. —An Australian in England.— Nigel Barker in Australia and Nigel Barker in the Old Country are two quite different individuals.—on tho racing track, at any rate. Looking at the performances of the Australian Barker and those of the Barker we have with us now, one might (if ignorant of Nigel's personality) bo led to imagine either that Australian dockers had made some grievous mistakes in timing the runner or that the Barker we know is not tbo " Simon Pure." Certainly the.performances given by the Sydney University crack on this side of the water have been a long way below what we hoped for from him; in fact, he has so far only exhibited himself as a very second-rate runner at any distance from 100 yds up to a quarter of a mile. Take, for instance, his running in the 220 Yards and Quarter-milo Championships at Stamford bridge last Saturday; In the firstnamed event he was beaten a long.2yds in his heat by Longhurst. who could not get in6ide and was himself beaten out of place in the final win by C. H. Jupp. who won by 3yds in 22|see, Longhurst being a good 4yds away. Our amateur record is 21|eec. In the Quarter-mile Championship _Barker finish'-i third in bis heat 4yds behind the winner, L. J. R«ed, but might 'have been second if he had not looked round in the straight. As it was, J. P. George beat him for the place by a yard, and thus qualified to run in the final. In this George ran second to W. HalsweU (the holder), who won by Byds in the grand time of 485500. Barker's heat was won in 51|sec, so the Australian was not doing better than 52isec, and oven allowing for the fact that he lost some ground through looking round, ho was not doing better than 52sec, which is the standard time in tie championship quarter. I suppose we must put Barkers failure to " come off " here down to the discredit of our climate. The Australian, however, looked in fine fettle on Saturday, and the climatic conditions on that day were all that could be desired even by an athlete brought up under Australian skies.