THE SPORTING WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 14307, 4 March 1910, Page 7

THE SPORTING WORLD.

[From Our London Correspondent.] January 21. ATHLETICS. The Olympic Games of 1912 are a long way "off yet, but wo are reminded of the festival bv the announcement of Mr K. Uellstrom us chief secretary. He is a Swede, but has resided m England for some time, and is a member of the London A.C. and Ranelagh Harriers, so that he " knows the ropes. In addition he is a lino athlete, and has gained a place in the English half-mile championship. Beforo proceeding to Stockholm, where the next . Olympic Games will be held, Hellstrom is going to put in a few months in Kranco tor the purpose cf studying conditions there. Altogether it may be said that tho choice of the- Olympic officials is a good one, as Mr Hellstrom may be trusted to carry out his duties m an impartial and efficient manner. —One of England's Cracks.— Two seasons ago the name of W. T. Clarke, of Sefton, was on everybody s tongue, as ha was a strong tip for the National Cross-country Championship at Newbury. Ho broke down m this, however, but subsequently showed nne form in Marathon races, and was .•jctuallv the first of England's representatives (though not the first Englishman) to finish in the Olympic Marathon Race. Soon after this he met with an accident, and many thought his best days were over. He turned out in the Sefton Harriers' Club Championship last Saturday, however, and the manner ho beat his rivals clearly indicates that he is verv much "on the map" again. This will"add to the general interest of tho long-distance races of 1910, and as A. Underwood (ten-mile, champion of 1907) is also in harness again we shall see some rare struggles with these two, A. E. Wood, A. J. Robertson, W • Coales, and other cracks on the job. The next big event will be tho visit of the Birchfield Harriers (the present National Cross-country champions) to Franco, and sportsmen are anxious to see how the Frenchmen will shape against their visitors. French athletes have made much progress in late years, and the manner J. JSouen hunted A. E. Wood homo in the International Crosscountry Race of 1909 will not readily be forgotten.

—Pedestrianism. — As Dorando Pictri, of Italy, lias not yet shown any partiuclar eagerness to go on with tli'o return race with G. W. Gardiner, of Ijondon, it commences to look as though he is not very keen about it. In tho meanwhile Gardiner is trying to como to terms with J. Price' and C. Hcfieron, and his suggestions are very much to the point. Me is quite willing to run either at the Marathon distance or to enter into a sweepstake for a series of matches among the three, at ten and liftecn miles and the full Marathon journey. The best point about Gardiner's carte is that he proposes the runners shall each put up a side stake of t'2'i or .150 (winner to take all), and that the "gate" shall bo shared equally, in the event of no proprietor being willing to put up a purse. So far no sports promoter has shown any great enterprise, and the best offer vet forthcoming is one of £IOO, providing four runners will agree to take part in an indoor Marathon. Football and other sports have now taken such .1 hold on the people that wo are never likelv to see the old-time support for pedestrianism revived, though a really good "gate" might he attracted by an international Marathon at Edinburgh, new tho Mecca for professional tootracing in Great Britain. Matters loaelud the hiiih-water maik when \». G. George and W. Cunimings ran their series of matches in 1885. The opening race (one mile) attracted about 40.000 peoole, and the crowd was so great that the'barriers gave wav, and thousands poured into Lillie Bridge without pay-, ing. In addition, the roofs of the surrounding houses were black with peoole, and probably no such crowd had ever gathered together for the. purpose of seeing a foot-race. Only about hall us manv saw the ten-mile match on the same ground, but with better management evervoue paid, end yet the receipts totalled over £9OO. BILLIARDS Lovers of billiards have had a chance to we two great artists in opposition this week. Thev are H. W. Stevenson and K. DiVgle, the latter being in receipt of -1,000 points in 18,000 up. Both haw shown brilliant form at times, Steven::on making no fewer than six breaks of over ;30>'> during tho hr.-;t half. He went one better : till, commencing the second stage of the game. when the marker was called on to credit him with a perfect break of fW_'. rhs rival, however, was in no way demoralised bv this, for he came along with a grand item of 592 on Wednesday. In consequence of this the receiver ot points gained a big handicap advantage, and the scratch man will have to do something very big to pull the match " out of the fire."

Writing about billiards, W. A. Lovcjov, an ex-amr.iour, r.iirprised the spectators at a match between Harversou

and himself this week h.v playing certain shots while sitting; on a low stool. He is a tall man, and tin 1 idea of the, stool is to bring him down to v. more convenient height. Whether the authorities will alter the rules to stop the innovation remains to he scon, but there if! no law a;;aii>.st it at present. lIUGHY KOOTI3ALL. At last! Supporters of Rugby foothall in England have had to wait a long time lor a win over Wales, hut there wan a turn in the title at Twickenham on Saturday. It was a fitting end to the first International on the new "round of the Rugby Union, and now that the representatives of England have againbeaten Wales (the previous win was in 189(5 at Blackheath), it is to ho hoped there will be a revival of the game in England. It would he saying too much to attribute the result to the very great brilliancy on the part of the winners. The primary cause was that the Welshmen did not show their usual form, and, at half in particular, were below par. The chief reason the Welsh halves were not so much in the picture as usual was because of the spoiling tactics of C. 11. I'illman (Kent), who was really a " winger." He, with litle Gent, were very quick to drop on the Welsh "halves" and "threes" when the hall did go out on the Welsh side of the serum. Gent knows the Welsh game thoroughly, and he had a lot to do with the result. Tillman's share in the win must also be recognised, and his position as a winger was, of course, due to the example of the New Zealandcrs and their live-eighths. Another factor in the win was the form of the English forwards, who carried most of the scrums, particularly at the start.

—Association. — Followers of the Association game had the opening round of the Football Association Cup competition to claim their attention on Saturday. The conditions were not favorable, ,vct big crowds were attracted by the chief matches. The Chelsea and Hull tie at Stamford Bridge proved the best draw, upwards of 3-1,000 paying for admission. Some of the ties led to remarkable! remits, the biggest wins being Bradford over Bishop Auckland (8—0), Blackburn Hovers over Aecrington (7 —1), and Tottenham over Plymouth (also 7—l). As often happens, the holders were beaten in the first round, Burnley (at home) "outing" Manchester United by 2 goals to nil. Another prominent team in Liverpool failed at Bristol, and the two beaten teams will now have to look for solace in the League Championship. The biggest match of the second round will be the Chelsea v. Tottenham tie. at Stamford Bridge, where we shall no doubt see a record «*owd for a second round, fixture.

IN GENERAL. Splendid entries have been received for the annual Alhambra wrestling tournament. - Albert Aldridge, of Rcdhill, nn oxaniateur ten-mile champion, want 3 to run any of the cracks an indoor Marathon race. He is also willing to meet Shrubb and others in matches at ten, fifteen, and twenty-six miles. M. Pick, a German, weighing 1541b, accomplished the feat of miring a 2541b weight abovo the head with a clean press jn London on Wednesday, and this is claimed as a world's record for a middle-weight man. Lieut. C. it. Dugmore, a good hurdler and jumper, is now on route for West Africa, so that he will ,be missing from English athletic circles for some time.

Admirers of E. Barry have guaranteed him a fixed weekly sum so that he can devote all his time to training ior his forthcoming match with Arnst, oi New Zealand, for the world's sculling championship. Capital entries have been received for the professional foursome to be held at Slough next week.