The Hastings Standard Published Daily. SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1896. THE RAGE FOR RECORDS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 41, 13 June 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1896. THE RAGE FOR RECORDS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

" Whatever you have to do, do it with all your might," and "Whateveris worth doing is worth doing well," are sayings full of that wisdom which are popularly credited to proverbs. And it would seem that under the press of an expanding civilisation we have adopted these proverbs as the basis of our actions. Whether it be at work or play we have our specialists, who to have, as it were, a goal to secure or a pinnacle to reach have invented the " record." The record breaker aims at doing one thing and doing that well. The domain of sports offers plenty of scope for the record smashers. Cyclists have latterly almost monopolised the attention with records, and a record rider is valued by the manufacturers, for if a " Zealandia " can be made to cover a mile in less time than a " Swift," " Rapid," or " Quadrant,'' the star of the victorious factory is in the ascendant. We have records of sprinters taken with all exactness, ttfc times of the winning horses at a racemeeting are given with the nicety of seconds and fractions. Locomotives and steamers have supplied us with records. We can look into every

department or branch of business and pleasure and find this rage for records. There are some who desire to shine in the marriage market, but the record in this department is still held by Henry VIII., if we except the scriptural accounts of much-married men. Others have a penchant for setting up a record for convictions, and in almost every town there is the " drunk " who has been " up " any number of times from 10 to 100. The spieler puts up a record by the number of lambs he has " fleeced " and the value of his takings for a season. The doctor has his record of special cases, and the surgeon of his amputations. The coroner who can show attendance at the greatest number of inquests can, and probably does, claim a record. The parson prides himself on the number of sermons he has preached or it may be the number of " calls " he has received. The Salvation Army officer has amongst the rank and file a reputation for the number of his " conversions," and he is admired the more because he holds the record. Politicians prate about the number of votes of confidence .they have received, or the number of presentations, or perhaps the number of banquets ; it is all a matter of record. The ladies have their dissipation in records, but we need not expose the lines of their weakness. The tendency of our time is to specialise, and the specialist i.s of necessity a type of narrowness of minute subdivision, and that is what the age is more and more gliding into, liccord worship is the modern craze, and the record breaker or record maker furnishes us with the only standard of absolute comparison. Therefore we cannot fail to be interested when we learn that Giffen bowled iive batsmen in five overs for five runs, or that Martin, the American cyclist, rode half a mile in lmin 1 4-uth sec, and a mile in 2min 3 2-sth sec, thus breaking the record established by the renowned Zimmerman. And, as if in keeping with the fitness of things, the Governor's Speech on Thursday broke another record.