SPORT AND THE WAR.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 4 September 1915, Page 3

SPORT AND THE WAR.

Footballers will have grieved to see on the roll of honor —"Killed in action" —the name of Lance-Corporal Horace Whittington. He was a- leading junior player and had also played in the senior team on many occasions with credit. He was much admired for his

He was a prominent competitor at the] boding \ ? ana, wrestling tournaments, 1 i where'"* he, took a- special part in" th«f wrestling, arena; All" who' knew' Him feal g>iite certain' thai, he played the game in the' greater Beld; of warfare as he had played it in hfe sport, and that" he fell as a true soldier fighting' in la •glorious cause.- ' *•-• ' ' r/.-™"^*, . p Sergeant Heniy Dew.ar," killed in action at ther Dardanelles, was a Vdlknown New Zealand footballer. He made his name as a Rugby player in Taranaki, which province he represent-' ed for some years. In 1913 he represented the North Island and was a member of the AH Black team which toured California. The late Sergeant Dewar was also a boxer of no mean order. On the outbreak of war he enlisted jsind went to Samoa with the advance party, and on returning again volunteered for service, and- left for the front with the Wellington Mounted Rifles. He and M. Cain were a renowned pair of front rankers. I 0. M. Young, an erstwhile Taranaki ' rep., has been appointed to the Ninth 1 Reinforcements and will go into camp on Monday. Footballers will wish him the bost of luck and honors on a par with his renown in the football field. Cricketers will be interested to know that "Tommy" McFarlane, the representative Otago and New Zealand1 i player, has been, and is probably still, in the thick of the fighting at Gallipoli. In a cheery, letter tc^ the Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark), the Albion man cays :— "Her© we are stuck in the trenches, and I am just dying to get a googly on to som© of them to avenge those mates of mine, whom they have blown out:" The writer mentions that a mail had just been delivered in the trenches, and with the bullets whistling overhead he had read .6s^ Mr> Glaric^ victory in' the Mayoral- contest;, can bety" %e> adds, "I felt like giving, a cheer;" After mentioning that he and Cohdliffe (the Otago representative wicket- [ keeper) had. had some good times to--gether in Egypt. "Tommy" concludes by saying: "I have had some very nar-j row escapes and you never kno\r whose turn it will .be next, but before they get me I'll have ihe satisfaction of knowing that liiave done my bit." Captain Basil McLear, of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, is the latest Rugby ( international player to lose his> life in 'the war. He was killed in France. He played for Ireland in their international matches against England, Scotland, and Wale® in 1905-6-7, against the New Zealanders in 1906, and the South Africans in 1907. McLear will always be remembered for his robust methods. A splendidly-made in ah, he was a yer^r sirong runner, and with a "hand off" reminiscent of the great players of the eighties, he was always exceedingly difficult to stop. He nearly won the match against the South Africans, Ms great run on that occasion being historio. Possessed of singular charm of manner, he was a favorite everyone. McLear is the first Irish Rugby international to be killed in action. England has lost Ronald Poulton-Pal-mer, F. E. Oakley, J. H. D. Watson, P. D. Kendall, C/E. Wilson H. Berry, and R. 0. Lagden; Scotland, F. Tnrner, J. L. Huggan, and James Pearson.

Major Hardham, V.C., formerly one of New Zealand's greatest footballers, writing from hospital of the Australians, says, inter alia: "I was at Gallipoli nearly three weeks, and every day I used to wonder how ever men landed and took the position they did. It must have been grand, and I am certain there has been nothing in this great war finer than "the landing of the Australians at Gallipoli. Yes, any man should take his hat off to the Australian Infantry. They can fight and are afraid if nothing, e as you will see from the casualty lists." Advice has been rejce-ived that Lieutenant Alan D. Stitt, of the Canterbury Battalion, has been wounded a third time. Lieutenant Stitt is a son of the late Mi- Matthew Stitt, of Ashubrton, and is 20 years old. He was educated at Christ's College, where he was, in the first Rugby fifteen, the first cricket eleven, and the shooting team, and was an officer in the college cadets. After leaving Christ's College, he went to Lincoln College, where he captained the senior Rugby fifteen and was also an Ellesmere sub-union representative. He went to the front in the Main Expeditionary Force. Mr F. L. Murray, formerly of Christr.hurch, but now of Hartley Hills, Hillersden,' Marlborough, has enlisted for the front. He saw active service in the , Boer War. He was a Canterbury representative footballer, and was also interested in cricket. Mr Wm. Organ, the well-known solicitor, who was Mayor of Eastbourne for three years, has enlisted, and is to go into camp as a probationary noncommissioned officer on Thursday next: It was during Mr Organ's tenure of office that the Eastbourne Borough took over the ferry service, and the good work he did generally when "m the Chair" is well remembered. Mr Organ was for. many yearn a member ot the redoubtable United Hockey Clubs senior team (champions for several years), and was a representative player for some years.