TOPICAL TATTLE

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume 4185, Issue 4185, 20 November 1934, Page 7

TOPICAL TATTLE

NEWSY NOTES ON SPORT 1 E. S. Douglas, who will compete in ! the Melbourne Centenary golf tournament, made his entry into New Zealand golf in 1912 (says the Christchurch ‘Press’). Douglas had spent several months in America on his way to New Zealand, where he first joined up with the Nelson Club. Several Nelson enthusiasts who saw him in action scented possibilities, and accompanied him to the championships. The Nelson enthusiasts offered to back their man against any New Zealand professional. Referring to the incident, Fred Hood said, “ Well, we soon raised £2O, and nominated J. A. Clements as our man.” As Hood put it, Clements was at the top of the i tree, and had not a nerve in his body, j Clements, however, had caution _ well developed, and engaged in a preliminary knock with Douglas. The upshot was that Clements returned to the professionals’ shed and quietly, but firmly, intimated that the mateh was off. How Douglas went on to win the open is now history. Douglas then dominated New Zealand golf until 1915, when he left for the Great _ War. At fifty years of age he is still a force in New Zealand Golf, as his excellent form in the professional championship at Wanganui indicated. * * » • A. C! Derbie, who has held Otago 100 yds and 220 yds track championship, and who is a son of Mr A. Derbie, well-known Southland Rugby official of a few years ago, is now playing for the London Scottish Rugby Club. Derbie formerly played wing three-quarter for the Old Boys’ Rugby Club in Invercargill. He is not the first old boy of the Southland Boys’ High School to play for London Scottish. That was the club with which J. R. Page played while he was at Home at Sandhurst, and from that club he became reserve for Scotland in one match prior to returning to New Zealand td win All Black honours. « * * * • At the time of the last race, over 1,500 metres, between J. E. Lovelock and W. Bonthron, the latter being Princeton University (U.S.A.) runner who ran second to the New Zealander when he broke the world’s mile record, ■ it was hinted that Bonthron was about to retire from the track. Colour is given to that indication now by an announcement that Bonthron will not compete in the 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin. • ♦ ♦ ♦ P. C. Minns, former Auckland representative Rugby wing-threequarter, who played for the Blackheath Club after he" had left Oxford University, but who returned to New Zealand for a while, and played in Wellington, is with Blackheath again. After a match in London a few weeks ago it was remarked that he still goes for the 1 goal-line as hard as ever. * * ♦ * A Christchurch par on a former Otago Plunket Shield player:—" R. W. Coupland, now captain of the East Christchurch first-grade cricket team, certainly did a captain’s job in the way of example, very well _ in the match with Lancaster Park side last Saturday. He was associated with the fall of six Lancaster Park wickets —he took four excellent catches, three of which were off the bowling of other members of his team, and he clean-bowled two of the batsmen who fell to his own bowling—and then, at the end of the day, he helped to stop a rot in his own team’s batting.” * * * * When a batsman is ready to admit that he was out it usually may be taken that he unquestionably was out (savs the Christchurch ‘ Sun ’). But that does not always apply. In the Sydenham-Old Collegians’ first grade cricket game last Saturday, for instance, C. J. Oliver drove a ball straight back to J. G. L. Scott with cannonball force, and the bowler took it. Without waiting for any appeal Oliver started to march to the pavilion. However, an alert umpire gentlypointed out that it was not possible to be caught off a bump-ball! The bowler evidently did not think the batsman was out, because he was trundling the ball along the ground to the other end of the pitch for the start of the next over even before Oliver began to leave his crease. * ■* * * Don Bradman went very nearly to breaking yet another record when he hit Freeman for 30 runs (three 6’s and three 4’s) in an over at Folkestone at the end of the Australian tour (says the Sydney ‘ Referee ’). Actually the English record is held by E. Alletson, of Notts, who on the Hove ground against Sussex in 1911 hit Killick for 34 in one over (4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 4, 6) which contained two no-balls. His first six shots produced 28. In his amazing innings of 189 out of 227 in 90 minutes Alletson claimed 142 of the 152 added I for the last wicket in 40 minutes! Un- j fortunately Alletson dropped out of first-class cricket all too soon and returned to the mines. In club cricket W. Hyman, in 1902, punished Dr E. M. Grace for 32 in one over and 30 in the next. * * * * For the first time in the history of professional boxing £I,OOO will be offered for a novices’ competition in England in November. This sum will be put up for a heavy-weight tournament to inaugurate the Empire pool at Wembley as a new centre of big boxing. The aim of the Wembley authorities is to discover new British boxing talent at all weights. * * * * The allocation of profits accruing fn-m the Australian test team’s t.-ur was announced by. Mr W. L. Ke' v at a recent meeting of the Victorian (aHut Association. He said Victoria N*'\i South Wales, and South Australia would each receive £4,800, Tasmania and Western Australia £1,600 each, and Queensland £3,200. This was a preliminary distribution, decided upon at the annual meeting of the Board ot Control held a few weeks ago. After commitments were met it was probable that there would be a further mm udistribution. * * * * For the sum of £30,000 and expenses Max Baer will leave America for Gsr-

many and fight Max Schmeliag, a for mer champion of the world-

“ Big ” Jim Jeffries, famous as prob ably the “ best ever ” of all heavyweight champions, partnered by George Blake, former manager of Fidel La Barba, and now No. 1 boxing referee of America, have combined to manage a boxing school in Los Angeles—adjoining the film studios of Hollywood. On Thursday nights an “ iinaseur ” boxing tournament is staged with “ Big ” Jim promoting and Blake acting as referee. As expected, the combination of Jeffries and Blake has proved a gieat success

When the Australian eleven played the North of Scotland at Forres on September 14 last a youngster of nineteen, wearing spectacles, hit up 28 not out, including a 6 and five 4’s, all off Chipperfield (says a writer in the Sydney ‘Referee ’). His name was N. Wigrarn, and to most people he was an utter stranger. But the identity of the “ dark horse ” has now been discovered. He turns out to be the son of the King’s private se&etary, Sir Clive Wigram. Young Wigrarn had just left Winchester and went up to Forres irom Balmoral, staying there with Sir Alexander Grant. He claims the distinction of being the youngest player ami ihe only schoolboy to play against the Australians on this tour. The lad showed not the slightest sign of nerves, so reports say, and when he went to the wicket in the first innings bit hlecfc-wood-Smith’s first ball for 4 He nas out a couple of balls later; but made up for that in the second innings by knocking the cover off the ball, .t is good to see such enterprise in cue so young ♦ ♦ ♦ *

•• I am not hobbling about ary more, and I think I shall be able to .landle a racket again in about a month, sai Mrs Helen Wills-Moody m ban Francisco, when’asked how her back injury, which has kept her from tno courts for more than a year, was getting on. Mrs Wills-Moody said she was anxious to play tennis again. Until then she is working hard at etching in I’cr studio.

Gene Tunney, the former heavyweight champion of the world, armed at Bangor (Maine, U.S.A.) by plane one morning a few weeks ago, and at mice began a speaking campaign m support of Mr Louis J. Brann. Mr Brann, Lie Democratic Governor of this normally Republican State, was standing for icelection.