OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 214, 7 September 1905, Page 4

OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

THE CYCLE ROAD RACE. SECONDARY SCHOOL, FOOTBALL. (From Our Correspondent.) CHRISTCHURCH, Sept. 4. Russia,. Japan and the freehold occupied a wry secondary position on the public tongue towards the close of last, week, the all-absorbing topic of conversation being the TimaruChristchurch road race. Advantage was taken of the occasion to organise a monster cycle and motor-car demonstration,, the primary object being to convince the authorities; what a power in the land the cyclists five, and how deserving they are of better roada than are at present doled out to th<?iß Unfortunately, however, three s ' sou'-westor set in on Friday mo^ng, and prevented +' ac hiding o f the demonstration Afew ino to--car s and a hundred Qr g0 cyc ii sts ci a d face the eieme^ &n^ accompanied by a band a coach, proceeded thvough the rain to the Metropolitan Trotting Ground; but they made only a sorry spectacle. The spirits of those who wore patiently awaiting the finish of the race were in nowise damped by the pfsrsistent rain ; and when P. M. O'Connor, the winner of the race and the competitor who established the fastest time, hove in si«lit, he was greeted with volleys of cneers. Part of the programme consisted in the men as they finished riding once round the Trotting Grounds; but O'Connor, after riding a short distance, was forced, owing to the extreme heaviness of the track, to shoulder his machine and finish the iourney on foot—a truly tame end-up to a hundred and twelve mile nde at an average rate of sixteen miles per hour! Considering the exceptionally bad condition of the roads the whole of the way, O'Connor's performance of 6 hours 57 minutes must be regarded as eminently satisfactory; and although it is slower than that put up by C? G. Smith last year (6 hours 19 minutes 2 seconds), it is better than J. Arnst's fastest time of 1903—7 hours 25 minutes. "■■-... The series of fottball matches between teams representing the principal secondary schools of the colony, played in Christchurch last week, attracted large attendances, and the fact that it is in these matches that one sees the fastest, cleanest and best exhibitions of our national game was once more amply demonstrated. Wanganui, Wellington, and Christchurch Boys' High School were all reckoned strong this year; Christ's College was admittedly very weak, while little was known concerning the strength of Nelson College. In the first match "Wellington easily defeated Christ's College by 32 points to 8: then Wellington succumbed to Wanganuibby 6y y 6 points to nil; Nelson College inflicted an unexpected but decisive defeat on Boys' High School by 25 points to 8; and in the last match of the tournament Wanganui proved victorious over Christ's. College to the tune of 16 points to 3. Followers of the game assert that a match between the Nelson boys and Wanganui would probably have resulted in a victory for the former College. Christchurch music-lovers have been faring exceeding well of late. Professor Hugo Heermann, the prominent violinist, lias paid a conple of visits to the town ; last week Mrs Gower-Burns held a very successful concert in the Choral Hail, introducing for the first time in Christchurch the song cycle, "In a Persian Garden " ; and next week we are to have a short visit from Mr Watkin Mills, the well-known singer. , Owing to the success of the proposal to introduce District Cricket into Christchurch, all the old clubs have had to disband. Very successful meetings have, however, been held in conI nection with the new scheme, and it is anticipated that cricket in the city i will be the better off for the change.