ATHLETICS.

NZ Truth, Issue 58, 28 July 1906, Page 3

ATHLETICS.

|(By Centre.;)!

There, are indications of- a. "boom' ? *m the sport this coming season. The Wellington. Amateur Athletic Club- will be holding its spring meeting in Novembeir, and report says that the' Y.M.C.A. will be to the fore with a. similar ■gathering. These and the WeLlington Centre's two days' carnival at New Year's time should satisfy tho public that it will ;be well catered for in this branch; of sport. Some interesting information is conveyed in a letter from Tommy ;Stubbs, one of Wellington's sprint-re-presentatives of last season, to his: ichum;.: W,. H. PoHock. Writing under r-dateriof June 6, Stubbs, who is now von..a';.:h;Olid'ay jaunt/ m the Old Ooutt--■try,., says <that he was riglit in the:thicle bf ? the English , athletic ssason r ' 'He 'had- been . training since 'EasteE ;and had already, competed at three ■different meetings, but without secure jing a prize. At the Fire Brigade^ ■sports on the -Saturday previous to« i-the departuffe the maii, ithe< Wel--lingtonian got very close in : t«he ; :'.Oo' yds events winning. his heat, and- being* ; placed •■.''second in the semi-final, There fwere 75 entrants -forvthe event -and six '-(■including ' the writer) were on- the ' amark for the- final, in which he ran fifth. Stubbs states* that without igo-»-ing out of London one can have one's v ' of -two or three sports meetings^ ievery Saturday and the first prize is, ipjenerally which is the limit ia. fSouthern Counties. In the North, there is no restriction on the value •of the prizes, and at Leicester, iwhere competed on Whit Monday, <!jbhere s were several £10 prizes offered. On^ ••the programme was a 100yds invita- ' tion race, Morton, the English flier, being among the contestants. Ta everybody's surprise Morton could onlyj -get second', the winner, turning-aip, in, Parkhurst, who, however, beat the.: pistol by two yards. Stubbs had a. ■conversation with Morton during his sojourn in Leicester, and the latter^ was much interested in, the ShrubbDuffy tour of this colony. Morton ex r ; pressed, his wish to visit these partsfc if arrangements could be made to that* ■effect, somewhere about next December. It might be stated that Morton, was to have accompanied Shrubb and Duffy on 'the Australasian trip, but insufficient notice of the trip compelled him to abandon the project, The, attitude of the Commonwealth athletic bodies over the Shrubb-Duffy tour and the mess made in connection -with .the arrangements generally by the then Executive of the governing institution in this colony, is hardly likely to'resuli; in another scheme . of this sorjb being . taken up with enthusiasm, in'the several New Zealand centres.