SPORTING AND SPORTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12638, 16 April 1903, Page 6

SPORTING AND SPORTS.

GYMNASTICS. By Parallels. The wintcr'moiiths aro once more upon Us, and t»ie various c'.ubs are beginning .to arrange their affairs for Jhe season. Annual meetings are tho order of the day, and a large degree of enthusiasm is shown all round. There is no doubt, that tho visit of Sandow lias done a, world of good in demonstrating the advantages to be obtained from a counse of physical exercise, and it may reasonably bo expected that the clubs will receive an impetus accordingly. The exercises, as shown by Sandow and his pupil, Mr Young, in tho Choral Hall, aro largely followed out in the various gymnasiums with splendid results.

Dr Brown, in hie, remarks at .the annual meeting of the High Street Club, gave some excellent advice to the members of that elub, and it, bohoves every one of them to do his best to act up to such advice. This club could do with a little more enthusiasm.'

The Mornington Olub has not, as yet, made a start; uut, from all accounts, a record season k ahead of them. Messrs Galloway and War3s are in excellent form, and may bo heard well of this season.

T. Ferguson is back again from Wellington, and no doubt will be of great ussis-. tance to gymnastics in Duncdin. Ho, it will be remembered, waa coachiug a Wellington team for ,the Otago-Wellington intorprovineial contest last season, which, unfortunately, did not como off. Speaking of this contest, is it not passible to bring this event off this ceason? Perhaps if an early start k made, by the Otago Association, mattors may lie arranged in good time. I ain sure our Wellington friends will find the "Otago gymnasts not only willing, but very keen.

After a period of 11 years, Mr W. H. Matthews has resigned the captaincy of tho Dnnedin Gymnastio Ohib. Too much cannot be said of the very great amount of work that he has done in the interests of gymnastics in Duncdin. Mr Matthews a ih himself a splendid exponent of this class of physical exercise, and success attained by pupils under liim testifies to his abilities as an instruotor.

Mr G. G. Austin, Mr Matthews's successor, b also a, splendid gymnast, although of a different style, and the club, in appointing him as captain, lias secured a good all-round man for that position. Hobson ,of the Mornington Club, is again in town, and available for gymnastics. He is, I understand, working up a club in connection with the Hanover Street Sunday Sohool. I wish him all cttccess.

( Umion Street Club appears to bo on the ; jnovo as well, and if the mombero of this club make as much progress this year as Ihc.y did last, they will certainly bo a team to be reckoned with in this years competition.

The Trinity Club opened its season with a tremendous boom, and.there are now upwards of 100 young people assembled , every week for practice. Trinity Church people aro certainly to be congratulated iipon tho great success of this club. Surely it is worth while for some of the other churches to take up this as well? Throughout' England and America most of tho churches and branches of the Y.M.O.A. provide oiubfl for physical exercise, with undoubted success. Why should they not do so in Dunedin?

I High street Ladies' Club open its season on_ the 15bh inst. This o'ub is in a flourishing' condition, and this means of healthy exercise appears to bo in fair demand by the ladies. There are' so few channels through which ladies can obtain proper exercise that it is 110 wonder ladies' gymnastic clubs are becoming more numer- . ous, and are haiiled as a boon by healthy , g'r'''-

: The Dunedin Gymnastic Club opened j its season on Tuesday, the 14th inst.

CYCLING. Rt "Demon-." -— Tho _ glorious weather that prevailed during tho Easter holidaj-s was fully taken advantage of by'cyclists, and thaso riders who have already returned to town report very pleasant outings, j -—The Dmilop Tyre Co. havo praotioally decided that if success attends their, motor cycle race, which is to be held in conjunction with the Dmilop road raco from Warrnambool to Melbourne noxt August, they will launch out with a big motor event from Sydney to Melbourne, a distance little short of 600 miles. Such an event would ■take somo organising, but' there is little doubt if tho enterprising Dunlop Co. take the matter in hand that tho race will not only ho a success, but of exceptional interest throughout the Commonwealth, both from an educational and sporting point of view. I — When it was announced some months back that a Sydney syndicate wiw paving tho unprecedented sum of £1500 for Taylor's appearance in Australia 'for three months, very many perrons wero of tho opinion that tho speculation would result in a financial failure. The syndicate was I'ight, and tho critics won". Taylor's visit, with its concomitant expenses, has proved a siifcers, and returned a good profit on the outlay. Tho Sydney people are so well satisfied with tho result that it is probable they will bo shortly sending their secretary, T. D. Scott, a trip to Europo with a view of selecting stara for next season',! racing.

— Major Taylor says that tho Adelaide track is far tho best he has ridden on in Australia.

In order to keep pace with its smaller contemporary, tho Velodromo Buffalo, the l'aro des Princes track, Paris, is to be reconstructed, and brought up to date. Tho turn,i aro to bo relaid, and banked for a speed of 65 miles an hour, and it is not improbablo that tho path will bo resurfaced entirely with wood, although that question has not yet been settled. The sizo of the track (it is about twico as largo as the Buffalo path) will necessitate noarly £3000 being spent on tho alterations.

Entries for tho groat Covtincnt.il motor race from Parie to Madrid closed with tho roQord ontry of 225 automobiles. Tho nomination fees alono totalled £2580. It is calculated that tho value of tho cars that will compete in tho abovo race will aggregate £260,000.

, A coasting record has been established in California by 11. H, Wlicoler, an old-timo racer and enthusiast, the distance, of tho test being 100 miles. He chose the Xaircut course—an out-and-homc one—and pedalled only 34.3 miles. Thus over 65 ■ miles were covered on which no effort was • Fpont, 'while the time of tho century was 13 ; hours. Tho rider states that had he taken I another hour over tho distance his record

for free-wheeling would have, teen nearer 75 miles. Thero was littlo or no wind to aid or retard him, while the route, as a testing ground, could not havo favoured him in any way. •

— Many would-be motorists in the Old Country, says "Fortis," in the Australasian, aro undecided whether to invest in a motor cyclo or a car, and a good deal of newspaper talk has been the result. From a cyclist's point' of view the followine- extract from one of Iho letters should decido many in favour of tho two-wheeler, for ha at least can appreciate ita full meaning. The.paragraph runs:—"Thero is a zest about motorbicycling that no car can afford. The fascination of sitting %stride a saddle, feet in pedals, and hands guiding the handle-bar— of ability to pick one's going, and to bowl along a side path or through a wood where no car dare follow, and, indeed, to even set a paea which few cars maintain, and to do it without pushing, panting, or perspiring, and without care of hill or bead wind—that is sport; sport that exhilarates—sport, real enjoyment, compared with which tho lolling in an upholstered seat of a ear is tho per" Bonification of taino and uninteresting laziness."

The attachment of 'an extra carriage or trailer to the motor bicycle Ims become quite an institution in England and on tho Continent; hut in England at least cycle agents and others who may let out motor cycles and trailers on hiro must obtain a license from Iho inland rovenuo authorities, as they come under tho heading of carriages according to the act of Parliament.

Tho chairman of the ' Fronch War Budget Commission, on tho demand for a larger amount of money for army cycling .purposes, closed his speech with the following remarks:—"The companies of cyclists and cyclists' detachments must be largely increasod, for they aro invaluable to the army in case of war, and their consequences can greatly influence tho decisions of battles, for which services they aro so excellently fitted."

—- Tho three-speed gear has not, so far, been placed on the market, it being found, affer passing through exhaustive tests by hard road riders, that it was not altogether "fool-proof." In order to effect the necessary improvements tho inventors decided to widen' the dutches and make ono or two other alterations, so that it may lw manipulated by a child without chance of derangement. The syndicate which has taken up the patent lias work ahead for several months, and the delay caused by tho improvements will put tho works to. their utmost capacity to complete tho orders in hand.

An English paper opinea that the cheap motor vehicle will prove- a boon to the thousands of medical, clerical, and commercial gentlemen ■who in their daily work are compelled to cover many miles of suburban and.rural roads in all kinds of weather. The largo amount of correspondence received on tho subject proves conclusively that there is an immense field for speciallyequipped, moderately-priced vehicles of oil descriptions. But whether it bo a sin»lo or double track'maoliino it must bp reliable; speed will be a secondary consideration.