OBITUARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16523, 25 October 1915, Page 2

OBITUARY.

DR W. G. GRACE. LONDON, October 23. (Received Oct. 24-, at 3.35 p.m.) The death is announced of Dr W. G. Grace, the famous cricketer. Dr Grace was born in 1848 at 6ownend, Gloucestershire. He found himself in an atmosphere oharged with cricket, his father (Henry Mills Grace) and his uncle (Alfred Pocock) being" a3 enthusiastic over the game as his elder brothers. Henry, Alfred, and Edward Milte. It "was, indeed, in Edward Mills Grace that the family first became famous. A youngw brother, George Frederick, also added to the cricket reputation of the family. The great "W.G." witnessed his first big match "when he was hardly six yeareold. and All England eleven v. 22 of West Gloucestershire. Dr Grace was a 'big man, standing 6ft 2in in height, and powerfully proportioned. He was a non-smoker, and very moderate _ in all matters, and kept himself in condition all the year round, shooting, hunting, or running" with the beagles as soon as the cricket season was over. He was a fine runner ; his best distance was 440 yards over 20 hurdles. At 18 years of age he scored 224 not out for England against Surrey, and two days after this performance he won a race in the National and Olympian Association meeting at the Crystal Palace. The title of "champion" was well earned by one who for 36 years (1865-1900 inclusive) 'wa<s actively engaged in first-class cricket. Dr Grace played his first great match in 1863, when, at the age of 15,. he scored 32 against an All England eleven, and the bowling of Jackson, Tarrant, and Tinley. The scores which first made his name prominent were made the 'following year, 170 and 56 not out' for the South Wales Club against the Gentlemen of Sussex. It was in 1865 that he took an active part in firstclass cricket, playing twice for the Gentlemen v. the Players, but his selection was mainly due to his bowling powers, the best exposition of which was his aggregate of 13 wickets for 84 runs for the Gentlemen of the South v. the Players of the South. His highest score, was 400 not out, made in July, 1876, against 22 of Grimsby. In first-class cricket Kis highest score was 344, made for the M.C.C. v. Kent at Canterbury in 1876.' Two days later he made 177- for Gloucestershire v. Notts, and but two days after that scored 318 not out against Yorkshire. Both Notts and Yorkshire, possessed strong bowling. This made_ 839 in three consecutive innings, only twice out. His 344 was the third highest' individual score j in a big match in England -up till the end of 1901. Dr: Grace scored 301 against; Sussex in August, 1896. He,made over 200 on 10 occasions, the most notable, perhaps, being in 1871,. when he performed the feat twice, each time in benefit matches, and cach time in the second innings, after being got out in the first over of the first innings. He. soored over 100 runs on 121 occasions. The hundredth time was at Bristol in 1895, when he made 288 against Somersetshire. He made every figure between 0 _ and 100; on one occasion he closed the innings when he had made 93, the only total between theee limits that he had not scored. In the matches between the Gentlemen and Players he scored "three figures" 15 times and at every place where these matches have been played He made oyer 100 in each of his first appearances at Oxford and Cambridge. In consecutive innings against the Players, from 1871 to 1873, he scored 217, 77, and 112, 117, 163, 158. and .70. ' ■■■■■'■ ■- Dr Grace only twice oVer 100 m a bis match in Australia. His highest aggregates were 2739 (1871), 2622 (1876), 234fr (1895), 2139 (1873), 2135. (1896), and 2062 (1887). He scored over 1000 runs and took over 100 wickets in seven different seasons: 1874, 3665 rutfs and 129 wickets; 1875, 1498 runs; 192 wickets; 1876, 2622 runs, 124 wickets ; 1877. 1474. runs. 179: wickets; 1878. 1151 runs, 153 wickets; 1885. 1688 runs," 118 wickets; 1886, 1846 runs, 122 wickets. In 1895, the year he got his'hundredth century; he scored 1000 runs in - the month of May alone. In 26. different seasons he scored over 1000 runs, and in three of these years was the only man to do so, and five times one of only .two. During the 36 years, up to and including 1900, he scored nearly 51,0Q0 runs, with an average of 43; and in bowling took 2900 wickets, at an average oost of about 20 runs. His greatest triumphs were secured when only the very best cricket grounds received attention, and, as some consider, bowling -was maintained at a higher standard, and when all hits had to be run i out. He, with his two : elder brothers assisted by some • fine amateurs made Gloucestershire in one eeason a firstclass county, and it was Dr Grace who enabled, the amateurs of England to meet the paid players on equal terms, and beat them. ■ '

In later years Dr Grace became secretary and manager of the' London County Cricket Club. He was the recipient of two national testimonials—the first, amounting to £1500 being presented in _ the form of a clock and cheque at Lord's in 1879, and the eecond, collected by the M.C.'C., the County of Gloucestershire, the Daily Telegraph, and the Sportsman (about £10,000 in all) in; 1896. Dr Grace visited Australia in 1873-74 (captain), and in 1881-92 with Lord Sheffield's eleven (captain). 1 He went to the United States and Canada with Mr R. A. Fitzgerald's in 1872. • , ■ 'SIR ANDREW NOBLE. LONDON, October 24. The death has occurred of Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.8., 'aged 84 years. Sir Andrew Noble, British. physicist and artillerist, entered the Royal Artillery, and attained the rank of captain in 1855.- In 1857 he became secretary to the Royal Artillery Institution. About this time the question of the" supersession of the old smooth bores by rifled guns was coming to the fore, and on the appointment of the Select Committee on Rifled Cannon in 1858 to report on the matter, ho was chosen its secretary. In following year he was appointed assistant-inspector of artillery, and in 1860 he became a member of the* Ordnance Select Committee and of the Committee on Explosives, serving on the latter for 20 years, until its dissolution. In 1860 he joined Sir W. G. Armstrong and Co., and was put in charge of the ordnance department, but it was not long before, his organising and administrative ability and scientific attainments enlarged the sphere of his influence, until finally he, became chairman of the company: About 1862 he invented his chronoscope, for the measurement of exceedingly small intervals of time, and began to apply it in ballistic experiments for ascertaining the velocity with which the shot moves along the barrel of a gun with different powders and different charges. Then he joined Sir Frederick Abel in a ■ classical research on "Fired Gunpowder," and the conclusions they arrived at had a great effect on the progress of gunnery, for they showed how increased muzde _ velocities were to be attained without increased pressure in the gun. Sir Andrew did much in connection with smokeless powder and cordite. He was made a C.B. in ,1881, promoted to K.C.B. in 1893, and_ created a baronet in 1902. He was the recipient of many decorations and sicentifio honours, both British and foreign.