LAND & WATER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1764, 12 September 1885, Page 20

LAND & WATER.

The Referee contains some letters on the matter of arranging a match between Hancock and Scott. A. Dunbar offers to deposit £500 cash for either a 50-miles or 12-hours' match, to take place in any of the following places — namely, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, Melbourne, or London. The mile race which W. G. George, the English champion amateur, was reported by cable to have won, is the first of a series of thi es matches arranged with Cummings at distances of one, four, and ten miles, for LIOO aside. The second match takes place on the 12th inst., or Monday following, and the third on the 26th or 28th inst. George's best record at a mile was v 4 mm. 18 3-sth sec, while Cummings, who has hitherto been regarded as invincible, is credited with 4 mm. 16 l-sth sec. The football match at Wellington on the 3rd between Taranaki and Wellington was won by the latter by one try to nil. King obtained the try in the first quarter of an hour. During the remainder of the game there was no score, but the visitors were penned on their goal line nearly the whole of the last spell. A boxing match took place on the 6rd at Lea and Bell's saloon, Timaru, between Donovan, of Auckland, and Dan Lea, of this town. The conditions were £10 a side, Donovan to knock the other man out in four three-minute rounds. The first two rounds were very evenly contested, but in the third Donovan knocked Lea about very much. He, however, came up willingly to the call of " time," and stood the final round well, thus winning the match. This makes the second victory of Lea over Donovan. The glove fight was remarkable from the fact that neither man sustained a fall. At the City Police Court on Friday the licensee of the National Hotel in King street was charged with suffering an unlawful game called " euchre " to be played for money on his licensed premises. After evidence had been given, Mr Solomon, who appeared (for the accused, said if the person who had laid the information had any knowledge of the law with reference to this matter, he would never have wasted the time of persons by bringing them to Court to answer frivolous charges like the present one. He contended that the information could be set aside on half-a-dozen different grounds. In the first place, before a person could " suffer" an unlawful game he must be aware that it is being played ; then " euchre " was not an unlawful game, and there was nothing topreventapublican allowing persons to play "euchre" on his premises either for money or liquor. In support of this view, he quoted the case of Glasson v. Whitty, heard in Banco at Christchurch, before Mr Justice Johnston, in July, 1883, in which it was decided that the game of " euchre," when played for money, was not an unlawful game within the meaning of sectionl49 of the-" Licensing Act, 1881," which provided that a game to be unlawful must be made so by statute. The Bench, af ter.some consideration, remarked that, in the face of the decision of the higher Court, they had no alternative but to dismiss the case.

The High School annual sports will be held on the 26th inst. on the Caledonian ground. In addition to the usual sports programme there will be gymnastic events, including exercises on the horse (by over 90 boyB), and with Indian clubs. As will be seen by advertisement in this issue, three events are open to old High School boys, and one to members of the Ofcago Amateur Athletic Club. The sports were an unqualified success last year, despite the miserable weather experienced, and it is to be hoped that the committee will be able this year to carry out their lengthened programme of 27 events with as much success as .last year. Old boys entries, and those of members of the 0.A.A.C., may be made to Mr J. Morris, Bank of New Zealand.