TUG-OF-WAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2009, 25 August 1892, Page 32

TUG-OF-WAR.

(Monday's Daily Times.)

The tug-of-war craze luckily enjoyed but a brief existence, for the egregious folly of it soon became apparent to contestants and spectators alike. A tug-of-war, simplicitcr, is an exciting and exhilarating event. The opponents range themselves on opposite sides on the green sward, and victory goes with the avoirdupois, provided it be accompanied by the requisite strength. Played in this way, the game is at least as harmless as any other athletic exercise, and it has the additional advantage of being available by men who have lost the alertness of youth and entered upon the gravity of middle age. Transported to the gaslit ball, the simple test of strength becomes a deadly struggle and a mere matter of brute endurance. The men's feet are braced against high cleets in such a way that it is impossible to slip. Tho pullers lie down, and the contest begins. The rigid muscles, the beads of perspiration, and, above all, the livid and agonised countenances, bespeak the severity of the struggle. Interesting enough from an artistic point of view, exciting also as the contests are* artfully made from a national point of view, the spectacle grows wearisome after a little time. The respective captains spur the flagging energies of their men, the strained rope oscillates to this side or that. If the struggle is keen the interest becomes contagious. The spectators become mad with excitement, and 'jWhen at length the victory has been gained by one side or the other applause rends the air. But that ephemeral applause is a poor reward for those who rise stiffened from their exertions and stagger off to a place of rest. The position in which they have been placed perhaps for more than an hour, as was the case frequently during the recent contests, is particularly uusuited to the free display of strength. Medical men denounced it, and warned the men that they were engaging in an exercise which would probably — almost certainly — leave disastrous results on their constitutions. From the peculiarity of the position there was the immediate danger of rupture, and the remote, but far more certain, one of injury to the heart. A rumour has found circulation iv Wellington that some of the men engaged in tugs-of-war there have been permanently injured. Though these rumours have not been verified, and are suspected to owe their origin to some disastrous results which have occurred in Melbourne, where the craze took its rise, their existence is significant, and shows that the stupendous folly of these contests has at length dawned on the public. The folly is more incomprehensible still when it is remembered that in most cases the tugs-of-war were gate-money affairs, being thus instances of strength misused for vulgar and ignoble ends.

The yacht Avema won the Queen's Cup at Kingstown regatta on July 20. The Meteor, the German Emperor's yacht, was ahead for a long time, and would have won had she not broken her bowsprit.

The Oamaru papers report the death of Mr James Henderson, a native of Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, who came to the colony 18 years ago. He is survived by 11 sons and daughters, and the grand-children number about 80.

Spout in New Zealand. — An English contemporary, the Cosmopolitan, says: — "New Zealand is rapidly becoming the rendezvous of sportsmen from all parts of the world. There is excellent deer stalking — the true red deer (Cervus elephas), stags being often got that turn the scale at 4001b or even 4501b, which is fully 1001b heavier thau any stag in the highlauds of Scotland — and equally good boar hunting. The wild boar of New Zealand is the descendant of porkers put ashore by Captain Cook 120 years ago, and has long since gone back to the original Sus scrofa. Boars are not uncommon sft in length, with a shield of gristle and bristle that no bullet will penetrate, and shining white tusks as sharp as a razor, almost meeting over the snout. Hares are shot,' coursed, or hunted with hounds as in England, the hunt clubs going afield in green coats, red striped waistcoats and gilt buttons, and the huntsmen iv royal scarlet, with black velvet caps as of yore. The whole country side is alive with excitement when the sound of the horn is heard on the lawn, and a ' southerly wind and a cloudy sky proclaim a hunting morning ' ; and after a hard run the same merry gatherings take place as at home, the same jolly old songs are sung, and the same huge jugs of foaming ale are handed round till nearly cockcrow. It is old Eugland at the Antipodes, that is all. During the open .season, from April to July, hares, rabbits, black swan, paradise ducks, geese, teal, quail, pigeons, and a number of other native birds are shot in great numbers. The chief glory of the colony for sport, howevOr, is its trout fishing."