ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2231, 3 December 1896, Page 35

ATHLETICS.

NOTES BY AMATEUR.

* . ' Amateur athletes are reminded that the annual sports meeting of the D.A.A.C. will be held on the 12th inst. • , • A meeting of the committee of Ihe Danedin Amatenr Athletic Club was held last Thursday evening ; present— Messrs G. L. Denniston (in tbe chair), Low, Mac&ssey, Duncan, Harloy, and Maokay. Mr P. J. Ness was nominated as local officer to N Z.A.A.A. Sub-ommitteeg were appointed to carry out arrangements for the forthcoming sports. The following new members were elected :— F. S. Russell, E. .7. P. Denny, M 'Donald, W. Nichol, T, Scurr. E. Stnhr. * . * Training operations for the annual sports of the D.A.A.C. are in full swing, and tbe Caledonian ground presents a- lively appearance of evenings as numerous competitors ,are training hard for the meeting, and everything promises satisfactorily for December 12. The following are doing good work : — Martin, Nichol, Kingston, E. L. Macassey, Williams,- Rtusel!, Colvin, Mackay, and Harley ; also, Ocbell, Finlay, Reid, and Mitchell, who are walking well. • . • On October 3 T. P. Conneff, forsaking the amateur ranks, met the ex-amateur F. E. Bacon in a three-mile race at Dublin for £100 a-side, but, as in hia ten-mile in 'itch viith W. H. Morton at Manchester in 1892, the Irish-American-gave no show at all. He made the running but tailed to hold his own in a smin 13sec mile. The grass course was slow and holding, it is true, bat Conneff, to th« astonishment of his friends, gave up after covering 300>ds over the mile. Bacon went out and completed tho distance in 15mia 3-sseo. * . • At the Polytechnic Harriers' sports at Stamford Bridge, on Ootober3, W. J. Sturgegs, the amateur champion walker, competed in a 15 milea sealed handicap. He would undoubtedly have won the event, although starling from scratoh, but, after traversing 14 miles in fair style, he gave up. This distance was covered in faster time than has been accomplished by any other amateur ; in fact, the walker broke tbe records from nine up to 14 miles. Hii times were— One mile, 7min 27 3 sseo ; two miles, 15min 133;>iec ; three miles, 22oain 58£ se c; four miles, 30min 32 4-sseo ; five miles, 38min 15 4-ssec ; six miles, 46min ljsec ; seven miles, 53min 41 3-ssec ; eight miles, 61roin 36$ se c; nine miles, 69min 31§^tc ; ten miles, 77min 38 4-ssec ; 11 miles, 85mia 53 3-ssec ; 12 miles, 94a:in 41seo ; 13 miles, Ihr 43miu 42$ see ;14 miles, lhr 52min 59 2-ssec. The time for the 14 miles beats the previous best, made by E,. Knott.by 37seo. ' * . ' The • following are the results of the various events at tbe annual championship meeting' under the auspices of the Victorian A.A A. :— looyds— O. H« M. Watson 1, G. A. Moir 2, F. R. Murray 3 ; tirno. 10£ sec. Halfmile- M. B. Wettenhall 1, E. H. Serle2, E. H. Frayer3 ; time,'2min 4|sec. One-mile Walk — A. O. Barrett 1, J. B. Holt 2 ; time, 6min 42« ec (an Auckalian record). Pole Vault— M. M. Roeeingrave (Sydne#, 9ft o£in, 1. One Mile— W. Cumming 1, M. O'Connor (Auckland) 2, W. L. Thompson 3 ; time, 4min 47seo. 220 yds — C. H. M. Watson 1, G. A. Moir 2, G. H. Ruthven (D»rlinghurst, N.S.W.) 3 ; time, 23fc.-ec. Putting the 161b Weight~J, P. Maher (Baibrat), 36ft 7in, 1 ; A. M. Greenfield (Ballarat), 35ft llin, 2 ; D. J. D. Bevan, 35ft sin, 3. 120 yds Hurdles — M. M. RoseiDgrave (Sydney) 1, H. C. Davis 2, D. J. D. Bevan 3 ; time, 16§sec fan Australian record). Throwing the 161b Hammer — W. J. Doolan (Ballarat), 93ft Bin, 1 ; J. P. Mahor (Ballarat), 80ft, 2 ; T. R. West, ?lft, 3. Three-mile Walk— A. O Barrett 1; time, 21min 36£ sec (an Australasian record). Quartermik—M. E. Wettenhall 1, C. E. Morgan (Sydney) 2, G. E. Jordan (Sidney) 3; time, 55 3-5-eo. High Jump — M. M. Roaeingrave (Sydney), sft 7in, 1; J. W. Doyle, sft 6in, 2; H. ML. Dingan, sft 4in, 3. Broad Jump — M. M. Roseingravo (Sydney), 22ft B£in (a Victorian record), 1 ; C. H. M. Wat»on, 21ft l£in, 2 ; D. J. D. Bevan, 20fb 3Jin, 3. 440 yds Hurdles— H. C. Davis 1, C. H. O'Connor 2, F. J. M'Cart 3 ; time 63 4-ssee. Three-mile Run— E. S. Walker 1 ; C. E. Herbert (Ballarat) 2, W. Cumming 3 ; time, 15min 41£ sec. • . • The Spirit of the Times gives particulars of the lowering of the 600 yds record from lmin llfsec to lmin llaee. .The athlete was T. E. Burke, and the occasion the maiden open meeting of the Knickerbocker A C. (which occupies the house ones the property of the, when in life, notorious Manhattan A.0.), held on September 19. The race in which the reoord was lowered was a handicap limited to 25yds, Barke at scratch, of course. He headed the field 80yds from home, and, running very smoothly, was comparatively fresh at the finish, aud the announcement of the timekeepers that reoord had baen broken was not anticipated. The previous record was made by L. E. Myers in 1882, by W. O. Downs in 1890, and E. O. Bredin in 1893. With no infceutkm whatever uf

attempting to depreciate the merit of Burkes very fina performance, it must be pointed out (the Field remarks) that records made on Amerioan running paths have not quite the same value as those made in England, beoauße in America it is the custom to measure tracks 18in from th« kerb, whereas in Eoglaud the distance is lft. The <!iffecer><?e may not appear to be very great ( bnt it is sufficient to make a difference of one-fifth of a second on the watch (if not in actual time) in taking the two beads which Burke did in making his record. As a matter of fact, the distances run by Amerioan athletes round tracks are all short according to English ideas, and in all tables of comparative records the differing methods o? measurement shouid be mentioned. Conueff made hia one mile record of 4min 15 3-ssec at Travers Island round a course of five laps to the mile, and it ia easy bo compute that the course gave him an advantage of about three-quarters of a second in the full distance over a course measured 12in from the kerb. At the Knickerbocker AC. meeting throwing the disous was introduced, the implement, weighing two kilos, being cast to a distance of 111 ft Biu, which is much better than what was accomplished at Athens in April last.