ALBURY COLLIE TRIALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2413, 31 May 1900, Page 40

ALBURY COLLIE TRIALS.

The third gathering under the auspices of the Albury ColHe Club took place on the 24th and following days, for, though the club ran two events simultaneously, it was midday on Saturday before the numerous entries were disposed of. On this -occasion, in contrast with Ihe two previous meetings, the weather proved very pleasant indeed — in fact, one might say it was perfect, — and the general running off of the contests left little to be desired, the site being admirably adapted for trying the prowess of the collies under varying circumstances, and, perhaps, tryingly so to many of the nominators. The various courses hsd been well laid, and the many field arangements were well up to requirements for the efficient discharge of j the duties pertaining to that branch of the i club's work. The sheep, though the best pro- j curable, were perhaps not the most suitable to j test the strength of the strongest lunning dog, ' but for the steadier workers they were admvr- ] able for testing the tact of the worker and the ! steadiness of the clog, especially during the earlier paitof the trial. Messrs W. D. Riitherford (of Amuri) and E. Jones (formerly associated with the leading trials in North Canterbury) acted as judges,while Messrs J.Sutherland and B. M'G-iath were timekeepers, the flags being manipulated by Messrs Austin and i Morris, while the secietaxyship was, as of yore, in the hands of Mr D. Stewart, assisted by Mr J._L Toss. On the evening of the first" 1 day's' sport a ball was held, and passed off very successfuUv. " !

A start was made in good time on Thursday j morning under a beautifully clear sKJ, but > the , ground and the long tussocks on the hillside | were draped in k mantle of hoar frost, which ' made standing somewhat cold underfoot in the ; earlier part ol the morning, and also macle the ' sheep somewhat disinclined to move in the long , tussocks until compelled to do so, when they • would go with a rush, naturally making a good ' deal o£ the work done somewhat erratic, and not of a veiy high standard of efficiency. Nevertheless, as the points will indicate, some very good perioin^ances indeed were put up, especially in the yarding event, which was the first got under way. Mr W. D. Rutherford (of Amuri) oocupied the judge's chair to the satisfactkm of the <15 nominators ior the task of sending the do^s out about 350 yards and pulling the thxco Kisriao wctheis to yard, and yarding the sheep within four 6£t hurdles.' This is no mean undertaking, for which the winners of ( 30 poibts are allotted 6 for heading, 3 for command, P for pulling, S for yarding, and 5" for style. The completion of this task was not arrived at by vightfall, some seven or eight courses being left over for Friday. The result of this event, which was not announced until 1 late the second evening, which was by no , means plea-siag to a large section of the competitors and spectators, who had to leave the course without the intelligense they had been I anxiously looking for since early m \r±o i*i(--'iar><i, ! was as follows : — : Mr J. Annpii (Cheviot, N.C.), 6, 3, 8, 8, 5 | points, with Chance 1 Mr "W". T. Pollock (Central Otago), 6, 3 ,7, S, 5 points, with Sharp 2 Mr W. W. Wright (Methven), 5, 3, 7, S, 5 points, with Lady 3 Mr A. Little (Waikari), 6, 3, 6, 7, 5 points, with Rane ■• 4 Mr R. Eraser (Albury), 5-3, 7-7, i points with Lillico 5 Mr G. P. Joknstone( Gore), 5, 2, 7, 7, 4 j points, with Block 6 with Messrs J. Doull, F. Dickson, Annan, and Little close up. Class I, ITuntaway, was started also first thing on Thursday morning, Mr E. Jones judging. The task set here was rather severe, i odd sheep proving too weak to scale ' lite steep facing lip which the defined course was flagged off, and in other cases the trios were too stubborn for the best of dogs to succeed in controlling. The result was that the work m this class was not of a high order, though there were good judges and followers of trials who consider the performance put up by the second dog was excellent. The official verdict in this class was as follows: — R. Fraser's Fame, 28 points, 1; J, Annan's Jack, 27 points 2; J. Morgan's Ned, 94 points, 3; A. Dickson's Scotia, 23 points, 4; W. T. Pollock's Try, 21 points, 5. The club had the satisfaction of 31 entries for this event. The lower course was occupied first thing on Friday morning with class JV, youths under 18 years, in which nine youngsters participated in a task similar to that of class 11, merely holding-in being substituted foi.- yarding. This was an undertaking rather too severe, with sheep by no means kindly disposed. Mr Jones awarded the prizes as follows: — C. B. Anderson 1, J. Seigert 2, Q. M'lffiy and A. Jonos, tie, 3. Tiiis event was followed by one for farmei-3, for which the competition was good, and resulted in Mr F. Charles winning with a veally meritorious performance, completing the task > of driving five halfbrcd wethers from one yard through two sets of hurdles set diagonally to the course at about equal distances of five chains, and finally yarding the lot in a small yard in ths allotted time oi 10 minutes, which proved ample when the contestants woie up to the leqxiiremcnts of the class. Mi Chan da was well followed by Mr T. Simpson with a ' very young dog, which also was a very popular win. Third place fell to Mr A. Dickson — a glazing runholderj — consequently his bona fides ! was pretty freely questioned, as it was gener- j ally considered that the class was intended for ' small holders. However, no xnotest was en- 1 tered to m;ir the successful termination of a very satisfactory class. Class 111, Long Pull (the big money event;, naturally attracted the most entries, 48 nomin- j ating for the chance of winning the respective prizes of 20, 10, 6, 2, and X guineas. This class was not concluded until midday on Saturday, by which time, naturally, tho large attendance of the earlier pait of the gathering had gradually dwindled away. This cla-ss, contrary to

expectations, proved the most disappointing of the meeting. Ths big prizes, instead of attract- ! ing a host of big guns, acted as an incentive to a good many to pay a small entrance fee and trust to luck giving them a show at having a "'cut in" at the "big event" with a dog that , otherwise would not have been enj tered. The consequence was that the j was that the standard of work was by no means i raised, but rather the reverse. The five first i dogs were all competitors, with more or less { success, at, Burkes Pass a month back, -where j the moderate pr*ze of £10 and a gold medal value three guineas, attracted genuine competij^tors of real sporting instinct, with the result J that the competition was of a much more j even nature. Of course, out of an entry of j nearly 50 dogs, there are always banks, very i often occasioned by the neglect of dogs failing | to uphold their wel-earned reputation, but on j ihis occasion blanks and indifferent performi ances were the rule and not the exception to a i very unsatisfactory extent. Nevertheless, some ] very nice performances were pxit up. I give j the winner's performances, who turned up id : the winner of the same event at the club's inaugural meeting two years ago, as well as also getting second in the yarding event that year, and has otherwise proved a consistent performer. Rose, the winner, is a fine attractive slut. She was cast out on the left, and ran out very freely along a, good course, mak- - ing a'quick and good head, from where she had the good' luck to start her sheep hi the right direction, when they bolted clear down to near the foot of the hill; but, nothing: daunted, theie made the best use of the golden-opportunity and landed her charges at the ring in good condition, and with little trouble. Her weak point "is undoubtedly lack of style. Hie worker j was loudly applauded on leaving the ring, and ( the opinion was freely expressed that the per- ! formance would take- a lot of beating. The ; judges placed the rasults as follows: — j J. R. Thompson (Albmy), 27 points .. .. 3 ( T. Davidson (Orari), 'J.G points 2 i E. Trotter (Matncloto), 25 points 3 !A. M'Kay (Silversiream), 21 points .. .. 4 1 E. Fraser (Albury)A23 points 5 IA. Little (Waikari), 22 points .. .. 6 and 7 A. M'Rae (Mesopotamia), 20 points S The specials fell as fellows : — Mr E. Jones's .-Co, dog under best command, class 11, Mr PoiI lock (Diinbacli;, Sharp; Mr F. West's X 2 2s, • to dog scoring most points in classes I, 11, ! and 111, Mr 3. Bunner's (Mt. Cook) Fan, 53 J points; second do, Ml- R. Trotter's Stock, 47 i points, closely followed by Mr C. J. Johnston's ■ Cherry. I The wins throughout were very popular, ai:d the whole gathering passed off most success- ! fully.