NOTES BY FORWARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 50

NOTES BY FORWARD.

The Auckland Rugby Football Union representatives will not extend their tour next season beyond Wellington. The matches will include Wanganui, Wellington, and Taranaki. The Auckland Union, will not tend its team farther south than Wellington until the Canterbury representative team goes north to •'Auckland. The Thames Union is endeavouring to -form a goldfields' union embracing 1 -viihi, Olunemuri, and other country districts, and to organise a. visiting representative team next season. . Colonists aro deservedly proud of their footballers, but it is doubtful if any of them has ever achieved puch a feat as an eccentric Hungarian footballer, who, after "dribbling" all the way from Prague to Paris, has just turned 'lip at the of£ee of the Journal dss Sports. •According io the latter, he arrived in proper playing get-up, slightly modified to suit the present off-season by the addition of a pith (helmet. It appears that the footballing traveller, who introduced himself as the Chevalier Poledna Vekowsky, of Velkov, is, as might easily have been supposed, an enthumstic devotee of "Soeker," even in the dogdays, and that he -first imported the game into Prague. His present journey was the outcome, not of a wager, but of a pure passion for the pastime. He was determined to acquire perfect proficiency in dribbling, so lie dribbled all the way to Paris, and is now confident that no man alive can beat him in *hat particular line. He had a rather hard time of it occasionally on the road, his worst enemy being head winds. However, he made fair .progress, doing as much as 65 miles a clay under favourable conditions. The Chevalier is stated to have come to" stay the winter, •with the inteiTlion of joining an association football team. He ought to be a valuable acquisition on the forward line. The weekly meeting; of tlie O.R.F.U. Committee was held on Monday. Present : Messrs Wilson (president), Duncan, Harris, Hutchison, Isaacs, Macassey, Ross, and Campbell. In connection with the Porteous case, the Wellington Union forwarded copies of the evidence given before their committee by Messrs W. H. Atack (manager of the -New Zealand Press Association), D. M'Kenzie (secretary of the Wellington Rugby Union), J. Laughton (member of the Wellington R.U. Committee), and M. M'Guirk. All the evidence except that of M'Guirk. who denied having struck Pcrteous. went to show that Portcous had been first struck by M'Guirk. Tho committee decided that, in view of the fact that, the evidence is conclusive that M'Guirk. of the Wellington team, gave Porteous serious provocation byfirst striking him, the case would be met by suspending Porteons until tho end of season 1901. It was decided to communicate the decision to the New Zealand Cnion, together with a precis of the evidence, bodi written and oral, given before the O.Pi.F. Union.

The total receipts of championship matches and representative contests in Wellington in the past season, including the takings at the Petone ground, were about £1025. Tina does not include the grandstand receipts in the Athletic Park, which all go to the Athletic Company. The Union receives one-third of about £306. a^> its share of the tikinajs at championship matches and one-half of the representative, receipts.