THE O.R.F.U. REPRESENTATIVES' TOUR.

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

THE O.R.F.U. REP RESENTAT IVES ' TOUR.

SOME NOTES BY THE WAY. 111.

The Otago .representatives did not tabe Vway* so .favourable an impression of the- Takapuria, by which they travelled from One■hunga to New Plymouth, as they had taken ■away off the Rotoiti. For one thing, the .Xakapuna, though of course a faster boat, rolled much more— and rolled notwithstanding -that there was a smooth sea on the voyage down. Then, the noise ,and .rattle of her powerful machinery throughout the night was disturbing to the sleep. And she is not Equipped in the up-to-date style that marks <$he trim Rotoiti. Besides it was not agreeable V) be aroused at 5.30 in the morning and told \ore was only half an hour to spare befoie •. *» departure of the train for New Plymouth.

As a matter of fact there was more nearly an hour xo spare, tmt this was the steward's pleasant way of ensuring that no one should miss the trim. Ei'eryone wished to get to ! New Plymouth by it, for there was no certain knowledge as to when there would be , another train, an! the pleasure of the morning bath had to be foregone in order that the 1 half-hour's notice given by the stewards might j not be exceeded. A ha&ty breakfast was snatched, and the members of the team came i up on deck with xheir luggage to find that they had a really dirty clay them. ''White horses" were careering ever the sea, "girth-deep in hissing water," and the wind was accompatiied by a driving, searching, penetrating j.ain, from which there was no 'escape, and which was very disagreeable. The outlook was indeed cheerless when the train reached New Plymouth, but the team was speedily at home in the Terminus Hotel, | overlooking the railway station and the ocean | beach, and here most comfortable accommoda- ! tion awaited them. Mr R. Hadfield, who is now the licensee, is well known in the South j Island. l"or some time he 'was. manager of | Cokcr's Hotel in Ohristchureh — a position which he would certainly not have held if he had not been, as he is, experienced in the management of ho ,els and attentive to his guests. New Plymouth is not supplied with I many hotels, but in at least three of them a ! traveller can obtain as good accommodation as he can reasonably look for. One of these i three is the Terminus, and the Otago repres entatives, on the day of their arrhal there, : were content to remain indoors for the greater j part ot the day, the weather being more boisj terous than had been experienced on a-ny day j during the winter in Dunedin. In the afternoon, however, they had some hall practice, the drill shed .having been secured for the purpose. This ia a capacious building; and is ; admirably adapted tor gymnastic purposes, | but Its floor is polished, and not suitable for the practice of scrummaging. In the evening the Otago players were the guests of the Taranaki Rugby Union at a conjuring entertain- ' ment by "Professor" Anderson. This per- ; former has now been bet ore the public tor j very many years, and his right hand hab lost a good deal of its cunning. He is not a ! Daute or a Hertz. As a matter of fact one of the visiting team, whose assistance was proI fen eel and accepted, contributed what was freely recognised to bs the most successful ' feature of the entertainment. During the I night the wind blew steadily, and the morning "broke clear but cold. There was still a high wind, and this had the effect, as it subsequently proved, of drying very comrletely the Fitzroy ground, on wh.ch the match between Taranaki and Otago was played. In this contest a local man, Mr G. Syme, of Inglewood, acted as referee. Some explanation may be desired of the circumstances under which Oil ;jo played at Taranaki under a Taranaki refeice. Before the team went north urißiigeuibiUs i'fid been settled respecting the leieree fevv ettcu of the matches of the tour with the exception of that against Taranaki. No reply, indeed, had been received by the O.E.K.U. to its letter to the Taranaki Union, in which the latter was acted to lequcst the New Zealand Union to submit; the names of referees irani whom a choice might by mv tual agreement be made. The managers of the Otago team ascertained, moreover, upon their arrival in Wellington thai no application had been received by the New Zealand Union from the Tardiiaki Union for names of referees available for the jnialch in question. I "What the New .Zealand llnion had received was a letter from - {he Taranaki Union in which it accepted the suggestion of the Auckland Referees' Association that the latter body should nominate referees tor the representa1 tivo matches to be played during the season 1 m Taranaki. This was of course a proposi- . tiou which the Otago Union, if it had been 1 asked, could not have accepted, for to have ! done so would have involved the abandonment of the fundamental principle that each side ' shall have a voice in the' appointment of the ' refeiee. In any case no steps had been taken ; to cany out the suggestion made by the ' Auckland R.eferees'_ Association, and endorsed iby the Taranaki Union. Nor did th» sec- ! retary of the New Zealand Union see his I way clear to submit names until he had been ' reouested so to do by the Taranaki Union. ! There was nothing for it but for the Otago i Union's officials to v/ire to the Taranaki I Union raid ask it to request that mimes of I available referees be submitted. Unfortunately the negotiations could not be advanced during the time spent in New Plymouth by i the Otago team on the way north, for the I headquarters of the Taranaki Union, which ! were in New Plymouth last year, are now at ' Stratford, in the southern end of the district — an airangement which was decided upon at , the annual meeting of the union, but with I which the New Plymouth section has not i become leconciled, the conFequence being that ' the Taranaki Union has this year been torn • with internal dissensions. As a matter of fact it was not untl three days afterwards that names were submitted to the Otago team. In the interval the New Zealand Union had been in communication with more than one Auckland referee— with Mr Angus Campbell and Mr P. Mackie — but had apcei taincd that the services, of neither of them were fnailable. In the end the names of three referees were submitted. Two of tlie^e had never been heaid ' of before by the Gta^o Union- officials. Of ■ the third they had heard by repute. They i sutjge^ted a name to the Taranaki Union, ' whnh rejected tuc suqgesfcior". The unions \ could not agree to make a selection from the j jamc. submitted. The Otago officials, hosv1 ever, took i-ho precaution of asking Mr Hyme, ! who had come np from Taranaki to control j the AticLiiand-Otago mptch, whether in the [ event of a deadlock he would accede to a ' lequcaL to ace as referee in the Taranaki matcl\ Mr hSymc not unnaturally took it as a signal compliment that a visiting team ' should (-how s>o much confidence in him as to .suggest that he should act in a match in his own' province against a team of which he was, in iact. cue of the selectors, and he signified his willingness to act. The deadlock did occur, and r-o Mi Syme was called upon, the TaranaVi Union, of course, accepting him. The match v as not played on the, day of the ' wepkly halt-holiday iv New Plymouth, but in ' compliance with a request by the mayor, the biuine.-« people closed their premises, the half-holiday being changed foi that week. The very bad weather of the previous day was believed to have ileteired many residents in the bush districts from going to New Ply1 mouth to sco x,\ie match, but there was nevertheless a considerable attendance, and in pro1 portion to the total numbers present there were certainly more ladies at this n>atch than

at ony other on the Otago team s torn 1 . jllio ground is some distance out ol New Plymouth, and close to the sea and rather pxposed. The full force of the prevailing wind was certainly i'elt on it, and as it blew across the field there was a great deal of line-out play on the leeward side. The match itself need not be described. The play in it w*>s rather ol a scrambling character, there being very little cohesion on the side of the local men, several of whom, however, were individually excellent players, such as O'Dowda and Mynott. It was a team that, with some

more combination, wofld give a first-class account oi itself against any other provincial team. The lack ol cohesion on the part of Taranaki tended to make the game ragged, and doubtless the wind contributed also to this result. It was not by any means a great game, and the enjoyment ol it was marred by the contempt which was shown by a large number of people on the grand stand side for the necessity of keeping off the field of play. The touch lines were encroached upon m the most disorderly manner, and there was apparently no one m authority to put the crowd in their proper place?. A stalwart native, whose strongly guttural exclamations of "Taranaki every time," as he pranced up and down in front ot the grand stand with stick waved aloft and with a general mien of defiance, were amusing until their "damned iteration" became irritating, made some effort to drive the boys back, but this only excited amusement and ridicule. There was really no serious attempt to keep the crowd within bounds.

In the evening the Otago representatives to a man attended the annual dance of tho Star Football Club— an exceedingly enjoyable function, at which tho visitors wore so well supplied with partners as to warrant the concluEion that they had created a very favourable impression, as men as well as footballers, in New Plymouth. Even the non-dancers, though they were few, found that there was no indisposition on the part oi ladies to sit out dances with them. At any rate they remained at the dance almost until its termination. The dancing contingent, oi which the captain was decidedly the most indefatigable, Avith "Secbie," however, as an excellent second, naturally remained to the end. There were good partners and plenty of them, and the .floor was all that could 'be desired. The music, it may be mentioned, was supplied- by a. band at che head oi .winch wad Air Garry, -now leading the orchestra for J3ix's Gaiety Company at the Princess Theatre in JJunedin. The Otago team, it should also be stated, was warmly welcomed to the social in a speech c'elueied by the mayor of the town (Mr Dockerill), who took the opportunity at the same time ot making a presentation oi a purbe of sovereigns to ivir Lou. Allen, the Taranaki and Mew Zealand representative player of late years, who iias recently entered into the wedded state.

The stay of the team in New Plymouth had its pleasures, it will be seen. It was also marked by one great disappointment. The te?an had the horse-racing element included in it, and one of the spotting member:) wa>- in the fortunate position of being able to secure information about the "good ihiiigs" in race-: at the other end of the colony. It so happened that on the day of the 'J su-anaki-Otdgo match there were races at Tmitu v. A \.elogram arrived from the south i'oj this parhcular sporting member. But fiom some accidental cause it did iiol roach him. until alte - ;- he had returned from the nrnteh. it .•emauied two "straight tips for races cA Tiinaiii. "Unlike many stiaigl\t tips, it was reliable. Both the "good tilings" mentioned m it "came off, and. one ot them paid a dividend of several pounds. Great v. as the disappointment of all concerned at the untoward circumstance which had delayed ihe delivery of this valuable information until it was too late to be turned to any practical ad\antage. A sequel may be recorded now, though it is out of Us place in the order of event*. Ho trustworthy were this particular player's sources of information that when he proposed to stop at Oamaiu on the way south m order to see the races there, it was agreed that it would be an excellent idea if he should wire to Duiledin a hint of the likely winners. Nothing easier, and those who chose to act upon Ms advice would reimburse themselves some of their personal expenses in the north. The telegram was duly despatched and duly received, but on this occasion it contained the names ot no "good tilings, ' although it is said that at Oamaru the result of a number of races was the subject of a prior arrangement. All faith in that sporting player's infallibility as a turf prophet is shattered.

There was an early start from New Plymouth on the morning of September 6, the train for Wellington leaving at 7 a.m. Mr Bellringer, to whom the team was indebted for many courtesies, was on the station to see the last of the Otago playeis, while Mr Syme (the referee), Mr Tatton (secretary of the Taranaki Union), and Mr Alf. Bayly were among' those who libelled down Lhe line with them. Mr E. B. Stohr, of the Dunedin Club's team a couple of years ago, who had gone to New Plymouth to see the match, also travelled clovn to Hawera, where he resides now. Kis brother, Mr F. B. Stohr, a member of the old Montecillo Club many years ago, is still at New Plymouth, where 'he was" when the Otago team went north in 1887, and where he has remained ever since, and acted as touch-judge in this year's match at New Plymouth. As the train ran through "'the Garden of New Zealand" — which is, perhaps, not the best term to apply to Taranaki, for that district might more fittingly be called "the Pasiureland of New Zealand" in consideration of the' remarkable strides the dairying industry it making there — the sun shone out bright and strong, and, with a clear sky, a splendid and uninterrupted view was obtained of Mount Egmo"t, the peak of which had on the previous day been obFcurisd by cloud?. On the other side of the rail-way but, of course, ax a distance equal to about half the width of the North Island at xhat pai'i, were distinctly io be seen tho great mountains of Ruapehu and Ngaruhoe. The land throi gh which the lailvay line paeses in Taranaki struck all tho'-c who wore Interested a- being of ih-si-c'av- quality, but it was surprising to learn Hie price? at which faloj have lately been effected: either they arc fictitious or else dairying, which is responsible for she marked advances that have lately occuried in land values in Taranaki, is going to be a much greater industry even than it has been supposed in the south that it will rrovc. Dairying, however, and in 'a less dogrea the frozen msrt industry and the timber industry have been the makings of Taranaki, which is enjoying at the present time a prosperity t'.mt a few yearo ago was undreamt of. If only tome means could now be adopted of utilising in a marketable way ths extensive ivonsand deposits ol the district the future of Taranaki would be absolutely assured.

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the small incidents ot the journey south to. Wellington. At Haw era, it should be mentioned, however, there was a small band ol fc\-Oliigo men to meet the team as it passed through. These included Mr J. A. 'J urton (forr.ieriv of the Dunedin Club), Mr H. Halliwell (one ol the earliest member*, o[ the Pirjues,' Club), and Mr W. Scolon (an ex member of the Pirates' Club and of the Ota^o Rowing Club). At other stations clown the lino individual members of the fcpam were greeted by former acquaintances, and at Otaki one ol the Wellington team who visited the south last year and Auckland tlii'- year, b\it bad the misfortune \o have a finger biokcn there — De Verc— looked the playeix up. At 9. 4 5 p.m. Lhe train rolled into Wellington, and the Otago men gladly -saw another staae of their

journey over. Messrs M'Kensie (secretary), Pagni (treasurer), Muriay, and Caffey, of the Wellington Rugby Union, and Mr Beck, secretary of the Wellington Referees' Association, were amongst others on the station to meet the team anr^ a four-horse drag being in attendance, the players were set down without much delay at the doors of the Pier Hotel.