ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2533, 1 October 1902, Page 53

ATHLETICS.

NOTES BY AMATEDB. Apart from the harriers, there has been . nothing doing in local athletic circles, but in a few weeks' time the members of the D.A.A.O. will start training. Several of them are already in good condition, having taken their weekly run with the hare and hounds. The Dunedin Amateur Athletic Olub have not yet held their annual meeting, but the committee will decide upon the date this week. From all accounts it promises to be of more interest than usual. I am pleased to hear that notwithstanding the reverses the olub met with last year, when , the annual sports were twice postponed on ' account of the inclement weather, though there will be no profit, there will be no actual loss. This is at least something to be thankful for, and it is to be hoped that when the day comes round for the annual sports this year the weather will be more kindly disposed. I regret to learn that the injury Stalker received to his knee in one of the representative football matches in the season just closed shows little signs of improving, and that there is a prospect of his being unable Ito take part in athletics this season. With Cuff and Stalker, who were the D.A.A.C.'s representatives at the Championship meeting iri Auckland, out of the way, some of the other members would have a chance at the annual sports. But the club can ill afford to lose two such men in one season, and_ I sincerely trust both will be- seen en Carisbrook track before long. The secretary of the Empire City Athletic Club forwards me a copy of the report and balance sheet for past year, which shows the club to be in a healthy financial position, hav:cig a balance in hand of £11 10s 2d. A . further sum of £41, not included in balance sheet, from the social side of the club, makes a total of £52 10s 2d. During tho eeason the club was successfully represented iat outside sports gatherings. A reeam-

mendation to the incoming committee is that the club should hold a big Sheffield Handicap during the season. J. S. We«tney, the American runner, states bis willingness to meet Hargreaves, Spencer, Sumner, Morgan, and Tremeer in a 100 yds scratch race again before leaving England for America. At a recent meeting of the English Amateur Athletio Association, an application for a three-mile grass record created by Alfred Shrubb, the English long-distance champion, was received, but it was pointed out that it did not boat the existing record of 14min 24 sec. G. W. Smith informs "Lynx" that if overtures were made it is quit© on the cards that, a visit to the colonies of some of the famous American athletes could be arranged for. While in England, Mr G. W. Orton, the American distance runner, spoke to the Aucklander about a visit to Australia and New Zealand of an American team, and seemed very keen on the idea. In the high jump at the Celtic Sports meeting, held in Glasgow on August 9, S S. Jones, the American, cleared 6ft liin. The event was won by R. G. Murray, who, receiving 3in, cleared 6ft 2in; Jones (oft l£in, scratch) was second, and J. B. Milne (receiving 2in, sft llin) third. In reply to the questions of an interviewer .regarding G. W. Smith's running m the 120 yds Hurdle Championship .of England, the Canterbury man, Simpson, said that the comparatively slow time he put up in- the championship^ was iuje to the-,. : fact that the ground was so uneven that he had to be more careful about his jumping Uian he would have b&en on a .first-class ground. One London paper had. expressed the opinion that Trafford could beat Smith, but the Aucklander proved tfiat this was moorrect by afterwards giving Trafford 2yds start and a 2yds beating. . The Half-mile Championship of New South Wales was won on September i 5 by A A. Oxlade in 2mir> 6see, defeating A-. J. Wilkins by four yards; S. W. York The two-days' sports meetiaig of the Celtic F.C, which was«"Bf a somewhat international charaoter, inasmuch as Duffey, Jones, Westney, and Baillie (America), R. W. Wadeley, and Binka (England). Murray, Daly, and Finnegan (Iceland) were compe.ing, realised £700. Of George Smith, 'Actaeon, m the Auckland Star, says:— lt is to be regretted that the champion of England will not race again, having been obliged to come to this determination by illness suffered in training subsequent to the championship meeting. Smith has brought home some valuable trophies as mementoes of his visit, a visit which he ie not in the least anxious to repeat. The weathei was miserably cold when he was training, so cold that aftei his runs, evem though he was -encased in a smgiet and a couple of woollen sweaters, his legs were as blue as indigo. A movement is on foot to form a Pedestrians' Association, or League, in Melbourne. The main objects, so far as the matter has been thought aut, are tc promote 6ports meetings, in Melbourne, .particularly during the dull season, *nd',to have representation on the council of the V.A.L. By forming themselves into an association, and paying the necessary subscription to the V.A.L.. Vh© body will become registered as a oh»b, and. will theta. be entitled to representation on the counoil. So the peripatetic Germans Bohlte ana Dershow, have at last fallen out Dershow, poor fellow, was suffering from sore feet. On that account he wished to be excused from taking a- hand in the oarriage of supplies, and also suggested to limit the day's work to one of 12 hours' walking. They quarrelled, and Bohlke returned to Port Augusta. Dershow, who stands tc win a wager of £1000 (sa tis said) if he can walk aiound the world under certain conditions, vra* at latest acoount-s padding the 'oof alone. — Melbourne Sportsman. The ohief item in the Crawley sports, held on August 20, was to have been the Fourmile Sussex Championship Race, but owing to the fact that A. Shrubb, the holder, was unchallenged, a Four-mile Invitation Scratch Race was substituted. Shrubb had little difficulty in beating his old opponent, A. Aldridge, who defeated the only other competitor, F. J. Spencer, by nearly a lap. The course was- si grass, five laps fW^the mile, with an appreciable rise, all of which circumstances militated against fast tknee being accomplished, and Shrubb's 20mki 21 l-ssec, was therefore a better performance than the bare figures would indicate. Fourmile Invitation Scratch Race — A. Shrubb (Horoham Blue Star H.) 1, A. Aldridge (Kent A.C.) 2, F. J. Spencer (Horsham Blue Star H.) 3. -These were the only runners. Won by three-quarters of a lap, nearly a lap dividing Aldridge from Spenoer. Shrubb's mile times were : 4min 44 3-ssec, 9rain 56 3-sFec, 15min 7 3-ssec, and 20min 21 2-ssec. - Aldridge took 21min 8 3-ssec, and Spencer 22min 1 2-ssee. S. A. Allen, Pennsylvania University, owing 14 yards, was beaten oft the mark by E. W Gould, the Welsh champion, in a 120 yds Hurdle Race, at Pontypridd, on August 4, Gould gaining his championship honours at Newport on the same day, beating the holder, W. P. Phillips, who, howe\er, retained the Quarter-mile. At the i same gathering the 100 yds Welsh Championship was again won by R. Lundie, whilst the Half-mile Championship of South Wales fell to H. Priokett. Principal event on the second clay of the Celtic sports at Glasgow, on August 11, was the 120 yds invitation flat handicap, in which American sprinter Arthur Duffy and R. M. Wadaley were on the scratch mark, conceding Dennis Murray, of Dublin, 3yds. J. Westney, Pennsylvania, 4yds, and T. Har- J greaves, Southport, 3yds. Duffy and Hargreaveß did not start, the race going to Westney, the P°nnslvanian sprinter. Westney had the best of the start, and led by a yard to the tape. Wadsley passed Uen:nis Murray, the Irish champion, at the thr^e- i quarter distance, but failed to reach the American, who finished a yard in front in 12sec. On the second day of the Celtic F.C. Athletic Sports, held in Glasgow on August 11. J. T. Rimmer, of Liverpool, accomplished a fine performance in the two-mile flat, by covering' the distance in 9min 22 3 s;>ec, which constitutes a Scottish record. Tlie nresence at Parkhead, Glasgow, on A\igust"9 of A. F. Duffy, J. S. Westney, J. K. Baillie, and S. Jones (America), R. W. Wadsley and J. Binks (England), and D. Murray, J. J. Daly, and J. E. Finnegan (Ireland) gave an international flavour to the meeting, but unfortunately J. M'Gough and J. B. Milne were the only Scotch chamj pions who joined issue with the strangers. The most important event was the 100 yds invitation JbandicajJu w^^ Duffy holding thf (

posi of honour. Murray was generally considered his most dangerous rival, and when Duffy gave up victory seemed assured, but a resolute effort by Wadeley enabled him to win by a foot from Westney, who pluckily came again after being caught by Murray. Wadsley'a time against the breeze was lOsec —a performance of conspicuous merit. Immediately afterwards he ran with success in the 100 yds handicap, but after winning his way into the final had to put up with second place to R. Kitson. Wadsley did not run , in the 300 yds handicap, which fell to D. Murray after a tremendous finish with J. W. , Mowat. The dividing of the half mile into two heats robbed it of much interest. J. Binks qualified with difficulty for the final, in which he cut up badly, finishing nearly 300 yds behind the leaders. The meeting of J. J Daly and J. M'Gough, the Irish and Scotch champions, in the mile aroused excitement. In being given 60yds from Binks both were liberally treated, and the issue was deemed to rest between them, but the pair were in difnoultieß when A. Duncan, Olympic H. (120 yds), made his effort. In the high jump nandicap Jones crossed the bar at 6ft liin. but Murray won with sft llin, a performance he has only once equalled. On the second day (Monday) Duffy did not turn out in the invitation J2oyds handicap, in which lie and Wadsley 'were on scratch, but Ue was probably well advised in. these tsrtics, as he broke "down later on in the iOOyd? handicap. Wadsley again ran well, but failed to rOncede Aiyds to Westney. The '.00yds handicap saw the veteran M. B-. Golche gain a popular victory in level time. .He has been, on the track for nearly 20 years. - But the best performance of the evening, and, indeed^ of the meeting, was I the running of J. T. Rimmer in the two i miles handicap. .In asking bim to give M'Gough and Daly 60yds, it was thought that the handicapper had overrated his ! powers, but -he was justified by the reiult. M'Gough again beat Daly, but could not respond to Rimmer's determined effort in the final circuit, - and finished sime 20yds behind. Rimmer beat F. E. Bacon's' long standing Scotch record by 4 4-sseo, and yet , had to put up with third place. j Commenting on the Celtic athletic meetiug, "Veteran" in London Sportsman says: "Sprinters invariably take a long time to recover from a severe breakdown, and Duffy appears to be no exception to the rule. The times in the invitation and open sprint handicaps were well within his compass. In the invitation race, however, he seemed to make no impression on Wads- , ley, Westney, and Murray, and gave up after i going three-quarters of the distance, when he appeared to be in distress. Wadsley's victory was very popular, but he only just beat Westney, whilst Murray was less than another half-yard away. Some splendid finishes were seen, too, in the open sprint, in whioh there was more than one deadheat in the weeding-out rounds, whilst the judges had no little difficulty in placing the men in the final. Wadsley just failed to get up, being beaten by a few inches by W. Kitson, of Shettlestoh, who, with Byds start, was thought to have a 'good thing.' S. S. Jones, who since gaining " championship honours has been pretty heavily handicapped, again failed to gain first honours in the high jump. He is a fairly consistent jumper, however, and generally good for well over 6ft. On Saturday he Sid r 6f t Jim, bufcß. G. Murray cleared' sft llin", 'and so,- "with- an allowance of 3in, got home by half ait inch. Assuming everything to be all right, with reference to time and distance, the performance of J. T. Rimmer in the two-mile handicap at the Celtic F.C. sports on Monday was remarkably fine, and it looks" as if he could give Shrubb a great race at the distance. Rimmer's time— 9min 22 3-ssec— id only 5 l-s*ec slower than W. G. George's amateur record, accomplished at Stamford Bridge in 1884 ; and only about llsec slower than W. Lang's professional record, whioh has stood untouched since he performed the feat in 1863. No wonder Binks, with his weakened tendon, failed to go more than half of the journey. To run ftsjßimmer did, and yet only finish third in euch fast time, was somewhat discouraging. Wadsley, in the sprinting way, again ran smartly, but found the American, Westney, a bit too good for him on the handicap. Duffy again doubly disappointed the spectators by not starting in one event, and by failing to get up in another." At the CHftonville F.C. (Belfast) sports on Saturday, August 16, several of the American athletes participated. The following are details of the events in which thoy competed : —100 yds Invitation Handicap— D. Murray, Dublin, 2yds start, 1 : J. S. Wostmey, America, 3yds, 2; A. F. Duffy, Georgetown University, scratch, 3. This was a magnificent race. When they had travelled 30yds Duffy drow level with the others, but nearing the tape Murray, spurted brilliantly and won by a few hicl-os from Westney, same distance between seccaid and third. Time, lOecc. 120 yds Hurdles Handicap — S Jxmes, New York, owod loyds, 1; S. A. Allen, Pennsylvania, owed 12yds, 2; T. F. Kiely, Carriekrnuir, owed 12yds, 3. Won easily by two yards, the third close up. Time, 16 2-ssec. In an exhibition high jump. S. Jones cleared the bar at 6ft Sin. .1. Bailie, of America, was 'beaten in the first half of the Half-mile F.lat Handicap by W. J. M'Grath, Belfast, who ultimately ■won the final off the 45yds mark in lnwn 57 3-ssec. j Sindow, in conversation with a representative of the Age, said he does aiot intend to accept the challenge of Professor Miller to contest with him for £100 a side superiority in heavy Itimb-bell lifting, GraeeoRoman wrestling, boxing and fencing, sword v. sword, or foil v. foil. He made no claim | to superiority in some of the branches of ] sport enumerated by Professor Miller. "I am not here," remarked Mr Sandow, "to accept or issue challenge.' of any kind. I do not pose as an athlete who is a boxer, fncer, u-xpstler, and strong man rolled into one I simply say that I have a system of physical culture whioh will make anyone a strong and therefore a healthy man. It is a more chance that 1 am on the stage. I perfected my system, or made it a? nearly perfect as I hope to make it, and in my encounter with Samson showed that it had lenderod me at least powerful. I was offered inducemeof-- to go on the stage, and . my performance i* merely to show that a [ great deal c°a be accomplished by a I scientific sy=tem of training. I have been frequently challenged. The other day I received a challenge from Mr Paris Nesbit." fiandow leaned back in his chair and laughed. ''You see." he said, "I have many challengers Professor Miller no doubt is an athlete of great ability. I have not spent much time on some, of the games he mentions. In \westhng. however, I regard myself as proficient. I wrestled in Italy fcr BU£/ yetua a$ an, amateur. It was in

Berlin that I encoxmtured one of thtf strongest and most unprincipled' wrestler^ that the world ever saw. He possessed! phenomenal finger strength. On one occasion he was known to drive, his fingers! through the wall of a man's stomach, and! aJmost pluck out his intestines. You see) these marks?" S&ndow bared his arm.andj disclosed two round white marks, as of old! wounds that had healed but left their brandi behind. "I wrestled himj" said Sandowv The light of battle shone in his eye. "That's where he gripped me, drove his fingers into, my arm, ana tried to grasp my sinews. I rushed him, squeezed him the 1 body, broke three of his ribs, -and nearly, broke his back. I bear my mark; he Ijaa never been right since. No, I don't Kkft wrestling. I don't want to 'hurt anyone, or, for that matter, hurt myself, /lam not going to accept , Professor Miller's challenge." Sandow \ added that lie has been very busy since he landed in Australia. - SMITH AND SIMPSON IN ENGLAND* As_ the information published from time t otime concerning the doings of G. W. Smith amd W. F. Simpson while in England! has been ecrappy and by no means comr -plete, the Aucklander has favoured "Lynx,'* at his request, with a somewhat brief yet complete record of their ioings. Here io--is. The first meeting we competed at "was at Horsham, on May 31. I turned out r m. . the 120 yds Hurdles Scratch Race, and'Wodt very easily by isyds ; Simpson started' iir the male with 70yds from J. Binks; and t&&~ , unplaced. We next ran,,at the Metrogbli-. ten: Fira; Brigade A. A.*., .myself off-4|yd* , in the lOOycfo flat and Simpsou off 85ydi"~r# the mile, both -jrimning ' unplaced. ~;£sot»i Saturday, Tune l*?""we- started at the Civfij Service sports at Stamford Bridge, t- 'I ' was giving away 13yds and the first hurdle dowtf - - on a very heavy rack, and ran ."second;' while Simpson, with 85yds start, won the" 150 yds limit mite race. I also started ia' a 440 yd? hurdles, the limit man having 40yds and the first hurdle down, but only ran half the distance. These, like all 'aces on.tha Stamford Bridge ground, were rum righ? hand in, and" it proved very awkward to ue after being used to running left Uandi in. On Saturday, June- "21, I went toj Huddersfield, where I mefc Mr Trafford.He was handicapped to give me lyd in thtf 120 yds an-Jj 3yds in the 300 yds Hurdles. Trafford, however, did not get into the final,' bemg beaten by Gowing; of Newport. Gow-s ing also won the final from. me. I ivas wiiif J fling this race, but had the bad back ~i& stiike the last flight, bringing down threat hurdles and giving Cowing a. clear run in.. Later on in the day I went out for the; 300 yds Hurdles, and won both my Heat amd final. After the sports I went on. to' Bradford with Mr Geo. Stephenson, of Duaedin, and spent a few day* with ham, during which time I flaw the Australian oricketerl play Yorkshire. After the match I" re« - turned to London, to put the final- touches on for the ohampictnship. On June 27i Simpson visited Oobbam to run in" "a threat mile race, in which svenfc he finished fourtltfc ■ and that was the *ast race before the big) meeting on July 5. We both, took care tot g«t as w.ell as. we .could, and it was "a-tre^t to soe the sun. shine out for a bit. - 1€ was very warm on- the day "of .the spoxte? I was the' firit ( to. turn out,' the four miles not coming' on' till late in the', afteruoonr .There were- "four startere in the" '120 yd* i Hurdlea Championship— viz.. I Traffor^ Carey, Phillips,' and- niy«alf. - Thw alartec quickly got us away "to a good etartj-aodir went to the front from the pistol crack* and was never '■hard pressed." at -any part ( of the race, winning by » couple of yard?« Simpson turned out for the four miles, and; all things considered, ran * grand race. He was only a couple of yards bebindJ Shrubb for three milee and a-quarter, ..'but chen his side gave way. He, however, 'rani -- the full distance, and got pncler. ttandard time. I have seen » few runners, bufc never one who gets more out of , himself than Simpson. He is -without ' doubt Ih© gamest runner I have seen on the track;! when he finished he could not actually? stand. After the championships Simpson and myself went to the dinner tendered^ to* the visitors, but both of us .were unw^M, Simpson being bad from his rum, while I had a fainting fit, and Dr« Donovan and! Badger were attending to. me for over an, 1 hour. We consequently saw very l'ttle of? the dinner that night. On the Saturday, following, July 12, I went cm to Binning-, ham and ran second to S. S. Jones (America) in the 120 yds Hurdles. In this I was owing 16yds and Jones owed 13yds. Iru the 440 yds Hurdles I was the scratch man, and I ran second in both the heat and tha final — the .latter being run in 56 3-53 CC,' beaten by 6yds. - Simpson, started in /the .One-mile Handicap, and ' ran unplaced "frtyrf the'iSOyda mark. On 'the Monday I went to Stourbridge, and started in- the 120yd£ . Hurdles from 16yds behind, "and again ran second' to 3. S. Jones. I also started in th« 220 yds flat, but could not get up to the field} This was the last meeting I competed' it in England, and of ail the tracks I saW while at Home there were none to come up to the Auckland Domain. The best ground I ran on was the Birmingham track, after which I liked most the Buddersfield ground.