NOTES BY AMATEUR

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 62

NOTES BY AMATEUR

_ The .continuous r^heavy "rain last Tfriday caused ' the of the Dunedin iimateur Athletic s sports. The .club had decided to hold these -meetings wet or fine, but word was>-.Teeeived late -in tile- afternoon -that thetigrtiss .-was -under water, .and 'there was- no, other-course ,^i>pen -but to hold over .the meeting. ' I* ' - understand "that, in view- ,6i "Hhe Oamaru 1 ' "Sports, on 'tfie 22nd., the meeting 1 -will - ' be held until .after the New. Year. - ; Thursday will see a large number of Dunedin - runners on their way -to Oamaru to compete ■ Tit the North Otago C. and A.A.C. sports meeting. Hamann, A. Melville, Parata, and Titohener Are among those making the.trip. In view of the forward running of the two former at Timaru last week, they should be hard to beat on Thursday. Through the courtesy of the Mataura Sports Society, the Gore Harrier .and .A. A. ,Club will be enabled to -hold a club race at -the society's sports meeting on Boxing 4>ay The distance will be 'half-mile, and •there will be three prizes. The Gore Cycling Club intend holding a relay-race for teams from the Gore Harrier "Club at their meeting in January. Silver jneHals with gold centres will be presented to 'members of the winning team. It is possible another race may be arranged at — - "the -same .-meeting. The Gore Club are showing signs of great .vitality, and a sports meeting is being Valked of in the southern city. If the ."Hate suits, no doubt several iDunedin runners "would -make 'the trip and 'assist in -making "lihe fixture a success. "If. a team could be. - sent from one of the -Dunedin clubs to ' compete in a relay race, a great attraction -.Would be provided. The annual meeting of the South Canterbury Amateur' Athletio 'Club was held at 'Timaru last TriSay under -somewhat discouraging -weather conditions, and there- , Was a small attendance of the public The chief interest in the meeting to vs 1 in v [Dunedin lies in the form shown by the. Otago representatives. Andrew Melville, who came straight from the -train to take £art in the meeting, ;put up some good performances, a.n/1 was unlucky in not jcoring -a win. In the Mile Race he was £n -receipt of 45yds, and, after a good craoe, Was defeated by Davis (55yds), the time being 4min 37sec. -was beaten by his JadkTof a ■finishing sprint. A splendid finish was witnessed -in the Malf-mile, won *by Ellis (30yds), with Sha-w (35yds) second, and Melville (40yds) third. A sheet would 3iave covered the three -at the tape. The jtime was 2min 3 3-ssec. Hamann started in this event, but did not finish. Melville came out again in .the ' Steeplechase of about one mile and a-'half, :and -although the previous races, combined with his long train journey, had .taken a good deal out .of i him, he struggled gamely into second place. The race was won by Tage, with 17Qy.ds .start, and Melville was on the 55yds mark. The .time was 9min 37sec. When receiving -his prize, lUEe'rville was congratulated on his -fine and the wish ■was expressed that- he might win the race toutrig-ht -nest year. .Hamann -ran -well in his heat In the 100 yds, and won from the 4-ydfe mark in 9 ♦-sseo. In the -final, which was run immediately after the Half-mile, Hamann was |pq distressed to do himself justice, and "finished out of a place. The winner was Xl'Callum, with 7yds, and the time lOsecHad Hamann not started in the Half-mile M would have been closer at the finish.

In the 220 yds he again won his heat from | the Byds mark in 23sec. In the final, which was a clinking race. Brown (20yds) won by 3yds from Hamann, the time, being 23 3-ssec. H. Murray started in the Steople- I chase and the Mile race, but was not in good form, and did not get a place. W. -C. Flewellen started in the Mile race from scratch, and finished third, his time being 4min 45 4-ssec. j Hartland, the winner of the provincial championship of 'Canterbury this season over j 100 yds, started at Timaru, but did not get a win. Anderson must bo in fair form, | being just defeated in the 440ydfe race from scratch, the time being 55sec. The track at Timaru was good, as were likewise the arrangements, with the exception that the races might have been better distributed. In last week's issue of the Canterbury I Times "Sprinter" again attacks the Otago Centre and this writer. It will be recollect? d that some weeks ago I commented on the action of the council in making a ridiculous and unworkable- alteration to the registrai tion rule. "Sprinter" took exception to 1 my remarks, and his article, quoted in these columns, was disposed of some time ago. To again open the matter, especially now that tho council have reinstated the rule, | would serve no purpose, but some of the j Canterbury writcr-'s latest remarks are worthy of repetition here. He says that it is the common procedure of" those who think and write of athletics in Otago to abuse the council!' While, of course, envying the superior wisdt^n so obviously shown by die Canterbury scribe, the following" might be pointed out for "his consideration as showing that all the brains in matters athletic l are not possessed north of the Waitaki : — ! (1)' The alteration -made by the council re- , storing -the -registration rule to its original workable form was made on the urgent -representation of the Otago Centre; (2) the scheme of -finance adopted by the council for the tour of Duffey, Shrubb, and Morton is that -forwarded by the Otago Centre: (3) the change in dates — assuring the success of the trip— is also largely due to the representations of the Otago "Centre. It was resolved at a meeting of the Otago Centre that a cheque for £45 be: forwarded to the New Zealand Council in Christchurch as part of the £70 guarantee in connection •with the visit of the visiting champion athletes, the balance to be forwarded in a few days. ! At a meeting of the Otago Centre on Mon- . day evening -permits^ to run amateur races at Oamaru and Waikouaiti Caledonian Societies were -granted. Mr Lang .was ap- ! pointed to 'represent the centre at • Oamaru ; and Mr Mackintosh at Waikouaiti. Appli- ' cations for reinstatement ;from Messrs Leyden and Bannatyne '-were J fqrwarded 'to the . council -at "^Ohristchurch the) Otago . Centre's recommendation. There must be a rfalling off in the interest taken in sports in Timaru, for the South •Canterbury Amateur Athletic ' Club's sports, meeting, held on Friday last, attracted between 200 and 300 people only. -At ihe South~Canterbury Amateur Club's sports -gathering^ on .December £16, there -were present-three (Messrs *T. TesehemaJcer, 'A. *W. -Wright, and -^Melville Gray) of the founder's ■of the club. Th© ;ifirst meeting' o£.the-cktb-was -at-Pareora, and 'what led to rtsV-beirig-held ;was-a match "f or dBS a-=side, over -100yds, between Messrs 3?. Teschemaker .and Andrew' Turnbtill. The match duly came xJff, .and -.was won foy Mr Teschmaker. This .was in -*the year 1871, and the meeting ' on , December 16 was the thirty-fourth -gathering of the: -club. TJi& 1120 yds Hurdle Champicm'ship of Canterbury, set down for decision at the -Pioneer Club's -spring aneeting, was^ 'allowed to lapse -owing to .only one entrant aspiring ;to the title -of champion provincial timber-topper ! 'Wheu speaking against the imposition of annual' license fee on athletes' at the ■annual meeting *of New Zealand Amateur Athletio Association, Mr J. W. Green said .that of the "112 licenses issued last 'yea* by the Canterbury Centre, only 20 per - cent, of the 'holders had .so far this 'season entered into .active competition. At the Pioneer Club's recent meeting, about 70 of the .competitors -were -new runners. Complaints have been made against the J-iawrene© University cross-oountry team for •■running through the streets in too scanty -garb, cut 'high in the legs and low in< the neck, with lavish exposure of sun-burned •«kin. The habit of frisking through the streets 1 in merei-wisps -of trunks and jerseys, jis practised 'by the students of such dignified and anctient universities as Yale and Harvard, agitated the people of New Haven and Cambridge until the nuisance was somewhat abated. Objection of this kind may seem prudish as that spirit of modesty which prefers to 'drape the legs of a table; yet, in -the other hand, the aesthetic sensii .bilities -of university towns deserve respect. * | It is not so .much the bare arras and legs ! that make these barbaric displays so .un-' I pleasant as the studied disreputability of appearance. It has been said that the Englishl'vaxsity athlete" dresses to please the eye and the nose. It used to be the set purpose • of the American college- athlete to offend . both. That fad is dying ' out, and the visits of American teams to England have had some influence toward attractive and seemly. garb in training and competition. The Canterbury Centre must be in a bad way when they had to go to the New Zealand Council begging that body to take over half the responsibility of the Shrubb-Duffey concern. The head body, under the circumstances, .-very wisely decided to take over the -running of 'the whole scheme, so that the Canterbury Centre will now view the proceedings from, ihe bank. The secretary of the Stratford Caledonian Society forwards a copy of the programme of the .annual sports meeting to ,be held on January 26. Chief of three events, for which liberal prize money is offered!, is the Publicans' Handicap, of 440 yds, for which prizes valued at £5, £1 10s, and 10s are to be given. Entries close i on Saturday, January 14. A professional running match for a £75 stake, between C. J. Morris (Australia) and W. Black (a well-known New Zealand run- i ncr), over three distances, at the N&w J Zealand Wheel Hace meeting in Christchurch—7sy.dls, 100 yds, ondi 150 yds, —resulted in a win for Morris, who easily prevailed in the last two distances. At a committee meeting of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club, it was decided to control the Shrubb, Duffey, and Morton -meeting in conjunction with the Welt lington Centre, and for this purpose the payment" of £4-0 was authorised. "The sum of £15 was also voted towards the cost of getting a coach and arranging for train- j ing a team to represent Wellington in the championship contests at Christchuroh, aud j also to meet Shrubb, Morton, and Duffey at the meeting to be held here. It was j resolved' to hold # evening sports meetings i weekly, commencing on 11th January.

The Tasmanian Amateur Athletic Association hold their first championship meeting in January next, at Hobart. Tho events to be decided are championships, 100yd--, 120 yds Hurdles, 220ycJ*, 880 yds. < too Mile, High Jump ; and handicaps, 100 yds, 440 yds, 440 yds Hurdles, Three Miles.

Some fine racing was seen in the "Prix Roosevelt" (4827 metres flat) on Sunday, October 23. Several of the best-<known French runners were among the 11 starters, including De Flcurac, Versa], Ragueneau, Dupuis, and Bouchard. De Fleurao won a very close and exciting race in 15min 13 l-ssee (French record), with Ragueneau second, and all the others close up. The world's championship for the distance is held by Shrubb, who covered the distance in 14min 17 3-ssec.

It is said that Stanley Rowley, the New South Wales sprinter, will devote his attention to active training in the future, in order that he may race Duffey, the American. It is also said' that Rowley badly wants to beat the Yankee. There is no reason why Rowley should not regain his one-time brilliancy, comments a Sydney scribe. If so, Duffey will not have it all his own way with Rowley and Barker as opponents. The committee of the Pioneer Bicycle and Athletic Chib met last week to consider the protests lodged) against two successful competitors at the club's recent spring meeting. The men, against whom the protests had been lodged on grounds that they were professionals, and therefore were not eligible to compete at an amateur meeting, admitted tho fact that they had competed for cash, but claimed -hat when they joined an amateur club they thereby gained reinstatement as amateurs. A largo quantity of evidence was taken, and the committee finally resolved) that, in accordonce with No. 4 of the racing rules of the New Zealand/ Amateur Athletio Association, the matter of the protest, together with the evidence taken by the committee, should be forwarded to the Canterbury centre.

The veteran professional W. M'Manus (4yds) won the semi-final of the 130 yds Jubilee Handicap run at Ball«rat the other day, but was beaten in the run off by Roberts (13yds), who won on the tape. M'Manus, however, annexed the 440 yds Handicap off scratch. Writing to the secretary of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association, from St. Louis, Mr J. E. Sullivan expresses his regret that the negotiations for a visit of a team of --world's champion athletes fell through, and remarks that should the scheme eventuate, he thought that it would be a profitable one for the -association. Mr Sullivan stated that he had spoken to many Olympic champions on the subject, and they had stated their willingness to make the trip.

A little sun-tanned Bavarian in white flannels walked into the arena o£ London Hippodrome a .few weeks ago, and with the greatest unconcern proceeded to perform, three remarkable' feats of strength. His > name is George Lettl, he is sft in height, 37 years of age, weighs lOst, and is a -man of normal muscular development. It is stated that he can lift 25 times his own , weight, and 'he claims to be the holder of numerous -world's records: His first feat w2s the lifting of an anchor weighing 8501b with his hands alone. Then he raised the anchor with two and Jour men on it, the latter weight being computed at 15001b, which beats -the previous world's record, held by j an American named Kennedy, by 4001b. j There was no deception about the feat ; tho anchor struck the floor with a crash that made .the dust fly. Herr !^ttl next slipped his neck and shoulder through a strap .attached to the back of a. '16 h.p. "Leonard" motor car, and, although it was : set running "at a speed of 35 miles an hour, managed by the exertion of pure strength to prevent it from making any progress. His feat was to harness himself to the backs of two 8£ h.p. cars. These were started off in opposite directions at a speed of 25 miles an hour, and, by sheer finger strength, Herr Lettl held them so that they could not move. The driver of one of the cars subsequently stated that the strong man completely overpowed the eneine. j Under the heading of "Overdoses of Athletic Notoriety" an American journal says that now and then the sky-rockety notoriety I which throws an unwholesome glare across the path of tiiet famous college athlete produces an object lesson to act as a warning for unstable youths who need it. The case of the Yale guard who was convicted of keeping a gambling house was singularly pitiful in the wholly distorted viewpoint both of the young man and the girl he married. A "college romance inspired of -hero-worship railroaded the pair into znatri--mony before the youth knev that life was not all football and cheers. Another case in point, by no means incomparable, but in a minor way illustrating the evil effects of taking athletic prowess too seriously, is afforded by Ralph* Rose, the boyish athlete who has broken the world's record at shot-putting in the colours of the University of Michigan. He is only a big, strapping baby, immature in mind and body. Notoriety turned his head, and he began talking about himself and his ability to put on the gloves against Jeffries and of other wonders that were in him to perform. When laughed at across the country for such silly boastings Rose, bung his head and "felt so hurt" that, according to veracious reports, he could eat no supper at the training table. It may be that he has learned his lesson, and at small cost, if it now appears to him that the collegian has a better world to conquer than, the prize ring, and that once out in the big field of life his ability to break ordinary men over his knees is an inconsiderable weapon in the battle of trained intelligences that win the things worth winning. Sandow' s latest work on physical culture. ' "Man in the Making," winds up with a brief precis of the humorous incidents occurring during his Australasian tour. Some of them seem to have lost most of their noint in narrating, ■ but samples may be cited here. He says : "A general impression prevailed everywhere that he was possessed of enormous bulk, and when he arrived at fresh cities and" 'people saw a" man of ordinary stature, with nothing of the 'strong-man appearance, their remarks very often were extremely .funny. At the Wellington (N.Z.) railway station, a young lady, who had evidently come to the station oat of curiosiby to see him arrive, remarked 10 her companion, 'Why, he's ju->t a man.' On toother occasion, in Melbourne, where everybody was talking 'Sandow,' the famous athlete was sitting in a train car, and commenced to cough. An old gentleman, with whom he had entered into conversation, advised him to be careful, and told him thai, he ought to practis-e the Sandow ejier-

eises, as they were very good things for toning up the system." A woman m Sydney asked- Sandow to send a pass to tho theatre for her three children, who, she informed him, were just recovering from tho measlee. "Out ot consideration to the public, and to prevent the spread of measles, I decided not to send the pass," says the strong man. One of the waiters at a New Zealand hotel gave a good description of Sandow. After seeing him at the theatre the waiter remarked to a friend : "I just said to the 'boots,' 'If he said to me the meat was tough, I wouldn't contradict him.' " The modern Hercules has several pleasant remarks to make anent antipodean hospitality. His final words thereon read thus: "I was greatly impressed witn the hospitality extended to me and the friendly bonhomie accorded everywhere I went. In going to Australasia I did net go as a stranger to a strange land ; for I found amongst the hundreds of the followers of my system a kindness and devotion that surprised me. Paradoxical though it may appear, I was at home everywhere. I fully realised the immense vitality of the Saxon race, and the splendid future that must b© in store for such a people. Not the least factor in the evolution of this future will be their steady and undeviating adherence to the cult of the body. P. O'Connor, the world's record running wide iumper, with tho phenomenal distance of 24-ft ll^in to his credit, is considered the leanest athlete in training. He is all wire and whipcord, but a wonderful jumper, and a creditable performer at 220 yds and 100 yds sprints. The year 1901 (says an English writer) was a wonderful one for O'Connor, for there has never been so consistent a performer, judged on the following leaps: — May, at Ballsbridge, jumped 24ft 9in ; July, at .Kilkenny, cleared 24ft lliin ; August, at Ballsbridge, jumped 24ft ll|in ; and August, at Ballsbridge (grass take-off), 23ft lOiin ; but, stupendous as it may seem, O'Connor hag beaten 25ft. In July of 1901, at Maryborough, Queenstown, he cleared 25ft £in, but the record was not passed, because the ground was not perfectly level. Then some of his unrecognised jumps that same jear were— 24ft lliin, at Wickiow; 24ft 4£in, at Ballinasloe; and 24ft Bsin, at New Ross. "But here O'Connor's records do not end, for he holds the Scottish record, with a jump of 23ft 9iin, and the English, with 23ft Sijn, both done, I fhink, in the championship events at Glasgow and Huddersfield respectively in September, 1901. At Buffalo, U.S.A., O'Connor won the world's championship title, with a jump of 22ft s£in. There were 19 competitors, and the second man could only obtain 21ft 4^in. The ground on that occasion was wretched, and the wind against the jumpers, while the Irishman himself was upset by the climate. So many English and Irish championships have fallen to O'Connor since he came upon the scene that their details would be wearisome.

The Russian wrestler, Georges Hacfcen- " schmidt, locks what his reputation and j great performances have heralded . him, j says a Sydney writer; his build and development "indicate strength of a rare order. Only 27 years old, and appearing younger than even that, the Russian lion is sft 9in high, and L4st 81b in •weight. His chest measurement is 52in, neck 20in, waist 53in, thigh 28in, calf 17in, upper arm 19in, and forearm 15in. Here are -some of Haekenschmidt' s weight-lift- i ing feats: With both arms 3401b, with one I arm 2961b arms outstretched, right 1051b, left 1001b (both being extended at 'the one tinue), arm outstretched frora the side 1251b, with right arm 1501b (21 times), * turning with one arm four times in succession 2241b, raising and lifting above the head with both hands— (legs bent) 3401b, lying on the back .supporting 3401b, lying on tne back turning 3701b, snatching with. the ritrFt hand 2021b.' The most prominent of the wrestlers defeated by Haekenschmidt j are : — Frenchmen : Haekenschmidt _ has ; beaten Paul Pons, Laurent-Le-Beaueairois, Gambier, Fournier, Aimable de la Calmette, Raoul le Boucher, Dexnounte, etc. Germans thrown by him include Pohl, Eberle, Paul Belling, Fengler, Jack Koch, Mich Hitzler, Heinrich Winzer, Stark, ! etc. Belgians: Cbnstant-le-Boucher, Omer | de Bouillon, Clement le Terrassier, Diricks | le Brasseur. Danes: Petersen and' the Es- i pangolo Ohorella. Americans: Tom Jen- | lcin* (at the Albert Hall, London, on July, | 1904, in a contest for the championship of the world) and John Piening. Dutchmen : Dirk Van den Berg and' Van Toll. Italians : I E. Raicevichi and G. Raicevichi. Turks : "Halil Adali. Cotch Mehmet, Kara-ATimed, and Madralli (the "Terrible Turk"), whom i he defeated in 44sec in a Grseco-Roman j oontest for the championship of the world, I held at Olympia, London, on January 30, I 1904. Englishmen : Tom Cannon, Tom 'Maclnerney. Charley Green, and l Pete Barman. Russians : Janowsky, Alex Moor, j Trussow, etc. j