THIRD DAY'S COMPETITIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 30

THIRD DAY'S COMPETITIONS.

An early start was made on Friday morn- I ing with the third day of the firo brigades' competitions, and though but a very short adjournment was made, for luncheon, it was found impossible to complete the programme. This is largely to be- accounted for by the lap^e- of time between running off the different teams. The preparation of the gear often took considerably more than 10 minutes, and with so many teams competing this necessarily meant a loss of time. Ii was not until the afiemoon was somewhat advanced that duplicate gear was brought into use, and had it net been for this the competitions would £>robably not have been completed this week. Once the i duplicate gear was introduced much faster work was don©, but with all the push of the- officials it was found impossible to bring , the competitions to a finishing point. The we a her was fine, but there were not many of the general public present. During the afternoon Sir J. G. Ward, accompanied by some of the city members, paid a visit to ■ the ground, and spent some time watching . the events. Whue all the officials connected with th© demonstration haye been exceedingly obliging in supplying- the press representatives with information, thanks are specially due to Foreman J. J. Salmon, Ex-fireman M'Kenzie (who acted as field secretary), and Messrs A. Dey and C. Gore. The Industrial School children, headed by theii- pipe bund, marched on to the ground

in the afternoon, and remained interested spectators of what was going on. The Ho=e, Hydrant, pn-tJ Union Competition (for five men) was continued and completed, Dunedin City's 60see, put up sn th& previous day, not being beaten. After Dunedin City came Greymouth (62sec), Westland (63=ec), and Thames and Caversham (64-sec each). In the- run-off between the two lastnamed Thames beat Caver«ham by 64-sec to 70 3-s<iee. In the second Hose, Hydrant, and Union contest for five men, under different conditions, Dannevirke comes fiist, with 30? Ec;e c; Napier and Groymoulh, second and th'rd. with 31scc cac-h ; Dunedin City fourth, with 31 3-ssec ; and Caversham fifth, with 31 4-sscc. In the run-off for j second place between Napier and Greyj mouth, a heavy penalty of 6sec for crossed I hose, imposed on Greymouth, made it a comparatively easy task for Napier to win. In the Two-men Coupling 1 Practice, which was continued from tho- previous day, Lieutenant Boon and Fireman Ford, of New Plymouth, proved the winners, in 4-1 l-ssec, the Dannevirke representatives taking second place with one fifth of a second longer time. J So close was thi=. competition that before j the. remaining three places could be de- ' cided two lies had to be iuii oft. Thames beating Timaru in the run-off for third place and Napier beating Chrietchurch City (in the run-off for fifth place. In the Hose ; and Hydrant Competition (for three- men) ,'"| for which over 60 teaxns were entered, most of the teams were run off in order to let the men away. So far the ccm- ' petition is not very much more than half ! completed, but at presrnt New Plymouth, leads with 4-3 sec. Greyrnonth and Caversham coming next with 4-4-sec each. Not taking ! into account the -second Hose, Hydrant, and Union Competition (for fve men). Dunj edin City is leading' for the Shand-Mason Shield with 29 points Timaru coming next with 27 points; then follow Masterton (24), Hawm (19), Thani^ (18). Greymoirth (17). New Plymouth (1&). Napier (14). Ranqfiora 02). Cavorsham (10). Christchurch City (8), Dannevirke (6). Waipawa (5), Spit (4), Law- , rence. (4), and Eastern Railway (2 points). j From the reading of rule 18, Dunedin City's I fourth place in the second Hose. Hydrant, j and Union Competition adds 4 to its ecore j of 29. making its total 33, Napier gets 12, j brineine it up to 26, Greymouth gets 8, which, with its 17, makes it 25, Dannevirk&'s ' i total becomes 22. and Cavershn,oi's 12. There j still remains another competition — the Hote and Hydrant Competition (for three men) — to be counted in, and in this Du-nedin City , has not yet competed. Napier is out of it, i *nd Greymouth ties with Caversham for . G-eeond place ; but assuming:, when the com- ! i petition is completed, Greymouth ?&ts second place, its 25 is only increased by 6 ! points, which would make it 31. If Dannevirke, who has yet to run, ohtainod first , place, it could only increase its 22 by 8 i points, making its total 30. so that, ev&n j if Dunedin City does not get a place, the shield peems to be won by it. Northern competitors are notified that 'he 1.27 p.m. train connects with the steamer at Lyttelton. The following are Friday's results: — HOSE. HYDRANT, AND UNION COMPETITION, FOR FIVE MEN.— (Continued.) . Dunedin City (Branchman J. Williams, Firemen H. Tonkins, R. Olliver, J. Conway, afhd T. Blanchard), 60sec 1 Greymouth (Foreman P. Deere, Firemen Kilpatrick, Walton, Locksage, and Fitzsimmons), 62sec 2 Masterton (Captain Jenkins, Lieutenant i Errington, Firemen E. Jenkins, E. Braggins, and B. Braareins), 63sec 3 i Thames (Cantain Gibbons, Firemen Alexander, Billings, Garrett, and Willetts). 64sec 4 I Caversham (Cantain Foster. Firemen Sherwood, Scott, G. and W. Russell), 64sec . . 5 -, The other comoetitors were: Wanganui f 65 3-ssec, Spit 68 2-ssec, New Plymouth 69 2-ssec; Gisborne 71sec, Parnell 73sec, Oamaru 75sec, Palmerston North 70sec, Napier 68 l-ssec. Dunedin Railway 76sec, Petone 89sec, Nelson 77sec, and Fitzioy 66 2-ssec. Eastown Railway and Waihi also competed, but were disqualified. The Spit met with a bit of bad luck in their branch blowing off at 100 yds. In the case of Masterton there was an exciting race between the water coming along the pipe and the man whose duty it was to mount with it to the upper platform. Water and man reached the platform exactly at the same moment. A second! .earlier with the water wcnild in all probability have meant the man being blown off the ladder top. Eastown Railway was disqualified for not coupling up their gear properly ; and faulty couplinff was the ground for the disqualification of Waihi, who did not complete their work. Caversham : and Thames tied for fourth place, and in the ' xun-off the former lost time on the union and failed to make better time than 70 3-ssec. , Thames got through their contract in 64sec. j though they lost time in getting the last j : water. I HOSE, HYDRANT. AND UNION FOR \ FIVE MEN. i I'ive men to run 10yds, pick up 60ft properly I strapped coils wet hose, hydrant, union, and j two branches, all to be detached and lying on the ground, run 25yds to plug, fix hydrant, connect one lead of two 50ft lengths of hose, fix union, connect 50ft of hose to each delivery union, fix branches, and with both wateis strike discs. Prizes: First, £30 (including Captain Wain's prize, JE10) ; second, £17; third, £13; fourth, £11; fifth, £9. ' \ Dannovirke (W. and B. Nuttall, W. Drink- ! water jun., D. Moonev, and F. Brown), 30sec • 1 ■ Napier (Foreman W. Gilberd, Firemen L. Mullar.ey, E. and S. Gilberd, and G. Wil- , lis), 31sec 2 , Greymouth (Foreman Deere* Firemen Fitz- ■ ■simmons, Walton, Locksage, and Kilpatrick), 31sec 3 Dunedin^, City (Branchman J. Williams, Firemen H. Tonkins, J. Conway, R. ' Olliver, and T. Rjanchard), 31 3-ssec . . 4 Caversham (Captain Foster. Firemen D. ' Russell, W. Russell, S. Sherwood, and T. Scott), 31 4-ssec 5 ] The other competitors were: — Westport 4 33 l-ssec, Hawera 33 2-ssec, Dunedm Railway . 43= ec, Paeroa 55sec, Timaru 33 4-ssec, Inver- ' cargill 38|sec, Eastown Railway" 33 2-ssec, j Woodville 38 2-ssec, Kumara 45sec, Milton , 54see, Masterton 33 2-ssec, South Dunedin ' ] 40 2-ssec, Fitzroy 42seo, Gisborne 44 2-ssec, I Lawrence 46 2-ssec, New Plymouth 36sec, ' Hastings 34 4-ssec, Wanganui 37 4-ssec, One- ] hunga 47 2-ssec Alexandra South 44sec, \ Hokitika 36 4-ssec, Parnell 40sec, Pelone J 42 4-ssec, Oamaru 3Ssec, Waihi 38sec, Christ- ' church City 42se<j, Roslyii 41sec, Palmerston ' North 36sec, Whangarei 40 l-ssec, Thames * 37 2-ssec, Nelson 37 3-ssec Si. Kilda 34 2-ssec, s Geraldine 42sec, Reefton 50sec, Naseby 36sec, < Waipawa 3Ssec, Spit 39 4-ssec, Auckland Rail- i way 49sec, and Eden Terrace 53sec. In addi- 3 tion to these Port Chalmers and Sumner were ] competitors, both being disqualified without ( any time being taken, <

Westport was penalised 3s-ec for loose coupling, Easlown Railway lsec, Gi&bome 4sec, New Plymouth lsec for loose coupling, Wanganui lesc, Spit ssec (their actual time being SS 4-s=cc), Dunedm City lsec, and Caversham 2sec for loose joints on the union (their actual time being 29 4-ssec — the quickest time made). Paeioa. whose time was 55sec, were disqualified for handling before the judge had seen the gear. Eastown Railway for a bit put up good time, but were a bit slow in getting the water on to the last di=c, and Napier lost about a so-cond in breaking the last disc. Fitzroy were disqualified for working after the discs had been bioken. Their time was increased by two of the team falling on reaching the li3"diant. Dannevirke' s was a very smart piece of work right through, and their actual time of 30sec was not added to for faults. After 15 teams had competed it was decided not to examine for 38sec or over, and consequently there were few penalties after. Six more teams having gene 36sec oi over, was passed without examination. Port Chalmers were disqualified for not completing their work, and Alexandra South lost considerable time at the union. Greymouth and Napier, with 31seo • ach, tied for second place, and it was proposed to leave running the tie off till next morning, but that idea was abandoned, and Greymouth, going on first, did the work in 39 4-ss&c, but were penalised 6se2 for crossed hose. Napier followed their time of 42 3-ssec not being added to for indifferent work. =j HOSE AND HYDRANT COMPETITION 1 FOR THREE MEN. Conditions: Three men to run syds, pick up three 50ft lengths of hose, hydrant, union, and branch&s, all to be detached and lying flat on the ground, run 25yds to plug, fix hydrant, run out two 50ft lengths of hose, j fix branch, and strike disc ; disconnect first ! -icoupling, insert union, and connect two 50ft lengths of hose to union, fix blanches, and strike dies. Time to be t alien -rom start till the last water strikes the discs. Prizes: First, £13 (including £5, Noyes Bros.' prize) ; second, £9; third, £7; fourth, £5; fifth, £3. For this event there were in all 63 teams entered, but of these Paeroa, Ross, Reefton, Levin, and Kaiangahake scratched. Although a start was made with the event immediately after luncheon, only some 28 teams had mn when an adjournment was made for the day, and the convenience of teams from the north who desire to leo.ve town to-day was studied in allowing them to get their run over. Results so far are as follow: — Thames, 47 2-sseo 5 (penalty ] sec, Te Aroha 70 2-sseo (penalty sseo), New Plymouth 43see, Eastown 48sec, Cambridge 65sec, Wauganui 68 3-ssec, Carterton 49 2-ssec, Palmerston North 48sec (penalty lsec). Spit 49 l-ssec, Greymouth 44sec, FitzI iov 66 l-ssec, Westport 63sec. Parnell 57sec, i Hokitika 63sec, Mount Eden 53 l-ssec (penalty i 2sec), Gisborne 61sec, Napier 50sec, Naseby ' 51 2-sscc Waipawa G3sec, Hawera 46 2-ssec, Christchurch City 51 l-ssec, Caversham 44sec (penalty lsec). Disqualifications were numerous, and teams disqualified were Eden Terrace, Whangarei, Patea, Hastings, Waihi, Auckland Railway, and Nelson. In the case of Whangarei the branch was taken off before examination. Nelson was disqualified for undoing the branch after hitting the disc, and in all the other cases unfinished work was responsible, in. several instancies the end of the hose, owing to the pressure, getting out of the control of the firemen, and the result being that the disc was not struck. i So far it will be seen New Plymouth (Boon, Way, and Ford) are^ leading in 43sec, Greymouth (Deere, Lccksa.ge, and Kilpatrick) and Caversham (Foster, Sherwood, and R.u&sell) tying for second place with 44sec each, Hawera ! (M'Niven, Greig, and Rogers) coming next in 46 2-ssec > and Thames (Gibbons.. Alexander, and Gairatt) coming next with 47 2-ssec. Superintendent Lucas and Mr W. H. Skitch acted as judges. COUPLING PRACTICE, TWO MEN.— (Continued ) This event, unfinished the previous day, was continued, additional teams to run, and their times, being: Thames, 42sec (including 2sec penalty) ; Ross, 53 l-ssec ; Reefton, -16 2-ssec (penalty lsec); Alexandra South, 50 3-ssec; tetone, 50 l-ssec (penalty 6sec) ; Gore, 58sec ; Dunedin City, 48 2-ssec (penalty 3sec) ; Greymouth, 46 l-ssec (penalty 3sec) ; Lawrence, 46 3-ssec ; Ashburton, 49 2-ssec ; Dunedin Railway, 49ssc ; Sumner, 54sec; Kumara, 46 l-ssec; St. Kilda, 51 2-ssec. Dannevirke ran last, and in the good time of 41 2-ssec (including lsec penalty) ran into second place. Thames and' Tirnaru, with 42sec each, having tied for third place, a run-off was necessary, the result being that Thames took third place in 41 2-ssec and Timaru fourth place in 43 l-ssee. A run-off for fifth place between Christchurch City and Napier, each 43 3-ssee, was necessary, the result being that Napier secured fifth place, their time in the run-off being 43 l-ssec (including penalty lsec), Christchurch City's time in the run-off being 45 4-ssef (penalty 2sec). In justice to the Alexandra South pair it should be stated that they would certainly have put up better time but for the fact that the union was not what I they were accustomed to regard as a proper i workable union, jamming, apparently, when ; turned in their customary manner. ' Final. i New Plymouth (Boon and Ford) 1 Dannevirke (Nuttall brothers) 2 ! Thames (Gibbons and Alexander) .. .. 3 Timaru (Campbell and Hunt) 4 Napier (Gilberd) and Wallis) 5 One of the visiting de-legates to the United | Fire Brigades' Association Conference, | Branohman Maxwell, of the Te Aroha Fire Brigade, was taken suddenly ill on Wednesday, and was admitted to the Hospital jon Friday, where he now lies in a very j critical condition. FOURTH DAY'S COMPETITIONS. The fire, brigades' competitions were concluded on the Caledonian Ground on Saturday morning-, the weather being again fine. Th© Hose- and Hydrant Competition (for three men) was continued, and ended in a, win for Masterton in 40sec ; New Plymouth second, Greymouth and Caversham — a tie — third and fourth, and Hawera fifth. The only other ©vent was th© Consolation, in j which five men to vhe team competed, the total number of competing teams being 25. St. Eilda came first, with 345-eo ; Hastings second, Eastown Railway third. Spit fourth, and Naseby fifth. At" the. distribution of prizes a,t the emok-e concert held on Friday night Sir Joseph AYard stated, rather to the surprise of some, that the money in the Disable Hose Competition would not bo given out. as there was some dispute in regard to the event which still had to be settled. It turns out upon inquiry that Hawera were dissatisfied vith the Protest ' Committee's decision o\ &r a protest that had been lodged against the team by Napier, the rule apparently being that the protest should have been lodged with the secretary of th© Demonstration Committee, Mr Grace, whereas it had been handed to Mr J. M'Kenzie, the field secretary, and by him passed over to Captain Martin, who was one of the Protest Committee. The matter ame before the Protect Committee on

! Friday nig-ht in the form of a requeet for a rehearing, and the decision arrived afc was that Mr M'Kenz : e, as field secretary, : was in the field acting for Mr Grace, who 1 could not possibly be m the field and in. the office at the same time. Consequently ; it conside-red the protest wa-> in form, anil <l , it directed that the money should be paid ■ out, and it was paid over the next morning 1 . ' There being no appeal from the Protest Committee, the decision js final, but before ' ' leaving on Sp.turday morning Secretary ! Robbins sa ; d, in the hearing of Mr Grace, ; that Hawera would sue in the eotirts for j the- prize. With regard to the shileds, Dunedin City wins both ShancJ and Mason's and the High Pressure Shield, with total? of 35 points for each, Ma=terton coming next | with 32 points. The Manual Shield was ! ; won by Hawera with 23 points, New Ply- ! mouth and Dannevirko tying for second i plaso with 22 points. The points obtained j by all successful competing teams appear , I hereafter. Before the men left the ground 'on Saturday Captain Martin, on behalf . * of the men, expressed appreciation at the i way the Ground Committee had entered ; i into its work, and called for three cheers for : , it and one for Mr Bey, which were heartily > given. ■ , The following are th"- final results of the ■ | competitions : — j HOSE AND HYDRANT COMPETITION 1 FOR THREE MEN Throe men to run syds, pick up three 50ft 1 lengths of hose, hydrant union, and branches, i all to be detached and lying flat on the ' ground, inn 25yds to plug, iix hydrant, run : out two 50ft lengths of hose, fix branch, and. strike disc ; disconnect first coupling, insert; : union. £>nd connect twe 50ft lengths of hosa i to union, fix branches, and strike discs. l Time to ba taken from the start till the last ; water strikes the dis^s. Prizes : First, £13 (ncludng £5, Noyes Bros.' prize) ; second. £9; third. £7; fourth, £5; fifth. £3. Masterton (Captain Jenkins, Branchraen E. i Braggins and E. Jenkins), iOsec .. .. 1 New Ph mouth (Lieutenant A. Bcon. Firemen H. H. Ford and J. "Way), 43sec .. 2 G-rcymouth (Firemen Deere, Ki^patrick, and . , Blocksage), 44sec f Caversham. (Captain Foster, Foreman Sherwood, and Fireman G. Russel), 44sec .. + „ Hawera (Lieutenant M'Niven, Foremen Whiting and Rogers), 46 2-ssec . . . . 5 This event was staited on Friday, and the additional teams competing on Satui day wero Port Chalmers 69sec, Dunedm City 49 2-ssec, Roslyn 56 2-ssec, Christ church Railway 51 l-ssec, St. Kilda 53sec, Oamaru 523-ssec, Lawrence <18sae, South Dunedin 47 l-ssec. G-eraldine 52sec, Timaru *7 3-ssec, Gore 54 l-ssec, and Dunedin Railway 51 l-ssec. Addington Railway was counted out, and the others who had entered did not compete. Greymouth and Caversham tied for third place, and agreed to divide third and fourth money without running the tie off. The winners (Masterton) made a very - smart clean run devoid of hitches or mistakes. n CONSOLATION. Five men to run 10yds, pick up four 50ft I properly strapped coils wet hose, hydrant, j bunion, and two branches, all to be detached I and lying #at on the ground, run 25yds to plug, fix hydrant, connect one lead of two 50ft lengths of hose, fix union, connect 50ft hose to delivery of union, fix branches, ' and with both waters strike discs. Prizes: , First, £20; second, £15; third, £12; fourth, £10; fifth, £8. ; St. Ivilda (Lieutenant Garbutt, Firemen Austin, Brown, Wentworth, and Garbutt), 34sec 1 Hastings (Fremen Flynn, Kesse-11, Donovan. Branche, and O'Neill), 34 2-ssec . . 2 Eastown Railway (A Holmes, P. Keegan. i Lieutenant K.eegan, Firemen Harris, and Olson), Sss.ec 3 I Spit (Foremen Redwood and Saunders, Firemen Smith, Sweeney, and Monticeno), 36sec 4 Naseby (Captain Marslin, Fiiemen Mar- : shall, Brown, Smith, and Moore), 361-ssec 5 ! The other competing teams were Woodville 42 l-ssec (including lsec penalty), Westport 39sec (including 2sec penalty), Hokitika 41 3-ssee, Nelson 38 2-ssec (including 2sec penalty), Parnell (disqualified for not striking the disc), and Petone 44 4-sse<c (including lsec penalty) From this out competing teams had to do 42sec or better, and consequently no examination was made in a great many cases. Whangarei came next in turn, and tcok 44 l-ssec, and then followed Palmerston North 37 4-ssec (including 2sec penalty). Gisborne and Kumara (disqualified for unfinished work), Oamaru 38 2-ssec, Christchurch Railway 45 2-ssec, Sumner 53sec, Gore 46 2-ssec, Alexandra South 37 2-ss>ec (including 2sec penalty for loose hydrant), Port Chalmers 43 4-ssec, Lawrence US 4-sseo (including lsec penalty), South Dunedin 38 4-ssec, Dunedin Railway olsec, and Roslyn 46sec. St. Hilda's actual time was 33sec, but they incurred a penalty of lsec for loose union, and still got first place. Hastings, who came second, was . not penalised. Eastown Railway put up the ; fast time of 32sec, but had 3sec penalty tacked on. Spit did their work in 34scc, but had 2sec added by way of penalty, and Naseby's 36 l-sseo included 3sec penalty. THE SHIELDS. The following points were scored by the following teams: — For the Shand-Mason shi&ld, all events counting except the Consolation : — Dunedin City 35, Masterton 32, Greymouth 23, Timaru 27, Hawera 25, Napier 24, New Plymouth 24. I Dannevirke 92. Caversham 19, Thames 18, Rangiora 14, Christchurch Ci+y 13. Waipawa. 5, Lawrence 4, Spit 4, Eastown Railway 4, Ashburton 2, Hastings 1, Woodville 1, South Dunedin 1. For the manual s>hield. all events counting 1 except the two reel events . — Hawera. 23, New Plymouth 22, Dannevirke 22, Napier 18, Caverfchitm 15, Rangiora 14, Cbrifctchurch City 13, ilasterton 8, Waipawa. 5, Gore 5, Thames 4, •' Lawrence 4. Spit 4, Eastown Railway 4, Ash1 burton 2, Hastings 1, Woodville 1, South Dunedin 1. For the high-pressarre shield', all events counting except the two manual events: — I Dunedin 35, Masterton 32, Greymouth 26, Napier 21, New Plymouth 24, Dannevirke 22, Cavers hum 19, Thames 18, Timaru 15, Hawera 9, Waippwa 5, Lawrence 4, Eastown Railway j 2, Hastings 1, Wcodville 1 South Dunedin 1.