RATES BY AMATEUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 57

RATES BY AMATEUE.

1 The popular evening athletic meetings of the Dunedin Amateur Athlctw Club, postponed during the Christmas ar,d Now ¥ear holidays, will be resumed en Friday c»ening, when an interesting- pi.i^ruiaaie of events will be run off. From several well-known athletes I received during the holidays seasonable greetings and good wishes. Though a trifle belated, the reciprocation of these is none the less sincere. May the new yeas be one of dean sport and the creation of many fresh records. Amateur athletes who- have the plya&u:* of knowing A.»J. Heighway.ths pioinhing young sprinter, will regret to hear that he ha 6 been ssriouily ill since the Christmas holidays, having been stricken down with an attack of fever as a result of a chill contracted during a "camping put." His numerous friends will join me in wishing him a e-peedy recovery .and an eariy reappearance on the athletic field. From the eeeetary of the Irish Athletic Society of Southland comes to hand a copy of the programme of the society's big athletic gathering to be held at Inveroargill on Wednesday, March 17. Included in an interesting programme is a 440 yds handicap for amateurs, the first prize for which is a gold medal valued at +yro guineas. St. Patrick's Sheffield, for which there is a first prize of £40 and Sir Joseph Ward's gold medal Is to be decided at this meeting. Entries close on February 27. A correspondent writes requesting the number of occasions and placts where Hackenschmidt wrestled Madrali for the championship of the world. I have thoroughly searched all my records, Lut as wrestling records are so incomplete C can not give with any degree of accuracy answers to the question?. | The Australasian half-mile amateur ' champion, W. F. Trembath, ran well at the South Canterbury »ports held at Timam on January 1 and 2. He won the 300 yd*! Handicap easily from scratch in 32 *2 ssec ; 440 yds Handicap from scratch j hy two yards looking round in 52 l-seec ; took second place in 220 yds Handicap, beaten !i foot by J. Allan 15yds in i 23 3-s&fc; in the 880 yds Handicap the iesult was L. E. Wet (70vd>) 1, R. A. Sinoisir (55yd >) 2, Trembaih (scratch) 3. ; A' ton ian lmin 5S 4-sjec : Trembath, 2m in ! 1In winning the Running High Jump Handicap at Timaru G. Campbell scratch) put up an attractive performance by leaping- sft 9£in, winninsr by half an inch from ' E. Horgan (4iii.» sft Sin. ■ A copy of a circular letter sent by the council < f the N*?w Zealand Amateur Athletic- Association to club secretaries has co mo into my handb. and ia worthy of publication if only as a sample of the tactics employed by Uidt body. It reads: "Dear Sir. — j beg to inform you that the eelf-appcinted committee in Wellington as r.m been r^c-o^nisrd by the Australasian Union, and I'a3 no juris<2icfion over amateur .ithlctirs a NVv/ Zealand. Therefore kindly refer ev«»rrTlunsr to the pre^fnt council. All clubj who have not already done so ar-j requested to forward this year's subscription .it their earliest convenience. — Your faithfully," etc. This is ono of the clearest ca*es of misrepresentation of fact imaginable (saj3 a Wellington writer). To begin with, the committee was not "self-appointed." It wa« appointed by the delegates at the Christchurch conference, representing the Otago and Southland clubs — in fact, the Wellington d-ele»ate& -delifci&i-a-t-el v- refrained from voting. So much for that. Then, again, on what authority was the statement made that the new council has not been recog- ' nised by the Australasian Union? The matter has not yet even been considered by the Austialasian Union. In thus attempting to mislead olubs by trying to anticipate matters, the Chriitchuroh body lavs itself open to the gravest charges of misrepresentation, and these tactics are the ! ! nioro to be deplored because the clubs j circularised are, according to Mr Atack's | council, ignorant of what all the trouble j is about. Apparently advantage is to be | takon of this ignorance by the old council i to lay before them a '"doctored" version I of its own case. I think, however, 1/"it it will be found that the clubs art* haivl!\ as ignorant as the Christchurch folk are tiyiDff to make us believe. * '

i Harvard University secured Alfred Shrubb, the Knglisb -jsiofe.-sional longdistance runnsr. to coach her cross-country team iz. tee *£ziez: -jollegiate Cross-country Race A fPtiaaaeXcs.. ,*£J*% .result of £hia race i= not yet to hand. Thus "Veteran" in the London Sportsman : — "The more one hears about the Longboat business, the more certain does it seem that fair play was not accorded to tlve oth^r competitors in the recent Marathon Race which he won at Montreal — a race which, according ..o some sensational writers, re-establishec* Longboat's reputation as ' the greatest long-distanc© runner on earth.' I have seen a pholo of a part of the course over which the contest took plaoe. Tfeg" paih is just wide enough for one motor. Directly . Longboat got a lead 14 motors intervened, rendering it impossible for the second and third men to do themselves justice. Holmsr and Woods were simply dripping with motor oil, and the dust which adhered to it. There are evidently some things in the athletic way which they** do not manage co well in Canada as in England." The American 10-mile Champi&nship was decided at Celtic Park on November 7, and resulted in a popular victory for. J. L. Eisele, the young N.Y.A.C. runner, whose plucky performances in the Olympic Games will be remembered. It was a stirring race, and the Olympic crack only won by a bare six yards from W. Bailey in 53m i a 16 l-ss=ec, w ith Bonhag, 40 yards behin.l ; and Lee. who collapsed on passing the tane. fourth. Fifteen men beat 58min. J. J.* Daly, the holder, finished fifth, hut could never go the pace of the front rank, whose performances are indicative of the great improvement in American distancerunning. Daly's time last year was 55min 16 4-Ssee, while the previous bests in the championship were the times of 1893, wh*»n E. ('. Carter won in 53min 40 l-ssec, and 1889, when Rid. Thomas scored in 53 nun 58 4-ssec. The American record of 52min 53 2-ssec, by W. D. Day, should be within ! the reach of Eisele in another year or so. According to latest English files A. W. Clemes, the Tasmanian Rhodes scholar, has been gaining further laurels. Promoted from the second team after winning ris first rare, he represented Oxford University first team on November 14 in a cross-country match of about seven mile? aaraintt Thames Hare andj Hounds. J. R Worsley (Oxford) won by 20 yards in 41mm 3sec, but Clemes made good his place in I the team by finishing second in 41min. | Bsec, and the report says: — "The latter ! -iir«ily seeded run out,", and, as we know ; by oa-bte, he won the inter-Varsity event on December 5. At his college sports (Magdalen) on November 19 he and another Australian in R. F. Angas (Adelaide) did well Angas won the 120 Yards Hurdles in 193"/\ High Jump (sft 3in), Long Jump (iGff 2in). end Hammer-throw (61ft Bin) — . i - t .-.rie .'£ r!«--sm specially excellent results, but 1 phc>-jjig versatility. Clemes was secon.l ! .'i -he Half-mile" in the slow time _tf i 2rnin 14seo, but later in the day made i amends by winning the Two-mile Handicap from the curious mark of 150 yards beh'ti'i scratch by 40 yards in lOmin 47sec, cr equal to about lOmin 17sec for the full distance. Another Adelaide scholar, M. G. D. Murray, won the Handicap Hurdles, r, viva 10 jd.rds, in 18sec. A week later { Civmes tnvued the tables on Worsley in | a niatrh v. Blaokheath Harriers, in which j Oxford placed the whole of the first £*■<: n\f «». There was little between the nrst three -viz.. Clemes (48rnin i3sec), J. F. ! Wois!c-v (second in last year's Inter'Vnr:»'iy Kaoo. 48m in 15sec), and S. P. B. Mais ;48n-in 17seo). In Canada ihe Hamilton Herald Race, of 19 miles 168 yards, was held on November 9. This is the event won by W. F. Sherring in 1905 (winner of 'he Athens "Marathon" in 1906), by Tom Longboat in 1906, and by T. Coley, an ex-English runner, in 3907. This year vii'ory foil to Hans Holmer, lhr 51tmn iJ^eo, with F. Simpson (seventh in the Olympic Marathon) second, lhr 53mm 28spc,' and Coley fourth. R. Kerr, the Canadian sprinter, continues to show excellent form, and recently won a 100 yards :n l0s«e and 220 yards in 22 l-ssec. I The determination of the New Zealand Sports Federation to disqualify the Southland Caledonian Society, and that the sociotv's di;( ctorf.te" was, .>- a consequence, net -eligible to take part hi any class of 6port controlled by bodies affiliated to the federation, i* likely to open the ejes of New Zealanf'crs ;says "Prodigal"). Possibl} r no more unhappy choice in the way of 3. subject upon which to bring the allied forces of the federation into action could iu\a bf-en cho*an ■ i upon The | point at i-"-uo 'vetwe-p th." Caledonian Bocietv and the Athletic Union was one upon which it is undeTotcod even legal gentlemen agreed to differ. The chairman of the New Zealand Sports FcVrption (Mr W. G. Atack) seemingly admitted that the trouble arose from an honest difference of opinion, and arbitration was spoken of. It vvq; only when the Caledonian Society objected to rhe Sports Federation acting a-5 arbitrator — a perfectly understandable objection, as one party to the dispute was affiliated to the federation and the other wan not — that negotiations were ended, and the disqualification imposed. About one more action like thi~, and the Sports Federation of New Zealand will crumble up and fall down like a pack of cards. My best wishes go with the Southland Caledonian Hociety in this affair — I hope j to sea the society stand fiim and hit back hard. Ameiica ha* ha»d her Marathon race apart from Olympia.. New Z?ataixl !«. following suit. And there aro oth»r>j. There 16 therefore good ground for the following views on the subject, taken fiom the latest I Field: — "Oiw 1 of the residual products of ! the Olympic Games is the new fancy for Marathon racA= Contests under this designation are being held everywhere, and even the Arrai-tiJi* Athletic Association ha-s been perouad«o to give them recognition and eneoura-g^inf-nt : vhether because it believes them tc l^ 1 a 'trdaMt* addifOii to the ordinary curricula r. or merely in order that British athletes may be well ' prepared for the struggle when the next i Olympiad comes round, is not clear. The I distinguishing features of the Marathon | race are that it io of greater length than I ordinary r,ros B -country or long-d»eumce [ events, and that it is run on the highway. i Its attractiveness seems to lie in the <■' ipeul that it makes to the public through the idea that it bring* out a particularly admir- ! able kind of endurance. When the thing has become familiar it will probably be found that it matters very little to the t specia'ly trained athleto v-hether he comi pete° others over four miles or 50, «LTid ho will not gratify a depraved spec- ;

tacular taste by running himself to death at one distance rath-er than another. "We have yei< to learn that mere tolerance of hard suburban roads, Streets, pavements, I ajid tram lines, with their foul mud or dust. 19 Sflft &thl«^o quality that reqmriSas tpeciai encouragement and reward, or -hat il:s ordinary cross-country run is not long enough and arduous enough for ihe *rost ambitious youth. Indeed, it Is not many years since the dangers of cross-country races caused well-grounded concern in those who attended them as spectators, and oven yet the presence of an ambulance corj* is considered desirable at tlie championships. It is generally, bowever, the lea.it Tompetent. and not the victoi-s, that require medical aid in these competitions, and herein the Marathon race, from the circus point of view, has the advantage. Before long the competitors v ill havu adapted themselves to the peculiar hardships of the ordeal, and unless some new tortures are invented th© spectators will be deprived oV an essential part of their enjoyment, in which case Marathcwo-. mania, like the recent craze for vroad:-walk-ing, will coroe»to an early end."