NOTES BY AMATEUR.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 61

NOTES BY AMATEUR.

' The harrier season practically dosed last week. and" flto7'*P<>r"t- of- .cross-country running is over for another \_season. Wo aro still "between the seasons," aifd -there is nothing stirring ip the nature Q^-traok- . racing. - It ■ appears "as if v the ffajfr-raei.ng 6eason never really concluded this year, .for the reaaor thai the date of the Australian ■ Championships held- up oui athletes train* jjig throughout the .winter. '; . ' Shortly a'ftex his return- from Australia, after competing' at the clmnvpionahip meet- i rng, our own G. I . Keddell, hurdle champion,, gave, it ouf that he thought of retiring from the athletic 6eld. It is devoutly to bo hoped that Keddell will reconsider hi» decision Wo ,oan ill 6par« , athletes of the calibre of the present Ausi tralasiai hurdle champion ano New Zealand broad jump record holder. It may he -that we will have Heotor Burk out or the track again this season.. The* ex.- New Zealand champion's reappearance woul^ be waxmly welcomed by his ardent admirers It not infrequently happens that as athlete having once retired experiences considerable difficulty • in coming baj."l> to form J feai me such would" be the case with th« ex-charnpioT*. A Chrietchuroh writer mikes this «g« nifioant, comment: The comparative norn success of Iho establishment of harrier clubs m and about Onnstchurch is one of those things fhat appear bard to explain. In, Dunedin no -difficulty is found iv getting three or four hundred mon out <nr a Satur* day afternoon' To» a cross *>ouiil.ry rum r whilst in this o»ty. when 18 men turned outf foi the paper chaw last Saturday, fcltf number was exceptional. Chiefly through the agency of an old: friend, Pat WebMex. the 220y«b juid 440 yd* Maori'land record-breaker, thero' is t reasonable prospect of a centre of - amateur athletics being romed in New Plymouth. A start has been made with the formation. of an amateur athletic club. cal.led -<th© Xew Plymouth A.A.C., which is to b» affiliated to the Wellington Centre in the nuean-timo According to the rules of the N Z A A A. -it will be rrecessajy that two more cluba bo formed before tho propose* centre «au be t«et up .Anyway, a start. has been made with the formation of aclub. 7 • ■ ■_ s -Two ex-Dunedin athletes have been performing well in Scotland. . At (Glasgow tho other, day A. E. Rowland! vvcll remembered in this city, established 8 bcottisoi record for the three-mile walk by covering fchfe* distance in 21min 39 l-ss.ee. Arthur. Hallio-an, the long fellow,, ran third -to Duocker in the 120 yds Hurdles. The annual Five-mil* Cross country Championship' of New South Wiles took ■ place on Saturday. September 18, n unpleasant weather conditions Th© ©uree was two milee and abalf inside the \ io- . •toria Park racecourse and two miles and ahalf over sandhills Jid swamps outsxle the racecourse. Th-eie were 13b competitors, and after « splendid race A. Wooc (East Sydney) won. He covereel the distance <.b< 31min' 34see. C. Weyman (Botany) was eecond, 20yd« behind, in 31mn 'I2sec; A. Aberline (Ea3t Sydney), a closo third, in 31min 43sec. Garvan (of Brisbane) was fcha only starter from another State, and! finished tenth. Botany Harnei'6 proved! the best team. Wood, it will be recalled, won the Brisbane Marathon Race l&sfc month. The Tasmanian Five-male Championship (four to counit), run "at. Launceston, was won "by the Launcestbn Athletic Club (25 points), with Newtown., (33), Hobart (39). and Qiieensboroitgb (43) next in ordei .JhdividuaF honours went to C. Dl-ark (Q.J, 29min 10 2-ssec, 1; A. A. Eva.ns (I.). 29mia 13eee, 2; H. A. Ward (N ), 29min ,153 ec, 3: B. L. Thomson (L.), 29min 17s*-c, 4. The weakest department at the game? was the 'lurdling (wrkes "Prodigal" in ' his review of the Australasian "Champioriships) For the first time for years, if nofc from the. inauguration of the champion- * ships, neither New South Wales nor Vie- * toria was represented, and thus interest in the events was almost as a discount. In the 440ycfe Hurdles, an pvent in which' the Dominion lias ever played a conspicuous part, the New Zealand representative, G. P. Keddell, was opposed by J S. Ajjnew (Tasmania) and three Queenslanders — W. Orr, Tom Maher, and 1. Frawley. The event is one requiring some pace, plenty of stamina, and a knowledge o£ jumping — it is an entirely different class of race to the 120 yds Hurd!e3. Agnew was off colour, and .perhaps would have been well ;idvise<l to have refrained from starting. Maluor made the pace a cracker fronji pistol fire, but could not last it out, an* Keddell. using good judgment, came through at the right moment and .Ton/ with ease. With the exception of W. H. Mai bin's (X.Z.) 64sec to 1335 KeddelJ's 63* ec was the slowest on record/, but ue could easily have tmprov*yj on it. W. Orr, (Q.) beat Maher home for second place. In the sprint hurdles on the second day, Keddell was opposed by T. Maher and !*• Frawley, of Queensland, Agnew not being: well enough to turn out. which was hard! luok for the Ta3manian, who wouid hava. had a far better chance in the 120 yd- than ' in _ the, 440 yds Hurdles. -Keddell rose th« firsi flijfKfc with a dighi advantage, nndi • won decisively by syds from burly Tont Maher, in 16 . 2-ssea Frawley was soon ' out of the hunt. Of the hurdlers engaged Keddell was ip a class by himself, and ifc is not too easy to' determine hi 6 real . capacity , As a quater-mile hurdler I should say he is not quite in the same class as H. St. Aubjn Murray (N.Z.). G. W. Smith; (N.ZJ,. OS J[. L. Davis /YicJ. but b* M

undoubtedly a smart three-stride artist. The/ New Zealander is about 6ft big'b, and .weigfhs in the vicinity of 12st. I saw him do a trial at the Sydney Cricket Ground on thfe way to Brisbane, when Mr Pollock, a very reliable watoh-holdter, ticked him at iosec. By no means a Batgex, a. Smith, or a Stewart as to st^le, still he oertai-nly -"gets thero" in resolute and convincing fashion-. Of the Broad Jump, in which G. P. KedBell figured, "Prodigal" has hi' to say: On the Saturday the efforts were — Moyes 21ft, 20.9£, and 20.9 i; Smith 21.4£, 21.10, and 21.4^; and Keddell a "foul," 21.3 i, am? 21. 4£. The New Zealander has a dsxnag-ed knee, and did not care to risk taking off with the usual foot on the first day, rhit "risked it" on. the second. Moyes .is a taking jumper, whilst Smith, quite new tc the game, is likely to develop into a jumper out of the average. One cannot 3gDtudse Keddell in the circumstances of : sst leg and bruised heel. Of the ftj'&ay jumped best, but Agnew iffMi *• off form. ' It & reported that fu11y, 35,000 spectators ■wifnessed the sports at Celtic Park, Glasgow, on August 14. In the 120 Yards ■Invitation Handicap the placings were:— R. O. Duncan (Scotland), 4iyds, 1; Nat J. Cartmell (U.S.A.), lyd, 2; Reg. E. Walter (Natal), scratch, 3. Won by inches, with both Oartmell and Walker claiming to have won. Time, 12sec. In the 220 Yards Handicap the placings wex^: — J. A. Cronin. .(Scotland), Uyds, 1; N. J. Cartmell (U.S.A.), scratch, 2; Reg E. Walker (Natal), scratch, 3. Won by a foot; inches between the scratch men. Time, 22isec. Cartnrell won the 440 Yards Handicap from scratch in 50 2-ssec. Fancy 35,000 people at a sports meeting! At the Glasgow Rangera' F.C. sports at Glasgow on August 7 R. E. Walker (Natal) won th© 100 Yards Handicap from scratch in 9 4-ssec. and Vincent Duncker (South Africa) won the. 120 Yards Hurdles Handicap, owing flyde, in 18 l-ssec. T. J. Ahearne (Ireland), owing 17yds, was second, and A.. HaJligan (New Zealand), owing 15yd6 3. A. H. Healey owed no few«r than 25yds. E. J. Webb in the Two-mile (Walk covered the first mile m 6mm, 44 4-ssec and the full distance in 13mm of 2.-sS9C— bodh Scottish records. He was unplaced, however. Second prize fell to A. ij. M.' Rowland (New Zealand), who had 80yds start. T I On the second day (August 9) A J. Bobertson (BircMeld H.) did 6mm 48 2-ssec an the Mile and A-half Handicap-a Scottish teoord, beating Alfred Shrubb s 6mm 49 2-ssac op the same track (Ibrox J^arkJ on 1904. In the 120 Yards Invitation Handicap (grass) R. B. Walker (S A.) won k-ronTscratch in 11 3-s**-* British record liater in the day Walker ran 150 Yards , (cinders) in 14 4-ssec-a Scottish record i ■Adam Tumbuil (Clydeedale H.) covered 1000 yards in 2min 17 4-ssec— a Scottish accord. There were great crowds on each day of the meeting. On his arrival at Plymouth, en route foi Carlsbad where he. intends to do some raining and "take the Waters, Jim Jeffries was interviewed by a London Sporting Life representative ■ touching his ( intentions with regard to Johnson and the , world's championship. The "interview is reported as under, but the only light it ap- j pears to throw on the situation is. that the actual clinching of the match- is. as. much in the air as ever:— "On being told that a statement appeared in tli3 papers ' that articles of agreement for the world's heavy- , weight championship between himself and ' Jack' Johnson had been signed at Chicago on the previous Wednesday, Jeffries shook his head in evident displeasure. 'The re- j port,' he said, 'must be incorrect. lam astonished that such a statement should appear. In my absence from America no one had any right or authority to fix fhe matter up ' Jeffries characterises the rvport as a mere newspaper story, and ' added: 'On the other side the newspaper j people are verj fond of doing that sort of thing.' Asked if that meant that no . match between him and Johnson would take place, he replied that he had no doubt whatever such, a contest would, be uitiinately arranged. When will it take place? *It may be in six months, or later ; it may be earlier. Meet me he certainly shall. I am prepared to box him in any country, under the auspices of the club holding out the biggest inducement.' • Questioned on . the subject of a side stake, he said : ' I have no intention "of making any such side bet a? 20,000d01, although I am confident I should win. lam ready to make a side wager of 10.000d01.' . Asked if he was in anything like condition for a contest, i Jeffries said : ' I am at present in very good fettle. On the voyage across I would not allow myself to get lazy, but took a lot of exercise in the well-appointed gymnasium with which the ship is fitted. I have been working regularly for the last five months, and have got down to 2351b (16st 111b) Of course, lam not yet in the pink of condition, but expect to get weight oft gradually by steady, regular exercise, such as I have done for months past, apart from my sparring exhibitions.' "