ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 62

ATHLETICS.

FIXTURES. April 2.—Victorian Championships, Melbourne. July 2.—English Amateur Athletic Cham pionshipSj London. NOTES BY AMATEUB. . Ifc is proposed that an effort be made in Christchurch this winter to establish a harrier club. Surely, with all the enthusiasm of Christchurch athletes the formation of a elub devoted to harrier is til s not impossible! The local harrier season, will be openedwith a combined run on Saturday, April 9. This date appears to be most suitable to the majority of the harriers. W. Woodger, the Wellington sprinter, who had to take to his bed on tne arrival of i the Wellington representative team from Auckland, is rapidly improving a health. v

By the way, writing of Woodger recalls the. feet that the application for his 220yds record, run at Wellington recently, has been refused by the council owing to the watches not having been officially tested. It is certainly hard; lines to be thus robbed of a record owing to the lapse of the watch-holders. ' - '■■■•■

Within the space of four aveeks Woodger has run the 220yds in 21 4-ssec (a New Zealand record), in 22 i-ssec, and in 22 2-ssec, the latter race winning him the Provincial Championship; has run the 100yds in even, time (winning the Provincial Championship), in 10 l-ssec not pushed, and been beaten by inches over thV same, distance in 9 4-ssec, and by under two yards' in. 9 3-ssec. •''■••■' •

It is reported- that the West Australian Gymnastic Association, with six clubs and a membership of 211, is considering the advieabler.es3 of forming itself into a West Australian Amateur Athletic Association, and taking up the control of amateur athletics' in the State." - The American Amateur Athletic Union has announced the adoption of a new rule in relation to the official hammer for hammer-throwing contests. The new rule reads as follows: —"The head shall be made of wire. Such wire must be best grade spring steel wire not less than oneeighth of an inch in diameter,- or No. 35 " piano wire, the - diameter of which ie 102-1000 of an inch. ; If a loop grip is used it must be of rigid construction. The length of the complete implement shall not be more than four feet, and its weight not' less than sixteen pounds." The Wellington Centre has appointed «. committee to wait on the council of the". N.Z.A.A.A. in connection with the suggested alterations to the Wellington toun-s daries. It was proposed to add the Nelson, West C'past, and Marlborough districts to the Canterbury Centre, and that Wanganui or New Plymouth should be asked to form a centre to embrace all clubs from Marton - northwards to Taranaki's boundaryline. Some members who were inelinea to agree to New Plymouth as a centre did not favour the Wanganui district being detached from the Wellington Centre. For years the possibility of any sprinter ever running 100 yards in 9 2--'sscc unless greatly aided by the wind on a down giade has been the medium of long discussions by scientists, forme- athletes, and athletic critics galore. Some few there are who will admit that it can be done, but a vast majority of them declare that 9 3-ssec is about the limit. Now appear three men, all of them well known to the athlete-loving public, and at leavSt two of them in a position to give weight to their words, who declare that Princeton University at this present minute harbours a boy who, given time, should lower the time first made by Arthur Duffey. T. T. Pendleton, of Berkeley Springs, . Va., a, freshman at Princeton, is the prospective record-breaker, and Jim M'Cormick, hearf coach of the Princeton football "team It.* year, and one of the. greatest full backs the -game has known; "Pop" Lannigan. trainer'at the University of Virginia, and old Bill Foley, who is in charge ot track team at the Georgetown University, are his sponsors. Al Copeland, who up to last summer coached the Tiger team, also looks upon Pendleton as one of the coming champions, but does not go so far as to predict a record-breaking- career tot him at this iime.—American exchange. <\ Palmerston North messaae states that at the Manawatu Caledonian sports on Monday J. M'Kechnie, of Dunedin, won. the gold modal, which was the points prize, for Highland dancing. ; , WALKERS AND WALKING. I greatly lean- that the time is not yery far distant when the walking events (and possibly the shot putt alfo) will not find a place on the championship programmes (says "Prodigal"), owing to the everpresent difficulty of securing officials both. competent and with sufficient firmness to interpret the rules governing tnese branches of sport. In this resoect, so fa* as walking is concerned, we are only following' in the footsteps of those- ai. the head of affairs in. the United States, int which country heel-and-toe events now seldom find a place on a programme. The dropping of walking events on account of their being so unsatisfactory is, however, but a rough-and-ready method of dealing with the trouble. There is really no parallel between the United States and! Australasia, however. In America the judges of talking aire vested "with uJI powers to determine the fairness or otherwise of the gait, although there is no rule describing what is legitimate heel-and-toe progression—everything is left to the judge, whose own personal opinion is final. In Australasia we liave defined walking in plain and Understandable language, and, furthermore, we have laid down o style in walking. Having evolved a code supposed to bo intelligible alike to the competitor, the judge, and the general public, one would imagine that everything would be plain sailing. But. alas! it is not so, and we are again and again confronted I with the spectacle of absolute disregard I for the rules meeting with no word evem

of caution, let alone disqualification. Judges are appointed, som' with little or no knowledge of the rmes, qtnere with no force of character, others with a mixture of both We seem to be nurrying along to the period when there musb oe a limit to the patience of th various associations, and when the mandate will go forth that the "aroe must be ended. The amended rules came into force fter the conference at Auckland in 1901, but they were no-' operated on at the Australasian ihampionships taking place on the Auckland Domain a„ the same- time, ana this fact should be noted in connection with the remarks to follow-and, of course, I am leading up to comment on the walking championships won by D. Wilson on the Auckland Domain in 1901 and 1910^ The comments in the various New Zealand papers I have seea anent the walkingevents on the 26th ult. afford interesting and instructive reading. I approach the subject of the defeat of H. E. Kerr by D Wilson with an absolutely open mind, knowing both men Well, and thoroughly understanding their modes of etc It vvouM appeal that Wilson, beyond any reasonable doubt, broke the rules ol the A.A.* Union, whilst Kerr is reported to have admitted breaking the rules (in, the second race, the mile, he said that, whilst labouring under great irritation, he ran as hard as he could on his heels) without even a word of warning apparently being given. Even admitting that ;he ■was greatly upset and provoked by supposed unfair treatment, I am indeed sorry to hear that Kerr admitted running (he certainly did not run on his heels) j •because an opponent was allowed to run. ; And something very similar occurred at \ a previous Australasian champion meeting,, although the famous H.E.K. had nothing to do with that. I allude to a race in 1 understand that a lot of capital has been made out of the alleged fact thai Mr Coombef passed the" style of Wilson in 1901, the inference beint, that if Wilson was "correct" in 1901 he must also have been in 1910. I have no desire to enter into any controversy at this period as to the style of D. Wilson in the past, but it" is absolutely necessary to again say this much: Firstly, the Australasian championship races on the Sydney Cricket Ground ir 1897 were not under the present rules of the A.A.U. of A.-; whilst for the Auckland events the amended rules were not operated on; and also there were two judges of walking, each aking half of the ground—Mr Mahor that portion embracing the start and finish, and Mr Coombes the far side—with no interference by either judg, with the doings and Happenings in the domain of his fellow-official J- give this bald statement of fact, and Jafcer on will reproduce an expression of opinion as to what took place during the progress of the- races. One thing is certain —viz., that the N.Z.A.A.A, will have to be up and doing to prevent any recurrence of what a New Zealand writei describes as "one of the worst farces in New Zealand athletics x>r many years." A way out may be the licensing of judges (i.e., .no judge to be allowed to act unless he •'iolds a license, -which means a certificate •of competency), otherwise it would appear the walking race will soon find no place r>n New Zealand programmes. ' . CONGREGATIONAL CLUB. The fourth annual meeting of the above club was held in the Waratah Tea Rooms on the 22nd. There was' a good attendance, and the president (Mr J. C. White) occupied tne chair Mr L. A. Lodge gave notice of motion as follows :—" That rule 6, reading, ' That all office-bearers of the club, outside the committee, must be members or recognsed adherents of some Congregational church; and of the committee at least tferee,' be deleted." Mr J C. White again offered a medal for competition in tho Three-mile Championship Race. He was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his generous ■tupport. The following were appointed officebearers : —President, Mr H. Y. WiddowBon, S. M.; vice-presidents—Messrs Peter Barr, A. Fieldwick. J. Harrison Jones, H. E. Lawrence, C. R. Smith, J. C White, T. W White, and Dr Gilray; captain Mr H. G. Wilson; deputy captain, Mr Charles BeggK; bon. secretary and treasurer, Mr G. Fiel; committee —Messrs L. A. Lodge, T P. Laurenson, A. Henry, J. Miller, and J Lamb; delegate toOtagoCcntre Mr 3j. A. Lodge. Two new members were elected. * CAVERS HAM CLUB. The fifth annual meeting of the Caversham Harrierf was held on the 22nd, there being an attendance of 26. Mr L. SanderBon (vice-president) occupied the chair. The balance sheet showed a credit of £6 4s Id. The following office-bearers were elected : President, Mr T. K Sidey, M.P. (reelected): vice-presidents Messrs L. Sanderson, Brown. Wilson, and Fryo; secretary, Mr Swan; assistant secretary, Mr Chambers; treasurer. Mr Westwood; captain, Mr J. Beatson; deputy captain, Mr F. Frye; handicapper, Mr A. Mercer; delegate to Otago Centre, Mr Anderson; auditors —Messrs F- Frew and G. Davideon , committee—Messrs M'Knight. Mercer, List, M'Lauchlan, Chambers, and ■ Wills. Six ne*-* members were elected. GORE ATHLETIC SOCIETY. First Meeting. GORE, March 28. Tho first meeting of the Gore Athletic Society to-day was a great success. Trembath, ''rom scratch, and giving away starts up to 4b yards, won the Quarter Mile easily in the splendid time of 50 l-ssec on a rough track W. Milne, while engaged in attempting to cross buttock his opponent _ in the Cumberland wrestling, strained himself so severely as to break three ribs.