NOTES BY AMATEUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 74

NOTES BY AMATEUR.

FIXTURES. July 2.—English Amateur Athletic Championships, London.

On Wednesday next, June 15, the St Andrew Harriers hold their Three-mile Flat Race. Tho event is attracting considerable interest amongst members, and a keen race is anticipated!. Two amateur athletic championships were decided in England a few days before the mail left. The Ten-mile Flat Championship was won by Sergeant O'Neill (Ireland) in 52min 41 2-ssec by the margin of 33-013. The Seven-mile Walking Championship was won by E. J. Webb, of the Huns Hill Harriers, in 51min 37sec, or 7see inside standard. The Ten-mile race is thus described: "No more sensational race than that which was seen in the ten-mile running championship could be imagined. A. E. Wood, the holder, who won last year by nearly a quarter of a mile from W. Scott, of the Broughton Harriers, in S2m.in 40sec, was an absentee, one of his legs having given w r ay in training. Leg trouble was also the cause of E. R. Voigt's sudden retirement when close up with the leaders at nine and ahalf miles, and it was left to the Indian champion, Sergeant F. O'Neill, of the 2nd Connaught Rangers, and Scott to fight out the finish. A furlong from the finish Scott shot away with a tremendous spurt, and soon held an advantage of 15 yards. O'Neill momentarily dropped his arms, and the race was regarded as all but over. Gritting his teeth and clenching his corks however, the soldier set himself going again at top speed, and', catching Scott 2G yards from the tape, beat the latter by three yards in 52min 4-1 2-ssec." The proposal to arrange a tour of New Zealand of Davies and Wheatley, of Victoria, is revived by the fine performances of.the former during the past few weeks. My confrere, " Sprinter " : " It is hard to say whether the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association at present would regret anything. At any rate, it missed a golden opportunity of reviving interest in amateur athletics when it failed to complete negotiations for a tour of the Dominion by Davis and Wheatley. In view of the undoubted ' class' of these two athletes I really think another attempt should be made to land them on this side of the Tasman Sea to try concusions with the Dominion's champions, preferably in the spring." The following brilliant performances' were accomplished by G. L. B. James, a Rossall schoolboy, just before the last mail left England, at the school's annual sports: Long jump, 21ft 2in; weight-putting, 33ft lin; 100yds, 10 4-ssec ; 440yds, 56sec; high jump, sft lin; hurdles, Ist. The long leap and the putt are school records, and the former is superior to that done at Repton by C. B. Fry. James is also gymnastic champion and winner of the heavy-weight boxing. The Melbourne University sports were held on Monday, May 16, and gave. L. Davis, the world's hurdle champion, another chance of showing his athletic prowess, and of proving that he is in very exceptional form this season. In March he reduced C. H. Gardner's hurdle record (16 2-ssec) to 16 1-10 sec. A week or two ago he put up a new word's record figure of 57 2-ssec for the quarter-mile hurdles (10 flights 3ft 6in high), and on Monday he won the sprint in the teeth of a strong wind in Usee, the hurdles and quarter very easily, and wound up> with some remarkable long jumping. His six tries, in order, were:—Foul, 21ft Bin; foul, 23ft s£in, 23ft sin, and 22ft sin. H. H. Hunter's Victorian record is 22ft 2in, and has stood since November, 1901, so that Davis beat it in three consecutive jumps. His best effort is only 2in short of M. M. Roscingrave's Australasian figures, made 15 years ago. In practice last week Davis ran the quarter in 50 3-ssec, and just now he is probably only three or four yards worse than evens for the 100yds. Commenting on this "Harrier," in the Australasian, says:—These performances take him ;nto the ranks of the world's finest athletes. The New Zealand Council may be regretting that Davis and Wheatley could not accept their invitation to visit the Dominion. At any rate, they could hardly find two better amateurs either in America or England. The race exciting the most inteTesx at the Inter-varsity meeting in Sydney the other day was that in which -T. L. Davis

intended endeavouring to break his owe record in the 440 Yards Hurdles. Jhs pre vious time was 57 2-ssec, which was a world's record, and it was to break this time that be competed. He was unfortunate at the start, getting away very badly, but notwithstanding that he finished a couple of yards behind the first man, but in doing so he accomplished his desire of creating a new world's record His time was 57 l-ssec, 1-5 of a second faster than tbo present world's record. Davis was loudly cheered after his effo- On measuring the track immediately . i.rds it was found Davis ran 441 yards. A cable from New York stated that the well-known American athlete Shepherd had mm 660 yards in lmin 22sec. There are no established records for the distance, but the nearest one can get. to it is 600yds in lmin Usee, by T. E. Burke, in 1896, and 700yds in lmin 59scc, by J. Pudney in 1856. It will thus be seen that Burke's performance, which, by the way, was equalled by E. H. Montagu in London in 1908, was a slightly better go than the one a<y~- 'ished by Shepherd. Reg. Walker, the champion sprinter, has started upon his preparation for the English championship in July. The English correepoiwfctnt of the New York Post recently interviewed the little flyer, and gives his impressions thusly :—" In conversation with R. E. Walker to-day the writer learned something of interest regarding the hero of the 100-metre pace at the Olympia Games. The little Natal sprinter finds the English climate very different from the wairrath and sunshine of South Africa, yet in spite of recent indisposition, ha says it agrees with him fairly well. Walker is very anxious to put on a few pounds in weight, and as he has only just reached his majority, there is every reason to think ho will fill out a bit. He considers his weak spcit in sprinting is the disposition to slow up a trifle betweer the naif-way and the three-quarter mark, and he purposes devoting all his efforts to overcome this. Many sprinters besides Walker start well and finish strongly, after a slight aase at the half-way stage. This, of course, is a failing, and sometimes is due to want of fitness. Once 'on edge,' however, a sprinter ought to travel faster every stride he takes, and B. J. Wefers (America's greatest sprinter) was a splendid example of this. The mind plays a big part in sprinting, and athletes should concentrate their thoughts on the effort to increase' speed with each stride taken. To return to Walker and his intentions, he has a strong inclination to visit America, as he thinks (very rightly) that he could rim faster on the better tracks and in the lighter atmosphere there than in England." " Apropos the manufacturing of world's sprint record's. Three years ago at Yale (U.S.A.) I Saw a Yankee hurdler nake an exhibition attempt on the world's figures for 120 hurdles (then 15 l-ssec, since reduced to the last Olympic Games in London lo 15s>ec). The Yankee got a flying start, belting the gun b\ about three yards; he had a fair 'wind behind him, and the time was given as 15 l-ssec —equalling jthe world's best. The track (which._;vas on the far side of the ground, away from Jie majority of the spectators) was a very short 120yds—it looked about 115yds—and on going acros 1 * to inspect it at the close of the meeting, I discovered that t was slightly downhill and that the hurdles .7ere 3ft, instead if the regulation 3ft 6in. So much for Yankee records. All freak record's inside evens ought to be passed out unless on the evidence of a special clock, with a minute dial not less fcnan 6in in diameter, so that it can be divided into tenths of a second, and still leave the hand a definite distance to move to record that fraction; this clock to be started automatically by electricity through the ped. breaking a fine thread as he leaves the mark, and to be stopped by the recordbreaker bitting the worsted at the finish.' Such a device would knock the 9 2-sseo trip into outer darkness. Incidentally, it would also burst a few reputations." Concerning th-j "timing question," h, contributor to a Sydney paper specialises in this fashion:—"l don't profess to know anything about the sp3ied at which anyone ran any extraordinary distance, but I do want to say that the method of timing is at fault. To attempt to take the precise time occupied by any person or thing in moving from the point A to the point B, under the circumstances usually adopted' in races, is impossible. I have seen scores of races, competitions against time, etc., and only once havj I seen scientific timing. The method of pressing/the catch lever of a more or less accurate stop-watch when the observer sees the runner or horse start (or thinks he sees it), and again pressing it when he thinks, he sees it reach the next point, is quite useless. Probably the most correct method, within a very small percentage of error, is the Basbforth chronograph. A projectile in its flight cuts a wire, the cutting of which makes or breaks an electrical circuit, and at a measured distance cuts a second wire, which in its turn breaks or makes the circuit. A clockwork mechanism, actuated by the circuit, records the time elapsing between the two breaks. Another method, and possibly more correct, is the pendulum method. A pendulum of given length will swing a given number of times per second at a given distance from the earth's centre. With the pendulum already swinging, start the moving object, be it runner, projectile, or horse, and, in starting, let it break a circuit, which action releases the break on, a drum of sensitised paper. A luminous point on a calculated pendulum will then give a record of beats,' and the cessation of movement on the sensitised paper caused by the breaking of another circuit when, the moving body reaches the second point, gives an absolute record. As one who, by reason of his profession, has to deal with minute and acourafce calculations of time-space-motion facts, let me state that the ordinary stop-watch, controlled by the hand of a probably excited individual, is hopelessly inaccurate. For all work requiring comparative accuracy (i.e., within, say, .01 per cent.) I use the pendulum, corrected for temperature and specific attraction, and for moTe accurate work I use the pendulumlight ray apparatus. Of course, in. these calculations, due allowance must be made for the retardation of the electric current and the dilatory manner in which light; travels; but, after making the necessary corrections, one arrives at a very close result. But don't make bets on the finformation givea by a stop-watch, for, to mention only a few factors that affect its accuracy, there are:—(l) Temperature of the surroundings; (2) height above sealevel; (3) barometer reading; (4) speed at which escapement works accurately; (?) time required for escapement to gam thia speed."

The Dunedin Harriers held their weekly run from the George Street School, a very fair number turning out. The trail led through Woodhaugh, then turned up towards Pine Hill. After a slippery climb it led down through Duddingstone and a-scended up to Opoho, returning via the Signal Hill road to the 6chool. The Pacific Harriers held a most enjoyable run from Caversham School. The trail, led by Clark and Bond, led up Sydney street into Mornington, through .Williamsburgh into the Kaikorai, when a most refreshing cup of tea was supplied by a lady enthusiast. From there the trail led into Green Island, thence home via the Main South road. Two packs were put out ; the fast pack catching the first pack while they were partaking of refreshments. The St. Kilda Harriers held their weekly run on Saturday from the residence of Mr and Mrs Howie. A. Howie and G. Brown acted as hares. The pack ran along Victoria road to the beach, then striking off by a sand track went over Lawyer's Head across country • to Waverly, along the Portobello road home. After the run the members were entertained by the host and hostess, after which a musical evening was provided by the club. The Dunedin Anglican Harriers held their weekly run from the Taihoa Tearooms, 'Anderson's Bay, on Saturday, as guests of Mr C. H. Statham. one of the club's vice-presidents. The attendance was 3iot so large as usual, but those who did attend had a most enjoyable run, the country in the vicinity of Anderson's Bay lending itself to cross-country work under any •weather conditions. The somewhat slippery nature of the ground was responsible for some good fun at the expense of those who have not yet mastered the art of skating. After the run members were entertained at the tea rooms as the guests of Mr Statham. NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION. WELLINGTON, June 6. The council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association met to-night. The Australasian Union wrote agreeing to New Zealand's recommendation for the reinstatement of Gordon Richmond and Errol Mackersey as amateurs. The question of allocating the next Australasian championship meeting (proposed! to be held in Dunedin) was held over for the new council to decide. Regarding the rearrangement of boundaries, it was decided that Hawke's Bay and Taranaki be left in the Wellington Centre, and that Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland go to Canterbury. It was decided to add a hop, step, and jump contest to the present New Zealand championship programme. The Australasian Union asked for the council's vote on the question: (1) Whether the union had decided rightly in ruling that a member of the New South Wales Rugby League (Northern Union), who is also a member of the New South Wales Amateur Athletic had not infringed his amateur status by his connection with the league, it being stated that whilst playing football the applicant had received no remuneration ? (2) Is there anything to prevent a State association from becoming affiliated to an amalgamation or federation of amateur bodies and obeying its decision as to the professional status of an athlete, provided in all cases that it is stricter in effect than the existing amateur definition of union? • There was considerable discussion on the question. The association's votes are as follow:—(1) Yes. (2) No. RECORD FOR MARATHON RACE. SYDNEY, June 6. The New South Wales Marathon Race •was won in 2hrs 54£min, whjgh is an Australian recordWALKING CONTEST. LONDON, June 5. Thirty-six amateur walkers competed at Stamford Bridge in a 12-hours race. Payne, of North Shields, with 72 miles and 33 yards to his credit, was the winner.