PROFESSIONAL ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3015, 27 December 1911, Page 62

PROFESSIONAL ATHLETICS.

By Spobt.

" Major " Taylor, the Tasmanian sprinter who was defeated by W. F. Trembath last week, is leaving Sydney on Saturday for New Zealand to compete at the South Canterbury Caledonian Society's meeting at Timaru on New Year's Day. It is quite on the cards that L. .C. M'Lachlan and W. F. Trembath will accompany him. Last September Jack Donaldson met and defeated Charles Holway, of America, over 130 yards in 12sec. The course was measured immediately afterwards, • and was found to be a few inches over the distance. The men who held the watches were men of experience, specially appointed because, on the trials of the two men, something very slick was expected. The men appointed were not of the " fatty finger " variety either. Well, as we all know (says a Sydney writer) the timekeepers, when the race was over, all thought that something had gone wrong with their watches, but when they compared the timepieces they all agreed. The ground was at once measured, and found to be correct, or a few inches over, as before-mentioned. In spite of the fact that the men who timed the event were experienced and proved watchholders, end the distance being correct, the time is looked upon as being " faked " by authorities in other parts of the world. As a matter of fact, several watches that I personally know of other than those held by the official timekeepers took the time as 12seo, and one man who has had a great deal of experienc, and who held a " dog watch," but was certainly outside the arena, made the time 12 l-16sec, so that, no matter what time is Donaldson put up a remarkable run. It is a well-known that Holway just 'before the race gave an amateur of reputation 12yds and a beating in 130yds, and vet Donaldson came along and simply walked away from Holway. Ono of the arguments raised against the time put up by Donaldson is that when the " Blue Streak " was in England he failed to put up any of the fast times credited to him in South Africa and Australia. Donaldson certainly did little ia England—in fact, whilst there he was badly beaten by Holway over 130 yards in poor time. But how do the English critics account for his easy defeat of Postle when it is remembered that the Queenslander is alleged to have run 10yds under evens at Manchester? Say what they will and put forth what arguments thev might, the critics of the Old Country will only be wasting so much space, for there can be no doubt that Donaldson ran 130yds 4in on September 23, 1911, in 12sec dead. The 130yds record which stands on most books is i2isec, bv W. Johnson, at Fenham Park Grounds, Newcastle, on February 9, 1867, but that time, set up when Johnson, latterly better known as a trainer of footballers, was only 19. may be discounted by the reference which accompanies the report of the match, that "the men had such a strong wind at their backs that the time is not considered remarkable." A. B. Postle ran 130yds in 12sec flat at Menzies, WA. on Easter Monday, 1906, but there was a fall of 2ft in the track, so that, too, is not credited as a record. Harry. Hutonens was reputed to be able to show nine yards inside evens, and thpre is substantial support for that marvellous display of running; yet there is a divergency in the returns, some giving a yard worse than 12isec for 131iyds as hfs best public performance —eight yards inside, —while others quote 12 2-ssec, or seven and a-half vards inside, on the even reckoning, of course.