SOUTH CANTERBURY CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2980, 2 January 1901, Page 4

SOUTH CANTERBURY CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

The new century opened well for the South Canterbury Caledonian Society, they being favoured with a very nice day for their sports meeting. The morning was just a little doubtful, and a few drops of rain fell at the time of the early star! for the ground, but the sky soon cleared, and a very suitable afternoon was experienced. As usual, the directors, with the pipers and Garrison Band, marched in procession from the Grosvenor Hotel to the ground, starting shortly after 11 a.m. The directors and several others were decorated with sprigs of purple heather in bloom, that had been sent to Mr Gunn by his daughter, Miss Bessie Gunn, all the way from Sutherlandshire for that purpose—a little box full, and the sprays came out in very good condition indeed, perfectly dry, • but with little loss of colour in either bloom or leaf. A few others wore buttonholes of purple and white heather received from Home by post ready made up. These .'timely ’presents from friends at Home of course gave rise to all sorts of pleasant reminiscences and explanations for the benefit of the ignorant Southerner as to the habit and habitat of each variety. More plentiful was fresh heather, from Dunedin, Mr G. (Pearson having a good supply for gratuitous distribution.. There were inquiries why the “ dear little shamrock ” was not equally available, and some vague discussions as to why it is not grown here, and whether there is really anything in the story that it cannot be grown out of Ireland. The Garrison Band and the three pipers who were to take part in the competitions, alternately (marched the procession out to the ground, and marching out on foot it was passed by drag by drag driven as for life or a fire, while the paths were alive with people on foot. A great many families drove in from the country direct to the grounds, and there must have been 60 or 70 vehicles unhorsed in the paddock beside the grounds or in the South Tcwr. Belt. The late showers proved a blessing, in that there was very little dust about; in fact, lor a dry day, yesterday was one of the cleanest we remember t) have seen on a s*,..,rts day it ii*rt thr crowd presented rather a dull appearance from the preponderance of masculine dress, but as the afternoon wore on a larger proportion of females arrived and brightened up the general aspect of the ground a great deal. The attendance was about the same as last year, about £2OO being taken at the gates. The ground was in nice order. The arena was pleasantly green, and the standing ground outside dry. On the south side, where the sun shines directly on the grass of the spectators’ slope, the grass was rather too dry, being as slippery as glass. 7 ne improvement made by banking up the spectators’ stand is most valuable, but from the remarks made yesterday, and from a little experience, it was evident that not enough has yet been done for tbe comfort c" the patrons of the sports. There is enough room for seeing the sports, but a lack of room lor promenade outside the onlookers, so that it is quite a task to travel round the ring. We would suggest that the ground committee should have nothing to do with the manacement of the sports during the day, but devote their time and attention altogether to seeing what improvements can be made in the ground for use, —to seeing, as the pressure of the crowd reveals it—just what is > wanted, and where it is wanted. The arrangel ments on the ground were the same as usual, as experience has proved these to be satisfactory, and everything worked without a hitch. We regret that we cannot add, and without accident, as a serious accident happened in one of the bicycle races,but for this the management was in no way responsible. The booths appeared tc do a good business all day. Mr Budd had a large marquee, in which he provided a substantial lunch or a lighter tea as his visitors preferred, and the two licensed booths, Mr Lyons, of Arowhenua, on the east, and Mr Cronin, of Temuka, on the west, were well stocked and busy. Two or three men showed signs of intoxication, but this was so early in the day that they had probably not got over the previous night’s jollification. Otherwise there was no sign of excess that we observed. There was one side show, a double-barrelled shooting gallery, which at times seemed to be more attractive than the sports in the ring to a number of young fellows. But the great show was the crowd, well dressed, healthy-looking, and unmistakeably well pleased with itself, in the early hours of the gathering busily hand-shak-ing, and repeating good wishes, it was a pleasure to be amongst it. And that, no doubt, is one of the chief, if not the chief, attractions of these great democratic gatherings. Good humour and good feeling prevailed throughout, and the first day of - the Century passed off so well for the great majority, that one need wish his friend nothing better than that he or she ''may see “many more of them.” The sports were on the whole fairly well contested. The bicycle races of course attracted the most attention, and these were made more interesting by the presence among the competitors of Geo. Sutherland, the crack of the colony, and the handicaps he had to give made him go for his places. Another rider, Randrup, of Wanganui, who also came .with some' reputation which caused the handicappers. to give him but short starts of Sutherland, also made things interesting for both riders and spectators, whilst one or two local men rode fast and gamely.

Much' regret was felt at a serious accident which marred the first heat of the One Mile Handicap, in which a Dunedin man named A. L. Finch, had a bad fall, and broke his left arm badly, one of the bones protruding through the skin. It was not

exactly ascertained how he came down, unless it was his wheel skidding, as he was not interfered with, he riding alone at the moment of his disaster. Drs Reid and Gabites promptly attended to him, arranged a rough and ready splint, and he was then taken to the hospital for mote complete attention. We much regret to add that he is likely to lose his arm. The running races were well contested, and with good fields, heats being necessary in all cases. There were rather few competitors in the feats of strength, and the wrestling, usually the most interesting, was less so yesterday, as there were no long tussles. The jumping and.pole vaulting were good features, though the entries

were not so numerous as could have been wished. The Highland music and dancing prizes did not attract so many competitors as usual, there being but three pipers and not many more danceis. The judges, however, spoke highly of the pipe music, and the dancing was good. It did not look well, we may remark, that the sword dance had to be performed across a couple of, walking sticks, and'the'Society could scarcely be called extravagant if it added a couple of swords to its permanent properties. Among the dances a reel, in which two girls took part, seemed to please the crowd best, because the lassies* danced so gracefully, and this suggests that it would be a good idea to give direct encouragement to girls to enter for such dances as suit them. The Highland brigade would have been a very small one had it not been for a reinforcement in the shape of several youngsters, who competed in a class for boys’ costumes—three little boys and a bigger girl. The latter deserved to be highly commended at least, though the judges declined to go outside their card so far ns to treat her as a boy.

The Highlanders, old and young, paraded the ground once during the afternoon, and were applauded as they went. We must not forget to mention that the South Canterbury Battalion Band was present, and played a number of splendid selections during the day, which materially helped to make the gathering enjoyable. We should add that the directors regretted that their president, Mr T. Pringle, was laid aside for the day with illness; and that the officials had their tartans in mourning, out of respect to the late Mr Dalgleish, vice-president. The following are the results : NOVICE RACE-; 100 yards; prizes, £2 and £l. J. Dean 1 A Cockburn 2 G. Warn© 3 Other starters were—King, Naughton, McClellan, McAuliffe, Hurdley and Collins. Run in two neats. Cockb"in, who had rvon a race subsequent to sending in his nomination, Avas penalised tAvo yards. He Avon the first heat, easing up in 11 2-ssec, Wame just beating King for second place. The second heat fell to Dean, 1 Avho beat McAuliffe easily. Time Usee. The final heat was a capital race, Dean just Avinning by a foot. Time, Usee. BAGPIPE MUSIC. —PIBROCHS; prizes, £3, £1 10s and 10s. D. Cameron 1 D. Campbell . 2 J. Cameron 3 HIGHLAND REEK; prizes, £2, £1 and 10s. L. Bell 1 J. Wade 2 R. Currie 3 BAGPIPE MUSIC.—MARCHES; prizes, £3, £1 10s and 10s. D. Campbell 1 D. Cameron 2 J. Cameron 3 HIGHLAND FLING; prizes, £3, £1 and 10s. L. Bell 1 J. Wade 2 R. Currie 3 PUTTING 221 b STONE; prizes, £2 and £l. Henley, 31ft 3in 1 CartAV right, 31ft lin 2 Thornley, -28 ft 6in 3 McNeil and Stevenson also competed. THROWING 221 b HAMMER; prizes £2

and £l. T. Thornley, 78ft Sin 1 G. Munro, 75ft 9iin 2 M. Hanley, 75ft Baird, Stevenson, Dunstan and McNeill also threw. RUNNING HIGH JUMP; prizes, £1 10s and 15s. M. Hanley, sft 6in 1 Gould, sft sin 2 A very Avell contested item. - HALF-MILE BICYCLE HANDICAP; prizes, £3, £2 and £l. First Heat. G. Sutherland, scratch ... 1 R. Connell, 30yds ........ 2 A. White, 95yds 3 J. Connell 66, A. L. Finch 75, A. McNeill 100, A. Rennie 110 and W. Seyb 120 also rode. Rennie at once forced the pace, but had not gone a third of the journey Avhen McNeill was on his wheel, and the rest close up. Sutherland Avent with the gong, at the back Avas right through, and pedalling quietly, won easily. Time, Imin 2 4-ssec. Second Heat. G. Joyce, 100yds 1 J. Major, 105yds 2 W. J. Irwin, 76yds .'. 3

Other starters—M. Randrup 30, H. W. Aker 55, G. Munro 95, W. Gunn 100 and O. R. James 105. James broke away and took all along at a clinking pace for a quarter, when he was done with. At the turn Joyce took up the pacing, and riding well, won on the spurt from the bank by a wheel. Final. G. Sutherland, scratch ... 1 R. Connell, 30yds 2 A. White, 95yds 3 Joyce, Major and Irwin, others qualified, also started. Sutherland cracked on the pace at once, and interest chiefly centred with him and Connell. They were on terms Avith the leaders at the quarter, and riding all out, made a great finish of it, Sutherland winning on the line by a couple of inches. Time, Imin 3 3-ssec. 6HILLIE CALLUM (SAvord Dance); prizes, £2 10s, £1 and 10s. E. Bell 1 R. Curire 2 H. J. Mcßeath 3 BAGPIPE MUSIC (boys under 20) ; prizes, £1 and 10s. J. McMillan 1 J. Anderson 2

The only competitors. HIGHLAND REEL (Boys and Girls); prizes, £1 and 10s. Annie Currie 1 Olive Wade 2 IRISH JIG; prizes, £2, £1 and 10s. M. Sullivan 1 J. Lynch 2 W. Fitzgerald 3 This event created great interest among the spectators. Ten competed. HIGHLAND COSTUME; prize, £l. W. Petrie 1 R McKnight was commended. ONE HUNDRED YARDS FLAT RACE; prizes, £4, £2 and £l. A. J. Dunn, 3yds 1 J. O’Leary, 3yds 2 J. Dean, syds ..... 3 In the first heat Nagle, 6yds, Avon easing up by a yard from J. O’Leary, 3yds, and P. C. Warburton, scratch, other starters being W. Fitzgerald 6yds and J. Spillane 7yds. Time, 10 4-ssec. Dean syds accounted for the second heat, beating Warne Byds and Dunn 3yds in the order named. Other starters Avere— Cockburn 33yds, C. Armstrong syds, and G. E. Blissett) syds. All got array in the final heat to the prettiest start Mr CaldAvell ever made, at the half-distance the men Avere in line, and in the last 50

yards Dunn just managed to draw out and win by six inches; others well up. Time, 10 2-ssec. WRESTLING; prizes, £3, £1 10s and 10s. K. Brophy 1 T. Thornley 2 P. Brophy 3 The display, as a whole, was rather disappointing. In the first round K. Brophy beat Leary, and P. Brophy, J. Roddick, who seems to have gone off lately. T. Thornley had a bye. In the second round Thornley had a rather exciting tussle with P. Brophy, and succeeded in putting him down, but was himself cleverly beaten by K. Brophy. TWO-MILE BICYCLE HANDICAP; prizes, £6, £2 and £l. First Heat.' R. Connell, 65yds 1 W. J. Irwin, 195yds 2 G. Joyce, 265yds 3

Others to pedal were —J. Connell 105, A. McNeill 265, J. Major 280 and A. Rennie 285. Major was the first to make the pace, and then Joyce and Rennie took it turn about with him, the brothers see sawing the pace for each other also. Z\lcNeil was never extended, and was done with at the IJj. At U the Connells were on terms with their opponents, and with a quarter to go all were together and sitting up. R. Connell broke away when the bell tinkled, and rode in- an easy winner, there being a good struggle for . other placed honours. Time, 4min 34 2-ssec. Second Heat. G. Sutherland, scratch ... 1 M. Randrup, 65yds ‘ 2 A. White, 255yds 3 Others to start were—W. McKenzie 265, C. R. James 280, G. Dumbleton 285, and W. Seyb 300. Sutherland wasted no time at the back end, while Seyb in the lead made the pace very warm for four furlongs. Then he was done with, and 1 James, White and McKenzie carried on

the running turn about. Sutherland and Randrup were almost up at the and at the 1| all were abreast and riding leisurely. In the last lap Sutherland showed'his wonderful sprinting power, and won very easily; a good struggle for places among the others. Time, 4min 38 4-ssec. Final Heat. M. Randrup, 65yds 1 R. Connell, 65yds 2 G. Joyce, 265yds 3 Sutherland scratch, White 255yds, and Irwin 195yds also rode. White took the first turn, and was closely followed by Joyce, Irwin, Connell, Randrup and Sutherland in that order. At the halfmile Irwin was done with, and Sutherland not feeling very well, also left the track. White and Joyce then paced one another, and at the li were still in company. The back-markers then started to come up, and though Joyce broke away with the bell, he could not live with Connell and Randrup in the final burst home, the Wanganui man winning a great race by half a wheel. Time, 4min 33 l-ssec. TOSSING THE CABER; prizes, £2 and £l.

G. Munro 1 Jhornley 2 Baird 3 VAULTING WITH POLE; prizes £2 10s, £1 and 10s. Fitzgerald, 9ft.6in 1 J. Horgan, 9ft 3in 2 Munro & Gould, dead heat 3 Mara also competed, but withdrew at an early stage. This was a most interesting competition, the jumping being very neat and clean, the spectators applauding very heartily as the competition became most keen. FLAT RACE, 220 Yards; prizes, £3, £1 and 10s. J. Nagle, 12yds 1 J. O’Leary, syds 2 C. J. Armstrong, 10yds ... 3 Nagle, 12yds, won the first heat very easily in 24 2-ssec, being followed home by O’Leary, • syds, and Warburton, sor, the only other starter being A. Cockbum, 6yds. Dunn, syds, beat Dean, 10yds, by a foot, Armstrong, 10yds, being third, Spillane, 12yds, and Wame, 15yds, close up; 24 4-ssec. In the final Nagle won comfortably in 24sec. RUNNING LONG JUMP; prizes £1 10s and 15s. W. Fitzgerald, 19ft 9in... 1 M. Mara, 19ft. _.. 2 A very good competition. HURDLE RACE, 120 Yards; prizes £2 10s, £1 and 10s. G. E. Blissett, 7yds behind 1 A. Wilson, 3yds behind ... 2 W. Fitzgerald, 3yds behind 3 Other starters were—J. O’Leary 7yds behind, and J. McAuliff scratch. A very pretty race to the quarter distance, where Blissett had got in the lead, and jumping well he increased the gap and ran home a very easy winner; a good set-to for second money. Time, 18 2-ssec. CALEDONIAN WHEEL RACE, li mile ; prizes £lO, £5, and £2. First Heat. G. Sutherland, scr 1 P. Connell, 50yds 2 A. White, 200yds 3 A. L. Finch 155yds, and J. Major 220yds, also rode. Major cut out the running for half a mile when White took a turn, but at the mile all were in company. White broke away in the last lap, but Sutherland was at once in pursuit, and followed closely by Connell ran home without much effort. Time, 3min 30 3-sseo. Second Heat. M. Randrup, 50yds 1 G. Joyce, 210yds 2 J. Connell, 90yds 3 W. J. Irwin was the other starter. Joyce made good use of his long start, but had come back to the others at the mile. The next , quarter was leisurely ridden, but in the run home Randrup let out and won easily, Joyce having to pedal strongly to get in front of Connell, who was not overexerting himself. Time, 3min 37 l-ssec. The final heat will be run to-day, and with the Connells and Randrup in front, Sutherland will have to keep his jigger spinning at top to get home. PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP; 100 Yards (boys under 14); trophies. G. C. Campbell 1 D. Hennessy 2 M. Jennings 3 Nine others ran. The winner was much too good for the others. BICYCLE HANDICAP, 1 mile; prizes £5, £2, and £l. First Heat. R. Connell, 40yds 1 G. Joyce, 145yds 2 A. Rennie, 160yds 3 Otherd to start were—A. L. Finch 115, A. White 135, and A. McNeil 145. The limit quartette started the pacing. On coming down the stringht the first time Finch’s machine side slipped and he fell heavily, sustaining a compound comminuted fracture of the left fore-arm and bruises on the left leg and ankle. ‘ He was attended to at once. At the half distance Connell had the others in hand and riding easily came , away in the last lap and won comfortably. Time, 2min 19sec. Second Heat. G. Sutherland, scr 1 M. Randrup, 40yds 2 W. J. Irwin, 115yds ...... 3 G. Munro 135, W. McKenzie 145, and G. Dumbleton 160 also rode. Sutherland was right up at the half mile, and was at the head of affairs at the threequarter. Irwin challenged him along the back, but was beaten off, and Randrup coming through from fourth at the home bend, followed Sutherland’s front wheel over the mark. Time, 2min 15 l-ssec. Final. R. Conaell, 40yds 1 .

G. Joyce, 145yds 2 A. Rennie, 160yds 3 Sutherland scr, Randrup 40 and Irwin 115 also started. Sutherland, Randrup and Connell got on to the leaders very quickly, and there was little to chose between the lot at the half distance. Then Sutherland, Randrup and Connell fell back, and Irwin made the pace very warm. It was a great race along the back, Connell going right through on the outside and winning amidst great excitement by a wheel; Sutherland last. After the race Sutherland laid a complaint that Randrup had interfered with him, and Randrup returned the compliment with “ you’re another.” There certainly was some interference, both so far as we could see being to blame, for there was nothing to prevent them following Connell’s example on the high ground and making a decent race of it.

Time, 2min 14 2-ssec. QUARTER MILE HANDICAP; prizes £4, £2 and 10s. E. Gould, 27yds 1 A. J. Dunn, 10yds 2 F. Spring, 15yds 3 W. Pilcher 5, J. O’Leary 8, R. J. Barclay 13 and J. W. King 18, also ran. Gould was never headed, and running with excellent judgment won a capital race by three yards, a yard separating the other placed, men. Time, 54 3-ssec. ONE MILE PLAT RACE; prizes £4, £2 and £l. J. W. King, 60yds 1 G. Southby, 50yds 2 E. M. Hurdley, 100yds ... -3 W. Pilcher 20, F. Spring 65, and S. Donnithorne 70 also ran. Hurdley set off at a good bat, but could not stay. At the half journey King, Hurdley and Southby were together, with Donnithorne close up. Southby spurted over the last quarter, but .King put in a strong challenge and gradually wearing the Waitphi maq down, won a splendid race by about five yards; Hurdley, who was all out, a similar distance from Southby; Pilcher after a game chase gave up 60 yards from the tape . Time, 4min 45 l-ssec.

THE CONCERT. The Society’s Concert Committee provided a capital entertainment in the Theatre Royal last evening, one half being a concert, the other an amusing comedietta. The concert company included Mrs Howie, whose name on any programme will fill a house anywhere, certainly in Timaru; Mrs Burns, who is an old favourite at the Caledonian Society’s concerts ; Mr Densem, another old friend here, and Mr Swan, of Dunedin, a new performer here, in whom the committee, secured a rarity—a comic singer with a good voice. Mr Sydney Wolf acted as accompanist. The company opened the concert by singing “ God Save the Queen," the audience standing. Mr Densem was first soloist, and gave a fine rendering of the martial “Battle of Stirling.” For an encore—encores were the rule during the evening—he delighted the audience with “ Father O’Flynn,” which we have never heard better sung. Mrs Burns sang “Within a Mile o’ Edinburgh” and ‘ Jock o’ Hazeldean,” which were both rather coolly received, being probably too sentimental for the humour of the audience. Mr Swan followed with a couple of comic songs that created roars of laughter. The Highland Fling was then very prettily danced by Miss Currie, one of the competitors in the Highland dances, the music being , well supplied on the pipes by Mr Cameron. Mrs Howie sang “My Bonnie Baim” and “ Cam Ye by, Athol” —the latter being the more warmly welcomed. Mr Densem gave a descriptive song and a richly humorous rendering of “The Laird o’ Cockpen.” Mrs Burns followed with “Robin Adair,” very sympathetically sung, and “ Cornin’ thro’ the Rye.” Mrs Howie then gave the gem of the concert, “ Douglas Gordon,” a splendid rendering of a fine song, every note and every syllable telling. The audience were so affected by the song that some seconds elapsed after the close before the applause burst forth. For an encore, “Oh where and oh where” was given, but it was far behind the “ Douglas Gordon ” in effectiveness. Mr Swan wound up the concert with a couple of good screamers, his make-up and action being as amusing as the, words of his songs. The second part consisted of a clever little comedietta, in which the chief parts were 'aken by Mr Barrie Marschell, - Miss Irene Carlyon, which is as much as to say that it was well done; and other parts were well taken by Messrs B. S. Irwin and R. H. Daniels,, of Dunedin, while • Miss Winnie Birch, of Wellington, had a tiny part to introduce a song, “Doree,” which was very well received. The comedy turns upon a double confusion, an old pensioner with the gout, and a young .lover of the -lady, getting to cross purposes by misunderstanding what each was talking about, through the lady and the old man’s mare having the same name, and the confusion of ideas thus brought about created great amusement. • This evening a new programme will be presented, and a special attraction, Mr Fleming will recite the first prize poem, on “ The .Unity of the Empire,” which is the outcome of Mr James Craigie’s offer of prizes for such a poem.