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Southland Times, Issue 19508, 6 May 1922, Page 9

Three Palmerston residents made a threedsys’ Ea*tat excursion to the Pohangina, and camped in a sheltered spot. They took 1000 cartridge#, and claim to have killed 500 ran- j The Lord Mayor of Sydney (Aiderman | W. P. McElhone) is a keen sportsman, and tW other day won the Wentworth Falls Golf Shield. Reports from sportsmen visiting the Ullbura district indicate that native birds, such as pigeons, kakas, parrakeets. robins and fantails, are very numerous there this At the local Borstal Institution there is a line playground about 100 yards long and half as wide. All last summer the inmates played cricket on it and it is now being prepared for football. To run out of petrol a quarter of a mile from home in a motor-cycle side-car race would discourage moat competitors, to say the least. Eric Taylor, on a 7 h.p. HarleyDavidson, met with this fate in a 69 miles side-car race at Melbourne I mi week, but ‘never say die” is evidently his motto. He ran out of petrol through an accident, the spirit in the spare tin catching fire when being poured into the tank. The machine caught fire too but the flames on it were put out. Then, instead of sitting down and invoking the gods, Taylor and his passenger ran the machine a quarter of a mile to the finishing post. They won the event, and in tpite of the slow finish, secured fastest time A quinnat salmon, weighing 401 b, was caught at the mouth of the Rakaia River last week by Mr J. G. S. Holmes, a Christchurch angler. The salmon was 3ft 7in long and its girth 2ft 3in. An occasional stag has been sighted in the country districts not so very many miles from Invercargill, but it is something new to be able to pick up a nice head almost in the suburbs of a town. This good fortune, however, befell a well-known Marl- : borough rifleman W. H West near Bleu- j heun. He was pig-hunting at ‘‘Meadowbank,” a little over three miles from Blenheim, when he encountered a fine stag ani brought it down, while it was travelling at top speed, from a distance of 400 yards. Th* 3 bead was a very fine 12-pointer. The Invercargill Show Grounds, which were recently sown wwn and levelled, are now showing a good growth of grass, despite the unpropitious weather of the past month or two. A considerable amount of work has been expended in getting the area levelled all round and the drains have been examined and ssy defects removed, with the result that it is expected that a good playing area will be available next year. Some magnificent heads have been secured by deer-stalkers in Central Otago this year. Last week what is considered to be the beet head ever obtained in the Tapanui district was shot by Mr Thomas Wilson, of Kaitangata. The stag was known by reputation to sportsmen in all parts of the country for several seasons and many a keen sportsman had been disappointed in his efforts to locate the animal in the fastnesses of the Black Gully bush; but although the animal was frequently sighted it- was not until such an experienced hunter as Mr Wilson game on the scene that he met his match. The head is a beautiful 26 painter with an antler spread of 34 inches. A head obtained by Hr J. W. Cunningham in the Rankleburn *orest some years ago had the following measurements; —Spread over all, 35 i aches; number of points, 26; length, 26f ‘niches; breadth of palm, 6| inches. Another fine capture this season was a red deer secured by Mr C. Harvey, of Hawea, above the junction of the two streams of the Hunter river and near the eastern divide. It is an excellent 17 pointer and with a 16 and 14 pointer shot in the same country by Messrs Harvey and C. Weir makes up a bag not so easy to obtain in the Hunter forest now-a-days. Boxer Billy McCann stole away by the Ventura on its last trip ’Friscowards wita £7OO of good Australian money, the fruits of two matches, tucked under his arm. McCann’s departure was not expected, states a writer in the Sydney “Referee.” He led everybody to believe that he purposed staying here a good while longer “because he liked us.” McCann refused to make any provision for the return trip of his manager and trainer. They had to work their passages across the Pacific. There is a growing demand in London for Sunday lawn tennis. Municipal and other bodies have been asked to permit play in the parks and open spaces between 2 pm. and dusk on Sundays. It is sail that there are over 52,000 persons in the : county of London desirous of playing. Athella Bennett, aged six years and four months the youngest certificated life-saver in the world, was a star performer at a carnival of the Royal Life-Saving Society, Melbourne, recently. Her demonstration of scientific swimming was received with considerable enthusiasm and amazement by about 500 spectators, including his Excellency the Governor-General and Lady Forster. This little girl has passed the social y’s proficiency examination, which includes four methods of rescue and three of release in the water, and holds all the awards that are possible for her to obtain until she attains her 13th year. A. N, Hornby, who celebrated his 75th birthday recently, is one of the comparatively few sportsmen who have represented England at both cricket and rugby. A product of Harrow, Hornby subsequently played for Lancashire, and in 1882 appeared for England against the Australians at the Oval, and at Manchester in 1884. He was a dashing batsman and a superb field, and he carrieu his success at the great summer game on to the rugby field, where as a three-quarter back he was “capped” against Scotland in 1877-8-81-2, and against Ireland in 1877-8-80-81-82, being a member of the once famous combination, Preston “Grasshoppers ”