THE PLAYGROUND

Southland Times, Issue 19514, 13 May 1922, Page 9

THE PLAYGROUND

Sports and Pastimes

Ethelda Bleiblrey recently did 50yds in 28 3 osec in the Panama Canal, beating her own best time for th. distance in open water. The Maoris of Kaiwhaike Pa evinced the keenest interest in the recent sculljng championship races on the Wanganui river. They always have extended the greatest hospitality to contesting oarsmen, providing for them regular supplies of milk, eggs, and fowls. Paddon carried with him to Australia a fine collection of presents from his Maori friends. A challenge chopping match for £5O gside took place in Greymouth last Saturday week, the contestants being B. Koeti, the West Coast champion, and W. Bone of luatapere, Southland. The logs were 15 Inch red pine and Koeti won the match in 59 seconds. The match was staged in a picture hail at a suitable interval in the programme. The Grey River Argus says that, the only reported instance of Koeti’s tune for a red pine log being beaten was when Charles O’Rourke, the old champion was said to have cut out a log under 50 seconds. This performance, however, is not vouched for. Immediately after the match jjone lodged a challenge to any man on the Coast for a contest of £lOO a-side for the following events:—ls inch chop, 15 round boxing match and 100 yards run, the man winning two events to be declared the winner of the contest. On his trip to the Coast W. Bone was accompanied by his brother, C. Bone. AU aorte of champions seem to turn up in America from long distance smokers to oyster openers. The latest is a kissing champion! The honour belongs to Dr Julia Seton, a New Thought teacher, w r ho recently arrived in Sydney. She announced that she had recently ■been presented with a leather medal an Detroit for being the greatest American Jißser. On a previous visit to Sydney she .pressed lips with 200 people when saying good-bye on the boat. The New Thought fchould not lack for converts. An interesting experiment in freak rifler hooting was described recently by an English officer. “I have fired an ordinary wax randle through four deal boards placed a foot apart,” he said. “I used six inches of paraffin wax candle, and 33 grains of powder with the usual wadt. The shot was removed by cutting off the top half inch of the case, and a candle weighing one and 8 quarter ounces was inserted. I fired it a range of about five yards. Each plank was perforated. There were plenty of pieces of dry wax on all the boards but the first. When fired against planks placed immediately back to back the candle went through the firet and was brought up by the solid weight of wood of the other three.” Major Hardcastle added that a certain game keeper won many bets by shooting candles through a spade. According to a letter received from America by a Wanganui resident there is likely to be another aspirant for the world’s sculling championship in KeEy, who defeated Hadfield at the Olympia regatta. He is reported to be entering the professional sculling world with a view to contesting the world's title. Kelly is a bricklayer by trade, and is said to be splendidly built and a great waterman. If the statement concerning his future intentions are correct, Kelly will have to row either Paddon in Australia or Arnst or Hadfield in New Zealand. Such a race would create tremendous interest.

The Corporation has commenced trimming the trees od the Biggar street reserve, between Ythan and Nees street!, preparatory to levelling the reserve for the Appleby Cricket Club, which with commendable enterprise intends laying out a codfrom whom schedules may be obtained. The Dunedin Fanciers’ Club is holding its annual show in June. Entries close on May 20 with Mr E. S. Wilson, the secretary, from whom schedples may be obtained. Weather luck” played a big part in Sydney grade cricket last season and this together with the argument that batamen were showing lack of enterprise at the wickets is responsible for a suggestion by a Sydney Sun writer that in matches each team should be allowed innings of two hours duration. This it is contended would . result in all-round improvement in the weather conditions under which the game is played in the New South Wales capital and would brighten up the game immensely. Whether such a drastic proposal as outlined will appeal to the cricket “heads” is a question that remains to be answered. A remarkable case of canine fidelity is reported from Altikoa, in the canton of Zurich. Accompanied by three dogs, a spertsnan was shooting game in a forest when his gun accidentally went off, mortally wounding him. One of the dogs immediately returned to his home and attempted to attract the attention of the family by barking, but suspecting nothing, the servants gave no heed to it. Another dog ran to the house of a friend of his master and tried to attract attention in the same manner, but without success. The following day, when a search was made, the body of the missing man was found through the plaintive barking of the third dog. which had remained faithfully guarding the body ci its dead master. A local trout angler witnessed an extraordinary capture of an eel by a weaeel says the Taranaki News. The weasel was on the opposite aide of the river, and came down the cliff face to the edge of the stream. Here he flattened himself against the Ledge of stones and stealing cautiously along, saw the eel near the edge of the stream. The little animal crept up opposite the eel and then plunging its head and shoulders into the water, emerged with ite :eeth firmly embedded in the eel’s back. In a second the eel was dropped on the rock Ledge, and the animal sprung and drove its little tusks into the brain of ite captive, the latter succumbing with hardly a wriggle. As a winter game badminton has become popular in England and India and other parts of the world, but so far it is almost entirely unknown in New Zealand. In London all the clubs which have been started have a full membership, and as additional proof of the wide appeal of the game it may be mentioned that they all have a formidable waiting list. The game, which is similar to lawn tennis, is played an a court 44ft by 20ft, across the middle af which is stretched a net sft high. The racquets used are smaller than lawn tennis racquets, and the shuttle-cock, with which badminton is played, has to be taken on the volley, so some idea may be gained as to the pace of the game. The game is being started in Dunedin. Last month Edies’ teams played cricket in Sydney at Moore Park. The teams were Sandringham and Boomerang, the former wearing short skirts and the latter shorts. Sandringham w’on, making 49 and dismissing their panted opponents for 22. The chief bowler in the Boomerangs was M. Minnett, the captain, evidently one of the well-known cricketing family of that name. Wingatui Racecourse has been proclaimed a sanctuary for native game. Word to that effect was received by the Dunedin Jockey Club from the Government this morning (says the Dunedin Star). The club asked that this protection be afforded. A number of birds are coming about the property. The pond seems to attract them, and there is abundant nesting cover, and if the feathered beauties settle there it will be an additional attraction in this picturesque course. Perhaps it may be as well to explain that the protection does not extend to “dead birds.” No known scheme refuge or encouragement would cause

them to multiply on this or any raoecounte. The race is apparently doomed to extinction.

With reference to the foregoing, many people may not be aware that the Southland racecourse was proclaimed a sanctuary for native game some time ago. It is understood that J. Pont of Tuatapere has expressed his willingness to meet W Johnston, the well known Catling River axeman, in a challenge match for £5O a-gide at three styles of chopping; underhand, standing and square cut. Both of these men are in the first rank of Southland axemen and a contest between them would be eagerly welcomed by supporters of bushcraft all over the province. y yaking to the writer the other day. a gentleman well known in connection with the sawmilling industry expressed the opinion that if a match can be arranged it should take place in the King’s Hall, Invercargill.

A well-known Sydney business man named Heesch created a sensation in Sydney the other dgy when he lifted a lorry from one pavement and carried it aero® to the other. An admiring crowd gazed speechless at the feat of this modern Sana son who didn't aven turn a hair. Heesch, however, who stands over 6ft high, wears closely cropped hair, and looks as muscular as he must be. About 4.30 a lorry laden with merchandise came to pieces apposite the Theatre Royal when the matinee crowd was pouring through the streets. The back axle simply caved in, and the back of the lorry hit the pavement. Traffic was blocked, and the usual rubber-neck crowd gathered round. Heesch came to the rescue. He ordered some of the merchandise to be taken off the back of the vehicle, and as easily as if he was picking up a handkerchief he lifted the end of the lorry off the street. The driver whipped the horses up, and drove away, Mr Heesch walking behind supporting the lorry Across to the other side, clear of the traffic, Heesch gently dropped it and dusted his hands, as if lifting vehicles about was a mere detail in his life. He wasn't even breathing hard. “Boy wonders” in golf will have to give place to “infant prodigies” of the game if many follow the footsteps of Melvin Harbert, fdx-year-oid son of E. E. Harbert, professional at the Marion Country Club. In Indiana, United States, this child performs unusually well on the golf links, having a natural swing that sends the i ail straight down the course. His shots are so well timed that hie wooden clubs give him as much as 100 yards from the tee, nearly half the distance the more experienced players usually obtain. America has produced a number of ‘"boy wonders” in golfdum, such as Chick Evans, Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones, but none of them started as young as Harbert.

In the great International Dog Team Race of 120 miles, held on February 2, 3 and 4, New Hampshire, only two of four teams finished the course. The winner, Mr A T. Walden (of Wonalaucet), with his team of five American-bred Laskies, made the three-day mush in 15 hours, 36 minutes,; and covered the last day’s lap of thirty-two miles in 3 hours 37 minutes. He was 46minutes ahead of the Canadian team of Jean Lebel (of Beramis, Quebec), whose time was 16 hours 22 minutes. Both Walden and Lebel brought their dogs in in good condition, but Lebel’s team was carrying on the sledge a dog that had weakened from frostbitten feet

At yesterday’s meeting of the Southland County Council a request from the Invercargin Rowing Club that the'gang working on the Otatara bridge be allowed to remove the Club’s shed across the channel, the Club to defray the expenses, was referred to the engineer with power to act.

A TENNIS CHAMPION. J O ANDERSON’S CAREER. James Ou tram Anderson, conqueror of Brookes, Patterson, and Tilden, was interviewed recently for the first time in his career. It seems extraordinary that the racquet champion succeeded in escaping the snares of the American journalists during his recent tour. But he did, and to a representative of Sydney Daily Telegraph Anderson told his tennis story. Born in 1895, he first saw the sunshine at Enfield, Sydney, and had the chattering of five brothers, E. 0., R. 0., C. 0., K. 0., and DO. (killed in action, 1916), to stimulate his early growth. For several years he made marked progress in the matter of living, and the family transferred quarters to a more civilised community—Burwood. They named the house “Glenoutram,” and it was then and there that “Jimmy” felt the firet pangs of hunger. His father had one of the finest turf courts in New South Wales laid, and set out to teach his sons the game. He introduced a novel method of regulating their food supply by their tennis. And so, if J.O. played a rubbishly, careless game, he went to bed without supper. The next dav he took good care to do better. Although the satisfaction of all six appetites depended on the quality of the tennis, “Jimmy*’ shot ahead of the rest, and in a short while was the unbeatable one of the group. As a fourteenth birthday present, he was allowed to compete in the All Schools’ Singles Championship of the State. With very little effort he won this, and repeated the performance in the following year. In 1912 his proud father sent him to Melbourne to pit himself against the competitors in the Victorian Schoolboys’ Championship. He found it a fairly easy task to reach the final—and then he met and defeated Gerald L. Patterson. J.O. was then playing wonderful tennis for his age, but his father saw to it that his head was not allowed to inc- ase in size. He practised assiduously, and two years later, when 19, he entered for the Singles Championship of New South Wales. This he won after again beating Gerald Patterson in the semi-final, and A. B. Jones in the final. A short while after Mr J. 0. Anderson, Sen., flitted away to Forbes to try his hand at wheat farming, and the young champion went with him. For a few years J.O. taught the Forbes players a few things about the game, and in 1917 enlisted for active service. He was hustled into camp at Liverpool. Everything was going nicely when one day J.O. was juggling 181 b shells to keep his tennis eye in and one fell on his ankle. He had a comfortable ride to the hospital, and, after a 28 days there was discharged unfit for further service. Then “he went and got married.” The damaged ankle healed fairly well, and in 1919 J,O. again won the State singles championship. He paid his second visit to Melbourne later in the year with a New South Wales team, and defeated Norman Brookes in the singles. In the same year he was chosen to represent Australia in the Davis Cup match against British Isles. He defeated Lowe in the singles, but was beaten by Kingscote, the English captain. The following year saw Patterson beat J. 0., but (aud he did not say this himself) he was badly out of practice and physicially unfit. Then came the American tour of last year. Anderson, with N. Peach, C. Todd, and J. B. Hawkes set out on a hopeless excursion to bring the Davis Cup back. They tried hard, but the team was too weak for the tremendous task. However, the trip did J.O. a world of good. He improved his game in every department, and learned shots which have since made {Sydney tennis follower- gasp. i He aLo did something else—he beat I W. T. Tilden (world's champion), Hunter ] (who fought Eogliahnka Nori * to £ Pre-

set finish), Lowe, Woosnam, R. L. Williams, Lawrence B. Rice, and other lesser stars. But he had to accept defeat at the hands of the Japanese champion, Kumagae and Shimidgu, and Wallace Johnston. After returning J.O. had a look round for some practice and accepted the invitation of the Victorian Tennis Association to play Gerald Patterson an exhibition match in Melbourne. It was a strenuous game, and J.O. came out on top three sets to two. Patterson took a month or so to recover from the shock, and then tripped over to Sydney to even matters. But Anderson was invincible, and won three sete to one. He was very pleased at his win, but did not crow about it. J.O. never crows about anything, and is as humble in victory as he is generous in defeat. He is now assisting his wife to pack for the trip to England and America, and wondering how business will get along without him. You see, he has commercial matters at attend to—he is in charge of the tennis department at Dodge and Co.’s sports depot, Hunter Street—and he has a wife and two tiny girls. J.O. had a few reserved comments to make to the Daily Telegraph representative in regard to this year’s Davis Cup, and the most important was: “We are...almost certain of reaching the challenge round, and our chances of winning right, through are good.”

THE SPRINGBOK TOUR, COMMENT BY MR BENNETT. The Wellington Post’s football writer, “Dropkiek” says he was privileged for a few minutes the other day to glance at a copy of the report on the Springboks’ tour furnished by the manager (Mr H. C. Bennett) to the South African RJF.U. on the return home of the touring team. Much, of course, of the report is purely confidential, but other parts are of such public interest as to be worthy of note and comment. Mr Bennett emphasises, from the point of view of the visitors, the difference in the interpretation of the rules of the game by New Zealand referees from that current in South Africa, and attributed the failure of the team to show true South African form & good deal to this factor. Following is a rough note of Mr Bennett’s comments on some of these readings of the rules:— The mark, he says, is a feature of the play in these countries (New Zealand and New South Wales), and both backs and forwards make marks whenever possible. A mark is allowed, if a player catches the ball with both feet off the ground, provided he shouts: “Mark!” We did not agree to this, and adhered strictly to the rule. In many cases, however, referees allowed marks when made in the air. Forward passes were allowed, even where the pass was five yards forward, provided the referee thought it was no vantage to blow the whistle. The preadvantage to blow the whistle. The prevailing idea is that the referee who blows his whistle the least is the best referee. This naturally led to trouble for us. Offside tactics are mentioned by Mr Bennett in the following:—A back running in front of his man and taking a forward pass was penalised for offside instead of a scrum being ordered, for a pass forward. This slowed down our backs considerably. The advantage rule is described by Mr Bennett as being carried to an extreme here, penalties being given in many cases against a player who legitimately prevents an opponent from gaining an advantage. Touch-down erf tries should only be given if a player pressed the ball on the ground with both hands.

The rule regarding the ball being put into the scrum was practically disregarded in New Zealand, the first man on the porter front being allowed to hook. This, of course, militated against us very considerably. The wing-forward was allowed far too much latitude, and very often he could be seen standing by our serum with his hands on the shoulders of our scrum half, and then we were penalised for taking the ball out of-the scrum. The authorities admit the wing-forward is a spoiler and a nuisance, but while they agitate for an alteration in the rules for his abolition, we maintain that he could be nullified by a proper application of existing rules. An objection is raised by Mr Bennett to the use of three balls in a match, and he says the rule as to playing the ball on the ground and not parting with the ball after a tackle was applied so strictly that the definition of a tackle was altogether ignored. Mr Bennett commenting on the foregoing and other pointe, said that the difference between New Zealand and South African methods militated against a true display of real South African form by the visiting team. The strong point of the heavy forwards were nullified, and it took them some time to adapt themselves to the change of conditions. The best form shown by the team was in the matches agatiwt Wellington, Auckland, Nelson, Marlborough, and the Third Test. VENI, VIDI, VICI.

Speaking generally, Mr Bennett says the result of the tour of the team is highly satisfactory, and the team has done better than, any other team which has visited Australasia. “New Zealand in no gentle voice claimed world supremacy in Rugby, and for our team to have invaded her and on her own soil smashed her claim to sole supremacy was no mean feat. We have done more than that. New Zealand is a great. Rugby country. Rugby is the universally admitted national game of New Zealand. The people live on it. The children are bred up on it. One might almost say that a man’s chief claim to eminence is that he represented his province or his country in Rugby football, be he leader in any profession, prince in any business, member of Parliament, or Cabinet Minister. On our arrival in the country we were told what matches we should win and what matches we should lose but never for one moment was it dreamt that we would or could win the Teste. New Zealand football is unbeatable, and its ideas and tactics the only possible. Victory after victory, however, came our way, and critics could not understand them. Provincial teams were specially trained and coached for days beforehand, and all methods known to the old-timers w£re experimented with. Now what is the result? We have the experts thinking; we have shaken the belief in the seven-scrum formation, and we believe that many of our ideas and tactics will be incorporated in the New Zealand game. We came as learners, and we taught more than we learned.”