CARNIVAL AT BEACH

Southland Times, Issue 23735, 6 February 1939, Page 5

CARNIVAL AT BEACH

BIG CROWD AT ORETI / Successful Fixture VARIED EVENTS ON SATURDAY Beauty Parade And March Past A bright and varied programme of events on Saturday and yesterday attracted some of the biggest crowds ever seen at Oreti Beach. Gay with bunting and bright costumes, the beach was seen at its best, although a strong wind off the sea on Saturday did not encourage many persons in to the surf. There were numerous attractions, however, in the well-organized carnival. More than 4000 spectators were on the beach during the afternoon and the traffic on the road was very heavy. Collectors at the entrance to the beach found it difficult to cope with the traffic and cars were held up in a queue for more than a mile, causing considerable delay to visitors to the beach.

Rain fell in Invercargill on Saturday morning and prospects for a fine day were not encouraging. However, about midday the sky began to clear and the sun shone brightly for the rest of the day, although there was a cold, squth wind. Saturday was the principal day of the carnival and there was a comprehensive programme of events, including athletics, cycling, a march past and a bathing beauty parade. The motorcar and motor-cycle races were held in the evening and these attracted many visitors to the beach. The carnival committee of the Oreti Surf Life-Saving Club did everything possible to make its ambitious programme a success and its efforts were well rewarded. OFFICIAL OPENING The official opening ceremony was performed by the Mayor of Invercargill (Mr J. R. Hanan). In introducing Mr Hanan the president of the Oreti Surf Life-Saving Club (Mr A. J. Kingsland) expressed pleasure at the big crowd present He said he hoped the people would thoroughly enjoy their outing. The object of holding the carnival was to obtain money for modern life-saving equipment for the Oreti Club. He hoped that the carnival would become an annual event and that the beach would come to be regarded as Invercargill’s playground. This was the biggest event of its kind ever held on Oreti beach, said Mr Hanan. He congratulated the surf club on the work it had done and referred to the enthusiasm of its members. He felt sure that in years to come the Invercargill City Council would spend more money on Oreti Beach and with the help of the people it would no doubt become the playground of Invercargill. Mr A. Wachner, a member of the Invercargill City Council, who also spoke, said that it gave him great pleasure to see the big crowd gathered on the beach. He hoped that, with the cooperation of the people, more improvements to the beach would be carried out. Adjudged by popular vote the outstanding competitor in the bathing beauty parade, Miss P. Day was successfid in winning the sash to be held by “Miss Oreti.” Miss J. Hannon was placed second and Miss C. Lynch third. MARCH PAST The outstanding attraction of the day was undoubtedly the march past of inter-house teams and the eight teams of girls competing made a picturesque display as they paraded past, banners fluttering in die breeze. The contrasting colours of the uniforms, the smart, appearance of the girls and the precision with which they marched made a striking picture. The winner of the march past was Herbert, Haynes’s team. The deportment of the girls was outstanding and their success was very popular. H. and J Smith’s team gave a fine performance

and was only two points behind the winner. Thomson and Beattie’s team was placed third, six points behind the second team. •

Mrs A. Wachner presented the leader of Herbert, Haynes’s team (Miss N. Basstian) with the championship banner and congratulated the team on its success. The points scored by the teams in the march past were:—

The other competing teams were placed as follows:—Murihiku Swimming Club (71pts) 4, Kingsland’s (671, pts) 5, J. R. McKenzie’s (67pts) C, W. H. Boyes (64pts) 7, Broad, Small (63pts) 8. ATHLETICS

Athletics figured prominently in the afternoon programme, running races and a field event being held. The entries were good and the competition in all the races was keen. In the final of the 100 yards J. Metcalfe put up a fine performance to win from P. McMullan in a close finish. Following are the results of the athletic events:— 880 Yards.—J. Rubber (10yds) 1, R. Dixon (30yds) 2, J. Metcalfe (20yds) 3. Time, 2.11. 100 Yards Men.—First heat: J. Metcalfe (7Jyds) 1, P. McMullan (2|yds) 2, L. Sinclair (IJyds) 3. Time, 0.10 4-5. Second heat: G. Henderson (syds) 1, N. Bennie (Byds) 2, E. Bell (4yds) 3. Time, O. 3-5. Third heat: R. Jenkins (4|yds) 1, A. Breen (7yds) 2, G. Duthie (7£yds) 3 Time, 0.10 4-5. Final: Metcalfe 1, McMullan 2, Bennie 3. Time, 0.10 2-5. 75 Yards Women.—F. Stewart (10yds) 1, M. Peat (6yds) 2, R. Gough (2yds) 3. Time, 0.9 2-5. Hop, step and jump.—W. Barrett 1, P. Windle 2, G. Duthie 3. Bicycle races were held in the afternoon before and after the march past and in these events the outstanding riding of the competitors on a track which was on the heavy side attracted the attention of visitors. The results are:— TWO MILES.—M. Burgess (250yds) 1, O. Drury (scr) 2, K. Jones (90yds) 3. Burgess rode well and led throughout the race. There was an exciting finish, Burgess winning by about a length. , . ONE MILE.—N. Hazelmore (130yds) 1, M. Burgess .'"'3yds) 2, A. Jones (220yds) 3. N. Liddell and Jones were in the lead for the first two laps, but Liddell’s machine crashed in Lie third lat and this gava the other riders an opportunity. One mile boys.—H. Blomfield (scr) 1, H. Smith (scr) 2, 1 . Grant (50yds) 3. MOTOR-CAR RACES One of the most popular events of the day was the motor-car races, which were held at the south end of the beach in the evening. The fact that motor-car races have not been held on Oreti Beach for some years and ihe possibility of thrills drew a big crowd of interested spectators. The spectators found much to excite them in both the 10mile and the 30-mile events. Some of the cars showed surprising speed and the closeness of the finishes reflected great credit on the work of the handicapper (Mr H. L. Godward). The results of the races are as follows :—

10-MILE HANDICAP (eight entries). —A. Mclntosh’s (scr) M.G. series Tl, R. Tail’s (lmin 20sec) Morris 8 h.p. Roadster 2, J. Muir’s (2min 20sec) Ford 10 h.p. saloon 3. Mclntosh drove a well-judged race, overtaking the other competitors in the latter part of the event. The outstanding performance was that of Tall, who was driving a standard car. Muir gave the crowd a thrill when his car lifted on to iliree wheels at one of the turns. The times of the first three competitors were: Mclntosh (llmin 43sec), Tall (14min 35sec), Muir (13min 56sec). 30-MILE HANDICAP (six entries).— A. Walsh’s (smin) Humber saloon 1, W. Bartlett’s (scr) Ford V 8 sedan 2, A. McEwan’s (2min) Citroen 15 h.p. saloon 3. McEwan led for die greater part of the race, followed by Walsh and Bartlett. Through sound judgment. Walsh was able to bring his car to the front in the final lap, winning from Bartlett in a fairly close finish. The

times of the first two competitors were: Walsh (27min 50sec), Bartlett (25min 4sec). Another attraction in the evening was the two-mile motor-cycle race and the skill of the riders was appreciated by the crowd. The competitors gave good performances and exciting races resulted. Results:— TWO MILES.--First heat: H. Field (4sec) 1, H. Munro (2sec) 2, Kingsland (Bsec) 3. Time, 3.38. Second heat: T. Bath (scr) 1, Longman (Bsec) 2, W. Gutzwitz (ssec) 3. Final: Bath 1, Munro 2. Field 3. Time, 3.38 3-5. In the final Bath came through from the back of the field in the sixth lap and took the lead, retaining it to the finish. BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT The seven-a-side knockout basketball tournament conducted in the evening by the Southland Basketball Association was most successful. There was an entry of 12 teams and this was an excellent response when it is considered that the game is at present out of season. Two teams travelled from Bluff and two from Makarewa to take part. Although, as only to be expected, the play was patchy at times, the standard on a whole was quite good. The players entered whole-heartedly into the games and some keen contests were seen. The winning team was Exhibition, the members showing consistent fonn throughout the tournament. The final between Exhibition and Makarewa was closely contested and the former team was extended to win by one goal.

The results are:— First round.—Exhibition (8) . beat Makarewa A (7); H. and J. Smith B (11) beat St. Mary’s (10); Bluff B (13) beat McKenzies (11); H. and J. Smith A (10) beat Bluff A (9); Makarewa B (10) beat Stuarts A (8); Stuarts B (9) beat Rata (7). Second round.—Exhibition (12) beat H. and J. Smith B (10); H. and J. Smith A (11) beat Bluff B (10); Makareka B (12) beat Stuarts B (11). Semi-final.—Exhibition (2) beat H. and J. Smith A (0). Final.—Exhibition (12) beat Makarewa (11). WRESTLING BOUTS

The exhibition wrestling Louts staged in the evening by the Southland Wrestling Club enjoyed great popularity. When the bouts were held aii the other events on the beach had finished and as a result there was a big number of spectators to watch the wrestlers. When it became dark several motorists switched the headlights of their cars on to the wrestling mat and the bouts continued. The following contests were held: W. Riley v. G. McKenzie; R. Sutton v. W. Scully; C. Scandrett v. J. Connelly; C. Parry v. A. McGregor. A sand modelling competition resulted: Ivan Davidson (South school) 1, Russell Cushion and Ronald Cushion (South school) 2 eq, Shirley Lilley (Waihopai school) 4. There were 12 other competitors and it was evident that the children had put a great amount of work into their modelling. There was humour in plenty at the beach on Saturday, Mr F. Cheyne and party entertaining the visitors in several bright interludes. As King Neptune and his attendants, the party made many raids among the crowds, the victims being asked for donations. If they showed signs of refusing they were faced with the threat of being publicly shaved from head to foot and this proved most effective. One young man, however, was quite determined not to pay and he was forced to undergo the ordeal of being shaved. The Invercargill Civic Band was present and in addition to playing selections, it provided music for the teams taking part in the march past.

LIFE SAVING EVENTS COMPETITION WON BY ORETI A In brilliant sunshine a huge crowd watched the four-men alarm competition which marked the concluding events of the Oreti Surf Life-Saving Club’s carnival at Oreti Beach yesterday. From early in the afternoon there was a steady procession of motor-cars from the city to the beach, and the city traffic inspectors were kept busy directing the cars into the allotted parking places. The crowd was, if anything, bigger than the previous day and many persons had difficulty in watching the competition. Hundreds, indeed, abandoned all efforts to gain a view and amused themselves in bathing and in other pursuits. Seven teams competed in the com-petition-three senior and cwc junior teams from the Oreti Club,- and two teams from St. Clair, Dunedin. The competition was preceded by a march past led by the Oreti seniors, and fol-

lowed by St. Clair and the Oreti juniors. The competition 'was keen, and the winning team, Oreti A, gave an outstanding performance Its drill was particularly smart, and it beat St. Clair to the buoy by nine seconds on the time test. Its work was ’much more crisp than that of the other teams. The competition was held in three heats, one of three teams and two of two. The results were:— FIRST HEAT St. Clair A 1 Oreti B 2 SECOND HEAT Oreti A 1 Oreti D 2 THIRD HEAT St. Clair B 1 Oreti E 2 FINAL Oreti A (A. Brown, patient; D. Davis, beltman; A. Wesney, linesman; E. Gumbley, captain) 1 St. Clair A (J. Cranston, patient; J. G. Reid, beltman; M. Goodwin, linesman; W. Dyson, captain) 2

td q o a W D D3 CT3 Q r* tn C. ° <t> 3 w 3 cn» p- '§. B £8 03 tO «> Costumes -4 co to Fa 1 ! In and Mard PH to CO w co Marching' PH PH _<j - co co Team Leader MH PHPH 00 CO CD Mre jfx Total toHtoH