CHOPPING IN THE RAIN

Taranaki Daily News, 7 May 1934, Page 11

CHOPPING IN THE RAIN

CARNIVAL HELD AT OKOKE SOME SPLENDID WORK SHOWN. 0. M' REA WINS THE OKOKE CUP. Making the best of the miserable weather 6n Saturday morning the Okoke sports' committee- 'decided to carry on with the programme of axemen’s events as arranged, aftd thanks to the manner in which the competitors supported them and the way ip' which the officials all worked under extreniely trying condian enjoyable day’s .sport was provided for those who had braved the elements. Unfortunately, the rain militated against the attendance, the gate receipts being under £s< It was pleasing to dote, however, that the chib Will not lose 6VCr the. meeting, though had conditions been favourable there is do doubt that a large profit would have been -shown. Heavy shoWers made it appear as though the committee had decided wrdhgiy in Carrying on, but for two or three hours the Weather cleared. Undef foot cOnditiohs’-were very bad. The river fidt' Wad saturated ,and ift. the chopping arena the ground was soon churned up, making the handling of the' blocks Anything but pleasant. Six events were decided, necessitating in all twelve chops, and- some splendid contests were Witnessed. Puketea blocks .were used and some good times Were recorded. & Haupapa was chopping magnificently, and though he-was 'well back . won. the 12-inch Open chop, Which was- given outright. He ran out of wood in the;l4-inch'‘Okdke cup chop, in which, he cdiild only finish third io Di M. Rea, Uruti, and A. L. Hubert, Urenui. This event attracted additional interest As the ownership of. the'Toss. Cup. was involvedThe’cup, presented in 1926, Was a Challenge ’cup Which had, to be Woh tWide' in succession or three .times at intervals to be woh outright, but the committee after 'COhimUnicAtihg- with the- seven men who had their. nifties inscribed on the trophy decided-to. offer- it for straightout competition this year. Of the seven four- competed. T. Bake Well won the 12-tach Piko chop, which carried the biggest prize money. E., Legge also did remarkably Well, winning both the Novice and the Maiden, as well as finislung secthe .Open 12-iheh chop. T. Hoskin won the loCal eVent and secured-the Reg. Frdser Cup for the best performance by a local competitor in the novice event. The handicapperj - Mr. A.' C; Eichstaedt,had brought the fields Close together. __ ASSISTANCE OF PUBLIC. The organisation was good, every detail having been arranged. The number board -by which the public Was made aware of the' identity Of every, competitor, in each event was again in operation and enabled the spectators to take a more lively interest in each eVent. The officials comprised: Starters and timekeepers, Messrs. C. Wilton and G.- N. FuUer; judges, Messrs. A..Smith,' H. CWhngwodd,; C. Barham,. T. Wright and L-. GryllS, block stewards, Messrs. Alan Jones, C. Collingwood arid M Whittaker; number stewards, MesSrS. P. Pag and R- Darke. ■ The ladies had taken Charge of the catering arrangements,- and judging by the quantity and variety of the viands, they must have had a very busy tinte. The standard of the catering Was a revelation to ■ thoto -Who -were making their first Visit to Okoke. The ladies in included Mesdames Albert Jones and M. E Fraser (supervisors), A. Smith, J. Hos--kin,. G. C. 'WhitteW, H.- McLellan F. Thessman and Misses C., P, and. A. Whittaker, K.ahd V. Darke, N. McKeown, M. M. Jones and J- TM ■booth was in Charge of Mesdantes E. Whittaker tonr., J. Whittaker and Misses -M and L. Whittaker. ■ , . The president, Mr. T. Wright, and the executive,, which, comprised Messrs. A. Jones (chairman), C. Baihaffi, A. McKeown, J. Slight and Messrs. H. F. McLellan and G. C. Whittaker, joint secretaries, had worked hard and certainly deserved to have, been rewarded with better weather. : : r . , n An adjournment was made to the hall after the sports, when Mr. G. 0. Whittaker presented the cups. He thanked all who had-attended the sports despite the conditions, which he had thought would have caused the . club to have a heavy. Ids®.. It Was gratifying, hOWevOr, to note that as far as could be seen at present the meeting would pay its way. He especially thanked the competitors for their support, particularly those from a distance. He presented the cups as follows* Toss Cup, D. M. Rea (UrUti); club cup, Geo. Haupapa (Urenui); cup presented by' Mr/ Reg. FrAser for the local competitor with the best performance m the notice event, T. HOskin. OFFICIALS CONGRATULATED. Mf J. Garcia congratulated the officials for the efficient manner in which they had worked under such trying conditions. The ladieS Of the district were also to be complimented bn the excellence of the Catering, Mhich ■ had undoubtedly contributed greatly to the popularity that the club enjoyed. Th 6 dance in the hall in the evening was very enjoyable. Excellent music was provided by McNeill’S orchestra. Messrs. H. McLellan and G. Wright were masters of ceremonies.

The details are:— ~ Novice chop (open), 12-mch. FyS heat: E. Legge (255) 1, T. Hosfan (2a) 2 W. Wilson (25) 3. .Seven started.. Won very easily- f A. E. Page was fourth- Time 50S. Second heat: J. Kapinga - (25) 1, N. c McGregor (25) 2, W. Baker (25) 3. Seven started. G, Fuller (25) failed by a blow to qualify. Time, 525. Fma • • Legge 1, J. Kapinga 2, W. Wilsoh 3. AU started. Won very easily, with the third man close up. Wilson, howeV , had finished his bld& off With his hanaS so he was disqualified. Maiden chop, Open, 12-inch oc . ■ T>ese 1 W. H. Penwarden 2, W. Wilson 3. Eleven started, Was-firstato-turn, and Chopping strongly ran 6ut an ®W winner. Penwarden beat Wilson y couple of blows for second place, while Hoskin and Baker were almost togethe fourth. Tirnd, 38s. . , Open handicap chop, fe bl ? c ‘ First heat: W. Lambert (245) 1, E. Legge 2 A. Kapinga (22) 3. Six started Lambert, who had been rehandicapped from 21s to 245, chopped well to win by about three seconds froih Legge, who

beat Kapinga. by a fraction. T. Bakewell, who started Off the 19s ffiafk, just missed a place. Time, 31s.- Second heat; D. M. Rea (21) 1, Geo. Haupapa (14) 2, A, L, Herbert (23) 3. Nine started. Haupapa, giving away eleven Seconds, put foursolid blows into his front scarf and Wafe quickly round. Chopping powerfully he chopped his blodt Off in great style but was just beaten by Rea, to whom he conceded seven seconds. Had he not run slightly Out of wood Haupapa must have won. Herbert just beat Penwarden for third place. Time, 335. Final: Hau* papa (14) 1, E. Legge (25) 2, A, L. Her* bert (23) 3. All qualified started, aS did also Skipper TUtu (22) Slid J. Slight (24), who had arrived too late for the heats. Haupapa made no mistake this time. He put eight powerful blows into the first Side and, chopping like a Cham* pion, ran out a winner with a second to spare from E. Legge, who just beat Her* bert. Skipper Tutu and Rea were to* gether fourth, Timo, 27 l*ss. Local chop, 11-inch block, open to residents Of the Okoke Valley: T. Hoskin (225) 1, R. Ekdahl (20) 2, H. Baker (21) 3. Nine Started. Wort With a little to spare. Time, 375. Piko handicap chop (open), 12-inch block:—First heat: Lambert (245) 1, T, Bakewell (19s) 2, L. Schrteber (16) 3. Eight started. Won by a second With a blow between second and third, Skipper Tutu was fourth. Time, 26 4*ss. Second heat: E. A. Fazackerley (23) and W. Larsen (24) dead heat 1, A. Kapinga (22) 3. Eight started. A very Close finish. The judges WOre unable to Separate the first two men, While Kapinga and Herbert were also remarkably close. Time, 36 2*ss. Final: T. Bake Well (19) 1, A. Kapinga (22) 2, W. Lambert (24) 3. The six who qualified competed. Rea, who had been chopping well during the day, was Seen at his best. Getting found to his second side quickly he chopped magnificently to run Out a winner by two seconds. There was little between Kapinga, Lambert and Schrieber, who finished fdurth. Time, 365. Okoke handicap cup chop, 14-ifich block, for competitors who had won the CUp twice: D. M. Rea (255) 1, A. L. Herbert (25) 2, G. HaUpapa <l5) 3. Also started: E. A. Fatackerley (28), Rea, chopping Well, put in a splendid first cut to turn just ahead of Herbert. Maintaining a solid stroke to the finish, Rea fan out a Winner by a good second from HCrbeft. Haupapa, who had given away 105, Was making the chips fly to overhaul fhe leader, but his “wood” finished and he was well back third. Time, 525. Judging the distance was in charge of Mr. G. .Jones, the winner being F. Whittaker. whose estimate was 15 yards, the actual distance being 15yds 3in. The Cheap guessing was in charge of Messrs. R. Fraser and R. Penwarden, and the Winner Was R. Edkalil (8311 b the correct weight being 8411 b.