OUT DOOR SPORTS

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 1, 18 September 1880, Page 7

OUT DOOR SPORTS

Christchurch is the only city in New Zealand "which, possesses a bicycle club. What lias 1 icon me of tlie Auckland Tradesmen's Athletic Club? H. L. Coitis lias won tlie five mile, and C. E. JDiles the one-mile, bicycle championships 'of England. Are tan- 'i lnn'ic.ii boUvccn the football teams of Napier himl Waluj \va was played at Hastings and "won by the jonnci . The Auckland Amateur Athletic Club commenc. s this season w illi a credit balance of £42 9s. The A nek laud Amateur Athletic Club expended £72 Vis. Oil. in prizes during last season. The football season in A lackland has now virtually closed The Port Philip (Melbourne) Regatta will be held in December. Hanlan, ihe Canadian oarsman, has arrived in England fvnm Toronto to c 'litest the championship vith Trickelt. Hit: Australian sculler. A succcr'Tiil isw'iimvng feie by limelight recently took \>\:u-f at the Surrey County' Swimming "Baths, Bristol, England. Athletic, sporl.s will be held at Eller«lie in . -conjunction wiih Hie .Atrricultural and Pastoral Society's Slio* on November 9th and 10th. The Oaiuaiu Football Club has communicated with si in iliiv dubs in Dnnedin andlnvercargill, in reference to (lie advisability of forming a Rugby Union Association !or Otago. The i employees in the ironmongery warehouses of Messrs. Morrin and Porter are preparing for a football match, which takes place on Saturday next. The greatest distance yefc travelled by a — '■pedestrian hi a six: days' go-as-you-please contest •was 553 miles mid 170 yards by Blower Brown in England. , The /> ucklrmd cricket clubs have decided to ' ■contiibnte one guinea each towards the purchase of a silver euro, to hv competed for during the season. Itwjll bppniiip tho pro city of ihe club which succeeds iv \\ inning ii on throe successive occasions. The Auckland and Welling on Athletic Clubs ■liave e'ccressod tiu'in^lvcs in favour of a proposal to hold an amal ;:ur contest-, in New Zealand, to take place ii each of Hie lar^e towns in turn. The HamiKon (Waika(o) Cricket Club has already commenced operations under the captainry .of Mr J. "Wood. The Club has rented a playing ground in P> dncy Square at £15 per annum. "Walter Jones's open sailing boat Alert has ended her rn.vcor in Auckland, having been sold toa Samoan chid" for £70. She left for the Islands last "week in the " Mazcppa.' Providence will always be associated with _the remarkably sudden illness of Boyd and Hnnlan. The question, however, still remains : Was it Providential? Charlie BaMcy ha* repaired the yacht Thetis, •which recently wont ashore at the Breakwater, and he is dow w illing < o dispose, of her for about half her original cost She was built last year. Robert .Watson Boyd, the Newcastle sculler, who rowed in the International regatta at Provi- ■ dence, Rhode Tsland. suffered so much from the effects of the climate that he was ordered to ri turn .home. He therefore proceeded to England in July. A London paper says that the cricket at the Inter- University match was very poor indeed. " Two worse elevens have not. been put in the field for many years, and with the beaten team both Eton and "Winchester could maU c a good fight." According <o il>e latest advices regarding the Australian team in England. Bonnor had gained the (position of highcM, average batsman, while Boyle still maint. lined '.iis Ic. id in the bowling aggregate Spoftbrth being very close to him. ' "The new c-mimilieo of the Auckland Amat»ur AiiiMT". Club consists of Messrs. Biggs, Cotter Sharland. W. W. Robinson. Henderson, Bindon, Keid, McGecbie. Watson, and Marshall. The other officers wci-e i\>e!cctcd. October JOili ha.'i been fixed upon as the day for the official opening of the cricket season in Auckland, but tlie j ecfcnt ft' c weather has had an enlivening influence <n cricketers, and consequently several clubs are already busy practising up. The C'sboine Rowing Club celebrated the openi g oJ-'rlie sens n last Saturday week by a procession ofboats up the river. The Club possesses three Jour-oaied boats, and three pairs There are forty member?, Mr. G. C. TTuddleston being captain. The yacht Gleam (Porter's) has been purchased by Mr. 11. E. Isaacs, junr. It is said that he intends to rtisp se of the champi n "pen sailing boat Toy, which lie recently obtained from Mr. Bailey in exchange foe ihe Thetis. The yacht AViimna (Street's) has been taken up at Logan's yard. North Sho'C. in order to be put in pr per trim for the approaching yachting season. Necessary repairs will be effected' to the vessel, and she will oe re-coppered. The Royal Cinque Ports (England) Yacht Club held its annual ocean rac« early in July the course being from Dover to Boulogne and back There « ere eleven competitors, and the race was won by the Latona, with the Egeria second, and the Miranda third. , The Thames cricketers are in luck. They have been i. resented by Mr. R Graham withapiecp.of ground at Grahamstown. and this has been levelled and returfed. Two rows of pitches and wickets have been "spitted out." and everything made ready for the opening of the season. The " fag " is an automatic machine recently invented in England for returning balls to the bowler during batting or bowling practice It consists of three inclined planes, is made of canvas, ane is surrounded with network to prevent the escapd of the ball when bo wlcd. Ponsonby can't beat this anyhow A North Shore man of the George Washington type informs us.that he was out for a sp n the other day in his heeler when he felt a sudden shock, and, on looking round, he discovered that his centre-board i had cut a shark m two. It is necessary to remark that the pieces have not yet floated ashore. Professor W. Miller, an old Australian, who now hears the titl^ of the champion wrestler and athlete of the world, lias returned to Melbourne • from America and England: Before settling down he intends to give an exhibition contest of wrestling fencing, and heavy-weight lifting throughout Aus- , traha and New Zealand. Several gentlemen of a certain port in the provincial district of Auckland are negotiating for the purchase at Sydney of an open sailing boat about the same size as the Toy, champion of New Zeala d. The price for which she has been offered is £120. On her arrival in these waters, should she be purrhaoed, it is the intention of her "wners to challenge the T-y, and we believe that the latter boat will - accept. Aucklanders may d epend upon it that if the Toy can't beat the new "high flier," Bailey will provide something that will.

The local cricketers have adopted various rules for their guidance during the present season. The West End, Auckland, and United, have been recognised as the efficient Clubs, and these will play eleven men against eighteen in matches with other clubs. This arrangement has been made in order that the competitors for the challenge silver cup may be fairly handicapped. Auckland is again to the fore, and it is evident that the spirit of pluck which animated her in days gone by has not completely d>ed out Several local gentlemen have subscribed the capital necessary f r the construction of a yacht between thirty and forty tons, and she will be sent to compete in the first class yacht race at the Melbourne International Exhibiti n Regatta. Tom Niccol has been entrusted with the work, and the keel of tae new vessel has already been laid. Actaeon.