OUT DOOR SPORTS

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 529, 9 February 1889, Page 13

OUT DOOR SPORTS

[By Milo.]

NOTICE. Short sketches of sporting or pleasure excursions will be welcome, aiid questions on all matters connected with sport will be gladly answered. Secretaries of all binds of Clubs for the promotion of out-door sports will confer a favour by cornmunicatm? any items of interest connected with their sport, game, or pastime ; more especially with respect to coming events. — No cricket last Saturday. — Percy McDonnell has given cricket best. — An American team of cricketers intend visiting England. — Purchas has been doing some very fair long-distanco 'cycle-riding lately. — Mr Gibbons, of the open air rink, intends arranging a race for wheelmen. — McCallum is giving up 'cycle-racing for a couple of years. Doctor's orders. — The A.A.A. and C.C. weekly runs will be resumed on Saturday 16' th February. — The Auckland Football Club promises to put a strong team in the field this year. — A Baseball Club is being formed at Devonport, Mr C. C. Dacre being the moving spirit. — Dick Sandall, of boxing faint, recently declared a bankrupt, intends returning to Sydney shortly. — Think of this— looo people is a big thing for a football match for London, in spite of her millions. — It is just possible a race will shortly eventuate between the Manola and Mignonett e for a small stake. — A project is now on foot to form a Baseball League for New Zealand, with its headquarters at Wellington. — The members of the Auckland Swimming Club intend swimming across Lake Tafeapunaon Saturday, Feb. 9th. — 'Cyclists are beginning to look forward | to the next sports, when several promising youngriders are expected to make their debut . — By the ruling of the umpire, the open sailing boat Beata now takes first prize, as it was found the other two had shifted ballast. — Tom King, of pugilistic fame, whose death I recently announced, is said to have left behind him property to the value of jiol,oou. — Hammond, the 'cyclist, is away on a holiday trip, and will miss the road race in which he had a good show of distinguishing himself. — The result of tho past Regatta has filled the air with challenges, and it will be Rome time before everybody regains his wonted composure. — The 200 yards championship at the next Sports should be an exciting race, as Davy, Owen, Elmslie, and Moresby are almost certain starters. — The Auckland Amateur Swimming Club intend holding a meeting to ' whitewash ' several members who have infringed the amateur rule. — I believe there is an Association up at Hokianga, and cricket matches are arranged for each. Saturday. Trust correspondents won't forget. — The members of the Auckland Swimming Club are greatly agitated because a rumour has been set afloat that they intend debarring professionals. — The steady downpour of rain on Saturday last not only put a stop to the balloon ascent, but also prevented the continuance of cricket matches. — The recently formed Swimming Club intend holding another carnival about March 30th. It is not yet certain whether the use of Calliope Dock will be granted. — The Auckland Amateur Athletic Club hold their second meeting of the season in the first or second Satnrday in April. Any intendingmembers should make early application. — Billy Murphy appears to be gaining sin unenviable reputation down South. His latest exploit was to strike tho referee who gave a fight ■ against him. Billy will nave to be careful. —' Billy '_ "Warbriclc has been recieving r great kudus in England fcr his playing as full- ; back. One paper describes it as 'magnificent,' ; ' splendid ' and the player as ' the hero of the I match.' I —Several of the crews engaged in the Junior whaleboat race now regret they did not enter for the champion event. If they had, I am inclined to think they would havo beaten the i others. j —The victory of the Jessie Logan at the recent Eegatta came as a surprise to many, as the I Mapu was supposed to be able to bcafc the Logan 1 without any trouble. Walter was evidently play- , ing- a waiting game. —The two groat Harbour football clubs, Richmond and Blackheath, met the other day, ». when the latter won very easily. Our old friend I Stoddarfc scored a try, and kicked a couple of goals from tries. — Mick Keefe. stroke oar of the Waitemata whaleboat crew, has been called upon by the Regatta committee to apologise for tho scurrilous letter he. wrote in the Evening S/ar. The prompt action of the committee has nief; with public approval. j

— Another meeting of the Auckland Rowing Association is fixed for Thursday (this) evening-, to consider the advisability of holding 1 another regatta. From what I can learn, I should say there is every probability of another regatta beingheld at an early date. —The Athletic, Committee talk of making a neve- rule by which they can reinstate persons who have lost their amateur status. The rule, if each case is looked carefully into, should be very useful, as there are a number of runners about who have become professionals almost without knowing 1 it. — A cricket match between Oheawa and : Hokianga wag played at the latter place on Saturday, 26th. Hokianga m the first innings made 13, I and their opponents 48, George and Monty Webster bowling. In the second innings, Hokianga made 120, and Oheawa 17, with the same bowlers. — With a view to racing the Waitematas, the Thames men are continuing their training ; but I am sorry to say Chas. JRolton (the stroke oar) is very ill. The lest of the crew are therefore anxious to secure the services of H. Brownlee, stroke of the Navals. Weitemata, of course, j have the righi. of objecting. — Wonderful things are said of the new Triplet cycle, the latent being that Whittaker, i Oxborrow, and Lee, on December 11, rode one of these machines on the road, doins 1 a half-mile in the marvellous time of Imin-' 9 4-ssoc, which is -fsec. faster than the path record of any kind of cycle. ; — f am in receipt of :i very prettily . arranged programme, containing the fixtures of the Native Football Team in the Old Country. It not only contains the portrait of players, but gives a* lot of useful information concerning weight, etc. It is the work of Mr E. B. S. Mercer, who ha,3 appointed Kidd and Wildman agents for the sale of the handy little brurlmrr. The price, I believe, is sixpence a copy. — I have been favoured with a programme of the Wnnganui Regatta, which it is proposed to hold on the 21st hist. There are nine rowing events open for competition, and although the Auckland clubs have been invited to take pert, it is not at all likely they will do so. The various races are to ne rowed under the rules of the New Zealand Amateur Rowing" Association. —On the return to the Old Country of the Phiglish footballers who visited Axistralia, one of the team in spcakincr of the tour drew favourable* comparison between the physique of the English and Australian athletes, saying that thn former were move sturdy, thick-limbed, and robust than the colonials, who wrre described as being taller, more lanky, and not possessed of as good stamina. — At the Oxford sports, the president (Cross) won the quarter-mile handicap in <lf> 2-5 fico... which is the fastest, time ever made by an Englishman over a level track. Myers has a record of -JS l)-~> : and VY. Phillips, at Birmingham, cevered the distance in \S 4-~>. But. as the course wns down hill, the hitter record does not stand. The fastest amateur or professional time is Buttery's iN.I at Gateshoad. October •!-, IS7.'!. — At the time of writing, there appears to be a trood deal of ur. curtain ty as to whether another whaleboat race will be arranged between the Champion Whaleboat crow and the Waitematas. I believe thy latter are willing enough, but, somehow or other, 1 fancy the matjli will end in smoke. Should these two crews meet, it would lie diJlicult to Kay which would win, as they ore well matched ; but I am inclined to think if the representatives of Qniivtzopolis had the same amount of training as the Waitematus, tliey would win easily — The following crews have been selected to take part in the a.imr.al trial fours of the West End Rowing Club to be held on Lake Takapuua on Saturday next : — No.l crow : Gentles. Gossan Farquhar. Aivey. No. 2: Edwards. liJeCardy, Fourie, "Driver. No. 3 : R. Jack, F. Atkinson. Parr, Watson. No. !■; R. Dowdcn, Lumsden, Western, McGregor. No. 5•. J. W. Baxter, Hauna, H. Martin, Woollains. No. l>; Fisher, Bell, Stevenson, I?. Baxter. No. 7 : A. Jones, Owen, Darby, Phecny. No. &-. J. N. Baxter. Speers, Martelli, Knight. — The Regatta of LSSi) seems likely to cause quite a stir before it passes into oblivion, and the public of Auckland aro promised some interesting reading. The Waitemata Boating Club are up in arms against tho decision of the umpire, who no doubt has given his decision conscientously, but, t'ltforluinilehj, not to the liking of the Waitematis. The Regatta committee are threatened with all sorts of pains and penalties if they pay over the prize money to the Thames crew, but I am pleased to say no notice is to be taken of this impertinent letter. — The junior crew of the City Rowing Club, whilst acknowledging- tho justness of their disqualification, wish for ;:nothei- opportunity to test their mettle. They accordingly issued challenges to the other crews engaged in the race, but St. George's stood out. The others wore quite prepared to fall in with any idea that found favour amonjrst the other competitors, but St. George's eeem '-nclinad 'to let well enough alone.' They now ask that each crew shall deposit <£10 a boat, which simply means tho race will not eventuate. Perhaps this is what they are after ': — The following handicaps have been declared fcr the bicycle road race from Panmure Bridge to Parnoll on Saturday next : — J. A. Stewart, scratch : J. G. Lecky, 2min ; T. Grange, 2min ; M. M. McCallum, i>£min ; T. M. Hammond, Bimiu; F. Purchas, 4 i ruin; H. Hill, 4Amin ; M. Hickey, u.Vmin ; H. Wright, 6'min ; E. A.'Glcdhiil, 7.jmm. The race starts at 4 p.m. sharp, and a drag will accompany tho riders for the convenience of the; handicappors, judge, timekeepers, etc. If Parchas starts, which is doubtful, he should win ; if not the order of the finish will probably be ; — J. A. Stewart, 1 ; H. Hill, 2 : E. A. Gledhiil, 3. — A few days ago :i member of the Auckland Rowing Association received the following 1 letter from a youthful member of a rowing club : — ' Dear Sir,— There is one thing- in connection with the programme of the Rowing Association that I would hke to draw your attention to ; that is the absence of a whaleboat race for boy 3, I would thank you very much if you would bringthis up at the next meeting of delegates. I know there are lots of members in most of the clubs who are to light to be picked in a crew at present, and who would be glad to pull at a regatta. I, myself, should suggest having a race for members not exceeding flsfc. Even if it should prove a failure, which ia not likely, there would not be any harm done. It would help to revive rowineamong- our clubs,— l am, etc., A Member.

— A Thames exchange commenting on the late Champion Whaleboat Race, says :— Strange to say almost every year a dispute has arisen regarding this race, and in the past the various crews from the Thames who have taken part therein have expressed great dissatisfaction with the treatment they received, as it has always been contended that undue favouritism has been shown the Waitematas. There can be no question that it is almost solely from this cause that only one Thames crew competed in the event on the present occasion, and we are pleased to learn that justice has now been meted out fairly and impartially. .From a further telegram from our correspondent, we learn that there is not the slightest doubt that a foul occurred, for which the Waiteraatas were to blame, and he also adds that the decision to disqualify that crew has given general satisfaction in Auckland. ■—My Wellington correspondent writes: —'Your Northern readers, and especially the JSorth Shore section, will be pleased to hear that your old friend, Tom Sullivan, is fast making a name lor himself in aquatic circles in the Empire City. Ho stroked a ten-oared cutter, built by himself (for the Torpedo Corps), to victory on the 22nd in a race for a trophy given by the officers of the fleet, the only other entry being a twelveoared nutter of the Petone Navals. The win was rather a boil over, as the craw had only been m their boat six or seven times, and wore allowing ! the Petone men two oars. However, they jumped away with the lead, winning 1 by about 200 yards. 1 The following are the names of the crew :— Tommy Sullivan (stroke) : No. 5, Bevan and Cornwall ; 4, Norlmg and Daley ; 3, Billcliff and McCardle ; 2, Murray and Porter; bow, Anderson. The crew was eox'd. by C.P.O. Pacey, late of the North Shore. — A writer in the Athidic New,* says: — ' A.nd the Bvil done which athlete?? are prone to, is the sudden cessation of muscular work as soon us the period of training and competition is passed. Weeks of a healthy life in the open air, have brought all their organs into a state of perfect functional activity, and created not only the need for the stimulation of exercise, but slso with a keen appetite for animal food, a remark - abJe power of assimilation. During the lazy existence, which many of them lead in the dark days, those organs miss the accustomed stimulation, and plainly show their sense of neglect by an irregular and incomplete discharge oi their functions. To add to the trouble, the desire for a large meat diet is often unchecked, although the athlete must be conscious of no longer requiring so much sustenance : is it to be wondered at, that the digestion soon becomes unequal to the demands throivn upon it, and that serious do?i!.ngcmcnt of the stomach, Jiver and kidneys, follows. I have been impressed by the number of oases of indigestion, bilious attacks, gout, .skin disease, a,ncl mental depression, it has been my lot to treat in this class of patients. Tlte*?- ailinfills atn I' iliioi'bin'Uij he trarpd hi this nu/w a to m.'. — The approach of the football season is causing several of the club* to resort to rather questionable tactics in order to induce prominent members of other clubs to leave and strengthen their ranks. This is manifestly unfair, and is opposed to the spirit of fair play. It does seem strange that such conduct .should be tolerated by the Kngbj' Union, who have certainly the power to suppress all underhand work of this description. As {'or thoso who are v/eal: enough to be cajoled into playing for other clubs, there is no words strong enough to express my feelings of contempt, and they well deserve the epithet of ' turncoats.' The worst offenders in this respect are the Ponsonby and C-irafton club.*, who have already enticed a luimber of the Gordon men p.way. There can bo very iittle doubt this notion, if continued, will have the effect of putting the " qniutus ' on the Gordons, and I am sure no one would cave to sec the old club wiped out of existence. The competition for the Seiner Cup would fall far short of the interest shown in former years, while it would not do football any good. Quietly and systountically someone has been going- about spreading 1 the report that the Gordons would not I be able to raise a toam, which 1 believe is altogether untrue, and, provided they don't lose, their men, they will be as strong as ever they were. — The Tl.atues Star of January JUst, after describing 1 the Champion Whaleboat Race, goes on to say .—lt will be seen from the above that, as in previous contests, the Waitematas displayed the greatest ill-feeling towards the crew from the Thames, and especially from that point of the race when the success of the latter appeared almost a certainty. That one of the Waitemata crew should descend to such a cowardly act as to strike one of the Thames men (T. Johnston) across the head with his oar while rounding the buoy, in itself calls for censure from all lovers of fair play, but that the Waitemata should at a later stage of the i-'ace deliberately ' foul ' the Thames boat, affords conclusive evidence that they were prepared to resort to any means, no matter how base, to gain the much coveted prize and honour of being the champions. It is such contemptible acts as these on the part of the Waitematas, and the palpable favouritism shown them in the past, that have been the main cause of reducing this event to a ' three crew ' affair, but now that the committee is composed of gentlemen who are prepared to impartially administer justice to all, wo have no doubt that on future occasions greater interest will be evinced by rowing men in the race. That the 'disgraceful conduct of the Waitemntas will once more meet with universal condemnation there can be little doubt, while or every hand we havo heard satisfaction expressed tit the success of the Thames crew, who, notwithstanding the unfair treatment they received from their opponents, have been awarded the first prize by an impartial umpire. — Tn England they have contests for the 'Watar Polo Championship,' and great interest | seems to bo centred in the competition. The fol- | lowing account of a match will no doubt be read j with interest by our swimming men : — ' Polo was j practised for some years by a few clubs simply j as a means of providing an attraction for the annual entertainment ; water polo has this season assumed a degree of importance which its promoters probably never anticipated. 'Jhe institution of a championship by the Amateur Swimming Association lias drawn much attention to this comparatively novel diversion, and a large number of persons assembled at Lambeth Baths on Monday evening to witness the final tie of the . first competition of its kind. The clubs left in were the Otter and Burton-on-Trent Clubs, and each had many friends present, whose enthusiastic cheers were to be heard continually during the game, which, as it_ happened, proved of one-sided character. The visitors had devoted a good deal of attention to the game, and were not only faster swimmers bat showed vast superiority in the art of tackling, throwing for goal, and passing. Indeed, their combination was really excellent,

considering that the passing had to be done whilethe player was swimming 1 , and their defence was particularly strong. Prom this it will be gathered that the Otters, who worked hard, but not well together, were outmatched. The game lasts twenty minutes, ten minutes each way, for the teams change ends, as in football, at half time. It was quickly evident that the Otter men had but little chance. Their quarters were assailed, and only Bird's really skilful goal-keep-ing saved them on several occasions. Despite this players great smartness, J. L. Mayger succeeded in getting the ball between the posts twice before tho first part of the game came to an end. During the second portion the Otters played up determinedly, and once or twice appeared to have a chance of scoring ; but Burton continue! to show decided superiority, and in the end the visitors retired winners by three goals to none— a result which could have been expected.