AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5455, 6 January 1896, Page 4

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

THE AtJSTBALASIAN CHAMPION- f SHIPS. Committee of Management— The Councils of the NewEealand Amateur Athletic - Association and the New Zealand Cycling Alliance ; OEteferee, athletic -events— Mr F. Wilding; Eeferee, cycling events—Mr P. • 'Cooper j Judges of -Track and Field Events — Messrs -A. B. Wettenhall (Victoria), T. D? Condell, H. S. Batchelor, A. H. Anderson (Canterbury) and C A. Knapp (Wellington) ; Judges of Cycling— Messrs M. S. Brown, F.Denby and E. A, Eng- * land; Judges^of Walking— Messrs T, D. Condell, &.. E. G. Ehodes .and T. Kerr ; Timekeepers— Messrs A. Francis, A. Lowry and Br Jennings; Standard TimekeeperMr G. Joaea; Standard Judge— Mr C. E. JfCormack; "Starter, athletic— Mr E. E. Webb ; Starter, cycling— Mr K. F. England; MaEksman— Mr James Moir.; Clerks of the Gourse— Messrs J. B. Laurenson and F. J. Dunn; Eesult Board— Messrs H, . Frost, -T. A. Laurie iand .J\ I. Cowlishaw ; Scorers, cyling— Messrs C. A. Myhre, D. Sutherland and F. E. Chisnall; Press Steward— MrvW. J. Cotterill ; Hon. Secretary New Zealand' Amateur Athletic Association—Mr 1. A. Cuff; Hon. Secretary New '-Zealand Cyclists'^ Alliance— Mr J. C. ; Cusack. ■ . , ' The>wind on Saturday materially. affeoted the attendance on the second day of the championship meeting, and there were only <some ; 1600 people on the ground.: Despite this drawback,, however, the: sports were exceedingly Well carried ., out, j and -but for. the heavy .gale the meeting : ' would hare been a .success in every way.. The -New "Zealand representatives again; ' '. ' succeeded in carrying off: ;the majority of-' 1 'I Events, and fuU'y/justified its claim to the , position >of •*'. chanipion coloiiy." -New South .Wales easily "beat Victoria lor: * - second place, tut had the Association in. the latter-colony been able to send away its best team.itia.quiteprobable'thattheconfcest between- these two colonies would have been much. closer. The New Zealanders" are to be. congratulated upon their success ;- they superiority over the Australians in eleven- out of the fifteen events, and their performances, judging by the time standard, were on the whole muoh Iretter than those accomplished by the members of -.the New . South Wales and "Victorian teams * at the first Australasian meeting held in ' Melbourne in November, 1893. Tfce/programme on.Saturday opened •with, the 220 yds Flat Eace, and of the four left in the final, W. Cartwright (New South, Wales) proved the best. His double ,• t -victory stamps him as a really good runner \ ' over' a sprint course. In the Long Jump I tie competitors had to. take off against <the ££, -wind, and J. L/Eyati\performance of 20ft, ;i' y -Cinwas an, .exceedii;.:- 1 ;}/. good one. F. H. :<"£' S Creamer again asseivod his superiority in \%i-> < th ! c One-mile. Walk, and it, is safe to say jbr - * tluit a fairer or . faster amateur walker has $ seldom been seen. in the colony. He won. \ the event ; very easily iby fifty yards in 6min 58|sbc, beating the standard by 6|sec. The race for the Quarter-mile Hurdle '- Championship was not : so satisfactory as it probably would have been had there been \ n.o wind. .The winner certainly ran a ti -splendid race, and put'up good time con- % sidering the >ieavy gale, .but there can I >be Ho doubt that Boberts found the "" t elements greatly, against him. The . wind \ \ also, probably, affected the result of ' the Half-mile Eace. W.. A. Vliow, the ' Uew Zealand champion, did not seem to. -' - get into! his stride against the wind, and ' <soa -or two others ran -: below their true £» form. E. Corner (|Tew Spiith Wales), who $ J iron the eveiit,i ran 'iyith great game- .-. > Tiess, as ; \also '..'did '••■: o:, E. Clark, and the time-42min 44sec— was very good \ under the •' circuinstahces. A. W. Bell (Wellington) <won the 'Three-mile Mat Tery easily by one hundred and fifty yards, after having made the pace from the start, Hawthorne andDavies also ran well, butthey were not able to keep pace with Bell, while Bennett retired after running two miles. Onthe cycling events, as might have been expected, the gale produced disastrous effects. In the Mile Eace out of ten starters only three could ; keep at the fast pace set by Crow, arid a tough struggle -between Jones and Kerr for supremacy . gave the Sydney rider the honour <§*■ by >a wheel. The same number faced the ■ starter for the Twenty-five Mile Kace, i <but the blinding 'dust, the strong wind and the hot, suffocating atmosphere proved too much for all but, two of the competitors, and the win of Peterson and Crow under such exceptional circumstances ' was a splendid tribute to their powers of endurance. Several riders, after having been compelled to retire from the race, returned to the track .'and- paced their ; fellow-competitors. Their action in thus voluntarily facing the boisterous elements and assisting to relieve the monotony of a long race was most praiseworthy, and met with hearty recognition at the hands of the 1000 spectators who stopped to see the finish of the race. The following are details of the various events:— ' : 1 '' _220tds Fiat. ■ ■■. Standard, 22isec. World's amateur record: 215»ec, by B. J. Wefers, America; Australasian amateur record, 22Jsec, by W. T. Macpherson, New South Wales. '_- " ■ • FIRST HKAT. W. Cartwright, New South Wnles ... 1 1 E. A. Bobinaon.Cauterbury, New Zealand 2 _ . IL M. Beeves, Canterbury, New Zealand 3 : ; Ti. W. Barley. Canterbury, New Zealand, and B. Xi. Wingrove,' Victoria, nlso started. When the pistol went .off Harley had started, and- was two yards in front before the others left the mark. He increased his lead to fourvyards down the back- stretch; but at the bend into -the straight was passed by Eobinson . and Cartwright, and by Eeeves a little further on. Once fairly in the straight, Cartwright came -with a fine dash, and ; beat Eobinson by a yard. A foot separated and third. Time— 23-|sec. SECOND HEAT. . . A. J. Patrick, Wellington, New ; Zealand 1 G. A. Moir, Victoria... 2 0. Campbell, Queensland :,... . ;.. ..;'..- 3 W. Balch,- Canterbury, New Zealand, also started. ■■;>,' ' The Wellington man: ran> very wellj.-and ... _ . -held his opponents, safe all through, eventually winning by a yard. Moir beat Camp- ■'?' j ■ bell by a foot for- second place, Balch close up.' Time— 23sec. ..''■/ FINAL. HEAT. . „ W. Cartwright, New South . Wales ... v E. A. Eobinson, Canterbury, New Zealand , :.. ... 2 ; A. S. Patrick, Wellinjrfcon, New ,Zealand 3 G. A. Moir, Victoria, also started. ; . Patrick and Eobiason were .quickest off;

"What a funny little man you are.?"! -r "These were the now historic .words used! l>y Lord Alfred Douglas in reply to his! father, the Marquis of Qneensberry. Soj much was elicited by.the recent • sensational : trial of Oscar Wilde. Thersame .remarkable ■ ■words are found in ;that remarkable book, "The Green Carnation;" and in this case! .are used by Lord Reggie Hastings. Now, , it is rather an open question as to .whether "Lord Douglas quoted the words of the 1 ' .novelist, or whether the latter utilised the: ■reply made to the Marquis by his prodigal son. That the fathertfully deserved such an epithet is clearly shown by the fact that • he chose to make his owji cigarettes, when ; he could obtain Indian Chiefs at sixpence a : jpacket. .