CASH ATHLETICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8912, 25 April 1907, Page 4

CASH ATHLETICS.

(Dy -MERCURY.") Frank Foidc'e performance at I"J«r---car^ill recently, in fiemimg the lb!b shot a distance ol : 50ft lin. has now been classed by " Onlooker " in tho " Southland Daily News'' as a tnrov/ pure and. simple, thus clearing up the point 1 raked a week or two aw as to whether it was a genuine "put' or not. "Onlooker," however, aftor fid-mitt-ing his excusable error in classing Forde's performance along with the world's bests for putting the shot, takes up a new line of argument as follows. He says :—"' Mercury ' cannot find any record of a 161 b 'throw' performance, and that is juet where j Forde's feat comes in as a world's record. Surely if standard works aresilent O'li the subject the humblest intelligence, must accept the South lander's 50ft lin as a world's best. Tims Forde'fi friends «and admirere are perfectly entitled to claim for him yet another woild's best in the .meantime. Frank Forde, who is one of the meet modest of athletes, does not make any unbecoming claim in this resneet, but, as is only natural, feeL; seine curiosity in. the matter, and would be interested to learn if the effort has been equalled or surpassed. 'Mercury,' it will bo noted, remarks :— ' 1 did not see Frank Forde's performance, but judging by his style in Ohiirtchurch I am inclined to the opinion that he threw the weight at Invercargill.' What the ' Cancerbury Times' writer means by this statement can only bear the construction, that he considers Forde decs riot 'put' with requisite fairness, as judged from his winning throw in putting the. ball (Scotch style), 161 b, in the New Zealand championship at the Exhibition sports. Should this be the meaning he intends to convey it will Only be necessary for the beneiit of iollowevs of field games to mention that in the contest in question Forde's style was confirmed by Mr R. (' Kiltie ') Smith, than whom there is no keener judge in New Zealand, to set their fears as conjured up by 'Mercury' at rest. The number of times that Fordo has 'put,' and they are many, under skilled judges, without once being questioned, is the best available answer to such contention. Friend ' Mercury ' may have been misled in Christchurch by an attempted joke at th-e expense of Mr Smith. After Frank Forde lir.d led his opponents' with eti.ll a ' put ' to go to him as last roan on one cccEt-ion, it was noticed that Mr Smith had turned his back to the competitor to converse with eom-e friends. Fordo wag j urged by several bystanders to again to© the mark and ' throw ' with the j object of astonishing Smith, of Fahiatua. Th^e the champion assented lo with a simile, and the result Mas a mighty effort that dropped the weight far pa&t the marked ' puts ' and immediately Behind- the faced-about official. The writer will not- soon forget the look on Mr Smith's face as he wheeled sharply round on hearing the thud of the ball, and. a 6 his glance swept the scene he rapped out: ' Nae ! nae! Forde, you "threw."' The laugh , was on the side of the minority. Perchance ' Mercury ' foa-med his idea of the southerner's style from the 'throw' as chronicled."

At the outset I think that a throw of 50f fc lin is a most exceptional performance, and as there axe no available data to compare with Forde's effort for the 161 b shot, it will be interesting to quote the world's beet "throws" with the 141 b and 281 b implements, and thus leave my readers to judge of Forde's effort for themselves. The best American record throw with the 141 b shot is 58ft 2in, held by J. S. Mitchell, but this is eclipsed by D. Horgan, the Irish champion, who holds the workFfl record with a throw of 63ft 4gin, while John Flanagan, of NewYork, holds the top figures with the 281 b shot, which he threw a distance of 34ft OJin. " Onlooker's " contention that because no previous throw of the 161 b shot ha 6 been placed 'on record Forde's performance must be claimed as the world's best is begging the question. No performance can be claimed