ATHLETIC.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9790, 5 March 1910, Page 5

ATHLETIC.

AMATEUR. The New Zealand championship meeting at Auckland on Saturday was carried out under adverse conditions as regards weather, and when we are told that torrents of rain fell and the track was heavy, one wonders how such remarkable time was made in the two walks, in the three miles particularly. When the conditions are considered, one is not surprised to read that " there was a good deal of discussion regarding the fairness of Wilson's walking." Taking Mr R. Coombes' opinion as to the pace one can command under the rules as being that of one who really knows his subject, there are few who will be disposed to believe that the Australasian code of rules was observed by at least some of the competitors. The Wellington representatives, generally speaking, performed up to expectations, and won the shield by a substantial margin of points, which would have been considerably larger under the old system of scoring. The Canterbury representatives did about exactly what was anticipated, and Opie is to be congratulated on his three seconds. It is a bit unlucky for this young athlete that he should, at the outset of his career, be called upon to face such an exceptional sprinter as Woodger has proved to be. In ordinary years Opie would have been capable of winning a championship, and inferior men to him have succeeded in placing their names on the roll of honour. Harding, of Napier, registered two good performances by winning the 440 yds and the half-mile, and in each case had very strong opposition, as both Wilton (holder of the 440 yds championship) and Wilson had been showing splendid form recently, particularly the latter over half a mile.

The mail vote taken by the A.A.U. of Australasia, at the request of Tasmania, on the question that the Australasian cross-country championship should be held over a five or ten miles course, at the option of the State or dominion holding it, resulted in the proposal being carried by three votes to tvyo. Now Zealand, Victoria and Tasmania voted in favour, and New South Wales, and Queensland against. The rule which laid it down that the distance should be five miles has therefore been altered.

Referring to the Victorian representatives for the Hobart Carnival. " Harrier," of the " Australasian," had the following about A. D. Ellis, who recently put up an Australian record of 31 3-ssec for 300 yds:—l am given to believe that A. D. Ellis is a certainty, and, furthermore, that he intends to try all events up to half a mile. After the way he ran the quarter in Brisbane last August—finishing a sound third, to Barker and "Wheatley—it would be absurd to say that half a mile is beyond him. L. E. Myers was a fine sprinter, and could run any distance almost. He was an exceptional production, no doubt, but in the present time we have professionals like J. Donaldson, B. R. Day, A. B. Postle and others racing from 75yds to 600 or 800 yds, and ISigel Barker—though he never won a half-mile Australasian championship—was the best man in his own State at the distance. So Ellis may well be able to run a good halfmile. The main objection is the attempt to do so much in two days' racing. If he avoids heats in the*22oyds and quarter, he may be able to do himself justice, but ho looked a bit fine for ti.o ta-sk the last time I saw him. Melvin \V. Sheppard, the celebrated American distance runner, has been suspended by the American Athletic Union of the United States, pending investigation of charges preferred by the Military Athletic League oi J-mk-delphia. The complaint is that Sheppard demanded and received £5 expenses for competing in the Quaker City recently when a reasonable amount would have been a quarter of that sum. It will be remembered that he successfully represented the United States at the Olympic Games in London in 1908. Of the prominent athletes then competing from America the following have since become professionals: —John J. Hayes. Harry Hilhnan, Lawson Robertson, Cartmell and Horr.

Mr J. F. Wachsmann's departure for Hawke's Bay, where he has purchased a grazing run, will- remove from Canterbury one who for the past thirty years has been intimately connected with amateur athletics in this province.

Mr Wachsmann started his athletic career in Canterbury in 1876, when.he competed at meetings organised, by the Popular Amusements' Association, .'and held in Latimer Square, and gained some prominence as a long-distance runner. Among his contemporary athletes were Davis, Monk, Davey and Anderson, names well-known at that time, and still remembered by tne older generation of sportsmen. Mr Wachs-, mann was successful in winning- the:/ Two-mile Championship of Canterbury' from Monk and Davis. As.soon as the; Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club was .formed, in the same year, Mr; Wachs-. Mann said a long farewell to professional sport, and thenceforward competed as an amateur. The club heldi its meetings on that part of Hagley Park now occupied by the cricket clubs'" grounds. Among those who competed at these meetings were W. ToswiU, H. M'Ardle, Fowler and A. H. Andersop.. Mr Wachsmann had a fairly' successful' career as an amateur runner, and when he retired from the track he took up hammer-throwing and weight-putting. He was also a keen footballer, 1 and; represented Canterbury against. Ne'jf South Wales and Otago in 1883., Since" his retirement from active participation in athletic sport, Mr Wachsmann- has continued to take a great interest in it. He acted as vice-president of'the Pioneer Amateur Athletic Club and oi the Christchurcli Sports Club. Chat* ting with a " Canterbury Times'', representative recently Mr Wachsmann said that though athletic sport was not at present flourishing in Canterbury, he expected great things from the re-cently-revived Canterbury . Am.ateui Athletic Club, which by means of smalj subscriptions and other inducement was gaming as members the lads."Whc were just leaving school. The-institu-tion of the Public Schools.sports, top; he considered, would soon bear gooc fruit, as it gave many boys taste for athletics, which would. cling to them in their later years. . - Two champions arrived; iB New York late in December. They wer«. Thuro Johanson and Gusta Ljunstronv" Both are at the present tiino amateurs, but it is said they will probably tiirr professionals shortly and race under th« management of Ernest Hjertberg.Jo-. hanson is good from fifteen miles to''.ih£ Marathon distance. He is a big. tall, slim lad, with blond hair and a i .toss complexion. Johanson is a ,-vegetariar —has not eaten a piece of meat in three years. He has walloped 7 " every* thing m sight in the amateur. rank's and has upset some of John Svanberg'J amateur records. On May 20.last, a< Stockholm, Johanson ran 17 miles 54< metres in 1 hour 36min 2osec. Th< next day he turned 25 miles in 2 hour; 36min. On August 31 he won the. annual Stockholm Marathon, in the greai time of 2 hours 40min 34sec. Their, a" Goteberg, on September 6. Johansor; raced 25 miles 25 metres in> 2; hours $1 min 12sec. Gusta Ljunstrom is ibii present cross-country champion of Sw'e.;; den. He stands about sft '6in, arid "«r sturdily built. Ljunstrom has run !67 miies 346 metres in 32min ss.ee, and %t>!, miles in 53min 29sec. . ... , cash. ■■; ':'■'' The Hawke's Bay correspondent o] this paper writes:—-Hawke's Bay hai; had rather a surfeit of athletics during the last three weeks, and some .very fine performances have been registered at the various meetings. At Takapau ..'. on February 9, A. Campbell, .tjrop' 14yds behind scratch, won the,.mile, it 4mm 27 3-ssec, and the .440 yds Handil cap in 49 4-osec off the 22yds"mark,; The Half-mile was won in lmih., ! and the 220 yds in 21 3-ssec, thqugh. it. each instance the winners had fairly long starts. At Napier,, on February 16, though the track was very ,deac, from the rain which fell in;the."in6ri*, ing, the mile cut out in 4min24'sec, th«, 220 yds hi £1 2-ssec, and '• the 120 yds' it 11 3-osec, though in each instance'the's* times were from limit starts!.' R/D Chalmers, the Dunedin ruhner, scoree! in the Quarter, and Half in 49 and lmin 59 4-ssec respectively, Having 20yds in each race. From the »■ 4<W'fli; mark he ako ran second in tne Campbell, from scratch, put up a gob*, performance in the Mile, in which hi, ran third in 4min 24sec. Had hfi rim ii. out he would have got inside 4mih2sseji for the full distance, which' is a capii; tai performance, considering,, the stati', of the.track. At Hastings, ofn-Febriv' ary 23, fast times were the order of * r thi. day. Certainly the 'Oornwall'-'Parll., ground is the best running. trabk/'.I know of in the dominion.- It,-is-lik« running on velvet, and has the,mosl, springy turf I have ever run 0h..; Thi( is, of course, of particular, advahtage'll the long distances, and jDerhaps., acgounts for some times, ■ which almost too good to be true. Chalmeift, is credited : with winning, the Halfymik from 14yds in lmin 55sec. _ As v I-thinV the track quite 2sec faster for the hall than was the Recreation Ground '.' at Napier a week earlier, and "-as on thiat occasion Chalmers- seemed" Co" • haV« something in hand, it may be.that Ik did the time credited to him- v or - something near it, and if he -diet,.-W-., ¥., Trembath, of Gore, won't have, inucl, time to look round if ever 'he meeti Chalmers in a half-mile race. Another good run at Hastings was W. C Woddger's win in the 120 yds Sheffield; Ha% dicap, in which he ran.from, the. 3yds mark in 11 3-ssec. This makes Woodger out to be lyd better than'an'eve'ntimer for the 120 yds, which is good going. The 440 yds and 220 yds were wins in 48 3-osec and 21 2-ssec respectively, but in each case the winner had a ~b'ij. start. The Mile was clocked at 4mii 20sec, and this was too fast for th« back-markers, who made up scarcely any leeway in the first half ,of' tb< journey, and seeing the hopelessness'pi trying to make up nearly 100 yds in th«. last lap, they retired. The times show that scratch men at present tim« would have to be world-beaters to: win over most of the distances. In th« sprints, W. C. Woodger is probably jus! about a yard or so better than hit brother, the crack amateur, over th« 120 yds distance, but there is no doubt about them being a pair of clinkinj. god sprinters. , At a meeting in South Africa earlj; in January J. Donaldson (Victoria), who recently beat A. B. Postle ovef a hundred yards, covered 120 yards is 11 l-sseo, beating his own • record : oi lljsec, made in October. C. W. Gardiner, the English pro?, fessional Marathon runner, is' shortly to try conclusions with the ex-ama-teur South African crack,. Heffernon. As these men are two of .the best .'-in the world at distances oveV fifteen miles, record time should be establish* ed. Heffernou, it will be remember-, ed, was considered by many of the verj best judges of running to have been the most unlucky candidate in.-the great Marathon race from Windsor'to the Stadium in 1908. He led Dorando by 2min 47sec at the twenty-two miles, post; but a few miles further on he accepted an offer of some .champagne from a bystander, and collapsed near, the prison at Wormwood Scrubbs. Ha' pluckilv pulled himself together ,and finished third.

"When the last mail left South Africa the prospects of a match between Hoi' way and Donaldson did not look too bright. The runners and their backers met. One paper of January 8 had the following in its account of the nieetino-:—"'(.'. E. Hohvay, the world's sprint champion, met Jack Donaldson, the ' Blue Streak,' in this office yesterday afternoon to discuss terms for. a match. The famous runners'were ac; companied by their respective managers Messrs'H. Duegan and .E. S. TerVv, whilst F. 0. Davies, the world's half-mile champion, and a number oi local sportsmen, were also present. . A long and somewhat acrimonious disctis-. sion ensued, and at times it seemed, as if a twentv-two feet ring would be more suited to decide the question of supremacy than a cinder path. After an hour's discussion the meeting ended as it began, as neither side would give way." The trouble arose over who should, control the match. Donaldson insisted,.on it taking place at the Johannesburg Stadium, under the management of Mr Rufe Naylor, but Holway's manage* wanted an opportunity of r.oming'in.to