ATHLETIC.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10092, 4 March 1911, Page 5

ATHLETIC.

amateur:

At the last meeting of the Otago Centre "of the N.Z.A.A.A. a letter was received, from the Canterbury Centre asking that conference business, if any, be forwarded. So far the Otago Centre has not done so. I would commend (says "Amateur") the following for immediate attention: —Profit and loss in regard to Australasian championships. The New Zealand A.A.A. states that the whole profit or loss to be on account of the council. If the N.Z.A.A.A. delegates all, or any, of its duties or powers to any Centre, it would only be fair and reasonable for the Centre to share quarter profit or loss. Should the meeting be a success financially, to the Centre carrying out the duties on behalf of the council a quarter share of profit would help to compensate the Centre for its efforts. The A.A'.U. of Australasia receives 10 per cent when the net profits exceed £IOO. When the ' championships were held in Hobart in 1908 the'Tasmanian Amateur Athletic Association pooled the profits amongst the Hobart clubs. The revised rules of the N.Z.A.A.A!, too, might well come up for consideration. If the Otago Centre finds that further alterations are required, this could be submitted to the conference to deal with. _ .1 Amateur athletics have made great advance throughout Southland during the past year, and practically every athletic body has included amateur events on the programme. To start the season there was the annual fixture at Riverton, while.there were events at Invercargill (Labour Day sports) the same day. Then followed Orepuki, Riverton' Southland Caledonian, Winton and Waiau Societies, while throughout there have been evening meetings ' at Riverton, Otautau and Thornbury. Last Wednesday the Otautau Club held five events, on Friday an evening meeting was held' at Riverton, then there are to come:—A motor and cycle gymkhana on March 1, all the track events being for amateurs; Southland championships; Irish Athletic Society, and another meeting held by the Otautau Club. It will not be for the Avant of opportunity for com : petition that the Southlanders have to complain, if they have any. complaints at all. I am sure that not anywhere in New Zealand are amateur athletes being so well catered for as they are in Southland at the present time. The Otautau Club is leaving no stone unturned as far as doing its utmost to , bring off a successful Southland championship meeting is concerned. Upie and Dickson, of Canterbury, have been communicated with, and, although both at one time stated their ability to attend, both have now had to cry off owing to the serious loss of time involved., It is a pity,, for the pair would have been a great drawing card. However, it is expected that the negotiations now in progress will result in " stars " of almost equal magnitude appearing at the meeting. If the energy and enthusiasm of the Otautau Club counts for the meeting will be an unqualified success. The enthusiasm of these Southlanders is boundless. An evening meeting was held at Thornbury on February 18, and the events were held in a paddock adjoining the railway station, in which a track had been measured out. Separate tracks were laid out for the sprints and hurdles, while a circular track was roped off for the 220 yds and half-mile. The, Otautau and Riverton men were present in force, but the meeting' was particularly noteworthy for the running of a number of the local boys, good 'talent also being unearthed in the field events. The 75yds drew a very large entry, but five heats, first qualifyiug, soon brought the final round. This w,as won by the popular organiser of the meeting, E. Orr, syds, from G. P. Keddell, scr., by 2£yds. Orr is said to have improved wonderfully. He has plenty of pace, and held Keddell over the last yards of the journey. ' His only fault is the lack of starting knowledge. The 220 yds was a good race to watch from the viewpoint of a but fell far below the idea of a competitor's ideal for a 220 yds. The field was too large in the first place, sixteen starting, and the turns on the track.were very fast,, consequently the limit men had the race to themselves, L. Jurds, a maiden performer, 20yds, dead-heating with E. M'lntyre, 15yds. Both ran exceedingly well. Gilfedder (Invercargill), after making the pace, finished third, handicap 15yds, E. S. Gillies and M'Kay (third in half-mile) were other Invercargill competitors. The half-mile drew about a dozen and a half competitors, of whom Jurds, on 60yds, was the winner by some half-dozen yards from W. L. Bailey (10yds), M'Kay (45yds) third, T. R. Robertson (scr) fourth, and C. E. Robertson (10yds) fifth. These were the only ones to finish. Bailey is running well at present, and is evidently too good for Robertson over this distance. The high jump drew eight competitors. G. Giller, a jumper of the heavy type, with a taking straight-on jump, took the position of honour, clearing 4ft lOin, which, with a liberal handicap of Bin, was a performance outside the effort of the scratch man, C. E. Robertson, who only got over 4ft llin. Eggleton was second with a handicap of Bin and a jump of 4ft B£in. The programme concluded with a 161b shot-putting com-' petition, conducted in the dark, with great-risk to the spectators, with the aid of lamps. G. Giller won with a putt of 32ft 2£in, 'and should prove a find for the Otautau Club,

What a line lot of enthusiasts must be in charge of affairs down there!. And how unfavourably do our local clubs and officials compare with them. No finer tribute could be given to the energy and whole-heartedness of the southerners than the fact that they actually held' a meeting; in an ordinary paddock. And what's more, they got a rattling good attendance and many—indeed in some cases too many—competitors. Such enthusiasm deserves to be rewarded. Her© we have the type of official necessary to the good health of athletics, one who is brimful of business combined with a love of the sport. One who is able to infect others with the same spirit of enthusiasm and one who is not afraid to do more than merely sit in a chair perhaps once a month, to justify his position on an athletic body. What a feeble folk our local officials are by contrast! Here we have acres and acres-of good free land available for meetings, and advantage is not taken of the fact, while the enthusiasm of our less-favoured neighbours is so great that they will use a paddock! Many of our local officials, who seem to think their work begins and ends ] with sitting in a. could) well be,

replaced by young and energetic men of the calibre of the Southlanders. Many, 1 say advisedly, because there are one or two local officials who are really honest in their work and try to help tilings along, but they are in the minority and cannot he expected to do everything singlehanded.

What about Southland for the next New Zealand championships ? is • a frequent (question at evening meetings recently (says a Southland writer). The question is one that should be seriously gone into. There .is little reason •to .". doubt that Southland would meet with any opposition in their request to control the 1912 meeting. Wellington and Dunedin, the two centres with the best claims, are both bringing every atom-..'-, of strength to bear on their efforts to / control the forthcoming Australasian championships, and in the meantime, the 1912 New Zealand championship has sunk into oblivion in the minds of:.-:; both. As far as I can see there can be no objection to the championships .being given to Southland, although Wellington may object, i There is no doubt they would be just as successful down there as anywhere else] G. P. Keddell was one of those athletes written to with regard to being chosen as a representative in the Festival of Empire team, but owing /to business arrangements he was unable to accept., ' . >';..,-#■ At the annual meeting of the Hawke's Bay - Caledonian Society lasV Wednesday, W. G. .Harding made an " attempt, m a 440 yds handicap, to r lower L. B. Webster's New Zealand amateur record of 50 2-ssec. Harding - was second in the race, and faildd ta do better than 51 2-ssec. A generous action was rjerfflrmed'by the Auckland Amateur "Athletic ah<f 4 Cycling Club last week, when, in re< 8 ? 01 l s f to a lefcter received from th« •Auckland Citizens' League in -refer*'" ence to the loss sustained by. the suf- i lerers m the recent Ponsonby fire/the ' Meeting unanimously decided to offer half the profits from . the carnival which was held at the Domain Cricket ~ > Ground on Saturday, to the Ponsonby lire Disaster Committee. "~ ' •Charges were made in* Auckland recently that certain " amateur" runners were visiting the country meet-, ings and competing at professional gatherings under assumed names. ' This"" came as a surprise to the authorities, and in a conversation with a reporter, Mr F...J. Ohlsen, chairman of the Auckland Centre, and president of the - ; Auckland Amateur Athletic Club, said . that the charge had caused the officiate some concern. Unfortunately, how- ■ ever, only charges of a vague nature had been made, and there was nothing, ■.indefinite for them to act on. They" would welcome definite information, and would esteem it a great favour if ' anyone with a knowledge of:such occurrences would come forward andgive evidence that would lead to the charges being substantiated. The committee were determined, continued Mi Ohlson, to deal very severely with •such cases, and if they could drop on ? any offenders it would go pretty hard / with them. The matter was, however. very difficult to deal with, for if run- ■*'• ners did comnete it was under assumed-* names, and they took pretty good care'?S to cover up their tracks, so that un--/ less they were personally known to?.'-"-someone who was prepared to give dence it was hard to see how thev could be detected.- i CASH. O. E. Holway has accepted terms foi a race with J. Donaldson, over 130yd5;... the race 1 to be decided in Australia it '/? April. : -"- Holway may be a competitor at th< ''■* Irish Athletic Society's sports at In<// vercargill on March 15, where A. Camp, 3 ! bell and W. F. Tremhath will be almost r certain starters. The secretary of the Dunedin Licens- / ed Victuallers' Association has handed to the "Otago Witness" a letter hj»/: has received from Mr C, E. Holwayytha ■'■■• champion sprinter, repudiating the con- /' struction that has been placed upon a'? conversation he had in; Dunedin with ■;* the secretary of the no-licehse organisa- ' tion in that city. Mr Holway writes i : / " I wish you would see that the follow- fr ing is published in Dunedin, papers. Ir('\ conversation with a Mir Nicholls, who", called at the Excelsior Hotel, where J, ' was staying during my visit to Dua« edin, I believe I did say I never dranJc a whisky or brandy, and such like. WeU, * that's my business, and if anyone wants" to drink them that's their business. I : never said I was a teetotaller, neither / am I. Ido take a few glasses of ale '"■• and stout and beer a week, both while : I am training and while I am not train- " v ing. I believe it does a,, man good. It ' is certainly better than drinking . a ; whole lot of water, in my estimation. :■'• In fact, I have proved it to he so in my case at least. What I said to Mr Nicholls was not for publication, and 1 consider he took a great liberty when he published what he did. Anothei - must have misunderstood me; v The reason why I am writing this is ta-" let the people of New Zealand with whom I have had drinks know that I ...* am no hypocrite." Holway was previ- ■ ously credited with saying that "train- ' ing upon total abstinence principles was .''. not making much progress in Great Bri- " tain, as would be expected from its •.* marked superiority. In the United ; States practically no athlete took alcoholic drink, especially during his train-., ing 'period. The old-fashioned trainers in England, however, while they avoid- t ed spirits, gave the men beer and stout,,/ and often taught them .to drink, rer- * sonally, he never liked alcoholia / drinks, and so never used them;' bui f now, after experiencing the benefits oi / living and training on total abstinence . principles, he would not touch drink - even if he did happen to like it. Every- . body knew, or ought to know, the dangers of using alcoholic liquors. 'I am ■ sure,' Mr Holway concluded, ' that' / everyone knows in his own heart that/; he would be a sreat deal better if ,hd. •- never touched them.'"

■-A challenge is out on behalf of Don-. aldson to give R. E. Walker three" '. yards in 130. Thus E. R. Terry m the '■:). course of a letter to the "Natal Ad-,;, vertiser":—"To prove thai I want to take no advantage in regard to Walker's condition, I will extend the .• time until Christmas next, s so as to. ; ". give Walker no room to say that he \l will not have sufficient time to recovtg" from his fall, and I will deposit £2OO i now and back Donaldson to give I Walker three yards in 130 at Durban. ■ next Boxing Day, fonfr£soQ a side, and v if the' Walker party will not accept i these conditions the only thing I can say is that they consider the ' Blue Streak' Walker's master." V . s An agreement for a ten-mile run- : i ning match between J. Fitzgerald, ' Canada, and L. J. Ornstein, Auckland, ■■■ was signed last week. The conditions'.."; stipulate that the match shall be run on March 11 for a stake of £25. ~.;, The New South Wales Professional:,.. Sporting Federation is the newest body.--to propose putting life into itself, says"; the "Bulletin." The Federation vnll' take beneath its wing the League of - Wheelmen, Athletic League, Swimming - League, billiardists and the New South >' Wales Rugby League—although there,--;'. is a yelp that the Rugby League may;- : ; stay in the cold because " it is not a professional body." The growth 0f..;. piofes3ionalism has of late bean sa huge that the proposed Federation js the sensible step to get professionalism out of the gutter, and it deserves sup-' port. Fitzgerald, the Canadian champion, - made his first appearance in New Zealand at Auckland on the evening of February 20, under the auspices ol the'-* Auckland Athletic Club. An exhibi- ; tion race was run, Fitzgerald's opponent being Barnes, of Auckland. Theevent was run over a 220 yds course, eight laps to the mile. Barnes made ; the pace for three-parts of the journey, when Fizgerald spurted, and though ;'. Barnes battled it out gamely, he could ' not get on terms again, Fitagerald win-, '• rang by live yards. No time was ; taken. • L. J. Ornstein, off scratch,, ; easily won the five-mile handicap in. 28niin 53sec. Fitagerald did' not start.!: ~