ATHLETICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19847, 16 January 1920, Page 2

ATHLETICS.

ODDS iD ENDS OF SPORT.

notes from all QUARTERS.

(By QUIDNUNC),

SWIMMING.

r lhe New Zealand championships will bo held at Auckland, commencing on February 11 and concluding on February _2O. Hie events will include senior, junior, intermediate and ladies’ championships, the AAigram shield life sav mg competition, and the New Zealand surf race competition. Barren Keaioba, a lad of sixteen, is ■Honolulu’.sjatcst wonder swimmer (says the Now York " Sun.”) Details of his performances in the recent annual vater carnival of the Hawaiian A.A.P. lurnish convincing evidence that ho is the greatest all-round swimmer his age ever developed. He made exceptiomdtimes at the meet in the 100, HO and bSC-yard tree style events, placing in each, and lie. won the ICOyd hack stroke swim in Imin S J-osec, equalling the world’s ictord for a. straightaway course and defeating the ' holder, Harold Kruger, considered the. foremost exponent of this stylo of Halation m tlie field. Only the peerless Norman Boss was able to take bis measure in Hie 440 yd race, mid the latter was orecd to swim the fastest free stvie hundred of Ids career, in 54 4-ssec,'to lend him home by a narrow margin at this distance. One of the most remarkable, lea hires of Ke.'iloha's brilliant success is the swiftness of bis rise to fame hast winter he was totally unknown. He did not start racing until the sprmg, so he has had only about six mouths of experience in conmetition -Now lie ranks among the world' leaders Mitii an international record to his credit.

ATHLETIC. Sergeant J. Lindsay, who was unable to compete at tho New Zealand Championi'hipa through being ordered to England, is held up temporarily in Wellington, and has informed the New Zealand Association that he will represent the Dominion in the Australasian Championships on January 31., if ms services are required. Ihe New Zealand Championships will he decided to-morrow at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, and at their conclusion the New Zealand team for the Australasian Championships will he selected.

Norway has a new athletic wonder, Helgo Loveland, who, among other sensational performances in Scandinavia of late, is credited with having unproved on the Olympic Pentathlon re” cord made by'the American, J. Thorpe when ho-won the event at Stockholm seven years ago. On the point score oasis recognised in international competition Loveland in the last Norwegian .Pentathlon championship totalled 4103 points, or 145 more than Thorpe scored in IJI2. A comparison of the performances shows that Thorpe was hotter in three of the five events that are included in tlics Pentathlon programme, hut Loveland was far superior in the other two. In the javelin throw the Aorweginn showed a mark of 180ft10m, as against- Thorpe's loHft ‘-in, and in the discus throw the diferenee is also marked in Loveland’s hivoiu, 127 ft Sin to 116 ft Sin. The American covered 23ft 2 7-1 Oin in the hroaci innip. while the Norwegian’s jump ™ OT P C wa » To faster in the 200 metre dash. 22 9-10soc to 23 I-lOsec, and in tho 15G0 metre run, 4nnn 44 8-10 sec to 4min 53 4,lshcc. The Norwegians (says the “New York Herald _) will m all probability he the P ?,V C fn ))om | ; K . corcrs in the‘Olympic Ic.itathlon a, Antwem next August or in addition to Loveland, thev have t- J«- Bie who finished second to Jhorpc in the Stockholm games in 1912 and who lias since won several Non jveg.an chiunpumsliips, nnd John Helum uho it- will he remembered came to this country several years ago, won the American Fentathlou title and was -second to Avery Bnmdage in the no tumid all around title tournament. When the war was in progress and J Z/Tf + mnnhood lvas undergoing ‘Physical tests as to fitness, the fre qnency of rejection first earned anvire which finally almost grew to aiaim as the percentage of rejects con stantly mounted. It was the common view that tjiis state of things was altogctlici urong in a young country free com the. causes which, in older‘conntries, made tor weaklings nnd degenerates, and the Necessity -for national supervision of the physical training of both sides was publicly advocated, bmce the cessation of hostilities nothing further has been hoard in tin's direction except from tho platform views of candidates seeking parliamentary honours. It is to he. hoped, however, that the matter will receive, the attention its importance demands hv the ■new _ Parliament. The experience m New Zealand with respect to rejections owing 'to physical defects was by no means confined to New Zealand. It was the rule everywhere in those countries which, imposed a searching test, and in this connection the following comments on the need tor national supervision, which appeared in a recent issue of the Now York “Sun,’ arc of interest:—Wo may be just a wee hit ahead of the tnnes_ when wo shout from housetops that in tho course of a few more years, there will be a, director of physical education in the Cabinet of the President of the United States- There has been need lor such a Cabinet officer lor years. The lata unplcasantries with the Huns showed wherein this country was lacking. This idea of a national department of physical education is not a new one. A\o hoard James E. Sullivan talk about it ten years ugu. It was one of the things that Sullivan hoped to put over—and if he had lived von could have wagered your last cent that there would be such a department on the United States pay-rolls to-day. A department oi physical training is just as necessary as a. Department of Agriculture labour, Mines, etc. Red' blooded' tuns and girls cannot he developed at pink teas. They must he developed in theopen ’I he body must be developed at the same time as the brain. All children should receive the proper physical education to lit them for the work that is in trout ol them, and this phv. steal education ishonld ' he national, hence a. national department. The work of tho national department of physical work would in a. great measure he tor the schools and colleges, but there is no reason whatsoever that it shouldn’t—mid would bo—followed hv clubs and individuals. The national director -should he responsible for the building up of our citizenry—lor the better wo arc equipped to tight our way through life the happier 'will he our homes and families. Outdoor sports will take care of themselves in the long run because more people are taking to them all the time- With a national department to direct the work it w'ould be much easier and better. It is the sport—.like trapshooting and golf—that has no bleacher that is gaining so much these days. At a recent meeting of the Physical Research Society Dr T. A. Storey of the College of the City of New York and Stato Inspector of Physic,al Training had that body go on record as approving a nat ional of physical education. and, word was .sent to Congress and the President of the action of the body- It would be well for all organisations interested in the development of ilic United States to take the

same action as did the Physical Peso arch Society and keep the matter before Congress.

FOOTBALL. It was in a Lancashire village where football reigns supreme that two youngsters met on a Saturday afternoon. One of them wore a distracted and perplexed expression. “"Why, what's the matter wi ! Thee, Bill?” asked the other. “Aw’m puzzled, ’Airy.” "How’s that, Bill?” “Well, you see my father’s in ta futhall team, and when ta team wins he gi’cs me tuppence to spend; when they loses he finds something to give me a thrashin ! for.” “Eh! but what's thee puzzled about, lad?” Well, you see, ta match ended in a draw !*’

BOXING. A conference of associations affiliated to the Now Zealand Boxing Council will open on Monday at "Wellington. Barney Ireland, who is now a veteran at the game, and who was well beaten in Wellington by Hconev in nine rounds, is to have another go at the Gisborne man next month, the newly formed AVaipara Association having arranged the match. Ireland lately has been acting as sparring partner for Bren, and constant practice with the skilful Australian may have enabled him to got hade to old time form. ]f so he should make things very interesting for Hoenoy. Uren and Clahby will be able to return home and boast of having had an experience which falls to the lot of but few of the many strangers who visit these shores. On January 7 tlicv were entertained by the Maoris at AVaima. rama. and each has been the recipient of a Maori mat as a souvenir of his visit to the locality.

T!io actual receipts of the I.'rcnClahhv contest at Hastings amounted to £IOOO Ms 6d. The net profit is expected to be in the vicinity of £3OO. 25 per cent of which will be donated to the Hastings Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Fund.

The following cable message appears in Australian papers:—Beckett has emerged from his temporary rustication refreshed, and credited with the keenest determination to regain his pugilistic, status. Beckett now acts ns his own manager. He proposes a series of matches beginning with Dick Smith, and later meetings with Bombardier Wells and Frank Goddard. Beckett’s most eager desire is a return contest with Carpentier- The Englishman insists that his recent defeat was only n mishap. The boxing expert of “‘The Weekly Dispatch ” believes that Frank Goddard’s rapid improvement soon will justify a challenge on his behalf to Carpentier for the championship of Europe. The following extract from the Sydney “Referee” deals with a. matter which is of importance to nromoting bodies in New Zealand;—Mr E. H. Hunter, of Broome (W.A.). wired me on Saturday last: “ Curley Cutting and Albert Saunders arranged a boxing contest for a side stake of £ls each, deposited with the proprietor of the Stadium. It was arranged that the winner was to get 75 per cent of the house and the loser 25 per cent. After the fight had lasted a minute and a half, Cutting went down. The referee declared it no tight, and declared all bets off, announcing that the fight was a fake. The owner of the Stadium proposes returning the £ls each. and. giving the gate (£BS the boxers’ proportion) to local charities. Can this he done without fear of legal actions?” I (W. F- Corbett) wired in reply. “ Ygs. It has been done several times.” The referee’s ruling is sufficient, and would he considered so in a court T law. He is in the same .position as any sporting umnire, referee or judge. In the case Jeff Smith v. Stadiums Ltd., the referee’s declaration that Smith deliberately fouled Darcy was held by the Court to he good. A recent bout in Melbourne, between George Mendies, of Sydney, the flyweight champion of Australia, and Jimmv Donald, of Melbourne, ended in Mendies being counted out- in the seventh round- Immediately following the count out the referee announced that in his opinion Mendies had not been knocked out, and he. therefore, declared the bout “ no contest.”

Here wc have, two oases in which, in the opinion of two experts, in cadi cuso one of the competitors was a nontrier, in other words had gone into the ring with tho full intention of losing. This class of offence is one of the worst that boxing promoters have to deal with nnd those found guilty should he drastically dealt with. The recent formation of boards of control in England and America will have a steadying effect upon those inclined to stray into this particular line of wrong-doing, hut apparently there is no checking power in existence in Australia, and until there is we can expect to hear at intervals similar occurrences to those reported above. Air Tom Andrews, the American journalist and boxing promoter, who is at present in Sydney, has something ol consequence to say with regard lo big purses:—ftso nnds great, to have a lighter drawing £20,000 or more for a few rounds, but whether it does tho boxing game any good or not is another question. It often leaves a had taste in the mouths of the boxing fans. There- is plenty of publicity given an affair of that kind, but not always ot the best. Reports from London say that Air Charles Cochrane has offered £50.000 for the proposed Dompsey-Car-pentier title match, nnd that n French syndicate offers £IOO,OOO. Tho best from America is £40.000, a record for anything of that kind, and too high by tar. It is high time that a stop was put to such enormous purses. Thev do the boxing game no good. The public pays every time, and it has no guarantee that it will ‘- got a run for its money.-’ That was demonstrated in tho Carpcnticr-Beckett match, which lasted ton seconds oyer one minute. It is time that boxing boards 'Passed rules limiting the price of tickets for such matches.

WORLD’S CHAMPIONSHIP.

PROAIOTERS’ BIDS. LONDON, J a nuarv 4. Georges Carpentier, the French champion boxer, is preparing in characteristic fashion to meet Jack Dempsey Jor the championship of the world. Kinema records of the Dcmpsey-YViL lard contest have been shown privately in Baris, 'these enabled Carpentier to make a minute study of Dempsey’s formidable style. The picture ‘reveals Millards mistakes with uncommon clearness, and the knowledge tho Frenchman has gained will bo of service to him.

J-OS. ANGELES, January o. Jack Kearns, manager for' - Jack Dempsey, the champion boxer of the world, has accepted an offer by, Mr E Coffroth, the American promoter M 400,000 dollars (£80,000), for a fortyfive rounds contest with Georges CaVpentier, the French champion'Vt Tie. Juana, Lower California (Mexican’ tern ntory).

. VANCOUVER, January 5. Sporting writers in America, are eudeawdunng to interpret the acceptance by Dempsey’s manager of Mr Coft'roth’s A 0 1" a contest with Carpentier a r lia Juana.

It appears that Jack Kearns’s acceptance of the offer doos not necessarily guarantee that the light will take ,v’°£ 110 to ' Vn JUfttnionecl, for Mr , • Cecil ran, the London promoter has Carpentier tied up with his si»m----t u re. “■ ’

Kearns says that lie is willing ■piit Mr ' Cnffruth’s offer so 'lbai

£(30,000 "will go to the winner and £20,000 to the loser, hut he demands the moving picture privileges for himself. This probably will not be acceptable to Carpcntier. CHICAGO, January 5. Mr C. E. Cochran, the London boxing promoter, who is here, declined to discuss Mr Coffroth’s proposal for a Demp-cy-Carpentier match until his representative, wlu) is now on his way to Los Angeles, had seen Kearns and Dempsey. Later m the day Air Cochran said that lie had offered Dempsey a. guarantee of 200,000 dollars (£10,000) and a ten weeks’ theatrical engagement at £IOOO a week. He had already advanced Carpcntier £oooo, following the signBig of a contract.

Mr Cochran said that London was the logical place for the fight. “It is neutral ground, and we can ho assured that our investment is secure,” he added