AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 154, 24 March 1908, Page 4

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

WELCOME TO THE HEW ZEALAND , team. : . REPRESENTATION AT THE OLYMPIAN GAMES. • : Tlio -mombers of the team which represented New Zealand at; the recent Australasian Athletic Championships at Hobart, and the . manager, . Jlr. ,J. K. Green, of Christchurch, were entertained -last night by tho -mombers' of the Wellington Centro. : ' The Mayor'(Hon. T. W." Hislop) occupied tho chair, and among tho largo number in attendance were' the Hpn. G. Fowlds (Minister for Education), Messrs. Wilford, Fisher, and Izard, - M.P.'s, 'Colonel i Baauchop, C.M.G., officer in charge of;the Wellington Volunteer . district,*' arid, other leading patrons of tho, sport. ADDRESS BY THE MAYOR. After the usual loyal toast tho Chairman proposed'tho health of tho manager of the team, and tho members,- all of whom were present, with tho exception of Mr. H. .T. Cook, of Nelson,.,who;is sponding a holiday at .Adelaide/ First" of all, Mr. Hislop apologised for tho absence-of Dr. Newman, president of the Ceiitre;"who had, bcon-un-avoidably -detained at. \Rangit-ikei. .; Ho- felt siiro that Dr. Neiymaiv deeply regretted 'his inability' to be present' to join; in " tho welcome .to. New Zealand's representatives, -who had covered,. themselves with glory. (Applause.) ■ It seemed to him (tho speaker) that.it'was becoming -rather a 'common-, -plate. thing to congratulate New Zoalanders upon- their success iri. competitions against representatives of. other, countries. . Tho re-' 'suite achieved at tho recent championships again emphasised the fact that the New Zcalandors wero.an athletic race. 'Physical power' had_ not been tho only factor which had .contributed to the '-.'successes; knowledge and skill had-been necessary ■ adjuncts. Of fifteen championships the representatives of Noiv- Zealand had-secured seven. (Loud applause.)'' Another, important .'point which the' successes emphasised was tho irreproachable mode of 'living and general'conduct of ■ tho. member's/of'"the team. , (Appliuso.) In Conclusion,i Mr. Hislop stated that .it gave -him great pleasure to preside the func,tiori.

THE MANAGER IN REPLY. : Mr. Green, who was . received with loud .applause; and, a greeting .in . Maori by the ;of - tho team,', returned tho thanks of himself ;and .the'competitors, foi- tlio kind messages' which had been; forwarded to 'tliem in Hohart, and for tho kind reception which' had been -accorded; them.,-on \t-hoiY, return.-. lii all, eight . Australasian'. championship meetings had been held, 'and as Now Zealand had /secured ! the banner' on' four occasions, it...now- practically led the Australian States in the matter of: tlio athletic premiership. (Applause.) , At -the .recent'-meeting' ..thojbest men-of .every State .had l>c>en pitted against /the ,Nc l w. Zealanddrs, N whose successes were thoroforo moritprious'-in'the extreme. During the eight;* or. nine days which they spent _in Hobirt prior to the meeting', jthey had: lived 'like as.- a matter v of_fact,-.his-sorvic'es as'manager were not required. l If:-,tho reward, for winning. each event had been £1000, the: representatives of New Zealand could not liavp been keener,". (Applause.) ;Ho might ; nierb tion that there- were in. ,:Npw , ,Zea- . land. nearly ■ as . many •. athletic "clubs las in jail the, Australian States ' put- togetlicjir, ; and. that ' much 5 , greater interest in .outdoor sports j was .taken in/New Zealand. 'Everywhere. tlio toam had gono they had.:been most, in- fact,: ■they had'j.found the power'; of. the .fern leaf ■ve.ry.considerable.. It.Was not',His intention toj. refer, to..any., little '.differences that,; hadprison ill connection with ' the .selection .of 'the team.AVhen they left : the Bluff, the ■members said.to each other; that thdy ivero going to represent not; any- particular province, .'butthe ' Dominion ' as ,a: whole.'-. Ajf : tho-jconclusion, of .the walking championships,' Mr'.- Coombes,'the -judge| told 'him'; that Kerr had walked -.beautifully. V (Applause.-) :- ''Ho .(tK6.'Speaker). : .was very sorry-that Henderson' had riot-clone bet-tor in tho 100 yards championship,;-, but he 'lost .at - least four yards through , ''stepping ; into' a : ' hole ni,ade '. b'y : '-. a competitor in one of the 'handicap 'events. Thero couldVb'e no .'doubt, but that Hendbrson was the best man in his .heat, aiicl if he had got into the, final, Barker, of New. - South Wales, would- have reeeivtyl ,thcv severest =*tip ityich' would.- have; fallen ' to, his. lot during the meeting, (Applauso.) - Sliarpe, .who won - tho 3-milo running championship, had. plenty left at -tho finish. (Applause.) Trembath, in v .hjs.contest- witlrßarker for the; half-mile - running championship, ;-had 'raced tlio - Australian in tho only, way: in' wh'iclvho' •could hqve hoped to beat him. (Applause;) Barker ~was' undoubtedly; a - great athlete — there was no,ono iii New- Zealand' to. equal. liiiri^—biit v Now- South Wales' would requiro nipro, than one Barker 'to defeat' New Zt;a--land. Murray's performance in tlio, 440 ■yards -hurdles was undoubtedly'the '-finest of any- given' by ( the New ; Zealand; representatives. Murray, succeeded.not.only in beatiiig the holder of tho'Außt-ralasiaii record, but ciimo .within one-fifth'of a second of .the world's re-; ,'cord.; M'Kny's winning effort ii tho pole juinp ,was:the next, best perfor'mancov (Applauso.) M'Kay ri> ,lowered . the"., Australasian., which had stood for 11- years; and he (the speaker) - thought; it i would" j be"another; , 11 years before the:' now record .was ' lowered, :unlbss'-. ; MJKay did- it himself. If 'M'Kay practised,it. wasquite probable that,ho woulcl succeed 'in clearing'l2ft,. At/, tho cbnference, it.., v.-as decided to form ■a, 'great allianc^, embracing Australasia, , America; .South Africa, Franco, and; it- was hoped, the Mother' Country., South Africa was desirous of ' ,a visit or a team of Australasian; athletes, and it'was not improbablo that -before long arrangements would bd made to seijd a team thorc. With reference to ,the' question of the representation' of New Zealand at tlio Olympian Games, to be held during. thb' : currency of tho Franco-British Exhibition at' Liridon. ho might .mention that the geripral.opinion was .-that Kerr and. Murray; would liavo a good chance in tlio walks and hurdles .res-pectively.-.(Loud applause.),, America, France, Germany, arid Hungary-wero not only send-, ing goods to the Exhibition, but also'athletes to take part in the games. If tlio New Zealand Government - entertained the idea of sondmg Kerr ~ai)d Murray the result : might be that tlio walks' and., hurdles would -fall to the Dominion. Ho was not at'liberty to make an'.official announcement, but lie sincerely trusted. that something would be done in the matter; and ho felt- certain that tho'j peoplo of ■ Wellington' would do what they could to further the ■ project. : (Loud-' applauso.) - ... , . . ' :i A WORTHY DESCENDANT. i At . this : stage'.' thV'Hdn. .'George "Fowlds'l presented to- M'Kay : tlieV. Australian ' Amateur .Association's:; certificate "in honour: of jliis success in breaking.'tho Australian,record''for 1 tlio pole jump; Mr; -Fowlds' stated that it afforded him. vory great • pleasuro; to attend. j the function. (Applauso.) Although lib' had, witnessed tho meritorious' performances of the -members of the team '.diking tlio New; Zealand championships, .ho liad hardly anticipated that they would win seven Out of: tho fifteen -Australian. championships, which was il spleiidid record.'. 'Ono 'member'of thoj team had not only won tlio event which' he was sont to take part in; but ho' had 1 ' provod himself suporior .-to fill-former coiiir, 'petitors in "the same. line;,. ,Ho-.,referred-/to M'Kav —(applause)—jivho had lowered tho' ijump,; record;M'Kay,, ho might moifljfbii, was a,descendant of one;of the. pioneers jwlio caiho:to, Nq\y, Zealand' by. ■tho ship Philip • L:\ing, tlio dianiond jubilee, of the arrival of which vessel ''Was being celebrated at Duncdin that liight. ' (Applause.) This success showed' that by., thatship '• camo .to • jNoiv. Zonlarid a .very- good stamp of colonist,, also that tile stock hadnot dcterioriited by its propagation in tlio. Dominion. 'It 1 would, ho thought, be' fitting, to sond a messago to'those:'who wero holding the celebrations to which, ho had referred, and' make referpnep to tho success of one of tlie descendants of- ono of tho passengers. ; (Loud applause.) Upon handing the certificate to M'Kay, t-ho .Minister, amidst loud cheering, expressed the liopd that ho would succeed in. lowering his record.

DISTINCTIVE COLOURS FOR NEW ZEALAND. Mr. T. M. Wilford stated that it would givo liim pleasure to do nil in his power to furthor tho project of grinding Kerr and Murray to compete nt tho Olympian Games. ,(Applnuso.) Ho felt certain that if tho Government did not seo its way to meet tho oxpauses, no difficulty would ho experienced in raising tho amount required by private subscription. (Applause.) Personally, ho would givo. every assistance in obtaining a grant from tlio Government.. The timo had arrived, ho thought, whou distinctive colours to be worn by representatives of New Zealand in all competitions should bo decided upou. (Applause.) Personally, ho favoured green and. gold—green to bo significant of New Zealand's fields, and gold of their productiveness. Ho was given to understand, however, that one oE tho Australian 'States had, adopted tlioso colours, but that . might not be tho case. It would bo a good, idea to add red, which would bo significant of tho line of-Empire, tho All-Red Route,. tlio .warmth of kinsjiip between the Dominion, and tho .Mother Country, etc. (Applause.) If Soutli Africa were invited, to send a tonm to New Zealand ho felt sure that tho project would bo taken up with enthusiasm in South Africa. (Loud applause.)', : ■ v - PRESENTATION OF MEDALS. (The Chairman, amidst loud cheering, then presented'tho medals won. by New. Zealand competitors at the Australian championships as follow:—Walks, H-. Kerr; high jump, C. E. Orboll; polo jump, L. 51'Kay.;"'440yds. hurdles, H. St. A.. Murray; 3-mile run, G. Sharpe; half-mile run, W. F. Treinbath. ' ."THE PATRONS OP THE SPORT." Tlio health of' tlio patrons' of the sport in Wellington was proposed' by Mr. Pollock, and responses were, mado by Mr. Izard, M.P., and Mr. Fisher, M.P., ■ the latter of • whom stated that he trusted. New Zealand would 'be; represented at tho Olympian Games,/but that lie would sooner sco the money subscribed'privately; Tho Southern members af the team, together ' with the manager, returned home list night.' ; ■

It is muchfto bo feared that tho fact that ovorybody-nowadays in Imperial employment is within-reaph of tlio ond of a-cablo, or a telegraph wire', or within tho radius of wireless telegraphy, will. tend, to suppress tho splondKl-indcpondeiico, and spirit of selfreliance that permitted men of tho old school to think for themselves arid act on their own responsibility in any omorgency.-r- ---" Free. Press," Singapore.

ff Hore we arc thrown back upon ourselves for personal diversion. Whether" tlio object of holiday ho-a lionseboafc exoursion, a shooting party, 01 tho crosa-coiintry gallop, there is ft toll of personal "exertion to' be paid which imparts a zest to enjoyment unknown in conntnes lvlicrq tho. entrepreneur de.divertissement is as common as a railway guide to relieve the- pleasure-seeker of trouble.— "North China Horald," Shanghai.