ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1348, 27 January 1912, Page 14

ATHLETICS.

[BT "ALEBCUEr.'''] WALKS JUDGE-WALKS CRITIC. To-day.—Civil Service Amateur Sports Club. Sports meeting, Basin Beservo. Fobruary 7.—Athletic i'ootball 'Sport's Club, evening meeting, Basin Beservo February 10—Wellington Provincial Cha npioiiship Meetiog. Mr. R. Coombes at Critic. Can an official, who acted as judge of walking in the Australasian championships. "give himself away," in , his capacity as press writer? Can he le one thing in one capacity, and something totally different in another? Can he, in short, enact the role of Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll, of whom Robert Stevenson wrote so entranciugly ? Apparently he can. In the last "Referee" to hand, Mr. Richard Coombes continues his running commentary on the recent Australasian championships. The. sections which he covers in this issue are distance running and tho walking events. It is with tho latter than "Mercury" wishes to deal a' present. In this department of track work, Mr. Coombes is generally looked upon as the Australasian authority, ami any comment of his holds interest' The articlo under review is no exception. It-, is decidedly interesting—and, at the same time, decidedly incomprehensible. Says Jlr. Coombes: And now. to the walkejs. The heel and toe events were a mixture of some extremely bad work in the mile, and some extra good efforts in the three miles. Candidly, the tasto.of that mile is hardly yet obliterated.: some of the work was* as bad as in that memorable milo at Brisbane iu Ml. He Deals with Ellis. Then follows a description of the-rac-ing. Coming to the/ disqualification of W. Ellis, Mr. ,Coombes.continues: The' Ta.smauian, who' had been over'stroiuiiig his capacity most of. the way, mixed:it coining down the hill on the far side; and broke up altogether in a finishing; effort duwn the straight. There must have been other breaches by both Kerr luld Ellis,, which escaped the "notice of the judges, for I am more than ever convinced that about Umin. 45sec. is the best possible under a strict adherence to the Australasian rules. .".Ellis; who, I was .informed, had never broken Tmiii. for a mile in Tasmania, was doubtless carried - away with excitement. He is a. slightly-built youth, has a nice, easy carriage of the body and good swing of. liips; but I don't like the way the arms are carried. Going as he did in the three miles race, no question could lie raised as to the'legitimacy of his style, but theu he was doing some 30scc. per mile slower. I should say ho was capable of about 7min. for. a mile, that would pass anywhere. But a milo in Gmin. .32 4-ssec. for him is absurd. By the way, I have seen comment, in print as to the why and wherefor of Ellis being allowed to" finish. •Enthusiasts often rush into print without any knowledge of the subject matter in hand. The judges had to confer at the conclusion of tho race to see what cautions had been given, but quite apart frorn this Ellis was told that ho was disqualified when entering the straight, and should liave pulled off. Why he did not, 1 was subsequently told, was because he did not hear the judge speak. I would like -to have the chance to coach Ellis for a few weeks; I am sure lie could lie moulded into a good walker. He Sentences Kerr and Cashman. Then Harry Kerr comes up for sentence :-*-"ln the . Ihreo mile?,' Kerr,-, who was fit arid' well, but -had done little track work; went, in .his vcrv best'form and style. The first mile took 7miu. 10 sec., second 7min. 23sec., and third "min. 3 3-osec. In a two miles handicap (after tho milo or. the .first' dav), Kirr weii 1 -. really well—first mile 7min. ssec., so 1 was told, and tho second mile 7min. Bscc. J' act is, Kerr, if he transgresses, does so through the faults of other competitors; they do a jog or mix it. and he follows suit. Going at a, mile in 7min. to 7min. ss?c. or IPsee. gait, Kerr's stvio is unimpeachable. In the mile at Wellington lie got.Mie benefit (f the doubt over his final effort—it must have been a near.: thing." Also. Cashman, who is apparently dismissed with a. caution:—'"Now we' come to I). Cashman. He has what I call the Wellington style; foot comes down with a hard pat, muchly like Kerr in many respects The body and arm work is first-class, but there is a tendency to jump. It would be easy for Cashman to lose contact with the ground without knowing it. I notice where ho was credited with Gmin. 2!) sec. for a mile in Wellington the other day; well, candidlv, I don't think lie-can get within 8 or lOsec. of that time and go fairly. And yet 1 feel certain that, there is the makings of a champion in Cashman. who possesses most of the attributes of a really good heel-and-toe performer. And his heart is in the right place." But What of Himself as Judge? This, it must be admitted,'is interesting—but now to the incomprehensible side of it. After such a criticism reflecting as it oertainly does (especially in the opening sections) on the judging of the walking, one naturally turns to the official programmo of the meeting to seo who the judges were who allowed such a state of . things to be. And'what does one find?—the names of Messrs. It. Coombes and J. Ellis! Surely Mr- Coombes, the critic, and Mr. Coombes, the walking judge, have not two separate utilities. Surelv, in his capacity of judge Jlr. Coombes could have removed the cause of that hardly obliterated taste that he complains oi in his capacity of critic. And why, if as critic, he is.more than ever convinced that about 6min. 45sec. is tile best possible under a strict adherence to the Australasian rules did lie, as judge, pass Kerr's performance of about Gmin. 35sec. ? If this was not walked under a strict adherence to the rules, did he r.ot exercise bis prerogative as judg«? Why? The- article ends:—' ,n conclusion, I feel, that the time has almost arrived when it would be wise to cut out the mile walk—a veritable scramble, requirijisr about half a dozen strong men ns judges—and substitute a walk over two miles." This suggestion opens up a wide field for debate, and "Mercury." would be pleased to receive and publish any opinions of his readers on the subject. Amateurism Has Fairly Taken Hold in Wanganui. Amateurism has fairly taken hold again in Wanganui, judging from the snccess of last Monday's Caledonian meeting. It will be remembered that lust year the Caledonian Society, with a shade of. trepidation it-must be confessed, decided te substitute . amateur .for cash events in its programme, and that the ensuing sue. cess of the venture led to a repetition: of the experiment this year. :It can now be .said, with absolute certainty that the experimental stage '.is, past. . Tho amateur has come to stay. The Wanganui paiiers are enthusiastic over.the success of. the gathering, as may b« jndged by the following from the "Herald's" report-.— ' . Tho Wanganui Caledonian Socioty is to be heartily congratulated on the magnificent success of its 29tli annual sports gathering. Splendid as ' were its predecessors yesterday's meeting must .rank as .the best o{ its kind ever held in the Wanganui district, and conies into prominence as one of the best' amateur athletic meetings held in the Dominion. The attendance, described in typical "journalese." as a "huge concourse," was estimated at no fewer than 5000 and, as the weather was all that could lie desired, and the sport_ provided ■ was interesting throughout, it will lie seen that everything in the gardens (Cook's Gardens) wn«: lovely in Wanganui on Anniversary Day, 1912. To-Day's Meeting, To-day the Civil Service A.A.C. is holding its annual sports meeting in the Basin Reserve and an interesting afternoon's sports is promised to patrons. The inter-Departmpntal tourney, held earlier in the season proved that the Club pas-sp.--os ?.'ood and varied talent in its ranks and the proximity of ■ tho Provincial Championship meeting has kept tho form of due athletics up to conpert pitch, so the standard of performance should be well up to par.

"Has little Mr.-... 1!. consoled herself over her husband's death yet?" "Oh, no, not. yet. You know what a. long time these msuranoo companies toko to pa; 1"