ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1563, 5 October 1912, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

[Br "Mehcuby."] BLENHEIM IN THE SPOT LIGHT. Blenheim Appraised, Thoro is a decided slump in thing: athletic nt present, and the scribe whoa duty and pleasure it is to keep the pub lie posted up to date in these matters is hard put to it to find a text for hi' weekly discourse. In the Dominion it is the close scasor except for tho indefatigable harrier ant even now ho is turning his thoughts U other and more seasonable occupations One bright ray in tho general grey ■noss of things comes from Dlenlieim. ll has been recorded here how an nmnteui athletic club was recently formed in thai town and an interim committee had beer set up to get matters into working ordci and to give tho now institution a gooc start on its journey of usefulness, and il is to bo hoped, prosperity. This committee brought the result o] its labours beforo a general meeting o' tho club last Saturday night when a scl of rules was adopted, officers elected, anc tilings generally put upon a proper basis Tho'most pleasing piece of business trans acted was the adoption of the member ship list which totalled no fewer thar ninety names. Blenheim Gently Assaulted, One matter was brought up that maj possibly cause some hard thinking on th< part of tho Council of tho N.Z.A.A.A This is in connection with the reinstate ment of professional runners desirous o! joining the new club. As mattors stanc this may be done, provided the neces sary conditions are complied with, upor payment of a fee of ss. per applicant. II is the imposition of this fee that is ob jected to. It was pointed' out that tho club sub scription was a big enough tax withouf the addition of the extra ss. to the Conn oil, especially as so many of the apph cants for reinstatement were youths jusl starting out in life and it was determine! that, the governing body would bo asket to waive this charge. On the face of it the plea seems a jusl one and as tho Council is keen to do al' It can to encourage a new club, the anpli cation is assured of very full consider* tion. The trouble is that tho question Is- nol a matter dependent upon the goodwill of the Council—it is a matter of rule Admittedly the principle of altering t rulo to suit a particular case is a bat one, even if tho effect of the alteration would make for good, and it is not likelj that the Council, although quite in sympathy with the Blenheim athletes, will establish the very dangerous precedent of waiving this reinstatement fee. A Note of Interest from Queensland. Says an Australian file:—"The North Queensland Amateur Cross-countrj championship was held in Charters Towers, on Saturday afternoon, September 14 over a five miles' course. Nineteen started, the winner turning up in S: W. Moore of the St. Paul's Gordon Club, who, hit ting out for a lead, at once carried the pack along at such a solid pace that ok by one he dropped them, and was nevei headed, eventually winning in lOmin. 42j sec. G. Riley was second, exactly ' o minute behind, and then camo S. Skelton l 3 42 3 scc -)- T - Skelton (32min. 27soc). Moore s time, considering the tcarfullj hot day, was excellent. Ho is an experienced runner, having won a number oi long-distance events in Now Zealand, He was altogether too solid for tho othei runners, and ran in as strong as a lion Ho hails from a station outside ol l'raine. ~T i l e. ,?r oore referred to is "Sammy" ol that ilk, tho well-known ex-Canterbury runner. He was a member of tho New Zealand team that won the championship shield in 1009 at Brisbane, and on August 21 of that year he represented the Dominion in tho big "Marathon" race held in conjunction with tho Australasian meeting in that town. He did not return with his team mates, but remained to ' go on the land" in North Queensland. The knowledge that ho is still on the track and among tho winners will be most acceptable to his many New Zealand .friends. A "Cross Country" Watched by 8000 Melburmans. I

The recent ten miles cross-country cham iionship of Victoria, which we were ad •,'seil by cable message, ivas won b' A' „A„„ Vi,lCs ' was a bi S affair Over 8000 people journeyed out to tin Caulfield racecourse to see it, and thei must ■ have felt well repaid for theii trouble. A teams' race is run in conjunc tion with the individual championsliip and in all 25 teams, making, with the' soh runners, a fine field of '270 runners, wen starters, and of these 201 completed tin ten miles. The winners' time, '58min 3sec., is a record for the race, and anothei fine performance was hoisted by the win ners of the team competition, the Essen don Harriers. The places of this clul>'i representatives at the finish were: 2nd. sth, 6th, Bth, 13th, 15th, a total of 4! points for the six men—another record. A Splendid Little Austral Person. , Recent Australian files bring word ol good doings on the part of a Sydney school boy—one A. W. K. Parquhar, of tht King's School. In the recent annual sports of this institution this lad put uj an all-round performance that would hav< done credit to a fully-developed athlctealbeit, he is a pretty well matured school boy—being described ns "six feet in height and of a most symmetrical build." Hi* performances on the day 'in question speak for themselves: Won running high jump at sft. 4in.i won running broad jump at 18ft. 6Jin.; won 100 yds. championship in 10 4-ssec; won 220 yds. championship in 24 l-ssec. won'' 440 yds. championship in 56 l-ssec.: won 120 yds. hurdles championship ii 19seo. ;■ won kicking the football' championship at 54yds. Bin.; won 100 yds. handicap (over 16 years) from scratch in 10 StOsee. j won 120 yds. handicap hurdles, owing 12yds., in 20sec; and finished a very close third in the 220 yds. handicap from scratch, the winner being on the 22yds. mark. On Hie following Saturday, a fortnight ago to-day, the championships of the Greater public. Schools of N.S.W. were held, at which Parquhar, although suffering from influenza, annexed the- broad jump championship at 19ft. Bin., against a'fairly strong breeze—a fine leap. The trouble is that so many of the good boy athletes are lost to the sport after school. Botli New South Wales and Victoria appear to be singularly unfortunate In this respect. We arc constantly hearing of these young prodigies, mostly on account of the admirable system' under which school athletics are conducted in these States, but after a while their ac- . customed place among the lists .of winners and "phcos" knows thorn no wore, ond we lose sight of them entirely. Shrubb May Settle in Australia: , Alfred Shrubb, tho world-famous dl> tanco runner ond holder of many records, whose tour, with Duffey, through Australia and tho Dominion will bo well remembered, has written Mr. E. Coombes to tho effect that he is desirous of starting life in Australia, and asking for information about the line of business in which he would be engaged. He has been for the past throe years in Canada, but if the answers In his in. quiries prove satisfactory, he purposes making the change—and it is to be hoped ho does, as his services as athletic coach would be invaluable. Very fow know moro of the mysteries'of both track and field athletics than Alfred A. Shrubb. Is It Not So, Friend "Mercury"? "Mercury" has to acknowledge a correction from "Prodigal" in the "lieferee," in reference to the adoption of A. W. Doimor's figures ot limn. 58 l-ssec. for the half-mile, as a record by the N.Z.A.A.A. In chronicling the passing of the figures the writer stated "Donnor's figures will constitute a fresh New Zealand record." Says "Prodigal":—"Surely Hector- Hurl; also lias Imin. 58 l-ssec." to his credit! Is it not so, friend 'Mercury'? "Mercury" has nothing to sav. It is even so. O "Prodigal."