ATHLETICS

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1599, 16 November 1912, Page 12

ATHLETICS

IBT "MEUCDRI."] PROJECTED VISIT FROM AMERICA, Tho visit to the Dominion of the team of American athletes is-rapidly coming within "tho sphere of practical politics," so to speak. It has been chronicled in this column how the idea has developed from a'letter received in Sydney by Mr. IJ. C'oombes, from Mr. W. Unniack, an ex-Queenslaiutef and an athletic enthusiast of tho Pacific slope, asking if such a visit would be welcome in the States and tho Dominion, and how tho N.Z.A.A.A. Council went into tho question of Ways and means and found it good. The next step was to lay the matter before the centres, to ask for guarantees, and to acquaint ilve Australian Association of its hearty approval and co-opera-tion. Tho replies from the Commonwealth authorities'eo far have not been too encouraging as regards their own financial pr.ospeet.ii, but some of tho centres have risen to tho occasion and tho position now is that the New Zealand Council lias come to the conclusion that -it can handle the. affair independently, should this Etep be necessary, Four Desirable Constituents. With the approval of the Australasian Union a cable message has beeu sent 'to San Francisco asking Mr. Unmade to arrange for a tour of four athletes and a, manager, the men particularly required being George Horine, the world's record high jumper,. Kelly, the hurdler, of Olympic fame, a sprinter, and. a distance; runner. , , ' t Of sprinters there arp plenty to choose, while the distance man,'in all probability, would bo Clarence Edmujidson, of the Seattle A.A.C., a maß who runs his halfmile in lmin. 50sec., and miles in proportion. Tho cable message also .asked for ' the probable date of the departure of the team, and for all details at tho eftrlrest possible opportunity, so it will be seen that matters are now fairly in tram. On th© financial side tno ccntreS' .that' have accepted responsibility so far/.are Wellington and Auckland. The former has guaranteed and half the' profits of a local meeting, and the latter <£50, with the likelihood of mote to\conie., Southland has intimated that a committee has been Set up to raise funds, and assured the council of hearty support.. If Otoga and Canterbury fall into line also,, the execntivo will be able to faos the . olrtcomo of . the tour without fear'of .financial embarrassment. In the Wairarapa, too, the idea has "caught on" and the Masterton Cluh has given practical proof of its approval bf guaranteeing ,£3O. for a meeting, a practical 'token milch appreciated at headquarters.' It is now "up to" the South Island. The Awakenfng',of the West Coast. Recently Mr. J.-'F. Thompson, a mem* ber of the' Council of tbo N.Z.A.A.A., was in Westport and' while thefe he made it. his business, and his pleasure, to forward the cause-of amateur athletics. He found that his evangel-was-'readily ac». eepted by the athlete-loving coasters, and the outcome-' of his endeavours have assumed practical form, ■ As the, result of a "public meeting formed to- discuss the question, a strong club has beeit farmed in Westport with an influential,'and enthusiastic set of officers, and ••frith evirf prospect of a successful career. In this connection ft is very gratifying to note the assistance given to the movement by the local press. ,Tl>o Westport "News" published a . leading article, on the subject;®! amateur athletics, stressing the good - work- effected ■to .all" sports by the inculcation in the. participants therein of the amateur spirit,-, and emphasising the physical benefits accruing to the individual by a reasonable indulgence in athletic pastimes,' The "News" concludes its article!with, the observation: "It may not be beyond possibility that there will be unearthed in this district a sprinter of the class ,of Woodger and Onis, a walker of the calibre of Kerr, a distance runner like' Neville Hill, or a hurdler as famed as ICeddell." That this speculation will meet- with a speedy consummation. is the hearty wish of all well-wishers of. the sport in.»Naw;| Zealand, and that the N.Z.A.A.A-.. will: give the pioneer club of the West Coast every assistance .in its power goes without saying. . Three Men of Nbto, At a meeting of. the Australasian teur Athletic Union on November 1, J:, M'Holme's performance of 135 ft, Slin., established in ChristchuVch last February, was duly passed as the Australasian ham-mer-throwing record for the. 161b. hammer from a circle.' "Mercury" takes this opportunity ;' : df congratulating M'Holme, but' ventures to think that these figures will- not stand as ftn Australasian standard for long,. as ho leariis that tho genial policeman is in steady practice, and is -hurling his implement through the atmosphere to a distance of over 140 ft. with much regularity. ■: Australia'in- general,- and Victoria in particular;''' has. produced some splendid J School-boy performances, but the latest' essay in i.this- direction is. somewhat, startling. At a recent sports meeting of the Geeiong (Vic.) Church of England"! Grammar School, a lad named R. > M. 'Affleck was credited with 10 l-ssee. for lOOs'ds., and 22 2-sscc. for 220 yds. Com-; menting on this, "Hamer," in 'the "Australasian," writes: —"R. M. Affleck, who sprinted well at the recent Hawthorn Harriet's meetings. w °n. the College Cup finely. He is 19 years oldj and won the long" jump, 18ft. 9jin. against the wind, and, after a very bad, start in the 100 yds., just squeezed homo in front of fl. Austin, in 101-ssee. This reads as remarkable time, even allowing-for the, wind; but'what is one to say of his 220 yds. in 22 Msec. He had wind and grade with him for 50yds., but finished against both, and the course was remeasiired, being Bft. 4in. over the distance.' The quarter he won easily in 55sec." News of another .excellent performance comes from across the'T&sman Sea by the week's fimil, this time-from Sydney, At the recent "Dunn" challenge shield competition between the Sydney A.A. .dubs, the broad jumping brought forth ' somo sterling work from B. A,. Southee, who will be remembered as winning the Australasian championship at the Basin Re* perve at the big meeting last Christmas. Jumoinsr into a light breeze Southee registered 22ft. li'in.,. 22ft„ 23ft„ 23ft.-tho two 23ft. jumps being in successive efforts—which is certaijily "going some." The International Tud. The international tug-of-war waxes and wanes, but every decade fir so this fine manly old English form of strength testing experiences a popular revival. The big tug-of-war, which is to rage nt tho Town Hall far a week, commencing on Boxing Night, is lik<?.!y to retain in town many who might otherwise seek for a holiday athletic attraction elsewhere. In the case of tho big international all-com-ers' pull, tho interest will largely depend oil that queer element—national sentiment, or, if you will, patriotism. Assuming that tho management succeeds in raisriiig fine teams to represent England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia,. and New Zealand, there must at once bo a lively interest in. the result, but if they go further and secure Chinese, Greek, Turkish, Italian, and Bulgarian teams, the whole district will bo swamping into Wellington for the holidays. The prospect of seeing a lusty team of brawny Irishmen pitted against a hardly lot of pan'itch-hved Scots will be worth going a long way to see. Tho last big tug-of-war held irt Wellington took place at the Skating .Eiiik, in Ingestro Street, and nightly it was a case of rush, even for standing-team. If memory serves rightly, the permanent fprco team won on that occasion, • but it was not until after some valiant pulling. A Chineso team from Haining Street was the funniest spectacle of the lot. It owned a 20st. anchor man, who fastened the rope —very foolishly—round his. waist, but when the bagpipes commenced to nUy, nud the Scotchmen got a strain on, "that big Celestial was the sorriest mail in Wellington. The contests that are being promoted by Haywards, Ltd., are well, arranged. Any team may enter for tlie big moncv—iJOO and gold medals are offered, but there is also a class for teams of eight, averaging 12st„ and another for footballers, it is understood that all" the senior football clubs in Wellington will put forward a team. Our friend "Dorrie" Leslie, who recently took the drivers' tram to the big contest in Sydney, should be right in his element at Christmas. ,