TUG-OP-WAR CONTEST.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1634, 28 December 1912, Page 6

TUG-OP-WAR CONTEST.

1 THE LONG, STRONG PULL.

i GOOD SPORT AT TOWN HALL,

; / The., tug-of-war contests promoted by S-: Harvard's Enterprises, Ltd., a firm welli. toow'n -in - the kineinatograph picture I' world, were continued.'in the Town Hall last night. : Those who witnessed the ex- ' ' cellent /entertainment 'were very enthusiastic over it, and liberal indeed with their, applause. . ! Eaoh>team : consisted of eight men and. a captain. :;The' pulls were, of ten minutes' duration, and -the progress of the jcompetitors was announced every minute- '. -by.a. referee;'..Three./classes were'coinpet- | ing—all-comers, :-iaen under 12 -stone, andfootballers. : . ' ■■ In several'instances the contests were very kcan. Tho stamp of tug-o'-warrior on ■ the boards- was a hefty, well-muscled in-: dividual,- who looked lit to pull a house down.-Some : of\the pulls entailed-the sev- ;• . west of strains, but the men (apparently), Jtood the gruelling well. The Eire Bn-gade-Espress; Co. contest was the great event of .the evening, and to everyone s surprise. the;brigadesmen gained a'victory. But it was. a long, strong pull; .. . The -New -Zealanders and the ;Napier Gasworks led off in'the pulls.' The stal- ; warts of Hawke's Bay,li£-.d all the best of • the contest. Two inches, five inches, seven ■ inches, a foot, and so on, ithey gained, i. 'After five minutes' hugging and tugging at ! the rope, the .Napier men were 15 inches ; to the"good. 'The New' Zealanders , re- •; gained an inch, when seven-minutes, had '.- been called; but a concerted tug .by Na-i'-.pier gained, several more inches, and at the conclusion, of, the ten minutes' tussle,. ;' despite' strenuous efforts' by . their . oppo- ' . Bents, Napier'were between two and three ; feet to the good. It was a fairly easy win y for Napier.. .;'.' - . < The pull of Hunt, Cottrell (Wellington} ; against Christchurch was one of the most ! determined fights of tho evening. Shortly .. after tho • commencement,. Christchurch - tad an .'inch, iii hand. ."Munt, Cottrell '• have got that inch back," said the referee. ''Chrisfehurch has-got half an, .inch," he -. continued, "Now, they have an inch;' and, ; a few minutes later,-"the Yearns are dead ; even." This gain of an inch-by 'Christ-, church and loss- of half- an. inch went on till ; half-way . through, when "Christi', church still, has that, one was an- / notmced. At seven minutes, Christchurch had an inch and d half. They immediately H lost half an inch, but at eight minutes ;' end nine minutes they, were two inches to tho good. A fraction before time was , called Christchurch were 3i.incheu on the ■ Winning side, an&.when .tho. ten minutes • arrived "Munt,/Cottrell had only got half lon inch : back,',so Christchurch were pro- / claimed, winners by three inches. '-. The .contest which evoked,.the. greatest

s interest and enthusiasm was. the meeting - of the City Eire Brigade and the New : Zealand Express Co. The Firfi Brigade looked much lighter and less developed >■ mnscularly than the; men chosen to repre- '. eent the- big carrying, company. Nevertheless they had a surprise in - store for - the spectators—and for the Express Company team. Express : Company ; gained a half inch right at. the jump, and a while , ; later were.an.inch-to, the good.-; An inch ■ and a half to the good, the . big carriers ' looked certain to win. It did not seem '■ more than, barely < possible that the firei: fighters' could last out the contest against : such bulky-looking .opponents, however, • Eire Brigade wiped off their arrears bit by j bit, and when half-way was . announced h the referee called: "Dead: level." In one \ big pull Fire, Brigade gathered in an inch. ; and a half of the ropo, but immediately : lost an inch. TVom tnis onFire Brigade,

. who were being worked vigorously by ' .Superintendent Tait,; their captain, gain-. Ed slowly. The half inqhes ( they gaine'd I were frequently taken, back in part, but a. while before the'conclusion they were V, three inches" to ■ the good, and -%he'n "Enough" was called they had' the Express f. Company beaten by four inches. \. i ' Napier Gasworks beat Halcombe quite ' decisively. /Halcombe gained, a little at the commencement, but Napier soon got it back,, and,;,except for a couple of immaterial'Teyerses, never gave-their opponents }: a. chance :, after th'e first,few-minutes. At six minutes Napier were 3£ inches to the : good, and a moment later they had increased their advantage to 4 inches. A 5- : . inch lead was theirs at seven.' minutes, but with a fine tug, Halcombe, took , two inches back. "Napier.won by inches,"

v was the verdict. ', . Athletic Football Club had a fairly easy ; win over , Halcosnbe Football Club. They ■ took a lead,soon after the.start and inK creased it gradually all the; way. through, ,/ finally winging by seven inches. Christcliurch were expected to beat the i New Zealand Express Company, who had f within the hour succumbed to.Fire Bri-

gade. The southerners ; fulfilled expecta-' tions. Their initial tug gave them a lead of an inch and aihalf, Vand this they increased steadily to the end. The Express Company rarely got any of its own back, and when five minutes had gone by Christchurch had an advantage of 9£ inches. At Bevpn minutes they were a foot to the

gocfd, at eight minutes 13 inches, at nine minutes 15J inches, and when time was called they were declared winners by 15 inches. :.

I Athletic Football Club"'w;ero beaten by r the' All Black Football team by one inch.

■ Athletic .made a game effort to win, and t towards the end 'of the .contest looked /like winers. Tlie'All Blacks had'an ad- ! vantage of a couple o-f inches in the earl.v stages, '.but little by little Athletic. took ; this back, and then gradually gained a .lead of over an," inch. '..However,;.in-the ; last atages'.thel;ables.were'tiirned .against ' them, and/the. Blacks won by an inch. '. "

Fire Brigade succumbed to the,Chrjst : ohurch No. -2 , team -.by about G' inches!

The visitor ; led from,near, .the/,com- ! . menceraent.. r'At five .minutes, they were .81 inches to the.good, at'six minutes. i\ • inches, at : seven minutes, inches, at ii I minutes G inches, at nine minutes 5 ■ inches, and at tlie end about G inches.

... The last contest of the evening,. between ! Napier Gasworks and Munt, Cottrell, was ; a ;most determined pull. Munt, Cottrell i- led by half au inch .in the early stages, , but. at five minutes the teams were level. From then on the Napier men gained •'.... gradually, very gradually. At seven minutes they had. a 2-inches lead, nt eight ! minutes inches, and nino -minutes . Sj inches, and they won, by'; over. 3 inches. I ■ ■ The semi-finals and the finals, will be pulled to-night. Tho pries of admission i.'. will be one shilling at all doors. Following is a summary of last-nighfs ) results:

All-comers:; Napier Gasworks beat New Zealanders; "Christchurch beat Hunt, Cottrell; Napier Gasworks ■. beat Halcombo; Ghr'istchurch beat Express Co.; and Napier. Gasworks beat Munt, CottTell. ' '

' • Twelve-stona men: ./Wellington ./Fire. : Brigade beat New.' Zealand -Express Co.*, ' and Christchurch;.Noo2 beat Fire .'.Brigade. '' '. ...

■ Footballers: All Blacks beat Athletic, and Athletic beat Halcombe.