ATHLETICS,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1687, 1 March 1913, Page 16

ATHLETICS,

IBi "Mxhcurt."] DO WE WANT THAT NEW OVAL? What was Keddell's Fastest? From far Kawhia "Mercury" has received a request to bo supplied with G. P. Keddell's fastest time in the 120 yds. hurdles. The fastest time credited to the Southland crack is his beaten tlireo yards in 14 l-ssec. in tho final of a handicap at Otautau 011 January 15 last, a heat of which race he won in losec. Tho first time is altogether impossible, the second improbable; the fact that the samo day ho was clocked to do lOsec. from scratch in a 100 yds. flat handicap proving beyond a doubt that something was wrong with either the watches or the timekeopers, for Iveddell at his best is probably no better than a 10 2-ssec. runner. His fastest authenticated time is his accepted Australasian 120 yds. hurdles record, of 15 S-10sep., accomplished at tho New Zealand championship meeting held in Christchurch on March 18, 1911. At the last Australasian championships, held in Wellington on December 2G and 27, 1911, ho won the 120 yds. hurdles in 15 2-5 sec., with, a; strong wind behind him. , This sign' of interest from tho South Auckland township should not' be ignored bv tho Auckland Centre, and more especially by the Auckland papers, which give little Space to athletics. Gentlemen! The New Oval I , When- one sots out to discuss the problem of the Basin Reserve, ono has indeed "landed on an island of tho vexed Bermoothes," as the writer of old has it. In tho interest of tho city first of all, in the interest' of sporting bodies in tho second place, is it desirable that the Oval idea be agreed to? Tho scheme is brought forward as a means of pleasing two parties—that small but loudly insistent section of the community which blteated for tho running of trams and a roadway through tho Reserve, originally on the ground of the saving of time on the journey between the'city'-and Newtown that would bo effected, but' later, when that argument —degenerate offspring of the modern spirit of Yankee hustle that it is—was laughed, bludgeoned, and otherwiso put out of existence, on' tho ground that the present wear and tear on the tramrails and the consequent cost of ,£GSO per year thereof would be saved,' and those who desire to havo tho ground retained for ono of its original purposes—that of being a sports ground for tho city. 1 It is' claimed that by taking the tramline through tho ground on a curve would savo .£450 per . annum in wear and tear, and the first section of tho commiinitv would be'appeased*.- It is further claimed that the proposed scheme of alteration will result in a ground largo enough to suit the convenience of all sporting bodies, and that the section will in consequence be filled with the wine of contentment. '

A third section which has raised a lowly and hitherto sadly unheeded voice of late years in favour of beautifying the city has'this sop thrown to it—that the scheme provides for a new and beautiful ground —"a thing of beauty and a joy for over." With all due deference to the honesty of intention of most of the supporters of the scheme on tho council, and to tho City Engineer, Mr. Morton, whose idea it is, "Mercury" hastens to reply to all tlireo hopes. Firstly, that it will ever appease the greed of one of the parties cannot bo credited by anyone who has followed their efforts through tho last twelve years. Hitherto the strong arm of public opinion has at least kept them in their placo. Now t-hat it is proposed to meet them half-way, they havo been given a fresh grace, and their' efforts to secure tho straight track will grow with the years, and the mere bringing of the present scheme into actual being will give them the precedent they hungor for. Then on t'lio ground of cost. Tho saving of ,£450 a year will not placo the tramways balance-sheet in any better condition than at present. If tlio tramways are to bo made a strictly business proposition, something moro satisfactory than the sacrifico of a city reserve for tlio sako of .£l5O per annum must needs b9 devised.

Pursuing this argument further, tho saving after all is more or less fictitious. The alterations to the Keservo will possibly cost something in the neighbourhood of ,£9OOO, and tho saving on t'ho trams will bo swallowed up to provide interest on this amount, thus leaving things in a state of as you were. Secondly, the idea that it' .will appease the fears of. the sport-loving community is an argument that must be received with .more than tho usual grain of salt'. It is admitted that the ground will be made smaller. This in itself condemns it from a cricket point of view, for it means that for ordinary championship matches it will be a bigger strugglo than at present to provide four wickets, and it is hard to see how tho association can do with less on this ground, wherein they have sunk so much money.

Then for the winter sports—Association football, hockey, and lacrosse—the oval would reduce the available space to at most two grounds. Further, one thinks that the sweet content of tho sporting bodies will l>i rudely shattered when tliey come to realise that the proposed alteration of the ground by extending it 120 ft. westward info tho hill will, judging by the usual speed at which municipal public works are carried out, keep them off'it for anything from two to three years.

How Much Room will be Left for Spectators? With jegnrcl to the statement that there will be room for a quarter-mile running track. "Mercury" fancies that the quarter-mile will be'found to be the circumference of the oval itfelf. Lastly, in this connection. How much ground will be available for spectators? Admittedly less than at present. How much less is patent to anyone with anv knowledge of the ground. The bank—the best feature of tho ground from the spectator's point of view—will be pone. Tho only substitute that will provide adequate room -will be tiers of seats on the Stadium style, and what will this cost? The space round the green will of necessity be curtailed; it will be a case of get a seat or stop outside. About 7000 people could gather round the green at present; under tile new scheme, could three thousand be ns easily accommodated?

Thirdly, that the ground will be beautified beyond recognition is too transparent, a sop to merit much criticism. The groin,;! has now been there for some fifty years or more, with plenty of scope for an honest attempt at artistic improvement, but beyond cutting down the upsightlv pines that surrounded it of yore, and planting a few shrubs in Hi sir' place, jhi beautifying efforts have b»en feel-e. anil the outcome of them practically nil. That tho mere miltinsr of tho through the ground would hasten achievement in this direction is (one may, in view of the past, say almost without fear of contradiction) something moro futile still.

And Why Cut Down Our Air-Spaces? There is still another section nf tlio community to lie consider?.!!—ono that repents on principle any nttemot to interfere with the utility of the city's spaces, and this section is ignored altogether in tho pres?nt controversy. To them the spectacle of a governing body in a young growingcountry like this layimt hands on open-air spaces is, to put it plainly, revolting. They see local bodies in the older lands, in densely-populated arena, undoing the blunders ef bvgone T«irs_ by pulling down whole blocks of buildings, regardless of co't, to provide theso oram-air spaces, and they marvel at tho attitude of the equivalent bodies in these quarters. To save JE+SO a year it is proposed to reduce tho si7o of one of nur none-too-numerous breithing areas. To provides such spaces, what liavo not tho local authorities in London county alone provided!

Next week "Mercury" will touch upon some other aspects of the question. Rousinfl Interest in the Manawatu. Tho first' Wellington Provincial Country Clubs' championship meeting, held at Palmerston North last Wednesday week, was, frpm a purely athletic point of view, nn unqualified success; as a means of raising public interest, in the Manawatu, it was about, the ghfistliest failure on record in Now Zealand, for it is doubtful if there wero a. hundred paying spectators on the ground. For years tho'Palmerston Club has struggled against this public, apathy, which even our Canterbury friends cannot rival, and that in face dl

it all tho club st'ill exists is a monument to its enthusiasm.

After all, Mr. M'Villy's idea in presenting tho shield was not to attract tho public, but to provido that incentivo to inter-club rivalry • which would dovelop their talont. And it must bo admitted that his foresight has had surprising results. It is amusing now to look back to t.ho conference of country clubs, held at Palmerston North in July last, to consider tho proposal to hold the meeting. There was on undercurrent of_ feeling then—especially among the Wairarapa authorities—that the meeting would fail. It' was thought at the time that the overwhelming strength of the Masterton Club would frighten away all opposition. How far from tho mark was this fear is patent now. Truo the Wairarapa men had a comfortable win, but more than ono of their champions met with defeat, and the meeting was in ono important respect a greater success than the provincial championship meeting, for it unearthed talent in tho province that, for all that was known at. headquarters, did not exist. In 11. T. Marks, for instance, tho best sprinter in tho province after Duncan has been discovered, and his two wins wero very meritorious performances. In tho 100 yds. he easily defeated Messenger in 10 l-ssec., and though hard pressed by the latter won tho furlong in 23sec. It will be interesting to see him in tho provincial championships next year. TTien again thero was a surprise in tho "half," D. Stuart winning from Iggulden. Tho time was slow, but Stuart's run was a promising one. Stogpoole defeated "Bob" M'Kenzie in the 120 yds. hurdles in 17sec., a Manawat'u man, 11. Stratford, deadheated with M'Kenzie iri the broad jump, clearing 10ft. 9in., and E. E. Fisher was hard put to it to defeat C. E. Darby, of Wahganui, in tho "quarter" championship. These comparisons "Mercury" hastens to add for the information of our Wairarepa friends, have not been made with tho object of disparaging tho merit of their representatives, but simply to cmphasiso the quality of tho talont 011 the West Coast of the province.

Tho handicap events were graced by tlio presence of Duncan (who by the way stood out of the sprint championships to allow the titles to go to country runners, who showed their gratitude by rolling out in force in the handicaps and winning them from him) and Dormer. Dormer won the milo easily in 4min. 34sec„ but was caught napping i)i tho half by Boyle, of Wanganui (85yds.), who after boing caught and being seemingly well beaten, sprang a surprise by darting away coming into tho straight and winning. Duncan was set impossible tasks, being called upon to concede, for instance, Byds. to Fisher in 75. The champion showed fjood sportsmanship in going to the meeting to help the Palmerston Club along, and deserved at least a fair chance. He ran his best races of the season, but as tho racing proverb has it, "Weight will bring a donkey and a Derby winner together."