ALL BLACKS ON TOUR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1900, 7 November 1913, Page 11

ALL BLACKS ON TOUR.

FIRST MATCHES.

IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA. [BT ONE OF TEE TEAil.] Our arrival at Tahiti is looked forward to with great interest. Everyone was anxious whether the doctor would allow us to land, but there was no difficulty, as wo were then nino days out from Wellington. Tho scene on tho wharf was a gay ono, tho citizens of tho town assembling to watch the arrival of the steamer, dressed in costumes of brilliant colours. Once on shore, members of tho team were soon spread all over the town. Mr. Mason was introduced to an old French football enthusiast, M. Bies by name, who was anxious that wo should give, an exhibition game that afternoon. Qnr manager, thinking it a good opportunity of stretching our legs on land, decided to give one at 5.30 o'clock. Tho news soon spread, and, on our arrival at tho ground, about a thousand natives had assembled to watch the display. Amongst those present Was the Governor of tho island. The sides wore Colours versus tho Blacks, and we played lifteen-niimite spells, but the ground was too narrow to give a good exhibition, although some very pretty passing rushes marked the play. The part that amused the natives most Was when a man was collared. They laughed and shouted as if it was a great joke. Tho ground was very rough, with plenty of broken metal on it, so real collaring was almost out of the question. After the gams we gavo them our war cry.. Before going back to tho boat we were the guests of M, Bies at tho Papeete Club. Instead of having a bath on the boat, the majority of tho team took a swim in the harbour, and readers can imagine how we enjoyed it after playing a football match with tho temperature reading at 90 degrees in tho shade.

After dinner we were the guests of Madame Leviner at a dance given in our honour. The house was very prettily dccorated, and to add to the attractiveness of tho evening, Madame had engaged a group of native girls to. sing during the intervals of tho dances. Later in the evening they gave some of their native dances. Afterwards tho 'local band marched through tho streets followed by hundreds of natives, who all joined arms, singing and shouting. It' was a very uncommon sight, arid one which rather showed tho excitable nature of the natives. Next morning ovoryone was up very early to s.ee tho market, which begins at five o'clock in the morning. It was a strango sight; to watch all the whole pnpulaee astir so early in the morning, buying their wares for the day. One thing that was very noticeable on this island Was that nearly all tile shops are ownpd by Chinese. They seem to have n monopoly of the retail trade, for they certainly have' the best stocks, and their prices arc cheaper than those of the French-owned shops. At three o'cloftk the boat sailed again. 1 In San Frandsco. ' It was with the happy thought of, seeing land once again that wo approached the American coast, and ail were on deck very early to catch the first glimpse of tho Golden Gates. About 6 o'clock the helmsman reported land; ■ and at 7.30 a.m. wo Were ..pads-• ing' : through' the' Golden /'Gates.. San Prancisoo is situated about seven miles from, tho Gates, so, after half an hour's steaming, we dropped anfihbi- in the roadstead. Our reception was above all expectations. As we were Hearing the wharf the C'aliforjiian. University Band struck up their college song, while the students joked in singing. Then the "yell leaders" took charge of the throng and gave us some of their "yells," tho most popular one being "New Zealand, Hah, Rah, Rah. Rah, Rah, Rah, New Zealand!" Of course wo gavo them <me, of our war cries, which the crowd received with onthusiasm. Then the Stanford University Band played their college son.';, while their crowd joined in singing.' On the- street there a large motorbus 'was waiting for us, arid tho procession lined up, headed by mounted policemen, followed by the Stanford and Californian Bands,, while all the

officials of the Rugby Union followed on in motor-cars, with our ear in the centre. After a long tour through the principal streets, which were crowded with' people, wo were ialwm to the Olympic Club, where, we were officially .welcomed by the Governor of the State and several members .of the Rugby Union. After luncheon wo were taken to our hotel, the Manx, which is one of the largest in the city, and during the afternoon we had a practice at the Golden Gate Park Stadium, whioh is about 10 miles from the city. The First Watch, Next day we played our first match against tho Olympic Club at 51 Ignatius Field. Tho day was a beautifully fine one with a alight breeze blowing from the north.. Thf; spectators num-. bered about three thousand, which was very poor for the day. The ground was the most trying item of the day. It was originally used as a baseball ground, and bb this required, bo turf wo had to content ourselves with playing on .a hard ground covered ' witH rocks and about six inches ofldust, At times it was impossible to see tho ball in the scrimmages oil account of the dust, and every time a wan Was collared the dust received in mouth and eyes was dreadful. Another feature of the game was the number of Olympians who got hurt. In the first fifteen minutes thoTo were no fewer than four stoppages. When a man felt fatigued, he would lie down and groan, and then, all of a sudden, would think of continuing the Same, and so on nearly all through the first spell. Another strange thing was that, as soon as a man was injured, on would rush two boys with a bucket of water and a spongo followed by an ambulance man and their trainer. Tho water was to wash the dust off so as to allow tho ambulance man to see what was wrong with him. If be happened to have a slight kick he would roll about two yards of court plaster round him before tho game could proceed. The game was played in two half-hout spells, so this accounted for us net putting tip a better score. Our fellows did . not play a very brilliant game, the back division seeming to lack cohesion. In the first spell especially the backs did not have ono successful passing rush. Tlic forwards' were doing all the work, and ploughed their way through in good stylo. In the second half things improved a. little, the hacks getting into their strido. The Olympic team was a very heavy combination and adopted the method of threo4wo-three, This however did not stop our fellows' from getting the ball in the scrum, but unfortunately we could not make tlio best use of it.

The score was 19 points to nil in our favour. Roberts nutile the best, run of tho day, and altogether played tho best back game. Gray did not, play his usual game, being inclined to hang on to the ball too long, Taylor _ was off oolour, but was at a great disadvantage with tho dust., as at times ho could not see tho ball.' M'Donald was not a great success at wing-forward, not being fast enough on to tho oppoLynch made some strong runs, but did not have the clmtice o.f scoring. All the forwards worked well, but Downing and Downr wer« tho most nromineht. Mitchin/mn not rather a.

bad kick, and had to quit at half-time. M'Keiizio taking his place. Impressions of Baseball. On Sunday afternoon we were the guests of the San Francisco Baseball Club. The game began at 2.30 ..p.m. in the presence) of abcrnt twenty, thousand people. The teams weroj San Francisco v. Sacramento. From what we could gather it seemed very much libo cricket. There is a thrower, or what wo would term the bowler, and a striker, what wo term the batsman. Iho game was a very exciting one, San Francisco -winning on. the i«nth innings by one run. The crowd became

very excited, and if a player did not do the correct thing fce was jeered and hooted at for quite a time. Quo of the San Francisco men made a great hit. the ball travelling nearly 110 yards before it touched iho ground. For this he got two- runs. Ine pitching is a great art, and the way in which the ball is made to swerve just as it reaches the striker is something north watching. On© pitcher threw the opposing side out twice ill succession without making a ran. That baseball is a g<3od game is beyond any doubt. Thero is plenty of science ami plenty of excitement. A man has to be just "as fit to play baseball as we have'to be to play football. { A Talk With Mr. Unmack. On Monday morning I was in conversation with Mr. •Unmack, the manager of the Athletic team to tour Australia and New Zealand. Ha told me of the difficulty which ho has experienced in getting together a team. In our country a man would jump at tho chance regardless of his business or Jhis trade. Well hero it is entirely different. The man studies his business first and then his sport. Mr. Uninaek had written to over one hundred and fifty athletes asking them to make the tour and out of that number had still not settled on his team. Several men wrote accepting, but on second thoughts declined, as they could not leave their business. Mr. Unmack showed mo at least fifty of tlieso letters. The. team rap. to the time of writing will he as follows:—Power, of the Boston AtMe- ■ tfc Oluh and still at- College. Ho will bo the ono mile and two mile runner. Bosenbergor, of tho Irish American Club of New York, will bo the sprinter, 100 yards and 220 yards. Halpin,' of the 33oston Athletic Club, will be t'iio quarter-mile and half-mile-. BeJlali, of the Portland Club, Oregon, will bo the polo jumper, shot-putter, broad jump, and high jump man. Tho team does not contain a hurdler, brtt_ Mr,

Unmack is reckoning s on securing a University inar>, w'lio ivould take tlio plsce of Halpin in the quarter and hnlf-miks. and also I>6 the -hurdlor. This irould bo nfloessary s as tho team is to consist of only four. men. One thing ■ that stmek ae wliilo rending fotoo of the correspondeiicoj of All the 150 men written to only one wanted to know what share of the gates wtfuld lie get. ®us. I Vhought, was- an eye■opener, and tolrl mo that the Americans are all purely amateur sportsmen. Visit to Californian University. On Monday, October 6, the team left the Manx Hotol on route for the University, wliieh is across the bay at Berkeley. The method of getting aoross was a novel ofie., First, it was a tram ride, then across the bay ill 11 ferry boat, which travelled at the. rate, of 25 miles an hour. On arrival at a wharf whioh juts oftt into the water for about two miles, we boarded an electric train, which travelled at tho rate of C 5 miles an hour. After a journey of 12 miles ■ we arrived at.Berkeley, where 2000 sta* dents waited oitr arrival. After cheering and giving their college songs _ and "yelisj" we were taken to the University in motor-ears. At tho gyffiniisiuni

wo wore officially welcomed by Professor O'Neil, of the University. One thing that amused us-ia his speech was tho fast that he kopt calling Us ''Australians." On the Tuesday evening .a college rally was the order of the night. It was something new and novel to us. About one thousand students marched through all the streets of the city armed with bells,' tins, mandolins, and every kind of instrument one could think of. The idea was to arouse interest in the game on the following day. the Second Match. On the Wednesday we played our match, and the day turned out beautifully fine. Again wo were playing in a dirt field, but it was not in such a bad state as the ono tho previous Saturday. The gaine was not started till 4 p.m. ia order •to allow all students to sea the game. Before wo arrived at the ground the "yell" leaders had taken their stand in front of the studeats, and, as soon as wo got through the gate tho following "yell" greeted us: —"All Blacks I Aah Rah Ra.h Hah Rah Rah

All Blacks During % progress of thf game the students kept up their yells and their college songs. Play opened very willingly, and the Blacks forced their way to the opposing line.' Tlio Califcrnians brought tho hall hack by good forward play, and a freofcick 'gave us a. chance at goal, which S'tohr put between the/ posts. The kick was a fine effort, as it was just oil the half-way mark, and simply electrified the spectators. From tho lock-But Downing dribbled the ball to the twenty-five line, where from a serum Taylor woiked the blind side and passed to M'Kenzie, who feinted to pais and scored between the posts. Four minutes after from a scrum Taylor worked the blind side again, and M'Konzio scored another beautiful try, his feinting passes stupifying the opposition. The ftoxt tlireo tries Were scored by Lynch, M'Donald, and Downing. Lynoh's try was tho outcome of a passing rush through all the backs. After the spell the Califcrnians held their own. Play became rather willing for a time, with plenty ocf hard kicking in the scrum. ]&om a scrum raea.r half-way the ball travelled from Taylor to Guthill, who put in a great run, dodging three of the 'Varsity in grand style, and scoring near the conker, which he converted himself. 23—0. Dcwar next shone out from the pack, and. after a fine dribbling rush, scored near tho posts, Stobr coisverting. 28—0. The Inst scorc of the day was made by Cuthiil near the corner flag after a passing rush amongst the backs. 31-0.