CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR SPORTS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 618, 4 January 1870, Page 2

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR SPORTS.

Thursday, December 30. On account of the inclemency of the weather on the previous.; day, the Committee did not deem it advisable to bofd the postponed meeting from Tuesday, as there, were four events to come off, with the probability of a tif th being added in the shape of a boothholders' purse, " as a prize for a 300 yards runntng match. On Thursday morning the snia shwje-out great brilliancy, and although the ground was father sloppy from the heavy rain of the previous day, it, taking all things into ' consideration, was in fair order. The first event that was called for was — Putting the 211 b stone, Scotch style : Ist prize, L 5 ; 2nd do, Ll. For this competition there were five entries, D. Duncan, M. M'Grath, P. Shanahan* It. M<Nair, and'M. Brennau. The following was the result — * •$ 1. P. Shanahan ... ,28ft. 3in. , 2. M. Brennan ... '"*s!&. B±in. 2i j The second event was the thoroughly a Scottish competition of Tossing the Caber, and the piece of wood selected for the ; trial was certainly heavy enough to try ; the muscles and merits of all the strongarmed men who entered into the contest: There were five entries, namely, James Carr, D. Duncan, W. F. Strike, J. M'Gregor, and Owen M'Elwee. .As D. , Duncan alone managed to throw it fairiyVo over, the prize was awarded J;o*hiw|M^ ■*' The third and next ~eSrerit~ was*the Walking Match, an event looked forward to with much interest, as it was wjMfc known that some of the competitors lu^p been at. great pains to bring themselves into condition, and were determined to ! carry off the prize if possible. Five men came to the scratch, namely, James Dunn, ... Owen Boden, W. C. Shepherd, Ranger, and John Sullivan, with the following result : — One Mile Walking Match— lst prize, L 3 ; ■ 2nd do, Ll. Owen Boiien ... ... 1 A capital start was effected, Dunn being rather behind on the post, . but immediately collaring his men. In the first roifind Ranger and Sullivan kept the front at a strong*pace, followed by Shepherd .^ aod Boderif^Drumm nowhere, as from W sundry causes he had thrown himself out " of the match. On rounding the second time Sullivan, who had been racing Ranger, was compelled to succumb, thus leaving the race to three, and this allowed Shepherd, who had been in close attendance upon leading man,to close upon him, Boden being at this time kbout ; 2o yards in. the rear. During the next fpni? lapTi^ • these relative positions were ma|ntain%l with the exception of Boden, fell 0 further astern, but who was walking evidently within himself, and as strong as when he started. . When just halfway round the seventh lap, Shepherd, who hadAeen called upon by a steward that he had previously broken and to come back, collared the Ranger and passed him, amidst great excitement, and the .■• latter, in endeavoring to prevent him, was compelled to exert himself so much ; that hefainted. The foremost man, Shep- i herd, then came in, followed by Boden. On account of Shepherd having transgressed the rules of fair heel and j*toe walking, the race was awarded to Boden, ; For the second prize Ranger and Shep- • herd ai^ain contefted. It was won by the hitter, after a splendid match, by about a . yard- * * Wheelbarrow Race, 100 yaHs, blindfoiled — Ist piize, L 3 j 2nd do, Ll. For this amusing race there were eight competitors, and it afforded as much laughter and fun as such events usually produce. Regard for the legs of th§\ crowd or for a straight line was here set at* : naught, and a wild, reckless course kept on amidst exuberant manifestations of pleasure* and delight, was strictly pursued by all the competitors. Altogether the wheelbarrow race was a success. The barrowers came in as follows :— -James Giles, 1 ; Thomas Hillyer, 2. The fifth and last event was for a sum subscribed by the booth-holders, and supplemented by the Committee, for which three competitors entered, from the scratch at 300 yards distance. All three were. ; well-known to be fast runners, although , the two local men were supposed to be too fleet of foot for the Hokitika representative. A beautiful race ensued, and the prognostications of the cognoscenti were fully borne out as Rankin and Wright .*• fairly distanced Kerr. The finish was terminated by a splendid spurt put on by Wright within a few yards of the winning post, bringing him past Rankin, who was then leading, and landing him a winner by a bare hah* yard. ■ . ■.' W. Wright ... ... ... 1 Jas. Rankin 2 — Kerr ... 3 When we said the fifth and last event, . we forgot to say that another event, but not for a prize, did come ojf to finishjihia \ highly successful meeting, and this^Ws the Stewards race, lOOyards.^To compete for it Messrs Strike," scratch ; Purcell, 5 > yards ; M'Gregqr and Macdpugall, 7 f yards ; and Deare, 10 yards^entered. The betting was, despite ihe start, given to the others, 2 to 1 on Mr Strike with no takers. A capital start waa given, and the peds rattled off in John Gilpin haato, amidst loud cries,and calls upon each'parti - cular favorite to go in and win. All starts were, however, of no avail, as Mr Strike knocked his opponents undergone after another, and came in first with a rush,* closely followed by Messrs M'Gregor, Purcell, MacdougalJsand Deare. •% , ; This event as far as Caledonian sports 1 are meant, really closed the most successful and orderly meeting ever held in Greymouth. There were during the wholat of the time no drunken rows, no brawlings, and nothing but a very general good wish on the part of the onlookers |o assist the Committee to the best of their ability. The weather was all that could be desired £4, the prizes were of fair value,* the best in- % deed offered on the Coast ; the Qon% "^ mittee were all zealous, courteous, ana anxious to do all in their power I<b carry out the success of the meeting. It is unanimously admitted that the sports of ; the Christmas holidays of 1869 have \ proved that success, and while we award .! the Committee all praise, we must say that but for the highly respectable and ; orderly crowd who cordially- co-operated . f; with them in their exertions, that success | would not have been achieved. -i]