The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, July 2, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1266, 2 July 1914, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, July 2, 1914. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The lot of a referee in any athletic contest is anything but pleasant, and demands a cool head and sound judgment, for the slightest oversight on bis part ot a breach ot rules governing the game calls forth a shout of protest from partisan spectators, but provided the referee is up to average standard he gets on fairly well with the crowd. The treatment meted out to the gentleman who refereed the Foxton-Deviu hockey match yesterday afternoon by a large section of spectators was as hot as anything we have heard on a sports field, and we hope local spectators will not so far forget themselves again, for it is such unsportsmanlike conduct that incites players to roughness and acts of brutality, and kills patronage and good inter-club feeling. A good deal of yesterday’s running fire of personal remarks and insulting epithets at the referee came from a band of juveniles, who at future matches should be kept in check. While we feel genuinely sorry for the referee, and regret yesterday’s lack of taste, we blame the Association' fou sending along an inexperienced referee to control the game. His mo.' Tem,eats 00 the field were sluggish i’o ao extreme, making it impossible kim at times to rule accurately, a. it was unfortunate that in a majority of cases Foxton lost decided, ad vantages. His action in ordering off two local players is open td criticism, and we understand that tife association will be called upon to rule on this point. So far as the gams is concerned, the very best feeiing existed between the teams, and no one regretted the unfortunate incidents more than the players themselves. If this excellent game is lo be fostered and popularised, the association executive must exercise a little more discretion in the selection ot those

who are to control the games, and officials should be posted on the ground to prevent hooliganism.

Our Palmerston contemporaries are alarmed at the remit sent to a conference of local body delegates to be' held in Wellington this month, from the Fostcu Borough Council and Horowhenua County Council re urging the Government to cope with the conjested traffic on the railways by pushing on the deviation of the Main Trunk line between Levin and Marton, and shortening the journey between Auckland aud Wellington by many miles. The Standard says : “The remits to the conference need to be carefully watched by the Palmerston and Feilding delegates, and the case against the proposal stated with all the force and argument at their command. We take this opportunity of drawing attention to the revival ot an agitation that has been answered already in the fullest possible manner so far as the expediency and justice of its objects are concerned.” Palmerston’s answer to the proposed link-ing-up of the Main Trunk line between these two points is amusingly parochial. The deviation caunot injure Palmerston in any respect, and it is absurd to argue that the convenience of the travelling public, quick despatch of mails, and saving of expense in tolling stock, should be made subservient to such parochial nonsense. The Times says: “There would be so little to gain by the construction of this loop-line, and so much to lose, that we doubt whether it will ever be undertaken. It is not even clear that there would be a saving of time, but if it was necessary to save time then the best way to accomplish this, and at the same time serve the centres of population, would be to improve the existing lines and speed up the trains. The proposed line may be profitably left to wait till the Levin people can fly their own aeroplanes between that town and Greatford, which as yet is little more than a name on the map,” This kind of flapdoodle should not be allowed to stand in the way of those whose duty it is to safeguard the public welfare.