SPORTING NEWS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1658, 15 March 1886, Page 4

SPORTING NEWS.

--This is the Herald's version of the presentation to Mr F. P. Tancred. During the festivities of " settling" at the : Thursday night Mr A. J. ]^ar§bns took the opportunity of present- | ing of- Mr P. P. Tancred, the owner of the winner of the Wanganui Derby of 2^86, with a x'alitable gold watch and ohain^^The gift Was enclosed m a very handsdine : _iiew case, and the presentation" was 1 made the occasion of a highly eulogistio speech, m which the recipient's sportsmanlike conduct -was praised to me skieTß, and the butter laid on so thick that- Mr Tancred "fairly •bltished/ under the. unexuecfed honours heaped upon '-bis headU The donorsf dratik his health m gpaiikling wiiie, and gave; him all the musical honors, -during, w/iich ; time the ■face of the recipien was a study, as lie half- unconsciously examined the magniijciisnt gif tf 6V- wlndH'he' was vainly* trying, to guess a reason for its presentation, and "suitable; 'words to return thanks m; arjy.-way'l At last- the ; {truth Idawned on huii:;4ie had"been sold 1 It was his own ticker and: chain, which he had left at a local watch doctor's to be blistered or fired, or something; which the boys had iunejin on him ! 'For a moment a dark flush crossed the victim's brow, but one glance at •- the, 'mirth-convulsed faces of ; the company, who were also just learning j the true nature of the presentation, sent him off m fits of laughter, and no one enjoyed the jokd . better ;than the after the first shock of the discovery of it, had passed off. The inimitable Thatcher was . " had," worse than the above at Hokitika, as he stood a champagne supner to allow of a valuable gold watch being presented to liim. What he did get, was a gorgeous case with a toy M-iitcsh inside.-- He never forgave the perpetrators, who, however, managed to survive his anger. '"*