Palmerston North Caledonian Society

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1716, 25 May 1886, Page 2

Palmer ston North Caledonian Society

The inaugural sports of -the above Society were held yesterday m the ground adjoining Mr Lintbn's property, Terrace End, kindly lent by that gentleman for -the oocasion. The weather which had been settled and fine for some previous days did if anything seem brighter yesterday, and enticed a large number pi holiday makers to enjoy the glorious sunshine outdoors. .A.gpodjjercentage of these wended their way to the grounds at Terrace End, . to witness the first public gathering of -the local O*ledonian Society, and few, if indeed any, regretted haying done jw. During the day upwards of 1000 :perß,bns' were on tha ground,, arid the proceedings were most successful throughout. 1 Boy's Rack, 100 yds handicap, for boys under 14, 15t prize 7s 6d; Sind ss; entrance 6d. . fch Bianchi ... ; • ;.. 1 T. Gillies ... i : ... ... ... 2 Eleven others started. 3 220 yds Handicap Hubdlb BaOE— lst prize £1 15s, and a sweepstake of It each ; 2nd 10s. Broughton . ... ..i,. ... : ... 1 Jackson .... ..-.*.-," ... ... 2 Saywell; .... *... .:.*... ... 3 The starters m this race were Broughton, scratch ; Jackson, 2yds; Saywell, 6yds ; and Whisker,* Byd s. Whisker kept his lead to the first hurdle but was then loft behind by Broughton,, who kept' the lead all through,winning easily. Whisker tripped over the two last hurdles, falling heavily on the second. Jackson made a grand spurt at the finish, coming in* good second, Saywell third. Time, 33secs.. ■ - 4 Throwing the HAmueß— lst prize £1; entrance Is, .;>,,. . . There were four, competitors for thii event, J. W. Hughes, J. Coady, J. R. Rush,;and J. McAteer. The first two, however, had the winning between them from the start, Hughes .leading with 55ft 6in, , Coady beat this by 57ft Sin, followed by Hiighes 58ft 10in, Coady then after threw attempts scored 6Qft 3in, Hughes, however, with two more.throwg . brought his distance np to 61ft 6in,whiclw his opponent endeavoured without sue cess to surpass. -*^ 6 100 yds Handicap Foot. Race— lst prize £110r. . and n sweep of Is ; 2nd £1. . ' Harkness .. 1 Broughton ... ' ... 2 Oliphant ... .;. 3 . Seven started. W. Broughton, scratch; Jackson and Harkhess, lyd; Whisker, 4yds; Oliphant and Browning, syds; Syinons,. 7yds. This was an excellent race. 8 1 Mile Bictcle Rack— lst prize £1 10s ; 2nd 10s; entrance 2s. ■ Three started for this event., viz., Sutton, Dawick, and 'Kendall, leaving Keeling's corner, Broad-street, at 12.45, the winning post beinsr at the railway crossing opposite Mr Armstong ; s, Terrace End. Won by Sutton and Dawiok coming home together. 7 Wrestling (Border or Cumberland}— lst priie £110e ; 2nd 10s ; entrance Is. Millan and Symons engaged first and after a severe tussle the latter was thrown. Coady and Gardiner then engaged, the former- putting down his opponent after a pretty hard struggle. Millan and Coady then threw off, the latter winning, but not easily. 9 20 Minutes HANDICAP Go-AS-yOu-Please— lst prize £2 10s and a sweepstake of Is each ; . 2nd ■ £1. "... Four started, Millan, scratch ; Clarke, 30yds ; Collingwood, 40yds ; Manning, 100 yds. i-Won by Manning easily. 10 Single Stick Competition— For Sihrer medal presented by Mr Ligirttyood ; entrance Is. Won by E. Johnston. The other competitors were Newth, Robert, and Lambert. Mr Isherwood acted as judge, and engaged the winner m a few friendly passes after the contest. Mr D. H. Macarthur presented the medal, which was placed on the breast of the winner by Mr Leggirtwood, both gentlemen addressing suitable words of compliment to the receiver. 11' Running High Jump— lst prize £1; 2nd 10s; . •■■' entrance Is. . Harkness, Hughes, and Broughton entered, the event being won by the latter; height cleared, sft. 12 TossiNG The Caber— lst prize £1 ss ; 2nd 10s ; entrance Is. This event was won by Coady after several attempts made by competitors to even turn the caber successfully, the weight of which was estimated "to be over 1501 bs. 13 1 Mii<E Handicap Walking Match— lst prwe £2 and a sweepstake of Is each ; 2nd 15s. Clarke ... ... 1 Coliingwood 2 This was perhaps the best event of the day's sport, and was well contested between Clarke and Collingwood. Six entered, viz., Belfit, scratch ; Collingwood, 25yds ; Smith, 35yds ; Clarke* 40yds; Cole and Symons, 65yde. In the first round Clarke pushed forward and gained ground up to the third round, by which time Oole and Symons had dropped out. Commencing the third round Belfit spurted a bit and passed Clark when half way round, with Smith close behind. Entering the fourth round Smith passed Belfit; m the fifth he was also passed by Clarke when about half way round. Shortly after this Belfit dropped out. leaving the contest to Smith, Collingwood, -and Clarke, Smith kept the lead to the finish, winning by about 35yds. Time, 9mins 40gecs. The walking, or rather, running, of Smith was pro* tested against by Collingwood and Belfit, and the committee after taking 1 evidence decided to uphold the protest, giving the first prize to Clark and second to Collingwood. Smith had been twice cautioned on the course by the judges. Vi Highland Fling (m costume)— lst prize £1 10s ; entrance Is. Four entered for this national contest, viz., Walker, Scott, Cameron, and Ee«d. The prize was awarded to Cameron, though his introduction' of the walk round m the dance was considered altogether an innovation. 16 440 yds Handicap Foot Race— lst prize £2 5s and a sweepstake of Is each; 2nd £1. : Kavanagh .... ... .;. ... 1 Harkness ... ...• ... ... 2 Four started. Harkness, scratch • Jackson, syds; Belfit, 7yds ; Kavanagh, 12yds. In the first round Harkness caught up to Kavanagh but was passed by the second round, Kavanagh winning by about half a yard. Harkness became weak immediately he left off running, and had to be supported to. a seat to prevent his fainting off. 15 Throwing 581 b Weight over. Horizontal Bar— Ist prize £1 5t ; 2nd 10s ; entrance Is. Cameron, Swallow, Hughes, and Coady competed, but the latter two m a short time had it all between them. Won by Hughes. 19 Putting 161h Stone— sst prize £1 ; 2nd 7s 6dentrance Is. Coady, Hughes, Moffatt, and Cameron entered. Won by Coady, Cameron second. * .' 21 1 Mile Handicap Foot Bace— lst prize £2 10s and a sweepstake of Is each ; 2nd £1. Seven entered; Pettengill, scratch; Mannin<rand Kavanagh, 10yds ; Millan 20yds ; Rush and Belfit, 25vds ; Collinffwood, 30yds. Coming out of the first roui.d Millan led off, Manning second. Belfit entering tl»e second round got the lead and kept it all round. In the third round, however, Millan and Manning close together passed Belfit when about half way round, Millan getting first by a couple of yards whiph he soon increased to about six. After twe more rounds Millan dropped out leaving- the race to Manning arid Belfit, the former winninr m a walk, Belfit about 30yds behind. n Handicap Boys' Back, under, 15— 1st prize ft 6d ; 2nd 3s ; entrance 6d. * BTwelve boys started. WonbyKilkolly, Corkery second. . f The competition was a most exciting ene and was eagerly watched by the spectators, the winner, P/. Robert, beinr loudly cheered.. The other competitor* were Bennett, Andrews, . Pringle.lSteele, Hawkins, Keyg, and Hunter. The onlf other suoeesßful attempta >to. carry awar the ring were made by. Bennett (once)* and Hunter (once), '* This concluded the eventi of the d»v ana the Caledopiwx Society » to be ooi r grat«lat?a en «»e iplendid lucece*. temeved find wh^eh eonW sot pouibb> h»vt reiult^d hut for tht W erga«e »otiei

since the starting of the Society which it must be remembered was inaugurated only a few weeks back. The second programme, to be. submitted next Now New Year's day will, without doubt, be looked forward to with pleasurable anticipation, by not only bur Scotch settlers, but by all the pleasure-«eekinp residents of thWi<iis.triot» and especialJ^.fihtfsß.wiioj w,U) i-emeinber the excellent day'-sVspotfis-provided yesterday. The music provided by Herr Norberg was much, admired. It was a pitrlhowreveX'thaithb-'perforui-ers could not be brought to Palmerston earlier, as by not arriynig until the 12.30, traJßitJitf sproceedings were riot s6 lively : up to that time. Mr Eraser did a pood business with, the refreshment booth, and had a ver j nice and: varied supply of eatables, besides hot tea and coffee ex- . ceUently prepared., Legal games were atsd W the ground conducted by Mr Partridge., .The programme was occasionally' enlivened by the performance of Higblind bagpipes, the player, who came ,f rom Marton for the occasion, being dressed m the genuine tartan and kilt costume. . On the whole, everything passed off without a single hitch occurring-, and we again heartily congratulate the Society' on the grand success attained at ;its inaugural^ gathering. The; ball given m the Theatre m the evening was attended by about 40 couples, all seeminar to enjoy themselves completely. Messrs Norberg, Smith, and: Miss ' Norberg, supplied the music, and the catering was successfully carried out by Host Isherwood. The ball arrangements were carried out by the Committee faultlessly, and much praise is due to the members, but more to Mr Robert, for the careful manner m which all the details were attended to. About £9 was taken m the Lawn by the. Society, the charge for admission being 6d, children tree. At the supper which took place durinsane ball, His Worship the Mayor spoke as follows : — "Ladies arid Gentlemen:— " At this inagural meeting of the Palmerston North Caledonian Society I have been, requested as President to make a few opening remarks. It seems to me to be somewhat late m the day for that, as this Society has already been opened on the field during the day m a very practical manner, and this evening by yourselves m this ball rooms As lam a Scotchman I cannot be expected to make a humorous speech. Sydney Smith has said. that it requires a surgical operation to gat a joke into a Scotchman's head, and as you, as members of this Caledonian Society are all supposed to be Scotch for the day, you would not under stand me if I made the attempt. The Scotch are a strange race m one resbect. There is no people more fond of their native land, and none more addicted to wandering. In all parts of the world you [will-find Scotchmen. If you co to the North Pole and climb to the top of it you will find a Scotchman there and ten to one but he is an Aberdonian, and it is no wonder that they are to be found m this fair land of New Zealand instituting their, national games and pastimes. I have been wondering of late why these Caledonian Societies are so popular. I Bcarcely'think it is because ot the manly •xercises engaged m, and I have come to the conclusion that the great attractions are .the picturesque Highland costumes and the melodious tones of the Highland pipes. I am sorrj there was only one KttV*nd one set of pipes on the ground to-day, but I havejia doubt that on future occasions as our Society becomes bettor known we will be able to make as good a display m that respect as any kindred society m the land. On one occasion m the '.town of Inverary a number of cattle dealers were disputing m a public house. One introduced the subject of the bravery of the British Nayy, and expressed surprise that Nelson should have given the signal at Trafalgar that England expect that every man should do his duty, to which one replied that Kelson only exDected that the English would de their duty, he did not speak to the Scotch as he knew they would do theiri; Now we all felt satisfied that our Committee would do their duty, and I am sure You will agree with me m say- . ing that they have done it faithfully and well. We have had sports to-day which are certainly a credit to the district and if our ' Committee can do so much and so well on such short -notice, I do not think I predict too much by saying that before long the Palawrston North Caledonian Society will be equal to anything of the kind m New Zealand. At the request of the Committee I have, to thank Mr James Linton for the use of the grounds to-day» On this as on former occasions he has generously plaoed his grounds at the disposal of the public/ and il think we are indebted to him m no small measure for the success which has attended our first effort m this direction.