ANNIVERSARY SPORTS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 110, 24 January 1880, Page 2

ANNIVERSARY SPORTS.

President : Ilia Worship tbe Mayor. Vice-Presidents : Messrs. Q-. M. Snelson and it. J. Lloyd. Starters |:on Foot Packs : Messrs. H. J. Hayns and P. E. Warburton. Judges i*or Foot "Racks : Messrs. j. 13. ])ungan, J}, ivnight, and S. Coleman. Treasurer : Secretary : ftfr. C. A. Mitford. Mr. it. N. Keeling Clerk of the Course .- Mr. VV. R. D.irnond. Handtcappers : iVre,9sr*3- Dungan, Mitford, and Coleman. Starter — ITorse Racing • Mr. H. ,L Ilayn-j. •Judge : Mr. H. J. Lloyd. Clerk of the Scales : Mr. S. Abrahams.

As our readers are all no doubt well aware, tlie anrual sports, which should have come off on Boxing Day, were, on account of tho inclemency of the weather, postponed until Thursday, when it was hoped the elements would prove rqore propitious. Fortunately the hope was realised, for although m the earlier portion of the day the Glouds were, rather lowering, and, shifty, and old Sol had been too heavily handicapped to obtain a mastery, still §ueh result was more pleasing than if his rays xrcrc shooting down upon the ground with fierce intensity. From an early hour iv the morning vehicles and pedestrians were upon tiie move m the direction of the ground, and traps laden with the paraphernalia necessary for tlie erection of skittle alleys. Aunt Sallys, «i,n d other amusements of a kindred nature, were slowly wending their ways to the scone of operation*?. The ground was well patronised \y. the sporting line, chief amongst which was a rather rudely-constructed " totalise!*,'' which, however, m the hands of its energetic owner, did good bnsine-s during the day, and received the lion's share ol the patronage. By the eleven train, . the B*yid' frpm Martin arrived, and certainly proved one of the greatest attractions of the day. Thanks to the en erg}* of Mr. Hayns the arrangements were perfect," a commodious Grand Stand having been erected, with a pavillion for the band at the side, while m front a large dancing board, 24 x 24 was provided for the votaries of Terpsichore. Tn addition to this a capacious saddling paddock was erected for the weighing and mounting for the various hack races. The number of contestants m the foot races was not very ls\rge, although the various events werti well contested, a fact no doubt owing to the ease with which the hairdicappers treated a -'df/k horse " named Woods. There caq be no doubt tluit they were at fault m placing Woods, but setting hi m aside the handicaps appeared to give general satisfaction, as while the largest limit allovyabie was given to 'those entitled to distances, m nearly every ease the scratch men pulled of the events. Webber vyas the lion ofthe day, and scored no less than four victories, Throwing the Cricket Ball, the Ladies Cup, Vaulting with Pole, the Qne Mile ; Woods coming next two. I. 100 yards' Handicap, far. boys under fourteen "years. — First £rize, £1 ; second, 10s. Entrance, lsi IL D,awick 1 John Rush 2 There were four entries Joseph and Mathew Bel fit at scratch, Dawick four yards, Bush ten yards, aiid H. M'Lean twelve yards, but the latter did not run. This was one of the best faces of the day. Dawick and Rush breasting the tape together, of course ending ma ' | dead head. lii the run off Davvickmade i upthe 6 yards.' advauta^e given to Bush I and came iv a winner by about twelve inches. 11. 100 yards' Handicap for frfen,— Firta prize, £3 ; second, £2. Entrance, 3s. F. Woods... ... 1 H. Snow 2 Pirani, and Kitchen also competed. The starter had considerable difficulty" m getting the lot away, and before doing so Woods had to be pu,t back two yards, and Snow one for going over the line. -"The race was well contested, the starters being placed at — Woods, two yards -, ELitcheii, 3 yards ; Pirani and Snow, 7 . yards. Woods came m a winner by about a yard, by a hard struggle, witli Snow and Pirani a dead heat. Xn the run off, Snow beat Pirani by the distance of his original handicap — one yard. . 111. Throwing tbe Cricket Ball. — Prize, £1 10s. Entrance, 2s. For this event there were six entries , Webber, F. Boe, Lyne, Walsh, Williams, aud Bishop. ) Webber led off, and sent the ball 88 yards, aud although the others had three tries each, none could reach the distance, Fivd Eoe coming nearest with 86 yards., IV. 12i) yards' Handicap Hurdle Race, over ' ' ten hurdles, height 3 feet 6 inches. First prize, £3 ; second prize, £2. Entrance, 3d. Copeland 1 Laing... 2 To the surprise ofi most people, F. | did not elect to accept for this

event, ho had received, six yards. Only four competitors towed the mark, Copeland at scratch, Kitchen five yards, Laing seven yards, and F. Roe eight yards. Copeland ;bolted off ■with a plunge, cut through his men, ancl camo m a good winner, with Laing second. Y. Banning Long Jump. — First prize, £2 ; second, $1. Entrance, 2s. J. Hood 1 I). Kitchen 2 Four entries, Hood, Kitchen, Laing, and Copeland. The jumping -was by no means good, for although each seemed to do his best, first prize was taken with 16. feet 4 inches. VI. 440 yards' Flat Handicap.— First prize £5 ; second, £2. Entrance, ss. Woods 1 Copeland 2 This was a very hollow affair as far as the taking of the first prize was concerned, as on account of the advantage given to Woods by tho handicappcrs, it was a foregone conclusion before the start. Had 'he been placed at scratch with Webber, there might have been a better race, but m that case the victory of first place would haye fallen to Copeland, who with only three yards advantage of Webber won second place by almost that length. Vaugban, Walter Pelaney, and Braithwaite were nominated, but did not contest. The competitors were— TYebber, four yards ; Copeland, seyen yards ; Milner, eight yards; Woods, fifteen yards; ]\fason, eighteen yards ; and Swift, twenty-five yards. In justice to the latter, it may be stated that he met wjth some little baulk by the rope being put np as he was rounding- for the-ffirst time, but his subsequent runnipg showed tjiot even had -iliat not qpcur.red he was never m the race. VII. Running High Jump. — First prize, £2; second, £1. Entrance, 2s. H00d... ... ...1 Only three competed, and therefore no secend prize. The competitors were J". Hood, Laing and Brando^. Each cleared until the pole had reached 4ft 11 inches when Brandon retired ; Laing cleared that, but failed to get over five feet, a height which was cleanly jumped hV Hood,. Reside having cleared the height, Hood was by fat* the prettiest , juniper of the lot, for while the other ( two carried legs and body over as best i they could, Hood crossed m the very centre of the guage. m a sitting posture \yith his, feef quite close together. VIII. Half Mile Handicap— Ladies' Cup— Value about £10. Entranco, 10s. { Webber 1 Although there w.i<* hot so much money upon it, considering that the race was for the Ladies' Trophy, it was looked upon as the event of the day, and for the honor of Palmerston it was hoped a local man would prove, (ho victor, particularly as they' had been well pleased with their handicaps. Only four competed, Webber at seven yard*-* ; Allison, twelve yards ; Pirani, thirtyfive yards *, and Mason, forty yards. Wcbbe** lost up. tiipe m decreasing the distance between him, and Allison, and by the second round had I*ll,ll into third place, this induced the latter to put on a spurt, which had the effect of following Webber's example, aud while Wehber took the lead Allison took second place, Matjon having retired leaving third to Pirani. IX. Vaulting wi' y h Fule. — Irir.st pyize, £0 •, second, £2. Entrance, ss. Webber '. ... ... 1 Kirciien } 2 Williams ), This contest created great excitement »% the four who contested, se.emed veyy - evenly matched. Laing, however, was the first to retire, as he o. ild not get over higher than niue feet three. Webber cleared nine feet ten, taking first prize, while Williams and Kitchen reached nine feet e'g'.t inches and divided second prize. X. 440 yards' Handicap Hurdle Race, over ten hurdles. —^irst prize,, £0 ; second, £i. Entrance, ss. Copeland 1 Webber ... U This was one of the best race.-* of the day, and the result should be a a feather m the caps of the handienpppr-t. Copeland and Webber both started at a scratch, with Sheerin at ten and Laing at sixteen yards. It must be allowed that to a person with any pretensions ! to be a runner either of those distances should be worth hajing. Copeland is scarcely with an equal a<* a hurdle racer, aud although not sp fleet-af foot as Webber, most people named him as the winner. He. kept- the lead right through until one hundred yards from,' home, when Webber put on a grand spurt, closed up, and the two rose tq the last, jump together. Unfortunately for him, however, tho heel ofh/ij shoe caught m the hurdle, he was thrown down, and consequently lost ground. Had this not happened there is not the slightest doubt that if he did not breast the tape first, he wquld have given. Copeland a hard push for it. XI. Putting the Heavy Weight. — First | nrize, £2 ; second, £1. Enteranco 2s. ' ■ Williams 1 R^sh 2* Killkolly and Lahig also cjo^tested but neither were able to reach the distance of the winners— twenty -two and twenty feet respectively. XII. Gne Mile Champion Handicap.— First prize, £10 and Cup the value of £10, second £5 ; and third £2. Entrance, iOs. Cup to be won two years out of three before becoming tlie property of the winner. Webber .... ... 1 Vaugban, 2 Sherrin S This event brought seven competitors to the. starting place as follow :-Xaughan, scratch; Webber, ten yards; Copeland, twertty-five yards ; Sheciin, thirty-five yards ; Milner, fifty yards ; Belfit, T sixty-five yards; Piramy eighty yards. As Vaughan has the reputation of being one of the best long distance runners m. the 'lsland, this, was looked upon as an absolute certainty for him, the more particularly as Webber — the only man he was 'said to fear — had .con-, tested m almost every event of the. day, while he had been holding himself m reserve. The result, however, pray*4 that he must have been out of condition-, ox h^s. po-vyers been somewhat over| ratedfas notwithstanding all Webber* previous exertions, be breasted the tape first. Vaughan, who has a magnificent style aud stride, held himself m reserve

t v ti Ith c fou r th . rotind , when he cu t. tnrou'gh hisimeni-^nd when within fifty yafrds Cj2|^|h^pbs£ made a desperate struggle ; bu£it^as of no avail, and he .only seccred v >«eqnd place, with Sheeriri —the winner of ylist year— third. We regret to say that Pirani got badly hurt m the foot/by* running against one of the-stakes. - ■■'"After winning this event. Webber was content to rest upon his laurels, having secured m prizes considerably over £'30. XIII. llop, step, and .Tump. — Fii*st prize £2; Beconcl prize £l. TEiitarnee 2a." Hood..* ..: „.' ... ... ;..- ,'lx ' This event was: wonby 4f) feet. -x - 3£IV.Two mi les' Handicap Walking,- Match. — First prize £7 ; : second £3.'. Entrance 7s. S. Neary ... X XX" : " -" Perhaps there was no event of the day looked forward to with sueh.inX terest as the walking match, on account of the well-known powers of both' Siepben Neary and John Knight, Each man had strong supporters, ftnd'. both were equally sanguine of success, for while Neary imagined that he was ' more than a match for his opponent, Knight -vras willing to back himself for £10 to win. It was a knqwVdgeXf ' these facts, arid of the capabilities ot . the pair, which induced the handicappors to place the. men ujion equal foot- x ing, so that beside"' t^ih^'^bnclnsiiSns'* and proving to their own, satisfaction which was the best man, a splendidlycoptested'race might be 'provided for the spectators. Neary and !Knight were of course placed at fscra&^hi.^ith r Kitchen, the. only . otli pf .yorojieti tor. *v ei ffl>ty yards aji'ad.. Wlien the pistot was fired, Weary started of with a plunge, and before tho first round at the winning post had £ot~ ftiljy tW yirds start of Knight. . with... Kitchen^ - about, seventy yards ; n advance. For the next four rounds the 1 only change m position was that Kitchen's advantage had decrpaspd \p. atjQut« thirty yards, when Knight put on a, spurt' and Tor the next round was but about^tw yards behind Neary. - At the close of tlie seventh round, he had collared Neary and tried hard to pass, but being oh the outside, the task was not an easy one, the more sq as Neary kept a strict watch on hjs cqmpapion, and the spurt of one was quickly f o]^o\ved B j that from another; At the eighth round Kitchen was allotted a back plac*\with. the pair walking well together, and as tho winniugpost \yas $assp,d to conclude the last lap neither p arty had ah inch ; advantage. "Those w|io had seen Knight "~~ finish at the Feildiug Sports, and were, aware that he; had benieji Neary. at JVJarton. imagined that he was reserving hi uiso.lt' for t'to final struggle, and were still confident of success. However, when about f}ftjgy yayds from, home, Neary put orL.ste.am, and ]£mght made.' a gallant effort" ta.-iniitsite .his example, but fo.u,nd himself unequal "tb. the task, and stopped short when about ' ten yards run t lie judge . Bothpaities were loudly cheered. ans it. is only fair, tp *?.ay tl.wt Knight has freely acknowledged that Neary is a f.ir better m an than he had given him credit for; : that lv* is possessed of hi ofo staiiiiha; than ho. bad imagined, and the race was* fairly, won upon its merits. The. pa.cc was. soin,e'thiug terrific, a . fact yylr,c^i ...wU, bp ieiulily- peVieyc'l when ii^a stated .that it was done m a few s£a<\iids of 16, minutes.