SPORT & PASTIME

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 80, 20 September 1912, Page 6

SPORT & PASTIME

Gallant French Fighter. ——« —-— BEATEN BUI' NOT DISGRACED. WESTPORT SPORTS AND PICNIC. "PRO FESSI ON AL" FOOTJJ A LLER S Paul Til.-the French lightweight, wa.s compelled to cry "Hold, enough!" in his first Australian ring engagement, when he had to throw in the towel to j Herb. McCoy, the Melbourne boxer, lat the conclusion ot the ninth round. I 'llie beaten Frenchman made a protty ! and plucky showing, which caused the crowd—probably the largest, that has ever witnessed a lightweight fight, in Australia—to cheer him cnthusiastijcally when an injured right ankle made it necessary for him to give up. Though Til had considerably the worst of matters, he fought 'with great grit and ; Frequently had McCoy thinking, but the j latter proved altogether too rugged for j the little Frenchman. He was like a | cat worrying a mouse, and fighting re- | lcni'lessly all the time, made every post a winning one. * « * There is more in driving a motor-ear than merely steering it. To properly handle the car is an art. The careful driver is he who imposes upon tyres ! the minimum stress., he who never skids | his wheels, and he who takes all the cor- : ners carefully. Therefore, beware of j skidding! "Fin out for a ride," the motorist cried, As he hurried away in glee; i Ten miles from town his car btoke ! down, I And "I'm in for a walk,"' sighed h.. I The first appearance of Paul Til, the I French lightweight, in Sydney, says the "Bulletin," was an unqualified success, despite the fact- that, he lost his initial I battle- in the Commonwealth. His' api pearance was so fair and warlike, his J fighting so clean and chivalrous the way jhe took his punishment so manly and ! debonair, that at one bound he achieved hero-worship—the popularity that means ja, big crowd every time he fights. "What, I more could the heart of pugilist de--1 sire? And all this he did in the face of '■ battery and defeat. AA'hat made the j Gaul's battle look so clean was tbe lowIdown scrap which Herbert McCoy put up against, him. It was not the fight of |a good sportsman, but tbe roughing, ; tricky scrap of a pushite, and a pushite !in a flight place. Heaven only knows j why he did it —there was no necessity for it. He had the advantage of weight land reach, and most of the time the I fight went, his way. yei he repeatedly 'hit Til with flic heel of his palm, held land hit simultaneously, and earned disI qualification at least twice for this.de- . spicable manoeuvre. For once, Referee Arthur Scott must have, been dreaming, wool-gathering, or something, for his handling of the fight was far from sat- ' isfactorv.. I " " * I Apropos of a suggestion for a cricket | match.. Married v. Single, a correspondent asks, "What is the position of a widower; is he married or is he single?'' :We should be inclined to describe him |as "married, but let off with a eau--1 tion." j*# - * | The combined AA'estport unions (Labor ; and AA'aterside) are out with a fine programme in connection with the celebration, of their annual sports and picnic at Cape Foulwind on Labor Day. Monday, October 28. Tho "big money" is the. District Point Handicap of three distances '(120 yds, 440 yds, and 220 yds). for which the cash awards amount to ; .£lB. Other important events are CumI berland wrestling, handicap chop, hammer and drill competition and tug-of- | war. while there are minor competitions !of all descriptions. Nominations for District Point Handicap close with the joint secretaries, N. Hirter and D. Moloney. 29 Rus«e'll street, AA'estport, on October 12; acceptances on October 26. All other nominations close lo minutes before start of each event. AVitli fine weather it'll be a great day. • « , ** Something like 120 entries have been I received for the Timaru-Christchurch : cycling road race, to be run next Thursday, 26th inst.. including four Austrai liau representatives and the first four riders to finish in the recent Taranaki road race. The entries are thoroughlyrepresentative of the whole Dominion— east, west, north and south—and we may confidently look for a great strugi gle. The presence of the Australian I champion road rider, Kirkham, will maI tonally add to the interest of the event, and it will be particularly interesting to I sec how he fares with our New Zca- | land cracks. I Though Al. Palzer did knock EngI land's heavyweight champion, BombarI dier AVclls, out in the third round of i their battle, his reputation, instead of I rising in consequence,.would appear to j have -dropped a, good deal. A wellj known ~Sr\v A'ork authority says: "Palmer's part of that fight at the Garden j was a great disappointment. He didn't hit straight, or hard. He pawed and cuffed and wrestled about. He forgot ever.thing he ever knew about fighting. "Wells. 1881b?., and slim at that, beat Palser un badly in one round, and had him reeling around the ring and within nn ace of out. Now, suppose Jack Johnson, in fighting trim, had Palzer in as bad shape as that. What would Johnson do to him? I hate to think about, it. Johnson would knock him out as sure as the sun rises and sets. Palzer wouldn't, have a chance to re- \ cover. No; Palzer has shown that he i can be hit easily, and can be dazed for i a minute or two by a few hard punches. ! Any clever fighter can do what AVells j did. and if AA'ells hadn't lacked just one I thing—ability to keep up the pace—he . surely would have knocked Palzer out within two or three rounds." The. Dunlop Rubber Company of Australasia, reports that tho first and fastest time prizes in the recent 100 miles road rare promoted by the Victorian cycle traders were won on Dunlop tyres, and that the first 12 riders to finish in the annual Perth-Beverley road race all rode ■Dunlop.*-. w m H "Dally" Messenger, the brightest star of N.S.AA T . League football, has decided to turn up the game. His place at centre tliroooniarter in tbe Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) team has been taken by a, younger brother. AA'ally Messenger, who promises to ably fill ih» place of his brilliant brother. A hundred yard? sprint, run at S-il-ferd. England, "a? won h*. .1 Donaldson -Victoria) by Uyrls, m drizzling rain, in 21yds. inside. Ullsec. R. AA'alker (South Afri-,-0 was second, finishing a yard ahead of A P. FoMl- <Qvj«m S . land' The last-named l«=d Ehghtly for half the distance.

Dr. U. T. J. Thacker. president of the. North Canterbury Rugby League, when interviewed after the recent. WollingtonC.interhury I,ea.gue match, predicted a rosy future for the game in New land. "This wnfi the iirsl ii.-mi' player] in the South lslsmd of V'W Zealand." he said, "and it. w:is an absolute success from '•■very point of view. ' There were at least 2"iO() spectators, and there was more enthusiasm and apple use in five minutes than there would be at Lancaster Piirk in six weeks. Tho wind whs keen, rnlrl and strong:, anrl yet nobody at- the "tv! of the game' was cold for excitement nnd inierrst kept .them warm. The ladies, who attended in large numbers, were charmed' by'the absence of all slopping, struggling nnd maul- ; ng. No replacements hnd to be mafle on either sirlr-. and each injury was ■so slight that the most serious kept the player off irlio Hold only five 'minutes. ft was brought home forcibly to those present what an opportunity the League g.-iinc. offers to the light, clever men. who nro kept in the junior craclcs of the I'nion ganu , owing to the bruteforce which it demands. These are going to get l a chance to climb right to the very top in football." Speaking of the cry which had been mad* concerning th«> effect of professionalism. Dr. Thacker said that the use of this word to decry League football was misleading. "Does a cricket professional make all the teams fie plays in professional?" he asked. "Ho plays with them and agaiiijl them, and is paid by them, and way.ie, at times, has a sporting 'go' with them ; but he does not make them professional. Look at our amateur jockeys at gallops, and our amateur drivers nt trots. The game in Canterbury is going to be pure amateur sport for the people and played by the people. Ability, skill, and the nervous system is going to be educated, instead of the gross, uneducated, heavy, muscular animal force."