Sporting Sprints.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 92, 20 December 1912, Page 6

Sporting Sprints.

JOTTINGS

"The visit to Australia of Duke. Kahanamoku at. the invitation of the Australian governing body cannot eventuate fhjt; season." This formed the nucleus of a'message forwarded that body by Duke through Australian Eleven cricketer T,. R. Mavne, who, m the course of a chit with .swimming officials in Sydney. made it e|e a r thatthe speedy Hawaiian swimmer could not make the visit until the season when be promised to come- not by him-self-but with a body of native swimmers, surf shooters and high divers.

The promoters of the Sydn«\\ sis-day bicycle race, which is to be held al> Ihe end of the year, have decided to limit the event to 1o teams, as they consider that the Sydney Cricket Ground track is not safe for more than I.T teams of two riders each. Already more than this number of teams have nominated, consequently it will he necessary for the promoters to weed out some of thei weakest teams.

There probably are more broken-down ex-star pugilists holding up corners on the main streets of Now York than any other city'in the world, says an American writer. The majority are not natives of the big town, but they seem to flutter there at the finish of their careers much as moths fly around a. candle flame. Buffalo Costello, the once great Australian middleweight; Young Corbett. former featherweight champion of the world ; Young Griffo, and numerous other decayed glove artists hover drearily among the scenes of their past triumphs, their names never appearing in print unless in connection with a seance in court arising from some minor infraction of the laws. The reason is. of course*, that among the sports who throng the Great White AVay there are many veterans who knew the former gladiators when they wore in their prime, and are willing to loosen up n bit for the sake of old times. Yet all of those well-known fistic derelicts were once the possessors of big bank accounts and spent money lik© water. Latter-day fighters are disposed for the most part to be careful of their earnings, and generally display a considerable amount of business ability when it comes to the boarding of the root of all evil

A one-armed tennis player is a curiosity, especially when he reaches to tbe first flight of players. Such a one is C. B. St. John, of Brisbane., who is also a cricketer of ability. Despite his physical disadvantage, St. John has a fine American service, which ho delivers with exceptional accuracy, and without any of the strange, contortions which so often areompany it. He holds the ball between tbe stump of his right arm a.nd tbe racquet, resting above it, and tosses it into the air. h —; m THE RIGHT OF WAY. When father drove old Dobbin, he sat upon bis load. And frowned on every ehaffeur who wanted half the road ; Wheji father got an auto, his feelings seemed to switch : Ho glared at every horse be met unless it, took tbe ditch. —"Lippincott's Magazine.' Writing in "Cricket," G. A. Brooking asks: '"Who is the best bowler hhe game has over known?" That accomplished cricketer and critic, P. F. Warner, gives Barnes that distinction. It is a very sweeping assertion to make, yet tho opinion of such an' authority must be respected, even if one does not entirely agree with it. Many good judges of the game in Australia will not endorse it. Perhaps tho three greatest bowlers the. Commonwealth has producer! have been Sroffortb, .Turner and Hugh Trumble Which was the greatest of the throe it would be hard to determine, hut there are competent, critics who swear by each as the greatest howlor who ever liver]. Of the three, bowever. Turner hit the sticks more often than either of the other two; By the way, some English papers are calling Barnes "the Terror," a distinctive title that belongs to Turner, just as "the Demon" was the property of Spoffor+h. or at least the name by which Spoff. was known.

The swimming carnival held at the To Aro baths, Wellington, on Saturday, December 7, was a very poor affair, and if it represented the best that the local swimming authorities can do in the management and arrangement of such functions, it is time they turned the game up. Tho programme was poor, lacking in novelty and interest, and there was almost a funereal slowness about the proceedings. Apart from the high and fancy diving display of the visiting Australians and an unrehearsed incident during the afternoon there was little to relievo the ordinariness of the carnival The unrehearsed incident aforesaid was responsible for the only "comic, relief." For the accommodation of the Central Mission Band, which had been engaged for the musical portion of the programme, a temporary platform had been erected over a certain area of the baths, hut during the afternoon it collapsed, and nandsmen, instruments, and several spectators were precipitated into the water below. Happily, the mishap had no serious conscqtiences, but it will be a long time, we think, before the unfortunate musicians will forget their unpremeditated dip into the baths, and the cold, Clammy, clinging feel of their clothes as they wended their way home after their cheerless experience.

Bombardier Billy Wells, of England, created a big impression in America. An eminent writer of pugilistic matters in New York places Wells on a high pedestal. The manner in which he cleaned up Tom Keiunedy after a Tather tame display against Al Palzer gained a heap of Tcspect for him. "Wells is a marvellous boxer," declares tho American authority. "It is impossible to compare him with others of the present day, because none of tho others have a noteworthy fraction of skill. He has many of the features of a Corbett and Fitzsimmons combined. The only thing be lacks ('if he lacks that) is the. splendid sta-mina. and recuperating powers that, both of the old-time champions possessed in marked degree.'

Cecil Parke, who vanquished the hitherto indomitable Norman Brookes in the Davis Cup contests, is an Ulster man, born at Clones, County Moneghan. He is about 30 years old, a Presbyterian by religion, a lawyer by profession and an anti-Home Ruler by conviction He enmes of a tennis-playmg family, his brother —also a lawyer—and his two sisters all being conspicuous players on Irish courts. He is not only a champion tennis player, but is an expert at billiards, a cricketer of considerable merit, and a footballer of distinction (having captained the Irish

football team against the visiting South Africans some years ago). He has also won fame on the. golf links in Ulster, where, golf is purely a winter sport for in the summer the grass is so long that play is impossible.

"They are a tough crowd," was the remark contained in a letter a AVhangarei resident received from a friend in Bermuda, and referring to the recent visit of the Australian cricketers to the island. "Gregory, their captain,'" ho* continued, "was of a type a bit above some of the rest, and the least said about them the better." These remarks have a peculiar interest in view of the reports concerning the conduct of certain members on and off the field during their travels, which ennduei is to he the subject of full inquiry hy the Australian cricket authorities.

Thus a writer in "Cricket" of August 31 : "Who is the man to whom the tournament has brought the greatest access of fame? I should say. without a moment's hesitation, Charles Kejlcway. Bardslev did splendidly ;so did Hnb'bs. Barnes and AA'oollcy. But of those great things were expected. Others did*"woll. but scarcely well enough to increase their reputations. Kelleway stands to-day far higher than he.did when be landed in England. Slow? I -rant you .Hint. Lets the ball bit the bat too often? True. Has few strokes? Bight again. There are more criticisms that can" easily be made ; and yet', when all that can be said against tbe tall Glebe man is said, it must bo granted that ho is a great player in his own special stvlc. Cool, plucky, level-bead-ed, unruffled by jeering, ho reminds one somewhat of John Douglas, somewhat of Alec Banncrman, somewhat of Joe A r inc. yet is different from all of them. '