CALEDONIAN SOCIETY'S SPORTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 2, 2 January 1877, Page 2

CALEDONIAN SOCIETY'S SPORTS.

The eighth annual gathering under the auspices of the Caledonian Society took place in Mt Richardson's paddock is the beautiful valley of the Maitai yesterday, and was more numerously attended than on any previous occasion. The receipts afc the gates were £iO2 7s, which was £12 in excess of what had ever been taken before, and by three o'clock there must have been considerably in excess of 3000 people on the ground. The Society's silver cap, valued at £12 12s, on this occasion bacam* the property of A. Lynes, who won for the second time the mile race, having covered the distance in 4rains 58sec9. It was presented to him by the Hon Major Richmond, C.8., smid the cheers of the spectators, the Band playing " See the conquering hero comes." There was some little excitement occasioned at one time by the drunken vagaries of a man named .Macdonald, who became very fightable, and rushed about distributing blows liberally and impartially to all who came within his reach. The police were compelled to interfere, and it required the whole force to secure him, which was eventually done, and he was conveyed to the police station. During the scrimmage a little child who got helplessly entangled in the surging crowd had a narrow escape from being trampled to death, from which fate it was rescued by a man, who, seeing its danger, struck out at the people who were around, and thus cleared a sufficient space to enable him to pick the little thing up. With this single exception everything went smoothly and well, and all appeared to enjoy themselves, the weather, which was perfect, contributing largely to the day's success. The boothkeepers seemed to be doing a good business, but with one or two exceptions the effects of the liquor sold were in no way apparent. The following is a list of the various events, accompanied by the names of the winners: — Flat Race, for boys under twelve; once round the course. First prize, ss; second, 3s. Wright 1 Cave 2 Pollock 3 There were eight starters, and thorace was well contested from beginning to end. Running High Leap, for boya under fifteen. First prize, 10s; second, ss. Biddle .. i Arnold and Bartlett ... tie. Biddle was too much for his opponents, and Arnold and Bartlett were each as good as the other for second place. Flat Race, for boys under fifteen; twice . round the course. First prize, 10s; seco id, ss. R. Arnold i Biddle .., ... ... 2 Seven came to the post, but the race throughout was between these two, and terminated as above. Flat Race for men; 220 yards. First prize, £l; second, 10s. A. Russ i C. Norgate ... 2 There were five started, but none of them could touch Russ. Running Flat Leap. First prize, £1 ; second, 10s. Warnock 1 C. Norgate 2 Warnock's 18ft sin was very closely approached by Norgate, who cleared 18ft 4Jin. The difference between the amounts coming to him and the winner in this account clearly proved the value of land on the paddock to be £1 an inch. Putting the Stone, 22lbs. First prize, £1; second, 15s. ' Silcock , 1 Robertson ... ... ... 2 Silcock was good for 26ft 9in at this, which was sis inches more than the second man could accomplish. Flat Race for men; 440 yards. First prize, £2; secqnd, £1. C. Norgate ... 1 F. Russ ... ... ... 2 There were only three sfartera for tins race, which resulted as above. Time, 2mins 3secs. ■--..-. Wrestling, North Country and Cumberland style. First prize, £2; second, £1. Brough , ... ... ... 1, Silcock 2 Stringer ... 0 There was some little misunderstanding in awarding the prizes for this event, and the Committee considering thafe the second man was not fairly treated awarded him the same amount as the adjudged winner. Running High Leap. First prize, £1; second, 10s. E. Arnold 1 F. Russ 2 Arnold did his sft 3in, while sft 2in was Russ' limit. Gymnastic Feats upon the Horizontal Bar. First prize, 30s ; second, 15s. C, Wastney \ o T.Lloyd .' 2 borne very pretty feats were accomplished by the competitors, who. in addition to their 1 prize money, received a large amount of applause from the spectators. Mile Champion Race. First prize, £5 ; second £2 10s. In addition to the money prize for this race, a Silver Cup, value twelve guineas, will be given by the Society to the winner, provided the distance be run within five minutes, and at the annual gathering for two years consecutively. A. Lynes j H. Lyues ]" % 2 Akcrsten ... ... <<t q Skellie [\\ q Tovey "] 0 This was beyond all doubt the most intaresting event of the day, and each competitor

had his little knot o€ hackera, who believed that their man was too good for any of the' others. The lot got away well together,: Skellie gradaally drawing away from the others, A. Lynes keeping pretty close to him, with Akersten third, in tha third lap Tovey cried «cnough,'f and Skellie, AkeEaten,. A. Lynes was the order in which these three completed the round. After two or three slight changes in the relative positions of the men, A, Lynes put on a good spurt and passed Akeraten in the sixth lap, Skellie 1 having hung oat signals of distress in the fifth, and in the eighth and last, H. Lynes went up aad deprived Akersten of second place. Time, 4 tains 58secs. Vaulting with the Pole. First prize, £2 10s; second, £\ ios. E. Arnold I A. Arnold ... ... ... 2 D. Arnold ... ... ... 0 None could be found to tackle the brothers Arnold, who had it all their own way, the eldeai clearing the ten feet which were to. enitls the winner to an additional pound, f Walking Match, heel and toe; distance, two miles. First prize, £3; second, £l 10s. Lipscombe 1 Skellie 2 H. Lines 1 _. „,.. . Crowdies } Disquahfied. Lines and Crowdis came in first, but were disqualified on the ground thatthsir walking partook too much of the running. Time, Umias 30secs. Hop, Step, and Jump. First prize, £1 10s; second, 15a. E. Arnold 1 Warnock ... ... ... 2 T. Nicholson... 3 Hurdle Race, 440 yards. First prize, £1, second, £1. . Warnock ... i T.Rusa 2 That renowned steeplechaser Warnock added another to the long list of Ms victories on this occasion, after a very pretty race. Eour started. Sack Race. First prize, 15s; second, ss. CBall ... ... ... 1 Adams „ 2 Fun was more plentiful than sacks in this race, only five of the latter having been provided, so that the event had to be contested in instalments. The masks which the youngsters were compelled to wear gave the whol* affair a very grotesque appearance. Three-legged Bace. First prize, £1 ; second, 10s. 1 Warnock and A. Thompson 1 T. Nicholson and Tennent 2 Mitford and J. Thompson 3 Partners were chosen by lot, and the winners had it all their own way throughout;. Half-mile Flat Race for Men. First prize, £3; second, £2. A. Lynes „, ... ... 1 A. Russ 2 Akersten 3 For this there were sis starters. Akersten taking and keeping the lead until Lines thought fit to deprive him of it. The race for second place was well contested. Tilting at the Ring; twice round the course. First prize, £5; second, £2. Dodson 2 A. Lynes Special prize, £1 Ten started. The six rings which alone Avere to entitle the winner to the first prize were not obtained, Dodson taking the lead with. five. An extra prize was awarded to Lynes, on account of ah accident, for which he was not responsible, having happened to his lance. ' After this there was a general move in the I direction of town, the Band playing " Auld Lang Syne," and concluding with the National Anthem.

A Dnnedin telegram to tha Post gives the following sporting information: — Transactions on the Dunedin Cup during the past fortnight have been but few, mainly owing to the departure of many bookmakers to Auckland. Maroro still nominally heads the list at 7 to 1, bnt none but the easily imposed upon dream of backing him at that price. Ten to one is all that is obtainable about King Phillip. Guy Eawkes and Templeton are nearly a3 good favorites aa Yeend's horse. Pungawerwere and Right Bower have been steadily backed, sanguine supporters of Mr Ceombes' horse being more confident than ever this year, as they kaow that if any man can get him on, Day, his present trainer can. Three-year-olds are not much fancied at present, and 20 to 1 can be got about any of them save Yaroa. A private letter has been received from Melbourne stating that four of the Victorian nominations — Cleolite, Spring Jack, Stiletto, and King— may be expected over shortly, which improves the prospect of having a good field. As soon as weights appeared, 1000 to 4C was taken about Cleolite on commission for her owner, and 1000 to 50; and iOOOtoSO haa been taken about Spring Jack, but the public here do not feel inclined to back them till they land. In reporting a country race meeting, the Post, while speaking in high terms of the arrangements generally, says:—" We may, however, be permitted to suggest that fheir choice of a clerk of the course was not in every respect a happy one. The individual holding that office was a. truculent, bloodthirsty looking Maori, who, brandishing a monster stockwhip, rode at everything and everybody, often without the slightest ocea- " sion, and, in shofrt, appeared to conduct himself like a dangerous lunatic. Otherwise, everything was satisfactory, and "all went merry as a marriage bell."

The young American salmon at the society's grounds (says the Christchurch Press) have grown remarkably within the last few weeks, and are now fit for distribution. The boxes teem with the little fellows, who are exceedingly lively, and care has to be taken when lifting off the covers, as already a large number have managed to jumn out and drop into the race underneath.