NOTES BY AMATEUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 71

NOTES BY AMATEUR.

The. entries. for the civil service sports meeting at the' Caledonian. .Grounds on Saturday far exceed expectations, and both in numHer and' quality the fields will exceed any simHar meeting .that has been held in Hie" pxdVutce._ Competitors .vrilT be present from," alf' parts of the South Island, and _ many _ well-known athletes will visit Dnn-edm-,-to°otmtest supremacy- The 100 yds championship has attracted the fine field of -11., runners, and special' interest will attach, to* the meeting of such fliers as Trembath— , (Gore), -Bass (Ashburton),. M'Whirter (Timaru) w ith the best of. the' local, men. • It will be seen, that the onetime champion pole -vaulter of New Zealand, -Mr J.^ M'Lachlan, will oompete, that E. S. W. Moore, of Ashburton, is taking, part in the long-distance events, and that ■ all the best athletes in the province are engaged. The . -meeting promises to' be quite the most /interesting held- here for years, - and given a." fine day " there will be . a r.acord gate/ All the recently-formed country duos -are sending in contingents to "take part in the meeting and to witness the sport. Every effort will be made, to get off all the. events to time, and/ the public may rely on everything possible being done for their comfort. On Monday, the 13th inst., the Tapanui. Amateur Athletic Club * held a very successful evening meeting, when a programme- of, four events _ was got _ off before a -large" attendance- of. the public. Keen interest was manifested-, in the- many close finishes_ (during; the meeting, and it is quite apparent that evening sports meetings have gained a high "place "in,. v the estimation', of the. -Tapanui public. / In.i&e 120/Y«rds- Maiden - Bace . J. Sheddan. ftOydsT was first, TS. .G- ' Sheddan. (10yds) .second,/ and 0. -T~C M'Eachen (scratch) third, „ the time . .being 14 I-ssec.~ There were 17 starters in the 100 Yardfr Handicap, fhe^-final heat of 'whien ■was won by, W. R. Quin (2£yds), -with J. Sheridan (11yds)' "second and - C N. M'Eachen (3vdsi third, the time .being 11 4-ssec. R- B. 'Bust also competed in this event. _- The Half-mile Handicau was. ■won' by* IL;JMurray (25yds). with. ,R..E." Bust (scratch), second v and* ' 35.~ G.. Shedan (45vids) ",third.J. There were 13 starters.. in - . Clie^racer proTnded^a good' -finish, the '- time being 2min 16 l-ssec. . - 33irowinerrthe T616--~hammer bxousrht out a field of six, the winner ' turning ud in C. r P<*ake/ (hep". 8ft); 76ft "9ini- The Tana-nui^Clu-b^ camre^ out on the risht side with •the meetings and eneoriraeed by the grow--inj£ popularity ofe amateurism in that dis- - trict. intend holding another meeting in .Februarvr-' , . „ ' The Palmerston -Club \are hard at work over their annual sports meeting, which takes place at Palmerston -jiext .Wednes- - 'day. / A number of ' Dunedin runners "will make the trip, and .as there are a large. , number of local competitors the meeting - ■<vill prove of- great interest. Mr O. W. • Turveyy who--ha» . been, acting as secretary ■of' the cluH has,' resigned, his successor .(•being Mr R. Wfteeler.- / The Palmerston Olub have some keen, enthusiasts- foe amateurism at the head of- affairs, and there is little doubt of the. future success of the club. Given a .fine day on Wednesday there should be- a record gate to witness the sporfcsi , ' - „ ,^.t the -time- of writing strong efforts are beinsr made to - have Otago .represented . by ' ft-leam ,-at the -New , Zealand championships in Wellington .on, February l.^JThe Selection Comimttee of the centre picked onlyone, man, 'JL G~ Burk, "who- has since-noti;,, fied that be will .not make the trip. A " Bfrong- feeling existed -amoncsf members of , the centre .that~a~" team should be. sent, and • the matter was brought- up at,. Monday's, j meeting- of that body. Itt.was^ then de- ! eided that an attempt would be made to arrange for .a team of seven men, .comprised of Beatson. Frew,, and Mace (who ' mad- already entered), D. A: Macfarlane, G. P. ..Keddell, J. M£Lachh«v T. S.^Ruddock,'. end- L.' Skinner. - Unfortunately neitherKeddell, Ruddock, or-M'Lacfal*n can make , the -trip, and- unless further arrangements - can.be made Otago _ will Be represented by four men — viz., Mace,. Beatson, .Frew, and Maqfarlane. It is a -great pity that -.»r stronger team, could not be 'got together, both, for the sake of attempting to win. the • shield and to support j;he Wellingtoi Centre / in the 'meeting. The .opinion was • freely expressed at, the centre meeting that moro time should have, been- allowed in -the matter, so that, a good team* could be ' Bent " i The Tokomairiro Harris* and Amateur ! Athletic Club have forwarded a. donation of one.- guinea to the: Otago Centre towards the expenses of the team to the New Zealand championships at Wellington. Out of consideration for the CiviL Service annual sports meeting to be held on Saturday, next, Januarvr-25,- the sixth- evening meeting of the D.A.A.O. has been post- ' poned until February 21, after the annual sports-m eeting of the Dunedin Amateur. Athletio Club. , '■ . i The following are the amended dates, for j the remaining evening, meetinipst — Sixth meeting will be -postponed from January 24 to Friday, February 21 j Seventh meeting rwill be held on original date, January 31; eighth meeting will be held on original Hate, February 7. " ; Entries .'for the New" Zealand Amateur , Athletio championships to -be held at Wei-"' lingtoiL on Saturday, February 1, closed "on Saturday, January 18. There" were,, splendidr entries for the -various eventat at the D. A. A.C. evening jneeting- last week,* and the contests produced ,keen finishes. No. fewer than 16jsprlriteTS turned out in the 75yds Dash, decided in three heats and 'a final. The 'first heat was^wo'n by Cray" (4^) in & l-sseo. "The same time-_was occupied- in the second fheat/ iron by M^Dougall -(^yds)*; while (Wyds)" "won the third heat in 8 J2-sseev^ -The final resulted in a. win " for * Skf'Oiw, wio-ran really well,. finishing with^ a fine turn of speed in 8 l-sseo. - If memory nerves, M'Caw -is the promising ex-High "School sprinter of -whom I have previously written an aDprecialion. The fact of 16 athletes entering 1 for the *syd6 dash shows clearly fch*fc ye have i

f enough and to spare of the runners of the T I d&shy type, but they are only sprinters of I 1 a kind. ' In the number, present on the ] i Caledonian Ground the': other evening there I was not who -deserved the designation of ohampion, though it is hopeful- that there will be in the course -of a season or two. Certain it is we have struck a lean year as regards- quality. • The ' Mile Walk produced six competitors , who revel in this mode of progress in j ,\v inning- races. There was- a splendid finish i in this event, the two' scratch men, Williams and Morrison, fighting out stride for stride until the tape was reached, when the \ former gained the judge's verdict. Our field event men are nbjfc ponderous fellows who can throw a piece of ironmongery of regulation- weight over the horizon, but they show tolerably good form considering the time they devote to practice* _J.n the weight -puttinsr event at the ,D.A.A.C. meeting on Friday Li M. Tansey, the ex-footballer-athlete, won with a throw of 31ft 4in, including- a 2ft_ handicap. A big field of long-distance aspirants sorted themselves out for the Two Mile event, and 14 faced the starter. It was a tedious race, and long- before the finish the^ field,' which started off -so well, had^ dwindled down to less than half a dozen. The winner turned up in HecUbr Burk, who, conceding starts up to 160/ yards, ran -home. a winner in 10mm ssee. In addition -to Burk,^ good form, was shown by M'Knigßt and J. Beatson. The two latter are promising distance' men, who will be heard of one of theSft days. Black-on-blue poster to hand~ from thY hon. secretary of, the Nelson Amateur: Athletic Club, ■ setting forth the programme to _be presented at the annual sports meetingof the club, to be held on Saturday, February 1, which is curious, seeing that is the date decided upon by the Wellington Centre for the New Zealand amateur" championship meeting -in Wellington. Anyhow, there it is. -The events include a High Jump Amateur Handicap, lOCK Yards Amateur Handicap, end Half-mile. Now that the date of the departure of the New Zealand team to take .part in the Australasian championship meetings has been decided the Dunedm Amateur Athletic Club has finally made' arrangements to hold the annual sports meeting on Saturday, " February 15, when the-NeV Zealand champions- who are to compete- at -Hobart will ,take, part in the D.A.A.C.'s meeting en :, route^o the Bhiff. and Hbhart. "'.The following *wilT-represent' v the Canter--bury Centre of^ the^New"ZeaLand Amateur Athletic -Association at' the • championship meeting which opens at Wellington on the first of next month:— loo Yards, 200 Yards; and 440 Yards, S. F. Bass and D. M'Phail ; Half-mile, H. -A. Murray; Hurdles, C. L. Orbell and H.- A. Murray; long distances, T. Cloughton ■ and' F. W". Moore; walks, P. H. -Stubberfießt; shot and' hammer, W. de Their; jumpsi Cf Tt. Orbell/, Owing, to -the centre's scarcity oi funds, the Selection Committee' decided to send "only la, small team. 'The -team' leaves for Wellington on Thursday evening^ the. 30th inst. The New, Zealand. team to visit Hobart for the Australasian championship; meeting will be selected" immediately after -the -New Zealand' championship'" meeting on- . February, 1, and .will probably leave Lyttelton By the Manama on February 14, going' via the Bluff and reaching Hob'art on February 20, or nine days before the Austral-^ asian championship meeting. This will give _them good time to become acclimatised, and to top themselves off for February 29 and March 2.^ As the team will be in Dunedin _ on February 15- the Dunedin Amateur Athletic ulub has 'arranged for a sports meeting, -when the southern sports will have an opportunity of measuring strides with the" pick of the land.''Sharpe, who is selected in the Threemile tot represent Wellington at the.N^Z. Championship meeting, represented Otago at Dunedin two years ago, and' this year expects to be running 1 as well as ever/ The ex-Otago runner Percy Mills com- ■ peted- successfully /at a> recent amateur meeting at New .Brighton, Christchurch. Mills, who ia an Otago ~ ex-ohampion, has --not' been on the track for some years past, but" he/was in rare iettlej. on Thursday, and appeared' to be the "best^lrained man, on the beach. In addition to the 220 yds, he • won the 75yds, after a tougli tussle with G. Bradley, and only lost the 100 yds by a couple of feet | From an esteemed correspondent in ,-the ' south I have received a marked- copy of a Southland -paper containing- the following, interesting item: — A curious position has arisen in the. Southland Centre of the TT.Z.AIA.A. The "secretary (Mr A. A. ' Paape) has resigned irt consequence of new regulations which have been framed by Ithe executive of the association at Christchurch. ' These regulations" are bs follow : '—"No .person shall be eligible to. represent a club on' the* centre whilst holding- any appointment, in; any professional club or association"; and also " A centre secretary f must not act as secretary to any 'sgorte body controlling cash or professional sport." Mr Paape's resignation was not accepted at once, " the committee of the t centre having decided to do something^ Dy , way of protesting against tEe obnoxious j regulations, which, they urge, will go far 'to kill out amateur footracing- in such towns as Invercargill, where its foothold is not a strong one. To this end they have drafted and forwarded a. letter to the association,' in which they point out that in Invercargill, where amateurs depend on cash bodies- solely for their races, an amateur man on ~the committee of the cash society may do much to help amateurism. /The reply of the association is eagerly . awaited. At the annual picnic of the Sydney- Industrial Blind Institution, a youth named H. Christie ran 100 yds in 11 l-ssec. This "result was attained by roping off the track and giving to each competitor a cord which ran on en Ting along one of the ■ ropes. Walking and swimming races were ' conducted on the same principle. The i Philadelphian and New York blind institutions have followed Sydney's lead in this direction: The full programme for next summer's Olympic Games, -whichr will be held in London, at the magnificent stadhun and grounds tiow in course of completion at Shepherd's Bush, has. made its appearance. The foot races are, for the convenience -of comparison with performances at the previous Olympio sports, held on the Continent, calculated in metres up to the* 3200 metres " steeplechase, but there rare 'also a five-mile race, a. ten-mile walk, and ~ the " Marathon ". running race on the publio roads. The swimming races are. all measured in metres, the longest of these contests, being 1500 metres. The" regatta events are four in number, and devoted to eights, lours, pairs, and , Bculls.

[ Two New South Wales championships ' were decided at the Highland Gathering 1 in Sydney*— viz., the 100 yds and the halfmile championships. Both were won by" the champion, Nigel Barker. The 100 yds resulted: — N. C. Barker, 1; J. M'Pherson, 2. Time, 10 3-ssec. The half -mile : — N. O. Barker, Ij G. C. Relfprd, 2. Time, 2min 3 l-ssec. Barker will be the old thorn in the flesh for the other States' , representatives at the coming- Australasian I championships at Hobart. The Amateur Athletio Union of Australasia holds its biennial meeting- in Hocart at the .end of next month. Several fairly debatable matters are on the agenda paper, which, however, is smaller than usual. Amongst the items to be considered are the. question of an •'alliance with the .American Union; representation at the Olympic Games in London this year; the visit of a team of Australasian athletes to South Africa; amending the walking rules, the hammer throwing rules (size of circle), the Disen'e throwingroles,, the weight putting rules, and -the rules governing hurdle racing (height of hurdles). Amongst the notices of motion are two by New Zealand: — (1) "That a new set of walking records be established under the designation 'New Style/ the existing, 'records being retained as, 'Old Style.' " (2) " That no recorder claimed as world's or Australasian records shall be established by any body affiliated with the union unless passed by, the union." , C. D. Fleming," of South Canterbury, who was recently reinstated 'as an amateur, is reputed to be one of the best men in the colony in shot_ and hammer events, and. his list of wins appears to- bear out this opinion. — Late in November the Racing Club de France defeated Cambridge University by five events to fourr The French Club was .successful* in the One Three Mile, High. v Jump, Long Jump, and Putting. theWeight, while tie- University scored in the 100 Yards, Half-mile, - 120 Yards Hurdles, and' 44o Yards. No striking "performances were .recorded- during- the day. AMATEUR ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION. The monthly meeting of the Otago Centre of" the" N.Z.A.A.A. wag held on Mondayevening 1 in the offices of Mr Jl*'T^ Hamann, Crawford street. The president (Mr W. Lang) presided, and there was a good attendance o£- members. - The Secretary of the N.Z.A.A.A. wrote stating that the time was fast approachingwhen it-^would be- necessary to despatch an athletio team to EEoba-rfc to represent the Dominion in the Australasian champion-^ ships, which takes place on February 29 and March 1 next. As the Australasian Association had postponed the meeting from November laist in order- to meet New Zealand's wishes, - and:. ' it was' the council's" desire to send a team strong enough to win the State Championship, it_ had- beeiK decided by the council to solicit the aid of all 1 centres and dubs' -'in the- .association in raising a sum sufficient to meet one-third of the -expense* — ile.? the- council was pre-r pared to contribute £2 for- every £1 subscribed -by the. centres and clubs. Under this arrangement it. was thought £4p. or £50 would be raised in the Dominion,, which, • with the council's subsidy, would' produce ,£l2O or £150, .for which an allround team of eight or ten men could -be sent. Mr Macfarrane moved, and Mr Hamann seconded, that the centre contribute £5 5s towards the expenses' of the team. Mr Marryatt' thought it might be desirable to devote the centre's funds, which were not -large, towards- ■sending a strong team to the New Zealand Championship at -Wellington, He would be quite in favour of an endeavour to raise funds outside of the centre's funds. After some discus- ' sion the motion -was withdrawn. „ A copy of a strong protest was received ! from the Invercargifl Centre, re the rigid nature of * the interpretation, of "amateur* under the amendments to rules as passed •Ut a meeting 'Of the council on the 9tn-inst. . In support ' o£, the protest it was pointed out that the secretary of tße Invercargill Centre had. been compelled "to resign under section "3>" which provided that "A centre secretary' must not act as secretary to_ anysports body controlling cash or professionalsport," and' also with regard to section «rjy. "Js o per«ontßhall be eligible to represent a club on the centre whilst holding * any appointment in any professional club or , association." — It was resolved, on the motion of Mr Marryatt, seconded by Mr Hamann : " That the Otago Centre strongly protests against, the amendment of _ rule 2, sections- 'I"- and- 'S.'." — In support of the motion, the mover saidi the .effect of. the alteration in the rule was to shut out MirPaape, who had done more for amateurism in Southland than any other person. The tendency of the amended rules was against, the sport. It was not desirable that because a- man had been a professional' 30 ox' 40- yeara ago, he could not now be admited a. member of a centre. What should be aimed at- wa3 to attempt to keep -the sport clean and pure, and this could be done without making unnecessary distinctions. The position taken up was entirely ridiculous, and he wondered the council had considered it for a moment. — > Mr Hamann, who seconded the motion, spoke in a similar strain, saying that it should not be in the power of the council to alter the rules without first" consulting the centres.— Messrs Nichol and Callan also spoke .against the amendments, the former suggesting- that the alteration should not come into operation for six months. — It was also decided to urge that the council should not be vested, with authority to alter rules without first consulting centres, and ito support some improved method of electing the counciL Dr Hielop, of Palmerston, attended the meeting and reported that no members of the Palmerston Club competed at or entered ■ the grounds at the l-ecent Palmerston Caledonian games without paying.— lt was lesolved'to write to the Caledonian Society conoetned asking that the name or names of anyone complained of as representing themselves as amateurs at the meeting- be forwarded. Dr Hislop was cordially thanked for bis attendance and for the information supplied. , A communication was received from the N.Z.AaA.A. notifying that the New Zealand championship meeting had been fixedto be held on Saturday, February 1, at Wellington. Reinstatement certificates, lor -Messrs Scott and Jackson were enclosed. — Received. The President - reported that Mr McDonald aid himself, as* a*. Selection Committee, , had decided that H. B.urk should represent Otago Centre -at the championship meeting.— A lengthy discussion followed, and, on the motion of Mr Marrya.it, it was deoided_ that- the following team, represent Otago Centre at Wellington on. February I:— D. MaoFarlane, G. A. Kerli dell, J. M'Lachlan, F. Mace. J. Beatson,

J. F. Frew, L. Skinner.— lt was resolved, T on the motion of Mr MacFarlane, that the siun of £5 5s be voted from the funds of the centre towards the expenses of the team. It was resolved that -the provincial championship be abandoned this year. The president and secretary were appointed & subcommittee ~to select and arrange for delegates to attend the conference of centres to be held at Wellington on February 1. AMATEUR ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION^ CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING. WELLINGTON, January 14. The selectors for the Wellington Centre of -the New Zealand Amateur Association, have chosen the following to represent the centra at the championship meeting at Wellington on February 1: — j 100 yds and 220yds.— Henderson, Goobe- ! ,h«re, Fisher, R. Bridge, Daiwson, Stubbs. " • 440 yds-. — Fisher, G-oodbabette, Cunningham. , ,880 yds and One-mile.-^Buige, "W Goaling, Patrick. . " . " • j ThMe^mile.— F Wilton, Mulcahy, Sharp, J Murray. la^yds Hurdles and 44CtyQR. \Hurcttes.—C&llfthan- (Wkngam-ui), G. V. Bogle, Evenaon, j M'Grathj Hohnden, Cook' (Nelson).. ._ ' ' One-mile- and Three-mile ' Walks. — Kexr, j Gow x Fitzgerald. . .","."' Shot and Hammer Throwing. — Thdmasaen > (Nelson), ' M'^ajj Wallace. - - ' j High Jninip.— Thromaasem, M*Kay, CaJla- 1 han r R. A. Brewer, Evenson. " - ' - Broad Jump. — M'BLay, Dawaon, » Hubbard, f W. Pollock.- ' Pole Jumps. — M r K«y, Moult, Evenson, I