Speed-Cycling on Road and Track

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 612, 14 March 1929, Page 6

Speed-Cycling on Road and Track

By *

"CYCLOS."

H. G. Brewin’s record of 65 Hours for the Auckland to Wellington journey of 474 miles still remains unbeaten. L. Nelson, the last cyclist to essay an attempt on the record, had to abandon his ride at Te Kuiti, 134 miles from Auckland, where he arrived too fatigued to carry on. Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the fact that for such severe tests of endurance careful preparation is absolutely necessary. Easter Arrangements Amateur cyclists are to be well catered for at Easter. On Easter Saturday the Hamilton Club will be holding its annual meeting at Steele Park and on the Monday, at Ngahinepouri, 12 miles out of Hamilton, another sports meeting' will be held. The K aka hi Club will conduct its meeting on Easter Monday. Last year C. G. Galbraith was the only Auckland rider to visit the latter-mentioned meeting, where he won the three cycle events. Kakahi is 396 miles from Auckland, and this year seven cycle races appear on the programme. J. H. Wade intends to compete this year. St. Patrick's Day Large entries have been received for the three cycle events which make up the athletic side of the St. Patrick’s Day sports meeting to be held at the Domain next Saturday. No less than 31 have nominated for the one mile race, which will necessitate three heats. The event for “veteran’’ cyclists who were prominent racing men 25 or more years ago should attract particular interest. The race will be over one lap—a quarter of a mile—and appears to be a sure thing for F. C. Ewen, who won championship races in Auckland as far back as 1899. The “veterans’’ will have no difficulty in obtaining machines, for the amateur wheelmen will be only too delighted to assist in this direction. They will undoubtedly miss the atmosphere familiar with meetings held at the close of the last century when betting was in vogue. The official 192 S champions of France are Lucien Faucheux, sprint; Ernest Catudal, paced; and Ferdinand Le Drogo, road. Tom Oakley Again Tom Oakley, the New Zealand champion, paid a visit to Palmerston North recently and had no difficulty in winning the two races in which he competed. Although giving away good starts in the two-mile contest, Oakley was with the field at the lap before the bell and won with ease. In the one and a-half mile handicap, he again caught the leaders early in the race and had an easy victory. Christchurch Events At a meeting on English Park Stadium, Christchurch, recently, T. O’Brien, who represented Canterbury in the recent New Zealand championships, scored a decisive win over the pick of Canterbury’s amateurs, winning as he did the three scratch races—-half-mile, one mile, and 11 miles. Points were awarded for first, second and third in each event, and O’Brien finished up with 15 points, Lamberton 6 points and Campbell 4 points. Frank Grose could only score two thirds. There must be something wrong with the form shown by Grose in Christchurch. At the recent New Zealand championships, Grose was well ahead of any of the Canterbury competitors. EAST TAMAKI CLUB’S SPORTS Perfect weather conditions and a record attendance favoured the annual meeting of the East Tamaki Club last Saturday. The first event on the programme, a half-mile for local riders only, was considered a foregone conclusion for J. Whitten off scratch, but,

contrary to expectations, he was beaten by L. G. Pinfold off 35 yards in rather an unusual manner. Whitten entered the home straight with what he thought was a sufficient lead to assure him first place and he eased up a little. Pinfold raced up and, taking him by surprise, flashed past him only a few yards from the post. At that stage Whitten had no chance of accelerating his pace to any advantage and he had to take second place. The Tamaki Club’s riders were prominent in the one mile open, when Pt. R. Watson, off 190 yards, had a regular runaway victory. S. Kara, off 200 yards, the only Maori rider competing among the amateurs, rode second. Watson soon caught the limit men off 200 yards and went with them until the final lap, when he drew out fast from the big field of 18 competitors, who were well strung out. and won easily in the fast time of 2min 21sec. L. Aldred (160 yards) accounted for the 1A mile event, winning by inches from C. Francis (230 yards), of Papakura), with R. Watson (250 yards), who had been put back 30 yards for his win, a close third. C. Francis led at the bell, with Mackrell second and Aldred third. This order was kept until the home straight was entered, when Aldred, with a fine sprint, came up to take first place by a narrow margin. Intense interest was occasioned by the two-mile race. Twelve started and F. W. Restall (400 yards), on the limit, had a lone ride for five laps when he was caught by a batch ot nine middle-markers, of whom L. B. Roberts and S. Baird, both off 140 yards, were riding prominently. J. IT. Wade, scr., and R. G. Foubister, 80 yards, whom Wade was with before the conclusion of the initial circuit, were giving a splendid exhibition of lapping. AIL interest was centred on the latter pair when they caught the field at one and a-half laps to go. At the commencement of the last lap Roberts led with Wade lying fourth. Down the back straight the positions remained unaltered; it was not until the home straight was approached that Wade made his winning effort. With an almost electrical “jump” over the last 50 yards, he rapidly decreased Roberts’s lead to obtain premier honours by half a wheel from the lastmentioned rider in smin 3sec. Next Wed nesday evening the Manukau Club will stage a threelap race at the Domain. This will conclude the mid-week meetings. Events Last Evening A feature of the half-mile handicap staged at the Domain last evening was the brilliant riding of J. H. Wade who, riding from scratch, won easily both the heat and the final. Results:—First heat: J. H. Wade, scr, 1; J. A. Dykes, 35yds, 2: E. A. Cleaver, 50yds, and A. W. Mackrell, 80yds, dead heat, 3. Won by a length. Time, 66 2-ss. Second heat: T. J. Farrelly, 110yds, 1; A. Sercombe, 60yds, 2; G. W. Rollerson, 50yds, 3. Won easily by 20yds. Time, 66 4-ss. Final: J. H. Wade, scr, 1: J. A. Dykes. 35yds, 2; E. A. Cleaver. 50yds, 3. Wade had the lead entering the straight and won comfortably by two lengths. Time, 67 3-ss. A field of 14 competed in the Auckland Athletic and Cycle Club's one mile and a-»half handicap at the Domain last evening. The race was somewhat marred by a bad spill when seven riders fell on the hospital bend. Fortunately none of them were badly hurt and the result of tlie race was not affected, for the winner. J. Lindop. off 10yds, was riding second at the time. The placings were: J. Lindop. 10yds, 1: K. J. Mathieson. 40yds, 2; G. Hall, 120yds, 3. Lindop won by four lengths from Mathieson, who was a, similar distance ahead of the third man. Time, 3.51.

cording to statistics just compiled, were still without their jobs. Things have become worse since then, but the following figures of wage-earners indicate the sharp decline in employment during' the recent depression 1 in the trade: 1923-24, 7,046; 1924-25, 7,377; 1925-26, 8,511; 1926-27. 6.996; 1927-28, 6,423. These figures cover the average wage earners only, and exclude proprietors actively engaged, managers, overseers, accountants, clerks, etc. * * Far-Reaching Judgment A Chancery Court judgment issued in England recently, has far-reaching effects among trade unions. The case in reality was a decision on the originating summons of the National Union of Seamen versus Flett. The decision vindicates the contention of Mr. Havelock Wilson and his union that it is within their power to give or lend money to non-political trade unions among the miners. The rules of this union sanction expenditure on the extension and adoption of trade union principles, and the judge held that this expression fully covered the financial help which the Seamen’s Union wishes to afford to those unions which have arisen in the coalfields as non-political antagonists to the Miners’ Federation. The judgment will presumably enable any trade union with rules of this kind to decide, if the majority desires it, to afford any measure of financial help to any other trade union with which it is in sympathy. * * * £15,000 a Week Lost Figures showing the cost of the Australian strike to timber workers were given in a statement made by Mr. F. H. Corke, secretary of the Sydney and Suburban Timber Merchants’ Association. “The approximate loss oP wages among timber workers, joiners, -carters, engine-drivers, and crane drivers employed by the members of this association and other merchants, who are on strike, is £15,100 a week,” said Mr. Corke. The total number of timber workers employed as weekly hands in the week ending January 31 in Sydney and suburbs by 64 companies and employers who are upholding the law (including the principal box-making companies except one) was 1,889. Of these 70 were apprentices and 125 unapprenticed boys, a proportion of one unapprenticed boy to 13 or 14 adults.” “Representations have been made to me on belialf of some country employees,” said Mr. Corke, “that it is grossly unfair for the union to take up its attitude with regard to hours when they have been working 48 hours ever since 1922, and that the timber that they produce when merely recut or handled in Sydney has been under 44hour conditions, increasing the cost, and so limiting the sale of their timbers, as all timbers, by the cost of production, in competition with other building materials. The position of the industry for the year ended June 30, 1928, in this State is reflected in the decreased number of employees working in w00d—699 according to the figures taken from a preliminary statement on the manufacturing industry of the State furnished by the Government Statistician, Mr. T. Waite, as published for the first time.” * * * Timber Outlook Black The statistics for the log-sawmilling' industry for the year ended March 31, 1928, give unmistakable evidence of the depression which recently visited that industry. The number of mills decreased by 27, from 343 in 1926-27 to 316 in 1927-28. while the output of sawn timber shrank from 305,675,258 sup. ft. to 269,783,274 sup. ft., or by 11.74 per cent. The quantity of timber exported in the calendar year 1928 was 5.85 per cent, below that for the previous year, against an increase of just over 1,000.000 sup. ft., or 2.03 per cent., in the quantity imported. Comparison with U 925-26 shows that the output of rougli-vsawn timber lias receded by approximately 84,000.000 sup. ft., or 24 per cerrx. in two years. From a purely production point of view the industry was in 1927-28 back where it eight years ago.