SOLDIER ATHLETE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1003, 20 June 1930, Page 9

SOLDIER ATHLETE

DAN MASON'S GREAT WARTIME CAREER TWICE BEAT A. G. HILL One of a group of New Zealand athletes who created a great name for themselves in England at the end of the Great War. Dan Mason is now proprietor of a petrol service station at the Point Chevalier tram terminus. Mason twice beat A. G. HilMover the half-mile, going down to him once, and he was a member of the New Zealand relay team that covered the mile in the-then world's record time of 3.29 2-5 at Stamford Bridge in 1919. He bubbles over with reminiscences of that period—the most interesting in his life. His office at the service station is adorned with photographs of himself and of his fellow-athletes of the time. He has several scrapbooks full of newspaper cuttings, and at his home there is an enormous assortment of trophies. "When seen by a Sun representative, he related his triumphs on the Homeland running fields. Before Mason, whose home town is Whangarei, left New Zealand for the war, he ran here as a professional, and gained the Northern Union points prize. His first public appearance in England was on May IS. 1918, when he won a half-mile off 50yds. After that he was quickly brought back to scratch. He used to run Saturday after Saturday. “In those days,” he said, “athletes were not so particular about how many races they ran in an afternoon or on how many days of the week they competed.” At Woking on one occasion he ran in four half-miles, and started in the mile. At the big army meeting on September 6, 1919, he Avon a mile in 4.31? sat 2.20 p.m.; at 3.10 he was beaten by inches over a 440 in 51 3-5; at 5.10 he won a half-mile in 2.1 4-5. “If a man’s fit he can run,” Mason remarked, referring to Peltzer’s “squeamishness” on his recent tour. In a mile handicap he Avas giving away 350 yards, but ran fourth out of more than 100 contestants. When he looked round at the start, he could see the limit man 90 yards behind him. At the i nter - Allied Pershing Athletic Games in Paris during the summer of 1919 he won the 800 metres in 1.55 1-5, beating Earle Eby, the American. The Canadians were very pleased about this. They carried him off the ground. Mason was invited by the Scottish Association to tour Heatherland. There he ran against Hill twice in the same Aveek, losing in 1.57, and winning in 1.55, a Scottish record. His other success over Hill was at Stamford Bridge. He clocked in at 1.53 4-s—a time that was beaten by both Otto Peltzer and I>. G. A. Lowe in the one race, nearly seven years later. Mason’s best time for a quarter \\'as 50 1-5 in a lap of a mile relay, at the army inter-services meeting. He had already won the half-mile championship, and his time in the relay was better than that of the winner of the quarter championship. Hr. Carberry, head of the medical staff at New Zealand Army headquarters, Avho used to test him for blood pressure, considered Mason abnormal. He could win the hardest race and not suffer from any exhaustion. At Stamford Bridge in 1919 a New Zealand team, comprising J. Wilton, H. E. Wilson, H. L. Mason, and J. Lindsay, made a little history by Avin- ; ning the mile relay in 3.29 2-5. Wilton i and Wilson (that fine hurdler) are ! both in Wellington noAV. Lindsay | drifted to Australia. I When Mason arrived back in New Zealand at Christmas time, 1919, he did not keep up his running. He was asked to appear at an Olympic Games trial, but when he accepted he recei\*ec a request for 5s reinstatement fee. Mason thought this unnecessary after he had competed as an amateui in England for nearly taa'o years. He AvitlidreAV from the meeting, and has not run since.