ATHLETICS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 334, 16 January 1889, Page 4

ATHLETICS.

At the Manhattan Athletic Club (James, on November 7bh, T. P. Conneftdid a grand peiiormance, bic-Udng the American recoidfo ioi toveial distances. He accomplished two miles in 9min. 43sec, breaking the reeout at one units and a quarter, 6min. 3 4-ssec. ; one mile and a half, 7min. 39s.ee. ; | and one nHe and thvee-quartois, Bmin 32 j 2 s&eo. Dr. Mitchell threw the 161b hammer 130 it., and the 561b weight 30ft lin. Dining a boxing exhibition, early in November, j^iven in Philadelphia, the pugilists Mitchell and 4 Kilrain wore i "'mobbed" \\ hile exhibiting ; but neither I hUbtaiued any damage. ! At the paying 1 over of the prizes won in the Botany Gold Cup race, Mr Frank Smith ga\e a lough outline of his programme for 1889. He intends to oiler three £500 handicaps, the iirst piize in which will be £350, at intervals, interspersed with the usual long-distance events and minor handicaps.. Then in not December he will put i on a monster handicap of £1,000, called, as was the la&b, the Sir ' Joseph Banks Gold Cup. The Cirrington. Ground Committee j intend holding a big race in February. j The tiifefa piize will be £550, second £150 r third iIOO, louith £40. Entries clo c c on January 30th. There will be a £10,000 consultation attached to this event. j At the Glasgow exhibition on Saturday, November 3rd, P. Cannon, who is known as the (Scottish champion, attempted to beat J. White's lecord of 19min 36sec for lour miles, and though he failed, got so near it that the executive was anxious for him to make another attempt, and held out | inducements which were accepted. The day selected foi the second effort was November Bth. So great was the interest that some ten or eleven thousand persons then gathered round the track (440 yards), which was measmed both before and after this race against time. Cannon was in splendid condition, and weighed, befo'-e going on the track, lOst 111b. He had as pace-makers J. Ferguson, E. Hunter, and Andy Arrol, and ran so well that at the completion ot the third mile he was lmin 3-ssec inside the time accomplished for that distance by White. Continuing in the same successful style, Cannon ultimately reached home in 19min 25 2-ssec, or 10 3-ssec better than that which has stood &ince May 11th, 1863, in the name of J. White (the Gateshead clipper). The lap times taken by Messrs R. .Robinson and A. G. Ronnie were as follows, :--lst lap {-I mile) lmin 5 5-ssec, 2nd lap 2min 13sec, 3rd lap 3min 29 l-ssec, 4th lap (1 mile) 4min 42sec, sth lap smin 56 o-ssec, 6bh lap 7min 10 4-ssec, 7th lap Bmin 24sec, Bth Jap (2 miles) 9min 37 4-ssec, 9bib lap lOmin 51 3-ssec, 10th ]ap 12min 6 l-ssec, 11th lap lomiu 21 l-ssec, 12th lap (3 miles) 14min 34 2-5s6C, 13th lap 15min 47sec, 14th lap 17min 2 l-sdec, 15th lap 38min 15 2 ssec, 16th lap (4 miles) 19min 25 2-ssec. Now that_ McAuliffe has broken down the colour distinction and met and been defeated by Peter Jackson, the pugilistic champion of Australia, there should be no excuse for Kilraiu, Mitchell, and the other big guns, refusing to meet the Australian. From all I can learn, and from the faith placed in Jackson by his San Francisco - supporters, I am inclined to believe that he is quite good enough for any man in the States, and that is as good as saying in the world. People are beginning to see that the firsfc requisite to success in life is to be a good animal. The best brain is found of little service if there be nob enough vital energy to work it ; and* hence to obtain the one by saciificing the force of the other is now considered a folly — a folly which the eventual iailure of juvenile prodigies constantly illusbrabes. Thus we are discovering the wisdom of the saying that one secret in education is "to know how wisely to losetime." — Herbert Spencer.

The hand of George Giften, the besb allround crieicetor in the colonies, does nob seem to have lost any of its cunning, if I may judge fiom the admirable display of cricket he gave the Victorians on the Melbourne Club Cricket Ground in the intercolonial match Victoria v. South Australia. Scoring- 135 oi>' his own bat, and securing13 wickets out of 20 in the bowling department, is a feat very few cricketers can ever hope to achieve in a representative contest of this description.

Judge : •' Prisoner, the evidence shows that you brutally assaulted the plaintiff. Have you anything to oiler in extenuation V Prisoner : " No, bir ; my lawyer cook all the money I had,"