MISCELLANEOUS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 385, 17 July 1889, Page 6

MISCELLANEOUS.

The seventh Australian. , Eleven whose approaching visit to England in 1890 is all the talk in cricket circles, is the idea of that good old cricketer Mr JEL F. Boyle. He has received promises of support from most of the prominent -Australian cricketers, and the team, if organised, will no douht be fairly successful. The wisdom of these very frequent cricket trips may, however, be doubted. The British public is long-su Bering, but it is not likely to continue for ever to regard men who seem to do little but play cricket as other than professionals. One cannot blame these men for taking advantage of the English and Australian enthusiasm for cricket to take a trip Home every year or two as long as it pays ; but the question is — Where does the line for an amateur end, and that for a professional begin ? There is no use mincing matters, we will soon need to have the n.atter definitely settled. There seems every probability that the proposed Athletic Carnival at Dunedin during the Exhibition will be a great success. All the Southern Athletic Associations are stirring themselves and promising their assistance. I wonder what the Auckland men intend doing ? Dudney, an old Canterbury man, seems to be making something ot a mark as a cricketer at Home. For Sussex Club and Ground v. Eighteen Colts on May 10th, he scored 49 out of 156, and his play was very well spoken ot. E. Y. Palmer, and A. P. Bennet, two other New Zealanders, played in the Freshmen's., match at Cambridge, but did not set anything a tire. One of the new laws of eriek'et received a novel confirmation, on MayS)*-*" In a match played on the Forest- Ground-, at Nottingham, the winning side (an eleven hi All Saints), after putting orr- 186 without the lo&s of a wicket, took advantage. of the new law, and putting - their opponents' (Cu Hen Brothers) in, got them all ou-t for "40 runs, half-an-hour before time. . *. - The true Yankee spirit may be seen in the following from Mr Spalding, ot the American baseball team. Writing from Chicago, he says : ' l At last we have reached home, after an absence of six -months and a circuit of the globe. We are somewhat wearied in body, but all right in spirit" I am pleased that our trip has achieved a wonderful amount of interest all over this country, and the magnificent reception extended to us in Sydney, and I rnierht say all over Australia, has done much to foster a friendly feeling between the two countries, more than a casual observer , would give credit for at -first thought." JVJivSpalding then refers to having met Mr Consul Griffin, who had stated at a banquet given to the team, '' that he considered that our trip had done more to acquaint the Americans with Australia and Australians with America than all other efforts combined." Mr Spalding goes on to say ; "I am inclined to think he was not far wrong, tor I am pure that, while little was known of Australia 'before tlfis trip, the papers have-, been so full of our reception there and our .accounts, of your country,- that' there is- scarcely a youth in America that -is not.. familiar with It. . _ <£-j 'f >■•. />'._ Those cyclists who have .made, up their mjnds,that theie is '/,nothing v like rubber.'" vtf\\ be interested in" the fbltqwinfr par. from tv Bicycling News :" "A -prospectus reaches us of the Weston patent steel tyres for cycle and other wheels, which tells us many strange and wonderful things. From it we learn : I. That the waste of power natural to running on rubber is done away with. 2. That steel, tyres are affixed direct to the spokes. 3. That steel tyres are much more durable, and cheaper than rubber ones. 4. That ', Weston 's ' are 1 much lighter than rubber ones. 5. That steel tyres do not throw the mud like the rubber ones do." Without accepting all these, we think that they foreshadow some i great novelty, which will be worth examinl ing. The "Bicycling World" says :— " We think Master Eddy Mohrig, "of San Francis1 co, is the youngest rider of a bicycle in the world. He is only three years old. The I East cannot produce so young a rider/ » The East replied that Mr Schwalbach, of , Brooklyn, was piipa to the youngest bicycle rider the world ever saw. This lad rode a bike when but eighteen months old. . He was even skilled enough at that age to i circle his little wheel on top of the dining . table. .- v . A bicycle match took place, on Saturday 19th June last, at Batnur&t, between Mills and Wybuni for £50 aside at one, two s and three miles, the best two 1 ou"t of three. , Wyburd won the first and last * distances, . which were the only events contested, the times being 3min s^sec for 1 mile, ami 9min . 52sec for three miles. ' Barney Donovan, the well-known Auckland pugilist, now at the Thames, journeyed ; down to Tapu in that district one day last week, under engagement to knock out Jamieson, a local man, in three rounds. In , this task he wat unsuccessful, despite his ; scientific display, 1 -as ! Janfieson took his , punishment gamely and.»came Up to tune ; smiling in the sixth round., Barney has started a boxing class on the Thames. By our cables this week I npticesathab the tight between Kilrain and Sullivan which . was to have taken place on'Monda'y, the Bth i inst., was stopped by troope. Idonpttihink i the troops were far Wrong-. ' * Tlier»'*l& no better exercise for a man than bQxirig ; but so far as my experience goes, and so far as I can judge from what I hear and read, boxing contests for money are as a rule un- : mitigated frauds. A few are straight, and good science is displayed in them. In regard to these Ido not grumble. But the , ordinary contest is simply for the gate money, no matter who wins ; and if there is a straight fight it is simply a slogging match with about as much science as two irate old women would show. After all the fight came off, and resulted in a win for Sullivan after a hard- fought battle of 72 rounds. This would seem to point to the conclusion that there is some real grit in John L. after all, and that all is not swagger and fat. However, Ido not withdraw the foregoing remarks about the general nature of these contests. In view of the impending match for the Championship of the World, between Searle and O'Connor, the following extract from an interview a London " Sportsman " representative had with Wallace Ross, on the New Brunswickers' reaching Queenstown, from , America, may be interesting : — "Our conversation then .turned to the approaching great contest between Searle and O'Connor, and • the New "-'Brunswick oarsman in giving his opinion said heregarded .Wm. O'Connor, the present champion oarsman of America, as not alone a finished sculler, but a speedy man, and one of the greatest that has ever appeared in the New World. He is an aquatic locomotive, which fact is proved in the race with speedy John Teemer for 2,000d01., at Washington, D.C., and the Championship of America, when he rowed the first mile I and a-half on the Potomac Biver in Bmin 45sec, which terrible pace caused Teemer to exhaust his strength in the vain effort . to keep up with his opponent. O'Connor ' at the present time is in his golien prime, - and what may be done with a pair of sculls and a ttuddick shell he can do. He is a man of very symmetrical build, muscular and strong, without being clumsy, but is not near so powerful a mar^, as mapv of the ex-champions."

4% Your Committee beg to report : 1. That the Bank overdraft to date amounts to L3l la Id, which by a subsequent deposit of L 32 12s Id leaves the Council LI 11s Id in credit, but against this there is an amount of L64t^7s'Bd unpresented cheques, leaving the Council in debt L 62 16s 7d. 2. The outstanding liabilities of the Council passed for payment are as follows : Contributions to Hospital and Charitable Aid, L 319 8s 7d. 3. The item inured ink, etc., L 5 petty cash. 4. The Committoe recommends the follow* 1 ing accounts for payment. (Total amount about L 200). Overdraft : Resolved that the Chairman and Cr Eobson be empowered to obtain an overdraft to pay the accounts now passed, said overdraft to be a first charge on the revenue of the Council. Application for Government Aid : Considerable discussion took place relative to the works for which Government assistance ought to be sought. It was ultimately resolved on the motion of Or Corbett, seconoed by Cr Robson, that application be made to Government for the following sums for road works : For main road Hikutaia to Te Aroha, L5OOO ; Eahu to Waihi (including L5OO already placed on Es > i miates) LlOOO ; to open up lands in Waitoa Eiding, to "Waihou oriver, LlOOO-, P&eroa to Karangahake, L7OO ; bridge over Ohinemuri viver at Mackaytown, L4OO ; for improving Toi track, L2OO ; for road to Marototo (vote of L2OO to be re-instated) L 20 0; Waitekauri Hill tract, £100. Total, L 5600. It wa« further resolved that in forwarding thia applieatiou through Mr Cadman, M.H.E., that toe foiiewing important matters be also brought under his notice viz. : — 1. " T2mt a considerable area of land in tins County is still under Native title, a portion of it being gofd-feearing, and urging the advisability of the Government purchasing cut the Native title. This would materially benefit the revenues of the County and enable IK* Council to undertake goldfields works v-ijhout being in an anomalous position. At present where goldfields are partly on Native and partly on Crown Lands, works have to be executed because revenue is derivable from the htter, while the former equally reap the benefit without contributing in any way to cost. 2. This district on the 29th June last suf* fered'from a very severe flood, the highest that has occurred for many years, which caused damage to roads to the estimated amount of L3OO, exclusive of the total destruction of one wearf iv Paeroa and partial destruction of another, and requesting the Oorernment to assist in meeting this unlooked for Cdntingency. 3. Last >year & grant of L5OO was placed on the Estimates for the ro»d Ohinemuri Valley La Waitekauri, and which owing to misunderstandißg was not taken up, and requesting that this grant be retained on the Estimates, so that the amount may be more profitably distributed,** Appointment of Foreman of Works : After long discussion in Committee the meeting was again declared open and Mr Wm. Tetley i« -appointed Foreman of Works, Crs Moore, Nash,' and Quinn voting against.