OUR ENGLISH SPORTS LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 11, 6 February 1909, Page 3

OUR ENGLISH SPORTS LETTER

THE Tb'llF. I London, December 23. I 'there is 110 doubt auom (he unwrI lauity ol racing and bleeding being 1 one of the chances of the game. Oi course, it does not fall to many to pick H- u muse iw a smaii sum and wm a big Handicap, such as the Ccvirewiteb, lor instance. It doe.s happen occasionally however, and while this is r>o, Turfites wjil hope on. Jiow uncertain the game i\ cosues homy lo one when looking over tile list ol the sires o< warning timing ih u past, sea.-v Mi. Bay KunaJd (dead) lops Uiu table, .'-ve ol hW lamuy having accounted for a dozen races worth over iJien 1 we have noted stallions like Uallinulc ( C 7,200), tit. l-rusquin ( J.0, ( JU0) 3 Persimmon (dead) (JJ<S,IUO), isinglass ( JJ3,4UU) in prominent places, the Jignres beiiig the arnounx, won by their two-year-olds during IUUS. St. fee is 300 guineas, while 200 guineas js asked for me service of Gall mule, isinglass, and William the Third. When we come lo the other side of the storv, for we find Kager, fee with the total of i'lvOO opposite his name. A little further down vte notice iMnnu J-'orget ( .148) with winnings of .i! 3,800, Laieno (4"> guineas) Sir \ isto , I UN UUUU, St. Serf < .IMS) *2,41)0, an i many other*. These figures clearly show that all the honours do not gj to the high lee fashionable stallious. Of those mentioned, Dinua l-orget is likely to lake high rank as a sire, if half the expectation* lor the future of his son Duke iMiihea] are realised. .Many good judges antu-ipaie that .Mr.' Kcid Walkers colt will play an important part hi next season's big events and his first effort as a 3-vear-old will be closely watched. Another juvenile expected to show up |irominenUy next season, is Lord Kosebeny's Perdiecas, which, being by Persimmon out of ChclAndy—both classic winners—U & well-bred animal.

uu;by k>otijall Our Australian visitors only narrowly beat on Saturday, and this was due to ssiiporior Each side a try, and Carmiehael converted almost from the touehline, but Birt was nut so successful on behalf of the home side. The, colonials got even ii w<)r.se shock at Abi'rtillery on .Monday, when tlie locals played them to a draw. .What .is more, it -was the first match in -which t : hc Australians failed to cross ■their rivals' line, a penalty goal giving thorn their t.lireui points. The Welshmen's loose rushes greatly troubled the visitors, audi near the cud l t«hey'got over for a try. This game-* the Australians liftvo played in iWales have clearly shown that footwork is the weakest spot in their annor, aud the Welsh success, or partial success, is due to Tally .renjognising this.

SOUTH AFRICAN KTIJDKXTS. ' There tire enough South African students in Britain at .present to make up a splendid Rugby team, and this has been abl\* shown by the success of the scratch team of "Springboks" touring in Ireland. They bea\ Dublin University by 18 points to 3. Steve Jubert, the brilliant full and three-quarter back, played in both ga.mes, he being over on a short holiday tour from the Continent. The team is an excellent one such that it would have been interesting to see >the combination try conclusions against the Australians now here.

ASSOCIATION. Nothing very startling has to, be chronicled anneiit recent l'irst League gaim*. With three exceptions, home team* won all along the line, and a* lh<* leaders were among tiie .-mressfiil clubs, the positions at the top of the table are uualtcn , d--4 , 'vertou holding a clear lead of 4 points, it is the bottom of the table that is attracting most attention just now. I'.radlord managed to draw on visiting Nolls County and may yet avoid slipping h ick into the Second Division. The position of Chelsea 'now looks .serious and this club, with the best support of any iu the League, has a shocking defence with a grand line of forwards.

Tottenham Hotspurs ure now well in the running for one of t.he top places in the. Kmiml Division. The Spurs left the Soul-hern League at the end of last season, and should they gain their ambition at- the first attempt, it will be a big performance. Their victory (3-0) at Bradford on Saturday and the defeat (2-0) of Stockport on visiting West jjromwii'h Albion has made thU move possible, the positions now being West .Broinwieh 27 points for J8 matches, Tottenham 24 points for 17, and Stockport 22 for 17. • The possibility of Celtic again heading the Scottish 1-ieague table further improved on Saturday through the champion* defeating (2-0) Aberdeen on the hitter's ground, while St. -Minen went down (4-1) at Dundee, and Glasgow Rangers could only draw (1-1) on entertaining Kilmarnock, Celtic thus gaining on three powerful rivals.

FISTIC MATTICKS. j Tin- question as to wJto arc the champion boxers of England at. Hie present linn*, lias iTeated considerable i:\IU of late. It arose over the ijuery, "Is (.iiiiner .Moil' the champion or should Tommy Hums be .so consideredV Some authorities think the English championship should lie held by a unlive, while others believe in the open ilmir policy, and a. good case may be made ouL lor eac.li. Another controversy has been raging ane~.it the weights, at which championships aru held. In America a light heavy-weight class is recognised, while there is a few .pounds dill'crence in some of their recognised championships and ours. That it would be well if both nations were in accord l 011 this "matter, goes without saying. It would also be good for sport if we had another class bct'w.ceu middle-weight and .heavyweight. Jt is certainly asking a lot to expect 11 mail of ll'/s stone to take 011 rivals of 15 or lli stone. A\ 0 do not want champions at too many weights, 1 ami it would be easy to overdo matters, I yet many favour the idea of a new j recognised championship.

PItOPKiI OlKi AX IS AT J ON. This leads up to another point and a i very important one. Professional box- j ing'is one of the few sports in England j which is really supported. Professional i billiard players, professional cricketers j and association footballers are also well catered for, though in many other sports, the opposite is the case and would-be pros, arc compelled to compete as amateurs—to the detriment of sport. Now, as there is plenty of support for professional boxing it would appear as though annual championships for pros., {j 11st as we have championships for amateurs), would be in order. Of course we havu .professional championship matches from time to time, but there is no recognised control or time for these. The Association governing English boxing only cater for amateurs, and it would appear as though the only proper body to take up this question, would be. the National Sporting Club. It would certainly he a move ip the right direction if that organisation announced that it \\ouhl promote a scries of professional boxing championship 4! vearly. These nei:d 'not <be. held on the

same evening, though perhaps the linals might be decided on the same date. The entries ought to be restricted to England or the Umpire.™as thought tit —and the winners recognised as the English or Empire champions as the case: might be. Of course sonic of the winners might be lieaten before the next championship was .held, but we see. the game things iu other sports- Mvimming. I'vcling. rnnninn'. golf, lawn tenuis, etc. The noble art has many patrons, and if such a scheme as llm one outlined wore carried through, suitable belts or other trophies, to be held by the winners, would be forthcoming.

JII'KNS OK JOHNSON. Opinions are fairly evenly, divided among home sportsmen as to the probable result of the match between Tommy Hums and -Tack Johnson at Sydney on Hoxing Day- very appropriate. The Canadian giving away considerable iu height ami weight, but he is really heavy enough for anything. Hums has the strength of the heavy-weight with tin* activity of a middle-weight; but. above all this, he has far more Urains than the ordinary boxer. He can think and act. quickly whi'e boxing, and this will mean a lot, and the writer will be surprised if he is beaten.

j I purpose. The writer was iu close touch with tin American Olympic ollicials during tbe games, anil perhaps is in a better position to weigh up the pros and cons than anyone, i'hat the Americans had cause to complain about some things is a fact, and a little more tact . and consideration before the games coni- , inouccd would havb prevented much | subsequent, friction. On Uie other hand, . tile Americans have carried their faultfinding to an absurd extreme, ami really it looks as though the only way u ! l'lcase them would have been lo'a.sk tlient to manage the festival for u». . 01 course, tile worst tiling iu connection with the trouble was tin f.n-L that the f American ollicials refused lo ackuow- ' ledge, Carpenter's rmnniii::' as foul. ApVopos of this, the "Cornell lira'' for .November contains a statement by Uar- | penter, in which he. Ilatly denies that there, wa.s any ('"liberate or intentional fouling. Another -stateii'ent quoted is by Air. Kirby, who admits t!:nt there was no doubt about Carpenter running llalewelle wide at tile tur.i. liv the irony of circumstances, the "lira ' also publishes a photograph of the lini,-h, showing that Carpenter is quite threequarters of the width of tbe track from the inside, while footmarks at the entrance to the .straight showed that be ran llalswelle aimost on to the grass at the extreme outside of the track. Had Carpenter 'held his tongue, many people would have made some excuse for him and tried to think he acted on : an impulse and in his disappointment jilt prospects of a 'ltritish victory in the NIK) metres as well as in Hie 'lllll and '

201) metres, livery athlete knows that men do not run f,rom near tile inner edge of a track to the outside, when iu the straight for home, without motive. Carpenter left an opening on the inside, pro'bable thinking llalswelle would try to come through there. Had the iing-lishina-,1 done so, Carpenter would then have swerved to the left instead of the right, and tried to excuse himself by saying llals-welle ought to have passed on the outside. The latter went 011 the' outside, and the American committed a plain and palpable foul by impeding his rival, while liohins, of course (who had been passed by Halawclle), nipped up 011 the. inside. Carpenter's denial only makes matters worse, and is very unfortunate, making prospects of a bettar understanding between the two nations

I harder to bring about. It all looks ns ! though the Americans are findings fault with our management—partly with justice—iu t!ie. hope of drawing attention front the disgrace of t'Jie foul tactics in the 400 metres. Time alone may improve matters, but at present it is safe to say that the people of America consider Englishmen unfair, while? the rest of the world looks on the Americans «s had losers and poor sportsmen. Of course, there are good ami bad 011 both sides, and it is unfortunate a whole nation should suffer through the faults and omissions of a section.

BILLIARDS. Stevenson enhanced his reputation iluring his match against Inman, ami some Authorities consider he would have reasonable prospects of conceding a third of the game to any of his rivals, lnmau frequently left hi" rival a double; baulk, but the Jfull man often scored after Inman had apparently left the halls safe. It was this ability on SteI venson's part which proved Inman's downfall, though the latter played up 1 phiekily. It is just possible the latter would have done better had he not tried safety tactics to such an extent, as when his position was really hopeless and he played open billiards he scored nearly, «s fast as his great rival. Stevenson reserved his best effort for the Jinal day, and his break of 458 was the highest of the match. Touching on a brilliant wind-up. Ueece scored no fewer than 2301) points on the last day of his match with Mack, while the latter only scored 072, and what looked like certain defeat was turned into a line victory. 1

IX GKNKKAL. Longboat'* defeat by the WcUh runner Sniallwood came as a surprise here; nevertheless, the latter'* 10 miles in fMiniu lOsec on a small board iloor track is distinctly good. Nat Butter, of America, scored two more hand-some wins at- the Velodrome d'llever, Paris, on Sunday. Appleby, holder of the world's running records for 13, 11. and 1"> mile*, is willing to forfeit his amateur status for tho purpose of meeting Shrubb. Longboat, or Dmando at 2U miles. Another amateur. 11. K. Walker, says he is not to be tempted. the IOU-uietres Olympic winner having declitrd an oll'er to* run A. H. Postle for a of CliHO. Winter *wimiui;ig appears to enjoy great favor, the Day Serpentine handicaps having attracted the record entry of 10.1.