EXCITING RACE.—BICYCLE V. HORSE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 369, 1 July 1874, Page 5

EXCITING RACE.— BICYCLE V. HORSE.

About eight hundred people entered Lillie Bridge Grounds recently, to witness a race of twenty miles for £25 a-side. The competitors were John Keeu, of Surbiton, the champion bicycle rider, and Polly, a good pony, belonging to Mr. Cooper, of Birmingham. Just beforo the start some discussion took place between tho persons most interested in tho contest as to whether tho quadruped should be allowed to run over any portion of the course its rider might choose, or whether bicyclist Bhould have an even track left for him. A few horsey men present expressed an opinion that the rider of Polly ought to be allowed to steer where he pleased, but the backers of the bicyclist objected, that after ten miles had been ridden there would be no part of the cinder path fit for a bicycle to travel over. A compromise was effected by the disputants agreeing that Keen should give an advantage of a lap, or one-sixtieth of the twenty miles, on the understanding that Polly's rider kept that estimable quadruped on the near side of the track all round. In the straight run down to the pavilion a cord separated the tracks of man and beast, and there Polly was always on the outside ; but over that portion of the course nearest to the railway she was kept as close to the inside of the track as possible. The effect was soon percoprible on the bicyclist, who labored very much over the rough ground, which, apart from the looseness caused by the hoofs, was not in the best possible order for bicycling, in the face of these adverse circumstances the result of the contest, so far as it went, must be considered very satisfactory to those numerous amateurs who are interested in bicycling. Keen rode a 55-inch " Eclipse "of his own manufacture j the rider of the pony weighed under 9st. The competitors were started at 3 h 25 mins. 42 sees., when Keen, in spite of his large wheel, led past the pavilion, and went steadily away from the pony. He ran the first mile in 3 mins. 45 sees., and the second mile in 3 mins 40 sees. in tho seventh lap, where the pony was pulled, Keen had picked up 200 yards, but by the time he had reached the end of the third mile (run in 3 mins. 32 sees.,) Polly seemed to be getting the best of the race, and the backers of horseflesh against humanity grew very noisy. Both biped and quadruped ran well through the fourth and fifth mile, which Keen, who gained steadily, traversed in 3 mins. 37 se^s., 3 mins 42 sees., competing the first five miles in 18 mins. 16 sees. The sixth mile was ridden in 3 min3* 32 sees, by the bioyclist, who had gained more than 300 yards on the trotter. In the twentieth lap Keen was at tho top of the straight leading to the pavilion before the pony reached the bo'tom of it. He rode the seventh mile in 3mins 44secs. , and continued to gain on liia four-footed foe during the eighth mile, which he covered in 3mina. 4(ssec. As they passed the pavilion, amidst great excitement, at the commencement of the twenty-fifth lap, the '^bicycle rider was only live yards behind Polly. As he ran through the twenty-six and twenty-sventk laps the rough road told upon the, man, and the mare ran away from him. He however, accomplished the ninth mile in 3 mins. 55 sees., and doubling down to his work over the rough gronnd the three succeeding laps in 3 mins 51sec. thus completing the ten miles or half the distance, in 37 mins 11 sees. Dui'ing the eleveuth and twelfth miles, which were run in 3 mins. 59 sees, and 4mins 3 sees, respeciveiy, the bicyclist waited on the pony, and the majority of the Birmingham division became leas demonstrative. No special effort was made during the thirteenth mile, completed by Keen in 3 mins 52 sees , but in the first lap of the fourteentb/mile he caught Polly afc the top of the course and led in a quarter of a mile by seventy or eighty yard 3 At this unexpected exhibition'of power a gentleman went off in a fit, which rather worried Keen, he, however, rode on, completed the fourteenth mile in 3 mins. 35 sees., and still running steadily away from the pony, the fifteenth in 3 mins. 40 sees., or 56 mins 40 sees, from the start. When the bicyclist was running the fortyseventh round Polly was pulled up very much beaten, and her opponent finished the sixteenth mile at his leisure in 4 mins 45 sees. In the second lap of the seventeenth mile the pony was led off the course, and her backers notified to Keen that they did not require him ,to finish the distance. Polly was well ridden throughout. The amateur and professional bicyclists of the metropolis were well represented on the grounds, and the attendance, -after allowing for the allurements of horseflesh, my be taken asaproof of the growing interest which attaches to the practice of bicycle-riding. — " Geelong Advertiser."

A Miners' Programme.— The "Ballarat Courier" reports that at a meeting of the Buninyong Miners' Association held on Saturday, Mr. Luplau submitted the following programme and it was resolved to discuss it at the next meeting of the association, and to send a copy to each miners' association in the colony • — "I. The abolition of miners' rights. 2. Ratepayers throughout the mining districts to be electors for the mining boards. 3. A uniform law throughout the colony an to the mode of taking possession and holding mining tenements, the various mining boards to decide the area they consider sufficient in their own particular localities ; such law to apply to private property also, compensation clauses being added in in regard to the latter. 4. District mining surveyors and registrars to be paid by Government ', all fees to be paid into revenue 5. . The abolution of the law relating to gold mining and mineral leases. 6. All lands, whether for gold or other minerals, to be under the entire control of the local boards, paying a royalty of to the Government of Is per acre and a lecal tax of Is ; such local tax to be under the control of and. administered by the various mining ..boards, to be used either as loans to assist companies of working miners in the purchase and erection of machinery, or in sinking drainage shafts, and erecting pumping machinery on linos of reefs. 7. A sura of mony to he granted by Parliament, to be distributed amongst the various mining districts to form the nucleus of such fund. 8 . the expunging or alteration of all clauses in the Mining Statute required to carry out the above." The topic of excitement in Germany has boen the health of Prince Bismark. The Chancellor was fifty-nine years old on Ist April. He was born in the eventful year, 1815. Hundreds of letters, telegrams, and addresses, reached him on that day, including a personal expression of congratulation from the King of Bavaria. The prince was, according to report, to be allowed to get up from bed towards the end of this week, and then, if he continued to gain strength, towards the middle of May he was to go to Kissengen for bathing. It is now said that the doctors have condemned Varzin, as being too damp and bleak, and that the Chancellor is ordered to make his permanent" residence iv a healthier spot in Mid-Germany. It is stated that, though Prince Bismark still spends the greater part of the day in bed, the de?iro for sleep has returned, and with it increased strength. The gouty character of tln> illness being now decidedly apparent, the doctoi'B hope they will soon be able to overcome the disease. Measures have been introduced into the Lower Huose, of the Austrian Reiuhrath, providing for the expulsion of the Jesuits from the empire and' all religious bodies affiliated to them. A memorandum, signed by thirty-two bishops, purportirg to recognise the right of the State to interfere in religious matters, haa been published. The Government is fairly resolved to keep the clergy in subordination to the civil powers.