Football.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 9, 23 July 1898, Page 4

Football.

'Saturday last was a windy day, miserable • even for a football match, so we were very pleased on going to the office to find a gentle_man calling him Addulas, whose residence "was on the planet Mars, was waiting to interview us. It appeared that a copy of the -Advebtiseb had reached him for some weeks 7 previously and he had taken a trip to buy , some of the goods he saw advertised. He • intends to stay for some time and asked us, cas a special favour, to show him round. 4<3nly too delighted, we trotted him to Victoiia Park to see the Waihi-Wairnate football ■match, and after a few explanatory remaiks, left him to report the proceedings from his j-standpoint. And here it is : — I saw before me thirty and one men, thirty •of them dressed in flaming colours, some red -*nd blue .and some red, white and blue. TDhe one was in his shirt sleeves and an his mouth had a musical instrument which he played on at times. These, I was told, were •iplayers and the one with the musical instium«nt was not, which struck me as being rather odd. But to continue. At each end »of the field were placed two sticks, with a bar ■ parallel with the earth. The obj ect, it seemed, ~was to get a leather ball between these sticks, .-an absurdly easy task, surely. And now the xnen with different 'Colours face each other, iihe red, white and blue facing the strong "wind that was blowing. These look the ball -»nd one of them kicked it towards one pair of mticks. The other lot, who could easily have a. ball and kicked it themselves, set themiselves forward and stopped it and one of them - ran off withit towards the other pair of sticks. the red white .-and blue men were and they threw the red and blue man ..down, but he threw the ball to another of his iriends and he in turn r*n with it away from ttehera th» owners of the ball wanted it. They

in their turn threw this man down and tried to get on with their play. And about 200 people actually cheered them on in their silly pettishness, whereas if one faction had only stood aside they could have had a game by themselves afterwards. And so they went on, wrangling and tumbling about, till at last one of the reel and blues kicked the ball they had stolen over the sticks. ' The otheis veiy unselfishly stood aside and let them try to kick it over the parallel bar. Then they took the ball and tried to go on with their playing, but it was no use ; the red and blue stopped them all the time. Bye and bye they all took a lest and then started again. The crowd wa» now much excited and cheered the combatants on, some cheering one side, but most calling " Waimate." To my delight, the ones who had started the game managed to get the ball over the sticks. What struck mo was that when one side got near the sticks the others did not touch them, but when they were far away the tussling was tremendous. The red and blue now fought their way down the field and ciossed a mark in the ground in line with the sticks. This was called a try and ■was the occasion of much cheering. They afterwards tried to kick the ball over the sticks, but the wind blew it away from them. The others once more went on with their game, but the same thing was recommenced and at last both sides gave up in disgust and with yells of defiance they separated and left the ground, many of them with severe bruises and cuts. The crowd would many times have interfered but for some men who kept them back by saying something like " Shtan baak naow," meaning I suppose that they could yery well £ght it out themselves. And here let me mention to the lawgivers the conduct of one young reprobate in the crowd. He was covered with white dust from head to foot and it was evidently irritating his skin, for he rubbed against everyone who would let him come near.

I have since been told that it was all » friendly game, and that both sides were playing, which if I had known would have saved me much uneasiness. I intend staying on eaith for a short time, and perhaps may describe what I see for the benefit of the Advertiser readers, both in this world and in those surrounding.

Comes of the ADVEKrisER may be had from Messis T. Evans and Son, Shacklekm and Giant, Arthur Jones and Co, J. B. Fox, and W. J. Wills, or irorn the office on receipt of postage. As a young man, going to the Quadrille Assembly, was wending his way through Parsonage Paddock on Thuisday night, he met a tangle of barbed wire sometimes used to span a gap. And as he prayerfully struck th« broad bosom of mother earth with a dull sickening thud, the dark sky contained more meteois and cometg than he had ever before dreamt of. A sturdy Scottish farmer, being at a dinner where champagne was plentiful, after drinking several bottles, turned to his companion and asked — " When are they going to bring in the whisky? I never did care for these mineral waters !"