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SATURDAY'S SPORT.
SIDELIGHTS AND INCIDENTS.
Thc wdHcnown junior -Sootball umpire J.
O'Dwycr enlisted on Saturday. He ia the
third eon of Mr. M. O'Dwycr, of North
cote, on national service. lVo 'brothers
who went to the front have been injured.
Austin Mahon, who recently joined 'tihe
professional running ranks, and is a eon of
!Mr. Hugh Mahon, shortly leaves for
the-ifrout. He is at Melbourne University
completing -his final year medicine.
In the second quarter of the match be
tween Girl ton and Mefbourne, 8. Leehane.
a Gariton back, was running along the
?wing and came in contact with a Mel
bourne player. He strained his groin bad
ly, and, after the interval, -was taken to
Melbourne Hospital for treatment.
A bottle of wlrieky- donated to the Yarra
wonga Coursing d-ab was sold and resold
at the meet on Saturday for £20, and the
amount will be given to the Red Cross
Society. -The money represents practically
a pound a nobbier — that is a couising en
thusiast's nobbier.
W. I.. Buntine, 'Melbourne University
Athletic Club, formerly of the Caul
field Tally Ho, which hoe already
22 of its members on active service, lias
enlisted. Lata March, at Victorian
amateur State cliumpioQaiiip?, fkmtnfe won
Vnirlf nn in nvHinh Im *um«
runner-up tie year previous.
AnoUrer member of the '.H»endon Har
riers, 'A. Wheatley, fonncrly middle dis
tance running champion of Amstrataeia.
goes into camp on 2od August. He ie- the
third member of the fettaily to enlM. One
hrother, H'oA, uakrtunetdy 'was-k!Ued in
action at the {Dutianclles. flVw teen rivals
in tihe running iuka, E. A. Ncaio and C.
G. Maafes. both nenbeas rf 4fae QuUon
iHstrricrs, rccoatty -jainoi -J* OjfWiiig rusks
together.
While it iB not- noffi&le- for every min
to be liandliag a rule -at the praent time,
either in practice at home or in the
trenches at the front, rnaay sportsmen -are
'keeping their eyes in' by handling tlie ,
shot gun over tihe traps. Saturday's meet- I
ing oi the Melbourne Gu* Ctab at Brighton |
afforded farthoi' proof that on birds not
altogether brilliant the novice can hold
his owu with the crack. 'Cram' and A.
G. Flack, who won Dhe major plortion of
the Members' Handicap, were both men
close in. The next important event, thc
outright trophy, was carried off by A- H.
Baird, who in the handicap .was only equal
to three kills out of a pqsjiote seven. 'Hay-
don' did tho best of the back marten,
with two wins and a divide.
(Brighton wore second last on the list at
the completion of tbe first round of Asso
ciation matches, 'but in taking part in a
nobler game — the defence of the Empire —
they occupy a proud position. A baker's
dozen of the team have enlisted, and more
are to follow. The names of tihose who
have enlisted ate as follow:— 'Negro Pat
terson, Colvin, Marriott, Gfbiba, Slater,
Wallace, Byrne, Harbord, Taylor, Wilson
(captain) , Y oung and Hansen (trainer).
One of the fiatf .backs-'wlio has
played football for Brunewicdr, G. P. Clowe,
is now at the £ront. In a letter to hi»
father, who is a resident of. the northern
suburb, he strongly condemns tlie young
man at &omo who while pibysically fit is
thinking of nothing else but pleasure while
his mates are fighting on tie heights of
GoJlipoli. One of the young ineu he
used to know in Melbourne fed written
to Jiim teffin£ him of tlie fino time they
had at Easter camping. When he (Private
Clowe) TemoMiiered the fine strong fellows
wiho had fallen all round him it was in
comprehensible to think 4Jt^t tihe Oionght
of war liad not thou entered the heada of
tlie. pleasure seekers.
The la-wn tenxris tournament organised
by South Yarra, which reached tlie semi
final stage -on Saturday, has brought out a
new lady 'star' performer in Miss Stra
clian, who lias developed unexpected skill
and perfected stylish strokes which are
hall, marked with the stamp of genuine
merit, liiougn opposed -by experienced
players who have gained championship hon
ors at inter-State contests in Melbourne,
Sydney and Adelaide, Miss Strachan is the
only competitor that has succeeded in win
ning all .her matches and gaining- the high
est number of marks in the three days'
play.
Mr. Val. Quirk, referee of the Amateur
Athletic Association for yeaTs, has taken
on the professional mantle of third man at
the Stadium. We say professional ad
visedly, as the terms of the engagement
are not. known, and it is no business of
the outsider. The interesting point, how
ever, has arisen as to whether his amateur
status is at stake through refereeing a
professional match, even presuming that
he receives no fees for his services. His
task was not a hard one on Saturday, for
victory came through a count out. The
new referee is a fine stamp of athlete, and
his experience should admirably fit him for
i thc position.
Mftnv fin nld-fimo Knvnr Un T-fi rl 1 -
curious interest of the amount of money
earned in later years by champions of the
ring. Few of thc veterans, however,
received less tl'.an tlie present light
weight champion, 'Herb' M'Coy, did in
his first professional engagement. He and
'Jim' Armstrong worked as boys at the
same factory in Collingwood, and while
there was always a friendship between
them, there was. too, a silent regard for
cach other's ability with gloves. M'Coy
eventually gave vent to his feelings of
superiority, and the challenge was issued.
-io one, however, would stage the con
test until a considerate caterer for pedes
trians thought thc match might turn out
a good side line for his running displiira at
Guruey's. The winner was to receive a
percentage over th^ net profits of the meet
ing. M'Coy won. and his dividend, after
a hard, gruelling contest, was 2/0 !
Satisfaction was expressed on Saturday
among cricketers at the decision of the
Association not to. have pennant games this
season. Several, however, held that no
infringement of propriety would result
from the leading team being given the
premiership without tbe emblem. Tlie
number of English cricketers who have en
listed for service is considerable. Among
the number known by fame or
name to Australians are Wilkin
son (captain), Bird, Lovcson-Gower,
Ijord Dalmeny. Hayes, Hitch, Att
water (Surrey), Douglas, Fane, Gillinghatn,
M'Gnliey, Mead (Essex), Booth, Ilrrst,
Rhodes, Denton and Drake (Yorkshire),
Fry, Smith, Wynyard. .Tephsoti, Tennyson
(Hampshire). Foster (Warwickshire). Jack
son (Derbyshire), Warner (Middlesex),
Spooler, Ilbi'nb}', MaeLaren, Tyldesley
(2), Dean, Ward (Lancashire), Hutchings,
Blythe, Fielder (Kent), iRsojitairihji, Hol
loway, Schwartz (Sussex), Iremonger, Hard
staff (2), Gnnn (Nottinghamshire), and
Woolley, Denton, Smith (Northants).
The suggested curtailment' of racing was
the sobject for discussion by many betirecu
?tlie events at Moonee Yhlley on Saturday,
and opinions were divided. The backer
could enter into the spirit af (he argument
with earnestness, for it -wo«- another of his
off days -far coDeotnig, and ho had plenty
of time to give to dobatc. Witih tho popu
lar choices aU failing, he had that depressed
feeling wbidh usually reflects itself in eon
tempt for Uie sport. Had he ibeen winning
his views would, of course, liave been dif
ferent. There is the spouting onarrm tliat
no one ca.n have too much of a good thing,
and tlie mercury in the backer's imnd rises
and falls just according to his luck. Among
bookmakers tho feeling was strong that
racing fixtures could ibe curtailed without
seriously prejudicing their interests. The I
high pnee of horse feed, however, is a «M-i.
ous problem for owners and trainers, and a
decrease in 'the mnhber of meetings may
make it , hard for tliem to keep up their
staffs und . big strin©} of (boraes.
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