Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/591

Rh Middleweight

1911 W. Child

1912 E. V. Chandler

1913 W. Bradley

1914 H. Brown

Heavyweight W. Hazell R. Smith R. Smith

(walked over) E. V. Chandler

In professional contests the bantamweight championship of England was won by Digger Stanley against Alec Lafferty in 1912, by B. Beynon in 1913 (vs. Digger Stanley) and by Curly Walker in 1914 (vs. C. Ledoux). Fred Welsh was the lightweight champion of England in 1912 (vs. Matt Wells), 1913 (vs. H. Mehegan) and 1914 (vs. W. Ritchie). Johnny Summers was the welterweight champion of England in 1912 (vs. Arthur Evernden) and 1913 (vs. S. Burns). Jack Harrison was the middleweight champion of England in 1912 (vs. Private McEnroy). In 1913 (vs. Packy Mahoney) and 1914 (vs. Colin Bell) Bombardier Wells was the heavyweight champion of England, and in 1913 (vs. Alec Lambert) Kid Lewis was the feather- weight champion of England. In 1912 Jim Driscoll (Cardiff) won the featherweight championship of the world against Jean Poesy (France); Jack Johnson (America) (heavyweight champion of the world) beat Jim Flynn (America) ; Georges Carpentier (France) beat Jim Sullivan (England) ; Frank Klaus (America) beat Car- pentier; Billy Papke (America) beat Carpentier.

In 1913, in the middleweight championship of the world, F. Klaus beat Billy Papke; in lightweight championship of the world F. Welsh beat H. Mehegan; in featherweight championship of the world, J. Driscoll and Owen Moran drew; and in heavweight cham- pionship of Europe, Carpentier beat Bombardier Wells.

In 1914, in lightweight championship of the world, F. Welsh beat W. Ritchie; and in heavyweight championship of Europe, Carpentier beat Gunboat Smith.

In 1915, at Havana, Jess Willard defeated Jack Johnson in the 25th round for the world's championship.

In 1919, at Toledo, U.S.A., Jack Dempsey beat Jess Willard (holder) for the world's championship in the 3rd round.

On Dec. 4 1919, at the Holborn Stadium, London, Carpentier beat Joe Beckett in a fight for the heavyweight championship of Europe. Beckett was knocked out in the first round after the fight had lasted one minute fourteen seconds. In 1921 Carpentier was beaten at Jersey City, U.S.A., by Dempsey, in the 4th round, in a contest for the heavyweight championship of the world, the greatest interest having been excited by this fight.

Swimming. American swimmers in 1920 held a majority of the world's records. A large number of these records were held by three men Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii, Perry McGilvray of Chicago and Norman Ross of San Francisco. Kahanamoku won the loo- metre race at the Olympic games of 1920, establishing a new world's record of I min. % sec. Ross was winner in two events (400 metres and 1 ,500 metres) ; Warren Kealoha of Honolulu was victorious in the loo-metre backstroke race, and the American team carried off the honours in the 8po-metre relay. Two races were lost to Swedish swimmers. American women also proved themselves good swim- mers, one of their triumphs was the defeat in 1919 of two Australians, Miss Fanny Durack and Miss Wylie, who visited the United States in that year. The victorious Americans were Miss Ethelda Bleibtrey and Miss Charlotte Boyle, both of Brooklyn. Miss Bleibtrey won a number of races at the Olympic games in 1920, where she established a record of 4 min. 34 sec. for 300 metres open water.

English Billiards. Since the prohibition of consecutive spot hazards and the push stroke, English professionals have relied chiefly upon the top-of-the-table game. An innovation, however, was introduced in 1911 by the Australian, George Gray, who repeatedly made huge breaks by means of a series of losing hazards from the red ball. In all, he scored 24 breaks of four figures, of which the highest was 2,196. Gray invariably declined to play matches with ivory balls, and these breaks were not made under Billiard Association rules. H. W. Stevenson, though not at his best in 1911, beat M. Inman twice for the championship of the Billiards Control Club. In Jan. 1912 George Gray met Stevenson and defeated him in two games out of three of 18,000 up. M. Inman beat T. Reece for the Billiard Control championship in 1912, 1913 and 1914. In 1919 Inman beat Stevenson in the Billiard Association championship by 6,532 points in 16,000. In 1920 W. Smith beat C. Falkiner in the Billiard Association championship by 1,500 points in 16,000. In 1921 Newman beat Reece in the professional championship by 5,256 points in 16,000.

In 1911 H. A. O. Lonsdale did not defend his title of amateur champion, and the cup reverted to H. C. Virr. An alteration was made in the arrangements, the champions of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales meeting in competition in the finals. Virr beat Major Fleming by only seven points in 3,000 for the amateur cham- pionship in 1912. The influence of Gray's example was plainly perceptible in this competition in the use made of the losing hazard. In 1913 Virr beat J. Nugent by 1,044 points in 3,000 and in 1914 by 1,962 in 3,000. In 1914 the Scottish championship was won by A. Croneen, and the Welsh championship by A. Paton. In 1915 the Welsh champion was A. Cable. In 1915 the United Kingdom Amateur Championship was won by A. W. T. Good (England) by 3,000 points to 2,716. la 1918 it was won by Graham Symes

by 2,000 points to 1,721. In 1919 S. H. Fry won the Amateur championship by 2,000 points to 1,729, but in the Billiard Control Club s Amateur Championship Tournament was beaten by Major Fleming by 2,000 points to 1,903. In 1920 Fry again won the Amateur Championship, by 3,000 points to 2,488.

A break of 1,016 was made by Stevenson in 1912 against W. Cook, without a series of spot strokes, anchor cannons or long successions of losing hazards. Stevenson made a break of 919 in 1913, and in the same year M. Inman made one of 894. In 1903 the amateur S. H. Fry made a break of 236.

Archery. The opportunity may be taken here to correct the ear- lier article on ARCHERY in some particulars. The bow now used by men is from 6 ft. I in. to 6 ft. 4 in. in length ; a lady's bow ranges from 5 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 8 in., measured between the nocks; these lengths according in the one case with an arrow of 27 in. to 28 in. and in the other with an arrow of 25 in. to 26 in. Exceptionally long arms may render necessary an arrow an inch longer and a corre- sponding addition of one or two inches to the bow. The "weight " of a bow is the number of pounds required, when appended to the string, to draw to the head an arrow of 28 in. for a man's bow or 25 in. for a lady's. The weight of men's bows varies from 36 Ib. to 58 lb., of ladies' from 18 Ib. to 30 lb., the lighter weights being sufficient for beginners. Bows are styled " self " or " backed " according as they are made of one wood or of two or more glued together. " Self bows," if of yew, are usually made of two pieces joined by a double fish splice at the handle : as it is difficult to find a piece of this wood (incomparably the best) of sufficient length while free from knots. If made of lance- they are invariably of a single piece. " Backed bows " may be of yew, backed either with the same wood or with hickory; or alternatively of washaba or of ruby, lance, or other woods backed with hickory ; the back being the flat side of the bow, and the " belly " the rounded side. Three woods are sometimes employed, a thin strip of fustic being inter- posed between a belly of yew and a back of hickory. There should be an inflexible centre of about 21 inches, whence the bow should taper gradually towards each end. It should be straight, the back true, and, when strung, the string should appear to cut the belly into two equal parts. Self yew bows are the best. They are light in the hand, the sweetest to pull, and have the best cast; but they require careful handling. They are also expensive, costing from 5 to 15, and they are liable to " crysals," or tiny cracks, which gradually spread until the bow breaks. A yew backed yew, which is next in merit, can be bought for 5 and is somewhat less liable to crysals. Between the others there is little to choose, provided that they are properly made, and not " reflexed," as they are said to be when the ends bend out- ward; for these jar the hand. Their price varies from 255. to 3 guineas. The string for a man's bow should be from 6 in. to 6f in. from the back of the bow when strung; for a lady's from 5} in. to 6 in., according to the length of the bow. The nock of arrows it is never called the " notch " should not be " cut square " but rounded. The feathers must be wing and not body feathers, which are quite useless. They should be from the same wing, i.e. right or left, about 15 in. long and tapering to the front from a depth of j in. at the nock. If balloon-shaped, their greatest depth should be at one-third of their length from the nock-end.

With regard to target scoring and handicapping it should be noted that a St. George's Round has never been shot at a public meeting, or, indeed, at any meeting held within the last 60 years. Handi- capping by the loss of rings has been obsolete for more than 35 years, nor is there any system which can rightly be called handicapping by points. Handicapping is now carried out either by dividing the archers into classes according to their powers, or by deducting percentages from their scores for previous successes.

As regards the history of archery, some corrections may also be made. The bow was used in war at a later date than 1860, viz. by the Japanese against the English at Surni Nosake, September 5 1864. Nor did the Armada year see the last appearance of the English archer. A company of archers was raised for the expedition to the island of Rhe in 1627. There were archers among the Russian troops in the Crimea. Again, the relation of Finsbury Archers, the Hon. Artillery Company and the Royal Toxophilite Society requires restatement. In July 1676, William Wood, Marshal of the Finsbury Archers, was sent round with a paper, signed by Sir E. Hungerford and others, setting forth that the " officers and others of the Society of Archers, within the cities of London and Westminster " have determined " that the bearer shall have a silver badge and bear the same as Marshall to the Queen's Majesty's Regiment of Archers." The names of the subscribers were appended (Guildhall MSS. 193). Consequently this badge or shield had no connexion with Oxford. The Finsbury Archers became extinct about 1761, but the Royal Toxophilite Society was not founded until 1781, when Mr. P. Constable, the last captain of the Finsbury Archers, joined it and landed to it the shield and other valuables. There was, therefore, no combination of the two clubs in 1841. It is incorrect to assert
 * hat the Finsbury Archers were not connected with the Hon.

Artillery Company. They were connected, and under their powers shot over the Finsbury Fields up to 1657. The Archers' Division of
 * he Hon. Artillery Company was formed by members of the Royal

Toxophilite Society in 1784. (X.)