Remarkable performance

The twelfth annual contest for the Edmond Cup took place at the Wingatui racecourse on Saturday afternoon, but the light rain which fell at intervals was unpleasant both for the competitors and the spectators.

Among the small number present were the members of the Anglican Ladies’ Athletic Club, who took a very keen interest in the race. At any time the course is a gruelling one, but this year, owing to the very heavy rain of the past few clays, a portion of the track was a veritable quagmire, and the 80 men who took part were indeed plucky to set out with such a strenuous task in front of them.

In spite of the heavy nature of the track, the winner, E.L. Brown, of the Civil Service Club, ran a great race, and he did the distance in 17 minutes dead, as compared with W.H.B. Hobbs’s time of 17min 41sec last year. Brown has a great style for a young runner, and at the end of the race he was as fit as at the commencement, and he showed no signs of fatigue. It was the first occasion on which Brown competed in the Edmond Cup race and, as he only took up track running during the past season, his performance is a remarkable one, and he is certainly to be regarded as a coming champion.

The Edmond Cup race originated in 1907, when Mr W. F. Edmond presented the cup for competition among dominion harrier clubs, but for the past two years no teams from other centres have competed. The first race for the cup was run in Forbury Park on Saturday, June 8, 1907, when it was won by the Caversham Club.

Master of the car

There is a vast difference between the pleasure obtained from being able merely to drive a car and from being able to drive one really well. 

But a driver who has taken pains to become the absolute master of his car earns not only pleasure for  himself; he instils confidence in his passengers, winning both their gratitude and their appreciation. 

We should like every car owner to set himself the task of becoming a really polished driver. Patience and practice are both necessary before complete mastery of the controls of a car is attained, and it must not be thought that any special qualifications other than those are needed. Every owner of a car could be an almost perfect driver if only he would apply himself to achieving perfection. 

— by ‘Accelerator’

Up through the ground, oil that is

Invercargill: The fire which destroyed the British Imperial Oil Company's store in Bond street has created a new danger. Six days from the time the fire had commenced it was discovered that oil and benzine had found its way underground from the store floor to the foreshore, where it was oozing out of the ground below high-water mark. Bubbling pools of oil dotted over large areas are discernible at low tide, the fumes being very strong.

A sample of the oil and benzine was taken for the purpose of testing its inflammability, and when a match was applied a minor explosion took place. This discovery has resulted in the authorities taking every precaution to prevent any trouble occurring, more especially as a magazine for housing explosives is in the vicinity. A constable has been placed on duty for the purpose of patrolling the area when the tide is out and to issue a warning to the public to refrain from visiting the locality owing to the possibility of an explosion occurring if a naked light is exposed

— ODT, 16.6.1924  (Composed by Peter Dowden)