1 these matches, and will prevent the recurrence of such an unfortunate affair. Though the result of the late match for the billiard championship was a great surprise to the general public, there were not a few who took 6 and 7 to 4 very freely, trusting to "young John's" wonderful nerve and unlimited confidence in himself, which contrasts well with Cook's highly nervous temperament. It is curious that such a career of triumph as Cook has enjoyed, and the knowledge that he has made about half-a-dozen of "the longest breaks on record," has not given him more self-reliance; and we noticed, in the match with Roberts Sen., though he was playing a winning game throughout, he was in a state of painful tremor the whole evening. Then, he has worked harder this season than perhaps any billiard player ever did before; and we should like to know how many thousands of miles he has travelled while on "starring" expeditions. Perhaps he is wise to "make hay while the sun shines"; still he might surely have given himself a fortnight's rest, and not come to the post thoroughly stale to meet such a dangerous antagonist as Roberts Jun. He did not show any approach to his well-known form; and, though he passed first into the second hundred, the unfortunate dispute about a cannon quite upset his small stock of self-possession. Then he was terribly unlucky, missing several difficult strokes by the merest shave, while Roberts never played more brilliantly. The winner made 55 as his longest break, and Cook's best contribution was only 53; so the new style of table again proved a complete bar to long scores. This may be all very well; but it is manifestly absurd to have one style of table for ordinary use, and another for championship matches; and within a week of Cook's hollow defeat, he met the Champion on a table with ordinary pockets, and beat him by nearly six hundred points; and we may expect this paradoxical result very frequently. It is the fashion now to cry down the spot stroke as monotonous; perhaps it is so; still it is a fair and legitimate part of the game; and it is rather hard on Cook that all the study and time he has bestowed on attaining perfection in it should be suddenly rendered useless by an alteration in the style of table. The Amateur Athletic Club has never yet had a fine day for its great annual sports, and on this occasion the only fall of rain we have had for three or four weeks occurred during the Champion Meeting. Still the day was not altogether unfavourable, and the sport showed a decided improvement on that of previous years. Formerly an entrance fee of a guinea was charged for each event, and very handsome silver cups were given as prizes; now there is no entrance fee, but except in races where a challenge cup has been presented to the club, a winner gets a medal. We think the club has gone from one extreme to the other. We do not mean with regard to prizes, for an amateur ought to be perfectly satisfied with a handsome medal; but it would be far better to make an entrance fee of, say five shillings. At present many men enter for the pleasure of seeing their names on the card, and others run "just for the lark of the thing "who have no pretensions to compete at a meeting of this character. Then the club, in spite of the elaborate definition of an amateur contained in its rules, allowed some very queer entries to be made-indeed, two were so questionable that, at the request of several members of the London Athletic Club, Mr. Walter Rye intered a protest against them. As the A.A.C. aspires to take the lead in athletic sports and lay down the law to all other clubs, it should be especially careful in these matters, and should not have set such a bad example as this. With this single exception everything was very well managed. The Londoners sustained a severe blow in the Quarter Mile by the easy defeat of E. J. Colbeck, who could not make any fight with A. R. Upcher, the Cambridge crack. He was quite out of form, and finished with his head lower than ever-indeed, a spectator remarked to us, "He'll get his head between his knees before he's done." Under these circumstances it was a pity he gave the "stranger the triumph of beating him; and it was curious that he should like to start in the Half Mile, when he must have known that he had no chance. The Seven Miles Walking was one of the finest races ever seen, and it may be some time before an amateur covers the distance in 55 min. 33 sec. again. R. H. Nunn's victory would have been the more popular, and certainly his style of going is perfect; but, though T. Griffith is not as pretty a goer, he walked most fairly and with great gameness-in fact, there can be no doubt the best man won. R. J. C. Mitchell came from Manchester in 1868 and carried off three prizes, and this year he repeated his visit, and the High, Broad, and Pole Jumps, and Putting the Stone all went to the North. He is a splendid sample of an athlete, and won all four events withwithout any difficulty. In the High Jump he goes up to the bar with his arms stretched out, and gets over in such a slanting position that on one occasion he actually knocked it off with his shoulder. E. Bergman, the Oxford champion, got over 10 ft. with the pole, though his frequent refusals somewhat spoil his jumping. A. J. Baker, the holder of the L.A.C. 100 yards challenge cup, repeated his victory at this distance. He runs in somewhat awkward style, and carries his arms badly and his head low; but he is very quick on the mark, and has a rare turn of speed. A. J. Eames is an immense acquisition to the Civil Service, for as Guy Pym was always a bad starter, we fancy he is about the best man at the distance it has ever possessed, and had he got off on even terms with Baker, he would have given him a great deal of trouble, for he was making up his ground in fine style at the finish. R. V. SomersSmith repeated his last year's victory in the Half Mile in very fast time, and then E. Hawtrey, one of the best and unluckiest of long-distance runners, filled his usual place of second in the Four Miles. On this occasion, however, he had only himself to thank for the result, as he allowed H. C. Riches, whom he knew to be a faster man than himself, to make his own pace, and left the race to a question of speed at the finish. These tactics could only have one result, for although Hawtrey can go at a good pace all through a long race, he always seems hopelessly incapable of a spurt, and so, though he was far the fresher of the two, Riches had the speed of him all the way up the straight. WINNER OF THE LIVERPOOL GRAND NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE IN 1869 AND 1870. ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY HARRY HALL. BY CASTOR. The Colonel, bred by the late Mr. John Weyman in 1863, is by Knight of Kars, out of Boadicea by Faugh-a-Ballagh, her dam, Princess of Wales, by Bran-Modesty, by Pilgarlick. Knight of Kars, bred by the late Lord Exeter in 1855, is by Nutwith, out of Pocohontas by Glencoe, her dam, Marpessa, by MuleyClare, by Marmion-Gohanna. Knight of Kars was a fair race-horse, but of nothing like the form of his famous half-brothers, Stockwell, Rataplan, and King Tom. His stock came out in 1863, and he is the sire of some fifty winners, although they are generally better over a country than a course. Mother o' Pearl, however, was a smart mare on the flat, while Albrighton, New Oswestry, Carlos, and Maesgwatha have, like The Colonel, told more in the Steeplechase Kalends. The Knight of Kars, now the property of Mr. Eyke, is located at Stanton, near Shifnal. Boadicea, the dam of The Colonel, was bred by Mr. Davies on the hills at Monaughty, on the border land Shropshire and Radnor, in 1852, where her dam, The Princess of Wales, was also foaled; the half-bred stain resting with Modesty, foaled in 1827, a daughter on the best side of her head of the Yorkshire horse, Pilgarlick by Woful, out of Elizabeth, by Sancho. All the sort, with the h. b. parenthesis attached to the nomination, could run a bit, and from old Modesty onwards have for the last thirty or forty years haunted the Welsh circuit-Cardiff, Knighton, Ludlow, Tenby, and so forth. Princess of Wales, however, a long way the best of the family in public, occasionally flew at higher game, and once ran well up for the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot. Modesty herself was no great performer, even about home, but her produce included Mr. Jones' Gorse-bush, foaled in 1834; Mr. Gough's Greenfinch, by Tamworth, foaled in 1837; and Princess of Wales, by Bran, in 1839—all winners. The Princess of Wales was, in turn, the dam of Lily Dawson by Gladiator, Butterfly by Orlando, and of the own sisters, Minerva and Boadicea, by Faugh-a-Ballagh. Boadicea's only living produce are Lady Port, by Knight of Kars, foaled in 1862, and The Colonel, and the mare herself died just previous to foaling at Little Brampton. Boadicea's career in public was not very remarkable, but her sister Minerva was a capital mare over a country, and in 1856 ran second for the Grand National at Liverpool, The Colonel is a dark-brown, whole coloured horse, standing close upon fifteen hands three inches high. He has a good but not "pretty" |