THE FIRE BRIGADE COMPETITION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2381, 23 December 1908, Page 4

THE FIRE BRIGADE COMPETITION.

NOTES ON THE TEAMS. As the day of the ■competition is .not far off, some of those interested m the doings of the local brigade may Uc interested in the following notes respecting practices. In view of the New Zealand Association meeting at Auckland in February, after some lew defections for various reasons, three teams were finally selected in a sort of go-as-you-please manner, and owing to a feeling of esprit de corps and the exercise of a little tact amongst tlio.se interested, they _ have settled down to steady practice. Now the three teams, taken collectively, are the best that have been competing locally" for years. Perhaps none of the men may bo individually as smart as T. Morrison and G. Wildish at their best, 'as speedy as W. Mitchell, or as strong and active as Bill box, out there is some very promising material in some of the younger members, who may in time rival the deeds of the old-time champions. In the whole fifteen at present practising, there is not what could be called a duffer. 01 course any one conversant with brigade competitions knows that there is no other branch of athletics where luck plays such an- important role. There is the ever-present bogey to firemen—a cross-thread, or a refractory cap or coupling, the water may be too sudden, as happened to our team at the last competition in Christchurch, where the event was lost through the water being about the twinkle of an eyelid too fast. Practice may minimise these things, but there is also another item which all the practice in the w'orld cannot alter, and that is temperament. Many a first-class man in practice is almost useless on the day of competition owing to an attack of nerves. This accounts for many a team that put up records in practice failing to'reproduce their form, and the work of the team 4 " can be spoilt by one-member. However.. I hope such will not be the case on Saturday, and should any of the three teams run up to practice times they will shake up some of the existing focal records, and the selectors should be able to get a really representative team for Auckland, provided their enthusiasm does not evaporate with their local efforts.

At- the fortnightly meeting of the Fire Brigade, held on Monday night, the general arrangements in connection with the forthcoming competition were completed as far as possible —the drawing for places and the order of running the events. The following were appointed as a committee to select the representative team: Superintendent J. Townley, Sub-Sup-erintendent J. Thomson, Senior Foreman G. Wildish., Fireman A. Thomson and the custodian, T. Morrison.