459 



Though it was necessary to wait till the ice was five inches thick before announcing this 

 event, and though considerable notice had to be given, yet the ice held long enough to enable 

 2,000 players to take part at Carsbreck on February 2. As usual the South beat the North. 

 The International Match (England v. Scotland), fixed a day too late, was spoilt by the 

 weather. It had not been played in the open since 1907. The rinks, or at least their skips, 

 were deliberately selected, making the match genuinely representative, a place in the team 

 having hitherto depended on inclination to enter and luck in the ballot. After several 

 English victories (including 1911), Scotland won* in 1912 at Craigielands Loch by an average 

 of six shots a rink, over 24 rinks. Curling facilities have been multiplied not only by the use 

 of sprinkled asphalt rinks but by the opening of ice-palaces in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. 



In Switzerland, curling has- increased in popularity, it being possible to play in milder 

 weather than suits most other winter sports. The centre of chief activity has moved from 

 the Engadine to the Oberland, partly because of Grindelwald's victories in the Jackson Cup 

 in 1911-^12 necessitating the competition being held at Grindelwald (instead of Davos or St. 

 Moritz) until they lose it. In the International Bonspiel Mr. McGeoch's Manchester rink 

 won in 1911 and 1912. 



During their tour in Canada the Scottish touring team lost by 16, 47, 61 and 31 shots on 

 six rinks in their four international matches an average of six shots a rink. 



Cycling. 



Interest in bicycle racing was maintained with difficulty during 1911, despite the 

 continued increase in the use of the bicycle for utility and recreation. The World's 

 Championships held at Rome early in June resulted in the Englishmen, Bailey and 

 Meredith, winning the one kilometre and 100 kilometres amateur contests, and Ellegard 

 winning the kilometre professional race. In 1912 the World's Championships held at 

 Chicago resolved themselves practically into duels between American and French pro- 

 fessionals, out of which Kramer, the United States representative, emerged successful. 

 The fact that the cycling contest at the Olympic Games was a road race gave a great 

 fillip to that form of the sport and led to quite unexpected results. As the leading road- 

 racing country England was looked upon as the inevitable winner, but anticipations 

 were entirely falsified, for Lewis, a South African, accomplished the fastest time, and 

 the Swedish team (Friborg, Malm and Persson) placed their country first. The race, 

 however, was greatly influenced by the order of the draw for places. 



Motor cycling made great progress in 1911, but mostly in Great Britain, Germany 

 being a fair second. The only international events of sporting importance were the 

 Tourist trophy races held by the Auto Cycle Union of Great Britain in the Isle of Man 

 on June 3oth and July 3rd. On the former date Evans won the junior event for engines 

 of less than about 3 H.P., and on the latter Godfrey won the senior race in which the 

 power practically was limited to about 4 H.P. The expansion of motor cycling in 1912 

 was much more rapid, and general and international contests are likely to be multiplied. 

 The chief sporting events, however, .were again the Tourist Trophy races in the Isle of 

 Man. The junior event .was won by Bashall and the senior by Applebee. The chief 

 mechanical development of the year was the evolution of the cycle-car a four-wheeled 

 motor cycle, which formed the feature of the London Olympic Motor Cycle Show in 

 November 1912. : . ,;- 



Fencing. 



For the advancement of international intercourse it is desirable, as recent events 

 have demonstrated, that an effort should be made to assimilate both the rules and the 

 accepted canons of foil and epic fencing as practised in different European contests. 

 For instance, the rule as to the '' target " adopted by the Swedish committee was re- 

 garded in France as so unsatisfactory that, by way of protest, no French team was sent 

 to Stockholm for the Olympic contests, nor in fact was France even represented in the 

 epee and sabre competitions. The Italians also declined the epee matches because the 

 longer weapon which they affect was not admissible. In the French rules the upper 

 part of the sword arm is assailable. The new rule adopted by the Amateur Fencing 

 Association, but not yet applied to the foils championship, counts hits on the upper part 

 of the sword arm, if in the judge's opinion it has intercepted the point when this would 

 otherwise have reached the chest. Under the Swedish Olympic rule the sword arm was 



