Acute Shortage of Available Grounds Will Soon Present Very Delicate Problem 'OST sum: mer competitions were halted inconclusively in the height of the season and it appears that the bulk of the winter pastimes of Shanghai will also be put out of gear in varying. degrees by Iccal hostilities, Among the problems faced are the unavoidable withdrawal of Chinese teams, the shortage of playing fields and the inability of many clubs to purchase gear owing to the closure of mills.
The shortage of grounds presents the most acute difficulty and the authorities will soon be faced with a pretty knot to unravel when soccer, rugby and hockey players swing into action shorn of many of their usual arenas, Those city hubs of sporting activity, the Rêcreation Ground, the Stadium and the Canidrome, will be enormously strained for space for matches which would normally take place at Hongkew Park and other grounds now out of bounds. Within a week or two a hundred or more teams will be clamouring for ground apportionment and the necessarily unfortunate solution will probably t of fixture curtailments.
Plight of golfers Golfers have been heavy sufferers. Their courses and their clubs are in no-man's-land. When Seekingjao was hurriedly evacuated about 400 bags of clubs worth: $20,000 dollars at a Gonservative estimate, and much valuable gear was left behind. Later attempts to salvage them failed. Since the Seekingjao area has become embroiled in the fighting zone the fate of the valuable club building and the property it housed is not known but can be imagined. Even if the premises have had the luck to escape lightly the costs of putting the course back into condition after months of inattention will be considerable. From what can be gathered Kiangwan has been very badly punished, Since hostilities broke out half 'a dozen die-hards have braved the dangers of Hungjao area for their week-end game, but it is known that club officials, in a spirit of affection for the membership, are not in the least keen for members to imagine that an all clear signal has been given for general play. The ground staff has carried on and the course is said to be in the pink of condition. If a championship meeting is held this year it is reasonable to expect thet Hungjao will be its scene.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.