Page 572 - Reading Mercury

parts of which they shed as they raced around the field, sometimes chasing the ball
and sometimes the unfortunate referee. The referee soon met with an untimely end
and was removed in an improvised coffin. The final result seemed to be in doubt, and
although no prizes were given, the players received sundry hard knocks and bruises.
The first release of racing pigeons ever held in the district took place from the
carnival field, and when 227 birds were liberated they presented a fine spectacle.
Thrills and amusement were provided by the Wokingham Motor Club.
COMIC CRICKET
The programme on the Wokingham cricket ground commenced with a cricket match
between the girls and lads of Wokingham. The game was the outcome of a long-
standing account which the ladies of the Wokingham Tennis Club had to settle with
members of the cricket club, and in view of the nature of the struggle carnival day was
chosen for the fixture.
The ladies opened the game, and with the first ball one of the batswomen sent an
easy catch for a fielder to fumble. Play continued with weapons ranging from frying
pans to besoms, one enterprising Jewish gentleman scoring easy runs by catching the
ball in a net fixed in a hole in a bat. Umpires there were, but the position was purely
honorary, all disputes being settled in good old English style. When there were any
balls hit in the long field the spectators were forced to return them, for, after all, a ball
is not really essential for a robust game of cricket. After a hard (literally) tussle the
girls scored a magnificent victory by half a dozen runs over the lads, who made 43.
Greyhound racing was the next attraction, but the unlooked for climax came when
the “hare”—two rabbit-skins on a length of cord—which had been slowed down to
cause the dogs to stop, was captured by one of the angry pursuers and hauled away—
tow-line as well—to the shelter of the Punch and Judy show. Other racing was
brought to an untimely end by the public straying over the course.
First in popularity was the display of the Wokingham Volunteer Fire Brigade. A car
enveloped in smoke made its rumbling way around the arena until its occupant,
finding the heat a little unpleasant, attempted in vain to douse the fire with soda water.
No more successful were the efforts of a village ancient with perambulator,
trelliswork ladder and cow-bell, who assisted in the good work of breaking up the
vehicle. At last stalwarts of the Wokingham brigade arrived, and in one glorious
deluge settled all differences. Some of the spectators thought the display a “wash-
out,” however.
THE PROCESSION
The carnival procession in the evening was thought to be the most successful ever
held, large crowds thronged the route. Fellow [fold in the page] and members of the
St. John Ambulance Brigade, who were in a lorry [fold in the page] Mr. R.J. Ward,
came the Mayor [fold in the page] in a decorated car. The Carnival Queen, with her
retinue followed, while the Orthopaedic Clinic staged a tableau representing the work
of the clinic. The winner of the class for the decorated motor-cycle combination had
transformed his machine into a realistic representation of an old-world cottage,
complete with garden. A tableau entitled “Wokingham Welfare babies” created much
amusement, and the children were certainly a healthy-looking lot. A truly rural touch
was provided by a tableau called “Hurst—Past and Present.” The huntsman, the
parson, a “sot” sitting on a pair of stocks, a hale and hearty squire and other characters
in village life were all represented. The members of the Town Council found
themselves “duplicated” by a number of citizens in robes of office, and preceded by a
pompous-looking mace bearer.
NEW ‘BUS COMPANY.

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