Dan Mason - Not wanted by NZ athletics

New Zealand sportsman of note, No.1

New Zealand has long been fascinated with middle-distance running with Nick Willis, the most recent Olympic medalist, to cap a tradition that started with Jack Lovelock at that level but should have been preceded at the Antwerp Olympic Games of 1920.

That one of the brightest lights in post-First World War competition, Sergeant Dan Mason, was not selected to take part in the Olympic Games that year is a travesty as great as the refusal to take George Nepia and Jimmy Mill to South Africa with the 1928 All Blacks.

Mason, a professional runner before the war in Northland, was awarded the title of the Northern Union's best professional athlete of the 1913-14 season based on winning the most points in ranked events. In Britain, he took advantage of the spirit of renewal that accompanied the ending of hostilities on the Western Front on November 11, 1918. That allowed professional sportsmen to be reinstated as amateurs.

Mason had set sail from Auckland in 1916 for Sling Camp in England. He sailed as part of the 19th Reinforcements. He saw action in front-line trenches but was sent back to England for an operation on his sinuses. After his surgery, he used trackwork to rebuild his strength.

But athletics was not his only remarkable ability.

During the war, he also made a reputation for himself as a violinist and was part of a military band, The Tuis, that provided entertainment for troops. Later in his life, he played in dance bands in Whangarēi and Auckland, where he lived the latter years of his life.

Before resuming his middle-distances track career, he described a day in the life of a soldier before he was sent to France in a letter to his mother in early 1917.

Dan Mason

The work here is of a far more advanced stage than what we had in Trentham. I will try to give you a programme of a day's work over here.

Reveille goes at 6.30. When we get up, we fold our blankets, sweep out, shave, and get properly dressed for breakfast at 7 am. Some of the men shave at night, but they are very particular about this and would not be allowed if caught. Also, the heads are very particular about the blankets. They must be properly folded in a uniform way, and all dust swept out from the corners round the beds. One gets 'CB' [confined to barracks] for very little over here. NCOs don't get CB, but everything counts against promotion. At 7 am, we parade down for breakfast. By the way, the sick parade is at 6.45, so you see that anyone going sick does not get breakfast. Breakfast, dinner, and tea are the only items that are not compulsory. Each man washes his knife, fork, and spoon; permanent mess orderlies do the other things. We have army rations, and it is each man for himself. I usually do well and get my share.

After breakfast, we have to get our packs up and fall in at five minutes to eight. Our pack weighs about 30 lbs [pounds] now, but when we get to France and get our ammunition in pouches, bombs, steel helmets, wire-cutters, etc., it weighs another 60 lbs, so you see, we have to be fit.

Then, we adjourn to what is known as the 'bull ring,' where we go through three hours of training on different subjects. This morning, we had one hour on the Lewis gun. This gun weighs 28 lbs and is much like a small machine gun but of a different structure. We have to know how to load and fire in three seconds. It did it in four seconds this morning, but it was my first go. Some were longer, but one did it in 3½ seconds.

Then, we were taken over by another instructor for an hour of anti-gas. I might say that most of our instructors are returned men, and mostly sergeants and corporals, who have been kept for instruction purposes. There are enough to take our men in squads of 12 or 14 at a time.

Well, we then started on our gas lesson. We each have a helmet made of two thicknesses of flannelette, so made as to cover the head and the rest to be well pushed down under the tunic, which is then buttoned tightly at the neck. In the front are two glass eyepieces and a mouthpiece, so made that one can breathe out of it but not through it.

Where do we get air to breathe in? Well, this flannelette is soaked in phenol, carbonate of soda, hexamine, and glycerine. It is called the 'P.H.' helmet. These chemicals work on the gases used by the Germans to such an extent that the air, as it comes through the flannelette, is purified and quite harmless. We have to go through proper gas with these helmets on before we go to France. This is to see if we are competent and to give us some idea of what it is like to be in gas.

The Germans use two deadly poison gases and one that is not poisonous but very annoying. This latter is called 'weeping gas' and affects the eyes so that a man is unable to see for the tears streaming out of the eyes. It has no after-effects on a man.

Their other gases are deadly poisonous. They are called chlorine and phosgene. Chlorine is lighter than air, and phosgene is heavier. They are nearly always used mixed.

Chlorine affects the bronchial tubes of the throat and chokes a man – very much like a man with bronchitis. It is agony, and men have been known to tear their throats out.

Phosgene is a gas that affects the heat. A man may get gassed by this and be quite right, but some 24 hours after, he may drop dead. So you see the advantage of men being trained in using gas helmets– to put them on quickly and securely and what to do when the gas alarm is given.

Well, then we had an hour on wiring. This is usually done by a party of 12 men and an NCO at night. It must be done quietly and quickly. Each man must know his work, and each has a job to do. It is carried on very systematically and is dangerous work. This afternoon we fell in at 1 o'clock and finished at 4.30. First, we went for a two-hour route match and had lectures on the nature of the surroundings and how to sketch a map of positions. It was interesting. Then we came home and had a demonstration of gun-cotton. A lump was tied to a stump about 12 inches through and lit by a time fuse. The concussion was great and blew that stump into match-wood. It is used in blowing down enemy parapets. A man has to crawl forward and set it. If he fails, another takes his place. There are just a few points on our work here and what we do when away.

Tea comes on at five, and nearly every night, there are lectures for all parties, so we get very little spare time.^[1]

Later, following his recuperation from his sinus surgery, he was sent to Codford camp and, in another letter home, he referred to the Battalion running a sports meeting on May 20, 1917. He ran for the Canterbury Battalion through his membership in the band. Everyone started from scratch, and in the three events he entered, the 440 yards, 880 yards and hurdles, winning them all while running barefoot.

The boys were delighted; C Battalion won the most points for the day. I did not have to run very fast, either.

On Sunday morning, word came around saying I had to meet in a trial for a representative from the Brigade to compete at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, on May 28.

There were 18 starters, and it was run in two heats. I won my heat and the final, and I am going to Chelsea next Saturday till Tuesday to run for the honour of the N.Z. 4th Brigade. I will have all expenses paid, and the battalion has bought me a pair of shoes, and I will be running in a black jersey with a silver fern worked on the front with the letters N.Z. on.

I am also going to run in a mile if I feel fit enough, but the other must come first as I have had too little training for both. I have been given all this week off duty by the General of the Brigade in which to train. There is a lovely training ground just a quarter of a mile from here, at Stockton Park. I am going over there this afternoon. I am running very well, and it would not take me long to get back to my old form again, but of course, the sports are a week from today, and time is short.

The boys in the band were terribly surprised, as they did not know I was a runner, being nearly all South Island boys. They laughed when I told them to back me as I would win. Now they are wild they did not have side bets on me as a 'dark horse.' I took a bet of four to one that I could win the three. This man was saying he would bet on this and that, and no one seemed to bother him, so I said, 'What will you bet I can't win the three races I am in?' He said, 'I'll bet you a quid [one pound] to 5s [five shillings]. I said, 'Right,' and promptly gave him the 5s. I wish I had more money than that. At any rate, I have a quid now instead of 5s.

The two-quarter miles I ran yesterday morning as trials on top of Saturday have stiffened my calves, but I am working them well, and I think I will be A1. I may get a good bit of running to do now if we are here anytime, but I know we are going away from here soon.^[2]

He first appeared in English competition beyond the New Zealand Army on May 18, 1918 where he won a half-mile off a 50-yard handicap. It was the last time he enjoyed that luxury.

Running at the weekends was his lot as the war neared its end.

In those days, athletes were not so particular about how many races they ran in an afternoon or on how many days of the week they competed.^[3]

At Stamford Bridge on September 3, 1918, he was involved in a scratch mile for the British International Championship. It was a small field, but a week before, England runners Percy Hodge (the future 1920 3000m Olympic steeplechase champion) and Alf Nichols (who won a silver medal in the teams cross country at the 1920 Olympics) had gone head-to-head in a memorable race.

Sporting Life noted

This time, however, they had to meet a great runner in Corpl. 'Dan' Mason, of New Zealand, and it altered things a bit. Nichols once again made the running, but when in the third lap Hodge was dropped and Mason still hung on, it looked as if there would be a surprise, and so there was.

Two hundred yards from home the dark-skinned New Zealander dashed to the front, and in a hundred yards had his man beat. Up the straight, Mason merely doddled, and yet won in 4min 20.6sec. He is the best miler we have seen for many a day.^[4]

Nichols said, 'He is the finest miler in England at the present day.'^[5]

That was followed by the Army Athletic meeting on September 6, 1918, again at Stamford Bridge, in which was entered the 440 yds, half-mile and mile, and the half-mile in the relay. The newspaper observed that the climate seemed to suit Mason, who ran in an easy but deceptive style. It would take an out-and-out champion to beat him in the Army meeting if he didn't attempt too much.

He won the mile in 4min 31.5sec at 2.20 pm, 'strolling home' ahead of the defending Midland champion Arthur Pallett. He won his 440yards heat but was pipped in the final by 18-year-old Queen's Westminster rifleman C. Griffiths, who ran 51.6sec at 3.10 pm and at 5.10 pm won a half-mile in 2min 1.8sec. Mason had no qualms about his workload.

If a man's fit he can run.^[6]

The Athletic News said Mason was 'the most versatile athlete we have seen for a long time...the performer of the day.'^[7]

Griffiths would also later suffer at the hands of officialdom when he was banned when it was learned he had raced for money in his youth.

Once Mason's reputation was established, he felt the handicapper's full force. He gave away 350 yards in a mile race involving more than 100 starters. When he looked behind just before they started, the limit man was 90 yards behind him. He finished fourth.

After the Armistice on November 11, 1918, it was decided to prepare a sports programme for all New Zealand's forces to keep them occupied while plans were made to return them to New Zealand. The Americans decided to create a significant event in mid-year to celebrate the end of the war while also acknowledging that Paris could not host the Olympic Games in 1916.

They would be named the Inter-Allied Games for representatives of all the countries allied against the German-Hapsburg alliance during the war. The Americans built a new stadium, the Pershing Stadium, for the Games that ran from June 22 to July 6. New Zealand's competitors were selected in January 1919 and went into training at Stamford. That gave them significant advantages, and they stayed at their training facility until the week preceding the Games.

Before the Games were held, events on the usual athletics programme were contested, and during these, Mason twice beat the British Olympic champion A.G. 'Albert' Hill over half-mile races.

At a YMCA Sports carnival at Stamford Bridge in late May, the International Invitation Mile Relay Race was contested. It involved Mason running 880 yards, Jimmy Wilton 440 yards and Harry Wilson and Jack Lindsay 220 yards each. Only New Zealand, England and Canada contested the race.

Explaining their relay preparation, Mason said,

We had two trainers with us and jolly good men they were. Their names were Fred Benjamin and Fred Juno. They were most untiring in their efforts with us and should have been seized by the New Zealand [Athletics] Council as coaches for young runners. Their experience has been lost to athletics for which I am extremely sorry.^[8]

New Zealand won in 3min 30.6sec, a world best time, with England one second back and Canada 100 yards further back. The most notable contest in the relay was the battle between Mason and England's star and future double 800m-1500m Olympic gold medalist Albert Hill.

They passed and repassed one another in great style. A furlong from home, Hill was well in front, but round the last bend Mason made a great effort, and to some spectators appeared to interfere with Hill. They came down the final straight neck and neck, the New Zealander winning with a yard to spare, and the half-mile being run in 1min 55.4sec.^[9]

A week later Mason ran 4 min 18 sec in the fastest mile run in Britain since Joe Binks ran 4 min 16.8 sec to win the 1902 AAA Mile championship, but details are scarce on where that race was run. He was ranked the world's fourth best miler in 1919 as a result of the run.

The Scots invited Mason to tour, and he faced Hill twice in a week. He lost their first encounter while running 1min 57 sec but won on the second occasion in a time of 1min 55.2sec, a Scottish record. Later, he met Hill at Stamford Bridge and beat him when running 1min 53.8sec. Over 23 starts in half-mile races, he was only beaten once by Hill.

Mason's best time over the 440 yards occurred in a mile relay when he clocked 50.2sec. He had already won the half-mile in the Army Inter-Services meeting, and his relay time was faster than the winner of the 440 yards even.

There is little doubt that his career highlight was his performance in the Inter-Allied Games, where he was pitted against the unbeaten American hope Earl Eby in the 800 metres.

The official report of the Inter-Allied Games – 1919 described their clash.

The little blonde [sic] champion, [Earl] Eby, however, met his first European defeat and his match in the 800-metre run in which Mason of New Zealand supplied a brilliantly run and judged victory. While Mason's win over the national 600-yard champion was quite unexpected, surprising the spectators who were looking to see Eby repeat his quarter-mile triumph, there was no reason to discount the possibilities of the Antipodean as a victor. He had already outdistanced Eby in the preliminary heat (the latter finished third, with Bergemeier of Australia second) and although neither had extended himself, Mason's time of 2 minutes even was good.

In the final, Mason took an excellently calculated chance and practically ran a lead race all the way. Eby had to begin his final spurt from sixth place in the field, and did succeed in passing all but the New Zealand.

Eby, like most of the spectators, probably figured that Mason had set too strenuous a pace to have a spurt left in him, but the Colonial surprised him. His magnificent flying finish brought him home a yard ahead of Eby in 1:55.4, breaking the French record. The sturdy antipodean had outguessed and outrun Eby.^[10]

The Paris edition of the New York Herald was also impressed.

Dan Mason beats Earl Eby in the 800m final at the Inter-Allied Games

Elby began his final sprint from sixth place in the field. When he cut loose, he passed all but the splendid runner from New Zealand. Mason made a magnificent spurt to beat the American by a yard. Elby's attempt was desperate, but the sturdy Colonial had outguessed and outrun him.^[11]

The French Premier, Marshal Petain, was impressed enough with his effort to present him with a gold medal, while Italy's Minister of War presented him with a 60-guinea watch.

In the 1500m, Mason again qualified after winning his heat in 4 min 18sec, but in the final, he had to concede, dropping out at the last turn, 'utterly exhausted', the race being won by American Clyde Stout in 4 min 5.6sec.

Dr Carberry, the head of the New Zealand Army's headquarters medical staff, often tested Mason's condition and considered him abnormal because of his ability to show no exhaustion after the most challenging races.

But, his withdrawal from the 1500m may have been the cause for him not starting the AAA 1919 Championships, a week later, where he was listed to run against Hill in the mile.

There were great hopes that Mason would be chosen for the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp due to his European success. But his return to New Zealand was a travesty of the ineptitude of athletics administrators of the day. He was asked to appear in an Olympic Games trial.

He accepted but was then asked to pay a 5/- (50 cents) reinstatement fee. He thought this was unnecessary, given the waiver for service members who had previously competed as professionals. An amnesty had been given to all who served in the war, but petty officialdom prevailed.

He also felt athletic authorities were using his name to attract public interest towards donating funds to send a team for which he had not been selected for the Olympics. He refused to pay and never ran afterwards.

What a loss, but it confirmed Mason as a man of principle, which has rarely been seen at the top level of New Zealand sport.

He wasn't lost to sport, however. He became New Zealand professional wrestling champion Lofty Blomfeld's cornerman, and away from sport, he busied himself with his Point Chevalier business and his music.

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^[1] Dan Mason, Letter home, Northern Advocate, 5 May 1917

^[2] Mason ibid, Northern Advocate, 26 July 1917

^[3] Dan Mason, Sun (Auckland), 20 June 1930

^[4] Sporting Life, (Undated)

^[5] Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, (Undated)

^[6] ibid

^[7] Athletic News, undated

^[8] Dan Mason, Training of Athletes, Hawera Star, 22 June 1935

^[9] Unidentified London newspaper report, dated, 29 May 1919

^[10] Report of the Inter-Allied Games – 1919, published by the Games Committee, Ed. Capt J M Hanson

^[11] New York Herald (Paris edition), quoted by Max Smith, Champion Blokes, Whitcombe and Tombs, Auckland, 1964