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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 9 (December 1, 1936)

Dr. A. E. Porritt's Appointment

Dr. A. E. Porritt's Appointment.

One of the most pleasing items of news received in New Zealand—from a sportsman's viewpoint—for a long time was the information that Dr. A. E. Porritt, New Zealand Olympic representative in 1924, had been appointed Surgeon-in-Ordinary to the Duke of York. Captain Evan A. Hunter, who visited New Zealand as manager of the British athletic team two seasons ago, sent the writer an interesting lètter in connection with Porritt's appointment. It reads:—

“As I told you continually when I was in New Zealand, the Dominion could not be better represented—not only in sport but in any capacity—by two such men as Arthur Porritt and Jack Lovelock. They are both making great names for themselves here, and it has given great pleasure to Arthur Porritt's many friends to see his recent appointment as Surgeon-in-Ordinary to H.R.H. the Duke of York. A high honour, and one which should take him right to the top of his profession. The position is not too high for him, both on account of his high surgical skill and his splendid personality.”

(Rly. Publicity photo.) A broadcast from the cab of a locomotive at Wellington during the Road Safety Campaign at present being: conducted in New Zealand.

(Rly. Publicity photo.) A broadcast from the cab of a locomotive at Wellington during the Road Safety Campaign at present being: conducted in New Zealand.

Captain Hunter also added some high praise for Lovelock:—

“I am looking forward to going to Sydney, and I hope to have the pleasure of crossing over to New Zealand after the Empire Games in 1938. I do not expect that we will have a very large team, but we will do our best to get as good a team as possible. The unfortunate thing is that after a long journey one can never tell how the men will perform. My opinion is that it all depends on the man. A man who really takes his work seriously, trains carefully throughout the trip, etc., will run well on arrival. The trouble is that there are many attractions on board ship and so many temptations to over-eat. It takes a strong character, a high sense of duty, and a great desire to win, to overcome them.

“If every athlete had the ‘make-up’ of Jack Lovelock there would be no difficulty for them reproducing their best times even after a long trip to Australia. He has the infinite capacity for taking pains, and great powers of concentration. It is really these qualities that have made him the World's Champion that he is. So many athletes have the ability, but not the power of concentration. They do not page 87 realise that to be a world's champion one must be sentenced to at least two years' hard labour!”