BOWLING

Evening Star, Issue 16627, 9 January 1918, Page 8

BOWLING

♦> [By Measuber.] To-morrow will see the start of the fifth annual tournament held under the auspices of the Dominion of New Zealand Bowlinu Association. It may be as well, for tht information of late-comers, to review the situation. Up till four years ago' there was' no official body controlling the game from a Dominion of view. The Northern Bowling Association had charge of tilings in the North. Island; in the South Island was what was called the Now Zealand Bowling Association—a miroomer, of course. These two bodies, ihongh not in actual conflict, were not.ln perfect harmony. Their rules were not exactly the same,;and it was not possible for a southern rink (though allowed to take part in the play) to win the northern championship. This incongruous . condition of affairs impressed itself upon the leading wellwishers of the game, and negotiations were entered into which, aftor long discussion and much thought, resulted in the formation of the Dominion of New Zealand Bowling Association. This cumbersome title—-a sop to the northern men as showing they had not been absorbed by their southern brethren—might now well be altered to just plain N.Z.B.A. Tho necessity for the distinction has passed. ' The first tournament under the auspices of tho new organisation was held in Dunedm m 1914. The entries on that occaS - on , wen L ßo rinks > 175 Pain, and 192 singles The champion rinks were won by a Wellington team skipped by J. Porteous, t sr£- , Fount ?in (Roslyn) second and J. M Curdy (St. Kilda) third; while the champion pairs were won by J. Johnson and K HarraWay (Dunedin), with W T Smellie and A. Smellie (Green Island) second and W. Poster and J. Scott (Cale- : doman) third. The champion singles were won by J. Kilgour (Carlton), with P. Seelve (Kaituna) runner-up. The second tournament was held at Auckland in 1915, when the champion rink was led bv J. A. Nash (Palmerston North)', the pairs by Blackwood and. A. Smellie (Green. Island), and the singles by Maxwell Walker (Ponsonby). The entries received were 90 rinks 136 pairs, and 136 singles. In 1916 the meeting was held at Christchurch, the entries being 74 rinks, 147 doubles, and 139 singles. The winners were : Rinks, J. Lan (Newtown); pairs, V. Dimock and the late C. Parata (Thorndon); singles, E. 11. Fountain (Roslyn). Last year the'gathering was held at Wellington, with 136 rinks 208 pairs, and 210 singles. An Auckland four led by G. B. Osmond won the rinks, A. Sawyer and J. J. Martin (Tauratigamii) the pairs, C. R. Ingram (Wellington) the singles. The entries for the present gathering are:—Rinks 80, pairs 162, and singles 148. It will be seen that so far the South Island has been unable to score in the chief event—the rinks. Should a Dunedin rink manage to come out ahead on this occasion the win would naturally be very popular here; should it be otherwise, the victors will receive genuine compliments from the local players—of that there is no donbt. As on the two previous occasions, all proceeds from the present meeting are to go to patriotic purposes, and special ef : forts are being made to secure a large sum. Very little is to be spent in the way of entertainment. Two attractions have been arranged for which should be well supported by bowlers in particular

and the public in general. Next Monday, at His Majesty's Theatre, a first-class concert is to be given, a special feature of which will he the appearance of the Bowlers' Choir of 50 male voices; on .the following Thursday night, at Bums Hall, Professor Maxwell Walker, of Auckland, will give a lecture entitled 'Lloyd George, Statesman arid Leader of Men.' As the professor is an orator of renown, and as the subject is of intense interest, the hall should be packed. On Saturday next, at Dunedin Green, "ladies' day" _wil] be held. A match' North v. South Island will take place, and the final stages of the doubles will be decided. There is every reason.to anticipate firstclass play. Among the visiting skips such names appear as Porteous, Wyllie, Haldane, Fraser, Norwood, V. Casey, Maxwell Walker, E. T. Hill, Nash, Hannah, Ml>ougall, and others; while local players are fairly well represented. One pleasant face that will be missed is that of the late Mr C. Parata, M.P., whose untimely death was recorded yesterday. Ho was a most genial and enthusiastic bowler, calm, pleasant, and philosophical. As he would remark when he just missed a shot: " One cannot get all he wants in this world." He was a constant follower of tournaments, and at the social gatherings afterwards " Charlie " was a complete success. Peace to his memory ! One thing I would particularly request of umpires: that they see that all the cards are plainly filled in with the ram' i s and initials of players, also the name of the club to which they belong. This is not much trouble for them, and saves the reporters an immense amount of vexation. The least players can do is to assist the latter as far as possibleIt is to be sincerely hoped that during the tournament no friction will arise out of want of observance of the rules of the game. This remark has particular reference to the rule regarding the mat.. A genuine attempt has been made by the council to meet the requirements of all by modifying the strictness of the regulation requiring a player to have both feet on the mat at the moment of delivery, and it is up to all taking part in the tournament to strictly observe the law, and have at least one foot on the mat when the bowl leaves the hand. The Tournament Committee considered the question of whether the back or front of the mat must be at least 6ft from the ditch, and it was decided that the rule referred to the back of the mat. I hear that the Fairfield Club, 14 members strong, have handed in £25 as their contribution to the patriotic effort. The miners are not millionaires, but there are no more liberal sports in the Dominion. There were some peculiar results in last Saturday's matches. Dunedin met Balmacewen 12 rinks a side and had all the better of it, being ahead in points by 268 to 200 and leading in 10 rinks and making i a tie in another. The only Balmacewen skip with a lead was the veteran S. N.. Brown. This should have »r.cured Dunedin a 4-point win for the day. But against Taieri they came a cropper. Of their six rinks only one (J. Johnson's) had a lead, and that sterling player W. Dull managed to score just 8 against Stevenson's 40! Funny things happen at bowls. The result was that Taieri finished 155 to Dunedin's 85, and the latter were 2 points down on the aggregate total, and added a mere couple to their banner score. St. Clair proved altogether too good for St. Kilda, R. Laurie, for the latter, being the only skip with a lead. With their three rinks against Mornington St. Kilda did better, but no addition was made to their banner score. Mornington also scored nothing, as Caledonian led them both ways. Wakari started their banner score with a couple, their total in the three-rink game against Green Island being 11 up, though they were just down in two rinks. Oaversham's only engagement was three rinks against Fairfield, and they scored 4 . points. Otago did the same against Port Chalmers, three rinks a side. Twenty-four rinks entered for the New Year tournament at Invercargill, there being no visitors from further north than Gore. Ram spoiled the plav on the first two days. Wniners: Provincial Rinks: R. Donaldson, W. Ayson, W. Stead, W. Claxton (Southland) beat A. Youn<* W Tregonning, 0. King, E. Edginton (Bluff)! City Rinks: T. Oswin, R. Outfield, W. Bremner, T. Piercey (Invercargill) beat A. Buchanan, W. Watson, D. J. Wesney, C. E. Hannah (Northend). Invercargill Pairs: A. Buchanan and C. E. Hannah (Northend) beat J. Wright and R, S. Drummond (Wyndham). Gore Pairs: A. Jack and J. Ramsay (Balclutha) beat J. M'Nattv and T. Kingsland (Southland). Eastern District Singles: A. W. Clark (Southland) beat T. Pryde (To Rangi). Western District Singles: J. Holloway (Northend) beat G. R. George (Bluff).