BOWLING

Evening Star, Issue 16663, 20 February 1918, Page 2

BOWLING

j [By Meastoeb.] .-■-• No play last Saturday. This > , is only the second occasion (L think) this season that the intcrclub games have been interfered with, which is not so bad. Next Saturday the first stage of the' Champion of Champions Match begins on Dunedin Green. As usual, there is a bit of a rush on in some clubs to find their representatives. The champions I know of at time of writing are: —Caversham, R. Fountain (runner-up, R.. Emmerson); St. Clair, J. Foster (runner-up, C. Amtman); Balmacewen, W. Wright (runner-up, J. H. Latimer). The representation of St. Kilda Chib lies between H. Smeaton and J. M'Curdy, who are to play off their game to-night. There are four left in Dunedin Club contest. Harraway has to play Rawlinson and J. Johnson is to meet S. Hutchison. E. Harraway has not lost a life yet. Tho Kaituna champion is to be found under the two-life principle. Four members are still in tho contest —W. P. Gale (undefeated), F. M. Shortt, S. Macdonald, and J. M'Lennan (with one loss each). At Mornington J. and T. Coull have to decide who shall he champion. The final of the Balmacewen singles was played last night, when, after a close game, J. H. Latimer, was beaten by W. Wright. The contest was played on the two-life system, and Wright went through without a loss. This is the second occasion on which Wright has been champion of Balmacewen. He secured the honor first two years ago. Latimer has been runner-up three times. A gold medal has been presented for the championship by Mr H. W. Gamble The formal presentation will he made on the green to-morrow evening. The intercentre match Dunedin v. South Otago is also fixed for next Saturday on St. Kilda .Green. There are to be eight rinks a side, and the game starts at 12.30. A match which is suro to attract a lot of attention among those interested is set down for Roslyn Green on Saturday afternoon next. It is " Rags v. Wholesale," when the bargain philanthropists of the softgoods persuasion will contest mightily in an effort to do the most good. A very amusing' announcement of the composition of the "Rags" team accompanies my invitation. All veteran players wishing to take part in " Elderly Bowlers' Day" on Saturday week next are reminded to send in their names to Mr H. F. M. Mercer, secretary of Dunedin Club, by Tuesday next. The social tendered to Mr"W. Foster in honor of his winning the championship of the. Dominion was a hearty gathering. The programme was well arranged in that there were no opportunities for lengthy speeches, and the official business was concluded at an early hour. The oak and silver salver presented to Mr Foster was a handsome gift, which was liberally contributed to by the club members, and this fact, as the recipient acknowledged, added immensely to its value. Mr Foster laid great stress on the value of the sympathetic support he had received from his clubmates during the course.of the games, several of which had been most strenuous. He said that he had never seen better play than that shown by Professor Maxwell Walker when he (Foster) had been defeated in the penultimate game, and he expressed the opinion that the professor was a gentleman and a true sport. Mr Foster explained that he had stuck to the drawing game as a matter of policy, and it had served him well. Several times he had had his opponents driving and raking, and he knew that when they were doing that he had them working. He said that the lesson to be learned from the recent tournament was that a man was never defeated till he was beaten. The speech of the evening was undoubtedly that delivered by Mr Cavanagh, one time prominent in football circles. His views on bowls, to which game he is a recent convert, were expressed in the most original and humorous fashion, but there was a substratum of truth in them, and they showed that Mr Cavanagh is a close observer. Mr J. A. M'Kinnon, secretary of Taieri Club, sends mo the complete returns of the club's doings. He raises a point: " The condition to score 4 points is ' total number of points scored and a majority of rinks up.' Can you call three rinks up and a tie out of six rinks a majority of rinks? lam not so sure about it." He alludes to ths match Taieri v. Caledonian, where the former scored IG6 to 103 and led in three rinks, were down in two, and tied in the other. To my mind, there is no doubt that this was a 4-point win for Taieri. ' Had the result been Taieri three rinks up and three rinks down thev would have scored one point for that; so surelv with three rinks up and a tie on another they are entitled to the two points. If this argument is accepted, Taieri Club's score seems to total 28 points. •~ A three-rink match between Clyde and Queenstown Clubs was of interest 'to more than the players. The Clyde men were the winners by 6 points, the only Queenstown skip with a lead being Petterssen. A copy of the programme for the local Centres Easter tournament has come to hand. Both rinks and pairs are provided for, and this means that the fixture will bo a rush from start to finish, with nobody really satisfied. After the experience of tho recent big tournament, when players saw for themselves how enjoyable rink play may be, given plenty of 'time, the Centre Executive, had they been free to choose, would doubtless have arranged for rinks only to bo played at Easter time; but their hands were tied by a decision of club delegates at the annual meeting that both rinks and pairs must be played. The Christchurch Centre have decided on rinks only for their tournament, and much satisfaction is expressed by intending competitors. The following is an excerpt fromaManly (N.S.W.) paper. It may be explained that bars are attached to many clubs in New South W T ales, and the barman is invariably the greenkeeper (" Jim "):—The Bowling Club is a peculiar institution to the socia) life of Manly. It is inhabited in the mornings by a member of the tribe called " Jim." He spends his time in the morning walking backswards and forwards pushing some funny thing round in front of him. I think this round thing is his "joss"—or else he is trying to kill something by crushing it. In tho afternoon the bowling green is peopled by elderly tribesmen, who wear strange coats and hats. They do funny things with wooden balls. Each tribesman puts his foot on a mat. He then takes a wooden ball, and holds It in both hands. He looks wise. He then bends one knee, and rolls the ball towards the other end of the ground, and tries to hit an inoffensive little white ball, only a quarter the size of the one he threw. When he has thrown or rolled his ball he still keeps his knee bent, and his arm pointing upwards, until the ball has got to the other end. He looks silly. Then another man does the same. Sometimes, instead of keeping his knee bent and his hand pointed up, after rolling the ball along he will take a couple of short steps forward at a run, as if to keep his balance, and then stand and watch the ball with neck on one side, like a cockatoo looking for corn. Some of the tribesmen stand at the other end of the ground, waving their arms as if to help the ball along. The ball takes no notice. One man will call out funny remarks, such as " Our wood, John !"' Sometimes some of the tribesmen go inside the building to- see what the time is. It always takes two or more tribesmen to see the time. "Jim" is inside the building in the afternoon, winding the clock for the tribesmen to see the°time. That's all I know about the bowling club. When I get rich enough and old enough to play bowls I am going to get 30 acres of fruit land, and do something useful. If anyone will give me 30 acres now I won't wait till then.