BOWLING NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4852, 25 April 1918, Page 7

BOWLING NOTES.

(By “Toucher.”)

Local bowlers have done right roypk lu t ) leu ' efiorts on behalf of the ££ , i» raising the fn +iu - ,4 s I have mentioned in this column time and time again, bowlers are always to the fore in aiding any patriotic cause, and their Y M n n y v l i ast , week in of the 1 .ivi.p.A. funds was even more successful than was anticipated. The drawing competition drew a large entry and the sale of the troiihies won lealised £25 odd. Bowlers are indebted to the donors of trophies for "heir competitions last week. Mr lv. jhelwall presented a set ul howls tor the drawing competition, while bowls were .also presented by Mr F. Cray for the benefit of the lied Triangle funds. A set of table howls tor a similar object was also presented. The .four silver triangles’, which were presented ' by Mr J. Colley as trophies of the rink tourney, were very favorably commented upon, as they were unique in design and appropriate to.the purposes of the function. * t

. Ninety-six howlers faced the starter in the event of the tourney on Thursday—something like a field. Both the Kaliutia greens Were in occupation, and played well, though the vast difference in the playing strength of the two greens kept some teams at sea. The heads were limited to seven, dead heads to count as a head, and ties to he decided on the spin of a coin. Now I have .no objection to counting a dead head as a head when teams are paying to time, but I must raise my voice against th© practice of deciding a tie bv tossing a coin. I don’t_.call it bowls; I call it gambling; and gambling is not allowable at bowls. That was the old style way of deciding a game, but that method is now as dead as Julius Caesar, and it should be allowed to rest in its grave. it has been discarded on all greens for years, and the method now-a-days is to play an extra head to decide. When teams are limited to Time and a tie takes place, it counts as a tie —each team takes lialf-a-point. The tossing business last Thursday put teams m the running which possibly would not have got there had ties been allowed; and, on the other hand, had this counted as half-wins teams would have been in the finals which were tossed aside by a fatal spin of a coin. I hope, on the next occasion of a like tourney, to see the system of a tie counting half a point to either team put into force, for this system is the fairer for all competitors.

I must compliment Gray’s team on securing the triangles, and especially I would mention Gray’s No. 2—Mr J. W. Witty. The win was very popular on account of the old veteran. When Gray played liis lasf bowl and drew the shot when his opponent lay six. the crowd rushed the green and carried Mr Witty shoulder high. The old gentleman took it smilingly, and seemed to enjoy the experience. Undoubtedly he is the oldest howler in Gisborne, and lie carries his 80 years as lightly as does many a young ’un at the game carry his 30. In this game men do not grow old, at least they seem not to, for age makes not the slightest difference m the playing of the game —m it the old meet the young on an equality. It was meet that Mr Witty should have been honored on the occasion mentioned, as the old gentleman was a veteran of the Maori wars, and the object of the tourney was for the benefit of the lads at the war. Good luck to Mr Witty! May he see many more tournaments!

j Without in any way wishing to disparage the win of Gray’s rink, I must | say it was extremely lucky to win. ! First, however, I must compliment Gray on his play in the semi-final. He played a lovely shot to beat Hird’s rink, and when he met Robertson’s in the final his last bowl told the tale on th e last two ..heads, and pulled the game out of the fire. But, all the same, I hold it was lucky. To explain why, I must first- state that Robertson won Section A outright with 1 loss; Hird and Martin tied in Section B with 2 losses each; while in Section 0 five teams tied with three losses each. Now, as only proper, Hird and Martin played off for Section B, ,and the game wept Hird’s way. Section C ties started to [T;n off but never finished, Gray and .Partridge still being left in. This is where Gray’s luck came in: Among the five ties, Gray drew the bye. Then against Seymour he won on the toss (of course other games were won by other players on a toss). Now the committee instead of letting the winners of Section A and B play-off, while the winner of Gray and 1 altridge was found for Section C, for some unexplained reason pitted Rob- . ertson against Paltridge (not a section winner) and put Hird up against Gray (also not a section winners This was unfair as it gave Section O two chances, and also considering the fact that the leaders in Section C pad only 4 wins to their credit as against the’ other winners’, 5 and 6 wins. As it turned out Gray beat Hird and Robertson beat Paltridge, and Gray defeated Robertson in the his last bowl on the last head. Gray s win was meritorious* and my remarks have nothing whatever to do with his or his team’s play, but with the system. that was carried out. It is many a long day since I saw a game of bowls played in the dark, in the pitchy black of night. That was on the Gisborne green, when with the aid of a candle borrowed’ from the late Mr Wm. Pettie, a game was completed. The latest game of this kind took place on the Kahutia green in the final of the tourney last Thijrsday. There were only four heads played, and on the second head players were complaining they could not see the jack, “Well, do you see me?” “Yes,” came the reply. “Well, play to me.” And the bowler played. On the third head up spoke the leader. 1 1 can’t see to straighten the jack.’’ “Well, how’s this?” And the slap struck a match and placed it over kitty. “I can’t see the number.” “Will one of you gentlemen hold a match over the" number P” asked the skip of the spectators. A match was struck and kitty straightened. “Now give us a light,” said the player. Both skips held matches. “Look out, she’s coming!” said the player and the bowl would come somewhere near the arc of light. More matches were struck and more bowls were played. Then the crowd tqolt a hand. Two lamps were obtained and the spectators formed a semi-circle round the final head. One lamp was placed on the ground alongside the jack, and the other a Tittle up the green The spectators held lighted matches in tlieir semi-circle and the final head was plaved With Rohertson laying six and the game. Gray got a beauty within the circle of light and it finished alongside the jack. There was a yell and a- roar, the bowl was impossible for Robertson to shift, and n game that will be long remembered was lost and won. “Skipped by the Light -of the. Match” would be an appropriate . title to the story ot the there was some remarkable scoring. Ponsford and Gray put up a'collective total of 25 pontis m their sevenhead game, while the lowest collective total was 7. points m the following games: Horne —Colley Barry ertson, and Gray—Paltridge. The highest score by any team was that put up by Ponsford’s rink (15 points) while the lowest score was put up by two teams, R. Seymour’s and Paltridge’ s, both teams on one occasion failing to register a single pomt.^ Amongst the many participants_m the day’s sport I noticed one oM hand who has come back to the told. I refer to Mr Charlie Adair. It is some time since I have seen him on a green, an<j it was quite, evident _ he hasn’t lost the feel, for -he got right out on his own.