Bowling Notes

Free Lance, Volume VI, Issue 289, 13 January 1906, Page 16

Bowling Notes

By Wrong Bias.

CAPT. Edwin's soft heart must have been touched by the long faces his brother bowlers were wearing on Saturday last, as they bung about the Wordsworth-street pavilion, and gazed moodily at the dripping rain and the sloppy sky. At any rate, he turned! on full-tap hus giltestedged weather on Monday morning, and the Northern Bowling Association opened its tournament under the brightest auspices. Fred Haybittle, as vice-president of the Association, was the orator, and thirew the inaugural speech off Jus chest in a clear tenor voice and! in a style that was irreproachable. One inveterate joker called out "Be up, Fred," but the injunction was quite superfluous. Fred was right up to the contract, and' scored the maximum points. The preliminaries over, the touraa- . ment opened, with the inter-club matches at Wellington, Thorndon, Victoria, and Newtown greens, and the Pairs matches at Petone. Thirty-one clubs, with two rinks each, were engaged in the inter-club tourney, and they were divided into two sections, of ten clubs each, and one of eleven, the order being for every club to play every other in its section, and winners of sections to play off in the final rounds'. • • • Among the local clubs, the Wellington and Newtown Clubs, in Section G, seemed, on paper, to have got into the softest company. New Plymouth and Remuera were reckoned to be toe only snags in their way. Thorndon and Karori found themselves in the only eleven-club section, anld Southland, Gisborne, Auckland, and Napier were awkward customers to bump against. Kelburne, Petone, and Victoria were placed in Section 8., where Dunedin, Wanganui, Feilding, and Oarlton were all counted on to serve up hot stuff. The favourite tips were : Southland for Section 'A, Dunedin for Section B. andl Wellington or Newtown for Section C. The latter club at the last moment remodelled one of its rinks, Neil McLean coming in as skip, andi Moult going down to No. 3, while ledger relieved Drummond as lead, Peter being otherwise engaged. In view of Neil McLean's recent illness, his defeats on the first two days of play are not to be wondered at. Southland was really a composite team of school-teachers, embracing Ham, White 1 , and Goldston from Invercargill, Burnside from New Plymouth, Parton from 1 Lawrence, and McDonald, Allnutt, and McLaren from Dunedin. • • • In the first round, Section B provided the best games for the onlookers. Victoria's wm over Dunedin by a single point was really worth going miles to see. It was played ocn the Thorndon green, Hueston. skipping against South Island President Payne (who was easily recognised by the rag he carried to •wipe his bowls withal), and Snaddon skipping against the veteran, Mark Sinclair from "down below." Payne, who was frequent on the drive as usual, finished a point above Hueston, and Snaddon was two up against Sinclair. On the Thorndon green also, Petone put down Ponsonby, nlot a strong team by the way, by three points, Wylie's nnk being 4up against Trim's, and McArthurs 1 down against Osmond, who won the Champion Singles at the last Association tournament in Auckland, two years ago. On the Wellington green, the famous Carltons made another close finish With Feilding— 3B to 33, Kilgour beating Saywell by 26 to 12, and Laurie going down before Sandilands— l2 to The most interesting tussle in the A 'Section was the game between Auckland and Napier, on the Wellington upper green: 41 to 33. It was very even all through. Hancock had Bull of Napier under the whip, and finished 25 to 19 while that old soldier and sure draw, Ledingham, got 16 to Yates, the lightning jerker's, 14. Section. 0 produced only one game which elicited much interest — Wellington against Green Meadows, on the Victoria Green: 46 to 34. Church-

ward finished 3 pomte ahead of SnuCih, and McLean got 27 against Bunting's 18. In this round, Karori went down before Oartert'on, 33 to 51. Bennett held up his end of the stick very well indeed, only losing by 2 points to Fisher, but Johnston dusted Willie Tustin to the tune of 29 to 13. Kelburne started well by knocking the bark off Brache Oak (a Palmerston North club) — 38 to 28. J. P. Campbell got in the major points against Tasker (22 to 13), and Waddell came through a point up against the experienced Lissaman. Newtown won comfortably against Pahiatua, on the "Victoria green. 39 to 29. Prince went down one point to ex-M.H.R. Hawkins, and Harry jfrice floored Wakeman by 22 to 11. The Hutt scored a meritorious win on the Victoria green against Masterton by 34 to 27. Orton Stevens lost a point to Perry, and Hendry chalked up 11 ahead of Rigg — in tact, rigged the game. • * * Two sensational events came off in the second round. First, and foremost, the desperate struggle between Wellington and! Newtown, on the Victoria green, ending in a triumph for Wellington bv 1 point, and next the defeat of Dunedin, on the Victoria green, by Palmerston North, 47 to 00. In the former game, Neil McLean went down before Prince, 18 to 24, and Harry Price was lying the game with five shots on the last head when Churchward drew second 1 snot, just win ning the game, and making nis total 23 to Price's 16. Price took it philosophically, but reckoned he had none of the luck. Fred Mowlem put up most of the major points against Dunedin. He was 9 up against Sinclair, and Nash didn't exactly gnash at beating Charlie Payne two up. Palmerston North chuckled audibly. The Hutt came to life in great style, and knocked 1 out Patea by 51 to 37, Hendry running out 14 ahead, and Stevens making a "mutual" event — otherwise a tie — with his opponent. Orton is so awfully good-natured. Petone polished off Wanganui by 47 to 26, and Victoria wriggled through against Ponsonby by 35 to 31 (Hueston on top, Snaddon down), while Thorndon, Karori, and Kelburne were passed through the mangle by Southland (2 to 1), Auckland (17 ahead), and Feilding (10 ahead) respectively. The thiid round was notable for Hastings dishing the Southland cracks by 43 to 41. Hastings at the last tourney in Auckland distinguished itself by giving Wellington its only beating, and winning no other game. Beatson and Land are both snags in, the pathway of teams out with flying colours. The weaker local clubs got badly mauled in this round, Gisborne wiping the gieen witn Karori (62 to 18). Drop a tear while 1 mention that Wiine Tustin scored 7 to Gaudin's 42. Keibunne fared almost as badly at the hands of Carlton (20 to 61). J. P. Campbells brief snowed 5 to Kilgours 38. Remuera got 60 to the Hutts 28, Hendry being the greatest sufferer. Petone stood up well to Dunedin — .only 6 points down. Thorndon, Victoria, Newtown, and Wellington scored wins against Waverley Wanganui, Stratford, and New Plymouth, and Carterton beat Napier by a point. Against New Plymouth, Churchward, for Wellington, scored 20 up against old Sam Rundle, and Neil McLean went 7 down before Gray, a fine, slashing skip. • * • Far and away the most exciting event in the fourth round (played on Tuesday f orenoon) was the keen contest between Wellington and Remuera, on the local club's own green,. Churchward beat Laxon (a fine drive) by 25 to 17, but the Remuera McLean put down his Wellington clansman by 21 to 14. The final head started with a tie in, the aggregate. Remuera was lying two up when Neil McLean came to play has last bowl. He drove with it, and scored the winning point. Also on their own green, Thorndon beat Hastings, 47 to 40 (Sievwrig^o wasn't good enough for Beatson, but McKerrow knocked up the score against Land), and Victoria made no race of it with Brache Oak, 59 to 27. Newtown had an easy win over Green Meadows — 50 to 29, and' Petone beat Kelburne 48 to 33, while New Plymouth scored 44 against the Hutts 28. Interest on the Thorndbn green was concentrated) on the match between Southland and Auckland, in which Auckland suffered its first defeat — 45 to 46, after making a wonderful recovery in the second half of the game. Other tight finishes took place between Gisborne 39 and Napier 38, on the Newtown green, and' between Feilding 45 and Wanganui 43 on the Wellington green.

A complete surprise turned' up in the -xoh round, when Patea gave Wellington its first dressing-down — 44 to 38 — on the Wellington green, too. Gilshnan beat McLean very decisively 28 to 11, and Churchward took the sting out by soaring 27 to Gibsons 16. Gilshnan scored in eight successive heads — from the 12th to the 20th. Wanganui gave Dunedin a great run on the same green, finishing a dead heat. In the play off, Dunedin got in the winmng point. On the Thorndon green, Auckland tasted defeat once more, this time at the hands of Hawera- — 41 to 48. In this round, Petone made a good, though liOcang, fight against Carlton — 35 to 42, and the Hutt made a highly creditable stand against Newtown — 33 to 40. * • * The sixth round was comparatively uninteresting. Its outstanding feature was ThorndoD's defeat of Gisborne, on the Newtown green, by 46 to 40, both local skips being on top. Victoria, on its own green, lost by a couple of points to Carlton, after a plucky fight, a^_d on the Wellington green Newtown came a cropper in losing to New Plymouth by 37 to 53. Wellington! had a rather easy win over Masterton — 45 to 28. At the end of this round (two-tihirds through the matches), Southland stood at the head 1 of Section A, witih five wins and one loss, andl Thorndon and Gisborne with a bye each tied for second place with four wins and one loss each. Carl ton was cock of the walk in Section B, with an unbeaten record of six wins, and Victoria was next with five wins and one loss. Wellington's flag was flying in Section C, with five wins and one loss Newtown and Remuera tying for second honours with four wins and two losses each. » » • A good many surprise packets came to light on Wednesday. In the seventh round, Petone made tlhe pace a clinker for Victoria," which won by the narrow margin of one point. Hueston was the saviour. Rocky Nook beat Thorndon by 6, Waverley put Gisborne under, and in Karori's go against Hawera Willie Tustin scored 3 against Cornell's 46. In the eighth round, Carterton beat Thorndon by 10, and little Kelburne knocked out the redoubtable Dunedinites by 3. Petone beat Feilding by 6, and the unbeaten Carltons got a severe thrashing from Ponsonby — 58 to 24. Wellington was> in difficulties with Stratford, on the Newtown green, and by Churchwards splendid play just got home 4 ahead. Southland beat Gdsborne. Tioe greatest surprise of all came in" the ninth round, when the Hutt smote Wellington hip and thigh, 42 to 33. Orton Stevens was the destroying angel. His rink gave Church ward's a great gruelling, 28 to 14, while Neil McLean beat Hendry 5 up. After all, it wasn't a mere flash; in the pan. Patea, you will remember, beat Wellington, and the Hutt beat Patea and also Wellington. Here's to the Hutt and Orton Stevens. Thorndon beat Auckland, Palmerston beat Petone by 4, Dunedin beat Carlton by 2, Victoria beat feilding by 3, and Newtown beat Remuera by 20. As the result of these rounds, Southland stood on top of the A Section with 8 wins and 1 loss, Victoria won the B Section with 8 wins" and 1 loss, and Wellington and Newtowai tied at the top of Section C with 7 wins and 2 losses each. The tie was settled yesterday forenoon, on the Thorndon green, Newtown winning by 39 to 32 after a splendid tussle. Price beat Churchward by 8, and Prince finished up a point below ' McLean after drawing two lovely shots with his last two bowls. The championship now lies between Newtown and Victoria. • * * The Pairs andl Singles were played on the Petone green, and proved highly enjoyable. Mr. R. Mothes, who was m charge, managed things very pleasantly indeed, and the green was in capital condition, well-turfed, and nicely rolled. Petone's vigilant Green Committee — a couple of tame' sea-gulls — were kept penned up in a corner lest their passion for worms should interfere with the play. On the way to the green on the first day the visitors received l a hint that Petone didn't take them at too high a valuation. A breathless Petone gamin rushed round a street corner to gaze at the procession of bowling hats, coats, and traps. "Halloa 1" he yelled, "Where are the races P" -o-is obvious summing-up of the passing show was: A party of spielers. The competitors represented Auckland, Dunedin, Dannevirke, Wanganui, Carterton, Napier and most of the local clubs. Only four games were played in the first round, the rest being byes, but in the second! round) surprises were strewn all over the green. Out of eight pairs from the Wellington Club, five met their Waterloo at the first encounter. Brunskill and

Bell were passed out by Dickson and Zander from Wanganui, who led from the third! head, and finished' 27 to 12. E. J. Hill and Harry Smith, playing in the next rink, were also, from the third head, under the whip of a Tborndon pair: G. F. Wilson, of thelEquitabe Life (a young and promising player) and Inspector-General Hog Den. On the 20th head, Smith got 5 in^ and finished one behind 1 . Osboxne and) Ballinger started off with the whole possible (8) " against a Ne,wtowu pair (Ramsay and Hendry), none of their opponents' balls being within 8 feet of the jack. The finish was more even. — 25 to 16. After a ding-dlong fight for 15 (heads; Still and Gibbes went down, before Petti© arid 1 Smith, and Whitehouse and Parata, as well as Knapp and 1 Plimmer, also struck their colours. ■ , J. McEldowney and Barraud (Thorndon) won. from Pollock and Shearer (Newtown), after a tie on the last head, and Reid and Boas (Petone) made a very game struggle against London and MoFarlane (Wanganui);. They were only 3 to 13 ,with seven heads gone, but then> picked ;up wonderfully, and, tying on the last head, lost, in the play off. Hatch and Slater (Thorndon) beat lv± liar (Dunedin's popular M.H.R.) and Collins by 23 to 16. Ons 'of the most interesting games in the third round was between ' the BTackenridges, father and sou (Victoria) and Bartlett and Potts (Dannevirke).. The Brackenridges used tlhe drive freely, and won by 20 to 13. In the fourth round, two of the Wellington Club's three surviving pairs reached the end of their tether. Ged&is and McKee received their quietus from McEld'owney and Barraud (Thorndon), and Thompson and Webb, after a great fight, went down before the Brackenridges. With 19 heads gone the former pair were two up, ,but the Brackenridges got 6 in on the 20th head, and won by 5. It was x the tightest squeeze they have had in the pairs. Osborne and Ballinger versus Dawson and Keast (Dunedin) was a game of contrasts. Ballinger was on the drive, and won with it. Keast played a patient drawing game, never driving once, and drawing some exceedingly pretty shots. The constant drive wore him out at last — 18 to 16. Keast wanted five on the last head, and got 3 of them. *■ After beating Geddis and McKee in the fourth round, McEldowney and Barraud perished in the fifth and semifinal round, Wilding andl Bennefield (Wanganui) being the victors. In this same fifth round, Osborne and Ballinger met with a crushing defeat from the Brackenridges. It was really bowls rerans skittles. From the jump Ballinger lashed out with the drive, banging the wood whenever hdis opponents lay the shot, and making dead heads in profusion. Jamie Brackenridge'e face wore. a tranquil smile as Joe- placed them round the jack, and: he himself looked after the backwoods and planted! cannie Paisleys here and there. N The score tells its own tale. Here it is for the first seventeen heads, the Brackenridges' figures' being given first:— o—l, 4—l, 4—2, 6—2, B—2, B—3, B—s, 9—5, 10—5, ll— s, 13—5, 13—7, 15—7, 19—7, 22—7, 26—7. The finish was, 30 tot 14. Brackenridge jun. and sen; are to play uiie final against Wilding andi Bennefieild (Wanganui) and, barring accidents, the local men ought to win hands' down. The Singles were begun, at Petone on Tuesday, with 56 entries (against 36 entries for Pairs), and! by Wednesday evening they were brought dowin, to tne semi-final stage. There is a dispute between Brackenridge, jun. (Victoria), and Still (Wellington) as to who won. The board showed Brackenridge a point ahead. The card showed 1 a tie, and Brackenridge, under protest, played an extra head, which Still won. Still had previously beaten the elder Brackenridge. The other semi-final lies between Potts, of Dannevirke, and Bary, of Victoria. The greatest novelty of the tournament was the Allcomers' Rink Tourney, played by electric light on the Wellington Club's lower green, between 8 and 11 on Monday and Tuesday nights. Nine arc lamps, of 500 candle-pdwer each (installed bv Mr. Stuart Richardson, manager of the City Tramways), brilliantly lit np the green, and fortyfour teams entered for the fray, the games being 15 heads up. It was such a large draw that crowds of spectators lined the banks of, the green, three and four deep, and, the fair sex were just as keenly interested in the play as the youngest greybeardl who was loading up his system. with rheumatism from the dewy turf. The current gag amongst the bowlers themselves was: "Say, old man, are you playing in 'The Moonlight Sonata?"' Maugham Barnett ought to have been there.

The lovey Kyrle Bellew „as giving London a treat, after having been adored by American, women for a long time. They held a theatrical carnival at Prince's iCourt, Melbourne, lately, and Willie Percy was in it. Pollard's Willie, if photos are to be believed, is three stone fatter than he was when last he clasped this friendly hand. An immenße number of Chinese attended "Leah Kletchna," in Melbourne. A Williamson manager, approached as to the why, puts it down to the market scene in the last act,wherein there is a terrific display of "lettucee." It is the vegetable that fetches John. • • * "Utopia Limited," the opera which Gilbert and Sullivan wrote on their reconciliation after a quarrel (over a carpet) will be produced by the Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company, at the Melbourne Princess, on the conclusion of the run of "Princess Ida " • • • R. G. Knowles begins his Australasian tour, under the Williamson banner, in February. It is a one-man show comprising song and etory. R. G., who is a great comedian, and revolted some years ago against music-h^lls for their vulgarity, or something of the kind. Anyhow, ho is a top-notcher, and will go big :n New Zealand. • • • A theatrical writer explains that Czerny calls his stage skull "Gol-Gol after the Biblical Golgotha— the- place of a skull. Maybe he does, but the real Gol-eol. which a* a deadlier hole than Golgotha knows how to be, evi^s in New South Wales. It had one pub three houses, and a slaughter-yard when last I saw it, and was just across the river Murray, opposite the far famed irrigation colony. Mil dura. • • • Actor (in country town) : "I hope you won't object to announce in your paper that this will probably be the last chance to see me outside the great cities, as I have received an off er from the I>azzlem Theatre for ne^t season at £50 a week." Editor: "I'll print it with pleasure. And, by the way, please announce from the stage that now is the time to subscribe for the Taggleton Trumpeter,' as I have received an offer of £1000 a week to run the London Times.' "

Mss iLvelyn Scott, here with "The Country Girl," is shortly' to be married to Mi. Jackson, a member of the Jackson Musical Family. • • * A Gisborne paper has the audacity to paragraph the "Piiuoess" T© Rangi Pai as "Mrs. Howie, the New Zealand contaalto." Is this lese majeste? • • • Bland Holt is going to break un his show for six months, but before he does it he will give Adelaide and Perth a season. Bland' once threatened to break up for two yeais, since which he has been continually playing. • * * The phonograph is coming to the rescue of "resting" singers. They sing their sweetest strain,^ into the talk-box, and send the cylinders on a journey to tne managers. Also, a photo. If the photo is a good one, the sender gets an engagement. • • * The German bandit of Sydney (says the "Newsetter") weie seized with a stiemious impulse towards ho>hnes> during the holidays. Filled with wurst and lager-bier, odorous of garlic, onions and bad tobacco, they went through the highways and bye-ways playing the most doleful hymn tunes imaginable, in the most monotonous and perfunctory fashion, while howled at by sensitive dogs, and cursed extensively by musical mankind. • * * Joseph A. Cave, one of England's o^est actors, was born on Trafalgar Day, in 1823, and he hasn't got a "stiver" to-day. King Edward has oome to the rescue of Joseph, w"ho beoomes a "brother" of the sianictuary known, as Charterhouse. Mr. > Cave was tftie victim of a defaulting solicitor, who left him without the price of a dress-circle ticket, and but for the Charterhouse a worthy old man would go to the workhouse. • • • "Chieftain" Rangiuia, the frizzyhaired Maori, claims to be the only one of his race now in London, and met Mrs. Ballance in. a 'bus by accident in the big city. Stated that Ran,g;i sane; some sweet songis he composed himiseif. and has shaken hands with the- Prince of Wales, who thanked him fo,r his voice. Rangi fpels the cold very much, but isn't coming back to New Zealand, where V>e doesn't write "chieftain" on his cards.

The Prefect of Rom© has commanded that all ladies shall remove their hats at public entertainments. Who is the Prefect of Wellington, and if he is, where is he? « • • J. C. Williamson credits the Tittell Brune Company with being the biggest financial success ever engineeied by him. The actress's New Zeaiand tour beat the Australian ditto.