ROWING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14702, 9 December 1909, Page 10

ROWING.

By Strokb. UEGATTrPITURBS. Decombcr IG.—Akitroa. Ucccmber 27.—fort Chalmers. January I.—Lyttelton. January 3.—Bluff. January 22.—Championship (Picton). January 21.—Wellington. February —.—lnvcrcargill. February 26.—Christchurcli. itaren Ji.—Otago Association. Jiarcn -*>.—Queeiwtovvn. The past week has been a disappointing ono for the local crows training foi Boxing Day, tht nor'-easter haying been prevalent eveiy night. Crews are certainly getting out, hut ihey are unable to get ill the work they won ill like. Thj Otago Club's crews got °ut lairly regularly. The Senior Four has not boon showing very good form lately! How has invented a great screw which is not only very ugly, but greatly alt'eots the steadiness olthe boat. No. I is rowing pretty well, but No. 3 looks to be taking rhings very easy, fie would look a. lot better if lie rowed with straight arms instead of sticking his cSbows out tie he doss. .Stroke might be a little smarter with bis hands, and sit up a. little more. Ila looks small in the boat be3ide the other tall membera, and this should not be. The Juniors arc pegging away, ami have already done some fairly smart work. The men soem bigger and stronger than last year, and _ their weight and strength should certainly bo a big help to them in their contest with their formidable opponents from Oatnaru this year. A test between the Otago Juniors and Seniors next week s hmi i ( i prove i ntel^t i n „ an<l h do both crews good. The Oaniant Club this week received a new four-oared outrigger from Melbourne. It is expected that tha club's oraek junior crew will ejiter for the -Senior Fours, and, with the now boat, they should make the race an interesting one. t i i ,^'ma ' ru Cub is sending crews to tlio Alcarca regatta on the 16th inst. No crews from Otago attend this Tegatta, as to do so would interfere with the trainin" for their own regatta on Boxing Day. • i am glad that my suggestion of a week or two back has been taken up by Mr Galbraith, president of tho 0.R.A., who /• o{ tho Broa <l Bay f and I ,r °P o6o( l that a couple of rowing races should be placed on thV tb SMIn " le ° n NoW Ycars Dav - Now club' will ''T aI T '"J*, ldd - 1 tho th«T A- t L ® r for 1)0111 NK*»> whether /' C i KKS have a chance of innm 0 or not. If the entries are poor ovenh off" 1 "° donbt throw th o Jwrim, L i P ro ? ramm J ) next year, and wvhi man do -not want that to batmen a Iter hav.ng Mbed fo r r T«L t o to' P put Youth-* K ™ 0M ,^ J1 most like 'y be I Thi Four^ nd Maid «" Four. ].wV 6ws tha s the Senior £-*^rssaxrw:« now iinrl T i P®" 01 combination ceZnK h» n T ln ? ?hnmpion. He is °f a scull 4 a tho beau ideal with a Se , h0 his lead opener to a ? mus ' llavc ken »» Wtodoato,>tW ? me ' tlmt il is neccs " descriotion n- , to , Wl "' a la . ce of this flirt i ' • stroke is cvidentlv of iteUo n «- SWI ," g kind > which s so proSs olt % ° ng j T ney ' ™ Rtirf rra. Lf i fiecon^s are nob a great fon rT# about 12 strokes,—and FelwSilv ffi ? r f ty to llave w °n so intent HLn ,t,ir ? W1 " !» wate,!ed witl > interest, llagney, from whom great things were expected after his commente tea S„ 9 y JT rtor lat %. wa * "»t in it. He Sntlv n? r ° °' et onninedly, but is thinks he is b S " Ch 1 great scullcr as h « k $ B nn% outh AM ° a '> Syndiate Arn t *13 for a matc 'i between shnnl l t ?t"' V 0a t' lo Zambesi River J?ll c ? rt ? m y tempt "Dick" to try his not w" 1 ! l n ='' E hman, as there docs hero f gVCa ' ; c ' lnnec ft lnatctl aTh / r "T* t,mo ' Whelcll ' s challenge to d^?L Wa f rll at Ak a«a, but Arnst nm ff vvt r ?7. thw ' an(l as 1 l ,restlm « most of W belch's money comes from that P«oc his backers will insist on the race being rowed there Arnst also states that lie may row \Mkjlcli in about 10 months. inio would run to about August, the month mentioned for tho race on the Zambesi. Jt Arnst-s reply to the South African Svn-d-rate we shall doubtless hear shortly." , i !?=° C' l| b's pair-oar raoo will Ire oued off on Saturday afternoon, when Quelc.l ' n « e fe, Burnett, Hutton meets ilazengarb, Bennett meets Fish, and ' oo'.'J has a bye. The crews have been training assiduously and there should be S k"]f , SJOci competition. Next week I i i , " ive ' ?om( ' i<lsa of how the various elubs crews will be shaping for Boxing Day Regatta.

Notes ijv Jack. A real effort is being made by Australians lo get together a team to visit y<talaiul in January- ihe 'Victorian Asswiniion is inviting applications from bowlers willing lo undertake the trip, yesterday being tlw date fixtd lor receiving those applications. The New South Wales, tjuccn.-iimid. and. fc'outh Australian Associations were lo lake similar action.

The South Otago Centre has published tho programme of its annual tournament, l'or tho Kink .Match 12 trophies will be given, tho**! for the winning rink being ot tho value of £'l 2s 6d for each player and also a certificate. For tlw tccotxl rink the trophies are valued at £1 10s each, and for the third at £1 each. For tiro l'airs '.YlatWi Ihe v.-iuning jair will receive trophies of Ilia value ci i!l 10? each, and a certificate, Iho trophies for eccond and third being respectively of the value of £1 and 10s each, bach entrant is assured four games at loast, in the llinks and Pairs. The lialelutlia, Stirling, and Kaitangata greens will he used if iteeessurv. 1 learn from Mr Ciements, Iho secretary, that as there is no Christnijis tournament in Dunedin this year large entries are expected, and the greens arc being nursed and cared for so an to - have thorn in tip-top condition. Intending visitors will have no troublo a tout socd accommodation. There avo halt-a-dozon lingo boarding-houses at Balclutha and (.wo large hotels and several private bonrdng-housriis at Kaitangata. I hepe to see contingents from tho Dunedin and .Southland Centres taking part in the tournament. They can assured of a good time. Entries close oil Tuesday, December 28.

Already entries have been made for tho association tournament in January. Three of thoso constituting the champion rink of tost wason have entered, as also a Clinton rink u'hirfi played- a prominent part last year. tieKild'ino and Ranigiora have al6o entered rinks.

.I.here ivas an idea abroad that when the Dunedm Centre appointed a Social and Catering Comnittec for the forthcoming touviaiwnt an attempt would be made to ha\o (ho matter of providing morning and afternoon tea, etc., put on a business footing by placing it in tho hands of a caterer. ', 5 i l a .l ,roYCIS hp.ve been erroneous, ns the clubs in tho centre have b&on. conuiiunicatcd with and asked to co-operate with tho oentre jn the catering, a 6uin of 30s being voted lor each day a eree.il is used. This is impoGi.n-T a heavy task on the lady friends of the clubs, and it is not surprising- to learn that some clubs, while falling in with tho suggestion on tho present occasion strongly urge makng a oliargo. The tournaments are too big now to permit of hospitality being dispensed as in days gone by. It would not be difficult to make arrangements with a caterer to supply all th.it is required and make a definito charge pnr head to eaoh bowler supplied, at tlio same tnno reducing tho entry, foes. Mr W. A. Soott, tho official bowl-tester, having altered tho standard bowl in tho possesion of the N.Z.Ii.A. by increasing its "dww," a trial was made on tho Dunedm Ulub 6 Green in tho presence of Messrs Gallaway, Marlow, and Hancock, when it was resolved that the altered bowl should be tho standard bowl of the Now Zealand Bowling Association. Tho green was dull on tho day of the test —in fact, man.y think it was scarcely in a oondition to permit of such an important trial being carried out satisfactorily. However, tlio committee considered it had seen enough to convince it that the standard bowl had now a fair draw. To say that tho standard bowl will draw 4ft Uin in 84ft means really nothing. A bowl that many players would regard as littlo better than a "poker"' might do that on a keen green. All that oiui bp euid is that the standard bowl has a littlo more bias than it had before it was altered, and that all bowls which at former tests just scraped through arc likelv lo bft found wanting now, and that if challenged, even though they bear tho association's stamp, will probably have to bp altered by having tJio bias increased. No intimation having been given of Iho day and hour of the test I have not seen the new standord bowl sent down tho testing chute, but I have seen somo of tho bowls that have been stamped by tho tester since its adoption, and must candidly confess to being disappointed, as in my opinion the, draw is still a good deal less than that of what is known as a good I\o. 0.

Of course the new standard bowl will not givo general satisfaction, and tho position of official tester will not bo an enviable one. Those whose bowls will not pass the test are suro to make a grievance of their case, while those who uso full No. Os are certain to regard some of tho stamped bowls as little tetter than pokers used on a <lull green. The next question is, Will the test be applied to all bowls at the association tournament in January? If so, there is not much time to lose on tho part of those whose bowls who do not bear the association stamp, or if bearing it, only just squeezed past in comparison with the standard before it was altered,

Otago put np a better fight against Dunodin in tho centre four-rink championship game than they did last season, but did not prevail. On their own green A. Gillies, for Dunedin, went, away with a strong lead from C. R. Smith, and finished l 11 to the good, tho Otago men getting in. at the nineteenth head. Fynemore began welt against M. Sinclair, but after tho third head could only squeeze in an occasional single. He came again towards the end. scoring at four heads m succession, hut wound up 10 to i he. bad. On the Dunedin Green D. Cooke, for Kaituna, quite held his own against. F. Pcake up to the thir-roont-h head. Then the Dunedin men put in 3, 4 6, and three singles, tfeing 12 to the good at tho end. Don and Hunter played a ding-dong game up to the tenth head. The Otago men scored at seven out of t.he remaining heads, and finisliod up seven to the good—an excellont performance by Don and his team.

Kaituna. had revenge on Saturday on St. Kilda for last year's defeat in the four, rink centre championship, getting homo on this occasion by six points; On the St Kilda Green, where the wind was troublesome, C. T. Paterson went ott with a strong lead against J. White, and was 10 points to the good at an early stage. But tho St." Kilda skip, finding the strength of the green, crept up steadily, and at tho finish tho scores were oven. M'Ourdy and his man hadi Baillie's team always under the whip, and were 6 up in a hard-foupht game. On the Kaituna Green, C. J. Payne, with his charming inconsistency, smothered his ex-club mate, Smeaton, winding up with 33 to 16, and practically pulling the matoh out of tho fire, as D. C. Cameron, jun., was five to the good against T. Sanders. The Interclub Match was played at the same time, the scores of tho champion rinks being counted in the aggregate. Here, also, Kaituna scored a win by 39 points. Caledonian Club met North-East Valley in the championship matches, and won with .tho substantial margin of 34 points. On the "Valley Green D. Smith and .T. Thomson tied with 20 each, while Keast, for Caledonians, wound up with an advantage of 3_ points. On the Caledonian Green tho "Valley players fared badly. J. Barnes is evidently slightly off his game at prosent, as he only .scored IS to John Scott's 30. Dunn, the other Valley skip, was also down, and only scored 10 to J. Cowie's 24

The Bahnacowon Clu"b .ha*i a day out on Saturday, scoring two wins, ono of which came as a pretty general surprise—that of dWeating- t.lie Green Island in the four-rink championship. This club has done very •well so far this season, having accounted for Port Chalmers, Roslyn, and North-fet A'alley in the centre inter-club matches, and has now won the first of its four-rink ohampionship contests. But there is a fly in the amber: Fairfield defeated them. The above record shows, however, that the young hill club is doing very well, and may bo eon-gratulaited on its success. In Saturday's mjtell against the Valley, BaJinacowen was up on both its own green and on that of its opponents, which fact lends 6ome merit to its performance. Fielder, late of Palmerston, who met Dunn, and whoso maiden effort it was as skip for Balmacewen, had the highest margin in his favour (16), while Macdomald, the mc6t consistently successful skip of the hill club this season, was 12 up against Kidd, Armstrong 6 up against Spencer, C. A. Wilson 1 down against flog". Brown had an Vantage of 6 against Robertson, Jones was down 8 to Watkine. Ball; 11 to the bad against Murray, and I/ockhart 2 down against Abbott. In the four-rink championshin against Green Island in the evening Ball; played a very neat and effective game, some of his draws being very fine, and he won against, M'Mullan fo the tune of 2 to 1 (24—12). Macdonald defeated his namesake by 24 to 14, but Armstrong was 10 down to Buchanan, and Thompson, who miuta his fir.°l appearance as a Saturday skip, played l a close eamo wit.li D. Witters, sen., the last head leaving hirn 2 dmvn. On Saturday next Hip hill rinks will meet the rednubtablo t^ 1 ' 1 v ° foi'r-rink championship. Dunown played two of the iumor clubs on Saturday—a preoedont which might bo Followed by oUier clubs so as to brinp forward tho club matches before the end of 11 ai:on at hand. Tho senior club hfi'd no difficulty about scoring a win against both Port Chalmers and Mornmgton. , Tho day was beautifully fine and tho greens very keen. The Dunedin men woo went to Port declared that green to bo

keener than their own, while the Port men found the same • trouble at JL)une<lin, the luct being that for tho first time this «u----iuu tho gicens we ro realliy keen. All the I'ort Chalmers rinks, with one exception, wcro in u minority. Tho four rinks from Dunedin Club who went to Mornington were delighted witj) the green and iu surrounding!. The playing surfaco has steadily Unproved under air ilocking's care, and it now plays j| S Mvectly as any green in tlio '-outre. Notwithstanding llio " wateringdown" of the Dunediu rinka they proved » good deal too s-troiiy for the new club, who lost by 40 points. Caledonian Club sent live rinks to Outram on .Sutuuluy, uiul won by 21 points although two u[ die rinks were unsuccetsUlt, Aiidercwi of 'Jucram, bearing Koastby 1 point, while Callander was 7 points Mown lo WiUley. Tlio friendly match between CWsham and OWgo was v>on by Otago by 21 pomto, four of the CavL'rshain rinks being wHuicis whilo six woro down. . 'l'aijri's leeoal against Wukan in tho interdub mutch on Saturday was 216 to 100. But tho young chib on the hill should have picked up a f uw wrinkled from tlio Taieri players.

Homo of tlve rinks which ltcslyn pitted against Vairlield wero very strong, on paper, anil a margin of 69 tioiuts in favoui of tho hill team was the result. Two of tine Fairfield rinks came out winners, \Y. Allan beating Wjkon by b points, whilo M'Giath had an advautago of 3 over Gregory. Scoular and Weuderspoon each wound up with an advautago of 21 points.

Tlireo rinks from Clinton Club managed ; o defeat a Balclutha (cam on tlio lattor's green by 6 f.oiiits. W, Nelson, of Clinton, lost to I l 'Lnn uj 30 to 13, but Fruish, of Clinton put down Bragg, by 31 to 14, while W. Sleddan dofcatod A. Bishop by 22 to 16.

Three rinks fiom Ashburton visited Timaru, anil proved victorious over th-> lvia. Toil Club by 59 points. Mr M'Cahor, vice-president of tho losing club, welcomed the visitors. Mr Lane, on oehalt of the visitors, said they ha/1 made tho journey not looking for victories, but determined to have an enjoyable holiday and a. good game of bowls, and he was pleased to say they had had both.

It appears tho particulars given in Ihcsn notos concerning tho now testing chuto whioli Mr W. Dili has made lias caused quito a flutter among thoeo who have been oxjjerimEnting with bowl-test-ii;g. Quite a number of tlioss who have not .seen the new ehuto cannot bo convinced o! its effectiveness, and regard tho theories they have evolved from their own inner consciousnces as stronger than tho laws of mechanics, It was reported that one well-known bowler who made a chute of his own some time ago offered to wager that Mr Dall's new chuto would not give as good results na tho one in use by tho official bowl-tester. The offer was promptly accepted and an umpire named, but it is not yet known if tho stakes liavo been deposited by tho gentleman making tho offer originally, or tho date of tho final to decide tho wager. SOUTHLAND BOWLING. Tho match last Wednesday North End v. Te Ratigi was just about two-thirds of the way through when a thunderstorm bi'oko over the town, putting an end to play. An adjournment for an hour was made, but at the end of that period tho lain was still falling heavily, so the match was abandoned. C. Hannah was loading J. Lock by 2 points, J. Allan was 2 ahead of Kissoll, and T. A, ffallaco was no fewer than 14 points ahead of J. Findlay. Ham was tho only North End skip down, M'Hutcheson leading by 9 points. Tho gamo will be played again do novo on Thursday. Tho Southland representatives travelled to tho Blull, and so well did tho Port players bowl that they very nearly inflicted defeat on their opponents. The Southlinders won the champion event by 2 points and tho interclub by only 1. This is letter and bottor. Wo have been accustomed to think that the southernmost bowling club doos not need to be taken seriously, but that sort of idea has been decisively put to flight by the performances of tho last two Wednesdays against Te Rangi and Southland. Theie are a good many rink competitions this season. First of all comes the four-rink centre championship, then the shield (one rink), then the competition to decide fliie centre championship rink, which shall compete with the rinks from tho o)':ter centres for the proud title "champion of champions," and Ja6t for the three town club trophies given bv tho Mayor, Mr 0. SJ. Louquet, for a threerink competition. In this contest the Southland, North End, and To Eangi Clubs will play homo and liome matchcs to decide vhich club sho.ll bo declared winner, and tlen tho threo rinks mU6t play off for the trophies. With club singles and doubles in addition to theso events wo are having a surfeit of matches.

BOWLIKG.