BOWLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 52

BOWLING.

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XOTES BY .7ACF. j T am afraid that bowling for the season j I? 0] 02. .-o far a- Duik Jm and siuiouadmi; | di-'riol-. jii> f one- lnt 1 , in us Ibe reckoned ; mionjst the "na boi'n- " Tho weather lias I hrrn =n atrejcid'.-A I .id foi many weeks now that it li£>c3 bc*i\ .1 matter of pheer impossi ! b'lily to g"r o.i to a greci. '11ns ha = hoon ' tho worst, bra-oa lor out dour .miusPMPiitJ. i and pariit u'arlv for be>v\lmgr. rhat I rmol- : lect. and roiwquently we aro all \cry con- j siderably in the dumps; and 1 am afraid seme rather unparliamentary — not to say pro fa no — language* has b< »n n-od. as the pies* reporters --ay. f.-eclv and frequently o v i Saturday* of latf by the devotee., of t'a giarid old game of boy. '-. Notwithstanding the di'-ad\antagp<= which •.a bowlers in lh ; - pan of the colony suffer ! ui.der. when w t'uy get a cl .v" c they ', generally come off first be-t, or thereabouts, j when they have an oportunity, af wifne=« I bl'.o la<-t tournaments at Invercargill and | Oaniam respectively. At the former ih° rink match w?s won bj a team fjoii> Milton 'kipped by tli" \e < cr?'.i AY. Taylor, , win!-; _\i 'L.ncnV tcv.'n from Dnncdin v. ere ; b°cond. 'L'h 0 pair? mrtch was won by the I ro-J'Hil r.ibli- couple Car^vell and Howell. of j Mo->cji< 1, C'iiijr and Smith, of Cioio. being 1 ' soio'.id, and MJja.ien .ii'd Short, of Dun ('lin. thud J liiwi- not previously heard of Craig and Smith, but they inu-t L< ¥ r.o nu-an pl.ivi'ru when they roul'l maiia^o to rull oft t!ic «-p< ond pri'/e. The FMijle prr/.o al»o «enc to Moigiel, Tom /iJ.uhif managing to defeat hi^ male, (ieorge Koucl!, by one point only. 1 am Miro \ir Howell does not giudge liie fnund tho \ k tory. lit t u^ now look at tho rp-ult-. of th" O.iiiiaiu 1 1 sue.-' The i-nk urttc-h va> yon by a Dunedm (earn '-kipppd by M> M. Sim 'air. the pair- niatoii was won hy Mi\<--rs Sine lan and A. J Harth. aiid the Con-olation wa-- won by a rink skipped by our tj'd w<*ll known friond, (Jporpc Cap etnA, of the Caledonians. It, therefore, we hiid a drier chmato in thi-; part of the world, our player-, would have more oppoitumties for practice and would be more pioficient in the game. Thin naturally lead* mo to speak about the game of table lxnvls, winch ffems to ha\e develcj ed in the old country. 1 played i arpct bowlc many a time and oft before I croi>ed the t ea. but this ii to me at leatt a new idea. I quote fjom a contemporary :—"Old: — "Old bowlers will pernapß pooh pooh the newest development of their game, but 'table bowl:-,' which bears the same resemblance to the real game as ping-pong doe 3 to real tennis, is undoubtedly making headway in the old country. The new game was exhibited hisi month at the Cryotal Palace, where it met with such fat our that tho ping-pong tables were almost forsaken, and three were turned out to make room foi the bowls table. In con-iequrnc c of the success of the invention a Surrey table bowls tournament it> being auanged '' I may mention that I mad© inquiries at Mr Braithwaite's as to whether they knew anything about it, but wa*> informed that they did not, ccily they might hoar something about it by the next mail, m which case they promised to let me know. There ar© some rink matches as fived by the a*?ociatioii yet to bo played off, but I am afraid they will have to be wiped off the slate for this eea°ou. If, however, it j!<«=sib!y can b© managed, the interrupted match Dunedin against the Caledonians will be played, starling de noio, and the Caledenians ha', o al-o tlir-ir match with the Taifn Club to play I ha'e ma doote, howe\cr, if either of them will eventuate. 1 had a \eiy interesting chat the other day with one of the pioneers of bowling in Otago, Mr W. Oram Ball, the well-known , accountant, who informed me that Mr Cal lender is- tho parental lelativo of bowling here. Over 30 years ago lie. with Mr Ball, the lats Mr D. F. ilain, ex-Laxid Registrar here; Mr AVlntelaw, auctioneer: and Mr .John AVat-on, of Messrs W. Watson and Sons, warehousemen, of Dunedin, both al.->o deceased, arranged with Mr Allen for the lea°e of the sections of the Dunedin green. After that was satisfactorily arranged, those gentlemen put their hands in their pockets and each paid £50 do-wn in order to pay tho expense of forming tho giecn. There were gianta in those days, while now some members grumble loudly if tLoy are asked to subsciibe 50 farthings over and abo\e their subscriptions^, and I have knoyvn tome to cl«y tUe viiole seasoji e,ftd uc>i t^.v at sJj^

And thus the game of bowls was inaugurated in Dunedin, and its fascination has gradually spread over the whole province. I shall try to get some reminiscences of the early clays from Mr Ball, which may prove of interest to my readers. A NOVICE HAS A SAY. Dear Jack, -In \iew of the disappointing tiijson we have had. might I suggest the advisability of a conference f r om the different city and suburban clubs with a view to discussing the possibility of laying dov n a "grc«i" in ihe annexe of the Agricultural Hall? As my head- line shows I am but a ni \v baud, and the proposal may meet with a contemptuous rejection at the hands of old players who know more about the game than I do. but I throw out the suggestion for what it is worth. — I am, etc , DISATPOISTED BeGIXXEK. [This letter came to hand too late to submit to "Jack," who will no doubt let in .-ome Jight on "Beginner's" darkness m his in \t notes. — Ed.]