NOTES BY TOUCHER

Otago Witness, Issue 2663, 29 March 1905, Page 53

NOTES BY TOUCHER

The final of the President's Prize, otherwise the championship of the Roslyn green, has again fallen to the lot of that consistent player, G. Wedderspoon. who has now bad the honour of winning three times in succession — a record to be proud of. The final was with Scouilar, who played a good game, which had to be decided on the last head.

I should like very much to see a match betwe-en T. Saunders and G. Wedderspoon. The former has won the President's Prize four times, and I am sure, should it come off, it would be a game worth seeing.

I am glad to say that since writing my last week's notes re Mr Dall and his testingmachine being put on other greens, Mr Payne, while in conversation, assured me that Mr Dall was going to do so — a, statement which will be welcomed by all bowlers.

Milton paid a visit to the Caledonian green on Friday, when the local team were victorious by 19 points. The- Caledonians have shown the way to the other local clubs by arranging matches with the country clubs — one of the many methods of keeping bowling to the fore. Port Chalmers paid a visit to the lime country (Milton), and beat the country club. This is creditable to the sea-town bowlers, for the Miltonians are very hard to beat on their green.

I am pleased to see that the St. Kilda men have played their initiatory match. Port Chalmers having the good fortune to play the first matches with the new club. Mr T. S. Culling had his first win with hi? rink, and I wa= very pleased tc see it.

Tho St. Kilcla green i- improving every week, and reflects great credit on its keeper and other silent workers.

A good double — Saund-ers and T. Sneddon. The former won the President's and the latter the Vice-president's, and together the- Champion Doubles at Christchurch.

I hear that in all probability the Saunders brothers are likely to play together at Invercargill. Dall's rink is having some good practice, playing wherever they can get a chance — a good idea. The Caledonians who paid Stirling and BalcUitha a visit on Saturday wore beaten by the. former, and won the Clutha match. On arrival at Stirling we were surprised to see that nobody was there to meet vs — a state of affairs which was explained by ill- Crawford Anderson while we wore at lunch. The president was to have arrived by the sanK 1 train, but owing to pressure of business ho coulrl not get. The apology ■was pleasantly received by the Caledonians. Both thp- Stirling and Clutha grecne ore a treat to sw. the latter in particular. Half of it is being top-dressed . Mr Crawford Anderson remarked that the town club- did not pay sufficient vNit* to the country ch'b*. Secretaries please take notice of theso re-marks. Host Andrews of the JStirlHp: Hotel, had p iei>Cencv to b<» on flip "iaek." a trick which was tried by many of the Calrdomaus, but w ithoufc =iiccps-=. The Progressive "Rink tournament o-, Ivai-t-una was "a dsrantic <ucco« in ov-ery way. Mr Chas. Payne and Captain Sundstrom left no ston.° unturned, and arc to bt> again congratulated on carrying out the larsresf. tournament vet held on th** green. I heard tho former complaining: about bowle-r« °i?uifyip!? their intention of beins present, and on the moriiinpc of the tournament being conspicuous by their absence-. If bowler= would only think what inconvenience they are purtine tlift executive of the tournament to by their absence they would not do it aajain without an apolog-y fo'- not b*-!5->g- able to attend. C. Keast and A. Gillies had a lease of No. ° rink, the- former for fivp games and the latter for four, they having- held thrrink the wholo day. much against their wi=h. You ha^e only to ask which is the be«t rink on the <rreen. and yo\i will receive an fin-wer not to be published.

Tt vrp< nlraciiiT; to M. Gallawav. of the St Kilda Club in the =arao fiold. but ColtTran was too much for liim. OonnflL easily disposer! of Crow, which l^ft "B <-(,*■.-•■>. ■n a - ,OS!, OS! p^ono r-onr^H and CnJ. mai, T'-.© final wns foucht nut by Ooiippll ai.e! Da\iM. The latter played a good game throuehni'.r. the tourney. He kept on drawing to the

''jack," and came out winner, with Connell *econd ; both to receive a prize. Credit is due to Mr Kroon for the manner in which ho provided the lunch, which was appreciated by one ■ and all. The strong winds that were blowing across the green were at times very baffling to play against — in fact, they were so bad at times that the bowl would run against the trias, much to the disgust of the player. Most of the city olubs were- represented on the green. M'Laren and Gilmour played off the final in the Vice-president's Prize, when Mac, to the surprise of most bowlers, got beaten very badly, the score being — Gilmour El, M'Laren 8. Mr T. Sneddon is to be congratulated on working out the programme so ablycarried out on the Kaituna green on Anniversary Day. To plan out a progressive *ourname*it of eight rinks requires some -head work. The Kaituna have acted on suggestions from Mr Tannock, and have closed down four rinks to be top-dressed and the weeds taken out. This is a wise decision indeed for next season's bowling. The members Will have to play half-hour games on Saturdays, and as 'the evenings are drawing in now there cannot be much play. Kaituna are sending three rinks this week feD try conclusions with Palmerston. This is a" means of* encouraging our country bowlers to pay a visit to the town clubs by flaying return matches. • The Caledonian bowlers intend to present to the club the photograph of Mr John Wedderspoon, their genial green supervisor, who has done much for the club by "the atten-tion he has paid to the gre&n, and

"which has made it one of the finest greens in the colony. The Victorian, premiership was won bj -the Armidale Olub, which met and defeatec the Richmond Club in the final game bj 25 points. This is the third year in succession in which Armidale has won the pen nant, and during that time it has playec 31 pennant rnatehes_ without sustaining s . defeat. This is certainly a fine performance In ths first round on the Hmdemarsl Green (. iow green) 60 players "took parl in 30 g&v-es. The :nampion of champion rinks takes part in Adelaide this coming vweek, wher •6f-me exciting bowling is expected. Rough on the Melbourne greens is the following note by "Skipper": — "There was never*- a time in the history of Victorias ■bowling when so many cf our greens wew in .such bad condition and quite unfit foi •play of a. hig-h order. A good many of the city greens might iuat now be compared with the bill ; ard tables on© comes across in haekblock hotels. In fact, a bowler was ;seen last week playing as if he intended to see how many times he could induce his fcowl to jump, or otherwise steeplechase." Mr Stephen Fortescue, the hon. treasurer •of the English Bowling Association, who ie en route for London, after spending a holi--day in Australasia, played a farewell game -on the M.C.C. green, his rink winning by -five points. Scores: Victoria {H. King, H. "Hedley, G. N. Arnall, P. Prescott), 9; England: (F. C. Allen, T. P. Maekeson, "B. Wardell. S. Fortescue). 14-. — Notes from Oitrnaru. — The Phoenix have jusi^ finished their Champion Pairs, which were won by D. A. T3o> (skip) and P. A. Duncan (lead). Both * clayed a splendid game, and well deservo .\ = beir win. The Champion Rinks have several rounds ■to go before completion. The final of the Champion Pairs of 1904, •postponed from last year, was won by G. •M. Procter (skip) and J. Swindley (lead). It is not often that you hear of a pairs match being postponed from, one season, to another, but such was the ease on the Thcenix green. Some interesting: games have been clayed in the Champion Rinks. Potter and Hewat -tied on the last head, and on playing off Hewat was successful by one point. I lully exuect to hear more of this player before the season finishes. Another close game was witnessed in the finish of Waddell End Potter, the former winning by one J>oint. In the game between Potter and Taylor (of Christchurch fame), the former had rather an easy win — in fact, one of the easiest during the contest. — Invercargill Notes. — Once again the Gore players have proved too formidable for the North End bowlers. JThe Gore team started well, and got a good lead before the North End could get going, as will bo seen by the following synopsis of the game : — Gore at the fifth head were X 3 points to the good ; at the tenth head both teams were level j fourteenth head -Gore were three points to the bad ; s&venteenth head, 95 -^feb 93, in (favour of th© North End. At this critical uoint of the game disaster befell the North End, who Jest, the scores at th© final showing — Gore 129, North End 116. "Well done, Gore ! Lock ralayed a consistent game throughout *he match. Craig and Findlay's game created some interest, both playing well ; s>ut if Mr Dall's testing machine had been on the green it would have been : "Alas ! I thoughti my bowls were No. 3 bias, but now T must admit they are not." Gore players, olease take note! The Southland tournament is coming on, when challenging bowls will have to be faced. In the rink contest to see who will have the honour of playing in the championship, the- rink selected by the club's selectors lias gone to pieces, only having succeeded in winning one match out of five games (played. J. Renni© is to take his old place as third in Robert Taylor's rink, and A. E. Smith will skip a team in the' big event. x The final for the President's trophy, between Porter and Erskine. showed fche former to be a good single-handed player, fceating his opponent by nine points. It seems somewhat of a coincidence that Porter should win President Rennie's trophy, and that last year, when Porter was president, Uennie should be th© winner. —Other Towns. — The Brackenbridges (father and two sons) come out strongly on the Victoria Club's prize list this season. They w-ere in th© finals of four events, and have pulled off three out of the four. I have already recorded the fact that "Dad" skipped the champion rink of the olub, and was joined with Marcus Marks in winning the club's Eairs tourney. The other two finals have sen decided within the week. Eldest son fjack Brack-enbridge) has come out on top in the Champion Singles, defeating Barry by OL9 to 10 ; younger son (Jim) only fell short Sof the Junior Championship by three points, JaoE Ewing proving the winner. It is certainly a fine family record. Here-'s gcod Buck to the Brackenbridges ! The Champion Paira tournament of th©

Wellington Bowling Olub, which had been in active progress for the previous six weeks, has ju&t been concluded. In the final round J. M. Geddis and T. L. Churchward beat D. M'Lean and J. Nancarrow by 24 to 13. They scored wins against Flindei"s and Brown. Hamilton and Bell, Gray and Gibbes, Thompson and Gooder, Sproule and Haybittle, Morris and Balhnger, and their only loss was by a single point to Birch and Reid. The prize is a pair of handsome silver-mounted bowls, presented by the proprietors of Watson's whisky. 1 MILTON v. CALEDONIAN CLUB. A team from the Milton Bowling Club played the Caledonian Club on Wednesday on {n*e Caledonian Green. The heavy rain in the morning made the green a trifle heavy, but, taken altogether, it was stirprisingly dry. The Caledonians went off with the lead, the^scores at the seventh head being — Caledonian H3, Milton 19 ; fourteenth head — Caledonian 43, Milton 33 ; twenty-first head — Caledonian 67, Milton 47. The home team thus won by 20 points. At the conclusion of the play Mr C. F. G-reen-slade, patron of the Caledonian Club, in a few jhappy wolds, expressed pleasure a.i the visit from the Milton bowlers. He was also pleased that the Caledonians had won on this occasion, : as the Milton players had won the last five games between the two clubs. Mr Henderson (president of the Milton Club) responded, and aaid they were surprised to find the green in such excellent order after the heavy rain. He hoped when next they met the Milton bowlers would turn the tables on the winners of that , day. After three hearty cheers had been exchanged, the visitors left to catch their train. Players and scores : — C. M.

3 J. Gebbie. A. Barclay, T. Carter, C. ! B. Keast (s) 24 — 7 J. Lockart, J. Petne, D. Taylor, 1 ] W. Taylor (s) — 15 r ' C. F Greenslade. J. Blaney, R. . t Powley. J Evans (s) '25 • — . M. Henderson, J. Parlane, R. j ! Robertson, C. Grey (s) .... — 11 , • J. Mills, E. Hogg, J. Anderson, * ! J. Collins (s) 18 »- ' C. F. Grant. A. Stewart, R. Con- * don, W. Moore (s) — 21 Totals 67 47 PORT CHALMERS v. ST. KILDA. ; A friendly match was played a-t Port Chal3 raers yesterday between the above clubs. The 1 following are the scores and players : — J i P.C. S.K. r ' P Stewart. J. Neilson, N. M'Kay, , ) D. M'Gregor (3) 33 — I J. Pollard, J. Marlow, E. Merry, t ' H. Lyders (s) • • ;. — 12 5 J. A. Smith, J. Dorrmg-ton, J. , i M'Lachlan, J. Cameron (s) . . 25 — . Glen, Vickery, Robertson, Hodges 'j (8) .. ". - 12 . J. Watson, J. Shanks, N. Murray, ' j J. R. MGnson (s) 12 ' , Dick. Gresham, Dawson, T. S. ' ; Culling (c) — is Totals 70 42 CALEDONIAN BOWLERS ON TOUR. : A team from the Caledonian Bowling Club j journeyed to Stirling znd Balclutha, on Satur1 day to try conclusions with each club. A start wad made at 10.45 against Stirling, and all through the progress of the game rain fell. The local team had the lead from the start, and maintained it up to the end, winning very easily. Jklr Esson, in the absence of the president, welcomed the Caledonians, and although victory had been on their side, no doubt the Caledonians would reverse it when the Stirling Club oame to town. Mr Keast returned thanks on behaif of the Caledonians. After luncheon the Caledonians proceeded to Balclutha,, where, after an enjoyable game, they scored a win. Afternoon tea was provided, and much ap- ; predated. Players and scores : — I Stirling v. Caledonian. I S. C. A. 1 Bell, P. M'Skimming, D. Boyd, ■ Jas. Esson 23 J. C. Abernethy, A. Barclay, R. Powley, D. Murchison 17 H. Andrews, J. Smith, A. H. Anderson, J. C. Anderson 30 C. P. Greenslade, D. L. Hutton, J. ' Collins, C. E. Keast _ 10 John Henderson. P. Farquhar, Rev. P. Ramsay, A. Hislop 22 J. Mills, J. Gebbie, J. Smeaton, J. r Anderson 14 Totals 75 41 Balclutha v. Caledonian. _ B. C. H. Gunthorp, A. Lattimer, A. j Buchanan, W. Finn . . 23 !J. C. Abernethy, A. Barclay, R. Powley, D. Murchison 22 P. J. Greaning, J. Kinder, R. Dunn, ; A. Jack 13 ' C. F. G-reenslade, I_>. L. Hutton, J. Collins, C. E. Keast 20 , M. How, J. Steven, A. Hayward, R. i Hutton . . . . is J. Mills, J. Gebbie, J. Smeaton, J. Anderson ... .. .. 20 Totals 54 62 GREEN ISLAND v. OUTRAM. A match between Green Island and Outram was played at Outram on Saturday. Although ; ihe weather indications on the Dunedin side of • Saddle Hill were anything but propitious, a Afferent state of affairs existed on the other side, and a very pleasant outing was enjoyed by the visitors, especially the afternoon, teaprovided by the ladies. Scores: — ! G.I. O. ( J. Mason, J. Blair, L. Miller, W. . M'Donald 27 W. Scott, A. Chisholm, W. Watson, J. A. Anderson — 10 D. Waldie, D. Watters, A. Young, J. Lindsay 2i **- , James Buchanan, E. Rutherford, J. ! Wildey, A. Tripp — 13 j A. Batchelox-, D. M'Donald, James I M'Mullan, J. Aitchison ... 18 R. Webster, P. K. Low, W. A. Wood, J. Buchanan, jun. .. _.., .. . . — 19 Totals .. 60 42 BOWLING TOURNAMENT. The Kaituna Bowling Club's annual progressive rink tournament was held at Kaituna on Thitrsday, and proved a great success. The arrangements, in the capable hands of Captain Sundstrum (president), Messrs Payne and SnedcJon (Match Committee), and Mr J. Stone (honorary secretary), were carried out very satisfactorily. Play commenced at 9.30 a.m. and was continued till 6 p.m., with an hour's adjournment for lunch, which was served in the pavilion. The green was taxed to its fullest capacity, 64 players taking part. In addition to a large number of Kaituna players there were representatives from the Dunedin, Caledonian, Ros7yn, Ca.vel3h.am. and St. Kilda Clubs. The match consisted of nine games of seven heads each, and) at the conclusion of the rmk

play it was found that Messrs R. W. Davies, J. Connell, E. Brown, J. Stone, R. H. Coltman, J. M. G-allaway, and G-. Crow had each scored seven wins, and in the play-off Mr R. W. Davies proved victorious, with J. Connell second. The catering for lunch and afternoon tea was in the hands of Mr Kroon, «md gave general satisfaction.