KELLING AND BARNES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 75

KELLING AND BARNES.

■WELCOMED BY WORKING MEN'S CLUB. The conquering heioes of the Kew Zea'a^d . chess tournament, Me"rs F X Kelirig and R. J. Barnes, v.-eie welcomed home b;< their companions of the Wellington Woik ug Men's Club with orchestral Ftiain=. toapi = , and speeches on the evening of the 12th in«t (■-ays the Dominion) There was a ci ended. gatheiing to do honour to the club's fuc- , ce=3ful representatives, and cordiality and congialu'ation leigned. ; Tho president of the club. Mr T Car- ! michael. warmly welcomed the delegates, and expre-sed a conviction, which wr.s endoisjd by acclamations, that no moie popul<u champion of the tournament thpn Mi Kelling cou d have come to- liglit The toast of the two plaxers was honoured with much en- | thu= ; a c m I Mr Kelling, in responding, gave an in- ' teie«ting account of the tournament, and told some mirtWul nones to lllushate its lighter side Tie mrde it obvious that the , p'c.yei-'i enjovecl s> very pleasant tune in Dunedm. Januaiy 4, which gave the chrm-pion-hip to Mr Kelling, with Mr Barnes as runnei-up. was a. " Gloxious Fourth " foi ihe Wellington Woiking Men's Club Summing up the contents the champion said that Barnes had an "off" day early in the tournament, Danes and Edwards were off colcur on the fiaa! da\, Gnerson =ecmed \ery stale aftor a previous hard bcut of night work in Auckland and J. Mason was bad y hampeied by his clocks, having on diffeient occasions tj make 14 moves in 14 minute^. 14 moves in 13 minute^, and mx moves in two minutes, which seriously affected at least two of his games. It was lemsrked in Dunpdin that tho Wellington m?n had swept the boaid. but this conclusion might require to be modified, since the pnze for brilliancy gi\ en by Dr Fitchett, piesident of the New ZeaJand Che's Association, had \e{ to Le awarded Mr Kelling said that it had pleased him much to meet, in the same week, the two <=ole survivors of the fiist New Zealand congress of 1879 — Mr C Janion, of Wellington, who w.s present ihpt evening, and Mr D. R Hay. of Dunedin, who had come over from Melbourne, and was s, frequent \-sitoi to the tournamei t He expressed his warm appreciation of the xeception given to Mr Barnes and him=elf Mr Bari.es congratulated the c'nb en a distinction winch he believed no other club had ever gamed — that of having fir°t and second prize-vvinners If was al c o a mailer for coiigiatuUlion that the other t\.-o prizewinners, Me=sis O Davies and J. Mason, alfo came fiom Wellington. Later on Mr Barrcs pioposed the health of tho otbei We'hngton \\.vncr= and Mr Mason replied Mi Da\ies was not present, having been called away to Auckland Mr J G W Ddlryinple, m pior-o=mg the toaat of " Kindred chess sccieties and visitors," said that the ga'hciing should help to die°ipate certain wro"g- impreF=ions of th* Wel'ington Working Men's Club. It had been shown that the club could produce an excellent orchestra, some fine singers and some sterling ch-ess players. Unkind remarks had been made about the club, but if a. club was formed of 1200 clergymen there would be found a few black sheep among them. M.es sr , W H P. Barber and E W. Petherick responded to the toa = t Songs and oichestia' selections enhanced the p!ea c iue of the evening