NOTES BY JACK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 63

NOTES BY JACK.

After the rain of Friday night and th© unpropitions breaking- of the dawn on Saturday morning, the idea of opening bowling j>reens appeared to be out of the question But the wind though bitingly cold dried up the playing surface. St. Clair and St. Kilda, being rather exposed to the cold blast which came off the ocean and bay, decided to postpone their opening. The Caledonian Green was on the soft side, not having recovered from the effects of th*» flooding caused by a broken water-pipe some weeks ago so quickly as was anticipated, owing to tho adverse conditions of frequent raine. Here it was decided to confine th© proceedings to the mere formal opening. North east Valley postponed its function, as also did Wakari. Caversham Grpen was found to be in euch fine ordor that there was nothing to be gainod by postponing the opening game, and piaj \va3 gone en with. The green ha 6 been grcatl> improved, and if the season, is not too dry, it should be in good condition throughout. Should it happen that we have a wet spell, then Caversham orveen will be tit for play when scarcely any other green in the centre will be in that condition The. heavy top-drc«sing which this green received ha: filled un all the hollow places wnich had developed, and co far as could be- judged, the playing surface is now so level that the bowls will take their proper bias in all directions, and members will have an opportunity of displaying their skill and judgment. Not that the green was anj thing like so bad as it was painted last season. It is true that some of the rinks developed peculiarities; but on the other hand several other rinks were no worse than was to be found on other and older greens. The opening function was a success despite the adverse *veatiK-r conditions, and thanks to the attention of an enthusiastic band of ladyworkers, and Mr Dempstjr, the courteous secretary, young and old enjojed themselves. The make-shift pavilion is a drawback, but when the ladies make light of having to carry out the duties they voluntarily undertake of providing refreshments with inadequate accommodation, members ought to be able to put up with a little inconvenience foi a year or two. A comfortable and commodious pavilion will come in due time if enthusiasm is not allowed to cool. The members of the Caledonian Club if disappointed at not being able to engage in play had an opportunity of enjoying themselves to th© top of their bent in other direction-3. The roomy bowl house and fiocial hall .vere utilised to the full in playing cards while others contented themselves with listening to the music of the band. The club is in a flouri*hing condition, the membership having jumped up to 105, and under the fostering care of Mr Greenslade, the president, may go still higher. The Dunedin Bowling Club opened the season on Saturday af ten-noon in weather of the very worst description. It is just possible that tho opening function might have been postponed under the crcumstances but for the fact that it was not alone tho occasion of the opening of the season's play, but al-=o the throwing open for use of the club's new pavalion, a rather handsome and commodious structure" only recently completed. The old pavilion w-as found to be too small to moat requirements, end it was decided some time since to erect a more spaoious building on the south-east corner of the club's ground, additional land

] being purchased for the purpose. Below there is a largo bowl room, and upstairs j there is a large social hall, with kitchen, ladies' cloak room, and a number of anterooms. Provision for the comfort of ladies has received special consideration, as it is intended to extend a cordial invitation to ladies to be present every Saturday afternoon during the season to witness the play. Even with the bad wea>ther prevailing on Saturday there was a large attendance of bowlers, and the balcony was thronged with ladies when, the president (Mr G. Orow) spoke a few words before the formal open-in-jj of the green took place. Mr Crow expressed -regret that the weather should be such as to interfere wibh the opening of the season — an event to which they had all looked forward. It was now 38 years since the ciub was formed, and the first game had been played on the green in December, 1872. Many changes had taken place 6ince that time, and of the original 106 members, he -was sorry to say, ! very few remained. Of that number .tho only one actually associated with the club j was Mr C. S. Reevos, who that day had j sent an apology for absence. The • club j had been first known as the Dunedin Bowl- i ing and Quoiting Club. The quoiting ! g-roud eventually disappeared, ajid the club | thpn became th© Dunedin Bowling-, Lawn j Tennis, and Fives Club. Tho two latter | games died out, and to-day the club ; existed as a bowling club simply. JThe green originally consisted of four rinks, then it consisted of eight rinks, and now two additional rinks had been made, which provided 10 rinks for play. The pavilion had been found to be too small for requirements, and had been pulled down and a new one, with largely increased accommodation, erected in another spot, special attention having been paid to accommodation for ladies, who they hoped would favour them wirh their presence during the season. Matters in connisction with the erection of the new building had been almost entirely m the- hands of members of th.3 club. Mr Wales, the architect, was an old member of bhe^ club, and well up in the requirements of bowlers, and Mr J. E. White, the contractor, -was also a bowler, a.nd had carried out his work well. The special work for plumbing had been in the hands of Messrs Walked- Bros., who had gratuitously givon a radiator for heating purposes. Other generous members were Mr W. Watson, who had. provided the ceiling in fibrous plaster, Messrs Farm 8r03., who had placed a copper urn in th© kitchen. Messrs Wyatt and Benitley, who had scon to tho painting of the fences and oufchouses, Mr A. Black, sen., who had given valuable assistance in levelling the green, and Messrs John White and C. Foster, who had supervised . the conaruction of tho two n^w rinks. Mr J. M. Gallaway (president of the Bowling Council) said a few words. He expressed gratification ait the green being opened, plea-sure at seeing such a fine new pavilion, and hoped the season of 19091910 would be one to be remembered. He oalled on Miss Crow to throw the first bowl. Miss Crow then, under the direction ol Mr A. Gillies, sent up th& fir3t bowl of the season which, with a good piece of footwork on the part o.f Mr Gallaway, was very nearly converted into a toucher, and the game. President (Mr G. Crow) against V>op-pr<'«id<»nt v Mr J. A. Hoocraff). was proceeded with only ele\en heads baing played. At a meeting of the South Otapro Centre it, was resolved to play on the Southland Centre at Invercargill, on the 9th November, and the Dunedin Centre at Dunedin on the 15rh January next, the secretary to arrange if possible to play North Otago on the same day. It was decided to arrange a singles' and rink championship for Soutti , Ofcago. the centre to present a framed certificate to <ach member of the rink, and one to the club it repre<s<?nts, and also one to the singles' champion, a charge of 2s 6d being made on the winning rink; oingles' champion of each club to defray the cost of certificates A committee was appointed to dra\v up the programme for the annual tournament on January 2, the doubles to be played in sections and the tournament to b3 extended over three day? if necessary. Tho Rjverton Club opened its green last, week in good weather. There was a large attendance, and tlw green proved to be in first rate condition, the eccentricities of last soa-son having been completely over come, thanks to the attention bestowed upon the playing surface during the winter. One of the first inter-club matches of the season ,in Canterbury was that played between Ashburton and Timaru on the latter club's green. The play was of a hi«h order, but on the day the visitors from Ashburton proved the better men, and in a live-rink match won by 32 points. Gabites' rink being the only one to more than hold its own, even that was by one point only. The Council of the N.Z. 8. A., at its meeting on Tuesday, the 19th, agreed to the proposal to initiate champion-of-champions games for rinks and singles, ajid, provided these prove a success, will reeonnmend their 1 successors to procure shields of the value j of £15 each for each competition, on which the names of the winners shall bo inscribed. Meanwhile the council is to provide a medal or token of the Value of two guineas to each pJayer in the winning rink, and of the value of three guineas to t.he sing-ies champion. It now remains for the oentivs and clubs to take the matter up. It is sincere ly to be hoped that the result will not prove so inimical to the best in to rests of the game as some have anticipated. The lessons of experience are, after all, the most salutary. Tho old-fashioned bowler sees in this multiplication of champions and trophies a complete reversal of I/is ideas and ideals, but, being old-fashioned, he must perforce stand aside to permit of others playing the strenuous game. Championswill soon be as common as blackberries, and what with champions of clubs, champions of centres in rinks and singles, champions of thj January tournament, and champions of champions in rinks and singles, it will be quite safe to ask a bow ler, on being introduced to him, what is his particular grade of championship. There is one proviso in connection with the champion of champions which seems out of place. It is that if the centre's singles champion is a player in the winning rink (the centre's winning rink presumably) his club shall nominate a player to take his plaoe in the rink finals. The claim to the title of champion of champions is nullified if any player is deberred from taking part in it. Let us suppose that Car&woll w ins the oentre"s singles champion of

championships, and that his rink proves fc; be the om entitled to be the centre's representative. Good as some other Taieri skips may be, can it be«aid that Oarswell's chosen rink would be as formidable under another skip? The same remarks would! apply to others, as, for instance, Payne. M'L&ren, Keast, and many others in Dunedin and other centres, wihose names will suggest, themselves to players. Mr G. M. Handcoek, of Auckland, who is on visit to the Horn© Country, in a letter to a friend, expresses himself as amused and partly disgusted at tho antics of some of the- players. He entered for a tournament at Newcastle, but wiuxt with stra-ig-hf bowk and time wasted in running up andt down he was glad to get out of it. In a' single each man has a marker, and directs hia man. Mr Handcoek has no great opinion of the greens about London, and! adds: — "For the last word in bowling greens — Scotland. "We- are simply not in it, not room for the slightest comparison. Willow Bank Green, in Glasgow, is simply th« last word — it is an absolute diream. Hadi five games on it (and won them all). Like bowling on a billiard table — the turf is like silk, and all of one kind. Not a sign of a weed, and true as a line. And to think that on a green like that every man, myself included, played in hia ordinary boots. Upon other greens in Glasgow not neap as good you nrust play in proper shoes — now how can you account fox a thing like* that? When I was .there the green was not at its best owing to the late summer. I was very sorry to leave it, for I should have liked to see just what it was like' at its beat. Wherever I have been they have all been very kind and hospitable, especially when they found I came from New Zealand. There is one green in the town of Ayr which runs Willow Bank very close." In a P.S. the writer adds that all prizes are in cash — some as high as £100. The Greymouth Bowling Olub has decided to invite a representative team of Cbristchurch bowlers to visit Greymouth during the Christmas holidays-