BOWLING

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17461, 12 February 1925, Page 4

BOWLING

NOTES FROM THE GREENS.

(BY “

"TOUCHER.”

The similarity or bowls or.ce almost created a riot during: the progress of a pennant game in another estate (says a Sydney writer*. The opposing skips m one rink were using bowls (almost identical in appearance) which in lieu 01 the ordinary ivory discs were mounted with silver shields. About halfway tnrough the game one skipper with the shot against him drove and disturbed the position generally. Then the fun started. The opposing No. 3 claimed bowl after bowl until eight were out. and then, seeing his skipper’s wellknown shield on a bowl inside the near- ■ est of his opponents’ woods, claimed ' nine. The game was delayed for fully ; ten minutes for the zealous measurer . would not be convinced that it was pos- ! •ible to score only eight. Naseby ladies are taking keenly to bowling. A few enthusiasts who do not indulge in lawn tennis or other sports are devoting themselves to the green in the afternoons. The bowling green, though small, is generally conceded to be exceptionally good* and it is m excellent condition at the present time. Good use is lxsiug made of it by the members during the evenings. “ Toucher. ’ in the Sydney “ Referee.” says the Australian big bowling carnival is to be held in Sydney early next year, and it is anticipated that there will be at least 3000 entries from all over Australia, and will include members of the British team, and players from New Zealand. The New South Wales Association might seriously consider contesting on that occasion the single-handed championship of the world. It is presumed that tqre British team will be thoroughly representative, while the best of New' Zealand would certainly come across to Sydney on the chance of holding such a title. The only countries seriously playing the game will be represented at the carnival, and the opportunity may never again present itself. FAKING SCORE CARDS. Tt is about time tiiat the practice of faking score cards was brought to an end. Even the Dominion • tournament, says “ Number Two ” in the Wellington “ Post,” was not free from this Kind of thing, which serves no useful purpose, except to cover the faces of those who have been literally buried under a load of figures piled high over their own meagre totals. Tf a player good enough to win his way into the third round of post-section play in championship is ashamed of the drubbing he has got from a superior team he is welcome to all the faking in the world if it is any satisfaction to him, but he never deserves to win any kind of championship, not even marbles. During the tournament one card was returned showing the official score as IS-16. As a matter of fact* 15-3 was what the board showed when one side retired f'°m the game at the seventeenth head 1 his was not the only instance of lakmg during the tournament. The prac--1 ce is a nonsensical one, but. of course, bowls is a distinctly social game, and, perhaps, there is a risk that its sociability might be seriously imperilled were the righc scores always recorded. That is no doubt the reason why the South defeated tire North Island by one point in the match played on President’s Afternoon, although it is open to question whether any human being knows what was the correct score in that game, which was of such national importance as to necessitate an interruption of the post-section play. Apparently some of the players engaged in the North v. South Island match veie overcome by the strenuousness of the play, seeing that some of the games were never completed, because those engaged wanted to see ho*.v things were going in the Pairs Championship. DUTIES OF AN UMPIRE. 'Fne incident that occurred in the recent Dominion tournament in Wellington, in the final of the pairs championship. when the umpire- cautioned the singles champion of 1922 for standing in front of the jack, in order to indicate to his skip where a block was wanted, again shows (says “ Trundler ” m the Auckland “Star”) in what an unsatisfactory state are the rules of bowling, while their administration usually even worse. The Wellington committee made an honest attempt to get the rules observed, erring probably in the direction of leniency, rather than harshness, but apparently they found the same difficulty that is always cropping up. In the first place rerv **"' umpires seem to know the rules while most competitors know them still Ifn an K m hlß , Ter - T hum ” weakness will probably always be a trouble. In the second place, nobody seems to have a copy of the rules. 1o which he can - fe V W r disputed question crops dfet * ort “" ate! ?; this can now he remedied for the writer has located a littlbundle of rules, and. anyone who cares o see the exact text, instead of entering into an argument,, may have a copy or, application. In the' third plm'e most of the rules are so delightfully vague that ,t ,s usually possible to drive through them with a coach and four, so that there is little wonder that each umpire puts his own interpretation on most of them. But it is rather surprtsmg to find an umpire going to the o.her extreme, and invoking a rule which does not exist. There is nothing in the authorised

Laws of the Game ” to prevent a director from standing in front of the jack. Ho can stand wnere lie likes, but he must not put his hat or his rag on the ground to indicate., where lie wants a bowl, although he can hold it over the place. The rule relating to where | a director can stand is aimed at somei thing far worse than standing in front { of the jack, the exact words being: • ‘ As soon as a bowl is greened, the ; director shall retire at least six feet 1 from the jack.’’ and this is one of the few rules where the reason is given, ! in order that his opponents may wit- ‘ ness the play.” It is therefore quite ' clear that Rigby could stand where lie { liked, but it just shows how little tlic | rule is understood when it is mentioned 5 that nobody seems to know whether he | stayed there or not. Probably there is no rule so frequently broken in Auckland as this one about hangincr over i the head while a bowl is coming tip. This is a distinct breach, which occurs i on every green, and in every tournaj ment, and yet never ouce has an uni'pi re bothered to stop it, provoking ' though it is to the opponents. A fair i assumption is that the W ellington umi pire thoroughly understood the rule, ! and that ho did not caution the famous I North-East Valley champion for stand j ing in front of the jack, which he :s j perfectly entitled to do, but tor staying there while the bowl came up, which is a very different thing, and which the rule distinctly forbids. THE ORIGIN OF TIKI. INTERESTING ACCOUNTS. The handsome cafved-wood Maori tiki, presented by Mr Matt. Burnett, jof Christchurch, as it. trophy to be played for annually by teams representing the Wellington and Christchurch centres, bears upon its back the following accounts by a Maori and a British authority. respectively, of the origin and meaning, of the t?ki - “Wishing to let some information under the above heading accompany this trophy, I applied-to those wellknown authorities. Wirenni Keepa and Colonel A. A. Grace, for information, | and am much indebted to them for the following : IMAGE OF MATT. “Wiremq Keepa writes from Gisborne :—‘Maui was one of six sons, and came into this world stillborn; hence the crouched-up head and three lingers. His mother, (Taranga, threw him on the beach among some seaweed, where he fvgs found by the Maori Neptune, or God of tlie Sea, called Tangaroa. Tangaroa took him to the bottom of the sea, where ho grew up. Alter a "time, he returned to earth to see his parents, and was from then on recognised as a demigod. Among the Maoris he was known as Maui-Tiki-Tiki. a Taranga or Maui, son of Taranga. He was said to have done some wonderful feats for his people. among them being tlie capturing of the sun. The Maoris complained to him that the sun went too quickly for them to do their work, so ho found a huge hole, out of which it came. He placed a noose over the hole, and captured the sun. He threatened to thrash the sun if it did not move more slowly, and this it agreed to do. Ho is also said to have fished up New Zealand from the sea : lienee its name, Te-ika a Maui, the fish of Maui. The tiki, which is a representation of Maui, is only worn by the chief tainess of a tribe, and sonic Maori girl who has been chosen to have authority over the people at some future "WORN BY WOMEN AS A CHARM.” “Colonel A. A. Grace writes from Nelson:- ‘About the matter of the i meaning and use of the tiki, it Is the Maori representation of the unborn human child, and was worn by women as a charm to guard them from evil spirits. The Maoris believed that there were three sorts of spirits; the spirits .of their dead ancestors and others; ! the spirits of the living who had been born in the natural way: and the spirits of stillborn children. These last spirits were called kahu- ; kahu, and were malignant, ©specially | to women who were pregnant, and to i women who desired to be pregnant, j These kali u-kuhu were supposed to - cause all the ills connected with childI birth, nnd the malformation and im- ' perfection of infants. They were supj posed to lire in the wharepuni. where J the women an d girls slept, and to lie ready always to do their evil work to | the females who. by neglect of religious customs, and by failure to sav. I or hare said for them, the proper karal | kia to protect them from the kaliukahu, laid themselves open to attack. But the most potent guard against these evil spirits was the tiki, “made sacred by the usage of one’s ancestors end possessing th© mnna of those anl cesfcors. Therefore, the tiki was one of the most greatly prized possessions of the Maori. While a woman wore it, the spirits of her ancestors would protect her from tlie kahu-kabu ano i she might enter on all the functions * leading to maternity with the hope and expectation that they would lead to [ ’’