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Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16726, 8 January 1920, Page 6

If the popularity of tho panic of bowls needed any proof, it would bo well attested by the fact that to-day some oCO members of 71 bowling flubs in every part oi New Zealand, literally from Auckland to tho Bluff, meet in Christchurch to take part in tho (seventh annual tournament of tho Dominion of Now Zoaland Bowling Association. The jliuno of course needs praise no more than if, require defcnco. Its long lineage makes it one of the aristocrats of outdoor games. Encyclopedias toil u< that it dates back ccrtainly to the 1-Jth century and tho Southampton Town Bowling Club, which was founded in 1200, n nd should be tho Mecca of all British bowlers, "still uses the green. i?n which it has played for centuries.'' Howls has, in its time, by reason of its fascination for its votaries, como under tho ban of the Church and tho Law, but nowadays tho only voices that are raised against it are those of housewives whoso husbands in their devotion* to the game forget tho flight of timo •"id reach homo Into for dinner. The romedy for that, wo should think, would bn to encourage women to play bowls, as they already do, wo believe, in Wellington. • At one timo to confess that ono played bowls was to admit tho attainment of, at least, middle ago. But that timo has passed. On almost any summer evening as many men under forty as over that ago can bo soon on tho average howlinrr green. A game that can be played and enjoyed equally by mon in tho twenties nnd the seventies has obviously strong claims to popularity. Its sociability counts for much. It cive.i timo and opportunity for friendly chat, and although it is sufficiently leisurely to admit of players smoking it js not so lacking in exerciso as non-bowlers profess to think. It is perhaps not tho best gamo for those who are still on tho sunny side of tho hill, and arc physicallv sound, though we are not prepared to decide the varying claims in this rospect of crickot, golf, and lawn tennis. But for thoso who valuo a little moderate exorcise at tho en,] of tho day's work, bowls, with its pleasant surroundings and tho gonial companionship it affords offers an ideal recreation, and we trust that tho nine days' tournament which opens to-day will bring many recruits to tho city and snburhan bowling clubs. * Last year's obituaries in Great Britain, it is cabled, included 284 centenarians and nonagenarians, and apparently an attempt is being mado to attribute this number of cases of longevity to the effects of war-rationing. Tho premise hardly seems to justify tho conclusion. Doctors and insuranco agents, we aro told, agree that rationing rejuvenated thousands. It is quite probable that among the fortyodd millions in tho United Kingdom there were large numbers of men and women who benefited by being absolutely debarred from eating as heavily as was their wont beforo tho war. and particularly from consuming unlimited sugar. In many instances these people took on a new lease of life a« they lost their superfluous flesh, and if they could only be similarly restricted for tho rest of their livc*g they would probably live long. But tho nonagenarians and centenarians who died Last year were mostly, no doubt, too old to experience tho advantage that younger people Toceived from compulsory rationing. Few very old people eat much, in any case, and the war happened too recently to entitle tho rationing system to any credit for tliia list of cases of longevity. Further, it may be poinfced out, if even one per cent, of tho population actnally benefited by the short commons imposed on thom by tho war, a larger percentage suffered therefrom. Moro than ono high modical authority attributed the heavy death rato from influenza to the weakened physical condition of a considerable portion of tho population, largely owing to the insufficient amount of fats that people were able to procure. 6 The deportation of Martens, tho Bolshevik "Ambassador" to tho United States, is due, no doubt, to his own revelations when under examination in November by the Committee on Bolshevism set up by tho Amorican Government. Since his appearance in America as the representative of the Bolshevik Government, Martens had always claimed that he woa not a propagandist, but merely a business representative, whoeo ono object was tho purchase of supplies. Under examination, however, lie turned out to be a very difforent sort of person. Ho admitted that he had been a revolutionary propagandist for more than twenty years, that in 1896 he was associated with Lenin in plotting against the Czar, that he had spent threo years in prison for - his activity in this direction, that he subsequently travelled about Europe conferring with revolutionary spies, and that with Lenin, Trotzky, and others j he had paved the way for the Russian revolution. He was a .member of tho party that issraed the revolutionary manifesto in which tho proletariat of , the world were urged to disarm tho , bourgeoisie at tho proper time and start j civil war with tho view of overthrowing organised government. Ho testified, apparently with pride, that all his j <

h.vi been r.itr«"'l n: t;ir> -'rt:~i :-j:i ««t tie middle and capitalist t'• i■ 11 a-ki '1 t>>r hin a < apit.i'i-t !;•' -• to hav.- difiicuiiy in >'. rn Is*' into r. vi.>l« :it he i< arncd that. p.- t!)" j.-iih • i:is ndmis-'cn>. hi* (if'!onat'..n won* ' '~e r»v>Tnmend»--*l. but hi« i- the kind rit'zcn liiat 1 An:.-lien ran very v., ''. .! . without.