A BOWLING FUNCTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 220, 11 June 1919, Page 8

A BOWLING FUNCTION

PRESENTATION TO MR, J. J. ; >" : "'-' ' ROBERTS, ' -At-the annual meeting of the Wellington Bowling Centre last evening the sec-retary-(Mr. J. J. Roberts), who is retiring after- seven yea'fV service, was made the-'"recipient'of a tastefully-engraved gold -watch and a silver tobacco box b> tho '• delegates' of tho centre. In making tho presentation Mr. W. C. Cooper (president) said that Mr. Roberts had carried out the duties of tho responsible office, of secretary for-a. period of seven years, and they were all agreed that he* had- dent, liis' wbrk"as well as it - could possibly done. During the last twelvo Months Mr. Roberts had. not been able to giyo so much time to the work as he Would have liked owing to tho extraordinary" pressure of business, and it was for tHat"'re,isdn..'tliaf he was resigning tho ae'crcfcrys'hip. In wishing him all •prosperity' iii"the future, Mr. Cooper explained that the little tokens were from tho" delegates with-whom he had for so long been as'sbciated in forwarding the interests -of bowling generally. • ■ Mr. W. R.„ Plimmer (Khandallahj, .voicing the opinions of the smaller clubs, said ■'he'was sorry Mr. Roberts was resigning the secretaryship, as they had considered him to bo the right man in ■tho right place, and his resignation would be a distinct loss to tho local bowling .•world. *.!■■■' *■'■ ■. , ■ ■'Mr: Hv Mayer (Eastbourne) said he had inown Mr.-Roberts for 23 years, both in connection 'with- bowls, and football- administration, and 1 at one time ho was Cbnsidered-'to be the backbone of Associatwtt.football in Wellington. No'bowling'.'tpnmameat that had been held in ■Nevr Zealand liad been carried out so weir as thoso which had been.run under the'direction of Mr.' Roberts, and losing him,,-was a ; great blow to bowling. •Mr.'-'-E. J. Hill hoped they would still benefit'.by' tho wisdom and wide experience of Mr. Roberts as a delegate. Ho eulogised his administrative ability in the conduct of tournaments, • and saiu that his, work had been an eye-opener to thelast team of Australian bowlers. Tue best tribute that could be paid to him was that' all the centres were copying from-Mr. Roberts's book, and wero running their tournaments' as.nearly as possible on Roberts's lines. Messrs. James Keith, P. Meadowcroft, and S. H.Undorwood also paid tribute to the retiring secretary, who, they all conceded, had done so much for bowling in Wellington. '~,,, , ■;After the formal presentation the delc- • gates' rose and sang "Por Ho's a Jolly Good "Fellow." V',' ' , Mr. Roberts said ho did nor know how to thank tho delegates for their presents and the sentimonts they had expressed. ■When he had taken over the duties from Mr.-. Churchward tho centre was a very small body,'living froin'harid tor outh. The seven yeaTS of offico had meant a good deal of arduous work, and'he instanced in support the big amalgamation between the North Island' Bowling Association and tho New Zealand Bowling Association (now united in the Dominion Association). Then camo the war and its attondant difficulties and anxieties, and in that respect ho wished to thank all the ladies and gentlemen ,who had 1 assisted the bowlers in collecting so largo, an amount of monoy for patriotic purposes. -(Hoar, hear.) Now tho'centre was in a much happier position, with a balance to credit. He hoped that position would be' improved, for occasionally difficulties presented -thomsclvos in receiving visits from outside.bowlers, and it was rather lowering to have to go round cap in hand to meet- tho expenses attendant on such visits. It should bo tho duty of tho centre to carefully consider the question of tho levies that should be made on clubs annually, and generally to build up strong centres everywhere, leaving the Dominion Council to judgo on small matters and formulate tours for oversea bowlers. It was their duty t« strengthen the centres and increase their duties as much as possible, rather than invest more power in tho Dominion Association. The council should not, in his opinion, bo allowed to formulate any now laws without tho complete accord of tho centres. Tn two instances they bad sought to mako now .laws which had given trouble, and ho instanced tho two-feet-on-tho mat law. He argued that stepping, off the mat with one foot did not give a bowler any advantage, ns they played to heads of varying length. Tho less they meddled with the laws of the game tho better.. He asked what would bo the position if, thn British team of bowlers came.out, and found that they had to'conform to laws they knew nothing about.- In that direction he advised that they should keep in closer touch with the English nnd Scottish bowling associations, and no lows should bo adopted which had not the unanimous .approval, of hll three associations. Ho would litithft-fntiiro be only too glad to give all .the assistance he could f.o,bowl?, and. If,-the occasion arose, to tho running of tournaments.- (Applause.)

For Chronic Chest.Com plaints, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure.—Advt.