Bowling Notes

Free Lance, Volume VI, Issue 287, 30 December 1905, Page 11

Bowling Notes

By Wrong Bias.

ON eveiy bowling green in Wellington deep sympathy is felt and expressed with that fine old] veteran, James Lcckie. over the tragic death of nis daughter on Chr-stmats Day. The shook must have been, terrible to be called away from a game of bow^s on Christmas Day of all days to receive the awful news that a beloved daughter whom he had left in perfect health, an hour or two previously had met her death by sudden accident. In the name of the bowlers of the colony I tender heartfelt condolence to Mr. Lockie and family. • • • Bowlers not otherwise engaged are busy forming pairs for the January tournament. Brackenridge, father and son, will join in a, co-operative ■contract. So will BrunskiLl and Bell and Hill and Harry Smith. And there aire many others. Bmks and pairs are also mustering for the Dunedin tournament of the New Zealand Bowling Association, whose programme stands in very high favour with the locaJ kittyites. Perhaps, the strongest rink from this city will be Hemingway., Bary, Harry Price, and Brackenridge, sen. It will stand a lot of hard wear andl tear. Bary will join the cannie Jamie Brackenridge for the Dunedin Pairs. In fact, Wellington, Newtown, and Victoria will all be well represented at the Dunedin show. Petone did not put on its war-paint for the Edwin Feathers on Saturday. Perhaps, it distrusted the clerk of the weather. At any rate, the feathered champions up Mount Victoria had a rest. Thorndbn, however, is getting together a team to give them a shaking up, and, if possible, a dressing down, to-morrow. At latest &divices, Brackenridge's lip was not perceptibly trembling. It seems I was in error in saying Bell's rink record was the best in the trial tournament gsaines at the Wellington Club. Churchwards rink defeated Bell's decisively in the last round, and by doing so placed Moults, Goodfer's, Bell's, and Churchwards rinks all on the same mark, with two defeats each. Everybody will be glad) to hear that Neil McLean is about again. Appendicitis was the foreign gentleman who tried to bowl him over, but Neil stuck to the jack and won. All the same, he won't be able to play at the forthcoming tournament. Doctor's orders, no risks. Mr. Dawson, ex-M.H.8., of Speight and Co, the big Dunedin brewers, has presented the Caledonian Bowling Club, of which he is a member, with a fine piano for their pavilion. Now, there are a good many Empire City bowlers who could give away a pißno without squeaking. Who will b© the first to follow Dawson's lead. Not all at once, gentlemen, please. One at a time will do. Harry Smith will be a Dunedin bowler after this month, and they say his plain English is changing to broad Scotch already. He will be able to teach his brither kilties how to play the diamond game, which ought to; be rather in his line : a glazier's diamond, ye ken? A city bowler, who visited the Hutt Bowling Green, qjs, Boxing Day, tells me it is about the finest little green in and about Wellington. Beautifully turfed, and playing keen and true, it is a real pleasure to have a game on it. The Hutt Club has now a strong membership, and one of these days may give some of the Wellington clubs a bit of a surprise. The Wellington Club has always prided itself on its well-swarded greens, but this year they are far below tournament form. In the endeavour to remove weeds with some chemical preparation, the lower green has become mottled with bare patches, which play the deuce withh the bowls. Language on that green is likely to be painful and frequent and free during the tournament. Norwood and! Snaddon, of the Victoria Club, have yielded' up the Edwin Buckles to Osborne and BaTlinger, of the Wellington Club, who won by three points. In a second' game, this latter pair were four points to the good. Twelve out of the fifteen heads of the first game were played on Christinas Day, and when Tain compelled adjournment the Victorian men were on top.

That genial little sport, Charlie Payne, now president of the New Zealand Bowling Association, is bringing hp a Kaituna Club rink from Dunedm for the Wellington tournament. Reid, Sutcliffe, and Smith will be his mates Mark Sinclair is also coming in charge of a rink. A. Gillies will play No. 3 for him. There are also two rinks of Dunedm school-teachers coming, prominent amongst them being McLaren and Allnutt, runnens-up for the pairs at the last Wellington tournament. I hear that Southland and Oamaru intend sending two rinks each, and that me Canterbury and Chnstchurch rinks will likewise be represented. Altogether, the South means to put forth a big effort to turn the tables on tthe North at Wellington. The fair sex are crowding on to the kitty in the Far South. Many ladies took part in the play at the opening of the Riverton bowling green. Four of the Auckland clubs — Auckland, Carlton, Remuera, and Rocky Nook — have got teams ready for the Wellington tournament. Some of the others are still busy with the work of forming rinks. The annual inter - State bowling matches between New South Wales and Victoria came off in Sydney the other day. New South Wales came out on top, winning the first game by 89 to 84, and the second by 110 to 96. And yet the selection of the players didn't give general satisfaction. One paper growls in this style : — "Cliquaism is a bad thing for sport of any description, and the teams were practically the same as they have been for years. It is argued that the field of selection is not nearly wid© enough, and that the quality of many playens is not recognised."

A plleasant reminder of the Christmas season comes to us in. the form of a - neat and handy block for bridge-playing from the British Empire Trading, Co. _, Ltd. Our compliments to the company. We'll cross that bridge, or pensh in the attempt. The Shaw, Saville, and Albion Company send along a smart calendar for 1906, showing one of their royal mail passenger steamers bneasting the angry waves m a masterly manner. The fleet comprises sixteen splendid liners. The railway dates and the lines are marked in the calendar in blue for easy reference. The Sydney "Bulletin" — not much given to gush, by the way — has been saying very complimentary things of the Citizens' Life Assurance, of which Mr. J. Frankis Lane is the popular local manager. For instance: — "The office has made notable progress during the last few years ; its interest-earnings rate is increasing rapidly, notwithstanding that it holds the largest proportion of public securities of any large office in Australasia ; its 1 mortality experience has hitherto been very low (last year it was 54 per cent, of the expected experience in the ordinary and! 52 per cent, in the industrial branch) ; its valuation is on a 3 per cent, basis, which is the most stringent adopted in Australia ; and. when it addis the reduction of expense rate to which the manager has pledged' himself, it will cap a remarkable record! in the way of progress."