Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-11-13

North Side club discussed the POSSIBLE.
ity of organizing some of the clubs into
Ii league to further interest in the game
and add the novelty of interclub match
es. Not the most sanguine of the group
dreamed of the possibilities underlying
that simple effort to unite the scattered
bowling clubs Of the city. Not one Of
them dared to hope that there would be
an interest in the game engendered
which would result in the formation of
hundreds of clubs in Chicago, In the in
stalllng Of alleys on the second, third
and fourth floors of downtown build
sands of dollars in bringing the APP
pointments of the alleys up to date, all
within five years. Yet that was the out
come of that casual conversation re-
garding the formation of bowling
league.
Growth Ia Phenomenal.
The growth of the game was rapid
after the start had been made by the
formation of that old league. But, ney.
ertheless. 1t far outstripped the hopes
Of the most enthusiastic bowler. In the
next year dozen other leagues were
formed and matches were played con
stantly. The keepers Of big billiard
rooms began to wake up to the posi-
bilities Of the game and constructed
modern regulation alleys in the down
town district, where they could catch
the trade" of ambitious bowlers eager
to practice in their spare time and un.
able to reach their club alleys, located
in outlying parts of the city. People
who had never handled bowling ball
became interested when they went to
billiard halls and, passing the alleys,
saw earnest men striving to knock
down the inoffensive pins. They watch
ed while and then took n hand"
and after that they were infected with
the enthusiasm.
About two years ago the "boom" in
bowling began to take on proportions
which attracted attention from even
those who had been inclined to sheer at
it as an '.old mans game" which prop
erly belonged ON Bowling green"
among the first settlers Of New Amster-
dam. They realized that game which
could interest and hold SO many hun
dreds of people must have something in
it. and the alleys steadily increased in
number. but We're still unable to accom-
modate the demand. Every club in
town added bowling alley to its equip
mcnt; clubs were formed in nearly all
the large wholesale houses, and the
game grew by leaps and bounds until
there are now thirty leagues in the city,
each composed>of eight clubs, with an
average membership of fifteen.
This by no means represents even APP
proXimately the number of bowlers In
Chicago any more than the membership
of the cycling clubs few years ago
aggregated the number of riders In
town. There are hundreds of enthusi-
astic bowlers who are seen nightly on
the public alleys who have no inclina-
ton to join clubs, and there are half a
hundred clubs which are not associated
with any of the leagues.
The game is very popular among
women, and there are thousands of
Molueli iuuteIS, Dut, StTuuHely enough,
there are no women in the clubs atfili-
ated in the various leagues, nor is there
a league of women's clubs. although al
most dozen leagues could be Formed
from the clubs composed exclusively Of
women. On one North Side alley alone
six women's clubs bowl weekly, each
club having an afternoon assigned on
which it leases the alleys. The Wom-
ans Athletic Club. the swell organiza-
ton on Michigan avenue, has organ
lied six teams, which play three games
a week for ten weeks. at the end Of
which time individual trophies are pre-
scented to those holding the highest
scores. =
The amount of money inve the
game in this city and the amt ant 81 mt
weekly by the thousands of enthuS is
mounts away up into the thousand. N
the first place there are probabl> 5000
players connected with the various
clubs. Their club dues alone will aver
age 81 a month each, SO $4,000 is turned