Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-26
BOWLING IN GERMANY
POPULAR AMUSEMENT BRINGS
HEALTH AND PLEASURE.
Game More Difficult and More Gener-
ally Patronized There Than
in This Country.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.


LEIPZIG. February Is, 1904.
When an American comes to this country
and goes to a kegelbahn Bowling aliey)
with a crowd of Germans, it will not be
any great length of time before he discov-
ers that he is the poorest player The
game, as it is played here, is entirely diff
ferent from bowling as known In America.
The alleys are of about the same size, but
they are made of concrete and are, usually,
very fast. On either side is an upright
board, which prevents the balls from leav-
ing the alley. The pins, nine in number,
are set up in the form of a square, with
three pins on side. and one pin, the king.
in the center. The pins are so placed on
| the alley that line drawn down the CEN
ter would pass through two of the corner
pins and the one in the center. The balls
are. of course, of various sizes, but none
of them have holes, so that, without great
deal of practice, 1t Is very hard to direct
the larger ones. The system of scoring is
different at many places, so that no general
rule can be given. OF course the best play
that can be made is to knock down all OF
the pins with one ball, but it is rather diff
cult to do this account of the position
Of the pins. How hard 1t is may be judged
from the fact that IN many of the clubs
diploma is given to every one who gets all
nine pins three times In succession.
1t is customary for number of men to
form bowling club and meet once a week.
Each club has it's particular day and rents
an alley for that day every week, and has
the exclusive right to the use of the alley
on it's evening. The usual rental of the
alleys, per night, Is marks (S1.43). The
proprietor can afford to rent them cheaply
as he is sure to do hourishing beer bust
ness. Every member of the club must pay
fixed sum into the treasury of the club
whenever he loses a game or breaks rule
of the organizat ton. When the treasurer
reports that the club Is in a fouriShing
financial condition 1t is customary to take
the money and have good dinner, or put
1t to some such use, at which expenditure
Of the funds the poor players are sure to
come early and stay late. as, of course, they
do large share Of the paying.
The Prevailing Custom.
On the evenings when the club meets it
is customary at most places to play every
man for himself for portion Of the time
and then to play partners for the re-
mainder of the evening The game of part
ners is really the better game of the two,
as 1t requires more skill than individual
playing does. When every one Is playing
for himself the balls are set I'D for every
player as his turn comes. while In the
game Of partners the balls are not set up
until the side In play has knocked them
all down, therefore, when the man who
plays first on a side makes bad break
with his first ball 1t is very likely to take
several more balls before the alley is
cleared and the pins can be set up again.
Fines for the slightest thing are i'm
posed but they are so arranged that the
poor players do not have to pay them ALL
For instance. II a player strikes the
board at the side Of the alley with the
first ball of series of three he must
pay certain fine: On the other hand. If
g. player knocks down all of the pins at
once he is fined for that just as much as
the man who hits the side board Those
who come late must pay fixed amount
and those who do not come at all must
pay about two marks CAT cents). IF, dur
ing the course Of play. a player gets a
certain number. called the play num-
ber, he must forfeit a small sum.
Each club has only a single allev. and
as result the game does not progress
very rapidly. At about ~ o'clock the
bowling ceases, few glasses Of beer are
consumed and the club adJourns until the
following week, when the same program
Is repeated
Nearly every man of the better classes
has his evening for bowling, ana some of
the more enthusiastic go several even
iEgs q week.
On the whole, the German rama "a
harder and offers more chances for Sci
entific play than does the American game.
because OF the arrangement Of the pins.
of side boards from which carom shots
may be made. and because, as has been
said. 1t Is very hard to direct the halls
Nearly every large place of amusement
has several alleys and they are very often
In private houses. The game seems to ha
one OF the most popular In Germany, es-
pecfaIiy among the men. Ladies seldom
play EXCEPT at 0rfyafa bu,coo