The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-12-26

Enthusiastic golfers declare their game
is the oldest game of sports in the ex-
istence of the world. This is a mistaken
idea, according to Abe Langtry, secre
tary of the A. B. c., as the game of
bowling antedates golflng by many CEN
turtles, and while 1t has had its ups and
downs through several hundred years, to-
day 1t is the greatest indoor sport in the
world.
OF course, our home bowling dates from
match games bo|led in Manhattan some
seventy or eighty years ago, but the
game itself really dates from the time of
ancient Egypt, when the herders of fiockS
of sheep on the hillside played the game
of bowls with animal bones for pins and
skulls and joints for balls. This COM
parison may seem to some ridiculous,
but II is true as a matter of bowling
history.
During the twelfth century in England
the game of bowls attained such promi-
hence that 1t interfered with the young
men preparing themselves for warlike
pursuits, consequently a ukase was issued
against the game in favor of archery,
and this for some years held the game
at a standstill; but as the saying goes,
you cannot keep the game down, and it
sprung again into prominence both in
England and in the American colonies.
AS matter of fact, in New Amsterdam,
which is now New York, old Peter Stuy-
vesant, who was the Dutch governor.
issued a proclamation prohibiting the
playing of the game Of nineplns, and
any one that broke this edict was to be
placed in stocks for not less than four
and twenty hours.
Fooled Old Peter.
However, the bowIers of 300 and 400
years ago were just as quick-witted and
irrot f,,I 10,
and after old Peter had passed to the
great beyond they started the game of
bowling. To evade this edict and avoid
a possible chance of trouble, they added
one pin to the setup, 'and thereby was
born the game of American tenpinS
Throughout the country west of the Allie
gheny Mountains the game Of tenpins
did not penetrate for many years, the old
game of ninepinS being the regulation
game, until about twenty-five years ago
in the West, when tenpins became known
in a half-haphazard way, and not until
about the middle of the eos, when a cham
pion team toured the West and the Ameri-
lean Bowling Congress was organized in
the East did we notice the real growth
of the game of American tenpins. We
have records of match games being
bowled in New York City on the Knicker-
booker alleys as early as January l. 1S4o,
and there are also records in Washing
ton of games bowled during the late SOS
by members of Congress, the most prom
inent being Abraham Lincoln. and 1t is
the proud boast Of one of the clubs of
the Capital City that they still have the
actual scores of the games rolled by the
martyred President During the. last dec
ade the game of bowling has grown mar
velously,. until it Is safe to say that
there is not a small town in the western
hemisphere that cannot boast of at least
one alley.
Business Houses Adopt Game.
The game has been adopted by bust
ness houses to create a congenial and
social spirit between their large num-
Der of employees, and has been approved
by the Y. NJ. c. A, throughout the
country. Church and social clubs have
also adopted the game. Taking all of
these sources together with the great
number of open public bowling alleys,
which probably number $1,000 in the
United States, the following of the game
of bowling will claim almost 100000
people who enjoy the sport and rivalry
as we'll as the general exercise connected
with the game. Quite an army of fol-
lowers, but even that doesn't represent
the following the game has throughout
the world, as 1t has gained foothold
in England. Sir Thomas Upton is presi-
dent of the European Bowling Associa-
ton. and the game has been taken up
in earnest in England. France, ad Italy,
as we'll as in the Philippine Islands. and,
in fact, almost everywhere except in
China, this being about the only game
or invention that the yellow men have
not claimed as invented by them. In
England 1t Is still know as eagles and
skittles, while in France as quilles and
loggets, while in Germany it is still the
game of ninepins, and when boiled down
undoubtedly 1t would be found that the
bowling game in this country was adopt |
ed from the Germans, who fathered the |
games many centuries ago, and gener- !
ally the best bowlers in this country are |
of German decent, OF course, with the
regular exceptions.
First Meet in HobOken.
The followers of the game realized |
what benefits could be secured from |
so 1t has been the aim of |
the bowlers Of the country to band them
selves together in bodies to promote the |
bowling game and to create interest in |
the sport. The first really authentic ma
tional tournament was held in the City |
of Hoboken, N. J., some fourteen years |
ago, and q Western team entered from |
Chicago, under the leadership Of W. V. |
Thompson, captured the honors of the J
The general success of the |
Eastern tournament made the bowlers of |
the country realize what benefits a tour
nament could be to the game, conse-
the American Bowling Congress.
which had been formed in 1885, decided
to hold a national tournament at Chi
cago. The event was eminently success
full, with an entry OF forty-one teams,
probably 200 to 300 bowlers participating.
From that time the bowling game has
really been dated and has not grown
but has grown in leaps and
bounds until the present-day sees the
game OF American tenpins as the national
indoor game Of the American people. The !
bowlers throughout the country could /
not afford to attend tournaments at a
so, at frequent intervals, at
the demand of the game, new associa-
tons were formed, and they are con- /