The Washington herald., 1922-12-18
TRICK ALLEYS
THE VOGUE OF
A DECADE AGO
Star BoWIers Of Past Years
Found It Necessary to Bowl
the Alleys" Not the Pins.
BY LEONARD W. COLLINS.

more diversified number Of opin-
ions than that which fellows
when a comparison is attempted
between the relative merits of
the duckpin stars of today with
those of yesteryear. ,
Therefore. no attempt will be
made to show why duckpin bowlers
Of the present are superior. or in.
ferior marksmen. as the actual case
may be. to those Of a decade or
more ago. That is q matter that
will be left entirely to the judg-
ment Of the reader after a perusal
and weighing of the facts as pre-
sented herewith.
When the small pin game had
become fairly well established as
part Of the National Capitals win
ter sport program, along about
1910. the outstanding stars at that
time either were. or mad been. ten,
pin bowlers.
A glance back over the records
Of that period will show that Harry
Krauss. Jack Brosnan, AL Rodrick,
Billy Warren, Eddie Bennett. Harry
Waters, Eddie Krieger. Bernie Car
/ roll and several others were the
| recognized stars of local duckpin
talent. All had been tenpin bowlers
befbre taking up the little pin
game
SCORES MEAN N-oruv>n
Present day duckpin bowlers
whose recollection does not carry
back quite that far, hold to the
opinion. In the majority of in
stances, that nowadays pinners
would carry an edge on the oldtim-
ers were they to meet in match
play. The younger element point to
the difference in the scores in an
effort to substantiate their conten-
ton.
A comparison of the scores rolled
ten years ago with those being
| registered today means very little,
if anything. in the matter of de-
Gliding the question as to whether
| the experts of 1922 are any more
accurate than their predecessors.
Accuracy in bowling is not de-
\ pendent upon a coordination of
the eye, mind and body, as in most
sports, but upon perfect rhythm
| Of movement in delivering the ball
it being taken for granted that
the bowler can at least see the
pins and has made up his mind
where is the logical place to hit
| for strike or spare.
From this 1t would seem that the
most successful bowler is the one
who perfects his rhythm of move
ment in delivering the ball, and
uses just a little commen judg-
ment before starting for the foul
line. And so 1t was ten years
| ago. Those who stood out most
prominently were those who had
perfected, or rather attained, that
continual sameness in their deliv-
cry.
QUITE A CONTRAST.
There is quite a contrast be-
| tween the star duckpin bowler Of
today and those of years ago. In
the first place the good bowler Of
the present is not confronted with
| conditions which the stars of other
days were forced to meet and over
| come. Again there was a differ
ence in the size of the ball and
pins.
Alley construction in 1910 was
not as modern as 1t is today, the
| old Palace being the only drives
about the city which could\ COM
pare with the Royal. the Kingpin,
the Recreation. the Grand Cen
| trail and other establishments now
catering to the small pin game.
In those days your crack bowler
had to bowl the alleys" and
not the pins.
Today you will seldom find a
bowler who even attempts to bowl
the alleys" The expression bowl
ing the alleys may be Greek to
the younger generation and in ex-
PLANTATION let 1t be said that when
a pinner "bowled the alleys" after
once sighting from the pocket back
down the alley to the foul line he
riveted his gaze on spot at the
foul line where he wished to drop
! the ball and kept his gaze there
until the actual delivery had been
made.
SIGHTED A SPOT.
Others sighted a spot ten, fifteen
or twenty feet down the alley
from the foul line. but you seldom
indeed found a bowler who sighted
the pocket and kept his gaze riv-
eted there throughout the swing.
approach and final delivery. When
you did you would find that bowler
| setting one ball down abdSt three
inches from the gutter and the next
maybe six inches in. Yes, and that
bowler was seldom hitting in the
pocket
The reason bowlers ten years
ago "bowled the alleys" and not
the pins was that in those days
practically every alley would be
what present-day bowlers would
term a "trick" alley. One would
bear into the head pin," another
would be ''up the hill," while still
others would fall away from the
pocket" The perfect alley, like
those Of today. was the exception
rather than the rule.
| That Is the reason the bowler of
those days "bowled the alleys" and
not the pins. Before starting his
match play he would endeavor to
find the spot" on each alley
where if he set his ball it would