The Washington herald., 1922-12-11
DUCKPINS GOT
/ START ON OLD
PALACE DRIVES
Harry .Krauss Responsible for
Game Being introduced Into
the National Capital.
By LEONARD w. COLLINS.

"HE duckpin game in the Ma
tional Capital can be said
. to have gotten its start on
the Subway alleys of the Palace
at 914 E street northwest. While
1t is true that there were two or
three other drives about the city
which had the small pins in stock,
It was seldom indeed that any one
= at that time ever rolled the game.
This was in 1906.
II was during tanning bee with
Harry Krauss. then manager of the
Subway alleys, that Krauss men,
TONED the fact that while in Balti-
more a few weeks previous he had
noticed that the game was meet
ing with great success in the Mary
land metropolis and he concluded
that duckpins would be an ideal
summer game.
In those days the Palace gen.
orally shut down for a couple of
months each summer, the owners
finding that few tenpins bowlers
rolled the big pin game during the
hottest months. In fact. keeping
the drives open during July and Au-
gust was Improbable.
Along about the middle of March,
> 1906. Krauss ordered two sets of
the little pins, along with a half
dozen balls, from a well-known Bal
timore manufacturer of bowling
alleys and bowling equipment. De-
livery was made about a week or
70 after and the writer had the
good fortune to be present when
the expressman left the shipment.
ROLL FIRST GAME.
The little naples were quickly
unpacked. those present having a
curiosity to see what they looked
Ike. In addition to Krauss and
the writer there also was present
Billy Keane, who at that time was
earning fame in the outergardens of
sGeorgetown's baseball team. The
pins were placed upon the alleys
and Krauss. Keane and the writer
made their first attempt at the
game.
.- Memory fails to recall just what
totals were registered in those first
three games. but it is safe to say
that no one hit them for better
than ninety. After about five
frames. it did not become a ques-
-fion of how many could Re knocked
down. but how many could be kept |
within the confines of the alley.
For the information of the reader
let il he stated that the duckpins
first used in the National Capital
were considerably smaller than
those in use at the present time.
Tho balls were also smaller. ANY
kind of fast ball resulted in about
one-half OF the wood going to the
ceiling and the othes half coming
to rest anywhere but in the pit.
- Duckpin setting in those days
was a mans size job. 1t took a
stout-hearted how to apDly and hold
on to job as pinsetter. They re-
Ceived the munificent sum OF Sc q
week for working fifteen hours a
day-twelve in the pit and three |
each morning cleaning up the
place.
JOHNSON BEST OF ALL.
Speaking Of pinsetters the writer
can not help but mention that in
those days the old Palace had what |
was undoubte edly the greatest pin |
setter the game has ever known. |
He was none other than Jim John |
eon. Johnson could stack. more |
wood in a day than any other Din- |
setter the writer has ever seen in n |
bowling period covering a span of
twenty years.
When il came to setting duckpins |
johnson could not even be equalled. |
much less beat. Johnson would |
wait until the third ball had been |
rolled-strikes and spares coming |
few and far between-take one duck |
into the pit and come up with
whole armful OF maple. BY the
time the bowler was ready Johnson
had ten sticks on the spot and a
couple left over in his hands which |
ne could not find spots for.
The next article will tell of those |
howlers who took to the game |
slrnost Immediately with its intro |
ductiOn. They We're the ones who |
for several months confined their |
duckpin activities mostly TO the |