Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-11

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warmed up.
Burt Parsons cast a speculative
eye down the line of contestants
in the Blick 100-game Sweep
stakes at Convention Hall. He
had two strings to gosto have shot
the fastest 100 games of duckpinS
ever rolled. For seven hours he
had maintained a steady pace of
IA games an hour. In that span
he had bowled more strings than
the ordinary regular of the maple
ways chalkS up in two weeks. He
had dissipated more energy than
the average duckpin shooter ex-
ponds in a month.
But he looked regretfully to the
finish.
Parsons turned to his scorekeeper.
Drop that for moment" he said,
land see if you can't round up some OF
these fellows for a game afterWard.
It was not bravado; nor was there
the slightest hint of disdain for his
struggling rivals. On the contrary, for
Parsons urge to shoot duckpins was
still alive and he judged the others by
himself His challenge, you've guessed.
was not accepted.
He's a Speed Demon.
Burt Parsons is unique in the annals
of the game He has two notable dis
tinctions. Beyond doubt he is the
most enthusiastic duckpin bowler OF all
time: bereft of opponents after the 100
games at Convention Hall, he hied him
self to the Arcadia where he shot 10
more. On the previous day, when most
of the other participants were storing
energy, Parsons reeied on 81 games.
which was about his average days
workout. Some of your average bowlers
would be physical wrecks after that
much concentrated bowling, and bear
this in mind-most of Parsons daily
shooting is done without an opponent.
He occupies one alley to himself and
sometimes two and bowls as fast as the
pin boys speed will permit. Try that
sometime for exertion.
As for the other distinction, the
young man recently shot the highest g.
game and 5-game totals in the history
of hardwood duckpins.
Not since Sam Del Vecchio rolled a
single string of 240 for a world record
last season have bowling folk been
given the thrill produced by Parsons
truly phenomenal exhibition at the
Arcadia the other night For three
games he totaled 507, with strings OF
16O, IA and 203. To these he tackled
15S and lis for 5-game score OF ITO,
an average Of 154.
Gets QuadrupIe Strike.
It was remarkable that a bowler OBJ
tain enough breaks to shoot such
score and it was wonder on wonder
when Parsons made good on them
His principal comment on the feat was
something to the effect, IT should have
had more with all those breaks" AS
matter of fact, he picked i've spares.
He made Is, along with IA strikes, four
: of the one-ballers coming in succession
in his game of 203 another rarity.
Parsons, member of the Petworth
team in the District League, wasn't
taken seriously as a bowler until lately.
He was claSsed as pretty good" ale
though his average of 116 in the league
was something of tip-oh on his po-
tential ability.
Not until he flashed in the Blick 100
game SweepStakes-he took second
money though he finished 40 minutes
ahead of the total pin winner who
dumped many balls down the gutter to
beat the time limit-did the bowling
fraternity give him an appraising eye.
But Burt had another surprise in
store In competition with the coun-
try's foremost duckpin bowlers he
wasn't thought of as a contender for
the national sweepstakes crown last
week at the Lucky Strike but he was
fifth and with more care gathering
loose sticks might easily have finished
first.
Pay High Compliments.
This showing, perhaps more than
ANYTHING else. even his Arcadia per-