The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-08-15
IN & III
NEW |
YORK
nv PAUL HARRISON

Nav York-Central Park is a
good place to drive through
casually, or to stroll Of an evening,
or attend an outdoor concert. On
the. whole, It's q transient crowo
that finds brief pleasure there, put
there are a few isolated spots Ior
more determined play by tne
same people, year after year. Tnere
is, for instance, the Union Croquet
club, which is soon to celebrate JUS
fiftieth anniversary.
It 10 down at the south emo OF
the sheep meadow, on the west
side of the park, and some OF the
members are there from morning
until dusk practically every ~. Gay ;,., =.
aIly move over q little to an earth
en- baseball diamond and shovel or
the snow. When IL rains they
merely hoist umbrellas and go
ahead with their games. Such
hardihood, they say. does q lot 70
controvert the idea that croquet
players are doddering old fogies.
A lot Of the members are, IN
truth, elderly and retired from
business. Mr. James T. Gregg, the
president, is one of these; but no
one could call him dodderfng after
seeing him swat an opponents BAH
out Of bounds. Many OF the mem
bers are, for some reason. phy-
sicians and clergymen. There are
IS men ana women. The last
Of the charter members died only
a few years ago: He was John "a.
WEIGH. who took up the game in
1884 when his doctor told him he
had only q few months to live.
But croquet Che said) kept him
alive for nearly half a century.
The women hold their own with
male competition, especially a Mrs
Kraigsman, who started playing
from a wheeled chair several years
ago and now walks around as well
as ANYBODY. She doesn't think.
though, that she would be any
match for Neysa McMein or Kath-
Teen Norris, who are possibly the
best women croquet players in the
United States. The Union Clubss
tbest players are ;men-Walter NC
Cabe, q. retired business man: Gleb
Derujinsky, the sculptor; and Lars
Gardell, a retired sea saptain.
Bowling ON the Green.
Then there's the New York
Lawn Bowling club, which traces
It's lineage back to New York's
earliest days, and has been at the
other end Of the Central Park
sheep meadow for many years.
There are some so members Of this
organization too, and they COM
prise about the same type OF men
except that most OF them are
scotch, and that they bitterly re-
sent the suggestion that bowling
on the green Is an ancient Dutch
pastime. -,
They have q fenced green, with
a. special permit from the city, and
they bowl there four days a week.
In some cases memberships have
passed to the second and third gen
erations, and Ave or six old codg-
ers now sit around at some OF the
matches to watch their sons and
grandsons uphold the family hon
or.
Sailing Yacht Models.
You wouldn't think that Con-
servatory Lake, q shallow, two
acre pool In Central Park, would
have much attraction, for a lot OF
he-men, But there are go of them
| who sail; model boats there, and as
many again who are on the wait
ing list for storage space In the
little boathouse nearby
No ordinary toys are these, but
six and seven-foot scale models OF
some Of the most famous yachts
and schooners and sloops in the
world. The little sisters OF Weet-
amoe and Enterprise are there,
and couldn't be bought for a thou
sand dollars. Others are built on
designs original with their MAX
ers, and the latter are mostly fine
craftsmen - jewelers., merchanics.
cabinet makers and such-who
| have made model sailing their
hobby. Sometimes they take their
boats to races in other cities, and
even to England. where the annual
meets gets as much attention as
the Cowes Regatta. n.
Conservatory Lake has helped
turn out some famous yachtmen.
Frederick H. Prince, Gerald Lam
bert and Harold s. Vanderbilt us
ed to sail boats there when they
were kids. And Nat Herreshoff,
probably the most able Of present.
day yacht designers, still comes
around occasionally to pick up
new ideas.