Evening star., 1933-01-17

Manoley, speaking OF NICK
- Tronsky, national duckpin
sweepstakes champ and
reigning sensation of the game:
Hes the best I've ever seen"
Says ]. Bernard Carroll, mem
Der of the famous old Royal team:
He's standout, past or present.
And Glenn Wclstenholme, once king
OF the singles shooters: My hats off
to him. i suppose rolled against all
the really good ones in my time, and
I've seen all the others, and there
hasn't been any in the bunch as hot
Is this boy"
Tnen there's Ben McAlwee: "Tron-
skis recoru SPEAKS CUT loud. He's the
best OF ali llme" An authority on
bowling ngures. McAlwee translates
skill In terms OF arithmetic.
a GAINST such testimony it may be
"A futile to offer q word in rebuttal
but defend We do, possibly from
habit, the illustriouS names OF Harry F.
krauss and John L. Vaesh. Many
times in the last 10 years we've had
occasion to drag out those names as
synonyms for greatness on the maple
ways.
In this decade many a comet has
flashed across the bowling frmanent,
each to be proclaimed BY some the
brightest ever. And always the ques-
ton: rs he greater than Krauss? Than
Vaeth?"
And here it is again, in the case of
Nikolas Tronowski, called Nick Tron-
rlry af u,6n cf rtaH
his bowling career as pinboy and cli-
NAKED it recently with the largest IS
game score ever rolled, to win the Ma
tional Duckpin Bowling Congress
sweepstake;.
InIs, however was merely one of
lerleS Of sensational ieaJS performed by
the young Ethuanian-Nick is in his
early eos He averaged 130 or better
in a series of intercIty matches that
led Up to the national sweepstakes,
and IN the big money event at Rich
mond he broke the national records for
and 10 games as well as Is. He has
averaged l29 on a circuit OF drives in
the Connecticut State League.
NEITHER Krauss nor Vaeth dreamed
IN of such an average for league play,
nor would either have thought
MALlllll lll6 ldll5C Ol Alilid1l CnAAAA S6AAA q
score as the 2,10l Tronsky rolled at
Richmond. But Krauss and Vaeth
played cons derably different game.
They shot at smaller pins, they rolled
frequently on Rocky Mountain" drives,
end there were no shallow. rounded
cutters to scoop the NAPLES back onto
the field of play They never averaged
better than Us in the District League.
Nor did either seem to care lot about
the size Of his average. In the day
OF Krauss ana Vaeth bowling spirit
smcng the stars was different from
now. The team victory was the thing.
With game in the bag. few tried for
sticks to build their averages.
Nor vas Krauss or Vaeth inspired by
money prizes. There were no large
purses. Bowling vas sport. Not the
pay-off, but banquet was the big thing
in an intercity match And what
royal evening one of those after the
match affairs provided!
EXCEPT on rare occasions, big
IL Nose" kraass never knew who was
high man On his truly great Royal
team. None of the Royals seemed in
terested In such detail.
And when an all-star team was
chosen to represent washington, or
lar Royal team, mans standing in the
community counted as well as MS
standing in the averages.
Neither Krauss nor Vaeth, in the hey
day Of their careers, would gamble.
This was a distinct sacrifice, for either
might have cleaned up" But there
had been a time when Krauss wagered
regularly on his ability to beat 125-
this in day when an average OF l05
classed a bowler with the elite. The
manager of a bowling establishment,
thought 1t harmful to the sport as a
whole.
At the peak Of his career, vaeth quit
bowling altogether He thought 1t for
the best interest of the establishment
he managed for Morris Cafritz. And
Johnny, more than any bowler we've
ever known, loved to shoot duckpins.
TRAUSS and Vaeth performed feats
n in their day comparable to Tron-
sky's achievements in his. There is no
reason to doubt they would have ac-
complished more in the way OF high
scoring had necessity called or had the
incentives been as high powered as now.
Krauss long since has given up duck
pin competition, but occasionally takes
q turn on the mapleways-and kid
dingly shoots scores that would average
l20 or more.
None other than George L. Isenlann,
secretary Of the National Duckpin
Bowling Congress and foremost au-
thority on the game, recently voiced a
thought in the. minds OF not few long
time observers Of duckpins when he
said: What would Harry Krauss and
Johnny Vaeth, at their best do with
a set of modern duckpins on modern
alleys?"
Nobody knows. Of course, but. you can
raise fog any time BY CHASING any
duckpin bowler BY himself to the dis
parage1nent of those two 1rnmortals OF
fhe rame and sterling sportsmen, Harry
Eraderick KrauSs and John Leo Vaeth.