The Washington times., 1934-03-29
BY GINo SINH

inent, at 1854 Q st. N. W., play
ing solitaire and recalling the
wondrous days Of yore when he
was the peer Of the country'S
duckpin and tenpin bowlerS, per-
haps the greatest Of all times.
He had to give UP watching
the foul line in the National
Capital League recently "a job
he has done for yearS) because
Of ShortneSS Of breath.
From 1900 to 1910 he lowered
above his contemporaries like
the Washington Monument over
Q dollhouse. And Dad" didn't
take up bowling seriously until
he was 45 years Of age!
He was averaging 1l0 when O
100 average was considered news
worthy. In 1908 he rolled three
400" sets, including q 4S0. all
IN tournaments. Washington'S
first 400" wasn't scored until
five years later.
He was the first Southerner
to roll q perfect tenpin score.
He turned the trick on May 20,
1901. It was the fifth 1900" on
record.
One Of First DuckpinneeS
Kreh was one Of the first to
roll duckpins and on April %,
1902, he startled duckpinners by
hitching together games Of 81,
t22 and 173 for an unbelievable
392 set. On December IA, 1906,
ae rolled a 1873 game. All feats
without parallel at the time.
DAD was chum Of the
ate John McGraw and Wilbert
Robinson, who ran the bowling
alley in Baltimore, where duck
pins came into existence around
1899. He was one Of the few
who could call McGraW "MuggSy"
and get away with it.
A man of many interests and
hobbies, he was well-knoWn as
IN amateur floriculturist q gen.
grafton ago for the enormous
'hrysanthemums he cultivated
n his garden in Baltimore. Some
we're 10 inches across.
Today he indulges this hobby
With several pots of jonquilS
"tanding on his bedroom sill
which he has grown from one
-,ulb..- 49,.
He has also a mechanical bend
nd enjoys taking clocks, locks
nd other complicated mechanical
evices apart and repairing them.
Te is also great reader.
Born in Frederick
John Edward Kreh first saw
he light Of day on December %,
1854, at Frederick, Nd, when 9
,ertain Abe Lincoln seemed deS-
ined to political obscurity and
;arbara Fritchie wasn't thinking
waving flags. He was a good
cholar and graduated from st.
ohn'S College with honOrS.
He worked a while in general
ytore and then went to Baltimore
there he was an employe OF a
Millinery store for many years
nd also in the bakers supply bus
less. During the war President
wilson appointed him to a posi-
ion in the Navy Department;
ihlch he held until his retirement
decade ago.
He was an expert marble
f1ooter as q boy and bowled ten
pins as q young man when holes
= the huge balls were unknown.
Tut he didn't care for them at
the time.
When about As he used to come
nto daily contact with Ray Won
)reele'S father, John H., who in
uced him to do q bit. of bowling.
1reh did and was soon the star
+ the German Cafe tenpin team.
From the time he rolled his
800" tenpin game and the 1872
iuckpin set until he moved to
Washington he was Baltimore'S
lsing Of the mapleways in both
types Of game.
The day he rolled 900" he had
8 consecutive strikes, and 78S
or three games and 1,498 for si~
-ames, an average Of 249. He
ION innumerable alley tourna-
1ents. Some Of his five game
cts which won tournaments be-
ore 1904 were 536, 544, 551, 584.
Uncanny Control
He had uncanny control. When
10binson held o single pin tour
lament, 'Dad'' won with 20 hits
out Of 80. His ball brushed the
other pin, causing it to wobble,
but It would not fall.
He led several leagues. In 1907
'le had lot for So games in the
Criterion League. In 1910 he had
IN average Of 11S in the Balti~
more Church League, nine points
higher than his nearest rival. His
highest game was 100 rolled In
November, 1910.
In December, 1910, he rolled
SivO games on different days to
qualify for a tournament and they
tOtaled 702. The games: 1873, 1877,
1875. las. lat.
He contributed a 259 game to
The Phoenix's LOTS tenpin record
: ya1laO rolled in the Maryland
State League
dad" was a member Of the
German Cafe team which in Oc-
Sober, 1904. rolled the first inter-
city duckpin match with the jolly
Fat Men Of Washington as op-
ponents. In both blocks he had
high set for his team. $40 and 30o.,