Lawn Bowlers

Few sports are more ancient than lawn bowling. It was played in 12th-Century England and by the time of Henry VIII had provoked such a riotous fever of ambling that even that riotous monarch put it down by law. First notable U. S. player was George Washington, who had a bowling green* at Mount Vernon. A fresh-air cousin of indoor bowling, lawn bowling, recently revived, is nowadays a decorous game which appeals chiefly to oldsters, who find its 3 1/2 lb. bowl (ball) easier to handle than the 16-lb. indoor ball. Last week 160 of its foremost enthusiasts assembled in Chicago's Jackson Park ior the high point of the U. S. season, the annual championship meet of the 22-year-old American Lawn Bowling Association.

Object of lawn bowling is to throw the bowl, which is weighted on one end to make it lopsided, down a green 120 ft. long to land as close as possible to a previously thrown white ball or "jack." Major tournament play is between teams consisting of four men--lead, second, third, and skip (captain)--each of whom throws two bowls. An opponent's bowl may be knocked away from the jack or a teammate's may be knocked closer. When all the bowls are played and an "end" is completed, it is scored like horseshoes, the closest bowl receiving one point, the next closest another point if it is a teammate's, nothing if it is an opponent's. One team may score eight points in one end if all their bowls are closer than any of their opponents'. A tournament game consists of 15 ends, except the final, which is 21.

Of the 40 four-man teams from twelve clubs competing last week, strangest and best was that of the Chicago Lawn Bowling Club, all of whose members bore the name McArthur. Its skip, lean, 23-year-old Lachlan D. (for nothing) McArthur, created a sensation by his technique of swinging the bowl in a semicircle to warm up, following it anxiously down the green to encourage it by urgently waving his hands. Playing with his Uncles Duncan, Roger and James, young Bowler McArthur skipped Chicago Lawn successfully through the final against the Milwaukee Lawn Bowling Club, 20-to-8.

Bowler McArthur's skill was further rewarded when he and his curly-haired cousin Lachlan M. (also for nothing) beat M. R. Sleater & Robert Bowie of the Essex County Club (N. J.), 24-to-12, to win the doubles title. In the singles, Chicago Lawn completed its clean sweep of national championships when one-armed William Milmine almost bowled Detroit's J. S. Weir off the green in the final, 21-to-8.

*Manhattan's old Bowling Green was used by Dutch settlers not for lawn bowling but for ninepins.

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