Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1900 — Old Man Hoyt Beat Old Man Jones. [ARTICLE]

Old Man Hoyt Beat Old Man Jones.

Bnt He Had To Bow the Game of His Lite, .0 ‘o It. *— ■ With sorrow we record the fact that our brave old veteran bowler, Uncle Bill N. Jones lost in his championship oontest Wednesday night, at Hammond, with E. M. Hoyt, the Chicago boB9 old nun bowler, though comjwratively a much younger man than Uncle Bill. Bat though our champion lost the game, he covered himself with honor for all that, and had it not been for a run of exceedingly bad luck in the first game, be would EiTve" given the Chicago man a close contest. At this first game Hoyt’s score was 219 and Bill N’s ouly 136. Auother bad game for Uncle Bill was the 6tb, when his score was only 125 and Hoyt’s 147. Uncle Bill lost the whole match by a lotal of 139 pins, and he lo3t 126 of them in these two bad innings The total scores at each of the seven games were as follows: H’t 219,179,161,185,195,147, 213 J’n 136, 211,181,176,156,125,175 The sporting page of the TimesHerald has an extended account of fbe game, with big headlines, and giving also the score of the games by inniDgs. The following is their account, omitting the scores and sumrharies. Erskine M. Hoyt, aged 63, defeated William N. Jones, aged 69, in a most remarkable bowling match at Hammond, Ind., last evening by a score of 1,299 to 1,160 pins in seven games. Hoyt averaged 185 4-7, as against 165 5-7 for his opponent. The winner made three errors, his opponent a dozen. Three hundred men were crowded abont the alleys in Bliss & Shafer’s where the match took plaoe. With the' exception of about ten, they were hoosiers, there to back with cheers and money the doughty old man from Rensselaer. Hoyt’s performance, in view of the. partisan crowd, was worthy a champion. The local men were feeling confident that “Bill N.” would win, and supported him liberally. But when “Old Man” Hoyt led off with four straight strikes a sudden crimp was put in their enthuisiasm and they felt that here was a bowler to whom weight of years seemed rather an advantage than a handicap.

Both men put up great great games. Hoyt took the first with 219 to 136 for his opponent. Then the stalwart hoosier came up with 211 and 181 respectively, to 179 and 161 for Hoyt. But these were the only games the man from Jasper County won,as Hoyt took the next four straight with scores of 185 to 176, 195 to 156, 147, to 125 and 213 to 175. Jones had all the worst of the luck in the first game, getting several “cherry-picks,” and this, coupled with Hoyt’s work, doubtless had an effect upon his later rolling. But his second game proved the Indianian’s faith in their aged champion was not misplaoed, for he came to bat with 211, getting seven strikes. This was a gait he could not hope to hold, however, and Hoyt, ever cool, methodical, and with his keen, deep-sot gray eye, kept getting in spares, with which hie opponent had less success. On the total strikes it was about a stand-off, but Hoyt scored thirtyfour spares to his opponent’s twenty-seven. The showing of Jones waajf'me more creditable utiflßttof the fact that he has unwho trains with the F‘*City Club,” which all bowlers acknowledge to be a very stiff proposition. Among the Chicago enthusiasts who went down to see the match wereP. J. Riddell, W. V. Thompson, JohnG. Hemmer, J. Raubold G Gabbett, Billie Lee and H. A. Gerhardt. In the crowd from Jones’ home in Rensselaer were George A. Strickfaden, his manager; William N. Jones, William i McCord, C. E. Mills, Joe Lewis,

Bert Hopkins, Chester Zea. Ad Robinson, James Antrim, J. E. Hieronymus, Hugh Gamble and William Frey. After the match another oontest was proposed half of the ( games to be played in Rensselaer and half in Chicago. At the close of the match W. V. Thompson, the great Chicago bowling man stepped forward and announced that he would back Jones and Hoyt together, for SSOO, against any two men in the United States, over 45 years old. The match between Rensselaer and Hammond teams, which followed the old men’s contest resulted in a viotory for Rensselaer by the very narrow margin of 4 pins,