WAUPACA REPUBLICAN

January 24, 1896

 

THE DULUTH BONSPIEL

Winnepegers Capture the Trophies.

 

            The Waupaca Curlers came home from Duluth tired and weary after such an exciting contest for a week.  Waupaca curlers nearly all held their own in every contest until long toward the last they had to succumb to the superior efforts of the fellows who live a few hundred miles nearer the north pole where they have good ice eight months of the year. The famous McDermaid rink of Winnepeg takes the Pfister Trophy this year.  Sturtevant bid fair to slide down toward the finals for the consolation prize but found no consolation in it.

            The most of the boys brought back unique badge medals as testimony to their skill.

            The Duluth correspondent of the Pioneer Press, Jan. 20, gives the final contest for the prizes as follows:

            McDermaid of Winnipeg, the mighty curler who won every game up to Saturday night and who bid fair to take everything in sight, was defeated this morning.  Worse than that, he was utterly snowed under by a rink from his own town.  His rink and C.W. Hoffman’s played this morning in the first draw for the international trophy, and Huffman led from the start, McDermaid’s men were playing in bad form during the whole game, and when it ended the score was 24 to 5 in favor of Huffman.  This placed Huffman in the semi-finals against J.W. Thompson of Portage La Prairie, but Thompson forfeited to him and this afternoon Huffman of Winnipeg and George Drewery of Rat Portage played for the international trophy.  Huffman won, the score being 17 to 10.  This gives Huffman the trophy.

            The Hall contest medal was settled amicably by morning without a contest.  There were three Winnipeg rinks in the field and two of them slid out and gave the trophy to Tom Kelley of Winnipeg.  Huffman and McDermaid were matched in the semi-finals and McDermaid forfeited to Huffman.  This placed the latter against Kelly in the finals and he forfeited in Kelly’s favor.  Kelly has won the trophy three times now, so he keeps it.  Huffman’s Winnipeg rink second and Neil Smith of West Superior gets third prize.

            The final game for the Pfister trophy was played by McDermaid of Winnipeg and Jones of Portage, Wis., and the Winnipeg man won by 17 to 7, capturing the trophy.  Jones gets the second prize, and Hurdon of Duluth the fourth.

            In the final game for the consolation prize, four pairs of beautiful red hone curling stones, Drewery of Rat Portage won, defeating Chrisholm of Superior by 18 to 15.  In the point contest, I.I. Pittslade and J.H. Turnhull, both of McDermaid’s Winnipeg rink are tied for first place, each having scored 36.  R.J. Macleod of Duluth, wins the prize for skips, having scored 28 points, the highest made by any skip.  This winds up the bonspiel and all the visiting curlers left by tonight’s train., the majority going to St. Paul to take part in the carnival bonspiel.

            The next annual bonspiel of the Northwestern Curling Association will be held at Portage.