1866.
Pennsylvania Restores Push-Shot. Concert Hall, Philadelphia, January 31 to February 4, 1866.—Second championship of State, 6 × 12 carom, c. b., push allowed. Contestants: E. J. Plunkett, R. T. Ryall, Jas. Palmer, J. B. Bruce, and H. W. Hewes. All games 500 up but deciding one, which, between Ryall and Plunkett, was 1000 up; and in that the winner, Plunkett, ran 251, highest of tournament. Ryall, in playing Hewes, had made the next highest, 172. Palmer won third prize.
PLUNKETT VS. RYALL. Same hall, March 29th.—First match. R., 1500—18.07—123; P., 629—50.
RYALL VS. ESTEPHE. Same hall, May 14th.—R., 1500—17.44—160; E., 1349—75.
RYALL VS. PLUNKETT. Same hall, June 29th.—P., 1500—18.52—115; R., 823—117.
PLUNKETT VS. ESTEPHE. Sansom Street Hall, Philadelphia, August 28th.—P., 1500—30—223; E., 1360—282.
With this match the series was discontinued. Restoring the push had caused a division of sentiment.
First Championship of Georgia. Atlanta, February 12–21st.—300 points, eight contestants. A. W. Crawford beat all; John P. Chapman, second prize, $50 and gold watch; John Lloyd, third, $25 and a set of jewelry. Their best runs and averages were: Crawford, 54 and 13.64; Chapman, 68 and 14.29; Lloyd, 96 and 12.50.
Memphis, Tenn., Tournament. February 14–24th.—500 points, six players. Melvin Foster, N. Y., won first ($500) after a tie with F. A. Myers, of Memphis ($300), while Wm. Brown was third ($200). The best winning average and highest run, Foster’s 50 and 282, resulted from his “jawing” the balls against Harry Choate.
First Public Contest in United States Between Foreign Players. Cooper Institute, N. Y. City, May 24th.—Purse game for a testimonial benefit, 25
16 balls on a 5½ × 11 carom, p. b. J. Dion, of Montreal, 750—39.47—297 (by crotching); P. Carme, from France, 491—105.
First Championship of Indiana. Hamilton Hall, Fort Wayne, June 6–11th. Games, 300 up. Morris beat McCarthy, but lost in playing off. Best four winning averages: Morris, 12; McCarthy, 10.34; Capron, 9.33. Average of tournament, 6.19. All players tied but one, the only case of the kind among so many as seven at the four-ball game. No matches, McCarthy passing unchallenged. Six games apiece, tournament averaging 6.19. This was the first case of a championship tie.
| W. | R. | G. A. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tim McCarthy | 5 | 73 | 8.19 |
| Geo. Morris | 5 | 67 | 6.84 |
| J. O’Connell | 3 | 43 | 5.28 |
| Louis Capron | 2 | 65 | 6. |
| W. T. McFarland | 2 | 65 | 5.70 |
| A. McCracken | 2 | 154 | 6.35 |
| C. Anderson | 2 | 40 | 5.50 |
Goldthwait vs. Deery. Cooper Institute, N. Y. City, June 15.—$500 a side. G., 1500—15.79—218; Deery, 1245—202.
First Championship of Missouri. Verandah Hall, St. Louis, June 14–20th.—Six 300–point games apiece. Winner beaten by Terrell only, and beat Pearce in play-off. Best three winning averages—H., 60; B., 13.64; Wade, 8.57. Average of tournament, 6.87.
| W. | R. | G. A. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. H. Harrison | 5 | 127 | 10.09 |
| P. J. Pearce | 5 | 58 | 6.86 |
| H. Wade | 4 | 83 | 6.12 |
| Wm. Terrell | 4 | 43 | 6.57 |
| John Bluim | 2 | 88 | 8.80 |
| M. M. Miller | 1 | 71 | 5.65 |
| H. Wider | 0 | 70 | 5.17 |
HARRISON VS. PEARCE. Same hall, October 4th.—Only match. P., 1500—10.71—136; H., 1462—98.
T. Foley vs. Jos. Vermeulen. Chicago, June 27th.—First of two games, each $250 a side. F., 1500—15.47—178; V., 1002—126. Academy of Music, Chicago, July 26th, return game, p. b. F., 1000—7.63—52; V., 898—63.
Third Annual Championship of Upper Canada. Rossin House, Toronto, p. b. D. C. Cheseborough beat Samuel May by 300 to 202, and J. Manard by 300 to 183. No others.
Championship of the Champions. Hippotheatron, N. Y. City, beginning September 15th. Tournament of State and provincial champions—Canada, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, Missouri, and Ohio. First prize, gold-mounted cue. Plunkett beat McCarthy in playing off for second and third—a billiard-table and an emblematic silver service. Frawley’s 141 won gold watch and chain for highest run, Foley being near with 134. Average of tournament (seven games apiece), 9.83. It would have been higher, did not the subjoined table show 27 games instead of 28. The missing one was between Harrison and Frawley, and was annulled next morning (the only such instance on record as to a public tournament) by a vote of 7 to 1 of the eight contestants.
| W. | L. | R. | Av. | G. A. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Dion | 6 | 1 | 127 | 25. | 12. |
| E. J. Plunkett | 5 | 2 | 117 | 16.13 | 11.09 |
| T. McCarthy | 5 | 2 | 99 | 14.29 | 10.03 |
| E. Daniels | 3 | 4 | 80 | 15.15 | 9.37 |
| T. Foley | 3 | 4 | 134 | 16.67 | 10. |
| G. B. Hubbell | 3 | 4 | 98 | 9.80 | 8.51 |
| A. H. Harrison | 1 | 5 | 132 | 11.11 | 9.79 |
| J. Frawley | 1 | 5 | 141 | 8.20 | 8.31 |
Goldthwait vs. Daniels. Bumstead Hall, Boston, October 26th.—$250 a side, winner conceding 500 points. G., 1500—20—218; D., 1499—195.
No match of so close a finish had ever before been played, the nearest approach having been the Frawley-Davis contest of 1000 to 998.
McDevitt vs. Goldthwait. October 30 in Bumstead Hall, Boston, and November 30 in Irving Hall, N. Y. City.—Home-and-home match for $500 a side each game. Goldthwait lost in his own city by 926 to 1500, and won in McDevitt’s by 1500 to 1137. McDevitt surpassed match record for a 6 × 12 four-pocket (his own 308) by running 409 in Boston.