1869.

[In this and all later years until close of the four-ball series, table was a 5½ × 11 four-pocket, when not differently indicated, the game p. and j. b., and the count in ones (for misses), threes and sixes.]

Frawley vs. Rhines. Garrett’s Hall, Cleveland, January 22d.—$250 a side. F., 1000—14.02—153; R., 1496—298.

J. Dion vs. Foster. Mechanics’ Hall, Montreal, January 28th.—First of home-and-home-and-odd (see Three-ball Caroms, 1869), $1,000 a side every game. D., 1200—36.36—208; F., 1116—355.

First Chalking of Lines. On every corner cushion rail, about eight inches apart, the terminals of an imaginary line were drawn. This line had no reference to jawing or crotching, already barred by the articles of agreement, and yet its purpose was to prevent what, without describing it, a Montreal paper had spoken of as “Dion’s patent shot.” No one could be found who knew its nature. Suspecting it to be a “kiss-back” from one ball dead against the end-rail, one of the staff of the “N. Y. Times” suggested the line, and the referee, Gershom B. Hubbell, marked it with the concurrence of the players.

First Public Game Played Under Protest. Dion could not have fully understood the purpose of the line. Because of it, he played the latter half of the game under protest, Michael Phelan to decide. As he won, the protest was needless. Had he lost, it would have been useless. There has been only one other case of playing on after protesting, instead of having the point decided then and there; and in that other case the protester won because of a wrong decision due to delay, and that, if given on the spot, would not have been wrong, singular to say.

Dion vs. Foster. Mechanics’ Hall, Montreal, April 6th.—Third and last match of series, same terms as one above. D., 1200—28.57—124; F., 1118—102.

First Championship of Wisconsin. Opera House Hall, Fond du Lac, February 9–12th. Counting in twos, threes, and fives. Adam Kleser, then of Milwaukee, first; L. Olcott second; Harris Liverman, third. The others were S. A. Tustin, W. W. Seavor, and C. Bly. Stake in matches, $200.

KLESER VS. SEAVOR. Madison, Wis., May 19th. Counting now in threes and sixes. K., 1200—9.92—102; S., 728—48.

KLESER VS. LIVERMAN. Music Hall, Milwaukee, December 6, 1870. L., 1200—av., 11.54; K., 776.

LIVERMAN VS. KLESER. Eau Claire, June 29, 1871. L., 1200—av., 15; K., 1164.

First Formal Amateur Championship. That of Long Island, at Assembly Rooms, Brooklyn, April 19–28th. Games, 300 points, old counting, unrestricted. Contestants, Messrs. Dodge, Rogers, Wharton (prize-winners in that order), Hardy, Karff, Sproul, and Vanderwerker.

Second or Diamond Cue Championship of America. Irving Hall, N. Y. City, April 26 to May 10, 1869. This was a tournament of innovations. It was the first with an entrance-fee from contestants. Instead of in twos, threes, and fives, caroms were counted in threes and sixes. Instead of two short games per session, there was one long one (1200 points). For the first time in national championship contests, a 5½ × 11 (four-pocket) table was used, and the push-shot prohibited. Foster alone beat the winner-in-chief. Average of tournament, six games apiece, 17.35.

W.R.Av.G. A.
John Deery, $1,000535824.  18.66
A. P. Rudolphe, $625417025.  18.48
Melvin Foster, $475418923.5318.41
Peter Snyder, $275420725.  18.29
Henry Rhines, $125217116.  16.52
W. Goldthwait112921.5316.76
Ed. Daniels121925.  14.57

The closeness of the single and general averages is still without parallel in a tournament of leading experts. Playing off, Rudolphe beat both Foster and Snyder, and Foster, in defeating Snyder by 1200 to 872, ran 492 and averaged 38.67—records in themselves without being records of the tournament. Could Foster’s extra two games have been added to his tournament six, he would have credited himself with the tournament’s best run, its best single average, and its best general average (20.13).

All matches were for the Diamond Cue and a money-stake of $500 a side.

DEERY VS. FOSTER. Hippotheatron, N. Y. City, September 14, 1869. D., 1500—20—174; Foster, 1229—154.

DEERY VS. C. DION. Mechanics’ Pavilion, San Francisco, January 8, 1870. Deery, 1500—15.31—177; Dion, 1489—156.

DEERY VS. RUDOLPHE. Same hall, March 5, 1870. R., 1500—18.52—279; Deery, 1327—235.

RUDOLPHE VS. C. DION. Hippotheatron, N. Y. City, May 31st. R., 1500—27.27—153; D., 1485—177. Instead of one referee and two umpires, this contest had three joint referees, and an erroneous decision as to count, thoughtlessly given by one without consulting another, the third being absent temporarily, gave Rudolphe the match, $1,000 in stakes, and about $1,750 in clear door-money, the largest ever realized from one night’s play.

RUDOLPHE VS. J. DION. Apollo Hall, N. Y. City, October 7, 1870. R., 1500—28.30—192; D., 1192—180.

RUDOLPHE VS. PARKER. Kremlin Hall, Buffalo, N. Y., January, 11, 1871. P., 1500—18.29—144; R., 1235—162.

PARKER VS. C. DION. Crosby’s Opera House, Chicago, April 26, 1871. D., 1500—19.48—183; P., 1164—168.

C. DION VS. DANIELS. Latter declared forfeit.

C. DION VS. FOSTER. Hippotheatron, N. Y. City, June 19, 1871. D., 1500—24.59—186; F., 616—96.

C. DION VS. DEERY. Irving Hall, N. Y. City, November 29, 1872. Dion, 1500—16.67—321; Deery, 1201—81.

C. DION VS. DALY. Irving Hall, N. Y. City, January 2, 1873. Daly missed victory through his failure to see, until too late for rectification under the rules, that 15 points of his had not been marked up. When the score-strings showed 1490 for Daly and 1486 for Dion, the contest was annulled by an agreement to begin again, in Tammany Hall, January 9th. Dion then, 1500—25.42—156; Daly, 1147—159.

C. DION VS. DALY. Tammany Hall, N. Y. City, May 16, 1873. Daly, 1500—26.79—195; Dion, 1261—147.

DALY VS. GARNIER. Same hall, October 2, 1873. G., 1500—31.25—171; D., 1224—249.

October 6, Garnier resigned Diamond Cue to its surviving donor, H. W. Collender, instead of to C. Dion, who on September 30 had challenged winner of then pending Daly-Garnier match. Dion thereupon again became champion.

C. DION VS. RUDOLPHE. Same hall, April 7, 1876. Fourteenth match and thirteenth and last completed contest. Dion, 1500—40.54—228; Rudolphe, 392—108.

Time-limit, two years and a half, made the emblem Dion’s. Daly holds it as a souvenir of his having held it as champion.

Second Championship of Massachusetts. Olympic Theatre, Boston, May 10–18, 1869.—500–point games. R. E. Wilmarth, champion cue and $250; A. B. Williams, second (billiard-table); John H. Flack, third (gold watch and chain). Other contestants were W. A. Tobin, John F. Murphy, L. S. Brooks, Samuel Colby, and R. Davis. Stake in matches, $200.

WILMARTH VS. BROOKS. Bumstead Hall, Boston, December 10th. W., 1200—10—87; B., 955—99.

WILMARTH VS. MURPHY. Same hall, January 24, 1870. W., 1200—16.67—93; M., 846—69.

WILMARTH VS. B. FRANK DENNISON. Same hall, March 31, 1870. D., 1200—16—208; W., 787—60.

DENNISON VS. TOBIN. Opera House, Springfield, Mass., June 30, 1870. D., 1200—13.33—132; T., 1014—105.

Chicago’s First Amateur Championship. T. Foley’s Room, June 7–26, 1869.—500–point games. Clem Ellison won second in play-off, and fourth went to Humphreys. Average of tournament, nine games apiece, 8.02. G. A. of five leaders were: S., 12.06; E., 9.59; W., 9.34; H., 9.66; John W. Blaisdell, the actor, 8.26.

W.R.Av.
Spear98710.23
Ellison710813.89
Watkins78512.82
Humphreys611111.11
Blaisdell58711.36
Kinzie57210.09
Stevens3637.41
O’Brien2517.14
Wilson1667.35
Pickley051

Second Championship of Maine. Portland, August 2–7th. 500 points, 5½ × 11 four-pocket, unrestricted, and counted in old way. Henry F. Shiel, unbeaten, won champion cue and $200; C. E. Smith, of Augusta, billiard-table; and Smith, of Portland, gold watch. Others, J. M. Bonney and George Swazey.

SHIEL VS. T. HERBERT WHITE. Portland, August 7, 1871. Former won by 1000 to 867.

SHIEL VS. C. E. SMITH. Lancaster Hall, Portland, June 28, 1871. Shiel, 1200—17.91—150; Smith, 818—115.

Average of 1000. Breed’s Hall, Norwich, Conn., August 4th.—First of home-and-home, each for $200 a side, $50 forfeit, Melvin Foster to discount Geo. T. Stone on 5½ × 11 carom, c. and p. both allowed, and counting in the old way. Foster “crotched” out his whole 1000 in his first inning. Stone, who made but 19, forfeited in return one, set for Aborn Hall, New London, August 11th.

Third Championship of Ohio. Mozart Hall, Cincinnati, November 29th to December 1st.—500–point games, 5½ × 11 carom. Williamson won play-off. Average of tournament, three games apiece, 11.77. Match stake, $100 a side, in games of 1000 points.

W.R.Av.G. A.
Williamson210813.5112.02
Grunkemeyer26313.8911.44
Casper18118.5213.29
Cherry15713.5110.47

Champions by turn were Williamson, Casper, Choate, Honing, and Choate again. Honing made the best run of the match series, 192 against Choate, May 17, 1871, in Cincinnati, and Choate the best winning average, 32.26 against Honing, same date.

Choate vs. Jacob Garratt. Respectively as champions of Ohio and Indiana, they played a match of $200 a side in Indianapolis July 3, 1871 (C., 1200—22.22—126; G., 989—78); and in Hopkins’s Hall, Cincinnati, July 18th following, they contended for the joint championship of the two States, regardless of disability by reason of non-residence (G., 1200—21.05—123; C., 1162—105). Both games, counted in threes, were on a 5 × 10, probably with push, but minus crotch; and on August 2, 1871, at the Opera House, Springfield, O., Choate’s home, they played a purse game on a 5½ × 11 carom, c. and p. barred (C., 1200—7.69—187; G., 1170—141).

Parker vs. Snyder. December 4, 1869, Crosby’s Music Hall, Chicago, $250 a side. P., 1200—15.58—207; S., 1088—84.

Second Championship of Indiana. If there was a tournament, record of it is altogether lacking. December 4, 1869, in Indianapolis, Alex. McCracken, then champion, contended with John W. Gregg for the championship and $200 on 5½ × 11 carom. G., 1200—19.05—126; McC., 1111—126.

GARRATT VS. McCRACKEN. Record is lacking as to how Gregg relinquished and Garratt acquired the championship. Washington Hall, Indianapolis, April 4, 1870, Champion Jacob Garratt, 1200—22.22—93; McC., 1129—144.

GARRATT VS. GREGG. Same hall, January 9, 1871.—Garratt, 1200—15—90; Gregg, 976—63.

GARRATT VS. CHOATE. For joint championship of Indiana and Ohio, July 18, 1871, see year 1869 under “Third Championship of Ohio.”

GARRATT VS. PARKER A. BYERS. Indianapolis, October 26, 1871.—For Indiana championship. G., 1200—24—105; B., 1187—135.

Byers was afterward proclaimed champion, and for some time Indiana had rival Billiard Associations and two championships.

GARST VS. GARRATT. Indianapolis, September 15, 1872.—New Billiard Association, with Peter Garst as standard-bearer. Table, 5½ × 11 carom. Garst won by 1500 to 1252.

BYERS VS. GARRATT. Lafayette, home of Byers, May 22, 1873.—$100 a side, 5 × 10 carom, “under the rules of the Indiana Billiard Association.” G., 1500—41.67—114; B., 1194—120.

This closed the often puzzling four-ball record of professionals in Indiana.

First Case of Two Styles of Game in One Night. Bumstead Hall, Boston, December 13, 1869.—First of two games, each $100 a side (see Three-ball Caroms, December 13, 1869, for second), 5½ × 11 carom, c. and p. b. Melvin Foster, 750—44.12—426; E. Daniels, 645—147.