Billiards

by William Broadfoot

BALLS

Balls are made of various substances, generally of ivory, the standard diameter for the English game being 2¹⁄₁₆ inches.

Every practical billiard-player is painfully aware of the difficulty that exists in procuring a really satisfactory set of ivory balls. I propose, therefore, first to touch on their manufacture, then on their treatment, and finally to offer a suggestion or two as to their purchase and preservation.

It is said that only one kind of tusk, that of the female elephant, is suitable for ball-making; and the size of the tusk, again, is closely regulated by the size of the ball required; for it is important that as little as possible of the outside of the ivory should be pared away.

As the tusk comes into the workshop, the upper part (which is hollow) and the hard point are sawn off, leaving the piece from A to B (fig. 25). This is generally sawn into five blocks, each of which will eventually become a ball; these blocks are roughed out and turned into approximately spherical shape and left for about a year to season, before they are touched again, in order that the inevitable shrinking of the grain may proceed naturally and slowly.

Now, the ball from end B is closer in the grain than the ball from end B, and therefore they will differ in weight; and as it is most important that the three balls should be of equal weight, no small trouble is experienced, after finishing, in finding three that will pass the test of the balance.[^[9]] If five sets can be got out of a hundred balls, the makers are satisfied, and even then perhaps only one set will be up to match standard.

When one considers the cost of ivory, the time and delicate work involved, and the scarcity of sufficiently skilled workmen, it is small wonder that a good set of balls is an expensive luxury.

Fig. 25

If balls are to last well, much care must be taken of them; but unhappily their ordinary treatment at a club is too severe for their delicate constitution. In many cases they are put upon the table as soon as they arrive from the makers, before they have had time to get acclimatised to the change of temperature, and, as full-sized balls are sure to seem heavy after balls that have been once or twice adjusted, the heaviest cues in the room are brought to bear upon them with literally crushing effect.

Now, as the turners have removed a little of the hard outer surface, the newly exposed surface ought to have time to harden; and, further, ivory is very susceptible to changes of temperature, sensitive to damp, and needs acclimatisation in its new home, to enable it to withstand the shock of collision without cracking. The leading players, when they get a really good set of balls, never think of playing a hard shot with them until many days, or even weeks, are gone by. Every day they take them out and gently tap them along with nursery cannons and quiet little strokes, until they are sufficiently seasoned to stand the shock of a long game; hence their balls last much longer than club balls.

Anyone who has served on the billiard committee of a London club may remember how his life has been made a burden to him by the never-ending complaints of members on the subject of balls. He might reasonably reply: ‘Gentlemen, the matter rests mainly with you; if you are determined to have good balls, you must make up your minds that they are to receive good treatment.’ But how that much-to-be-desired arrangement is to be ensured I confess I cannot say. The balls are common property, and must be as much at the service of those who know nothing and care less about the game (save as a means of whiling away an hour or two) as of the limited few to whom the difference between good and bad balls means a great deal.

Some clubs adopt the principle of paying a leading firm so much per annum (like a subscription to a lending library), upon the understanding that the firm is to change the balls as often as the club likes. This system is a bad one for makers and clubs alike. There is no inducement to the makers to send their best balls to be subjected to the severe ordeal of everyday club play. Rather do they prefer to keep such balls for customers who are able to take the greatest care of them; and it follows that makers, having from the nature of things only a few of the very best sets, cannot be blamed if they send more moderate articles to take their turn in the ‘lending library’ arrangement.

The following is, I think, a better system. Several sets of balls are bought in the rough to start with, with the date of their purchase marked on a label attached to each set. These balls are then hung in a net under the table and left undisturbed for one, two, or three years—the longer the better; they are then adjusted and hung up again; after another interval a set is again adjusted, made ready for play, and, finally, having been kept for, say, another fortnight or three weeks, is put upon the table. At the same time another set to take its place is bought in the rough, and, as every set in turn is brought into use, another rough set is purchased. By this means there are always eight or ten sets seasoning in the particular temperature for which they are required.

Every good system has its weak point, and the weak point of this one is, that it is essential to its success that the set which comes back from adjustment is the identical one which was sent. I do not suggest that the leading makers would knowingly make a mistake of this kind; on the contrary, I know as a fact that great care is taken in the turning shop to prevent any such accident; but one set of balls is very like another, and it is quite possible that an unintentional change might take place. However, with a view to render such an accident impossible, one firm, at any rate, willingly allows the man in charge of the balls to stay in the shops while they are being adjusted, so that he can take them away with him as soon as they are finished.

If neither of these systems is adopted, the best plan is to buy the balls for the ensuing billiard season in the early summer, when little or no play is going on, and keep them in the room seasoning until they are wanted in the autumn. Any time and trouble expended on their careful selection will be amply repaid before the year is out, because the balls so selected will have hardened up, and will be less liable to crack than others bought a few days before they are required for regular use.

Balls purchased from, or adjusted by, a first-class firm should not require to be tested for size and weight, because they have been accurately gauged (fig. 26) and weighed before they are sent out; but a rough-and-ready test may be useful if one finds oneself about to play in an out-of-the-way corner of the country, and one half suspects the presence of the inevitable pool ball. Place the three balls in a line touching one another and one of the cushions, and then lower the eye till the line of sight becomes a tangent to the top of the balls and the top of the woodwork of the cushion; by this means irregularity in size is easily detected. If you suspect the balls to be foul, set up balls 2 and 3 touching; note the exact spot on cushion where 3 should hit—viz. that indicated by the prolongation of a line through the centres and point of contact.

Then play the plant with ball 1 and note deviation. If in doubt whether balls or table be in fault, reverse the stroke; go to the opposite end of the table and play back over the same line. Good lines to select are the diagonals which are the longest on the table.

Fig. 26

‘How can you tell a good ball?’ is a question that is often asked, and the late Mr. Frank Buckland answered it as follows. ‘The test is this: the ball is rolled gently along a billiard-table till it stops of its own accord. If at that moment it falls either to one side or the other, it is useless to the player; if, on the contrary, it remains motionless on the same line on which it was originally projected, it is allowed to pass muster.’ Such a test, however, would be too much for 99 balls out of 100. First, ivory is not like Whitworth steel; it is a substance of varying density, and even if by the skill of man it could be turned into an absolutely perfect sphere, it is hardly likely that the centre of gravity of each piece would coincide with the centre of the sphere; secondly, in order to make the experiment at all satisfactory, the table should be absolutely level, the cloth perfectly new, free from dirt, of the finest quality, and most carefully stretched; and, lastly, the ball must be struck exactly on its vertical centre line. Each of these conditions presents some difficulty in attainment; to combine them all is well-nigh impossible.

Every ball, to speak generally, will fall over a little, and it may be due to the failure of any one of the above conditions. Therefore, it is safer to say that the less a truly struck ball changes its horizontal axis the better ball it is. For the owner of a private table, I should say the safest way to get a good set is to ask a first-class professional player, whom he can trust, to make the selection; of course he would have to pay a good price, but he will no doubt thus get a better set than he himself could choose. If he should in this way become the fortunate possessor of a good set, he ought to lock them jealously away, only to be produced when he finds an adversary that he can trust with them; and he will find it good policy to keep another set for ordinary use.

Ivory is getting increasingly scarce, and everything seems to point to the fact that as time goes on good balls will become still more costly, and more difficult to procure; and one is led to the conclusion that the next generation will have to find some substitute, or leave billiards to millionaires. Many attempts have been made in the last few years to get over the difficulty, and composition balls of various substances have from time to time been placed upon the market; but the earlier kinds have not found much favour—first, because they were believed to be explosive; secondly, because they did not possess sufficient elasticity; and, lastly, because they showed a tendency to soil, and pick up any dirt they might happen to pass over.

About the year 1893 or 1894, however, a new composition called Bonzoline made its appearance. The makers claim for it that it is heavier (specifically) and more elastic than ivory, and, as far as observation at present goes, their claim seems to be well founded. Whether bonzoline will stand the wear and tear of everyday work as well as or better than ivory it would be premature to offer an opinion, but these balls have at least the merit of cheapness: 31s. 6d. compares very favourably with 3½, 4, or 5 guineas for a set of balls; so that, even if they do not last so long as ivory (and I do not say they do not), a purchaser would not be very much out of pocket thereby. One thing is certain, that they run very truly at first, and time will soon show whether they can be depended upon for endurance. They certainly do not appear to be explosive; they seem less affected by changes of temperature and damp than ivory; but they have the same facility for picking up dirt that the older kinds had. I cannot, however, find that washing them in tepid water injures them in the slightest degree. For pool and pyramids they represent an enormous saving in money.

They ‘come off’ at a slightly different angle to ivory—that is to say, a shade ‘squarer.’ With No. 1 strength the difference is inappreciable, but as forcing strength is reached it becomes more apparent; but in the most extreme cases it is not much, and easily provided for—indeed, with some sets it hardly exists. I am aware that there is a very general impression amongst amateurs that the difference is very great, ‘enough to ruin one’s game;’ but, for all that, it is largely a matter of imagination, and the very objectors forget that ivory sets vary considerably in the same sort of way, so that each new set wants a little knowing.

As I write I hear that somebody in Sweden has brought out at Stockholm some billiard balls of hollow cast steel. According to ‘Chambers’s Journal’ for March 1895, they are said to be of the same weight as ivory, and about a quarter of the price; they are also said to be turned, and the thickness of the skin is given as about ¹⁄₁₆ in.

Nothing apparently is mentioned as to their elasticity, and I cannot find that anyone here has seen or tried them.