The shopman forced a polite but cheerless smile and continued, "This makes the cue perfectly rigid and inflexible—"
"It has the same effect on the hunger-strikers, I am told."
"—and eminently suitable for its special purpose. We call it the 'Driver' cue—for driving off from baulk and for follow-throughs, forcing strokes and all-round cannons."
"Ah, and what is the hammer-headed instrument for? It looks more like a club than a cue."
"Yes, Sir. There is nothing in the rules to prevent the use of a club. If I may point it out to you, Sir, there is here a special appeal to the ladies, who are now coming into the game in ever increasing numbers. Up to the present time most lady players have failed completely to bring off a successful massé shot; but with the 'Hammer' cue used as a club—over the shoulder (so)—"
"I see! You play it with a downward smashing blow, eh? An appeal to the militant billiardette?"
"Precisely, Sir."
"And what is this for?" I pulled out of the case a cue with the point flattened on one side, as if some one had begun to sharpen it like a pencil and left off after the first big slash.
"That is called the 'Jumper,'" explained the young man, "and may be roughly likened to the niblick in golf. Playing it with the flat side of the point lying on the table (so) you can lift or jump a ball over any obstacle, such as a cut in the cloth, or ash accidentally dropped from your opponent's cigar. In Snooker it is a sine qua non.
"Here, again, is what we call the 'Potter'; it is telescopic. One hand only is required when using the 'Potter.' You take aim as with a pistol, the inner tube or cue being projected against the ball by means of concealed springs which are worked by this trigger in the butt. The sights are adjustable for long or short shots."