It is expedient once more to emphasise the point that whilst a game is in progress the marker’s services should be considered as wholly devoted to the score and the players; no spectator should speak to him or attract his attention, and markers ought to be instructed, in case of breaches of this rule, to point out respectfully that they are prohibited from entering into conversation during a game. The writer has often seen spectators, and occasionally opponents, most unwarrantably engage a marker in conversation when they failed to get anyone else to talk to, thereby distracting his attention from the game to which it should be entirely devoted.
And now, as a last word, it is proper to explain that, though endeavour has been made in the preceding pages to put amateurs in the way of improving their game and of understanding its general principles, yet it is not for a moment advocated that young men should devote to billiards the time which might be more profitably employed in serious work. Except for professional players and a very few specially circumstanced enthusiasts, it is, after all, but a game and relaxation. Indulgence in it should, therefore, be kept within strict limits; but, so regulated, it will be found generally beneficial to mind and body. These restrictions, it is evident, must almost to a certainty prevent amateur form from ever seriously approaching that of professional players, and one is warranted on meeting a youngster whose knowledge of the game and handling of the balls have reached professional form in concluding that his skill is evidence of a misspent youth. Still, there is a vast difference, which may reasonably be lessened, between such perfection and the average amateur performance; and it is hoped that this volume may contribute to so desirable a result.
INDEX
- Aberdovey slates, [73]
- Albert Club, [48]
- Albo-carbon light, [66], [67]
- American handicaps, [40], [43];
- Angle, half-ball or natural, [101]–103, [123]–124;
- Aquarium. See Royal Aquarium
- Association, Billiard. See Billiard Association
- Attitude, [107]
- Balls, billiard, [86]–92;
- treatment of, [87]–88;
- weight, [87]n;
- gauge, [89];
- tests of, [90];
- bonzoline, [91]–92;
- cast steel, [92];
- dummy, [101];
- definition of, [105];
- motion, &c., and division of, [130]–141;
- impact of, [164]–168;
- rotation of, [189]–214;
- surface of, [193];
- friction of, on cloth, [193];
- transmitted side, [194]; [443];
- different qualities of ivory and bonzoline, [266]–267;
- light, [322]
- Bartley, Mr., [6], [9]
- Basket, pool, [101], [253]–254
- Baulk, meaning of the term, [105];
- ‘Baynard Castle,’ [43]
- Bedford, Mr., [9]
- Bell’s Life, [19];
- Bennett, Alfred, in handicaps, [36], [38], [40], [41], [47];
- death, [38]n
- Bennett, Fred, [36], [38]
- Bennett, John, [36], [38]
- Bennett, Joseph 4;
- his manual, [4];
- in a four-handed match with John Roberts, sen., [26]; [29];
- beats Roberts, jun., and beaten by him, [34]; [35], [36], [40], [41], [43], [44];
- beaten by Roberts, jun., [50];
- beats Cook for championship, [46];
- defeats Taylor for championship, [47];
- Shorter forfeits for championship, [47];
- introduction of angle for private practice, [124]; [266], [370]
- Bentinck Club, [24], [27]
- Billiard Association of Great Britain and Ireland standard tables, [70], [71], [362];
- ‘Billiard Book,’ Captain Crawley’s, on pyramids, [391];
- essay on the marker, [445]
- ‘Billiard Review,’ quoted, on the Association Rules, [375]
- Billiard-rooms, [55]–57;
- Billiard-tables, [5], [10], [11], [15], [69];
- pockets, [69];
- Billiard Association legislation, [70];
- Standard Association tables, [71];
- cost, [72];
- ordinary, [73];
- championship, [73], [83], [362]–373;
- frames, [73];
- slates, [73]–77;
- plan of table in diagram, [74], [75];
- cushions, [77]–79;
- cloths, [79]–80;
- setting up the table, [79]–83;
- brushing and ironing, [83]–84;
- undersized, [84];
- spot stroke, [85];
- French tables, [85];
- hiring, [85];
- automatic returner, [86];
- few in London clubs fit for play, [207];
- easy and difficult—in training, [306]
- Billiard terms in use, [105]–107
- Black and pink pool, description of game, [423];
- Black pool, [408], [418];
- Blind pockets, playing hazards into, [146], [150]
- Bonzoline balls, [91];
- Bouclée, formation of the bridge, [109], [129]
- Bowles, Alfred, [23];
- Boyd, Mr. A. H., [3];
- Break, definition of, [105];
- higher signification of, [300];
- average—in classifying players, [302];
- personal questions: luck and nerve, [303]–306;
- advice to players who cannot undertake close study, [307]–313;
- advice to a higher class of players, [313];
- Mr. Boyd’s advice to moderate players, [315]–325;
- — at the top of the table, by Mr. Rimington-Wilson, [325]–348;
- nursery cannons, [348]–361
- Breaking the balls, explanation of the phrase, [105]
- Bricole, utility of, [172];
- Bridge, the term, [105];
- Brighton, Kentfield’s Subscription Rooms at, [10]
- Broughton, Tom, beaten by Roberts, sen., [16]
- Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. the, cited, [212], [440]
- Brushing tables, [83]
- Buchanan, J. P., [266]
- Buckland, Frank, test for balls, [90]
- ‘Bumble-puppy,’ [430]
- Burners, gas, for billiard-rooms, [67]
- Burroughes and Watts, aid from, [4], [55];
- Butts, [97]
- Cannons, plain, [172]–186;
- Carr, John, [5];
- Carter, Eugene, American player, [53]
- Cathire More, King of Ireland, his brass billiard balls, [4]
- Chalk, [83], [87], [98], [384];
- St. Martin, [99]
- Championship, the, &c., [362]–373;
- Mr. Russell D. Walker’s memorandum on, [367]–370
- Championship matches, remarks concerning, [362]–366;
- list of, [373]
- Championship table, the, [73], [83];
- Chimneys of lamps for lighting billiard-rooms, [66]
- Close screws, method of playing, [250]
- Cloths for billiard-tables, [79];
- Club billiard-rooms, [56];
- over-ironing of cloth in, [207]
- Coles, Harry, [48], [49]
- Collins, George, [36], [38], [39], [48]
- Combination tables, [85]
- Compensation in play, [260]
- Composition balls, [91]
- Cook, William, [20], [23], [24];
- Roberts, sen.’s opinion of, [25];
- first match with and defeat by Roberts, jun., [27];
- beats him later, [28];
- rapid rise, [28];
- beats Roberts, sen., for championship, [29]–31;
- remarkable breaks, [33], [34];
- loses championship to Roberts, jun., [33], [41];
- zenith of his career, [34]; [35], [36];
- wins handicap, [36]; [39], [40];
- beaten by Roberts, jun., [41], [42], [43], [46];
- beaten by Joseph Bennett in championship match, [46];
- beats and beaten by Roberts, jun., [47], [50];
- unrivalled style, [120];
- on the spot stroke, [265], [266], [268];
- strength and execution, [370];
- pool record, [412]
- ‘Cork Marker,’ the, his match with Carr, [9]
- Cork pool, description of, [429];
- Corrugated iron billiard-rooms, [59]
- Cotton’s ‘Compleat Gamester,’ [5]
- Country-house games, [429]–432
- Coup, to run a, explanation of phrase, [105]
- Coups durs, [105], [230]
- Cover, meaning of the term, [105]
- Crawley, Captain, on pyramids, [391];
- quotation about marker from his billiard book, [445]
- Cues, &c., [93]–103;
- French butt, [93];
- English butt, [93];
- tips, [95], [96];
- jointed, [96], [388];
- splicing, [97];
- mechanical accuracy in delivering, [115]–129;
- hold of, [125];
- use of — in the follow, [196];
- in the screw back, [202];
- in applying side, [203];
- in the push stroke, [224];
- ‘power’ of, [315];
- necessity for accurate delivery of, [324]
- Cunningham, Colonel Allan, R.E., aid from, [3]
- Cushion-crawling, [283]
- Cushion nursery cannons, [348]–361;
- breaks of — often spurious, [363]
- Cushions, [77];
- Davis, George, [25]
- Dawson, Charles, [49], [51], [120];
- Defensive play, where advisable, [283]
- Diagrams, explanation of, [138]–139
- Diggle, Edward, [51], [120], [367]
- Double baulk, [105]
- Doubles, value of, [150];
- Drag strokes, [116], [196];
- used to overcome irregularities in ball or bed, [197]
- Dufton, John, [20]
- Dufton, William, ‘tutor to the Prince of Wales,’ [20];
- Dufton’s ‘Practical Billiards,’ on skittle pool, [435]
- Dummy balls, [101]
- Egan, Pierce, [9]
- Egyptian Hall, [51]
- Electric light in billiard-rooms, [61], [66], [67]
- Elementary instruction, [104];
- mode of entering room, [104];
- technical terms, [104]–106;
- attitudes, [107];
- formation of bridge, [108], [109];
- the bridge bouclée, [109], [129];
- cue delivery, [109];
- practice with one ball, [110]–115;
- strength, [112];
- use of the rest, [113]–115;
- use of the half-butt and long-butt, [115];
- Mr. Pontifex’s memorandum, [115]–129;
- a remarkable amateur feat, [116], [126]
- English butt, [93]
- Erection of billiard-table, [80]
- Etiquette of the billiard-room, [3], [104], [388], [440]–442
- Evans, Harry, [25], [26];
- champion of Australia, [39]
- Feather stroke, [370]
- Fleming, John, defeats Roberts, sen., [16]
- Follow, the, importance of, [194];
- Forcing hazards, [170]
- Ford, Mr., on markers, [428]; [445]
- Foul, definition of a, [105]
- Four-handed game, a bad school, [318];
- a substitute for, [439]
- Fowler, Mr. W. H., his outside billiard-room, [59], [103]
- French butt, [93]
- French players on the game, [1]
- Gaiety Restaurant, matches at, [41], [43]
- ‘Game of Billiards,’ Kentfield’s, [10]
- Gas in billiard-rooms, [61]
- Gate-money, [365], [366]
- Gibbs, Mr. A., his billiard-room at Tyntesfield, [61]
- Gillows’ tables, [15]
- Green, W. E., [25], [53]
- Guildhall Tavern, matches at, [37]
- Half-butts, [97]
- Half-push, the, [228]
- Handicaps, [36], [39];
- Hazards, winning, [142]–153; [320], [404];
- Herst, John, [21], [22], [25]
- Hiring billiard-tables, [85]
- Hitchin, W. C., [25]
- Hughes, Alfred, [25], [26], [36], [39]
- Hughes, Charles, [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [367]
- Impact, divergence between point of aim and point of, [133]–135;
- Implements of the game, [55] et seq.
- In hand, definition of the term, [105]
- Incandescent gas light, [66]
- India-rubber cushions, [77]
- Ironing billiard-table cloths, [79], [83]
- Ives, Frank, his matches with Roberts, jun., [53], [365], [372];
- Ivory balls, [86];
- Jennies, [160];
- method of playing, [239]
- Jump stroke, [250]
- Kentfield, Edwin (otherwise Jonathan), champion, [10];
- Kilkenny, Lewis, [25], [36], [38], [40]
- Kiss, the term explained, [105];
- Knightsbridge, matches at, [53]
- Ladies, billiards as a game for, [440]
- Lamps, oil, for lighting billiard-rooms, [66]
- Leap stroke, method of making, [250]
- Lighting billiard-rooms, [66], [83]
- Lloyd, winner of 1895 Association Tournament, [54]
- Long-butts, [97]
- Losing hazards, short and long, [153]–172;
- Luck in playing, [303]
- MʻNeil, Hugh, [51]
- Mannock, J. P., [52]
- Mardon, Mr., writer on billiards, [8], [12], [17], [18], [19], [20]
- Marker, duties of the, [412], [414], [415], [428], [445];
- services should be devoted to game and players alone, [446]
- Marking-boards, [99];
- nickel-plated, [100]
- Massé stroke, method of playing, [255], [353]
- Matches, championship, [373]
- Measurements in billiards, approximate, [146];
- how made, [147]
- Memmott, Charles, champion of Australia, [26], [39];
- Miss, must be played with the point of cue, [284]
- Miss-cue, meaning of the term, [106]
- Mitchell, William, [43]–46;
- Mode of entering a billiard-room, [104], [441]
- Morris, Tom, [25], [26], [39]
- Moss, W., [35]
- Mulberry, George, [25]
- Nap of cloth, effect of playing with or against, [193], [207], [208], [270]
- Nearest ball pool, [431]
- ‘Nell Gwynne,’ Strand, match at, [24]
- Nerve in playing, [3], [305]–306
- North, John, his style, [47], [48], [119]
- Nursery cannons, [348]–361;
- value of — on three-inch pocket table, [363]
- Oil lamps for lighting billiard-rooms, [66]
- One-ball practice. See Elementary instruction
- Oriental Club, plan of room, [57], [62]
- Orme & Sons, their automatic arrangement for returning balls, [86]; [323]
- Over-caution in playing, evils of, [318]
- Partie Américaine dite du cadre, [364]
- Peall, W. J., aid from, [4]; [44];
- Peall cushion rest, [98] n.
- Pendleton, Tom, [16]
- Penrhyn slates, [73]
- Pipeclay for marking baulk-lines, [83]
- Piqué strokes, mode of playing, [256]
- Plain strokes, [142]–188
- Plan of billiard-table, [74], [75]
- Plants, definition of, [106];
- Players, system of classifying, [302];
- Pneumatic cushions, [79]
- Pockets of billiard-tables, [11], [69];
- Pontifex, Mr. Dudley D., aid from, [3];
- Pook, John, Kentfield’s manager, [18]
- Pool basket, [101], [253]–254
- Pool, importance of playing for position in, [145];
- useful as winning hazard practice, [320];
- description of the game, [408];
- rules and penalties, [410];
- safety and hazards, [411];
- starring, [411];
- playing for cannons, [411];
- measuring distances, [412];
- marker’s duty, [412];
- the opening stroke, [412];
- Cook’s record, [412];
- doubles, [150], [400], [413];
- story concerning consecutive doubles, [413];
- anecdote about sharpers, [413], [414];
- for other varieties of the game, see Black pool, Black and pink, Cork, Nearest ball, Selling, Single, Skittle, Snooker, Three-pool
- Porker, Mr., his match with Mr. Mardon, [12]
- Position mère, [329]; [351]
- ‘Practical Billiards,’ Dufton’s, on skittle pool, [435]
- Pratt, his style, [9];
- match with a stranger, [10]
- Precautions in play, [259]
- Prince of Wales, the, See Wales, Prince of
- Prince of Wales’s Hotel, Moss Street, Manchester, matches at, [28]
- Professionals, rate of scoring, [307]
- Push stroke, the, [52];
- Pyramids, [33];
- importance of playing for position in, [145];
- general hints concerning, [388];
- salient points of the game, [389];
- rules regarding, [390];
- handicapping players, [390];
- setting up the balls, [391];
- ways of playing the first stroke, [391];
- safety, [392];
- making a series of hazards, [392];
- plants and doubles, [394];
- when the object ball is close to a cushion, [396];
- useful strokes, [396]–406;
- good break by an Undergraduate, [407]
- Queen’s Club, [116]
- Quill stroke, [370]
- Rebound following impact, [164], [167]
- Referees, duties of, [444]
- Rencontres, [105], [230]
- Rests, [98], [115]
- Richards, matches with Roberts, sen., [367]
- Richards, D., [25], [27], [41], [120]
- Right-angled screw, the, [198]
- Rimington-Wilson, Mr. R. H. R., aid from, [4];
- Roberts, John, jun., [11], [23], [25], [26], [27], [28];
- beats Cook for the championship, [33];
- beats A. Bowles, [33];
- beaten by Joseph Bennett, [34];
- defeats Bennett, [33], [34]; [40];
- again beats Cook for championship, [41]; [43], [46];
- in India, [47];
- defeats and is beaten by Cook, [47]; [48];
- beaten by Peall, [49];
- beats Cook and Joseph Bennett for championship, [50];
- beats Mitchell, [50];
- beaten by Peall, spots only, [50];
- challenged by Peall, [51];
- his wonderful play, [51];
- matches with Ives, [53], [359], [365];
- his long spot-barred breaks, [54];
- weight of his cue, [94];
- admirable cue delivery, [116];
- ease and grace of style, [119];
- skill, [121], [125], [127], [128], [212], [268];
- good at the spot stroke, [274]; [370];
- offer to assist in recasting rules of the game, [375];
- on the push stroke, [386]
- Roberts, John, sen., [12], [13];
- contrasted with Kentfield, [14], [15];
- rapid rise, [16];
- taught the spot stroke by Mr. Lee Birch, [16];
- interviews Kentfield, [17], [18];
- champion, [19]; [21];
- lessee of Saville House, Leicester Square, [22];
- his famous break of 346 in a match with William Dufton, [22];
- matches with Alfred Bowles and Charles Hughes, [23], [24]; [26], [28];
- defeated by Cook, [31];
- endurance match with an amateur, [32]; [367]
- Rotation of ball, [189]–214;
- Royal Aquarium, Westminster, [43], [44], [45], [49], [50], [368]
- ‘R.-W. Billiard Diagram Notebook,’ [398]
- Rudolph, match with Cook, [40]
- Rules of billiards, [374];
- defective character, [374];
- proposed revision, [375];
- penalties for infringing, [375];
- suggestions respecting, [376]–386;
- discriminating between the act of aiming and the act of striking, [377];
- playing a miss otherwise than with the point of the cue, [378];
- playing with the wrong ball, [378];
- foul strokes, [379];
- when player’s ball touches another ball, [379];
- offences committed by persons other than the players, [380];
- spectators offering advice, [376], [380];
- obstructing players, [380];
- obstruction of the striker by the non-striker, [381];
- how far the marker may assist either player, [381];
- the push stroke, [382];
- the half-push, [384];
- striking a ball twice, [384];
- chief objections to the push stroke, [385], [386]
- Safety, when to be sought for, [283];
- St. James’s Hall, [30], [47], [368]
- St. Martin chalk, [99]
- Sala, J. G., record of consecutive screw back spots, [48]; [274]
- Samson, Mr., architect, [60], [62];
- designs by, [64]–65
- Scoring, different rate of, between amateurs and professionals, [307]
- Screw, the, [196], [197], [247];
- Selling pool, principle of the game, [429]
- Seymour, William, [116]
- ‘Sharping’ in billiard-rooms, [413], [414]
- Shell-out, the game of, [407], [408]
- Shorter, Fred, wins love game from Bennett, [41]–42;
- Side, transmission of, [194], [202];
- Skittle pool, description of, [431];
- Skylight sashes for ventilating billiard-rooms, [62]
- Slates for billiard-tables, [73]–77
- Smoking in billiard-room, [442]
- Snooker, [408];
- Spiller, William, [52]
- Spot stroke, the, [11], [16];
- agitation against, [39];
- result of barring, [172];
- constant practice required for success, [264];
- danger of using, [265];
- its genuineness, [266];
- ivory and bonzoline balls in playing, [266];
- use of chalk, [267];
- method of playing, [268];
- its limits, [269];
- the screw back, [273];
- the stab, [276];
- must be taught by a master, [279];
- methods adopted to continue break or obtain safety, [279];
- invaluable as practice for winning hazard play, [282]; [320]
- Spot-barred breaks, [45]
- Spot stroke tables, [85]
- Spots, inadvisability of altering, [153]
- Stab, the, use of in playing cannons, [182];
- and spot stroke, [276]
- Stakes, advantages and disadvantages of playing for, [436]
- Stammers, [36], [39]
- Standard Association tables, [71]
- Stanley, S. W., [25], [33], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41]
- Starke, defeated by Roberts, sen., [19];
- further matches with him, [21]
- Stevenson, H. W., [27], [52]
- Strength, definition of, [106]
- String, to, meaning of, [106]
- Strokes, following, [194];
- Style, [112]
- Tables. See Billiard-tables
- Taylor, Tom, [36], [37], [39], [40], [41], [42], [44], [47], [48], [368]
- Templates, [71]
- Terms, billiard, technical, explained, [104]–106
- Three-ball practice, [142] et seq.
- Three-inch pocket table. See Championship table
- Three-pool, [413];
- Thurston, John, [10];
- his improvement of tables, [11]
- Thurston & Co., [55]
- Timbrell, William, [40], [43]
- ‘Times,’ the, quoted on the push stroke, [386]
- Tips of cues, [95];
- Tobin tubes for ventilating billiard-rooms, [61]
- Top-of-the-table game, the, [325]–348
- ‘Twisting chalk,’ Carr’s, [7]
- Two-ball practice, [130]–141
- Union Club, Manchester, [14], [16]
- Ventilation in billiard-rooms, [59], [62]
- Vignaux, M., aid from his book, [3];
- Vulcanite cushions, [77]
- Wales, Prince of, [20];
- Walker, Mr. Russell D., aid from, [3];
- Warming billiard-rooms, [60], [63]
- White, Fred, [49]
- Wilson, R., [44]
- Winning hazards, [142]–153;
- confidence required, [320]
- Wright & Co., [55], [71]
PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
LONDON
[1]. If a man wants to play fast he would surely select the worst—not the best—player as antagonist.—Ed.
[2]. It is difficult to believe in the possibility of scoring over 700 points in an hour with the imperfect implements then in use; half that number is probably nearer the truth.—Ed.