Billiards

by William Broadfoot

And here, notwithstanding all that has been said and written about the subject, let me say that the ironing in club-rooms is in most instances very much overdone. It is not altogether the marker’s fault; members complain that the table is running slow, and on goes the iron as a matter of course, generally far too hot. Nearly every marker will tell you that the iron is no use unless it is thoroughly hot; what he means is, that he cannot get the glaze upon the cloth without it; but the proper answer is that nobody wants, or ought to want, the glaze, and that it is directly detrimental to scientific billiards. The cooler you can use the iron and keep the table in order, the better for the life of the cloth and the better for the club play.

At the seaside, or in any damp climate, constant ironing becomes a necessity, in order to thoroughly dry the cloth, but even under such circumstances there is no necessity to scorch it.

A good cloth can be told by the feel only; it should be firm and leathery, closely woven, and not too elastic.

In such an important matter as a cloth, however, a purchaser would be well advised to place himself unreservedly in the manufacturers’ hands, and leave the selection to them.

TO ERECT A TABLE

Having fixed upon a suitable foundation (and for this a competent architect should be consulted), stand the legs up in the places they will occupy; fit the frames (which are all numbered) into the mortices, and screw the frames to the legs with the long bolts provided for the purpose.

At this stage it will be well to set about levelling, before the weight of the slates comes upon the bed, and if you get your wedges in now, you can more readily knock them a little further when the table is completely put together than if you had left them to be inserted last of all.

Having thus got the bed level, lift the slates on carefully, and lay them on the bed an inch or two apart. Place the centre slate accurately in position, slide the next one up against it, and enter the dowels of the one into the corresponding holes of the other fairly and squarely; proceed in like manner with the other slates till they are all joined. If there be any cracks in the upper edges of any of the slates, fill them in with plaster of Paris.

Lay on the cloth, taking care that the right side is uppermost, that the nap runs from what is to be the bottom of the table towards the top, and that the cloth is square to the table. Go to the top of the table, drive in a couple of tacks,[^[8]] and then go to the bottom of the table, pull the cloth tight, and drive in two more tacks on the middle line. Then stand at one of the middle pockets, pull the cloth a little towards you, and tack it lightly on each side of the pocket; next go over to the opposite middle pocket, pull the cloth tight and tack it as before. Then at each of the middle pockets in succession take a good handful of cloth and a good pull and tack what you get underneath the pocket. Smooth out the cloth over the fall of these pockets, but do not at present trouble about a wrinkle or two, as they will be smoothed out later. Get somebody to hold the cloth firmly at the middle pocket, and go yourself to the corner pocket and pull along the side of the table, using considerable strength; proceed in like manner with the other corner pockets. If all this has been done carefully, neatly, and firmly, the cloth ought to be well stretched the length and breadth of the table. The amateur will find the greatest difficulty in getting the cloth to lie smooth along the sides and ends of the table, and especially at the fall of the pockets, for the cloth must be humoured so as to come fair over the pockets without creasing. This is a work of time, trouble, and neat-handedness; you must not hurry; take plenty of time, plenty of tacks, and by degrees success may be attained.

Covering the cushions with cloth is such an exceedingly difficult and delicate operation that it should not be attempted by an amateur; very few workmen can cover a cushion as it should be covered, and, therefore, it is useless to describe the operation. It will be found prudent to order the makers to cover the cushions before sending them out; indeed, some clubs abroad have two sets of cushions, so that while one set is in use the other may be in England for repairs.