INDEX

Aberdovey slates, 73

Albert Club, 48

Albo-carbon light, 66, 67

American handicaps, 40, 43; tournament, 41, 436

Angle, half-ball or natural, 101–103, 123–124; of deviation, 138; of incidence and reflexion, 139–140

Aquarium. See Royal Aquarium

Association, Billiard. See Billiard Association

Attitude, 107

Balls, billiard, 86–92; treatment of, 87–88; weight, 87n; 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; doubles in, 150; playing for safety in, 284; double, 290

‘Baynard Castle,’ 43

Bedford, Mr., 9

Bell’s Life, 19; quoted, 20; 21

Bennett, Alfred, in handicaps, 36, 38, 40, 41, 47; death, 38n

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; rules of, 374; revision required, 375; examination of — rules, 376–386; examination of — rules of pyramids, 390

‘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; in Oriental Club, 57; 58, 59; Mr. W. H. Fowler’s room, 59; Mr. A. Gibbs’, 55–56; ventilation of, 61–66; 448lighting of, 66–68; Major Broadfoot’s note on, 67, 68

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; variation in rules, 423; collecting stakes, 424; a useful bye-law, 424

Black pool, 408, 418; no regular laws, 418; the game as generally played, 420; special features, 420; variation in rules, 421; points to be held in view, 422

Blind pockets, playing hazards into, 146, 150

Bonzoline balls, 91; wear, 92; playing hazards with, 170; difference between ivory and, 266; playing double baulk strokes with, 293

Bouclée, formation of the bridge, 109, 129

Bowles, Alfred, 23; his matches with Roberts, jun., 23, 33, 367

Boyd, Mr. A. H., 3; aid from, 3; on implements, 55–103; on ‘Every-Day Billiards,’ 315–325

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; the push, 226, 240

Bridge, the term, 105; a good, 108, 109; a short, 127; bouclée, 129

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; first series of handicaps, 36; 40, 77, 98

Butts, 97

Cannons, plain, 172–186; tendency to supersede losing hazards, 172; general rules for strength in playing, 174; easier than the hazard, 175; in baulk, 210–212; use of compensation in making, 261–262; nursery, easy of execution, 326; 348–361

Carr, John, 5; sells twisting chalk, 7; 8; backed against all comers, 9; challenged by Kentfield, 10

Carter, Eugene, American player, 53

449Cathire 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; pockets, 362; play on, 370–373; objections to different tables for ordinary play and for championship matches, 364; genuineness of game, 365; equalisation of amateurs on a, 372; record of championship matches, 373

Chimneys of lamps for lighting billiard-rooms, 66

Close screws, method of playing, 250

Cloths for billiard-tables, 79; nap of, 193; effects on rotation and path of ball, 207

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; variation in play, 430; bumble-puppy, 430

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; covering with cloth, 81; difficulty of square-cut, 145; side acquired by friction with, 206; nurseries, 348–361

Davis, George, 25

Dawson, Charles, 49, 51, 120; simplicity of his game, 128; 367

Defensive play, where advisable, 283

Diagrams, explanation of, 138–139

450Diggle, Edward, 51, 120, 367

Double baulk, 105

Doubles, value of, 150; in baulk, 150; simple, 152; 398, 400, 413, 416

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; match with Roberts, sen., 22; his long jennies, 25; an overrated player, 25

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; increasing artificially, 195; chief use, 196

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; American system of, 40, 41, 43; 436; the same guiding rules for framing, 439

Hazards, winning, 142–153; 320, 404; plain strokes, 142; middle pocket, 159, 422. See Losing

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; points of, 143; rebound following, 164, 167

Implements of the game, 55 et seq.

In hand, definition of the term, 105

Incandescent gas light, 66

451India-rubber cushions, 77

Ironing billiard-table cloths, 79, 83

Ives, Frank, his matches with Roberts, jun., 53, 365, 372; cannon play, 359; makes 1,267 consecutive cannons, 369

Ivory balls, 86; expense of, 91; differ from bonzoline, 266; 293

Jennies, 160; method of playing, 239

Jump stroke, 250

Kentfield, Edwin (otherwise Jonathan), champion, 10; his improvements, 10; his book, 11; his game 11; 12, 13, 14, 15; interviewed by Roberts, sen., 17, 18; refuses to play Roberts, 19; 367

Kilkenny, Lewis, 25, 36, 38, 40

Kiss, the term explained, 105; mode of playing the — stroke, 230; 406

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; half-ball strokes, 154; 156; middle-pocket, 158; jennies, 160; long, 162; care required in playing, 168; forcing, 170; inferiority to winning hazards, 172; by use of follow, 218–221; 371

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; record of screw back spots, 48; 52, 274

Miss, must be played with the point of cue, 284

Miss-cue, meaning of the term, 106

Mitchell, William, 43–46; as spot player, 44–48; beaten by Roberts, jun., even, 50; 52, 228, 367

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

452Oriental 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; remarkable breaks, 45; 46, 48; defeats Roberts, jun., 49, 50; present position, 51; 52; weight of his cue, 94; consecutive screw back spot strokes, 274; 282; turning a corner at cushion nurseries, 359; 367

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; method of playing, 244; laws which govern them unknown, 246; in pyramids, 400

Players, system of classifying, 302; difference in, 303; luck, 303

Pneumatic cushions, 79

Pockets of billiard-tables, 11, 69; blind, 146, 150; Billiard Association standard, 362, 368

Pontifex, Mr. Dudley D., aid from, 3; memorandum by, 115, 325

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; method of playing, 224; 370; its permissibility, 382; character defined, 383; so-called proofs of foulness, 383, 384; objections to striking twice, 385, 386; the case for and against, 386

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; 453useful 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; on the top-of-the-table game, 325; on cannon nurseries, 359; on the professional championship, 366

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; cause of, 192; round horizontal axis, forward, 194; backward, 196; round vertical axis, 202

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; pocketing an adversary’s ball, 285; 454double baulk, 290

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; right-angled, 198; regulation of strength necessary in playing, 198; importance of regulating, 200; close, 250

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; beats Cook, 42; beats Taylor, 42; forfeits to Bennett, 47

Side, transmission of, 194, 202; acquired by friction with cushion, 206; imparting, 315; can it be communicated by one ball to another?, 443. See Rotation

Skittle pool, description of, 431; rules, 432; usual way of playing, 434

Skylight sashes for ventilating billiard-rooms, 62

Slates for billiard-tables, 73–77

Smoking in billiard-room, 442

Snooker, 408; variations in rules, 424; general method of play, 424; penalties, 425, 426; main object of player, 427; the element of luck, 427

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; screw, 196, 247; practising, 208; massé, 214, 255; miscellaneous, 215; fine, 222; push and half-push, 224; bricole, 226, 242; kiss, 230; jennies, 239; plants, 244; close screws, 250; leap or jump, 250; piqué, 255; compensations, 260; spot, 264

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.

455Three-inch pocket table. See Championship table

Three-pool, 413; strange occurrence at, 413; principles of the game, 415, 416

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; process of tipping, 95; cleaning, 95; renovating, 96

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; cited, 189, 206, 259, 327, 351, 440

Vulcanite cushions, 77

Wales, Prince of, 20; at championship match, 29; at match Roberts v. Cook, Newmarket, 47

Walker, Mr. Russell D., aid from, 3; on the championship, 366, 367

Warming billiard-rooms, 60, 63

White, Fred, 49

Wilson, R., 44

Winning hazards, 142–153; confidence required, 320

Wright & Co., 55, 71

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LONDON

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

P. 302, changed “à force de forger on devient forgeron” to “à force de forger en devient forgeron”.

Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling.

Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.

Re-indexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter.