BLIND BILLIARDS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4931, 26 July 1918, Page 6

BLIND BILLIARDS.

EXTR a 0 R DIXAI {Y PL A Y

! . Can you imagine a blind man plav- •! in -“ billiards (asks a London corresj pondont h The fea t seems imooss- ! lb Je but Sergeant-Major .Shaw/ one j of the Heroes of Alons, who before j tins war had seen a lot of canipaigni nig. lias just given a display on bei half of the St. Dunstan’s' Hostel, ! wnere sightless soldiers are taught j Xo develop their senses in a renmrkj able way. Of course Alajor Shaw | is an old player, with a knowledge j of the rules and a mental picture of i the table, as he puts it. He rcj quires no assistance during a game jof a hundred up. He did not ask a i single question, and he was never in | doubt- as to the position of the balls j even when his opponent was- striker. . His sense of hearing has been so wonderfully developed that from their i click on contact he can follow their running round tho table. It would ihe a fine achievement for him to I strike the cue ball correctly, but it ! i.s more remarkable that he is able to find tlm object ball at- the other end of the table. Before making ! the stroke he satisfies himself as to the exact position of the three halls. When within an inch of two of them his fingers “sense” how they are placed, and then, with the picturein his mind, and the necessary angle at which to strike, he makes a cannon or hazard with amazing _ skill. Not once during the game did he touch the halls to find out thenwhereabouts. One incident told of his great powers: He was about to play when his opponent observed: “That's the wrong ball: yours is at the other end of the table.” Shaw accepted the correction, but after he had made the stroke with the other ball be .expressed a doubt whether lie was wrong in the first instance. This led to an examination, and it was found that he had been right. Naturally Shaw needs a longer time than usual to make a stroke- because after listening to the three halls running round the table, he has to ge a fresh mental picture.of the position each time, but as a totally blind man his play’ is extraordinary.