BILLIARD AND BILLIARD-DININGTABLES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1201, 8 March 1895, Page 27

BILLIARD AND BILLIARD-DINING-TABLES.

Thee fascinating game of billiards, which, in New Zealand-,- as in fact all the world 1 , over, has a very large number of votaries* is one in which it is supremely necessary, if anything like proficiency is to be attained, that players should be provided with the best and most complete accessories. For many years billiard-tables and requisites were imported into the Colony, but withira the last two or three years the firm of Wright, Raniscli and Co. have established a business in Wellington as billiard-table manufacturers, and have gained so much credit for the excellence of their work that in the large majority of cases purchasers have found it to their advantage not to go outside the Colony to have their wants in this respect supplied. The premises of the firm are situated oh Lambton quay, where work lias been, turned out of a quality which has elicited from purchasers testimonials of a most satisfactory nature. One of the most interesting features of ther work done by the firm is the of billiard-dining-tables—that is, tables which

can be used and are in every respect suitable for dining-tables, and yet can at a moment’s notice be converted into billiardtables, fitted with cushions, pockets, &e., all complete. In one of these the top of the table is fixed to the framework by a. steel bolt at each end, and is secured at the sides by pegs which keep it securely in position. When these pegs are removed the top of the table can be turned completely over with the greatest ease, so perfectly is it balanced, and there stands revealed a billiard-table, true and firm, and ready for immediate use.

In another case the dining-table is mad© by covering the billiard - table with a. wooden top or lid, in four pieces, which can be very quickly removed, and the table is then brought up to the right height for billiard playing by turning sL screw at one end. The operation is most simple, involving scarcely any effort, and. if children should require the use of the table it can be adjusted exactly to their height. The advantages of the two tables above described are apparent. Used as diningtables they are really handsome pieces of furniture, beautifully turned and polished, while the presence of a billiard-table in the home does away with the objection that is so often urged against billiards, namely, that to play it one has to frequent places and company which are far from desirable. Then again, the transformation from the one kind of table to the other is effected quickly and with the greatest ease, and as the price is low, this really clever and useful invention will doubtless soon find its way into very many of our homes. Messi's Wright, Ranisch and Co. also manufacture the ordinary full-size billiardtables, and some of the best tables in Wellington and other parts of the Colony are the product of their workshops. - .All the tables of their manufacture are fitted with thick bolted slate beds from the Horn© quarries, covered with best West of England cloth, and provided with the low Excelsior cushions, which have been found to be such a great improvement on the “cush” formerly in use. Besides its manifest superiority it is claimed for the Excelsior cushion that it is simpler in construction, more durable, and less expensive to manufacture than rubber block cushions, that it is capable of being readily removed and replaced, and is designed so that its face will stand almost at right angles to the surface of the table, the object being to give greater accuracy in the angles of replication and repercussion than has hitherto been possible. It is made of strips of the purest caoutchouc, glued together throughout the whole of their length by the same material in a liquid state, and prominent players from one end of the Colony to the other, to whom it has been supplied, have testified in unmistakable terms as to its superiority over other classes of cushions. The firm also keep a very large stock of ivory billiard balls, and the dye they use not only gives a beautiful colour, but the manner, in which it is put on does not render the balls liable to split, as so frequently happened under the old system of dyeing. Their cues are beautifully finished and perfectly balanced, and of all qualities from the plain ash to the champion cue, aud they have also some handsome ivory chalkers, of a very handy size for the waistcoat pocket. The list of the requisites kept in stock is not complete without mention being made of the revolving brass runner mark-ing-boards. They render the work of the marker very much lighter than with the old style machine, and are in themselves a really handsome ornament. Great attention is paid to the finish and completeness of the articles sent out, and as the catalogue prices are very moderate, the firm of Wright, Ranisch and Co. should receive a very large measure of support.