BILLIARDS.

NZ Truth, Issue 274, 1 October 1910, Page 3

BILLIARDS.

XBy "Jigger."),

A. E. Williams, the English professional, now on a short ttfur of the Western Australian towns with John Roberts, has •decided.*. &O reside pejcrniamently m tbe Conimj^iwealtli, probably m Melbourne. "*ffie amateurs m Australia need notjCgo short of instruction m the art of .billiards. With Williams and M&mnkfWin Melbourne, Liradrum and Smith m Sydney, and Weiss m Brisbane, all engaged m teaching there should b© plenty of good players brought out before long. George Gray appears to have struck form quickly. Playing at Leeds, against Nelson,, he completed a game of 750 up m nine sticks, ma king breaks of .345 and 156, averaging 83 per cue. It was, m all probability, form, of this sort that induced his manager to tackle such a tough proposition as Diggle for a start. Gray is practising six to eight hours daily, and is pretty sure to maintain Ms great reputation. Tito following story is taken from an exchange :— "A well-known bil-liard-player was asked by a friend to take part m a (cricket match. Cricket was not his game, nevertheless, with more courage than judgment, he consented to play. It eventually came to his turn to face the bowling, and as the ball came temptingly along he jumped out to hit it into the <next parish. Unfortunately he diid not accomplish his objective for he hit yards too soon, with ttoe result that he was easily stumped. When asked how he got out i. the cueist gave the following characteristic reply : ■ 'Ohj the marker knocked the tips off the cues, and the referee ruled me out of baulic !' "

Composition balls, as most users are aware, pick up dirt very quickly. A good plan for cleaning is to saturate a piece of fine linen m benzine and ruib the balls with it each day before using, and also to clean them frequently with a soft dry (•loth during play. — Exchange.

The standard of play is rising m the Christohurch Motor and " Cycle Club's tournament, as the play procoeds m the third round. The gentleman who. adopts the "norn de cue" of "Perle" put together a pleasing little break of 72 the other nigh-t, and "Addington" accomplished runs of 55, 50 (unfinished), and 36 m one game. Byrne (34) and Walden (33) were the other breakmakers. Games played recently resulted as follows . P.- Byrne (130) 300, beat J. A. Hall (70) 265.: "Addington" (scr.) 300, beat R. Spencer (20) 120 ; "Perle" (20) 300, beat J. Radcliffe (130) 245 ; J. Power (100) 300, beat G. Claxton' (15.0) 250; W. G. Walden (95) 300, beat F. Burbury (140) 241 ; R. B. Walker (150) 300, beat "Timi" (140) 288 ; A. Hutson (140) 300, beat "Avon" (80) 209 ; F. Neate (130) 200, beat W. Voyce (150) 254 ; A. Huston (140) 300, beat R. B. Walker (150) 270 ; G-. Brown (150) beat R. B. Walker (150) by default.