UNKNOWN

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1183, 26 September 1885, Page 6

UNKNOWN

Billiards.

"L'S it alone; let's to billiards; come, fl^Kimn " — Antuoxy a\'d Cle'ipatiu.

S.ifikeppcsre, in thus BUjTgeatjag that the raagriifio&ni E-gy.pttwi wai familiar wUh thd gams of games, taoat certainly took lull advantage erf tho^ioonseto whioh poets,ar6t>opa-l&dy.sttpposed-to ba eotitle.l. . B'iUiarts> h*l nefc bete invented -in her day, nor vis |the gams tkought of far many a long day thereafter. Xfc iff rniftiicl "She ol "f&e niore-Sodern-' of ell recreations, having in all probability no greater antiquity than date* back to the six- , teenth centwy, - domewUgre . about tbe time that bluff King H&l was making matters warm for his wives, end generally, playing sad havoo with the moralmeg, billiards was invented. But to whom thenoner of the creation of the noble game belongs is veiled in doubt. Some authorities contend for its French origin, others for its English, nativity. The best argued contention favors the belief that the game was invented by sam« stolid Dutchman, and that it was rapidly adopted by all Europe. .Johnson, aatarally enough, stoutly contends for its English birth ; Todd wfll have it that it vras first evolved from a Gallic brain. Be this as it may be, the first description of tbe game, now extant, is to be found in Cotton'B "Complete Gamester," 1674, in which the table upon which it waa played is said to have been longer than.it is broad, and railed around— the rail or ledge being " stoft with fine floa or cotton." The table was level and covered with green cloth, " the more free from knots the better." The bed was of oak, and maces, or " masts " as they wera oalled, took the place of our modern cuea. But long before the publication of Cotton's work, billiards had become a. standard game in Europe. There is in existence an old dooamens which rans as follows, — "To Hsniy WftUer, ou* joyuej?, !o* one Jtylljarele boards conk. Twelve foot long, and four toot broade, the frame being walnottre, well wrought, and caured with eight great skewera and eighteen small skewers." This magnificent piooe of furniture was made for His Most Christian Majesty, King James Ist., and in .all probability Henry Waller was never paid for its construction.- In the Memoira complete tt aietlnntiqvt <ht due de St. Shnon, in the reign of Louis XIV. we read that the gx;and monarch was much attached to the game «f billiaids; constantly playing with M. Lagrand, M. da Vendftms, le Marechai de YiHeroy or the Duo de Qcammont. At this time one Chatmllart was the crack billiardist, and he owed to his skill, the King's favor and his advancement in the Starte. A satirist of the day thus writes M. Chamillard'a epitaph : — " Ci-grt Ie Sameux Chamillard, Da eon roi le protonotaire ; Qui fat on neroß an Billard, Bt nn zero au ministers." The whioh we might roughly translate :— " Hera lies the famous Camillard, Tha King's proth'onotary ; Tbe game of billiatds he played weH, With his •ffice played Old Harry."

The great peonliarity of the game as then played was in the' addition of, a port (arch) and king, made of ivory, and placed on the table, one in the centre, and what would now £c cabled the American baulk fine at each end of tha table. Tbe game was played with two balls, winning hazards only were played for (if a plgyer holed his own ball he lpa£ one, hence the term winning and losing hazards) and cartain ecores appertained to passing the port and bitting the king. In a fifth edition of Cotton (1734) French billiards is added, "so called from their manner of playing the gama, which is only with maces and balls, port and. king being now wholly laid aside." > Ones might also ba used, but. winning hazards were still tm only game ; and only good players were allowed to nsa the cue for feaT of " wounding " the cloth. The cue did not come into general use until late jn the eighteenth century. comparatively recent .period, the table remained, a very .primitive, affair. List was substituted for rloek. in stuffing, the cushions, and, marble btds.itere sometimes . employed instead of oak. It was net,, however, until 1827 that' slate beds were used, and indiarubber cushion* were first introduced tea years afterwards. A Frenchman named Mignand invented the cue- tip., of leather, and Carr, a marker of bllliardi, at Bath in 1809, was. the fir at to use chalk. Oarr's employer discovered the " side" stroke, and between the two they, made a rare thing by selling their chalk at halfa-crown a box, pretending that it possessed a pseuliar virtue in imparting " side." Carr was the best player of his day ; and his score of 22 consecutive spot hazards created great exoitemenkin 1825, when he was backed against all comers for, one hundred guineas aside. Kenlfieid followed as champion, and was greatly superior to Carr. Bat he had to give way in 1849 to John Roberts, who was, oat here, by the way. RebertS remained champion up to 1370. Hi 3 greatest break record was 346; including no less than 104 consecutive spot hazards. However, ia 1870 William Cook wrested the sceptre from, the doughty old-Brighton player. Cook may be esteemed the moat wonderful player we have ssen. .His break of 752 points, including 220 hazard?, place him^s, the, Best all-round billiard player — bnt he has been hard pushed by John Roberta, junior, and Joseph Bennet, eaoh- of whom has beaten him in various matches. At the present day the game of billiards may be said to be not merely a luxury but a necessity of civilised .life. When we come to consider that this admirable game plays such an important part in the social developments of moaorn life, we may readily understand what an important, position it takes in its contribution to the manufactures of the day. ■After watchmaking, it is probable that the manufacture of billiard tables, comes next in importance among ihose articles which in these times, are regarded as essentials of cultivated existence.- .< And a yery little reflection will show us that there is nothing very woaderfal ia the firm hold which £he game has taken upon the public taste of all nations. It is essentially a social game, and most certainly does not present those provocations to hatred and malice and. base passions generally by. which unhappily most games at cards or hazard are usually attended. Billiards is essentially wholesome in its influence: Many a< love match has been fostered over a game of billiards played in some cosy country mansion between, a .pretty girl and an admirer. Many the friendship has been struck over a game of pyramids, or a mild ecmteet in general pool. Yon cannot degrade billiards to the level o^gamea of chance, and the man who it swindled m"a billiard-room cannot in candour blame .the game itself for any special facility, it presents' for dishonesty. It, is essentially a manly, honest, and intellectual game, and hence its wide spread popularity among all classes. At this moment as I write, I wonder how many games are in full course i All over Europe, -in France and Germany, Holland and Belgium, in Russia, in Italy, in Spain, in England, in Ireland, in Scotland, all over Asia* Africa and America ; all over Australasia—wherever the European hath set his foot and. sojourns for a while, the tlick of billiard balls now scho. In elegant cafe and humble cabaret, in lager beer, saloons and wine hallß, ia Emperors' palaces and nobles' mansions, in country house and seaside hotel, the game which some honest fellow who lived some two or three hundred years ago, gave to the world, is being played. Consider tbe depth and breadth and incalculable height of human enjoyment which arose out of that happy inventioa. Reflect upon the kindly influences, the laughter, the gratified, sense oi skill, the plowfanfmf ntal fxof cisc which have, been and tie BtiU being experienced by millioas, whioh

this fortunate discovery of the game of billiards has brought ahout ! And haying done tthis, oome along wHh me and I will etill further impress jou with the conviction — ''hitherto, iuniweloped in your mind— oi the important part the £am 9ef billiard 3 plays as a factor in the gtcat sum of human cnjjjment. Here we aru in the great establishment of M «srs. Atoook and Co.

Hiding Cotton's description of the billiard board ot hi 3 day, with its oaken bed, " thtj oiora frea from knots the better," and its cu-biona (J'tttoffid with flox,' 1 - the-contrast whicVia exVnbited-by-the-inobt 6uperfioi»i in.anafttu)n..of this remar.kab!e"'factQry J is almost ludicrous. It ia certainly aa marked in its impression, aa that which might be exuUed by tho printing press used, bj brave old G ixton, beside a magnifioeut Hoe maohine *, or between the old shuttles of the elder Feel's day and ' the deEcate spinning jennies of our timer For here in this establishment devoted to the cause of humanity's recreation, is exhibited the outcome of human thought, and experiment and experience, prompted- by that enthusiasm with which, from its inception, the noble game of billiards has inspired all men. We have many matters to offer to the consideration of visitors as exemplifying the singular vitality and progrQ3aiveness of Victorian energioß and enterprise. I question whether any i 3 more likely to exoite surprise, and induce correßpondentappreciativerefleotion than is presented by Messrs." Alcock'a Billiard Faotory. For look you— one may guage the measure ot a people's resonroes with an easier rapidity by observing their expenditure upon domestic or social pleasures, than by the more laborious process of noting their modes of making money. With a community like ours, in which the liesured classes of the old world are hardly known, and in whioh, at any rate, one must sing for his supper, or go without it, observation of the expenditure of society upon its modes of recreation affords a very fair index to its resources of revenue. ° And so, considered philosophically, an inspection of Aloook'a faotsry presents a gratifying evidence I of theeaayciroumafcaneesoi aaommanity which I oan afford to support the manufacture of an | agent wholly devoted to the purpose of amuseI ment.

A big affair it is. A Frenchman once told me that he thought this factory the most magnifioent outcome of our phenomenal progress. To.be Bure he was an enthusiast aq. a billiardist, but there was no little truth in his remark. It is a surprising factory — for the reasons we have hinted at, no less than the circumstance that whether here or in Europe, there are.few, if any, of the kind to compare with it.

I have often watched fhc conveyance into the yards of this place of huge blocks of cedar and blaokwood, and marvelled in my ignorance of mechanics how and by what methods they were" converted into those elegant billiard tables whioh all over Australasia, and indeed in many remote countries, one beholds as made by this firm. But this wonder is 800 D. set at reHt, when upon entering, you note how these maraive logs are cut and shaped under the action of numberless saws, the teeth of whioh, even as a thankless son, are sharper than a serpent's. Here again is room for fanoy. The growth of a sapling, its development into the proportions of a lordly tree, its fall under the strokes of the axeman, and then its seasoning, to be presently converted into elegant shapes and ourve3 and polished surfaces, in the cause of human enjoyment. Truly Hamlet's reflection upon the possibilities of a lump of clay has a wider significance than any that relates to Cesar's fate.

There is an instrument in this place which is called the veneer saw. In these days we are prepared for big matters — big guns, big battles, big earthquakes, and so on. It i* the age of the Nasmyth hammer, and Krupp'a monster cannon. And worthy of these giants is tki3 saw, which ia twelve feet across and weighs three tons, and revolves 9000 times a minute. Yet, like the leviathan hammer to whioh I but now referred, its action can be so regulated that while it may be made to rip through the very heart of a monster log, it can as readily be called upon to skin a shaving from its surface as delicate as a damsel's curls. These shavings are the " veneers," and Messrs;. twee trades' 6l theoofony.* ~" ~*~ a Uar * ho f " rni - In the manufacture of these tabhs and accessories, the firm call I upon Australia for their timber, Wales for the slates which compose the bed, India for the rubber which forms the cushions, and Africa for the ivory of whiph the billiard balls are composed. Here again is food for fancy. Looking at a huge elephant tusk, whioh haply years ago had sent many a denizen of the jungle to the right about, and watching the operations under which it ia ultimately changed into smooth round billiard balls, the mind ig necessarily charged with an impression of the mutability of all things. And here one ia led to inquire— What becomes of all the billiard balls ? just as [tbe question, " what becomes of all the watches ?" puzzles, and fionfounds the understanding. 'Tis a pretty sight this ivory turning. To be sure every operation in the factory is a pretty sight. Indeed, it is essentially artistic this making of billiard tables, and so far aa I can learn, this element of the business Il&3 been specially studied by the proprietors, I am sure that the oabinet register cue-stand, and the billiard table which .were recently exhibited at the Calcutta Exhibition are high art in every detail. Then the processes of carving, turning, polishing, &c, are all artistic. One of the most interesting sights is presented by the operation of smoothing the slates. Covetousnes3 ia a vice which rarely troubles me. But I own that this dainty " billiarddining " table makes me yearn for its possession. A moat elegant matter this. By an ingenious contrivance its height is regulated for playing billiards, or a knife and fork ; in the latter case it is covered, and presents the features of an elegant dining table. Positively, in some matters we approach the old Bomansin the ingenuity with which we contrive matters for our comfort and reoreafcion.

A great many of imported tables pass to Aleock and Co. for alteration and improvement, especially in respect of their cushions. The rtibber used by the Austrian makers, for example, is not suited to this climate, and so in many cases the firm is called upon to substitute other and superior -cushions. But so far as I eaniearn, the firm is beating out all competition. _ So true it ia, that, in the long run merit will win the raoe, even though handicapped by prejudice and its own juvenility. - A great number of men is employed by this firm. I should like to have a cheque for a year's wages. no trouble should corrugate my brow. My own fig-tree should shade me, my own roof- tree shelter me. And be sure of this that so soon, my friend, had you and I dined oomfort&bly, my B6r> vapt should whip off the leaves from the table, turn a screw and arrange its height, and we shouldthere and then set to work to pit our skill — eaoh to each— at a game of billiards.