BILLIARDS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVI, Issue 914, 12 September 1907, Page 10

BILLIARDS.

(By “ Blue Chalk.”)

Notice to Readers. —The writer of this column invites correspondence on all billiard matters of local and genera] interest. Advertisers in the “ Re- ■ view” are particularly requested to communicate with “ Blue Chalk.”

were to be found in large numbers “ down under.” “Yes, I suppose that’s it. I"have met great numbers of Scotsmen In Australia, and principally in New Zealand; in fact, they are so strong there that they practically govern the colony. You’re a pushing, determined lot, you Scotties.” HOW HE KEEPS IN FORM. “ How long have I played ? Well, I have been at it now for over thirty years, and I like the game better every day. You seei there is no finality in billiards. You can never reach perfection. To keep up my form I practise regularly, walk a lot, swim every other day, sleep plenty, and eat carefully. All climates are alike to me. I am going to South. Africa next year, and from that to India, and then back to England.” “ Can you give billiard amateurs any hints how to excel at cannon' playing, and-how do you account for your own special ability at cannons ?” Mr. Weiss laughed aloud, lit up a monster pipe,,and then began. “Well, that’s rather a tall order. The ordinary player must practice regularly, see better men than himself frequently, and endeavour to do as they do. A player is often too timid to try what he considers difficult shots. He must be ambitious. He must try them over and over again, and by and by they will become quite easy. I always liked cannon playing, and I attribute my succeess in that department of the game to my love for skittle pool. I was xne champion skittle pool player in Australia at the age of 20. Knocking down the skittle is largely a matter of working the ‘ side’ properly; and a good skittle man should be a good cannon player. I consider my best and individual stroke • is a cushion cannon. I offer an open challenge to allcomers for a match of 500 cannons, nobody barred.” HIS VIEWS ON THE ANCHOR STROKE. “ And the anchor stroke, Mr. Weiss. What do you think of it ?” “ To tell you the truth, I am no lover of the anchor stroke. It ought to be prohibited at once. It takes all public interest away from a game once the position is secured. And the peculiar thing about the ‘ anchor’ is this —the longer it is played the easier it becomes. The ‘ hard up’ red and white balls form a sort of dimple in the cushion, and the travel of the player’s ball always running over the same ground makes a tiny groove in the cloth, which assists in keeping the position. It is monotony all round — for public, opponent, and player, and, like the old spot stroke, should at once be barred.” In the afternoon I had been simply stunned with the group of trick shots played by Mr. Weiss. Potting the three balls at one stroke, cannoning off five cushions through glasses set on the tab-e, potting the red into the basket set on the middle of the table and cannoning afterwards, and a number of marvellous shots, taken with perfect accuracy and all nominated, and I could not help remarking that he must have picked up a lot of these shots in his touring throughout the world. “Not a bit of it. Every stroke you saw is absolutely my own creation, evolved out of my own ‘ nob,’ and practised for years. I am considered by experts to be the best trick billiard player in the world.” HINTS FOR BEGINNERS. “ You are anxious to hear how young players may improve. Well, I’ll give them a ‘ tip.’ Let them get hold of a cue that suits them, and stick to it. The importance of a good cue does not seem to be half realised. I once had a cue that I would not have sold for £5OO. Don’t smile now; that’s a fact. I had it for over six years, and in a stupid moment I lent it to a friend, who broke it. I went off my play, and but for a lucky find in a billiard saloon in Melbourne I might

have lost the championship of Australia that year. “ Nerves ? Oh, yes, I have nerves, but I don’t feel them much. My first victory over the brother of John Roberts at Glen Innes, New South Wales, as a boy of 13% years of age, sort of steadied up my nerves for life. After all, what is there to be nervous about ? A billiard pro. is just doing his daily work the same as a printer, for example, and he is not usually a nervous man.”

Thank Heavens ! The Billiard Association has abolished the cradle cannon in response to the widespread objection to it. Quite time, too. We were getting pretty sick of mechanical billiards. ♦ * * * The famous cradle cannon or anchor stroke, has at least had the result of producing a new style of billiard table. The table is the first oval billiard table in the world. Reece, who recently made a break of nearly 500,000 by means of the anchor stroke, played an important match on this table with Diggle, and the behaviour of the balls was so entirely different from that on an ordinary table, that they took over three hours to finish a game of 500 points. In fact, the newshaped table departs so far from the rules of ordinary billiards that practically a new game has been called into existence.