BILLIARDS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 1006, 17 June 1909, Page 11

BILLIARDS.

MANNERISMS IN BILLIARDS. “ There are many men who imagine that it is a serious fault to indulge in mannerisms. At the table, especially, you will find men who go through some mysterious sort of evolution, a wavy motion of cue, or a preliminary movement of the arm, before settling down to play the stroke. But, while any deviation from the set method of playing the stroke itself is bad, these little pieces of by-play do not do the slightest amount of harm; in fact, they often serve as a distinct asset to the game. “ Nearly all of our first rank cuemen indulge in these mannerisms. Stevenson has a little trick of twiddling the fingers of his left hand, one after the other, on the cloth immediately after he plays a shot. Diggle rests his cue on the table in front of the ball, and plays his stroke without the preliminary movements which ninetynine players out of a hundred find indispensable. Inman has four or five little tricks of manner. When playing a shot he measures it, rises, measures it again; in his long shots he waves his cue and twists his body as if to assist his ball on its course, and he has a stage trick of going to a side of the table and preparing for a stroke before the balls have finished moving from the stroke previous. “Reece makes queer sounds with his

lips when in the centre of a big break; a faint, dry, crackling sound as if he suffered from extreme thirst. Harverson pouts out the huge moustache which covers his upper lip when looking at a position, and often his fingers go up to his chin and grip at his bottom lip. Again, when he has missed a shot he will fold his arms a la Napoleon and gaze gloomily at the table. As for John Roberts, his mannerisms are endless. Many of them are studied, such as the raised eyebrows at the opponent’s breakdown, the grim tightening of the brows as a difficult stroke has to be played, and the studied indifference when that same shot has been successfully negotiated. Dawson, who, unfortunately, has retired from the game this season owing to eye trouble, had also a pronounced mannerism. His under lip used to fold down just as he delivered his cue.

“ So if any of my readers find that they are in the habit of doing some move or trick which has caused their comrades to wax facetious at their expense, let them remember that the masters of the game are practically in the same boat as they are—and they are none the worse players for that.” —“ Military Mail.”

At the Victoria Billiard Parlour in Wellington recently, Mr. G. Read put up a record break for New Zealand. The previous record was held by Weiss, viz., 475, but Read, whose previous best was 352, put up 486, the last 255 being made off the red ball. It is Mr. Read’s intention to make ,i tour of New Zealand before returning home to the Old Country.

A billiard match between the single and married employees of the firm of Smith and Caughey, Ltd., was decided the other evening- at the Newton Billiard Saloon, and after some very exciting games the single men emerged victorious.

(Continued on Page 13).