31 MAY 1873, Page 23

BILLIARDS.* THE fact that this work has been edited by

Cavendish and pub- lished by De is Rue is almost enough to bespeak for it a successful future. The editor, feeling the want some time back of a system- atic treatise on Billiards, and not possessing a sufficiently intimate knowledge of the game himself to undertake one, propounded some scheme to Bennett, an ex-champion and teacher of billiards, and the book before us is the result of their joint labours. Cavendish has so long been looked upon as the recognised framer of rules and regulations for games in which he excels, that we may be sure his assistance in the production and finishing touches of this book must have been invaluable to Ben oett, however perfect a master the latter may be in his knowledge and treatment of the game of billiards. Crawley is the name to which learners have hitherto turned for the secrets of the art, and he was as clever with his cue as with his pen, but this is the most comprehensive and exhaustive book that has yet appeared.

The limited number of indoor amusements makes men turn almost naturally to billiards as the one game at which they can combine moderate exercise with an enjoyment that will engross them for hours. Rackets and tennis have their patrons, but they are few, either from lack of physical strength or a dislike to exercise so violent and sustained, while the summer season and the scarcity of courts bring their development within still narrower limits. Cards seldom appear before the lamp is lit and the curtains drawn, chess is too sedentary, cribbage too old- fashioned, and backgammon too void of any but a momentary interest to have relatively many followers. We leave these to their respective votaries, and say with Cleopatra, "Let's to billiards." It is a more English indoor game than any other, for it stimulates our characteristic liking for competition and excite- ment in a healthy, quiet sort of way ; and there is no active exercise that brings every muscle of the body into play more gently and more controlledly,—except digging, which does not come within the category of amusements ; there is the rivalry, too, which every Englishman enjoys, from the two schoolboys at their bagatelle to the riper struggle for the university cue ; and there is the display of skill which it is satisfactory one's opponent should witness, whether he is one's best friend or a mere stranger ; conversation is almost unrestricted, and unconsciously one is walking about two miles an hour round the table and picking up an honest appetite.

The origin of billiards is uncertain. Some ascribe the invention to Henrique Devigne, an artist who lived in the time of Charles IX., of France, but Bouillet gives England the credit of the invention. Strutt considers that it is merely the game of paille-maille trans- ferred from the ground to the table. Crawley was once told that the Chinese claimed possession of a game similar to billiards, but he says himself that it was probably invented by the Dutch, from whom the French, the Germans, and the Italians soon learned it. Cavendish does not commit himself to an opinion, but makes the cautious remark that the authorities seem to be agreed only on one point, viz., that nothing is known about billiards prior to the middle of the sixteenth century. As Spenser and Shakespeare both allude to the game, the one in "Mother Hubbard'a Tale" and the other in Antony and Cleopatra, this is probably correct. But it is tolerably evident there is considerable difficulty in decid- ing what country or what period first claimed billiards for its own. However, Cavendish has succeeded in getting together from early sources much that is very interesting on the progress of the game. It seems that in the first half of the eighteenth century the rules of billiards allowed cue-playing, but for many years after only good players were allowed to strike with flat-ended wooden cues, the proprietors of rooms insisting on the use of the mace, for fear of damage to the cloth. The development of the game was very slow, owing to the poorly-constructed tables and to the general use of the mace, but about the beginning of this century the introduction of cue-playing and the refinements of leathern tips, chalk, and side-stroke, caused almost a revolution in tho science of billiards. The tip being once aided to the cue, side-stroke soon followed as a matter of course. This appears to have been discovered by a billiard-room proprietor named Bartley, and he after a time imparted the secret to Carr, his marker. The latter is said to have kept the secret to himself, but, nevertheless, to have made it a source of profit by a very in- genious swindle. When pressed as to his peculiar powers, he produced boxes of twisting chalk, which he said he had invented. These were nothing but pill-boxes filled with ordinary chalk,

• Billiard... By Joseph Bennett, Fz-Cbamplon. Edited by Cavendish. London: Thomas de is Bite and Co. 1873.

which he sold for half-a-crown a box. The spot-stroke was first heard of about the same period, and at this too Carr took the lead. From this time forward, thanks to the rapid improvement in billiard tables and the use of indiarabber cushions, a great impetus was given to the game, and breaks of considerable length were the result. Brighton " Jonathan " succeeded Carr, and remained unrivalled until 1849, and then Roberts secured the championship, which he retained until 1870. In the latter year, he lost it to Cook, the present holder. This match excited extraordinary interest, partly from the reputation Cook had won through his enormous breaks, and partly from the fact that no one had ever before had the courage to play Roberts level at the English game, in which he had been master for twenty years. Since then, his son and Bennett (the joint producer of this volume) have held the championship and the beautiful cup that accompanies it, but Cook has again succeeded in wresting from them the championship honours.

Nowadays, when country-house hospitality is so universal and when each season brings with it a supply of guests all dependent in some sort on the weather, a billiard-room is a sine qua non. Frozen- out huntsmen growl at the hard ground and seek consolation in the billiard-room ; a croquet party is interrupted by a thunderstorm, and immediately there is a rush for cues, vice mallets resigned ; a carriage-horse goes lame on a sultry day, it is too hot to walk, but not to stroll round the billiard-table, and somehow or other, often when fine, always when wet, the click of the balls makes itself heard, a sound that never fails to be a cheerful one nor to fetch together some of the miscellaneous party on pleasure bent. Ladies, with a growing appreciation of their own capabilities, have learnt to patronise billiards, and have established their footing in the room, where they may practise the art of making balls kiss and twist, or of choosing between a winning and a losing hazard ; they do not perhaps care to be reminded that the angle of reflection is always equal to the angle of incidence, nor to master the science of all- round cannons, but they do love to pocket the white, and to see their adversary miss his stroke in his effort to secure a Jenny.

No billiard-room, public or private, should be without a copy of this book. Many an hour may be pleasantly and profitably spent by a player with no other companion at his side; it con- tains nearly two hundred diagrams of billiard exercises, well drawn to scale, with an explanation to each on the opposite page, and instructions for working it out. Of course, billiards is a most difficult game to learn theoretically, but its difficulties are removed as far as possible in this book by the representation of almost every conceivable position of the balls, with directions how to play them. Any one who can do on the table what he is taught here may be considered a very satisfactory per- former, but he must not rest content with success in once out of three or four attempts. Side-stroke and screw can never be practised too much, but the danger with most persons is the application of these remedies when unnecessary, and when a full centre-ball stroke will suffice. We cannot enter here into the intricacies of the art of striking the ball, nor even touch upon the advantages of playing for safety, the mysteries of the stab stroke and the subtleties of the flue; without the assistance of diagrams our remarks would be unintelligible, but our readers will find no difficulty in understanding the directions laid down by the author, aided by his mathematically precise diagrams. The free- dom of striking the ball and the strength of the stroke can only be acquired by close observation and incessant practice on the table itself.

There are in the earlier chapters of this book many hints that we have not observed elsewhere touching the care and preserva- tion of the billiard-table and its implements generally. We are told of the balls that they should be made of well-seasoned ivory, cut from the point of the small tusk of the Asiatic elephant. The best balls are cut from the smallest tusks that will just hold the size of the ball, as the ivory in these tusks is very dense, and pretty equal in density throughout. The balls should be so cut that the centre or worm of the tooth runs through the centre of the ball, otherwise the ball is likely to be heavier on one side than the other. However well seasoned, they are apt to be affected by change of temperature from that in which they have been seasoned, and it is advisable to keep new balls exposed for a few days in the billiard-room before using them, otherwise they are liable to crack. Special care should be taken not to leave them in a damp place, nor in a hot one, as on a mantel-piece, or in a pocket near a fire. Great pains are taken to describe the proper treatment of the table,—that is, the brushing and ironing of its cloth, which double process is recommended daily for the first twelve months. It is im- portant that the indiarubber cushions should be kept in good condi- tion by keeping the room at an even temperature, either by intro-

ducing hot-water pipes into the room, or placing a terra-cotta gas-stove under the table. Advice is given as to the selection of cues, their length and weight, and the best mode for fixing the French tips to them. In short, every information about the game, from the choice and construction of tables and the whole parapher- nalia connected with them to the clear directions for mastering the problems of the art of billiards, is to be found in these pages, and we recommend professionals and amateurs alike to examine them carefully.