• Previous Chapter
• Next Chapter

1879

THE ADVENT OF WILLIAM MITCHELL - AMERICAN TOURNAMENTS - JOSEPH BENNETT AND TAYLOR - JOSEPH BENNETT AND JOHN ROBERTS, JUN.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES in 1879 were conspicuous by their absence, but that particular year will ever be regarded as fraught with interest to lovers of billiards, as it introduced to public notice a player whose light had previously, strange to say, been concealed under a bushel. The player in question-William Mitchell, of Sheffield, better known at the time as "Bradley's Boy"-a phenomenal exponent of the art of spot-stroke play, had, antecedently to the winter of 1879, been known to some habitues of provincial billiard rooms as a player of exceptional ability, but it may be safely asserted that never during his embryo career did he publicly give any signs of possessing such power and skill as he displayed in the Westminster Aquarium tournament of November, 1879. In that particular handicap Mitchell, whose real quality was then publicly unearthed for the first time, proved himself a veritable Simon Pure.

In the previous year billiards-in the absence of the rival champions, W. Cook and J. Roberts, jun., who were starring in India-had become stale, flat, and unprofitable to professionals generally, and had it not been for the American tournaments which (established in 1875) then became popular, high-class professional billiards might have become a dead letter in the market. These tournaments, however, stimulated as they were by the efforts of Messrs. Burroughes and Watts, who were constantly furnishing new tables and extra prizes as inducements for professional players to try their very best for honour and renown, might have failed altogether in their object but for the infusion of new blood among the players contesting them.

In November, 1878, Collins, the manager of the Westminster Aquarium tournament, introduced into his handicap a young player named A. Davies or Davis, who in private was credited with constantly making 200 and 300 off the balls. From the scratch man, Joseph Bennett, in the handicap in which he made his debt, Davies received 120 points, but he altogether failed to play up to his private reputation. Either from nervousness or incapacity, he proved an utter failure. His style was good but his execution was lamentable, and he altogether failed to hit the tastes of the critics who witnessed his performances at the Aquarium, and, later on, at the Baynard Castle.

Mitchell, however, showed himself a dark horse of quite another colour. In the first six days of the Aquarium tournament, held in November, 1879, he never lost a game, although he had for his opponents such tried men as Joseph Bennett, G. Collins, F. Bennett, D. Richards, and G. Hunt, to say nothing of the youthful player, J. Lloyd, who made so favourable an impression in Taylor's handicap at St. James's Hall in December, 1878.

Strange to say, in this handicap Mitchell, who had won six games off the reel against the best players left in England, succumbed on the seventh day to J. Roberts, senior. Mitchell doubtless lost his heat with the elder Roberts by a series of mishaps which, in billiards and cricket alike, may be accounted as amongst those things which, as Lord Dundreary phrases it, "no fellah can understand." Mitchell, however, won the tournament with a record of six wins and one loss.

Before enlarging upon the events happening at the latter end of 1879, it may be as well to chronicle the matches and handicaps in the order in which they happened. The first contest worthy of note in the month of January was an American tournament held at Manchester. The prizes were £30 in value, and the heats were 300 up on an ordinary table. The eight players engaged were all men whose names were well known in the north, and at the end of eight days play the first prize was won by W. Grundy, 75 points start, who beat A. W. Morgan (85) in the final tie.

The first really important contest of the season was, however, the match for £200 between Joseph Bennett, the ex-champion, and T. Taylor. The conditions were that Bennett conceded his opponent 200 points in a game of 3,000 up, played on a championship table manufactured by Burroughes and Watts. The match did not turn out so interesting as was expected at the outset, for Taylor secured a very easy victory. The contest was fought out on the evenings of January 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. At the end of the first stage the figures on the board were registered as Taylor 950, Bennett 731. When play ceased on the second night Taylor had scored 1,923 to 1,343, and finally he won by 569 points.

On February 20th, W. Timbrell and W. Fielding contested a match of 1,000 up, level, at Manchester, on a Burroughes and Watts championship table, for stakes amounting to £200, and Fielding won by 342 points.

In the following month, on March 8th, a novel kind of American tournament, promoted by Joseph Bennett, was commenced at the St. James's Hall. The innovation introduced into this handicap was a special table, invented by Joseph Bennett, and manufactured for the occasion by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts, which was a kind of medium between the championship and the ordinary match table. It had long been felt that spot-hazard striking was monotonous, and play on a championship table was tedious in handicap competitions, and it was hoped that Bennett's newly-designed table would obviate the disadvantages of both. As it was, the tournament proved a decided financial failure. The players were ill at ease on the hybrid table, and the play being poor all round, with the exception of Alfred Bennett's performance, which was of a most consistent character, the whole affair, so far as the novel experiment was concerned, must be voted one of the most unsuccessful ventures ever started. The prizes were £50, and the heats 500 up. The result was that after seven days play J. Bennett (scratch), F. Bennett (receives 50 points), and A. Bennett (receives 50 points), each had won five games; T. Taylor (scratch) had won four; D. Richards (receives 80 points) and J. Lloyd (receives 80 points) had won three; G. Collins (receives 50 points) had won two; and G. Hunt (receives 80 points) had won one game only. The brothers Bennett then divided the prizes, and so this novel tournament ended. The best break during the play was A. Bennett's 139 (44 spots).

A tournament took place at Manchester early in March on a Burroughes and Watts ordinary table. The players were W. Fielding (scratch), J. Roberts, sen. (receives 25 points), W. Grundy (receives 25 points), H. Wortley receives 55 points), J. Moss (receives 75 points), W. Moss (receives 75 points), E. Bancroft (receives 100 points), and T. Varden (receives 140 points). W. Moss won all his heats, and took the first prize of £45.

About the same time another American tournament was in progress at Bristol. In this competition D. Richards, G. Collins, John Bennett, A. Hughes, A. Davies, and F. White took part; and John Bennett won it with a record of four victories.

A fortnight afterwards the veteran ex-champion, J. Roberts, sen., won an American tournament at Manchester, in which the following players were engaged:- A. Bennett, W. Timbrell, W. Fielding, H. Wortley, W. Moss, J. Bowell, and J. Moss.

On March 26th the well-known marker and player, "Oxford Jonathan," whose real name was Owen, died from the effects of a surgical operation. His decease to a certain extent severed a link connecting players of the past with those of the present.

On April 3rd yet another billiard tournament of transatlantic origin was commenced at the Westminster Aquarium. The heats were 500 up on an ordinary Burroughes and Watts table, and at the end of seven days play the result was that Joseph Bennett (scratch) and G. Hunt (85 points start) tied with six wins apiece; T. Taylor (scratch), D. Richards (100 points start), A. Hughes ( 130 points start), G. Collins (50 points start), and J. Lloyd (120 points start) tied with three wins each; and F. Bennett (50 points start) won two games only.

As an outcome of this competition, it may be remarked that J. Roberts, jun., the champion, who was present, having just returned from India, challenged Joseph Bennett to a match of 3,000 up on a championship table, for £200, Roberts offering to concede 200.

The match was subsequently arranged to take place on May 23rd, 24th, and 26th, and furnished one of the keenest struggles ever witnessed. On the first day, Roberts, whilst Bennett's score was stationary at 336, took the lead. From this point a close fight occurred, each going in front alternately. When play ceased on the first evening their respective figures were:- Roberts 1,024, Bennett 939. At the finish of the second period of the match Roberts had made 1,987 and Bennett 1,971. During the last stage of the game the battle was of the most stubborn description. Bennett's all-round play was very fine. In one break he made 14 spots, and followed this up with a break of 112. Roberts, however, played in his usual dashing and determined style, and eventually won by 20 points only, his best break being 91.

The winter season of the year opened auspiciously on November 17th with another American tournament. In this event W. Mitchell made his successful debut before mentioned. The heats were 500 up on an ordinary Burroughes and Watts table, and the players were-

Within three days, so excellent was Mitchell's play that the whole billiard world was aroused. His spot-hazards were the talk of metropolitan billiard rooms, and when he played his heat with Joseph Bennett, which, by the way, he won by 104 points, the room was completely crowded. In fact, Mitchell's play alone rendered this identical tournament the most successful ever held at the Aquarium or, indeed, in London.

At the end of seven days' play the result was: