On May 27 a month's match, played at the Soho Square Salon, by Stevenson and Diggle, for a sealed break prize, and other inducements, offered by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts, Ltd., was brought to a conclusion, and will go down in billiard industry as aiding the settlement of an important question connected with exhibition play.
The question referred to is that of time versus points, upon which valuable data have now been provided.
Playing a strict two hours during each of the 48 sessions, Stevenson succeeded in making 30,735 points, and Diggle (who was nominally allowed a 5,000 start) actually scored —apart from this nominal start—38,123 points. This represents a combined total of 68,858 points, or a combined average of 717 points per hour.
What these figures would seem to demonstrate is that, even with fairly even scoring and a certain amount of safety play, the conventional 750 points per two hours' session are not too many to set a first-class exponent of the game to make. As a matter of fact, Diggle made an average of close on 400 points in each of the 96 hours, whilst Stevenson made an average of 320, so that if Stevenson had only gone out to the extent of 83 more points per hour, the possibility of some approach to an 800 two-hour session with even scoring would have been demonstrated.
We are, therefore, inclined to favour the view that no billiard session need exceed two hours in length and that the method of time play, with or without handicapping, might very well and safely be substituted for the system of play by points.
In a sketch relating to Edward Diggle, which is published on Page 10, an analysis is made of his month's breaks, and it may be added here that, by making a break of 686, Diggle exceeded by one the sealed break figure allotted to him, and was, consequently, awarded the sealed break prize. Stevenson's sealed break figure was 790, but his highest breaks for the month were four exceeding the fourth century. His others were 5 exceeding 300, 20 exceeding 200, and 64 exceeding 100.
Diggle, as stated on Page 10, made 1 exceeding 600, 1 exceeding 500, 3 exceeding 400, 6 exceeding 300, 19 exceeding 200, and 86 exceeding 100.
The spectators who competed for the handsome prize of a combined billiard and dining table (" Billiardiner "), offered by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts, Ltd., for the highest red ball break, starting with the red ball on the centre spot, were not quite so successful, 18 (or six successive scores) representing the winning total.