118.—"Can a player having his ball in hand (both other balls being out of baulk) give a safety miss by playing against a baulk cushion, leaving his ball in baulk? If the two other balls, or one of them, are in baulk, can he give a safety miss by playing in same way?"
The only way in which such a safety miss could be legally made into baulk from hand would be the quixotic method of playing against the bottom cushion with sufficient force to bring the ball back into baulk after it had traversed two lengths of the table.
119.—"If the striker hits the ball and it leaves the bed of the table and runs along the cushion top and then falls into a pocket does that count a score for him?"
The rule is as follows:—
"If a ball be forced from the table, but is prevented by any object, except the table, or any of its fixed appurtenances, from falling to the floor, or if it lodge on the cushion, the woodwork, or any of the fixed appurtenances of the table, and remain there, it shall be treated as a ball forced from the table." From this rule it is clear that if a ball either returns to the table or enters a pocket it is treated as though it had not left the table at all.
120.—"I have a billiard room in my private house with a three-quarter table, and invite friends to play. They have asked if they might contribute towards the gas and general expenses, as they would feel more free to come in if they could do so. They suggested having a box so that they could put in what they liked or so much a game. Could I legally allow same, or must I make a proprietary club of it? If the latter how should I set about it?"
If they (the guests) contribute to the expenses or pay so much a game it becomes a proprietary club and a license must be sought from the local justices. See proposition 2, The Billiard Monthly, November, 1910, page 1. The payment of so much for gas and general expenses, even by way of a box, after the order of charitable institutions, would be held by the justices to be a mere evasion of the law, a subject regarding which they are jealous.
121.—"How is it that a new billiard cloth on a match table is so fast, although naturally possessing more nap than a worn one?"
It is the extra quality and the thinness of the cloths that count in this connection. Other things being equal, the thinner a billiard cloth is, i.e., the nearer its surface gets to the slates, the faster will it be.
122.—"Do you advise an amateur to imitate Gray's stooping method and attitude generally at the table?"
No. It suits Gray's height and chief stroke, but for all-round billiards the square stance is, in our opinion, a mistake. The more the left foot is brought round, consistently with the face and arm being kept straight, the freer is the swing of the cue. As to the stooping low, the idea of this is to see as far back along the cue as possible, but if the cue is working on or parallel with the intended run of the cue ball this does not matter, and the points to look at, once the cue has been adjusted, are the sighting point of the centre of the cue ball and the objective point—which is always (except in full ball strokes) just twice as far from the centre of the object ball as the desired point of contact.
123.—"In judging an angle is the line taken all the way to the final objective or only a short distance beyond the object ball?"
At the outset it may be as well to judge all angles at, say, a foot beyond the object ball. At varying distances angles look different, but when taken over a short distance they look alike. Later you will get the angle, whatever the distance, "in the eye."
124.—"If a player, after striking a red which he aimed for, should run in off the black, am I right in marking one away? They maintain it is seven away here, but if I get your word I shall know what to do"
Of course you are right. To carry the seven penalty the black must be wrongly struck first. If it is struck subsequently that is merely an incident and has no effect except in helping the red shot.
125.—"I have often seen it stated that in making screw strokes the cue should be gripped or pinched at the moment of contact, but the other evening I happened to send my cue easily through the ball with a perfectly loose hold and, to my astonishment, the ball rippled back half the length of the table?"
You have made one of the most illuminating discoveries that billiards affords and we should strongly advise you to stick to it.
126.—"Can a ball be said to be 'pushed' if the cue has been removed from it before it reaches another ball?"
The barred push with the cue is quite a different thing from the old push with the flat mace, and its illegality consists in the absence of recoil between ball and ball which would make close strokes, now impossible except by aid of the masse, easy and simple.
127.—" Under what circumstances is it necessary to use side in billiards. I think this would be a good thing for many beginners like myself to know?"
You are in a happy state of mind on this subject and also of billiard experience. One of the greatest obstacles in the way of the ordinary amateur's progress is the unnecessary use of side. The plain ball—other things being equal—has everything in its favour, including strength, which can be much more sensitively regulated in this way. The chief uses of side are:—(1) Widening or sharpening the angle, after contact, of a slow ball; (2) bringing the cue ball freely of slowly off a cushion; (3) enlarging an otherwise blind pocket; and (4) avoiding a kiss by making a slightly different contact for which the side afterwards compensates. For fast strokes, either forcing or screw, side is useless, unless so much pace is taken out of the cue ball by a thick contact that the nap of the cloth is able to influence its course, or unless a blind pocket has to be taken at high speed.