Writing in The Yorkshire Evening Post, George Nelson, the Yorkshire billiard professional, says:—
"In the last ten years there has come a greater change in the game even than in the conditions of play. Despite the bad name it got there were men wise enough to see that it was not so much the game that was at fault as its surroundings. A few of the churches and chapels had ministers bold enough to put billiard tables in their institutes.
They had much opposition to face, but they proved a success.
I remember one minister, who boldly told his church wardens that the game was of such high character that though it could not be withheld from the wicked it deserved a place in the home of the good. To-day there are over 100 billiard tables in church and chapel institutes in Leeds alone.
An even greater advancement has been made by the temperance billiard hall movement. Twelve years ago there was but one small establishment of this kind in Leeds, but to-day there is one with 45 full-size tables, whilst there are many others with from 4 to 14 tables. Yet Leeds is much behind such towns as Glasgow, Manchester, etc., in this matter. Wakefield is shortly to have a room with 25 to 30 tables. Another with 20 tables is to be opened next month in Halifax. Batley also is to have a billiard hall within the next three months. Everywhere there is greater addition to billiards.
The merits of these halls are that you can generally get a good table at a very cheap rate, and that no gambling is allowed. The man who used to play billiards 20 years ago, and has not been inside one of these establishments can hardly realize what they are like. I once heard the remark that a lot of markers must be needed for 45 tables.
But markers are not expected, or required, in such establishments, and one man looks after from 8 to 12 tables.
That these rooms really fill a social need for the young men of the day seems without question.
I have instances of certain districts where gangs of young fellows perambulated the streets, and got into all kinds of mischief, and boys developed into out-and-out hooligans for want of something better to do. Then came the temperance billiard hall, in which on most winter nights you would find a hundred or more of youths sitting round whilst those who could afford it played.
A certain amount of discipline had to be enforced, and the youths were taught to behave themselves. Surely that is much better than the streets. Anyhow, the police in these districts say that their work is much lighter and easier since the billiard halls opened.
I hear it said that youths are tempted into spending too much money on the game. Well, it might be better for some of them if they spent it, say, on warmer clothing, but, on the other hand, there are many worse ways in which they can spend their cash. One of the duties of the manager of such establishments is to see that no youth spends too much on billiards. It is a duty, too, fairly well carried out, for it is very much to the interest of the proprietors to guard against abuse. Otherwise, he is asking for trouble with the police, who have power to shut his place up without appeal to any authority."