Jottings of the Month

• Stevenson reached Southampton on the Kinfauns Castle on Saturday, Sept. 28, and is now in London. Diggle is back, and Inman and Reece follow at the end of October and Harverson in November.
• Of the principal matches that have been played between Stevenson and Gray in South Africa, Stevenson won at Durban and Kimberley and Gray at Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town.
• Stevenson was accompanied home by his wife and Gray's father, but George Gray left the boat at Madeira, and, after a visit to some continental cities, will rejoin the party at Port Said when the proposed trip to India is presently made.
• Miss Ruby Roberts, who received 4,000 in 8,000 up in a week's play with W. Cook at Leicester Square, won the match by 8,000 to 7,785. In the course of the week although Miss Roberts did not quite succeed in making a one hundred break, she was very near it with a 97 and an 87, and was in the seventies several times.
• John Roberts and T. Newman arrived back in this country from Montreal by the Laurentic, which reached Liverpool on September 22. The return from the intended tour was, as all readers of The Billiard Monthly will sincerely regret to hear, necessitated by the ill-health of John Roberts, who, whilst in Canada, had several heart attacks, notwithstanding which he fulfilled the programme of his engagements in that country with indomitable pluck, and in Vancouver made a break of 378. In all, Roberts and Newman played twenty games in Canada, Newman receiving one-tenth of the game and honours were equally divided. Newman made a 271. The towns visited were Quebec, Ottawa, Montreal, Port Arthur, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Vancouver, and Victoria.
• W. Smith, of Darlington, is expecting to win the great tournament, and in this he may succeed if he again beats Newman. For as regards the rest of the players the handicap seems to be all in his favour. Inman, for example, would have to score three for every two made by Smith and the intermediate players proportionately.
• In a match at Newcastle for the benefit of J. H. Martin, a local professional, W. Smith conceded 200 in 600 to Mr. J. D. Johnson, Scottish amateur, who was only allowed the opportunity actually to score 91, as Smith, with breaks of 365 and other good figures, ran to his points in less than an hour.
• The death has occurred in Edinburgh of T. W. Owens, the billiard professional, at the age of 39 years. Owens belonged to Heriot, in the Gala Water district, and went to Edinburgh as service boy in a billiard-room at the age of 14. Owens was a champion of Edinburgh and of the East of Scotland. He was for some years resident in Glasgow.
• Charles Roberts, the professional billiard player and a well-known teacher and writer on the game, is suffering from a nervous breakdown of somewhat long continuance, and we are glad to hear that a fund in his behalf has been started by The Sporting Life, to whom communications on the subject are invited.
• Apart from the defeat of Inman by Reece, the great feature of the play of English professionals visiting Australia during the past season has undoubtedly been the consistency of Harverson, who won the International Tournament there with great ease, gaining each of three of his heats by over 1.000, and that against Diggle by over 2,000. Harverson's best break in the tournament was 403. As for Diggle he has achieved—for him—the extraordinary distinction in Australia of going through an entire session against Harverson with only three points to his credit, one of which was the result of a miss. And in making these three points Diggle, who for some strange reason forsook his top-of-the-table game and even took to making breaks off the white, went to the table six times.
• Writing to The Billiard Monthly on Aug. 7, 1912, Reece said, "You will see that I have at last beaten Inman. Just off to New Zealand." The match referred to was played in Sydney and was one of 18,000 up, Reece proving successful by 334 points. To an interviewer Reece afterwards said: "Inman has always been on my shoulders. He has unnerved me, made me anxious and fretful and haunted me like a nightmare. Now I have thrown him off and I do not think he will beat me again." Inman put down his defeat to the fact that Reece plays better with crystalates than he does with ivories, but this view Reece does not agree with.
• Lindrum brought out his red ball play with great effect against Inman in Sydney and beat the English champion by 3,609 points in 18,000. Lindrum's average was 46. and Inman's 36. Lindrum made a break of over 500 and six of over 400. Inman's best was 405.
• The excellent form shown by T. Aiken in last season's tournament has been maintained in the matches that he has since played, and the Scottish champion seems certain to put up a good game at Soho Square this winter.

• Snooker Break of 72 at 16.

  

  Jesse James

  In last month's issue we made mention of the remarkable performance of young Jesse James, of Sheffield, aged 16, in making a break of 72 at Snooker on a standard table. A few more particulars of this boy's remarkable play may be of interest. Since Sept. 1st, in ordinary short games of billiards, he has made breaks of 129, 149, 109, 149, 186, 121, 132, 110, 116, 157, 141, and 240. The last break is his record on a full-sized table. He also played Mr. Marsden, a local player, eight games of too up, and gave his opponent a 60 break. In each case he went to game on his second visit to the table. Young James is a quiet, unassuming lad, and is very popular in the district of Sheffield and Chesterfield (where he was born). He is sure to make a fine player; in fact, it is his father's intention to bring him out during the approaching season.

• Because some of his congregation thought "billiards belonged to the devil," and because he was accused of unorthodoxy and indiscretions, the Rev. Frank Milnes, Presbyterian pastor at Pendleton, Oregon, has tendered his resignation. In his farewell sermon he told the congregation there would be a billiard table in every home in America if he had his way.

• "The more," says The Daily Express, "one watches the methods of young Taylor, the more one is convinced that he is not playing in a style suitable for him. George Gray, the Australian marvel, it is true, did wonders with his cramped, ungainly stance, but that is no reason why other players should imitate him and imagine that it is the only style conducive to a successful exposition of billiards."

  With this view and criticism The Billiard Monthly entirely agrees. Taylor should stand up more to his stroke and also abolish his weird method of placing his cue point beyond the ball in sighting.

• So far as we know there has not hitherto been published a good book dealing with Snooker Pool alone. "How to Play Snooker Pool," by Wallace Ritchie, has now, however, been published by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts, Ltd., Soho Square, W., at 1s.
• A great winner of amateur break competitions seems to be Mr. H. Saffer, of Leeds, who has won no fewer than thirty-two with breaks amongst others of 189, 135, and 130.
• As Reece has at last beaten Inman he will probably challenge for the championship, but even so he might not even meet Inman. For if Stevenson is at home and also challenges, Reece would first have to pass Stevenson, which would not be an easy task.
• Stevenson and Gray are, as stated elsewhere, going on to India. If Stevenson is back in England in March of next year will he challenge for the championship? And if he challenges for the championship will the change to ivory balls after a season of matches against Gray with bonzolines suit him?