Jottings of the Month

• Mr. Richard Talbot, who at one time held the billiards championship of Yorkshire, and was the Dewsbury billiards champion for twenty years, has just passed away at the Blackpool Hospital. He was well known amongst the older school of players. One of his proudest boasts was that he trained "Charlie" Dawson and brought out Tom Reece. He had his home in Blackpool, and had charge of the billiard rooms in Blackpool hotels.
• Although we are in June, neither the professional nor the amateur season is over, and at the Bedford Head Hotel, Tottenham Court Road, under the auspices of Mr. J. P. Mannock, an interesting amateur handicap is proceeding, with heats of 250 up.
• For a prize presented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the head markers at the Hotel Metropole and the Hotel Victoria competed on May 11. The game was divided into two halves of 500 each, partly played at one hotel and partly at the other, and at the Hotel Victoria in the evening the Hotel Metropole head marker (Charles) ran out winner by 269 points.
• It is stated that Albert Williams, a one-armed billiard player, made a record snooker break of 74 on May 14 in a match in the billiard salon attached to the Picture House in New Street, Birmingham. The break was made up of eight blacks, one blue, one green, and ten reds. John Roberts and James Harris had each previously made a snooker break of 73.
• With the completion of the professional tournament at Burroughes Hall, Soho Square, the annual West End Markers' Competition has been in progress at the same venue, and some interesting play has been witnessed. In the heat between G. Clarke, Junior Carlton Club (owes 50), and H. Holliwell, Motor Club (owes 30), great interest was manifested. The result was: Holliwell, 500, v. Clarke, 398.
• Reece, whose departure for Australia had been delayed through illness, and who has in the meantime managed to beat Inman in an 18,000 game by half of the thousand points that he received, left on May 21 for Marseilles, there to join the liner "Medina" for Melbourne. Reece expects to be back early in October, and his principal fixtures in Australia will be three matches of a fortnight each with Lindrum, and possibly a few games in Canada.
• Gray and Newman commenced their third meeting of the season in a match of 18,000 up at the Holborn Hall on May 25, and the game is still proceeding. In the first of the three matches Gray conceded 4,000 points, but the result was: Newman, 18,000, v. Gray, 15,164. This match was also played in the Holborn Hall. The second match, at Manchester, ended in a draw as follows: Gray, 17,232, v. Newman (rec. 2,000), 16,707.
• Gray does not yet seem to get thoroughly at home with the ivory ball, although he has again made breaks exceeding 600 with that medium. Playing against Newman in London on February 6, he made a break of 634, and against the same player in Manchester, on May 13, and again on May 17, he made 662, including records of 642 and 636 off the red.
• On May 12 at Manchester he also made a break of 658, of which no fewer than 654 were scored off the red, thus beating by no fewer than 111 points his previous best red ball record of 543, made in the first Holborn Hall match against Newman, On May 10, in the same match, he made a 571.
• As Inman was in doubt at one point during his last match with Reece as to which ball was his, Reece suggested to him that perhaps it was the red.
• When Inman's far specialist said to him: "You must have had a good deal of trouble lately," Inman is said to have replied: "Not so much as some of my friends."
• Some suggested break-limiting methods:—All strokes to count one each; all strokes to count two each; red to count one and white three; losing hazards one, cannons two, and winners three; re-spot the balls at every 100.
• A match of 17,000 up is being played at the Grand Hall, Leicester Square, between Inman and Smith, the latter receiving 2,500. A feature of this match is that the players have agreed that no more than 75 points shall be scored consecutively off the red ball.
• This has long been a Billiard Monthly suggestion, but it has been accompanied with the proposed revival to the extent of 25 consecutive strokes of the winning hazard.
• The match that was in progress at Darlington when we last went to press, between W. Smith and young Harry Taylor, in the course of which the boy-player made breaks of 354 and 223 in a single-session, had to be discontinued with the scores standing: Taylor, 12,608, v. Smith, 11,804, on account of the indisposition of Smith, who was suffering from influenza. Taylor was receiving 4,000 in 16,000.