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.