NOW that the champion himself has come out in a new light, and, so to speak, recognised the game of bagatelle by playing a public match for money, we may, we think, be pardoned for calling attention to what is too often an unjustly despised game. Of course no one would for one moment contend that bagatelle is equal to billiards either in interest or science, still it should be borne in mind that there are hundreds and thousands of hotels and private houses where a bagatelle table is possible and a billiard one impossible on the ground of space.
No billiard-room can be considered a really comfortable one under 24 feet in length by 18 feet in width. Now such rooms, especially in private houses, are exceedingly rare, and even when they exist are generally required for other purposes than billiards. The advantage that bagatelle possesses over billiards is that a table, and a good-sized one too, can be accommodated in almost every house.
We would, however, give one word of warning against what we would call toy-shop tables. Of course some of those folding-up boards are at times useful as an amusing game for children, but it is impossible to get them true, and unless the table be fairly true the element of skill is almost eliminated. Much of the abuse so freely lavished on bagatelle is owing to the fact of the tables being badly made and out of order. Just as every billiard player knows that really good play is impossible save on a good table, so does every bagatelle player know with regard to his own game. A good bagatelle table in one respect resembles a billiard table—it is a combination of slate, india-rubber, and wood, that requires special skilled workmen to construct it.
Now all billiard players who have had the misfortune to come across a billiard table that has been made by some cabinet maker will recollect, notwithstanding the brightness of the cloth and polish of the mahogany, how for real playing purposes it could not for one moment compare with the real thing turned out by the hands of manufacturers who devote themselves solely to the purpose.
So, too, is it essential that a bagatelle table should be the work of those who understand the business. In fact a really good bagatelle table can be made as level and as true, in regard to angles, &c., as a billiard-table itself, and when this desideratum is obtained the game is by no means to be despised.
Modern Bagatelle, too, is far different to the old-fashioned game in which the table contained nine cups. Some tables are now made without cups or pockets at all, and resemble the French cannon game; other tables, too, have pockets. We will at some future period refer to the different games of bagatelle at greater length.