It is as nearly as possible sixty years ago that I first took a cue in my hand. I was at school at Brixton Hill at the time, and on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons we used to play cricket on Clapham Common. When our team were batting, and we felt that we should not be wanted for at least an hour, I and my inseparable chum" Ricky "—now General George Richardson, in command of the Ulster Army—used to sneak away to the "Wind Mill" Hotel, which, I fancy, is still in existence, and struggle desperately through a 50 up. We were severely handicapped by possessing scarcely an elementary knowledge of the game, and also by the fact that the room was on the ground floor, the windows were very low, and the non-striker always had to " keep cave," to avoid our detection by one of t h e masters. On warning being given of the approach of the e n e m y both players immediately went to ground under the table.
This was my first taste of billiards, but I certainly never dreamt that I should be so closely connected with the game in after life.
It was in 1868 that I first made the acquaintance of some of the leading players of the day.
I had just joined a new club, the Bentinck, which was built upon the site afterwards occupied by the Vaudeville Theatre. To celebrate the opening of this club a handicap of 200 up was played. Writing from memory, after this lapse of time I cannot recall the names of all the players, but I know that John Roberts, sen. (owed 20 points), John Roberts, jun. (rec.
20), William Cook (rec. 20), and Charles Hughes (rec. 30) took part in it, and the last named won. At that time the elder Roberts must have been about fifty-three years of age.
No one seems to be quite clear as to the year of his birth, but my researches made it out to be 1815, and I do not think that I am far Mr. Sydenham Dixon.
wrong. He was always a" rough diamond," possessing none of the remarkable personality of his more famous son. He certainly could not be accused of being a" dressy "man, and would have been a remarkable figure at Thurston's or Burroughes Hall in the present day, as I never saw him play without a soft felt hat on his head.
His power of cue was phenomenal. It was something of a feat to knock a ball off the table in those days when the cushions were so high that, if the cue ball was touching one of them, an indifferent player was quite likely to miss the object ball. Yet Roberts could knock both cue and object ball off the table, and send them both flying to the end of a long room with unerring certainty. He was rather fond of displaying his skill in this direction, and he also had another favourite little trick. This was to take his sight at the object ball, and then to turn his head to speak to one of the spectators, and play the stroke whilst in that position. This was always sure of a round of applause, but is not so difficult as might be imagined. In those days a billiard match was not such a deadly solemn function as it has gradually become, and Roberts could always be relied upon to introduce an element of comedy into it. I always fancied that there was method in some of his farcical speeches and performances, and that he fancied that they were not calculated to improve his opponent's play. The highest break that Roberts ever made was one of 346 (104 spot strokes). This was put together at Saville House, Leicester Square, in March, 1862, and was the talk of the town for more than the customary nine days. Neither before nor after that date did Roberts ever make 300 off the balls in public, a striking evidence of the enormous strides that have been made in the game during the last half century. Supposing that he could make a second appearance on earth to-morrow, retaining his very best form, it is quite certain that a player of the class of Aiken could safely be backed to give him a start of 6,000 in 16,000, or possibly a little more. Yet I have no hesitation in writing that he had an absolute genius for the game, and that, had he lived in these days, and enjoyed all the advantages of present-day performers in the way of very perfect tables, cushions, cloths, etc., he would have held his own.