Billiard Incident and Humour
- "Been to Egypt, haven't you? Pyramids, I suppose? "" No, they only played snooker."
- One evening, during the progress of a match, whilst
Dawson was compiling a good break, an Irishman
amongst the onlookers remarked audibly: "Oh,
bejabers, he's ounly to spake to thim, and they come
togither."
- I remember a rather humorous incident in relation to
John Roberts's sight which happened some 16 or 17
years ago. He was to give Reece 2,000 in 9,000, and
I asked Reece how he fancied his chance. "Fancy my
chance," replied he "Why, I could beat him level,
and with lots to spare." When later on Reece played
his game I looked in on the Thursday afternoon. Reece
was then only some 300 points ahead, and when I chaffed
him, quite good-naturedly, about Roberts's million to
one chance, he whispered: "They told me the 'old
man' was blind. But he isn't." Reece was quite right.
- The "old man" was not blind, and as he made his
record break of 821spot-barred and push-barredthree
years later, when he was 57, his eyesight for billiards
showed no signs of failing even then.Riso Levi.
- In the billiard room at the Dallas Hotel, Nanaimo,
we were having a quiet game, a few loungers seated
around. Now in Western Canada players are expected
to bring their own balls, for reasons which every player
in those free latitudes well understands. (The billiard
table is considered to be sufficiently immobile to be
reasonably safe.) A disagreement arising between us as
to the legality of a stroke played with both feet off the
floor, we walked to the end of the room to consult the
rules. On returning we at once missed the red, which
prolonged search failed to discover. Going to the street
door I found there one of Jack London's typical tramps,
and explained fully to him our little difficulty, placing
a half-dollar in his hand. Within ten minutes he was
back, with a piebald ivory red, which is still in the
writer's possession.J. P. G.
- George Nelson, the ex-professional champion of Yorkshire, says that it is quite possible, on a fairly fast
table, to screw in off the red from spot without bringing
the red into baulk, and also to screw back from spot
into the middle pocket, the cue ball being in hand in
both cases. He relates that he once got Reece to play
the latter stroke under somewhat curious circumstances.
In conversation (says Nelson) Reece told me that he had
lost all idea of screwing a ball the length of the table
away. I ventured to tell him that I knew the reason
and that I could make him screw in-off into the middle,
let alone the top pocket, if he would take my advice.
He took me to his house at Golders Green, and there in
about ten minutes I had him screwing in-off into the
middle pocket. It was just a little matter of cue
delivery. "To screw a ball three-parts of the length of
a table away, the stroke must come from the shoulder.
Otherwise, you have great difficulty in getting the ball
to carry the spin any distance."
- At a recent dinner to Sid Pemberton, the Sunderland
professional, one of the speakers, a member of the local
Town Council, said that in a game of billiards he once
wanted 88 to win, whereas his opponent only wanted 12,
and to the great surprise of everybody he (the speaker)
ran out. This was greeted by applause, whereupon the
councillor added: "Out of the door!" When I play billiards it is generally with three other
members of the Town Council. We enter the billiard
room at twenty past seven and start a game of a
hundred up. People keep coming in, and, seeing who
are playing, go out againthey know there is no hope!
The game, with its many thrills, continues, and, when
closing time arrives, we pay our threepence each and
declare the match a draw! "A North-Country Town
Councillor.
- Reece was rather bothered over a "covered leave,"
and he finally tried a steeplechase, or jump shot. Getting
the edge of the tip right under his ball, Reece lofted
it all right, but, unfortunately, altogether too high. It
went beyond the table, straight to where Inman was
sitting. Like a cricketer taking a snap catch in the
slips, the old champion fastened on to the flying ball
and called "Out!" amidst much laughter. "Ivor,"
in The Sporting Chronicle.
- A correspondent recalls, apropos of Sergt. Goundrill's
one-arm performance at billiards before the King and
Queen, that some years ago an amateur who had lost
an arm took part in a handicap in which he used a
small weighted block for a rest, and this was removed
by a friend after each stroke had been made. The
Billiard Player does not see why a cue with a tiny
rubber wheel fixed below it should not be used by one-armed players.
- The Billiard Player had always regarded the familiar
story about the origin of billiards as purely imaginative, but now Mr. R. Coddington, of Buxton, Derbyshire, says that he has actually in his possession a
manuscript, written in the latter part of the 16th century,
which claims to give the origin of the game. It states
that a man named Bill Kerr, a pawnbroker, had a shop
near St. Paul's Cathedral, and amongst things that he
possessed were three gold balls. He spent his spare
time in knocking these balls about with a yard measure.
He seemed to have been on very friendly terms with the
canons connected with the cathedral, one of whom suggested that he should have a board made, with cushions
round, and a pocket at each corner. Bill took the hint
and had the board made as suggested, and also a stick
to play with, which he called a" kue. "The new game
was noised about, and soon became popular. The game
derived its name from "Bill"after the name of the
inventorand "iard"after the yard measure. That,
says Mr. Coddington, is the history of the game's origin
and nomenclature.