Wittie (Dorchester).—At Snooker, when only the black ball is left on the table, and a player runs in off it, the game is ended. It is remarkable how many people are in doubt about this very simple rule. Quite a number of people will argue that play should continue until the black ball is pocketed.
B.J.S. (Aldershot).—If treated fairly, a good set of ivory balls will last for years. But it is not fair treatment to play hard hitting games with them as soon as you receive them from the Billiard Table maker. In fact, no forcing strokes should be played with them during the first month. Just tap them about at practice with gentle strokes for a couple of weeks, and then put them away for a week or two. Never leave them in the pockets after play, or expose them to sudden changes of temperature.
R.J. (Berks).—There is no official record respecting the greatest number of points scored at billiards in a given time, but what is assuredly a record for the number of points scored in a single day's play was accomplished by John Roberts and Cecil Harverson at Thurston'» Grand Hall "on Nov. 20th, 1909. In the afternoon session Roberts scored 1,004, and Harverson 1,052, and at night Harverson 1,729 and Roberts 981, making a grand total of 4,766 points for the day's play. The sessions occupied 3 hours and ten minutes and 3 hours 50 minutes respectively, which gives an average of nearly 681 points per hour for seven of nine consecutive hours.
Cue (Bradford).—A billiard player may use any size or weight of cue he cares to manipulate. And there is nothing in the rules to prevent his arming himself with a perfect battery of cues and using whichever he may prefer for a particular stroke. I fear, however, that the introduction of a number of cues would greatly reduce the number of opponents who would be willing to play you a game. There is already a special cue for masse shots, made by Thurston and Co., and I believe by Mannock. But for all other shots I believe that a player who has a true, well-made and perfectly balanced cue, will play better billiards than by trying various kinds. By the way, you do not say whether you would play a heavier or lighter cue for a forcing stroke.
Marker (Brighton).—The rule is that:"A foul stroke must be claimed before the next stroke is made, otherwise it is condoned." In the case of a player who unwittingly uses the wrong ball, and continues to do so for some time before the mistake is discovered, there is no doubt the foul can be claimed as soon as the error is found out. The point is, that every stroke made with the wrong ball is a foul one, and the penalty is as applicable to the last stroke as the first.
Enquirer (Bath).—It is not at all difficult to make a ball "jump," provided you know the way, but if you experiment on the wrong lines you will have good cause to be anxious about the cloth. The whole secret of successfully manipulating the jump lies in making the cue-tip just brush the surface of the cloth immediately before contact with the bottom of the ball aimed at. You can swing the cue quite naturally and bring off the "jump" every time by following this advice, but practice alone will enable you to control the direction of the ball. Speaking generally, the stroke is next to useless at billiards, as it can only be tried very occasionally in a showy attempt to get a loser off a white hanging on the brink of a pocket; and for billiards, you would be well advised to devote your time to practising strokes of general utility instead of the spectacular "jump." But Snooker is a different, proposition, as there can be no doubt that here the stroke has its distinct uses, although a man must have a good nerve to attempt to "jump" over a hostile black in order to pot the last red. It was, however, done a few nights since in our presence, and, incidentally, to our cost.