| No. 3 Vol. 1 : June, 1911 |  |
Price 2/6 per annum (Post Free) : Single Copies 2d (2½d Post Free). |
NOTES BY THE WAY
CONCERNING A VARIETY OF TOPICS
It was our intention to commence these notes with a reference to the past season. But we have changed our mind, and decided to shiver a lance with orthodoxy by maintaining that a billiard season does not exist to an extent which makes the game an intrusion at any time of the year. Other sports have their clearly denned orbits, and must not deviate by a day from their inherent chronological limitations. At the end of April football ceases as completely as if it meant penal servitude for the participants in a football match, and when the autumn leaves begin to fall the cricketer knows that ere long he must compute the averages of yet another season past and gone. But there is nothing quite like this in billiards. The game is always with us to a greater or lesser extent, and even when it is at zero as regards tournaments and exhibition games, there is far too much billiards played for the game to be written down as out of season. The fact is that billiards is played whenever opportunity occurs, and what is known as the billiard season is simply the time of year which offers the greatest number of opportunities.
Naturally, people want to be out of doors when tile sun is shining on a fine summer's day, and few except extreme enthusiasts would play billiards for choice on such an occasion. But if the evil spirit who is always at the elbow of the Clerk of the Weather in our part of the globe suggests "rain," it rains accordingly, and in a style which sends the flannelled cricketers and tennis players pell-mell to shelter, then what is the matter with billiards provided there is a table available? Do any of them talk about the game being "out of season"? Not a bit of it, they play and are grateful for the existence of such a grand indoor pastime which always fits the hour. And when the elms have flung their last long shadows athwart the cricket-pitch, and the last crow has circled noisily to rest, what is better than a pipe and a quiet game of billiards in the club with a friend?
Even the hardened amateur horticulturist, after wrestling with stubborn docks and hefty thistles, is by no means averse to billiards when the light gets so bad out of doors that it is hard to tell weeds from the rightful heirs of the soil. And with all this weight of evidence on our side, why should we admit that billiards shares with many other good things the transient honour of a "season"?
Billiards Past
Yet we are compelled to dally with paradox by admitting the existence of a"season "so far as important matches in public are concerned, but even here the rule applies that given the opportunity billiards of the highest class is played without over much regard for the time of year. For instance, Gray and Inman will be playing next week. But this is not "billiards past," and without further ado we will take a glance at what is commonly known as the "past season." Happily, as regards the government of the game there is very little except steady progress to write about.
The Billiards Control Club has done excellently by getting its handicap average into operation, and it has also brought another professional championship to a successful close. In addition, the West End Clubs' Championship, originally promoted by the B.C.C., was carried out most successfully.
The Inter-Hospital Competition was another B.C.C. event which went extremely well during the past season. Teams were entered from the following hospitals:—St. Bartholomew's, University College, Guy's, St. Mary's, Middlesex St. Thomas's, and after a number of good games victory rested with the Bart's, men by quite a convincing margin. There can be no doubt that next year, this competition will be one of the most notable contests between amateur cuemen in the Metropolis, as the participants evinced a very keen interest in the affair, and there is every indication that as time progresses Billiards will claim its full share of attention from the sporting medical students and others. The monthly competitions promoted by the B.C.C. were also decidedly successful, and taking everything into consideration it is undeniable that the governing body of Billiards has done good work for the game during the past season.
George Gray v. "The Rest"
On another page will be found an account of an interview with Melbourne Inman, who will be in the midst of a keen match with George Gray, when these lines appear in print. It is not our intention to discuss the contest. We prefer to look further ahead, and reckon on the probabilities of next- season's doings, using the word "season" in its customary meaning. Then, unless we are very much mistaken, it will be a case of "Gray v. The Rest." It will be stern strenuous billiards all the way, and with ivory balls. This must be. George Gray has had a wonderful vogue under exceptional playing conditions, and on his merits has deserved every atom of his success. But next season he will have to open a fresh chapter in his billiard life, and he must meet such cuemen as Stevenson, Diggle, Inman, Reece, and Harverson, and play them with the ivory ball. Then we shall see what we shall see, but it is really astonishing to find expert opinion divided so sharply as to what is likely to happen when Gray essays to conquer the ivory ball. Quit© recently, a very fine player said to us —"I have been playing billiards all my life, and have earned my living at the game for many years. But when I saw George Gray for the first time I learned more about billiards in ten minutes than I ever knew before. I feel certain that all we English players have framed our game on the wrong lines, and that next season Gray will beat us all and win the Championship with ivory balls." This was praise indeed, but almost immediately afterwards an equally eminent professional expressed his willingness to play Gray level for a substantial stake any time during the next two years, ivory balls to be used. He even went so far as to express the opinion that we shall have to wait for two or three years before Gray will strike an ivory ball in serious billiards in this country. When first-class players differ so widely in their forecast of Gray's future the situation becomes interesting.
The Next Championship
It may seem somewhat premature to discuss the next Championship at this time of the year, but the support given to the last Championship proves that nothing should be left undone which is likely to increase public interest in the contest. And if the next Championship is to be pushed home to a triumphant issue it is not too early to get to work with important preliminaries. It is quite a mistake to leave these things until a week or two before they are due and then expect to work up public interest in a hurry. There is ample material for a record Championship next year, but nothing of note can be hoped for unless the requisite amount of "collar work" is put in. Diggle has been playing so well of late that it ought to be possible to persuade him to enter, and it is to be assumed that the two redoubtables, Inman and Reece, will appear again. Then, last, but by no means least, George Gray is on the scene. It is to be hoped that all four of the players mentioned will enter, and thus give us three games in the competition proper to decide who is to have the honour of meeting Stevenson in the game for the Championship. We ought to know all about this a few months before the games take place. It might even be possible to know it now. Diggle would doubtless answer a question if he was asked, and Inman could be approached before sailing for South Africa. Gray is in the country, and apparently likely to remain, and Reece is not beyond the reach of a cable. We have heard it said that the championship match is likely to be played at least four weeks earlier than was the case this year. This will be appreciated by many patrons of the game, who become interested in other sports when Spring has set in.
Billiard Books
The bibliography of billiards is far move extensive and extends over a greater period of time than many people imagine. As far as we have been able to trace, the record of the first reference in print to billiards is in "La Maison des Jeux Academiques" (Par Estienne Loyson), 1642. In English, the earliest mention of the game is in "The Compleat Gamester"; or Instructions how to play Billiards, Trucks, Bowls and Chess, by Cotton, London, 1674. As regards numbers, it will doubtless surprise many devotees of the game to learn that in our language alone there are more than a hundred books dealing with the noble game.