EDITORIAL

Sydenham Dixon

IT seems highly probable that the number of those who play billiards greatly exceeds that of those who take an active part in any one other game or sport. We meet plenty of men who have never handled a cricket bat or ball in their lives; there must be many hundreds of thousands who have not yet succumbed to the fascination of golf; even football is more remarkable for the immense multitude who enact the part of lookers-on, than for the number of actual players; but it is rare indeed to encounter a man who cannot do something with a billiard cue. If these facts are admitted—and a little reflection will convince any one that they are incontrovertible—it seems strange indeed that nearly every important sport and pastime, except billiards, possesses a newspaper devoted to its special interests.

Two or three efforts have certainly been made to supply this want, but there is not much difficulty in detecting the cause of the failure of each one of them. In every case the professional player has been catered for, but little or no attention has been paid to the claims of the amateur.

Surely this must be a very grave mistake—indeed, a fatal one—if a newspaper devoted solely to games played upon a billiard table is to prove a lasting success. No one recognises more fully than I do what the game owes to professional players. In no game or sport is there such a "wide gulf fixed" between the ability of the professional and amateur, and this gulf can never be bridged over, because to attain to the level of players like Diggle or Stevenson requires an amount of private practice and public play that no amateur could possibly obtain, even if he could afford to devote sufficient time to the game.

IT may be freely admitted that no one knows what billiards really is until he has seen the masters of their art give exhibitions of their wonderful skill; but, when all is said and done, the really great players of any decade may always be counted by units. The amateurs, on the other hand, are innumerable, and it is a curious fact that lack of success and constant failures never seem to daunt them, nor to materially detract from their thorough enjoyment of the game. In this respect billiards has always appeared to me to be quite unique. A batsman who never scores, or a fielder who drops every catch, speedily becomes disgusted with cricket; no absolutely hopeless duffer perseveres very long with football; the man who does not possess the faculty of becoming a fairly good golf player usually employs a vast amount of bad language, gives away the few clubs he has not broken, and abandons the game.

Numerous other examples could be brought forward, but these will suffice.

WITH billiards, however, the case is altogether different. Thousands and thousands play week after week without any hope—or, apparently, much desire—of attaining even average amateur form. Double figures are a rarity with them, and a break of twenty an achievement to be talked about, yet they apparently derive quite as much pleasure from the game as if they were constantly making a hundred off the balls. It seem? to me, therefore, that no mistake can have been made in determining that THE WORLD OF BILLIARDS shall be devoted primarily to the interests of the amateur.

HAVING this in view, I esteem myself very fortunate in having been able to secure the services of John P. Mannock, whose lessons in billiards will appear week by week, and will, I hope and believe, form by far the most complete instruction book on the game that has ever been issued.

Mannock requires no introduction from me. With the exception of the retired champion, Joseph Bennett, he has probably never had a rival as a teacher, and it is quite certain that all that it is possible to impart in book form will be found in his lessons. Any questions arising out of these lessons will be answered by him in the columns of the paper, and I hope presently to submit a weekly problem, the solution of which may afford some amusement as well as instruction. Then I trust that the "On Sale or Exchange" column will prove useful to amateurs who may wish to buy, sell, or exchange anything connected with the billiard room.

PROFESSIONALS may rest assured that they will not be neglected. An account of their performances is interesting to thousands, but elaborate details of the play on each afternoon and evening appear to me to be quite out of place in a weekly paper. Enthusiastic followers of the game are certain to have read all these particulars from day to day, whilst those who are not enthusiasts do not care to wade through them en bloc. My aim will be to give a critical notice of each important match, whilst special pains will be taken to secure accurate averages, for it cannot be too strongly insisted upon that a man's average is the crucial test of his ability. A list will be kept of those players who are willing to accept engagements for exhibition matches, and their services can be secured by letter or telegram to the office of this paper.

THE WORLD OF BILLIARDS will appear on every Wednesday from October to April inclusive, and upon the last Wednesday in each month from May to September inclusive. It would be comparatively easy to issue it weekly throughout the year if I cared to introduce cricket, golf, cycling, and other kindred sports. These, however, are admirably and fully dealt with in the sporting Press and in their own special organs and I consider it wiser to virtually take a holiday during the summer, merely issuing the paper once a month in order to keep in touch with my readers.