THE following letter appeared in the Sportsman, after THE WORLD OF BILLIARDS had gone to press, but think it advisable to reproduce it, in order to make the correspondence between "Huddersfield" and H. W. Stevenson as complete as possible:
To the Editor of the Sportsman. —
Sir,—In reply "Huddersfield's" letter, which appeared in last Friday's Sportsman, regarding the championship, it seems to me that the "tall talk" is apparently on the other side.
Having seen in print that Dawson could concede me points and a beating, surely the odds of 2 to 1 playing level are reasonable. However, if "Huddersfield" puts in an appearance prior to the contest for the championship, my supporter will be pleased to meet him. I also wish to point out that whatever appears in black and white above my signature will be adhered to; therefore there can be no question of "bluffing." Now, regarding Dawson conceding me 3,000 in 21,000 up, I do not think I am in want of any points from him, but I will climb down as suggested by "Huddersfield," and will play him at these points for £250 aside. You hold £100 on my behalf, and if this offer is not accepted within one week, to save wasting any further time and useless paper talk, I beg you to return my cheque.
—Yours, etc., H. W. STEVENSON, The University Club, Glasgow, November 19th.
["Huddersfield" has closed with this last offer.— ED. THE WORLD OF BILLIARDS].
F. Bateman, the young Birmingham professional, had a somewhat weird experience last Saturday afternoon. On reaching the Dean Street Saloon, where he had been engaged all the week in playing his heats with E. Diggle in Messrs. Burroughes' and Watts' great handicap, he at once proceeded to his case, and, unlocking it, took out his cue. He had not been at all satisfied with his play on the preceding day, and fancying that his cue required attention, carried it into the office, and sent the boy in attendance on the players for a piece of sand paper. During the absence of the boy he placed the butt of his cue on the ground, encircling it with his left arm, and remained standing by the side of a desk, a position from which he never moved.
THE boy was back again in about two minutes, as the sand-paper was in an adjoining room, but, when Bateman mechanically put out his right hand to take hold of the cue, he simply grasped empty air, the "stick" having vanished, leaving "not a wrack behind." The unfortunate player's bewilderment was complete. He knew he had never moved from the one spot, and he was morally certain that no one had come into the room, yet the solid fact remained that the cue had disappeared.
HAD this happened at the Egyptian Hall, it might have been thought that Mr Maskelyne was responsible for the mystery, but this explanation would not do for Dean Street, and though Diggle was laughingly accused of having attempted to "get at" his opponent in this insidious fashion, it happened that the Manchester crack did not come into the building until after the loss of the cue was discovered. Just as a matter of form a thorough search was made all over the house, but it proved futile, and, a quarter of an hour after time, a start had to be made, Bateman using a second cue, which he always carries in his case, but with which he scarcely ever plays.
HE might well tell me that he "felt quite creepy," and it is certain that, for fully half an hour, he was dead off his game. Then, strangely enough, he suddenly seemed to recover his touch, and I have never seen him play better than he did for the remainder of the afternoon. His runs of nursery cannons were simply perfect, and the only sign he showed that he was using a strange cue was when he twice broke down over delicate little screw "losers" that he would have made to a certainty with his customary weapon.
WHEN Diggle had reached his points, after a somewhat protracted "sitting," we adjourned again to the office, and Bateman gave a dramatic recital of the entire episode of the lost cue, standing as nearly as possible on the same spot that he had previously occupied, and "posing" just as he had done when the incident occurred. When he had finished he said: "It couldn't have gone down there, could it?" pointing to a little hole, about the size of a shilling, in the floor cloth.
SUCH a question seemed ridiculous, yet this mouse-hole, as it looked to be, was really the key to the puzzle. The kamptulicon was split at the edges of the little hole, there was a gap in the boards the size of the palm of one's hand, and experiments with another cue showed that its weight was quite sufficient to take it into the cellar beneath. It was a singular thing indeed that Bateman should have placed the butt of his cue exactly over this hole, and he must have been engrossed in thought not to have noticed it slip through his arm. It is any reasonable odds that this explanation is the correct one, though no-one in the establishment appeared to know how to get into the cellar, and I could not wait to witness the recovery of the wanderer.
CALLING in at the Hotel Victoria on my way home, I found Mr. E. C. Ogden playing with another amateur. I should fancy that Mr. Ogden, who made a fine show in the Amateur Championship of 1899, but was abroad when the contest took place this year, is a certain competitor next Spring, and is pretty sure to take his own part. His opponent on Saturday was the most marvellous cannon player I have ever seen perform on an English table, and I could easily believe that, in the old days of the "push," he once made a break of just over 700. Though manifestly out of practice on Saturday, and constantly playing the wrong game, it seemed almost impossible to place the balls in any position from which he could not make a cannon.