EDITORIAL

ONCE more, very much against my will, I am compelled to devote a paragraph or two to a personal matter. It has come to my knowledge that a few of Mr. H. Batty-Smith's numerous friends are under the impression that certain sentences which appeared in THE WORLD OF BILLIARDS of December 27 were intended as attacks upon that gentleman. I have studied the two articles in which these sentences occur most carefully, and am bound to write that I do not see how any such construction can possibly be placed upon them. However, that there may be no mistake or misunderstanding in the matter, let me write most emphatically that I am not such a poor sportsman as to feel in the slightest degree aggrieved because Mr. Batty-Smith supported Col. Atkinson in the recent election, and that I should certainly not have allowed a covert attack to be made upon him in a paper which I edit. No one shirks a fight less than I do if I believe the cause to be a good one, in fact I am afraid I rather enjoy it, but I think even my enemies will admit that I have always fought fairly and openly, and not by innuendo or insinuation.

THE sentence to which Mr. Batty-Smith's friends took special exception occurred in the article entitled "The Billiard Association's New President," and ran thus, "It was a triumph all round, won in the teeth of an unscrupulous opposition." It may be a matter of opinion whether the word "unscrupulous" was too strong for the occasion, but it is absolutely certain that it could not have referred to the Chairman. The writer might as well have accused the Speaker of the House of Commons of favouring one party or the other in the course of a heated debate!! It was as recently as our number of December 5 that I wrote of Mr.

Batty-Smith as a chairman of a meeting in these terms, "I have yet to meet with his equal in that position. He possesses, in a rare and remarkable degree, the faculty of regarding a question from every point of view, and, whatever his own opinions may be, can always be relied upon to give the fullest weight to those of others." Nothing that has transpired since then has caused me to alter my view in the slightest degree. The reasons which induced Mr. Batty-Smith to resign his offices of Honorary Treasurer and Chairman to the Billiard Association concern himself alone. No one regrets that he should have felt compelled to do so more than I do, for no one has had the same opportunities that I have had of judging of all the splendid work he 'has done, and I - most sincerely hope that, in the near future, he may be induced to take office again.

A GREAT deal of business was got through in a remarkably short space of time at the last Committee Meeting of the Billiard Association. The resignation of Mr. W. W. Stevens, the Secretary, was accepted with.much regret, but that gentleman felt that he could not possibly give the time that will be required during the next two months, and has acted as I felt sure from my long acquaintance with him he would do. Not only did he leave the date of the time when his resignation should take effect entirely in the hands of the Committee, but he has voluntarily, and in the kindest possible manner, devoted many hours of his time to helping his successor, Mr. A. C. Burnett, to get into the swing of the work. Col. Atkinson was good enough to take up the office of Hon. Treasurer, and then the business of making fixtures for the remainder of the season was proceeded with.

THE Amateur Championship was first discussed, and it was decided that the qualifying competition in ManChester should be re-instituted. This will be played at the Parsonage, provided the loan of that fine room can be obtained from Messrs. Orme and Sons, and I have little fear on that score, as they have always been very kind in these matters. If it is possible to do so in the very limited time at our command, a championship of Scotland will be inaugurated, and this will be played in Edinburgh and form the fourth qualifying competition for the Amateur Championship, which will be played at the National Sporting Club - where it has always been extremely successful - and will be begun on Wednesday, March 6. The semi-finals and final of the Inter-County Championship will immediately follow the Amateur Championship at the National Sporting Club, so that the Middlesex trio will once more be called upon to defend the shield which they have held since it was instituted. An alteration has now been made in the rules, and the Association will no longer undertake to pay the expenses of teams visiting London, though no objection will be -made to those expenses being paid by any club, body, or person. To set against this, in a trifling degree, it seems probable that no entry fee will be charged for the competition. Then, thanks to the kindness of Messrs. Thurston, who have given us the use of the Minor Hall, there will be a handicap for amateur members of the Association, which will be started about the middle of next month. These handicaps proved extremely popular two or three seasons ago, and, though the prizes will be on a more modest scale than they were then, I have always considered that the amateur who troubles about the value of a prize he may win is not worth very much consideration, nor do I believe that we have many such in our ranks.

TURNING to the professionals, Messrs. Cox and Yeman have been good enough to give us the use of the Brompton Road Saloon, and on Monday, February 11, we shall start an American Tournament there, for which upwards of £50 will be given in prizes. It will be open to eight selected players,.members of the Association, the only stipulation being that they are not engaged in, the great tournament at present being played in Soho Square, for the Committee felt that it was only fair and right to give a chance to those who were not fortunate enough to be selected by Messrs. Burroughes and Watts. Still, an extremely interesting tournament can be got up between eight players selected from Weiss, Aiken, Lovejoy, Cook, Osborne, Walmsley, Elphick, Wilkinson, A. Taylor, Nelson, Sparrow, and others that could be mentioned. Of course, it is too much to hope that all these will be able to play, and it would probably be scarcely worth the while of men like Aiken and Osborne to travel so far, still, I have little doubt that the Committee will have the chance of picking a very satisfactory eight. I may mention that Crystalate balls will be used in this tournament. As soon as this is over we hope to give a handicap on the English, or knock out, principle, open only to markers, members of the Association. This will also be played at the Brompton Road Saloon, and, in all probability, Bonzoline balls will be used.

Considering that the season will be over in less than four months, I think it will be admitted that we have plenty of work on our hands.

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