Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-04-07
(From them. Y. Ttmea.j
The Great Billiard Tournament.
Return Match for 1900 PoInts--Fo.
leY 400 Ahead IL


Return Match for i, 500 Points--Fo.
/ III Icy 400 Ahead. M
| History has failed to record the largest
"run" made by Caligula, who is said to
have played billiards; or to mention wheth.
er Catullus "scratched" in his nervous anx.
iety to get the better of his opponent. In
an emergency, like the present, it would
be gratifying tothe reporter to draw a com.
parison between the ancients and the mod.
erns to the disadvantage of the former and
the glorifcation of the fonr-ball gume.-
Under any circumstances we can afford to
pooh pooh the Romans, for the four-ball
game is certainly an invention Of the West
ern World. The Crusaders-those tremen-
dous heroes who turn up on every possible
occasion, and sWagger through the middle
ages as If they (the ages) belonged to them
cut their lances into cues, and became
billiard sharpers when all else failed. A
billiard-room must have been pleasing
sight in those days, with its suits of armor
hanging on pegs, and its overwhelming
odor of stable
The conversation Of tho players dashed
with the chivalric oaths, which were then
In vogue, must also have added charm to
the entertainment. Well might the pro-
prtetor tremGle when an irate knight sulk-
lily twisted n link from his chain 10 pay the
| shot, and after kicking the marker, stalked
into the street seeking whom in tile shape
Of jew lie might deVour. The Jews, as
far as we have been able to learn, were
never greatly attached to the game, al
though it is said to have come from the
east. The circumstance is remarkable,
when 1t is remembered that there are no,
fewer than six pockets in billiard table
and that something is put in all of them
during good game, and frequently with
two others that are not attached in the
mahogany. The monks and priests it is
said, picked up the game, as they did many
other things, and preserved It for the pres.
'cnt generation. II is now one of the lead
ing amusements Of city life, aud may tairly
claim to afford more exercise to the young
men of New York than any other recrea-
ton. Our forefathers played bowls and
smoked long pipes; our sward is as green
as theirs but it is made of cloth, aud in
stead of pipes we eat one end of cigar
aud burn the other. Perhaps theirs was
thehealthier of the two games, but pressed
onall sides by brick and mortar. Young
America has done the best it could, and
has certainly succeeded in producing some
OF the hnestplayers of the world.
The contest now in progress at Irving
Hall is between picked professionals, whose
skill is beyond question. Theoretically,
their play is supposed to illustrate the
profoundest mysteries of the game; prac-
tically, it has so far hardly answered this
expectation. The opening game on We'd
nesday, for twelve players, was neither re-
markable for skill nor liveliucss. Each
player had to wait so long for his turn
that his skill got cold. Swimming is a
pleasant pastime, but it is not SO agreeable
To III -
waiting on the brink until eleven Others
have gone through the same operation.-
Messrs. Fox and Deery played off at the
end, and here was something worth seeing.
We have already given the result
The joust last evening was between Mr.
Kavanagh, of New York, and Mr.. Foley, of
Cincinuati-twon noted professors. So much
interest was taken IN the event that at an
early hour the hall was crowded With am
ateurs, artists and others interested in the
game. Many were there, too, from simple
curiosity-among the most prominent of
this class being Rev. Henry Ward Beecher,
whose appearance was hailed with repeat.
ed bursts of applause. The hall, we may
here add, has been fitted up in amphithe-
atical fashion, so that all the spectators
have good VieW.of the table and the play
ers. The game was the four-ball carom,
the score being, the nice little number of
fifteen hundred points. Mr.. Foley played
with the spot ball, Mr.. Ka%anagh with the
plain. s-#s5. ....,..-f.3 10
Theplayers are both young men, with
broad mathematical heads and firmly
knit figures. They would be we'll match
ed in other things beside billiards.
Until 8 o'clock the play was decidedly
slow, and inferior in all respects to what
one can witness at any billiard saloon
where good playing is customary. This
is proved by the score which ut 9o'clock
stood thus: Foley, 224, Kavanagh, III.
Some fine shots were made by both p!ay-
ers, and hailed with applause by the spec
tators. An audience so iapprecintive, in
telligent and critical .wouldtbe invaluable
in any art exhibition; itlisia pity it can
only be found for billiards. From 9
o'clock until -, (when our reporter re-
tired, the play rapidly improved and
was frequently so excellent that the
houses reverberated with applause.
Runs Of twenty, thirty, forty, fifty and
sixty werc made by the players, who
kept together toward midnight These
runs at a carem game indicate good, but
not great play. The greatest number
ever made of the game in a single run
was LA pile heaped up somewhere in
the country by an Industrious player
Mr. Foley came near rivaling this, hav-
ling scored Just before u o'clock SO on
one run, and "a on another little later.
Tho reckoning then stood, without the
last run;l Foley, GA; Kavanagh, GIL
notwithstanding this aspect of affairs,
the betting was still in favor of the latter.
The game was not expected to terminate
until 8 or 4 O'Clock this morning Onr
latest advices from Irving Hall indicate
that Foley was 200 ahead
ht,e f7-7-=7- T-77--7 800 - = tho
Rebel Funeral at Lexington Ken.
tucky
Correspondence Of the Missouri Rspubllcah.l
PRANKEoRr. Ky. March 29, 1889.