Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-02-08
BILLIARDS IN PARIS.
The Habits Of a Boss With
a Madeline Pipe.
Extensive Amusement and Mis-
cradle Playing.

have been brushed, and the moor
sprinkled with sawdust Some few
habitues, reading the morning jour-
nails, are scattered round the room.
The garcon is discusSin politics with
a friend. and the dame de compton
(lady cashier. who, with the garcon
and the tyrant, Eforms the trinity OF
this place, is exerting all her intelli-
gence in trying to make four Jumps of
sugar maintain their balance on a
little metal platter. He enters with
the radiant look of man who is now
master in his own palace, lights a
fresh cigarette or his pipe, and ad-
dresses a few words to madame, whose
desk is ornamented with dozen or so
of little bottles of brandy and the
sugar platters aforementioned Then
he takes his cue and begins his exer.
else at the table. Presently he is
Joined by a customer, to whom he
gives many points, and by and by,
when the room is crowded, he will
put away his scepter and look after
the disputes, which are many but
never dangerous. 1t is his business to
settle all disturbances, and to grease
the wheels with soft words when they
commence to run heavy. If the room
is not popular business falls away, and
where there is but little business there
is but little profit. Other peoples
play is his income. He breakfasts on
a scratch" fine cushion carom and
masse. The white balls give him
his morning coffee, the red his mid
day breakfast, the cards and dominoes
his dinner.
l know one of these billiard room
superintendent who frequently gets
up small tournaments for the benefit
of the house, and where the prize is a
quene d'houneur sans procidi. He
loves billiards as he loves his own life;
he despises dominoes as he detests
Gambetta. He has a meerschaum to
which he has administered baptism,
until now it is a beautiful golden
brown, and which he calls la Made.
line. The sort Of dewy perspiration
which necessarily exuded from it had
suggested this name to him, and never
did a repentant sinner shed more bitter
tears than does this glorious pipe,
with its mouthpiece of purest amber
He used to live over in the quatier
Latin, and once went to the medical
school with the view to becoming a
doctor. But the demon Of the billiard
table seized upon him, and be neg
lected books for balls, anatomical
studies for those Of angles. Then he
was turned out of college, his father
cut of his allowance, he was appointed
to take charge of a room, and now he
is proprietor of an estanimet which
boasts its six tables and a steady ru1
of customers. He married the daughter
of his first employer, Is the father o.
three children, one of whom is pupi
at the Conseryatoire, another is in
England studying in a boarding school
aud the third is too young to leave it,
mother. His wife is pleasant littlt
woman Of the bourgeoise type. HI
looks after the customers and the cue
tips, she after the Jumps of sugar, The
brandy bottles and the money.
EXPENSIVE AMUSEMENT.
1t is after 4 o'clock in the Afternoon
from that hour till midnight - tha
a Paris billiard room is busiest TIL,
wholesale houses, and the banks, ant
the courts, and host Of other places
close up at 4. and then the old an,
young hasten to some cafe to drink
mazagran (black coffee in a glas
tumbler), or a glass Of ycrmouth
chartreuse, gooseberry juice, beer. O
the pernicious absinthe. The billiar,
rooms are also taken possession Of, ant
by some of the worst players | eve
saw anywhere. No one can play we'll
but they enjoy themselves; and, aite
all, that is the principal thing il
sporting affairs. There is soon a goo
deal Of smoke, always a great deal 0
noise, and the late corners sit aroun
little tables, drinking different kind
of beverages while waiting their tur
to come round. Perhaps half the me
are accompanied by their mistressei
for it is allowable for madame" t
enter a billiard room and to smoke be
cigarettes with the rest Of the irC
quenters Of the estaminet. The gam
is paid for by the hour, the price yary
ing according to locality. At the gran
cafe, presided over by Plot, the charg
is two francs one hour, that
to say, forty cents; at other places it
thirty cents, and in very cheap room
is as low as twenty cents. Add to thi
the price Of the drinks. which al
always high, and the pour boire to tn
garcon, and one finds at the end of a
evenings entertainment that he la
spent a good deal of money. Th
tables are antiquated affairs. most
them without. but some with pocket
and usually about eight by six feet
size. The cushions are old fashione
and run very slow the balls arc muc
smaller than those in America b,
the cues are always good ones, wit
, excellent feathers fastened on by e,
perienced hands. The cloth is gene
i, ally very coarse and so full of patch
! that it is sometimes hard to g,
whether the table was ever covered
anything else than patches. On Il
whole l am bound to assert that
don't think there is room in Arch,
avenue or in Bridgeport which c.
v boast a worse lot of tables, twist,
balls, and patched up covers tn,
many which can be found in this gre
city. Still, it is a city where aimo
everybody likes billiards. NJ. GREY
the President of the republic, has
table in his house and plays almc
every day; and there are innumerab
' other houses whose owners enjoy /
l.