Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-03-05
Pool Racks and Billiard Cues.

lime is money in billiards and
pool as IN many other things, said the
foreman OF the largest company in the
country engaged in billiard table manu-
featuring to a Tribune reporter. land
on that account many inventors are
continually racking their brains for
ideas that viii benefit billiard men and
put money in their own pockets.
Inc old-fashioned pool ball racks
will soon be things of the past. Much
time Is lost in taking the balls from the
rack, as at present constructed. and
depositing them in the triangle. which
must also be put in place before the
table IS ready for a game.
There are half-dozen new things in
this line. One is a rack that can be
carried bodily to the table and its con-
tents dumped into the triangle. An
other rack is so constructed that the
balls run into triangle furnished with
a bottom slide. The triangle can be
detached from the rack and carried to
the table The bottom slide is then re-
moved, leaving the balls in position.
The third is combination of rack,
gully, and triangle, and is called 1.-the
automatic pool rack and pully" It is
made OF oak or ash. and is ornamental.
The rack is fastened to the wall The
triangle is at the end of the gully. The
gully moves on a hinge and can be
lowered to the level of the table The
balls run into the gully and thence into
the triangle, which occupies its proper
position on the table. A motion of the
wrist put triangle and gully into posi-
ton against the wall, and the rack is
ready once more for the reception of
the balls. Cue-racks are made in vari-
Gus styles, but nothing particularly
new or striking, except in the way of
ornamentation, has been developed in
their manufacture during the last few
years.
Taste in billiard cues takes wide
range, but all tastes can be satisfied at
the warerooms in this city. There they
can be seen in all stages of manufact-
ure. They range in price from 80 cents
to as many dollars. The tips are made
OF ash or maple. The butts are fash
Toned of ebony, walnut, tulip, amaranth
Ga close-grained reddish colored wood,
susceptible of a high degree of polish),
mahogany, snakewood, cocoa, bola,
rosewood, and a number of other
woods Sometimes three or four differ
ent kinds of wood are used for center
pieces or in the butt. All sorts of COM
binations are attempted in the manu-
facture OF fancy, special, or exhibition
cues. Many are Ornamented with
name, pieces of iniaid pearl, ivory, sill
yer, and gold, according to the taste of
the owner. The leather tips with which
cues are furnished were invented by a
Frenchman named Mingaud, in 1923, and
in the same year were introduced into
this country. France has a monopoly
of their manufacture to this day. They
are imported ready for use.
The average length of the American
cue is 4 feet 9 inches. The weight
ranges from II to p ounces. The
favorite sizes of tips are nine and ten
sixteenths of an inch Cues 6 feet 6
inches in length have been made for
special orders, and cues of great weight
have been sent to South America, where
they play the game on tables measuring
q by Is feet, and occasionally as large
as s by 16 feet, and with balls weighing
from - to Is ounces. Vignaux uses
maple cue, with an ebony butt and an
ivory butt piece. His name appears on
bit of inlaid pearl. Many cues are
made with handsomely carved butts
The carving adds to the appearance of
the cue, and enables the player to take
a firm grip. Many corrugated butts
are also used. Handsome cues range
is price from S. to $15--Nea0 York
Tribune.