The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-31
GREAT BILLIARD PLAYING.
Brilliant Termination of the Match Be-
tween Schaefer and Vignaux.
The Frenchman Defeated by 1872 Points in a
Total of 3,OOO-A Display of Marvellous
Skill in Last Nights Playing.

tween ScnaeIer ana flgnaux, which mas been In
progress for the past five nights, was ended to-
night Five thousand dollars was the stake for
which the men played, and either was obliged
to make 3 900 points to win. The attendance at
each session has been such that the result, fnan-
cially must be satisfactory to the management.
Cosmopolitan Hall is a large place, and it has
been filled and the seats increased every success
sive evening Tonight the ampitheater Of seats
was yet further enlarged. and so were the
prices of admission, which from fifty cents and
81 were increased to 81 and So When the doors
were opened. people began to enter, and at 7:3O
nearly all the seats were occupied. Vignaux had
evidently increased the interest by his lead of
sixty three points over Schaefer. The score at
the commencement Of the game stood: Vignaux,
2,400; Schaefer, g. 1897.
Five minutes after g. vignaux, referee Nc
Creery, of st. Louis. and Schaefer entered the
arena together. The balls were carefully
weighed and other preliminaries arranged, and
at 800 o'clock the balls were placed in position
as left on Friday evening. and Vignaux began
his play. The balls were in the upper ri CHIT
hand corner, the spot ball tVignaux's) in the
center. The first shot was draw, and counted
Other shots followed in rapid succession, and the
eighteenth was a fine masse. He counted
26 points before Schaefer had a chance to
play. No sooner had Schaefer made one than
the galleries cheered and evidently endeayored
In every way to harass and annoy Vignaux.
Schaefer made II and stopped, and when Wig
naux, in preparing for his shot, foued the balk
with his sleeve. there were further manifesto
tons of delight from the gallery. Schaefer only
made A. however, from his opponents misfor-
tune, and Vignaux was cordially received when
he advanced to play in his third
inning, in which he made Is. The balls were
left in good position for Schaefer, who made 4
and slipped up on easy carom. Both players
were evidently nervous. and played for safety.
Runs Of 3, and g for Vignaux, and of 4, l and
0, for Schaefer. attested this fact. Then Schae-
fer got his balls as he wanted them, and played
series of masse shots until he had score of
80 to his credit, the last being pretty kiss shot
from one side of the table to the other Then
he made another run stopping at his fifty ninth,
for moment to file the leather tip of his cue;
then he went in and rolled the worries from side
to side until n buttons were placed to his credit
Vignaux then played and made Is, but missed an
easy shot from the cushion, apparently more
from nervousness than from any other reason.
Schafer payed prettily for rs points, includ-
ing handsome masse. and omitted to
get the balls out of balk ON the
twenty seventh shot. which he made. but which
ninth inning, sending the balls completely across
the table. kissing and returning. When he had
made 30 points, the scores were even. This
thought seemed to nerve Vignaux, and he made
two beautiful masse shots in rapid succession.
and then a bank-shot, which excited a burst of
approval, which renewed when so
reached AT So, a lovely bankshot against the
lower right hand corner put the balls in good po
sition. Then followed q series of caroms from
the table center, until the balls became frozen,
on the seventy-fifth shot, out of which dilemma
Vignaux cleverly extracated himself by we'll
executed stroke. At " points he equaed
Schaefer's largest run for the evening. and was
AZ points ahead on the total score. At the
carom from the cushion, with the object
balls in the center of the table, was loudly
applauded. and there was more applause when
the 100 mark was reached and turned. This run
Melted 106 for Vignaux He was now 10 points
ahead in the play of the evening and rs ahead
on the grand total. Schaefer in his twelfth in
ming, by fine nursing, made 81, and Vignaux, in
his fourteenth made 3d.
At this time Schaefer was palpably very nerv-
Gus. He wiped his hands frequently with a
handkerchief, and fingered his cue nervously.
When his turn to play came, however, the nerv-
BUSINESS disappeared, and shot followed shot and
ball followed ball around the table, until 81 points
were added to his score Then Vignaux had an
inning, and improved his time to the tune of 13
additional points He left the balls well apart,
so far, in fact, that Schaefer was able to score
but 2, but Schaefer left the balls so far apart
that Vignaux did not score at ALL Then the
giants skirmished with each other, and made
runs of l and each, without counting at ALL
In his twentieth inning Schaefer made pretty
bank shot, caroming on the balls in the center.
Afterwards, clean shots and caroms followed
each other until 30 points were reached, when
there was applause, renewed when 80 points
were made, and when 100 were reached the
house was fairly wild No one shot of especial
brilliancy had been made, but every one had
been well and carefully made On and on went
the wizard. and point by point his score contin-
ued to roll up to $50, when plaudits again filled
the air. He finally stopped with the comforting
number of 168 points, all made by careful play.
Things looked black for the Frenchman, and the
score stood for the evening: Schaefer, $50; Wig
naux, 268.
Then the latter had show and initiated the
balls would get separated, but brilliant off hand
shots would bring them together. At fifty
points the applause was loud and liberal; so It
was on the sixty sixth shot, when the red ball
was forced around the table, and back into posi-
ton for setup. A magnificent massee on the
SEVENTEEN shot, with the balls against the upper
rail, elected shouts of admiration, and the per-
lection Of the english with the
balls direct in line cannot be de-
scribed; also, a draw shot across the table.
Vignaux made ninety-four on the run He
followed this up with another run. When he
had made so points there was applause but he
went on and made Sc points. Schaefer had
made I68 in his run of the twentieth inning,
wnlle Vlgnaux. with his runs OF 81 and &C. came
within 6 of that score At IL o'clock the score
stood: Schaefer, 1885, Vignaux, 1882; but it
was close work, and Schaefer forced the pace
with runs of 81 and IS, while Vignaux made
only 6 points. The Frenchman felt discour-
aged. and when Schaefer began what proved
to be his last inning, his opponent
watched with grim determination the rapidly
disappearing hope of victory. One by one
Schaefer caused the ivory spheres to click TO-
gether, amid the scarce-repressed excitement of
the crowd. At so points the enthusiasm broke
through, and when, with his IS points, Schaefer
completed one of the greatest and best games of
and jumped to where he stood. Schaefer had
made SOB points on the nights play and Vgnaux
43S. Total score for the FIVE nights Schaefer,
5000; Vignaux, 1888.
Following is the score of the nights play:
q schaefer,1a, 4, 4 ], Q, So II 2e. IS. /. O.