The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-22
VIGNAUX AND BILLIARDS
HIS SCHOOL AN ILL vENTILA TFD
RESORT IN PARIS.

A60OhI IN PARIS.
Sporting Life in Paris-A Talk With a
Wisconsin Boy Who is One of Wig
naux's Pupils-A Daily Game Be-
tween Professionals on Which Large
Sums of Money Are Wagered.
(CopgriGhD
PARIS, Dec. 12.-In one sense the French
know nothing of sport; In another they are
passionately devoted to it. They have
no national game, no athletic clubs or
tournaments; yet sport is one of the few
English words adopted directly and placed
with its various derivatives in the vocabu-
larry of everyday French. "Sportn in French
applies almost exclusively to horse racing,
so nearly that one occasional exception is
not worth noting. Every little cafe is an
agency, or the headquarters of an agent
for the booksellers at the race tracks; SO
are many Of the barber shops, and in some
cases a street corner, with a doorway
convenient in case OF rain, answers the
purpose of the bookmaker and his patrons
AT every agency, whether il be cafe, corner
or barber shop, the man with the book is ex-
pected daily at a certain hour, and his
customers are always hand. They COM
prise every order of human being, women
by no means excepted. Those who have
time and money to spend In giving to see
the races reserve their bets until they meet
the booksellers at the course. The vast ma
Jority find their di yersion and their daily
hope in the brief call at the cafe, where the
reports of yesterdays events are posted. In
the careful weighing of probabilities, and
the placing OF their money IL they were
successful yesterday they also experience
the satisfaction of cashing their tickets.
In America the minimum bet accepted
by bookmaker is usually S.. Here 1t is
five francs, or about 81. and even this may
be so hazarded as to cover two chances.
That is, "a francs may be laid that the
horse named will win, and the remaining
amount that he will be placed" that is.
come in second.
II cannot be that all the petty gamblers
win, or that all can afford daily stake of
even francs; but so far as / have been
able to observe, the same faces are at the
same cafes every day when the agent sits
down over his coffee and cognac to register
the bets. 1t is no uncommon thing to see q
woman with huckster's cart stop pushing
and bawling her wares long enough
TO enter what we would call in
New York a saloon. here ''cafe,n
and place 5 francs on a favorite racer :
or the wife of the proprietor of the sam
cafe come from behind the bar during a
lulu in business to back or oppose her hus-
bands play; or two or three kits of tools
slowed under tablss while their owners are
knitting their brows over records and
announcements. Where these get their
money, or what proportion of it goes
annually to swell the purses of the pool
sellers we do not know aad cannot surmise.
1t is evident simply that such sport as the
French have partakes very largely of
gaming.
l cannot imagine In France that TYPO
ally American scene, several thousand
people gathered In the open air to witness
game Of ball. 1t is not that there is no
base ball game here, but that it does not
seem probable that Frenc man could be
persuaded to sit for an hour watching a
contest for the simple love Of the game.
There is betting on our games of base ball.
football, lacrosse. etc., but after all the
vast majority of the crowds are present to
enjoy simply the sight of play. Here
even pleasure-giving exercise is rare
aud wholly unorganized. Some of the
wealthy men have yachts, but there is
no general interest in yachting as there is
in all seaboard and lake towns in America.
During the summer months young men
paddle about the Seine in little boats, us1-
ga WIN q bWoOLn0dTb dlOUR-h1 &C tOD1Da-
ninent hardly conducive to racing or the
development of Craftsmanship. There are
shooting boxes on wealthy estates scattered
about France. but nothing like tho interest
In them that prevails in England, or in the
annual shooting seasons in America Once
IN while cavalry officers stationed in
the country get up game some
what similar to our "Hare and
Hounds" or Paper CHASE" the chase
In this instance being conducted on horse
back. The only physical exercise really
cultivated that might be included in sports.
Is fencing. The military atmosphere of
Europe keeps that excellent diversion alive,
and now and again it gets pretty excuse
Tor being by means of a duel These are,
too, actual tournaments with the sword
under government patronage.
These things recorded, all sports in France
might be dismissed from consideration
were it not for billiard. No account is
taken, OF course, of the games of the green
table, but the mention OF billiards tempts
me TO admit that the French have national
game; but they can hardly lay claim to it
inasmuch as it was invented long before
France was known, and has since become
universally cultivated. Billiards, however,
is cultivated more Systematically in France
than elsewhere, and there are doubtless a
greater number of good players here than
In any other country: yet the atmosphere Of
gaming Is as dense about this game as IL is
about the race track, and in this as in other
things the French appear to think first of
the wager and second of the game.
One Of the most interesting institutions in
Paris is the school of billiards kept by the
great Vignaux ANY lover of the ga me
who should come here would naturally in
quire for Vignaux's hall He would natu-
rally expect to be directed to q large, ele-
gantly appointed room, containing many
tables, all as magnificent and attractive, at
least, as similar places in America, kept by
such noted players as SIosson, Schaeffer,
and Daily. If incidentally to mis- inquired
he should hear Of the Vignaux school, his
interest would be deepened, and, am GER
tain, his expectations heightened.
So much the greater his surprise and dis
appointment. Vignaux's school is in the
Passage des Panoramas an intricate, mar
row, covered alley leading from the
Boulevard Montmartre. The building is
dingy outside and dingier inside. The first
room entered from the passage is less tnan
20 feet wide and perhaps so feet long.
One billiard table is in the middle of the
room, lighted by two lamps with big reflect
ors to distribute the lignt evenly over the
table. At one end OF the table are tiers OF
benches for spectators; at the other few
rows of chairs. Along each side of the
room runs a raised bench and a row Of
chairs, interrupted on one side by desk
for the cashier, and on the other by a
blackboard for the marker. This Is the
exhibition room, to which we will return
later.
Leading out from it at one end is another