The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-28

tankerous, spread on the least provocation
and the Student could not land with sufi-
cient exaotness to propel thom together.
Those who had bet an average Of 20 would
not be made were counting their money. The
avera &c at the seventeenth inning was less
than 10. Afruitless spread draw cut Hoppe
down in the eighteenth after an u~neventful
10 points culled by wide position work,
A spell of arid zeros came to pass at this
sta &c n spectators and players laughed.
Then Hoppe sought q bracer from the
water pitcher, .girded his loins about him
and strobe forth to renew the combat. He
had been slowly creeping away from Slos-
son, n he widened the gap in the twenty
first inning with a display Of deft ball to
ball work.
The complex and labyrinthine fights
characteristic Of Slosson's cushion play
were ~conspicuously absent from Hoppe's
helpful twenty-1rst inning. 1t was a
spirited outburst after the dragging that
course Of the balls and attended by good
driving and rapidity Of action. The inning
netted SO points and was marked by a scare
ity of play near the rail. 1t brought Its
authors total up to 1893, GO points more than
SloRSon had.
Hoppe turned on more fireworks in the
twenty-second inning. The seventh shot
was a cyclonio masse, the cue ball travers-
ing a route the length of the table. The
accompanying cheers were a wan song
for the time being. Hoppe missed the
next shot. A superb three cushion shot by
Slosson brought out a storm of applause.
The cue ball followed the first bah to the
rail, then crawled around the table and
countered on the second ball, tight in COR
ner. The shot had to be played slow to
avoid u kiss and yet hard enough to ne
gotiate the long stretches of green. 1t
took Hoppe twenty-five innings to go
through his first 200 points. his average
still being under 10. Slosson at the time
had 1t1 points.
The student vent after the leader hard
in the twenty-fourth inning. Carefully he
caressed the balls once he a hammered
them into a traotable state, and he was re-
sourceful at pushing hem out of balk when
there was danger Of their scattering if
much force were applied. A bank was his
medium OF escape from one difficulty Of
this nature, a spanking masse another.
The score was 206 to 1874 In Hopes favor
when Slosson finished the run.
Slosson solved many a hard leave with his
splendid cushion work, but neither man
had yet shown any consistency. Each
stabbed heivory with occasional brilllancy
but not steadiness. One of Hopes brilliant
efforts was a four-cushion smash in his
twenty-seventh inning, that also bumped
the recalcitrant balls into position for a
further harvest. Methodically he rolled up
the caroms and with an evenness of play
that presaged a big run. A pretty masse
helped weld the chain, but on a short one
cushion return shot the cue ball grazed
the first ball too thin n slid below the
second ball.
There was one thing about the game,
IL was close, and interest in it did not flag
for an instant. Hoppe had some hair
breadth escapes in his t~wenty-ninth inning.
Twice he counted so gently as to move
the second ball almost imperoeptibly. In
this inning he passed the half way mark
a medley of IS sending his total TO 264.
Glpcann for ono innir n laaa Ind 900 buttons
on his string. Cushion caroms so far
had been as much, il not more, in evidence
as balk line. When Slosson In his thirtieth
inning was within s points Of Hoppe he
miscued, wrecking O fine chance to pass the
younger player.
The points that Hoppe made in his thirty
first inning were units in an ornate olio.
There were driving gathers, shadowy cuts
to the cushion and q fair share OF balk line
deploying. With that, lifting at the butt
end and digging at the tip end stroke Of his
Hoppe herded the balls hither and thither,
with no close play, for a snappy seance Of
SO. He had so4 pointsfo for thirty-one innings
to Slosson's 25S for thirty innings. The
immediate reason for Hoppe not having
more Of a lead was missing fire on q lengthy
draw.
In his thirty-third inning the Students
big blue eyes glanced along his cue to the
extent of is counts, patiently and labori-
ously culled, there being distant groupings
and difficult shots. Successive brea ks Of
/, II and 8 by Hoppe and of 10, II, o and is
nature of the battle.
Hoppe wanted the table brushed in the
300 stage, but Slosson shook his head when
the referee submitted the proposition.
A cluster of 10 by Slosson in the thirty
fourth inning swelled his slowly acquired
total to soo~iust 10 behind. AS he was
about to start his thirty-sixth inning a
considerate spectator brushed past Slosson,
compelling the latter to halt. Then he shot
and drew a blank, although his cue ball
barely missed being kissed back for Il
scratch.
Hoppe increased his advantage materi-
ally in the thirty-seventh inning, when he
coaXed the balls into a state OF submissive
ness that PANIED out as nuggets. He fol-
lowed with innings of ! and o, Slosson
runs of /, o and s. The score at the end Of
the thirty-ninth inning was $50 to 800 in
the Prodigy's favor.
Hoppe did not tarry long before passing
into the fifth and final century. Gradu-
ally he mad been putting more rhythm in
and in his fortieth inning he added AZ
points to his score. The fourth hundred
had consumed ten innings, the third hun
dred nine innings, the second hundred Line
innings, and the first hundred thirteen in
nings.
As SlQsson rang of with. only 10 in his
fortieth inning, the completion Of that
inning found Hoppe 1t3 points ahead.
The score was 422 to $40.
The shouts that greeted a masse out
from the corner by Hoppe in the forty-frst
inning had no more effect oil the lad
water on a ducks back. Nevertheless he
failed to send the balls out Of balk on the
next shot and % was the limit OF that par
ticular reign. In reply Slosson tapped the
globes for 20 points, A long swift scurry
up the table and then a squirming trip
back on the side rail would have counted
but for an inopportune ~kiss-very oppor-
tune at that stage. Hopes tenth shot in
his forty-third inning fooled the spectators.
They thought a straight draw was planned,
but instead the cue ball was pulled into the
corner and cracked into two cushions be-
fore ramming the second ball. Twenty
three" murmured an onlooker when Hoppe
retired after accommodating % points. He
then was within 20 points of the finish,
with the Student 1855 points away. The
score was All to 3ii.
There was no appearance OF dismay about
Sloss)n as he tackled the worries in a well
nigh hopeless cause. He was there to make
a fight SO long as there was a chance and
with the balls m~arshalled back and forth in
the three uppe balk spaces he drilled them
for 80 points. The failure shot was a two
cushion effort. in which the cue ball slipped
through the narrowest of crevices. .
In his forty-fourth inning Hoppe con-
structed a stack of 23-just six short OF vic