The Washington herald., 1908-07-12
BILLIARDS IN FAVOR
Ancient Game Most Popular
in This Country.
is A TEST OF DISPOSITION
Players Display characteristics
They Were Never Known To Pos
sess While IndulEiug in Pnstime.
Seriousness with which Devotee
Plays Game Is Astonishing.

all the rest Of the wo.ld combined said
the New York Herald the other day.
Every hotel and club and most private
houses built for persons Of means IN
clude billiard room. 10 is a resource In
the entertainment OF visitors magnet TO
attract young. men TO home amusement,
and. besides proving recreation. is, In
way. test Of disposition, for persons
will display qualities and characteristics
while playing billiards which one is not
likely TO discover in them AT any other
time
Billiards induces thought and reflection.
and one who plays the game frivolousiy
is considered by wielders OF the cue in
capable OF serious attention 10 anything
In life.
In no other pastlme is one able TO dis
play as much grace Of action. except.
perhaps, IN fencing. A woman whe plays
billiards gracefully is wonderfully attrac-
tive. and her opponent. II man. is often
80 interested IN admiring her attitudes
that he loses his heart as we'll as his
game.
Two persons only can play billiards A
not a player she soon tires OF watching
balls bounding back and forth in myste-
rious angles over green cloth. and
leaves her charges 10 themselves Seri-
Gus as is the game II offers far more
opportunities for indulginE in Irritation
than does even the game OF hearts
where interest Is all centered in prosaic
chips, and the grace or aWkWardness OF a
player matters not az all
Players Become Excited.
/ To an onloolSer unfamiliar with billiards.
there Is something astonishing about the
seriousness with which it's devotees enter
into it. Many a pompous hnancler. who
has preserved a calm and smiling de-
meanor through all the strain Of deals in
volvlng the loss or gain Of fortunes. be-
/ comes excitable and irasclble at billiards
Does his opponent tiptoe gently back
ward and beckon the oncoming biz OF
ivory with caressing words Of encourage
ment 70 come on he may shout angrily
at the ball 10 stop, and il he does not
accuse his opponent Of taking unfair ad-
vantage he is as likely as not 70 call him
fool
There Is something startling in the ap-
pearance OF a staid man OF affairs bound
ing up and down. violently gesticula ting
and shouting at a meaningless looking lit
| tie ivory ball. no more than 24s inches in
diameter One ma rvels thar some Of the
cues brandished heedlessly during the mo-
ments OF absorption on the part Of the
players do not cause injuries 70 eyes and
noses and the onlooker momentarilv ex-
- ~ -
light between the excited players
One falls 10 wondering whether Queen
| Elizabeth ever beheadcd opponents who
| incurred Eer anger al billiards. was so
easy for her TO trump up heretical or
political charges against them: and
| whether Louis XIV. who made billiards
| fashionable in the seventeenth century.
when the game was prescribed By his
physician as an aid 20 royal d,gestion
after dinner every day. ever consigned TO
the Bastile oourtiers who upset his cal
culstlons and temper by making remarks
at inopportune moments during the
game
II women Of old indulged in the contor-
lions that some modern women consider
necessary 20 billiard playing how did
they manage. In stiff ruffier. Medici collar.
and steei-plsted stomacher. 10 achieve
such gyrations?
Exclusive Court Game.
Considering the fact that billiards was
an exclusive game OF the courts for a
long time, one does not marvel that Eng
land clings 10 the game Of hazard" 10
this day. for at It courtiers were less
likely 20 lose their heads or positions BY
winning too frequently through good
playing rather than patent luck. Court
etiquette. 200 prevented the bore from
wearying others by recountiug reasons
for losing game accidentally" No
such etiquette restrains the bore now. II
also caused winners on fukes 10 refrain
from asserting their signal ability az the
game. as they do to-day.
In this country and France the carCm
game Is the rule as Il is the favorite in
most countries. except England The
carom affords an outlet for the eXcltable
tempers Of American players and also an
opportunity to exhibit fine calculations
craftsmanship, and touch.
| To Eenrique de Nigne a French artist
Of the reign Of Charles TX (about l57D
is ascribed the invention OF billiard tables
and formulation Of rules for the game
although the origin Of billiards has been
accredited varlously 70 China England
Spain, and Italy, as well as France
Shakespeare asserts that Antony and
Cleopatra were good enough friends tc
play billiards without falling out but he
doesn't mention how or when the same
got into Egypt.
| Billiard-room libraries contain books
with diagrams and rules showing how va
rious games of billiards and pool may he
PLAYED Such rooms are usually decorated
In period STYLES. and billiard tables and
! mantel and wall markers are constructed
TO harmonic with the room. even to ma
hogany claw-footed tables where colonia
furniture and decorations are employed.
Tables of Rosewood.
Billiard tables are constructed OF the
fashionable finishing woods Of to-day. no
tsbly Clrcassian and Italian walnut, ma
hogauy, quartered oak. and even rarel
woods Such tables vary In price from
500 10 $780, and are finished with rub
Der cushions, TO which is due the higf
average maintained in the American
game. Improvement in cushions is re
sponsible for improvement in playing bill
iards Cotton. wool. and hair filed cush
ions on billiard tables until 1885, wher
those OF India rubber were introduced
Oak beds. followed by marble, were EN-
ployed until about 1927. when slate beds
were FIRST used Ancient pockets or haz
ards were generally mere wooden boxes
and mace playing" and "cue playing
described the game we know as billiards
. The old method OF converting a billiard
3 into a pool table was TO use pocket stops
! row a change of rails may be effected IL
B two minutes, since the introduction of tw,
Y sets Of rails and cushions. with converti
BILE tables
Another Improvement in the construc
, ton OF billiard furniture is the table will