New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-04-26
CINE ESPECIALLY IDAFI
ED TO COURTSHIP.
Trains Eye, Muscles and M'Hd-An
Old Focorite IN Courts OF
Europe.
Nv VI. w Mount.

end besides proving recreation IS IN way d
test Of disposition. for persons WIZ dspla! 4ual,
-ies and characteristics while playing Dlildi"S
which one is not likely discover in them at any
other time
Billiards induces thought and reflection. and one
who plays the game frivolousy is CONSIDERED os
~ieiders of the cue incapable OF serious attention
anything in life.
In no other pastime is one able to display
much grace Of action except. perhaps. in fencing
A woman who plays billiards gracefully is wonder
fully attractive. and her opponent if man, is
often 50 interested IN admiring her attitudes that
he ioses his heart well as his game.
Two persons only can play billiards A ohaperon
may converse. and if she is not herself
player she tires Of watching balls bounding
back and forth in mysterious angles green
cloth. and leaves her charges 30 themselves SeTi-
Gus as is the game. offers far opportunities
fer INDUCING in fiirtations than does even the
game Of hesrts-phere interest is all centred in
prosaic chips and the grace awkwardness of
player matters rot at all
To onlooker unfamiliar with billiards there is
something astonishing about The seriousness with
which its devotees enter into il. Many pompous
fnancier. who has preserved calm and smiling
demeanor through all the strain Of deals involving
the loss gain of fortunes. becomes excitabe and
trascible billiards. Does his opponent tiptoe
gently backward and beckon the oncomng bit of
ivory with caressinG words Of encoura cement to
come on may shout angriy the hall o
stop. and if he does not accuse his opponent of
taking unfair advantage. is likely as not call
him fool
There is something startling in the appearance of
staid of affairs bounding up and down.
violently Eestculating and shouting at a meaning
less looking little ivory ball more than and
three-eighths inches in diameter. One that
some Of the cues brandished heedIessly during
ments Of absorption on the part of players do not
cause injuries eyes and noses and the onlooker
nomentaT1ly expects that something will occur TO
start fight between the excited PLAYERS
one tails TO wondering whether Queen Elizabeth
ever beEeaoed opponents who incurred her anger
at billiards-it so easy for her to tr7Ir,p I'D
heretical political charges against them: and
whether Louis XIV, who made billiards fashion
able in the seventeenth century when the game
was prescribed by his physician as an aid TO roval
digestion after dinner every day, ever consigned
10 the Basie courtiers upset his calculations
and temper by making remarks at inopportune
during the game
IL women Of old INDUCED in the contortions that
some modern women consider necessary to billiard
playing how did they manage in stiff r1f1er
Medici collar and steel plated schumacher
such gyrations?
Considering the fact that billiards was an ex-
elusive game Of the courts for long time. one
does not marvel that England clings to the game
Of hazard 10 this day. for it courers were less
likely to lose their heads positions by winning too
frequently through good playing than patent
luck Court etiquette. too. prevented the bore from
wearying others by recoUnting reasons for losing
game accidentally No such etiquette restraints
the bore now IL also caused winners on fukes to
refrain from asserting their signal ability al the
game. they do to-day
In this country France the carrom game is the
rlle. as it is the favorte in countries except
LnSland. The carrom affords an outlet for the ex-
citahle teInpers Of American players and also an
opportunity TO exhibit fine calculations. marks
m2nship and touch
To Henrique de Vigne a French artist Of the
reign OF Charles TX about 1571 is ascribed the in
rention of billiard tables and formulation OF rules
for the game although the origin Of billiards
been accredited variously China England Spain
and Italy. as well France Shakespeare as
serts that Antony and Cleopatra were good enough
friends 10 play billiards without falling out but he
doesn't mention how when the game got into
Egypt.
Billiard libraries contain books with dia-
grams and rules showing how various games of
billiards and pool may be played. Such rooms are
usually decorated in period styles and billiard
tables and mantel and wall markers are con-
sfructed TO harmonic with the room. TO ma
hogany claw-footed tables where Colonial furni-
ture and decorations employed.
Billiard tables are constructed of the fashona BILE
finishing woods of to-day. bly, Circassian and
italian walnut, mahogany, CHARTERED oak and even
woods Such tables vary in price from 500
to $3.50 and are finished with rubber cushions to
which IS due the higE average maintained in the
American game Improvement in cushions is
responsible for improvement in playing billiards
Cotton. wool and hair filed cushions on billiard
tables until 1885, when those Of india rubber were
introduced Oak beds. followed by marble, were
employed until about 1877. when slate beds were
first used Ancient pockets or hazards 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
into a pool table to pocket stops;
change of rails may be effected in minutes
since the introduction Of OF rails and
cushions with convertible tables
Another improvement the construction OF
Billiard furniture IS the table with legs and
slate beds an inch and a half in thickness instead
Of inch The idea is 10 give greater solidty.
Frames are also heavier, ard head blocks rein
forced. To contribute The uninterrupted smooth
ness Of the game receivers built into the heads
OF six-pocket pool tables Balls drop and roll
through troughs into this receiver
How different sounds this description from one
given OF table made for Queen Elizabeth's sue
cessor and paid Cor out Of the exchequer: "One
bilsrde boarde twelve foote longe and Tower foote
broade, the frame being wallnuttree. well wrought
and carved. with eight great skreNes and eighteen
small skrewes."
II is said that old billiard tables OF many
and various shapes. that the oval table
now enjoying great popularity in England may not
very after all This innovation. It is de-
olered does away with the possibility OF nursing
end ''top-of-the-table" play and gives more SCI
entfc basis TO the game besides furnishing great
opportunity for exhibitions of Skill calculation,
delicacy OF touch and execution of stroke The
English architect who designed this oval table
planned IL that the balls would always be more
accessible. the bridge seldom being re-
ouired. and obviate the necessity for assuming
different attitudes when making a stroke. The
oval table also affords excellent opportunities for
posing well flirting, especially where IL be-
comes necessary to hold feminine hands while
teaching amateurs the technicalities OF the cue
A few people have French markers. with a dial
to register scores the rail of the table but
players cling to the Chinese button and wire
A touch Of the cse sends the button flying to the