The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-23
~ SHEPARD G. BARCLAY.

George Butler Sutton. the Chicago
veteran, has challenged the world FOR a
match At IS . balkline. He has put up a
forfeit OF $3.50 and Says he will claim
the championship by default II nobody
accepts his deh. Sutton has chosen what
might be called the psychological mo-
men,. William +. Hoppe. the real cham
p!on. is now aboard q liner with Koji
| Yamada on his way to Honolulu. and
board ship again and 90 to Japan. not to
he back in New York until the fall.
Even with Hoppe away Sutton could
re, action right now II Firmin Cass.grol
were a well man. cassignol now lies on
a cot in a local private hospital recover
ing from "A dangerous operation and !.
will be utterly impossible for him 10 APP
pear in competition until August ~ In"
earliest. Meanwhile Sutton may claim
all the balkline championships he wants,
but Monsieur Cassignol will challenge
him when ne gets well-he will challenge
Hoppe too.
The visit OF C%assiRnol here bids fair
10 wipe out the stagnation that had
existed in balkline affairs since Hoppe
became supreme king OF all he surveyed
Nobody has given Hoppe a close Eamt
in the last two years, but then he didn'l
NEE, the great Frenchman. CassiSno
did no, arrive mere until thre" months
ago. or too late to take part in the handi'
cap is . tournament that Hoppe SWEEP
through from scratch.
Whether Cassignol can beat Hoppe |.
the most frequent question heard where
billiard enthusiasts congregate these
days. Previous to the Frenchman's ad'
vent there mad been no doubt AT all
Nobody was heard TO say can so anc
so beat Hoppe" CassiRnol ~ admit
teddy the equal II not the superior OF tn
pTelent champion In the artistry OF tn
game. lie has made averages And rum
far beyond any hat Hoppe eve
recorded. The doubt ~ to his chances Il
a cha mpionship match Is based cntirel!
on uncertainty here on the point or M
steadiness under fire. Can he play lik'
that against Hoppe"
There II no way to settle such n prom
lem except by pittlng them against eac'
other. Such a match Is aimos, Il Ger
tainty for the early fall. II Cassignoi re
covers mis- health as rapidly as tn
physicians believe he will.
Just after Cassignol defeated Welke
Cochran and Young Jake Schaefer y
their triangular IS y tournament at Chi
caGo recently. a Chicago paper made tn
erroneous statement that Cassignol al
Z not begin to play billiards until nc wa
~ years old It compared him wit
> Walter j.. Travis. the former nationn
? golf champion, who took up the INK
game at that age. Cassignol. to he SUR
: did not become a professional billiar
= player until he was 35, but he had play'
eighteen years before rs an amateur.
i, rassignois case is far Inherent fror
, that Of Hoppe. who began billiards whe
, a little boy, but he started young enoug
, TO be still In the early learning stage
where ne could master a natural free an
. casy stroke without affecting ono ms
chemically. He was born In 1859 q
V~iilasevary. France. and was ~ year
, old when he hrst handled . u Q Whe
Re had developed into n OF the fors
|, most amateur players OF France he Do
, cided I Try his hand - . profsssiona
That WA In 1904. He went - tasfS IN
found smploymsnt In the academy Z