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 ■tiiiiiiiniiiiniiiiiliiitiiiiiniriim^iiniiii iiimiB 
 
 I 
 
 A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 BILLIARDS 
 
 Its Sanitary Advantages, etcil; 
 
 ■I'lM i.. 
 
 WITH INSTRUGTJONa HOW B PUV m 6)UWE. 
 
 PVBl4XamC7> ?3Y 
 
 SAMUEt.MAt^BlLLIAE'l) xIbLE MlTOFAGTURER, 
 BlAidtmidm St. lOTest, Toronto, Ont. 
 
 mnp 
 
 HiwitMS «fc Co.. BteuD Printers and EngraTort, Toronto. 
 
V 
 
 i 
 
'.^ 
 
 ) 
 
 /2^^ 
 
 9' 
 
 y 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
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 i 
 
 SAMUEL MAY. 
 
 8l ADHI<AIDE STREBX "WKST, TORONTO, ONT 
 
 M A N U F A C T U K E li OF- 
 
 Superior Carom Billiard Tables, 
 
 .411 siKVK, Willi laiVMl iiii|>i'o%'(Ml CiiMliioii!^, 
 
 BILLIARD TABLES, IVORY BALLS, CUES, MARKERS, ETC. 
 
 SUl'EKlOll 
 
 8LATK BED 
 
 BAGATELLE 
 
 TABLES. 
 
 1 
 
 COMBINED 
 
 DINLW AND 
 
 BILLIARD 
 
 TABLES. 
 
 DwARP Tablks. 
 
 Six Pocket Pool Tables 
 
 (KMil.l.slI sivi.i;) 
 
 With siuall iuji;ket3 ami very fast round edge cwsliious, also American Pool 
 L'ablea, with pooketa and cushions for lar^e balls. 
 
 Paieiil GomWned Billiard Cliandelier and Sliade, 
 
 (to bukx ooai, oil) 
 H^"* Gives a light ahuost equal to ({as tit cue-fourth the uoB<i. 
 
 EJXZOELSIOIi OEIMIEIT'r. 
 
 The best Cement known in the Arts for joining Glass, Porcelain, Ivory, Wood. 
 Crockery, Meerschaum, Jewellery, etc., and invaluable for Tipping Billiard 
 Cues. Tips properly i»ut on with this Comont will remain on until worn out. 
 
 HULKS Ob' ALL GAMES I'liiyod on a Billiurd Tublo ; also of Bowls aiiu 3agatello. 
 
 Agent in CiiUada for Hyatt's Patent Composition Pool and Billiard Balls, 
 Chocks, etc., etc. 
 
 TIME TICKETS FOR BILLIARD ROOMS. 
 
 B >wling .vllcy iialls. Pins, etc., liignnm Vitiu Halls for Bowling Greens, Ivory 
 Martingalo Kings, etc. 
 
 SEND FOR PRICE LIST. 
 
 . } 
 
1867? 
 
..* 
 
 ■■«if 
 
 The. Game ol Billiards. 
 
 
 Tlif Origin and Antiquity of the Game — Kmperors, Kings, Qiteent and Priieea 
 Competitor* — The Pnilosophy of the Game -Detcription of the Qame and the 
 ■'• ! Players — Billiards in the United States — Its Salutary Advantages — Its Intro- 
 duction into Private Circles, 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THU OAMR. 
 
 This delightful game has become bo nnivemally esteemed for its beauty, 
 mechanical varieties, its scientific illustrations, and, above all, for its wonderful 
 sanitary advantages, that the following description and summary of facts will 
 be found interesting to the reader. 
 
 The origin of this game, like the birth-place of Homer, or the problem of 
 ,the Sphynx, has ever been a contested point. Hence its antiquity — its exact 
 age— continues to be involved in considerable doubt. Some historians suppose 
 it to have been invported from the Persians during the Consulship of the 
 Rooan Lucullus. Others contend that the honor of introducing the game into 
 Europe from the East is assigned to the Emperor Caligula. The most reliable, 
 at least the most plausible, accounts of the origin and antiquity of the game 
 of Billiitfds, is taken from certain parchment manuscripts, once the property of 
 Sir Reginald Mortimer, who was contemporarj with Peter the Hermit, and who 
 liifared in the eleventn century, somewhere about the year 1085. Sir Reginald 
 was among the Knights Templars who returned in safety from the first .crusade 
 to the H(uy Land, and afterwards joined the second crussMle led by Richard 
 Goenr de Lion. It in known that on the return of the Templar Knights i^m 
 Palestine, the game, now called billiards, was introduced by them, and was, at 
 that time, considered not only an amusement, but a means of preserving health 
 and to which the cloistered monks of that period were permitted by their 
 superiors to have recourse. At this time it was not considered among the 
 carnal amusements by the fountain heads and only sources of the christian 
 faitib. Anterior to this, if known at all by the Romans, as is generally sup- 
 posed, it must have perished, together with many other noble arts, on the 
 overthrow of their empire. Though cradled in the monasteries, having been 
 introduced into Europe by Ihe Knight Templars, the game is supposed to have 
 shared their fate, and died out when the order was overthrown, by the cupidity 
 of European monarchs. We next hear of the game in the reign of Louis XI, of 
 France, who preferred this innocent pastime to the bloody tournaments that 
 were then so popular with the court. 
 
 It is said that the ^ame, when introduced into France, became very much 
 improved upon the original crude game imported from the East, and that 
 during the reign of one of the Henry's, an artizan of Paris, named Henri de 
 Vigne, was commissioned by the King to design and manufacture a billiard 
 table, with a bed of stone, covered with cloth, having a hole and hazard 
 pocket in the centre, into which the balls were driven ; this table was to be 
 appropriated to the use of the Dauohin, at that time a lunatic at the palace of 
 Versailles. 
 
 The game was much patronized during the reign of H<anry III, at which 
 time it received its applict^tioa of " this noble game," 
 
TMK OAMR OF IIIMiiARI'S 
 
 TITI.BD P1,AYRU8. 
 
 The Kiogs of France were at all times considered its most powerful and 
 steadfast frfends. Mary, Queen of Soots, was a passionate lover of the game, 
 and on the evening preceding her execution, wrote to tho Archbishop of 
 Glasgow that her " Billiard table had Just been taken away from her, as a pre- 
 liminary step to her punishment." The King of France having married the 
 Dauphin to Mary Btuart, she became, for a while, the guest of the King, and 
 it is supposed in this way was introduced to the game during her stay in Paris. 
 
 The Empress Josephine entertained so great an idea of the fascinations of 
 the game, that during Napoleon's moody moments she would challenge him to 
 a bout of billiards, and he never appeared more happy than when engaged in 
 the game. 
 
 During a very long period, therefore, a period embracing some centuries 
 Emperors, Kings, Princes and titled nobility were competitors at this game, 
 women as well as men participating in the exhilarating amusement. No 
 wonder then that billiards became a popular game, and that the genius of man, 
 evoked at a later period, improved upon, and made it what it is now— the most 
 accomplished, fascinating and healthful game in existence. 
 
 The great feature which most likely will eventually lead to the general 
 adoptiou of billiards as the game for home — the gaoie to be introduced into 
 private hoiises, and shared with the families of all who are wealthy enough to 
 afford the luxury— is this: that it will admit of being enjoyed in common by 
 both the male and female members of the family circle. Neither sex can enjoy 
 an amusement, so rationally or innocently when alone; for in company they 
 exert a happ7 influence on each other, and more than one half of the vices 
 and follies wnich affect society result from the separation of the sexes in the 
 pursuit of their different anansements. 
 
 Those giant plague spots of society, aa at present constituted, gambling 
 and intemperance, seldom dare to show their features in the drawing-room, 
 while they often obtrude their unwelcome presence into places from which 
 ladies are excluded. In France, Gkrmany, England, and in this country also, 
 women have for many years participated in the game. One of the most cele- 
 brated women, Madame de Stael, was an enthusiastic advocate of billiards, 
 and was acknowledged to be one of the most brilhant players of her age. The 
 late Duchesse de Berri was also very fond of the game, and played a great deal. 
 Her example gave the tone to Parisian fashion, and to-day the billiwd room is 
 regarded as an indispensable adjunct to every chateau of any pretensions in 
 continental Europe. 
 
 ITS SAIjXJTARY advantaokh. 
 
 The celebrated Sir Astley Cooper — recognized, during his brilliant profes- 
 sional career, as the head of the faculty in England — when asked his opinion 
 relative to billiards as a medium of health in country placies, remarked : " In 
 country houses, removed from the theatre and balls of the metropolis, operas, 
 soirees, and other amusements peculiar to large cities, biUiards would not only 
 supply the place of these excitements, but would add something healthier and 
 purer to the enjoyment sought for. We should all sleep more soundly if we 
 made it a rule to piay billiards for an hour or two each evening before going to 
 bed. Oar wives and children would be more healthy and happy, and morf- 
 affectionate and fond of home, for tliere is nothing that so endears the family 
 oirole, aa the I'eoolleotion of amusements shared in common— in games in which 
 we all take part." The fruits of these cogent suggestions are now making them- 
 I '■elves apparent in the domestic circle of all parts of Oreat Britain, and in the 
 West India Colonies: the biUiard room, as with the nursery, is an indispens- 
 able portion of an Englishman's home) when he can afford it. As a means of 
 
TBK OAm or BfLLUBDH. 
 
 regaining impaired health, a few inatanees are noted which are worfh reeording. 
 One Do^r, ignatdaa Fleiniug, of London, opened a sort of boarding hooae and 
 infirmary, a few summerg since, at Bristcl, England, for the reception of invalid 
 patienCs, and in his advertisementa announoea billiards as one of the means of 
 •ore for donsntnptive patients. The novelty of the ticeatment attracted large 
 nambers of people who were sufiFering with pulmonary complaints, several of 
 whom were annually so far benefitted, that their ultimate cure was thoaght to 
 be more than probable. A French lady living at Paris, the wife of a respectable 
 merchant, had contracted Uver complaint, and had yellow jaundice, and was 
 ^reotened with a confirmed dyspepsia. Her situation was a critical one, for 
 it is well knuwn that most persons suffering with liver complaint, in this phase 
 of the disease, contract what is called hypo, a teohuioai term for nervous 
 de) ity, not unlike in its effects the shocks of delirium tremeuB upon the sys- 
 ten the patient dying in a short time in a most pitiable manner. This lady 
 wat- " ed to aooept the invitation of a friend to pay her a long visit at her 
 ohf lear the sea port city of Bordeaux. This invitation was aoceptedi 
 
 an ^ the sources of amusements and recreation afforded her was that of 
 
 bili.j.r Forced by her friend at first to engage in the game, she gradnallsr 
 
 8;ot to bu iond of it, and for Several houra each day she continued in her now 
 avorite pastime. So great was her improvement in health and appetite in the 
 short space of two weeks, that her husband, delighted with the wonderful' 
 change, conducted her back to her own home in Paris, fitted up a room for the 
 purpose, erected tables and implements necessary for tha game, and insisted 
 that she should become ati habitual player, and always had . some one at hisj 
 hotel to tunuse her in this way during his absence from home to attend to ' 
 business. She continued to improve, and eventually recovered her health and 
 spirits. 
 
 Instances are also related of consumptive patients in the Island of Maderaa, 
 a tropical latitude, to which particular locality they are sent when their cure is 
 despaired of at home, engaging in friendly encounters in this game, and in the 
 course of time, recovering their health thereby. Numerous other instances 
 may also be noted of the many healthful advantages derived from a regular 
 ptiujtice of this game, when patients have been suffering from various com- 
 plaints. These notices, however, are foreign from the object of this article; 
 sufficient reference is made to them to indicate its purpose, which is simply to 
 show wherein physical games excel all others in contributing to health, in ad- 
 dition to furnishing amusement to those who engage in them. 
 
 Ten Pins, Croquet, Backetts, Skittles, Cricket^ Bape'Ball, (fee, are, most 
 of them, out-door sports, and with the exception, perhaps, of Croquet, seldom ' 
 indulged in by women. In this respect Billiards has the advantage of all other 
 games, and as a healthful amusement, opening a wide field for ttpeculatiou be- 
 tween the regular phjrsician, who kills more often than he cures in dangerous 
 diseases, and the Billiard Table, mute, unpretending and more efficacious in its ' 
 treatment of patients, with less expense to the sufferer. 
 
 An amusing inoideat is recorded of the celebrated physician, Doctor Lam- 
 bert, of Paris, of which the following is a translation : — 
 
 ' " H<»|uet, the well-known banker, of Paris, called upon Doctor Lambert, 
 and asked him to prescribe for his wife, whom he thought was in a bad way." - 
 .b'i.i,?* What is the matter with her. Monsieur?" 
 
 n >t '•• I cannot tdl, nor does she know herself ; she has no orgaoio disease, no* 
 pain, no visible malady of any kind. With all the advantages my wealth 
 affords, she is miserabk, has no appetite, and feels no disposition to engage in 
 Ally of our fashionable amnselnents;" < 
 
 ' "''^'^ave yon a billiard room attached to your establikhmentf" 
 
THS OAMX or BILUABOH. 
 
 J 
 
 1 ,..n 
 
 ** No. I have neglMted to h»Te one fitted up for the purpose. " 
 
 " Ah 1 I aee. So madam has to suffer for your negUgeaoe." * 
 
 " What mean you, Monsienr le Doctor ?" 
 
 " Can you not see? Your wife is suffering from lowness of spirits, indtiesd 
 from some buried grief." 
 
 <« Mon Dien I it must be so ; we buried a favorite daughter, npoa whom 
 my wife doted, twtdve months ago to-day." 
 
 " 8he remains in the house and has no relish for society ; divides her 
 time in reading dismal books and reclining on the fanteuil ; takes no ezeroiaet 
 and is not at home to visitors." 
 
 " Monsieur le Doctor is an astrologer. It is all true, but how am I to 
 Uame." 
 
 " Never mind. . Now for the cure. Go at once and fit up the best apart* 
 ment in your house as a billiard room ; let her engage in the game, she will 
 soon become fond of it. Yes, Monsieur, billiards is tne only medicine I will 
 prescribe for Madame. With exercise will come appetite, appetite will soon 
 exorcise this nervous debility with which your wife is troubled ; that oncero- 
 moved, Madame will recover her spirits and become what she was*before her 
 loss, an ornament to society, and more than ever a treasure to the domestie 
 oirole." 
 
 " Monsieur le Doctor, your words are pearls — they have made me quit* 
 happy ; I will go at once and do your bidding. Adieu 1 " 
 
 Three months later the worthy Doctor received the following missive, 
 with a cheque enclosed, for 6,000 francs : " Ohere Docteur— Thanks to your 
 prescription, I have entirely recovered my health and spirits. Accept the es« 
 olosed souvenir from your grateful 
 
 • Ecosnn Hoouct/' 
 
 \f 
 
 THK raiLOSOPBT Of XBX OAMI. 
 
 The game of Billiards differs from all other games in every single element 
 which contributes its integral portion towards the formation of a harmonious 
 whole. 
 
 The game of Whist, one of the most, if not the most beautiful and ac* 
 oomplished games known, and upon which various treatises have been writt^ 
 is at best a (tame of chance. True,. application, a good memory and long prao« 
 tice have their influence in inducing a certain success, but to command intiro 
 success, a great deal 'depends upon the cards dealt out to the respective partners. 
 Without fair hands, the best players seldom or never command success. 
 
 The game of Chess, said by many adepts at both, to be superior to W|iist, 
 depends on a thorough knowl<Klge of the game, a good memory, good oaleula- 
 tion, some scientific proficiency «nd a world of practice to induce complete suo- 
 oess.^ These two games are simply selected as a medium of contrast to that 
 of Billiards, because they stand higheot in the scale of ttoellence, and because 
 they are among the few which do not lead to gambling in polite circles. 
 
 Euchre, All Fours, Monte. Faro, and sundry others, are essentially gam- 
 bling games, and as such are iriwvelant in this connection. 
 
 One of the primary elements in the game of Billiards, is first to understand 
 how the balls are manipulated, and how much they count towards making up 
 the number of points necsssary to complete the gfune. The next step is to know 
 how to strike your ball, the force required in deUvering it in the right direotion, 
 and the particular point of the ball at which the cue diall strike it, so asjh» 
 oommandits perlormanoe as the player may desire. Then follows practice 
 
TBI OAUK or BUiLUBDB. 
 
 ■kill, Boienoe, mathemalioal oaloalations, geometrioal deduotioDB, Ao. Taato, 
 wrcoiiiOD, nerve, Ao., follow aa a general aeqaenoe. The orowning advantage, 
 nowewer, of this game above that of all others is the immense physioal benefits 
 it offers in the way of healthful exercise. The game of BiUi'iras may tmth- 
 fnlly be said to be a soientiflo gymnasinm, affording a rei\l pleasure, an 
 inteUectnal recreation, a pleasant way of employing time which crnnot be so 
 agreeably employed otherwise, by tbose who are reqaired not to engage in 
 iMentary pursnits. Add to this, it is not a game of onauoe ; it never can be, 
 as the superior player invariably triumphs over the wei^er adversary, not- 
 withstanaing the chances which the game affords, by the natural impetus of 
 the balls, reaching, bounding and rebounding to and from the cushions, may 
 
 give either adversary. Knowing i|^d feeUng this, the ambition to excel becomes 
 terally epidemic with the playofil, and the pleasurable excitement is intense.^ 
 As an evidence of the exhilarating and defi^tful effects of this game to in- 
 ▼alids, it is recorded that hypocondriaos ana persons suffering with bilious 
 and even pulmonary disorders, have grsdaally recovered from their maladies 
 by indulging in the game, where private tables afford them the opportnnity. 
 
 In speaking of the philosophy of the game, the aim of the journalist 
 should not be to land one game at the expense of another, to gratify a liking 
 for the one and a prejudice against the other ; but to show that any game, to 
 satisfy all the reqmrements and avoid all the dangers of a public or a private 
 amusement, should contain within itself tlie following indispensable pre- 
 requisites : It should exercise and discipline the faculties and resources, both 
 of mind and body, without exhausting or disgusting either ; and In the second 
 place it should contain within itself sufficient mental excitement and ambition 
 io render the intrinsic interests of a money bet superfluous to its full enjoy- 
 ment. Experience has shown that these requisites are fully attained in the 
 J[ame of Billiards. It combines science with gymnastics, teaching the eye to 
 ndge of distan tes, the mind to calculate forces, and the arm to execute with 
 /Hpidity and skill whatever the mind and eye combine to dictate for its exeou- 
 tion. It expands the chest, while giving grace and elegance to the form, and 
 afiorde even to the illiterate mind a practical basis for the appreciation of 
 mathematical and geometric truth. 
 
 As regards the action of the game on the muscular anatomy :' man ; ao-^ 
 cording to the best opinions of anatomisto, there are in the neigh .'.oarhood of 
 four hundred muscles in the hnman body, and that baanty of person and health 
 are measureably dependent upon their proper action. The game of Billiards 
 oalls into action each and every one of the smews, tendons, joints, and muscles 
 of the frame. In walking, striking, posturing, stretching, stooping and leaning 
 back, the requirements of an ordinary game pla<ie the player in almost every 
 conceivable attitude, thus impartiufi' grace and elasticity to the body, while the 
 exerotse of the muscles iucieases its strength. * ' 
 
 HOW TO PLAY BILLIARDS. # 
 
 The art of playing billiards must be taught by 'practical experience, but a 
 stndent may, himself, (or herself) save months of laborious investigation and 
 experiment, by learning thoroughly, beforehand, the principle' of the leimce 
 which is afterwucds to be mastered avd practised aa an art, loii billiards com- 
 pzehends both art an^ science in the variety and extent of its many phases. 
 
 nnST BTBFB— FOSrnOM— THE BBIOOB— BTttOKB— nSEFUI. HINTS. 
 
 First, as to position : a very important matter, for on it depends, in no 
 PBaU; decree,. steadiness and accuracy of play. 
 
 "' • A right-handed player should stand well and firmly on the right log*, 
 with (h« left leg in advimoe. Before striking you most be oarefol to assume ao 
 
M 
 
 'I'HB OAME OV niLLIABOB. 
 
 eftKj attlt.ide. When "strength" or extra toroe is required, remember that 
 the body'ehotdd be lowered somelrhat in a stooping position, tatd the distuioa 
 of the length of bridge in taking aim a little longer ; then draw the one t^rae 
 or fonr times briskly backwards and forwardsi before striking, in order to malkm 
 sort: of the aim a^ exemplified in the illustration here given t 
 
 ■■;B 
 
 M- 
 
 ,I««B«JJ VX'i' 
 
 KAaV OB OUUINARY POSIl'IOM. 
 
 Attention to the pi-oper attitdde, or petition, of the student is utglUitfy 
 tvoommcuded ; it is ind^d quite essential to insute snooesa, for wi^ont a 
 tOtAf &nd ethfty position no one oas e^^er booome an aoatJupUebed play«r. iu^ 
 
THK.OAMK OP MU.I.IAHOH. 
 
 0* 
 
 M- 
 
 i\ 
 
 to- THE BRIDGE. ;' " ' 
 
 -L^oo muoh a^ention oau hardly be paicl to tli& impodiaiit ttreliminart of 
 IbMningabriage'"'--'-'^ '■■■■''^'i v^ -■•?.:^--«'..*^-;" 'ui ;.; ,.,.>^aTT, ■¥■.-■ T . r,^,J^ 
 
 First lay the left han^ flat on the kbleV ibheii draw the fingers (wiiioh 
 
 Spst be kept straight) towardn the wrist, which will cause the knuokies of the 
 bnd to be elevated ; care must be taken also that the tips of the fingers, the 
 wrist, and the ball of the thumb touch the table. The thumb mast be a little 
 apart from the fingers at the top, ho a« to form a good groove for the cue to 
 rest in, as shown here. 
 
 THX nniDGE. 
 
 The distance of the bridge from the ball should be about six inches. It ia 
 a grfeat fatilt with some players that they make their bridge too long ; some 
 lay the hand almost fiat, while others double their fingers under the palm of 
 the hand, or play through the two forefingers. These imperfect bridges offer 
 great impediments to good play. The bri^e must, at uU events, not be made 
 'in a cramped manner. 
 
 Oood play, indeed> requires that certain modilioations should be used in 
 forming 'the bridge. There are proper methods of making these : for instance, 
 in the high str^te, when the striker's ball lies close under a cushion ; or when 
 another ball is in the way ; or when your ball is close. to a pocket ; and in the 
 case of other cramped positions. The illustration on page 10 shows the position 
 of the bridge for the high twist, and the attitude for slow recoil. 
 
 Practice will, however soon enable the leai'uer to ascertain the proper 
 method for modifying the bridge in the cases above indicated. 
 
 THE STROKE. 
 
 The next point after making a proper bridge is to know how to strike your 
 own and the object-ball. Having ascertained the position of the object-ball, 
 and what you have to do with it, look at your own ball, and make up your 
 ttiind as to the exact spot whereon to strike with the cue ; next let your glance 
 be i^pid from your ball to the object ball, and then let it rest until after the 
 ttroke. Do not, however, linger in making your stroke, because, if you do, ^oor 
 eyes will only wander from one ball to the other, and so confuse the sight. 
 Quickness and judgment on this matter will be attained by practice ; by it the 
 mind, the hand, and the eye will be trained in sympathy, and will obey each 
 other on the first impulse This is one of the chief secrets of success at 
 l>illiaKde, and is of far more practical importance to the plaver than any know- 
 ledge of geometry. Your hold of the cue must be at the balance,— that is, a 
 lew inches from the butt, so that it may touch the centre of the hand ; tho 
 thumb and fingera should have a fair but firm and easy grasp, which \HU 
 
10 
 
 •i'HIl GAVE or BniUABDR. 
 
 require several modilioationB according to the BtroJie. The fancy style of 
 h<ucUng the cae with the fingers and thomb only should he <tyoided ; also that 
 gimcrack style of turning in the wriat, affected by many would-be players, wh« 
 CKmfidently assume an imposing position, but really accomplish nouiing. A 
 great deal of "utyle" is at times assumed even by some professional playen 
 who entertain a high opinion of themselves and their play ; but this kind «f 
 affectation has been adopted since they became somewhat of playcTB. net 
 when they were learners. fuit -^.n n . .f. 
 
 
 h,.. 
 
 I'OHITION or BRIDOK F0« HIGH TWIKT.— (/S« pugt 9.) 
 
 The proper ponitiou for the cue is as nearly horizontal as possible ia all 
 simple strokes, so as to just clear the cushion ; of course oonsiderabla m6di- 
 fication will be required for the various kinds of strokes. As to the turning in 
 of the wrist, I maintain that the proper way is to keep the arm parallel with, 
 and as near to, the side as is ui.;.jiBtent, so that the cue shall b^ exactly under 
 ^e elbow, or at right angles with it, aq here exemplified. 
 
 By this method the back of the hand will be perpendicular to the table, v 
 and not horizontal with it, as is sometimes seen with awkward players. 
 
 The one should be drsMn back about six inches, more or less according to 
 the strength required, and then the blow struck with a confident. st«ady, firm 
 impefentf, delivered with t.ie whole arm from the elbow and wrist ; all other 
 deuvery of the cue is more or lerts a " jerk," which should be avoided, as it ia 
 
*HB OAXB or BILUABBB. 
 
 m- 
 
 dlBittetrioilly oppoBed to the right wayv Do not elevate, depress, or move the 
 •ae sidewsyB iii the aot of Btritdng, m by so doing yon mast neoessarily strike 
 
 Stir ball at a different point to that which yoor judgment piesoribes as the 
 St. 
 
 ■■'fe 
 
 %a 
 
 in 
 
 to 
 
 B 
 i« 
 
 -;.._- , .■if"'-- ■•'' I i}.ih, 
 
 ■mn 
 
 n^ 
 
 ' *.'*f^ #M« 'j*rf« ^■'^•i<^.iiiii$» 
 
 a 
 
 HBOWINO PBOPHIR POHITION OP CUB, HAND, AND ARM,..« ;„ 
 
 
 I cannot impress toolserioualy upon the raiud of the pupil the necessity of 
 aeting dosely up to the abore important directions. In order to obtain a free, 
 flowing, easy, and precise stroke, play one ball only to a certain spot, or np 
 and down the table, trying how many times yon can make it travel, increasing 
 the streugth of the blow gradually. (Tontinue this kind of practice till yon 
 are oonfldett that you can send the ball at the desired point. 
 
 • 
 
 A OBSOBIFTIOM OF THB OAUB. 
 
 k hazard is made by driving the ball into any of the pockets; a winnny 
 luuard, by pocketing your adveraaiy's or either of the red-balls ; a losing hazard 
 te when yon pocket your own ball by your own act. 
 
 A carom— a-word derived from the French carotnbolagt — is when you hit 
 •ne or more balls on the table with your own. 
 
 When the ball you play with strikes another ball more than once at the 
 Mune stroke it is called a kttt. 
 
 " f3oratch " is a term used to denote a chance success in the game, as for 
 •sample : the intention of the player, prefigured in his mind, in to 'uake a 
 •ertain count in a certain way ; he plays, and fails to make the doH count, 
 but aooident befriends him, and he wins a count without either intuuding or 
 deserving it. 
 
 " Force " is when the player's ball retrogrades after coming in contact with 
 another, this is clearly illustrated by striking a cart-wheel, stripped of its 
 fellows, below its centre of ^vity— the double tendency to move forward in 
 the direction of the impeUing force, and rotate backwards, will at once be 
 perceived. 
 
 " Follow" is a term used to signify impelling the player's ball with some 
 loroe against another ball, and make it follow after it. 
 
 " Jump " is when a ball is forced by a d&wnwanl stroke to ricochet or leap 
 V rom the table, striking a ball, jumping over it and striking a third, thus 
 Bi.4ldng a carom. 
 
 >■ 
 
W THS OAUB or BIUiUBDH. 
 
 To " bulk " is when the player endeavora to make a carcm by iii^t strijui^ 
 ^her oiuhion with his ball, and oompelling it to take the dhrciction inteacled. 
 
 •' Misoae " is when the one, either from want of chalk, or being badlf 
 
 handled, Blips o£F the ball without accomplishing the intended stroke. .u->S 
 
 * " Playing for safety " is when a player foregoes a possible advantage in 
 
 order to leave the balls in such a position that his opponent cannot |nake a 
 
 ooont 'vi(hen it is his tarn to play. 
 
 "Flaying spot ball" is when the player is not limited to ^e numbQr of 
 times he may pocket either red ball from the spot. ~ '^ . \ 
 
 Some tables are made without pockets, upon which the earofif game)iB 
 played, a game wherein the player is required with his ovm ball to gbnke two 
 other balls on the table before he can score a count ; this being e Acted, he 
 continues to play and add to his scores until he ceases to count. 
 
 The above brief outline comprehends the principal points and terms 
 attending the game. As before intimated, application and practice flone can 
 give the player-jpitoficienoy ; but when a knowledge of the game is once attained, 
 emrect execiitibn vrill moie or less follow. —.„•.,..„: — ^.|i 
 
 The etymology of the word " billiards " is not very satisfactorily given, nor 
 is it significant of the game as at present known. The reason for thi^ is, that 
 no description of the original game, as imported from the East in the eleventh 
 century, has ever been publid[Led. According to the ancient orthography, the 
 word is spelled halyard, which being composed of ball and yard signifies ball- 
 ntiek, but it will be perceived this refers only to the cue, or instrument used to 
 impel the ball. The modem French word is billiard, spelled and pronounce^ 
 tiie same as in the English, with a broader stress upon the last syllable, the 
 mgnificatioit being a ball table, which approximates nearer a correct definiticO, 
 but doos not describe the game. -• 
 
 BILLIABDB IN THK UKITKI) STATES* 
 
 The Cavalierp who settled Virginia, and the Hollanders, who were the 
 early inhabitants oi Manhatten tsland, (the progenitors of old Knickerbocker 
 stock,) were the first to introduce the Game of Billiards into this country ; and 
 subsequently the Hugu«tnots, who settled in l^outh Carolina, and the Spanish 
 under De Soto, who settled in St. Augustine, Florida. 
 
 The game, as then introduced, differed a little from the primitive game of 
 ancient time. The subsequent improvements made at' long interval, wer* 
 simply greater care and finish used in manufacturing the tables, the domestic 
 article being rude in construction, with timber beds and staffed cushions, the 
 cue used being a tapering stick without any leather tip. It was not until the 
 spring of 1828 that one Mo:asieur Mingot, a professional billiard player of 
 Paris, invented the leather tip, and even then no theoretical deduction sug* 
 gested to bim th > wonderful phenomena that would result from the apparently 
 unimportant change, but he is f ntitled to credit for the boldness with which h« 
 pursued his chance discovery to its legitimate conclusion. In the fall of th« 
 same yewr the tips were imported into this country, Mr. Otis Field, a well 
 known and esteemed citizen of New York, being tLo first to apply and ua» 
 them. In 1824 James Watson Webb, then a lieutenant in the United States 
 navy, introduced them in Detroit, Michigan, creating ^uite a consternation therf 
 amongst professional players by his dexterous play with a leather tip cae. , 
 
 TAB PLAYKBS. 
 
 \ 
 
 It has been remarked, that at various periods in Europe, emperors, kings, 
 
 queens, princes, oonrtiers, and men and women of the highest literary distinct 
 
 tion were competitors in the game. In the United States, beginning with an(^ 
 
 V-> 
 
 BlL 
 
THK OAHK or BUXI&BDR, 
 
 1% 
 
 IB 
 
 of 
 
 joBt preceding '»b» Revolutiouftry War, we find that the most distingoished 
 geoenls were pAtrona of the game. The Father of his country, the illastrioiu 
 Waahington, \raile the cares of a new horn nation rested upon him. was aooos- 
 tomed to refresh his mind, weary from the toils of his exalted station, with the 
 fascinating enjoyments of the game. Lafayette, Montgomery, Wa3ma, Warren, 
 Putnam, Pulaski, Marion, and Moultree were also known to be lovers of this 
 noble game. Among our distinguished statesmen we find the names of Hamil- 
 ton, Jay, Burr, Morris, Madison, Mnnroe, Jefferson, Patrick Henry and John 
 Quinoy Adams, who were not otily patrons of the game, bat were oonsidcored 
 capital players. 
 
 At a later day, we find several governors and politicians of note, and men 
 who rank high in the law, Utorature and science, availing themselves, during 
 their leisure, of the keeu enjoyment afforded by this delightful game ; and as 
 before remarked, no respectable private establishment, who can afford the 
 .luxury, is now considered complete wit^ut its billiard room. Elegant public 
 Billiaird Temides may be found in various parts of the city, and alw> in every 
 pnncipal city in the Union. In New York alpne there are 10,000 Billiard- 
 Tables, exclusive of a large number in private residences. 
 
 
 
 BILf^lARDS IN THE HOlflE CIR< ''.E—HIEDICAE.LV' 
 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 ■ tuvr 
 
 BT DB. MABCY, OF NBW YORK. 
 
 Nothing contributes more to the physical, moral, and intellectual develop- 
 ment and heathf ulness of a community than suitable recreation. Man is made 
 up of a great variety of organs and faculties, all destined to perform certain 
 fonctions, and a proper exercise and development of them is essential to the 
 highest degree of health and usefulness. This vital fact is not duly appreciated 
 by the American people. In all parts of our country the chief end of life ap- 
 pears to consist in the acquisition of riches ; and all the faculties of the mind, 
 yea, even health itself, are rendered subservient to this object.. In our large 
 cities, especially, violations of laws of health are almost universal. The amount 
 of recreation and amusement indulged in by our profeusional, literary, and 
 business men is entirely inadequate to Beout« that degree of physical and 
 mental vigor which ptoperly belongs t6 them. Scarcely a man of them can . 
 examine carefully the moral tabernacle in which his soul dwells, without 
 finding some derangement, some source of pain, depression of spirits, or other 
 annoyance. 
 
 We claim that a large portion of these evils are due to excessive devotion 
 to business, and to a neglect of those mental and physical diversions which 
 conduce so materially to health and happiness. On returning home from 
 business, our citifsens indulge in rich dinners, with vinous and other potations ; 
 after the meal is ended, a majority of them mope over their evening journals, 
 ponder upon the prices of merchandise, stock, and the profits and losses of 
 the day, and then retire to an onrefreshing sleep, with a stomach fnU of rich 
 viands and exciting stimulants, and a mind compressed with perplexing cares 
 and ttioughts of business. Another portion pass a large part of the night at 
 crowded parties, balls, theatres, clubs, and late suppers, and call this recrea- 
 tion. But is Mie inhalation .for hours in succession of a poisonous atmosphere. 
 
il 
 
 THROAMB or BOiLUllDe. 
 
 or an indalgeuce in game sappers, panohes, wines, ioes, and other abomiaa* 
 tions at two or three oolbok in the morning, and then going from heated 
 apartments with open pores into a cold atmosphere— in sober reality, amuting 
 or o<mdnotiTe to health or morals 7 Let the next morning's heada&he, niraaea, 
 and mentkkl and bodily lassitade, which even Seltitor water taHa to remove, 
 answier : Later, let the sallow sUc, the dyspeptic stomadh, the torpid liver, 
 the shalcy nerves, and the blnedevils, respond to the qaery. Later still, let 
 apoplexy, paralysis, softening of the brain, or Bright's disease, give the final 
 answer. 
 
 What, thei , can be suggested as suitable modes of recreation? How oaii 
 we present that ^ xercise and diversion to both mind and body ivhich will result 
 in reomiting them from i^e perplexing toils and cares of buriness ? We answer, 
 by directing the thoughts and the muscles into new and agreeable channels ; 
 by taking we mind from care, anxiety, and severe application, and diverting it 
 by pleasurable exercise and excitement; by setting aside disagreeable and« 
 depressing emotioDH, add substituting in their place those which are chewfol 
 and exhilarating; by giving .t(> the dormant muscles of the limbs and of the 
 whole body that gentle and healthful exercise which they so much require, btft 
 of which thoy are deprived in the ordinary avocations of city life. 
 
 One of the modes by which these desirable objects may be accomplished is 
 to introduce into private houses a BiUia»d Table, and to present it to the entire 
 family— men, women, and children — as a means of daily exercise and recrea- 
 tion. The most indolent and stupid will, by practice, soon acquire a fondness 
 for the game ; and the improvemeuts in the salutary condition of those who 
 habitually indulge in it, will oouimend it in the strcoigest manner to the heads 
 of families. 
 
 We also advocate the game of billiards in families from a moral as well as 
 galutary point of view. Young Anurica i$ naturally "fritky" naturally enthuii- 
 a$tie, exuberant, and fond of exciten>ent and fan. Confine him in the hotue without 
 diversion and excitement, and he mopee, tvlki, pinei, and tooner or later, breaks from 
 ■wholesome parental restraints, and instinctively seeks for amusements, exeit«mt.:%ts, 
 and pleasures elsewhere — at the club, the play house, the restaurant, and too ojten 
 the gambling-hell and brothel. These natural instincts for. diversion may be 
 directed in such a manner by parents as to be productive of positive physio*!, 
 moral and inteUectual benefit, by investing home with a few of the attractions 
 which beckon them elsewhere. Give them comforU^le billiard rooms and 
 billiard tables, so that body and mind can be amused and invigorated, and the 
 attractions and pleasures of home will be superior to those beyond its boundaries. 
 
 Billiards is a mathematical game, and affords scope and exercise, for thoaa 
 faculties which discipline and strengthen the mind. A steady hand, a clear 
 head, quick perceptions, and a pleasant exercise of the calculating powers, are 
 the requisite for an aooomplished billiard player. The practical development 
 of these qualities must naturally be productive of good results. 
 
 The game of billiards was invented in France. The name is derived from 
 Sille, a b^I. 
 
 Charles IX. of Franoe married Elizabeth of Austria in 1670, and the wed> 
 ding was signalized by the serving up at the table of the first turkeys ever 
 seen in France. 
 
 A year after this event, and ft year before the death of- this young queen, 
 the game of billiucds was invented by Henrique De'Vigne, a French artist, im 
 1571. The new game became inamediately popular at the French Oourt, and 
 was soon know^ to the Germans, the Dutch, Italians, and the various nations 
 of Europe. Bniion, the author of the *' Anatomy of Melancholy," mentionai 
 .MUiards among the fifteen popular " winter recreations" in vogue in England 
 
 a 
 d 
 
 il 
 
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 d 
 
 h 
 
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 a 
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 ^ 
 
lad 
 
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 w, 
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 sui 
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 Lis 
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 XBB OAMa or BUiLUBOB. 
 
 U 
 
 a* the end of tkat oentary. Of some other .emnsementB he thus speaks : ' ' Cards, 
 dice, hawkes aad hounds, are rooks upon whioh men loose themselves wheo. 
 they are improperly handled and beyond their fortunes," Hunting and hawkt 
 ingheregaixU as /^honest reoreations, and fit for some great men, but npt for 
 every base or inferior person ; " for " while they maintain their faulkoner, sjid 
 dogs, and hunting nags, their wealth runs away with their hounds, and their 
 fortunes fly away with the hawkes." 
 
 In more recent times various improvements have been made in the oon* 
 atraotion of billiard tables. Tables made of slate were introduced into Eng> 
 land in 1627. The skill of home manufacturers now leaves nothing further to 
 
 '»/< J> : 
 
 >JtiM,fU>V- 
 
 ();,it 
 
 bedesiredi 
 
 A few i&biiiths ago we purohai^d of Messrs. !Phe1ah & CoUender a' Ibilliat^ 
 table, and installed it in one of ont large upper rooms, as a household fixture \ 
 and ve can truly say, that it hat contributed vastly to the lualth and pleasure of ths 
 entire family. Hundreds of times when we have looked upon the happy and 
 excited faces of those engaged in the game, and when personally partioip'Ating 
 in the exhilarating recreation, we have been profoundly grateful to Messrs., 
 Phelan & Collender for their praiseworthy efforts in endeavouring to nationalize 
 and render popular this delightful game. If those wiio ameliorate the ills of 
 life, and add to the sum of human happipess, are public benefactors, then the 
 gentlemen, to whom we have just alluded are entitled to the appellation. 
 
 BILL1ABD8 AS A PASTIME. 
 
 ^J From the Metropolitan Record. ' 
 
 We kuow of no game deservedly so popular as that of billiards. Afford- 
 ing healthy exercise as well ym amusement, it has attuned a position in publlty 
 favor which time, that plays sad havoc with other reoreations, only serves tol 
 strengthen. And yet no game has had so much to contend against in thvr 
 assaults to which it has been subjected from the pharisaical and the sanctimoni- 
 ous. The Puritanical missionaries, in their efforts to reduce society to the 
 dreary rnd gloomy monotony of their own wretched existence, have devoted 
 
 rial attention to this innocent and attractive pastime. It has been, and 
 is, denounced as one of the abominations that is sapping the foundations 
 of the social system, and undermining the morals of the rising generation. 
 True to their narrow conceptions of right and wrong, they refuse to regard it 
 apart from the assooiatiohs by which, like other games, it is Bometimes beset ; 
 and through the very vehemence of their opposition, they materially aided, for 
 a time, by the false and silly prejudice thus engendered, in confining it almost 
 exclusively to a particular portion of the community. But that time has 
 
 gone by, and the game of billiards is now, as we have intimated, firmly estab- 
 shed in public favor. It has, after a hard-fought battle, won the victory 
 against ovewhelming odds, and the Chadbands the Aminadab Sleeks— hsve 
 been beaten ignominionsly from the field of conflict. Their weapons have been 
 shivered to pieces in the combat ; their strongest arguments have gone down 
 before the terrific onsets of the invincible cue, and their best constructed forti- 
 fications have been riddled by the irresistible balls. - To-day " the noble game," 
 aa it has been justly termed, stands higher in public estimation than ever, and 
 ia rapidly superseding many others that have heretofore formed the exclusive 
 antertainment of a luge portion of the community. Nor is this to be won* 
 dered at, new that the game is being more generally understood aqd its true 
 oharaoter more thoroibghly appreciated. The healthy exercise it affords to tha 
 body, as well as the attractive interest which it never fails to arouse in thoaa 
 who have once become acquainted with it, commends it specially as a stiiutairy 
 
u 
 
 TttS O^sUX OT l^^liIAkDS. 
 
 meeuure to all those who ^ engaged in sedentary 6r lite»ry oooapatiouB. Its 
 'nilne in this respect can be natdly over-estimated, and the fact that billiard 
 tables aire oonsidMired as essential in all well-regdlated hoaseholda that oan 
 afford snch a p:/a?oe of ne^er^f ailing amusemeBt to all its membenkj yovng and 
 old, speaks >^li not onlj for the game itself, bnt for the taste by whion it i» 
 approved afad c*«ooanwr.d. We know of few things more tnily agveeaU* 
 than a family party engaged in the game of billiards, as participante and speo^ 
 tators. ' The abeoKbiog interest witJ^ which its progress is watched, the strag- 
 gle of skill for the mastery, the exhibition of charaoter in the methods and 
 styles of the players, the ckee oalonlatiou required in the " making " of slvots, 
 the movemente and relative positioas of the balls, their diverse action under 
 the inflnence of the perpendicular, the jump, the follow, the centre, and the 
 forp9 strokes, the now use and interpretation which it I'.as given to words, 
 tihe set pkrases ^own only to the initiated, and which are fall of mystery to 
 VM unlearned, — all i^^e features are peoaliar to billiards, and give it a vairied 
 intermt which, we believe, no other gaxae posaea^es. We do not believe there 
 is a man so phlegmatic for whom it has no attractions, or one who, having 
 beeome acquainted with it« rules, could fail to be interested in the progress 
 of a well and skilfully played game. We have seen the mo^t apathetlo tem- 
 peraments roused up to a degree of enthusiasm while wfttcliing a sharply con- 
 tested match between two rival playets, that we hardly considered possible. 
 
 We are aware of the objections that have benn urged against billiards, as 
 affording oppo^ tunnies for gambling ; but what {^ame is free from the same 
 charge? We have raf4.o| i^Y»i Bteapabuats^limgllitip^. '^^b human life, racing 
 for a bet; yet who' would think of condemning the propulsion of vessels by 
 steam on that account? It is the abuse, not the use, of a thing, at which these 
 would-be reformers shoulcl strike: but in thia, as in many other things, a 
 rampant radicalism would strike at ita very existence. We can tell these de- 
 taaotiyes that some of the best men the world has ever seen, not only adinired, 
 but. played the game ; and we would advise all who have the means to do sor 
 and who would enjoy their hours of leisure from the cares of bnsineBs, par- 
 ticularly of a sedentary kind, to procure a billiard table, and learn and practise 
 ^e game. It may interest such to know — and none want exercise more — that 
 in one game of billiards a moderate player walk^ at least a mile, and his 
 mind is so absorbed that he oun hardly realiise the f «ct. When it ia aJso borne 
 in mind that every part of the body is in motion, its advantages as a salutary 
 measure will be AiUy appreoiated. ,, 
 
 Billiard Tal»ie» for Bnglisli Army PfBcers.— The British 
 Parhament api^ropriated np less than igeO.OQO (ur fSOO.OOO) for billiaifd tables 
 to be supplied to the officers of the army, at their various barracks throiigh- 
 ont the world. T)x«. argument urged was, that British officers were very baial.v 
 paid, and therefore ought to havp the means of amusement afforded them as a 
 reli^ation from their arduona duties, and as a preventative from, tlieir seeking 
 excitement and recreation a; otUer places, and in more objoction&blo way«. 
 BilUarcls is another firltiah ^natitutiou, and the came is indulged in by every- 
 body, not excepting the clergymen of the Bstablished Church. 
 
 A Word to the Ijadles*— To the ladies a word is due. Nothing oan 
 be more admirably adapted for all that appertains ^o flirtation tlian billiards; 
 and the game should therefore not be omitted from the already extensive oat-- 
 alogue of modem accomplishments. Amongst tho fair ner. there have been 
 many r^aUy' sound play^iis, of whom none attained greater celebrity than 
 ICadMue de Stael and the late Dudhess de Berri. As »1ba«d!um for exerois*^ 
 MpiMially to invalidi,* nothing oan be more benefleieil than regular practice t 
 and no house of pretension should be without a billiard table.— Zottdon Society 
 
TBJC OAMB OV BUiLIABDB. 
 
 17 
 
 BULIARDti IBT EDVCATIONAIi IIV§TITUTE§. 
 
 ■lO^j! 
 
 .r'ti Ke'drriog to the billiard table ati a means of healtbfal exeroise, espeoially 
 for soliolars and other persons of sedentary habits, a physician attached to a 
 private academy in one of the Webtem States^ writes : " I oarefolly observed 
 for several months the powerf dlly strengthening effects of this peculiar exercise, 
 and was much enrprised to note the benefits to those possessing weak and de- 
 fective stmctnres. So marvellons have been the resolts in many oases whei* 
 disease has become almost ehronie, that I conld scarcely comprehend snoh 
 wooderfnl results in so short a time. This exercise, so effloaoious in driving 
 •disease from the human system, has been thoroughly tested and has proven a 
 permanent success, and has the effect of materially assisting the pupils, the 
 work of cultivating the mind being greatly aided by the healthful operations of 
 the functions of the body. 
 
 ' Without exercise, the plan has been iiuictivity of body, and activity of the 
 iHind ; under this sj'stem it is equal activity of both, the healthful influence of 
 qne^ induced by judicious muscular exercise, operating to assist the other. 
 
 "the motions gone through in the pastime reach every part of the body, 
 and operate apon every portion of the system. They completely dispel langour 
 And inaetivity from the from^. The tension of the muscles is tested, and the 
 blood flowing sluggishly in remote and undisturbed portions, is urged and 
 quickened in its circulation by the relaxing and contracting muscles. The 
 brain stimulated into new activity by the lively, bounding current within, and 
 unharrassed by disordered functions of the physical lifeApomprehends and 
 absorbs with swiftness whatever is presented to its spirittnd appetite. Such 
 have been the effects of free billiaxd exercises, and I hope soon to see them 
 become general in use, as it makes the youth feel that he is growing up into a 
 new life of physical sbrength and activity." It may be stated, in this connec- 
 tion, that there are upwards of a dozen educational institutions and^severa^ 
 refoi'matories throughout thQ country, where the billiard table is looked upon 
 as an indispensable adjunct. Several of these institutions have two tables, 
 and one in this state has three. ' ' 
 
 MINOOT, THE GREAT FRENCH B1£.£.IARD PLAYER, 
 
 , AND INVENTOR Of THE QUE Ll^ATHER. 
 
 To the famous Mingot is attributed the invention of tiie cue leather, such 
 as it now is. But this is not his only title to the fame acquired by him a half 
 century ago, as will be shovm by the < following anecdote, given in Monsieur 
 Jules Bostaing's preface to Wxe "Manual of Buliards" of M. Desire Lemaire, 
 one of the bUliard uutabilities of France. 
 
 It was at a time, says M. Jules Rostaign, alluding to the revolution of 1798, 
 when it was a rather serious matter for anyone t6 express certain opinions. 
 Politics led Mingot soon to become a billiard-player of the first water. Never- 
 theless, I would not advise the reader to follow tho same road to reach thf 
 summit of the glories of carom. 
 
 Before poUtics led Mingot to acquire the skilfulness for which he was so 
 diBtingnlshed, it took him into a state prison; Living as is the custom with 
 prisoners, he ifioon felt the pangs' of sameness and solitude, and hypochondria 
 
 Sew upon him lilfe tho upleen of an Englishman. But, singular to say, when 
 le hotir of deliverance came, Mingot requited his jailor and ^he prison direo- 
 tot .to allow him to remain a few days longer. This direetor was a m^ oil 
 aggqie good sense in his own way. He thought thajb as it freqnehtly happeiid^ 
 to bd a matter of some difScnlty to secure the persons of incorrigible oonspirit^ 
 
18 
 
 TJtK 6AMK OF BIUJAB08. 
 
 ton, it would he! wM to detain fhis o0e,'shMe it M^as'liiB own irMi to be de- 
 tained, and the request was granted. Within another, week, however,* Mingot 
 deiired to be aiet free, and his Jailor opened the prison gates, aJthoagh not with- 
 out ezpresaing regret at his departure. 
 
 Mingot's friends now disoovered the secret of his sadden affeotion for prison 
 life. He had fcand thqre a oomplete billiard table, which was left at bis dis- 
 posal. After playing npou it, for want of anything better to do, he took a liking 
 tat the' noble game, which afterwards became his ruling passion. It jproved 
 to him the revelation of his vocation. Nature, aS' was the case with €hamil- 
 lard, the n^inister of Loais XIV., had made him that he should become a bil- 
 liard hero. Maybe, as a minister, he knight have been neither better nor worse 
 than Ohamillard. 1 he fact is that on the day when he was to have received 
 his pardon and was to have made bis exit from the state prison, he was study- 
 ing and inventing, and on the point of discovering, a new stroke that was to 
 add a remarkable prfistige to the game of billiards. And this is why the politi- 
 cal prisoner requested a prolongation of his detention. Under lock and key the 
 wings of his celebrity were growing like those of the butterfly in its narrow cell. 
 
 What was this remarkable stroke, the discovery of which was more dear 
 to him than the recovery of his liberty t Yon will soon learn it ; and sinoe 1 
 have promised an anecdote, let us proceed. 
 
 Shortly after emerging from prison, Mingot happened to be at a cafe in 
 one of the southena cities of France, the people of \/hioh are known for their 
 bragging propensiflea. Several times Mingot hears his name pronounced bv a 
 gentleman who was telling his friends that while in Paris he had been plajnng 
 a game with Mingot, whose reputation was fast travelling over the couutiT. 
 He further asserts that he had learned from the new master several remarkable 
 strokes. Mingot casts a look upon the southerner, and, satisfied that he had 
 never met the man before, he sidles up to the table at which the conversation 
 took place. Men soon become acquainted in the south. Scarcely ten minutes 
 had elapsed vhen Mingot proposed a game, which was eagerly accepted by the 
 gentleman in question. The ivory balls are placed upon tiie table. Mingot 
 drives carelessly one of the white balls upon the red, as if he were simply 
 tcying his cue. But lol the former, instead of following the latter, retnrna 
 towards the player i^ter hitting the ball. 
 
 " What singular balls those are yon have given us t " says Mingot to the 
 waiter, who stood stupefied. 
 
 " Why, sir, they are the regular balls." 
 
 "What I balls that come back when you push them forward ? " 
 
 ** Is the gentleman sure that he gtriiek the ball ? " 
 ,..,•• I will try again." ' 
 
 '^.''^..Mingot plays a second time, with the same result. 
 
 ' llie waiter was staring at the balls with his mouth as wide open aa a 
 pocket, and the people present in the room were overwhelmed. 
 
 " Now, I won't play with those balls," says Mingot. 
 
 * ' Nor I eith w, by Jove I " adds his new friend. ' ' The balls are bewitched, 
 and one must be gifted with immortality to. finish a game at that rate." 
 
 While thesfB balls are being etamin^ weighed, tume4, and hafidled ia 
 •Very sense with a certaiii amount of relucvaiace and fear, a new set is broUj^t 
 
 rn th« table. These tiebm to ran as usual, and the game begins But upoA 
 second bti^ke MingoVs ball returns liki the' former, and achieves a spSMi' 
 did carom. 
 
THM OAMB OV BIIXUBOH. 
 
 1» 
 
 T ■ **The devil!" ezolaimed th« ftoathern«r. "There mxun, be hangman's 
 Mp« for lack in yoor pooket." 
 
 '* The dev himself !■ in it I " says the waiter, fervently oroMing himself^ 
 
 " kitoff 1 " Bays Miogot. " Let na finish the game anyhow.' 
 
 And. thanks to the drawing effect of his cue, which never misses his aim, 
 
 Hingot scored the twenty points of the game, after his adversary— a good 
 
 player, hy the way — ^had scorad bat six. 
 
 " Now," said the ex-politioal prisoner, turning to his new acquaintauoe, 
 who looked somewhat ooufused— " noir you may tell your friends that you have 
 had a game with Mingot ! " 
 
 And upon this he left the room, in order to evade an ovation whieh was 
 in store for him.— TrantlaUd for the Billiard Cue, from " idanuel du Jue de 
 Billiard" by Detire Lemaire, 
 
 ANTIQUITY OF BIIil^lARDS. 
 
 INTBRBSTIMO BELATIVB FACTS. 
 
 The origin of the game of billiards, like the antiquity of Stouehenge, has 
 thus^ar evaded all investigation. Hitherto, although it was deemed mghly 
 probable that the Templars brought it with them on th^ return from the 
 Holy Land, at the dose of the 12th century, the beUef has obtained, more 
 particularly in Europe, that it was uot known until centuries afterwards, when 
 it wiis invented by Henri Devigne, a French artist. Shakspeare causes Cleo* 
 patra to exclaim : " Oharmian, let us to billiards;" but this has been held to 
 be one of the several anachronisms, or antedates, with which " nature's great 
 expositor," stands charged. Yet, were archieology to oe closely studied by 
 the students of billiatds, we doubt not it would appear that Shakspeare, instead 
 of being guilty of prochronism, committed no error at all, or at least came 
 oenturies nearer the real time, in fixing the age of billiards, than the French^ 
 who, according to the literary remains of a much earlier epoch than that which 
 witnessed the triumphs of the Old or the exploits of BiohMrd Ckeur de Lion, 
 have perpetrated the equally gross error of parachronism, in minting the six- 
 teenth century serve as the birth-time of what Louis the Fourteeth designated 
 " The Noble Game," and what in Gtormany has been called "The King of Oames 
 and the Qame of Kings." 
 
 In the letter we append, written b^ a gentleman who up to 1864 occupied 
 the distinguished position of Ohief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of 
 Illinois, there is what may be regarded as conclusive evidence that the game 
 of billiards was known prior to A. D. 148 ; and as Cleopatra lived B. C. thirty 
 years, there is but little latitude for doubt that Shakspeare, who must have been 
 well versed in classic lore — his fatnous soliloquy, " To be, or not to be," having 
 been taken almost word for word from Plato— found in the earlier authors 
 frequent allimons to billiards. Platarcb, whose " Lives " are reproduced, so to 
 speak, in Shakspeare's works, does not, that wo remeiuber, mention billiards. 
 But it is uot Ukely that, had the play Iseen known, he would have referred tO 
 it ; as he treats mainly, if not wholly, of the important doings and achievemets 
 of the ancients. If not in support ol the extract from the Abbe MoGeorghugan's 
 ''History of Ireland," then certainly in proof that billiards was one of the 
 amusements in Europe centuries anterior to the return of the Templars, we 
 have the statement of the late Bev. Archbishop Hughes, who was himself a 
 billiaBd-player, that he remembered reading in the Confession of St. Augustine,, 
 born A. D. 480, an allusion to billiards. 
 
w 
 
 TB* OAIU or BlUUABOI. 
 
 We shall now give thb letter of the ez-Ohief Jaitloe, which is doubly 
 vftloAble to the student of billiarda, first for the information jwf m that it oca- 
 taim, and next for its tendency to direot the attention of antioaariea to a oloeer 
 examinatidn into the sabjeot. And as toomaments at billiards and chess, 
 indioa^g as they do that intellr ot reigns to-day, have trodden under foot the 
 sangninaty joists of the middle ages, it cannot bnt awaken the pride ef ancestry 
 inherent in the oeltic race, to be reminded through the medimn of this letter 
 that the intellectual pastime of billiards was, possibly, earliest practised by a 
 people whose pregnant and instrdCtive history tne world can now learn only by 
 pieoe-meal. 
 
 Ottawa, HI., Jan. 1867. ' 
 IficBAKL Pbklar, Esq.: 
 
 Dear Sir : I take the liberty of calling your attention to a passage in the 
 Bnglish translation, by O'Beilly, of the Abbe MaoOeorghegan's "History of 
 Ireland," page 82, as furnishing pretty authentic evidence that the game of 
 billiards was in use, at least in Ireland, nearly a tnousand years before the 
 return of the Knights Templars to Europe from the first crusade, which you 
 give in your admirable lirork On BIlliairdB as the first auikhentio date of the 
 introduction of the game into Europe. 
 
 Our author on the page referred to, as he says, " mereW to show the singu- 
 lar tastes of such early times," gives the substance of the Will of Oathire More, 
 a sub-King of Ireland, who reigned over the district of Leinster, and who died 
 n the year A. D. 148. 
 
 I quote : " To Drimoth he bequeathed fifty billiard balls of brass, with the 
 pools aiaa cues of the same msiterial ; ten Trio-Traoa, of exquisite workmansUp; 
 twelve cheps-boards, with chess-men." 
 
 By the way, can you iiiform me what is ** Tio-Tac ? " Does Dryden refer 
 to it when he says : " Play at tick and lose the Indies "—as we would say, 
 V Play at pin and lose a kingdom," to show a violent contrast ? 
 ' I confess to feeling much Interested in being carried back more than 
 seventeen hundred years and shown the amusementa of a people so far removed 
 from the centres of civiUzaiiion, though undoubtly more learned and rcH&ned 
 than any other of the northern nations. Here we find them practising billiarda 
 and chess,' which can interest those only of cultivated minds and tastes. 
 
 Yours truly, J. D.Caton. 
 
 "Tio-tac"— or "t^ok-tac^" and "trick-track," according ^modern ortho- 
 graphy — was a game somewhat similar to our baokgammoui and played witb 
 pins and " men." Dryden undoubtly refers to this game; ahd it is more ihan 
 likely, judging from the oommetlts of contemporaneous writers, that Dryden 
 hfmself hsrd a practical knowle^e of it. Tric-taio is indeed, the French name 
 for backgammon ; che Germans alto knows it bv this nai^e; and the Italians 
 «all it " Tavola reale," the royal taLla It was a favorite diversion of the deKJnr 
 in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ; and (we quote from the " Amen-, 
 can Hoyle," published by Diok & Fitzgerald, of thib city), *' it is related of Sir 
 Roger de Ooverl^y,' of inmiortal memory, tiiat, wishful to obtain from the 
 University a chaplain of piety, learning, and urbanity, be made it a condition 
 hat the candidate shoulo^ at least know something of baqkg^anmon. — B. Cub. 
 
 TH£ ARIirSBllIENT OF VII.LIABDfl. 
 
 In an editorial axilftle, which appeued at the close of the grand tourna- 
 ment for the championship of Illinois, the Chicago Time$ trulv observes that 
 BiUiards has assumed a marked pi^minenoe itt thht city, and that, too, among 
 the higher dasses. Referring to the tournament, the Timea says : 
 
THE UAMR or DIU lABUH. 
 
 31 
 
 
 " The liHtH have beou held iu oue of thu moHt faHhiouable halls iu01uoa((o ; 
 uud the attendance has beei» large and liaH inchided u fair aggregate of the 
 reapeotability of the city. Among this element were many of the fair sex, who, 
 as in the toumeyB of the knights of old, came to grace the oooasion by their 
 presenoei and to reward the viotorH with their smileH, 
 
 " Almost every reputable profession in the city has been represented 
 among the spectators. Lawyers, merchants, editors, physicians, and others 
 belc^ging to similar classes, were in attendance ; and the eatire affair was as 
 thoroughly permeated with reHpectability and decorum as any gathering which 
 ever assembled at the opera house to hsten to u production of Gounod, or Yerdi, 
 or Bicci. 
 
 " These points as to the character of the attendance are partionlarissed in 
 order tliat the public may judge of the hold which the amusement of billiards 
 has taken upon the popular esteem. Of all tlie numerous speotatork who 
 have attended, there was scarcely one not an interested, and, in nearly every 
 instance, an enthnsiastio observer. Even the lack of familiarity possessed by 
 the lady spectators, did not prevent their becoming oloae and excited specta- 
 tors. They watched the play with intenpe interest, and joined the applause 
 which rewarded a display of superior skill. 
 
 " All this brings us to the fact which we have started to establish, viz., 
 that the game of oilliardg has assumed a prominence and respectability in 
 this city, which places it high above that class of amusements that is denounced 
 as pemioions by pulpit moralists and by a great many good and well-meaning 
 jMople. It has taken a position, a prominence, which forbids the attempt to 
 Ignore its existence as a healthful and pleasing exeroiso. In fine, it has be- 
 come too popular to be put down ; a xd hence, the only thing remaining to 
 those who oppose it,' is, to recognize It and step in and assist in regulating it 
 and preserving its tespectabiUty. 
 
 " At annual gatherings of Young Men's Christian Soflieties, held during 
 the past year, the prominence of the game of bilUa^s has, in several inetanceB, 
 been promptly recognized, and measures have been taken to bring it within 
 the control of the assooiatione. The time is not distant when among the 
 rooms of thejrarious religious organizations of young men, there will be, in 
 the case of each society, one room given up to billiards . 
 
 " We have time and again commented upon the lack of enterprise shown 
 by religious organizations in availing themselves of the influences which, from 
 time to time, originate among the world's people. Here, for instance, is the 
 game of billiards, which attracts by its elegant fascinations the attention and 
 3ome portion of the time of three-fourths of the young men in every city. 
 Now, why do not religious organizations at once seize upon this ^wer, and use 
 it in th^ir own interests. Young men will play bilUards ; and if they cannot 
 find tables outside of disreputable places they will hunt them there, sooner 
 than not have them at all. Let moralists who wish to engage this force of 
 young men, erect tables for thom at other places. 
 
 " But the day is past when an argument is needed in favour of the game 
 of billiards as a healthful and elevating amusement. It has won its way 
 through all classes, until to-day, when the exception in society is found among 
 those who either do not play, or who believe it to be pernicious." 
 
 THE KINO OF OAHIES. 
 
 In Europe, billiards has for centuries been called the game of Kings. In 
 this country, it is regarded as the ELing of games. Though practised by aU 
 classes, it is eminently the pastime of the gentleman. Says one of the read- 
 ing journals at the West ; 
 
H 
 
 23 
 
 THK OAME OF BILUARt>K. 
 
 " Timeu have indeed bravely altered sinoe that day, not, even now, very 
 loug past, when billiards vas a game to be played in the garret, behind closed 
 doors, and when all outside mention of the game was to be made in a whisper. 
 Fifteen years ago, and among the steady-going people of the land, billiants 
 was bat a species of gambling. For a yonth to engage in its mysteries would 
 be to incur something worse than a parental frown— at school or at college it 
 was ground for expulsion, and in business, was proof positive that the young 
 tyro was on his downward course. The days of th^'s regime have passed, how- 
 ever, and billiards, like many another pastime tabooed of Puritanism, has taken 
 its place among the healthful, intellectual, invigorating, and " gentlemanly^* 
 games of the land. 
 
 " Regarded by itself alone, and separated from all other surroundingn, 
 there is something in the polished, richly-carved tables, the judicial green 
 baize covers, the round glossy balls, and average demeanour of the players 
 which is attractive To a person of any refinement, billiard-rooms are no 
 places for brawls and disturbances. The movements which the playing of the 
 game demands are not of the violent order, but one, for the most part, of a 
 gentle, graceful, dignified nature, such as ladies even could not object to. The 
 loud coUision of balls and their occasional bouncing from the table to the floor 
 are but the evidences that the player is a beginner, or that he was not cut out 
 for a genaine billiard-player, and uniformly disappear as he advances in pro- 
 ficiency. There is no more pleasant and wildly exciting scene than a match- 
 game of billiards between two masters of the art. The game is of such a 
 nature— ^it is all before the eye, one can grasp it all at a i^ance, can at any 
 time luiow the exact situation — as to bo of scarcely less interest to the tpeotator 
 than to the partioipaat. There is something in the soft click of the balls as 
 manipulated by a skilful player — ^in the skill with which scattered balls are 
 brought together, in the "nursing" of them after they are thus secured— 
 which, while forbidding any boisterous applause, yet provokes the most intense 
 interest in the game. Indeed, the excitement caused by a scientific game of 
 billiards, though necessarily suppressed in its expression, is scarcely less to 
 player or spectator than that of the most hazardous game of chance. 
 
 ° ' " Billiards is a game sasceptible of constant improvements jvat least it has 
 been, during its past history. There are many, no doubt, who have seen the 
 iincouth pictures of the game and the tables as they were a hundred yearn ago. 
 The three-cornered tables, with their board snrfaces and hard unyielding 
 onshions— if they deserved to be called cushions — were such as would make 
 the player of to day weep with vexation. Contrast these with the elegantly- 
 fashioned tables of the present day. with the firm s^ate bed, with surface so 
 deadened that the motion of the ball across the table produces no perceptible 
 noise, with the nicely-adjusted cushions, whose reaction, both in direotion and 
 force, one may calculate to a fraction, and \^hich alone of all surfaces may 
 be sidd to have realized in practice the truth of the theory that action and 
 reaction are equal, or that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of 
 reflection. 
 
 '* The game is a fascinating, a captivating game. What else would keep 
 the player who has just finished his sport still at the table, " punching" the 
 balls around, trying all sorts of experiments, reviewing his late game, trsring 
 where he could have improved it, and framing schemes for the next trial. 
 What else would induce tiie amateur to snatch a half an hour from his busi- 
 ness, to rush to the billard-room, " just to play one game 7" What else could 
 so have taken hold of all ranks and conditions of society ? And what else 
 could have induced our dainty ladies, with their keen perception of the grace- 
 ' fol and the refined, to brave the edict of society and favour It with their coun- 
 tenance ? There is no doubt that it is captivating— indeed, if it has a fault, i t 
 is most too captivating. 
 
 .^ 
 
it 
 
 BILLIARDS FOR THE HOME CIRCLE." 
 
 -MANUFACTUKEr BY- 
 
 SAMUEL MAY, 
 
 TORONTO. 
 
 RBVERSIBI^B C09IBINISD 
 
 DINING & BILLIARD TABLE 
 
 Arrunged to present the correct height, either for dining or playing ou. 
 When placed in position can be altered to either purpose in one minute. 
 
 A BILLIARD TABLE in a private houue is an appreciable luxury The 
 above engraving illustrates an ingenious piece of mecbanism, recently 
 introduced to tne puDlic, and known as the " Combined Dinins and 
 Billiard Table.** In it the useful is combined with the agreeaDle'and 
 entertaining. It is intended solely for the use of families, and mi»r be used 
 either as a Dininv Table* a liibrary Table or a Billiard Table. 
 It will be found admirably adapted for dwellings and offices in which there 
 is not apace for a full-sized or regular Billiard Table. To those (and their 
 name is legion) who would have Billiard Rooms in their dwellings, could 
 they spare the space which the ordinary Billiard Table requires, the 
 Combined Dining and Billiard Table is recommended. Many 
 who have before been denied the pleasure, can now play Billiards. Without 
 taking up more space than the ordinary dining table, it may be used as a 
 Dininv Table, a Library Table or a Billiard Table. The legs 
 are made to unscrew, so that the Table can be packed for shipping in a small 
 case. Each Table is tilted with our Patent Levelling Castor. Size, 8 ft. x 4 
 ft 8 inches; polished Black Walnut. Pbick- 9150.00. 
 
 The above price includes 4 Ivor; Balls, ^ doz. Cues, Cue Case, Markers, 
 Hpirit Level, Rules of the Game, Tips, Chalk, etc., packed uud shipped. 
 
I- 
 
 i 
 
 )' 
 
 GO 
 
 4mm 
 
 M^ 
 
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