The Billiard-Cue.
The cue plays such an important part in the game of billiards that no
excuse need be made for discussing briefly, but fully, its essential
points. Every amateur who takes more than a passing interest in the game
should possess a cue, or cues, of his own, since the habitual use of a
well-made, well-balanced cue goes far to engender the confidence which
is so desirable an attribute of the billiard player.
First of all, the player should select an English hand-made cue. In a
long article which appeared in the _World of Billiards_, February 7th,
1906, to which readers may be referred, the details of cue manufacture
were fully explained by the present writer. Here it will suffice to
point out a simple, yet infallible, method of distinguishing at a glance
an English hand-made cue from the foreign machine-made article. In the
English cue the ebony “points,” where they dovetail into the ash shaft,
are _slightly rounded_, whilst in the French machine-made cue they run
to a _fine, sharp_ point (fig. 1).
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
For the shaft of the cue no wood is better than good English ash, which
must be naturally, not artificially, seasoned. This shaft, which should
be stiff, yet full of vibration, should be as “true” and straight as
possible, and _straight in the grain_.
The length of the cue, including the tip, should not be less than 4 ft.
8 in., nor need it, even for very tall men, exceed 4 ft. 10 in. Nineteen
men out of twenty will be best suited by a cue of from 4 ft. 8½ in. to 4
ft. 9½ in. in length, 4 ft. 9 in., as given by so many writers on
billiards, being the best average length for the cue. When wear and tear
has made the cue too short, it should be sent to a good firm of
billiard-table makers to be “spliced,” particulars of the length and
size of tip required being given.
The size of the cue-tip is another nice point. Cue-tips (fig. 2) are
made in five sizes, measuring respectively 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13
millimetres in diameter.[15] A very fine tip is altogether a mistake,
and one of from 10 to 12 mm. is recommended, 11 mm. (about 7/16 in.)
giving an ideal tip. To affix the cue-tip, a process fully described in
the writer’s book, “Hints on Billiards,” and other works, cue cement,
liquid glue, or wafers, which last are handy and easily used, may be
employed. Glass-paper, it may be added, should never be used to clean
the cue, or to “rough up” the surface of the cue-tip, whilst coarse
sand-paper should never be seen in a billiard-room. The cue, when it
needs cleaning, should be well rubbed, first with a damp cloth, and
then, to polish it, with a dry one. The best way, again, of preparing a
new tip for play, or of renovating an old _smooth_ one, is to tap it
well with a _fine, heavy_ file; a _rough_ file would tear the upper
leather all to pieces.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
The ideal weight for a cue is 15½ oz., but a player may suit his own
fancy in the matter within an ounce or so, either way, of this weight,
whilst a cue of 14 oz. or 14½ oz. is heavy enough for a lady.
In connection with cues chalk may find appropriate mention, and no
better chalk can be obtained than Spinks’ green chalk, sold by Messrs.
Burroughes and Watts. This firm may, in particular, be mentioned as
turning out a first-rate billiard cue, and they put plenty of wood into
their cues in just the right place, viz., just above the butt.
Finally, mention may be made of travelling cues, made in two joints,
which, packed in a handy leather case, are extremely convenient. They
may, it is true, possess a slight tendency to warp out of perfect truth,
whilst, too, the connecting screw must, however slightly, affect the
balance, but these are almost infinitesimal drawbacks. With one of these
cues a spare top joint, already tipped, will be found a friend in need
on occasion.