The origin of billiards is lost in antiquity. Who invented the game and
the early processes of its evolution remain mysteries.
The first known reference to the game with any traditional or historical
accuracy occurs in Abbe McGeoghegan’s “History of Ireland.” Cathire
More, a sub-king who ruled over Leinster, died A. D. 148. The Abbe,
quoting from King Cathire’s will, says, “To Drimoth I bequeath fifty
billiard balls of brass with the cues of the same material.”
As early as the fifteenth century we have much evidence of the
universality of the game all over southern Europe. It was certainly
known in France in the time of Louis IX, who died nine years before
Columbus discovered America.
Shakespeare, in Anthony and Cleopatra (Act II, Scene 5), makes the
latter say, “Let us to billiards.”
Cotton’s “Compleat Gamster” published in 1674, refers to billiards as
“This most gentle, cleanly and ingenious game.” He states that it was
first played in France, but later gives Spain as its birthplace.
That the game was well known in England, and in fact in all Europe, is
revealed when Cotton says, “For the excellency of the recreation, it is
much approved of and played by most nations of Europe, especially
England, there being few towns of note therein which hath not a public
billiard table; neither are they wanting in many noble and private
families in the country.”
Billiards was brought to America by the Spaniards who settled St.
Augustine, Florida, in 1565. While we have no direct evidence, it is
very safe to assume that the English gentlemen, so familiar with the
game in the home land, who colonized Virginia in 1609, were not long in
introducing it in Jamestown.
There is also every reason to believe that the French colonists in
Maryland and Canada let no great time elapse before importing tables and
equipment into those colonies.
In the days of Cromwell, billiards had been tabooed by the Puritan, not
on moral grounds, but rather political. Billiards was the game of the
aristocracy and the Puritan hated not only the aristocrat, but the style
and color of his clothes, the cut of his hair, as well as the games he
played.
Doubtless this attitude was carried to America by the New England
colonists, and only when those colonies had been diluted by the
injection of other social groups did Puritan prejudice die and billiards
enter into their recreational life.
However, there is no doubt that by the latter part of the seventeenth
century the game was universally played in the United States.
From that time to the present the tide of popularity for billiards as
the premier indoor game has been steadily rising.
Unlike most things in the affairs of men, billiards has not developed at
either end of society, thus working toward the opposite extreme; but it
began at both ends and worked towards the middle.
In the early days we witness the strange spectacle of the game being
indulged in by the wealthy and leisurely class on the one hand, and the
idle and vicious on the other. It is easy to understand why. The first
group was the logical extension of the old-world aristocracy. The second
group lived in an age when the great middle class was struggling for a
foothold in a new country. Men had very little time and disposition for
play, and this, coupled with the remnants of Puritanic influence, left
the game in the hands of those who lived by their wits rather than work.
From these two extremes, therefore, the game began to work toward the
great middle classes. In process of time recreation became a necessity,
until today it is considered a duty. Men learned to play and, casting
about for a game worthy of them, naturally laid hold of billiards.
Toward this desired result the Y. M. C. A. and church clubs have
contributed greatly. They have broken down much of the illogical
prejudice against the games, and have shown the public-room keepers that
billiards can flourish under good and healthful conditions.
As the game became more universally played, a better class of
billiard-room keepers entered the commercial field, thus helping to
eliminate the incompetent and vicious.
Today the game has practically thrown off the last vestige of disrepute.
In those sporadic instances where such is not the case, it is due to two
causes. First, the majority of people in the community have low ideals.
Second, excessive license taxes forces certain room keepers to resort to
disreputable means for keeping alive their business.
Nevertheless, billiards today throughout the land is ranked among the
highest and cleanest forms of recreation. The exceptions mentioned prove
the rule.
Through a long, hard, vigorous opposition the virtues of billiards have
asserted themselves. Today the game stands vindicated and triumphant. It
is entering thousands of homes, church clubs, industrial welfare,
charitable, educational and all other institutions. There are more
billiard players in the United States than there are baseball players;
not mere spectators, but actual players.
One large company alone manufactures 500,000 cues every year, and we
must remember that a billiard cue, unlike a baseball bat, can be
repaired and lasts for many years. This fact is sufficient to convey an
idea of the vast extent to which the game is played.
In the early part of the nineteenth century there were no manufacturers
of billiard equipment in the United States.
In 1840 J. M. Brunswick, who operated a small furniture repair shop in
Cincinnati, Ohio, conceived the idea of making a pigeonhole table.
Success in this line led him to experiment in the manufacture of
billiard tables, practically all of which were then imported. The
business flourished. At first only the 6 x 12 English pocket tables were
made--later the small French carom tables were built.
The two main objects of billiard construction are to create an accurate
medium for play and then to keep the table permanently accurate by
making it impervious to atmospheric or climatic conditions.
To accomplish this with wood has taken years of experience and
experimentation.
Accuracy is obtained by the employment of specially-trained and
long-experienced workmen. One large company now has hundreds of men who
have been in its employ for twenty years and many who have served from
twenty-five to forty years. These men know their business.
Permanent accuracy is obtained by close adherence to two principles.
First, to give weight to the table. One model, 5 x 10 feet in size,
weighs 2,000 pounds. Second, all wood parts are built up with veneer
layers; never are they constructed of solid blocks of wood. A billiard
table is the last word in the art of cabinet-making.
There are six principal parts to all tables.
_The Legs._--Massive as these are, they are built up, not turned from
solid blocks. In all legs there are at least three veneers, two on the
outside and one on the inside. On the highest-grade tables five veneers
are used. Six legs are placed on the best and larger tables and four on
the smaller.
_The Frame._--Like the legs, the four parts of the frame, which in every
case is a perfect parallelogram, are built up and veneered on both
sides. When the frame has been bolted to the legs, stretchers or braces
are placed within. Two to four, depending on the size of the table, run
lengthwise through the center, and two or three running equidistant,
crosswise. The top of the stretcher is flush with the top of the frame,
making a perfect level upon which the slate bed is to rest.
_The Slate Bed._--Only the highest-grade Vermont slate is used, and on
the best tables of standard size, 4 x 8 feet, 4-1/2 x 9 feet, and 5 x 10
feet, the slabs, of which there are three, are 1-1/2 inches thick. At
the factory the slate is cut to size and smoothed top and bottom. The
pocket holes are next sawed out. On the center slab two are cut, one in
the exact middle of either end. On the two end slabs they are cut on the
two outside corners.
The slabs, where they join, are then bored along the edges and brass
dowels are inserted which engage sockets set in the opposite slab. This
keeps all slabs level with each other. All around the outside edge they
are bored for the insertion of the bolts to fasten the cushion rails to
the slate. Screw holes, countersunk, are bored from the top down through
the slabs, around the outer edges, through which the slate is screwed to
the frame.
[Illustration: SUPPLY ROOM AT MUSKEGON
The many triangles will convey an idea of the vastness of the billiard
industry.]
When the slate bed is laid, the slabs, doweled as the leaves of an
extension dining table, are fitted together and screwed to the frame.
The table is then pushed under a huge grinding machine and the slate
surface is made plane, as nearly perfect as human ingenuity can make it.
_The Bed Cloth._--Only the finest grade of imported Belgium broadcloth
is used on the best tables. It is colored green, which is restful for
the eyes.
The bed cloth is first tacked to the frame beneath the slate at one
corner. It is then stretched to its utmost to the opposite diagonal
corner. When this is fastened the cloth is tacked around the remainder
of the bed; being stretched as tightly as possible in every direction.
The table is now ready for the rails and cushions. Like all other wood
parts, the rails are built up and veneered, rather than made of a
single block of wood. When the rail has been formed, the ivory
diamond-shaped squares and name plate are countersunk into the top. The
squares are to enable the player to properly judge the angles of play.
The cushions are fastened to the inside of the rail by means of a
specially prepared glue.
Only the best grade of rubber is used for good cushions. The rubber is
molded in long strips in some form of isosceles triangle, depending on
the style of the game to be played. A highly resilient structure is
given the cushion for the pocket table, and one less so for the carom.
The latter is preferred for more accurate angle play, position and
nursing. Nursing, means to keep the three balls as close to one another
as possible.
The base of the triangle is grooved for the twofold purpose of making
the rubber adhere better to the rail, and to increase resiliency. In
fastening the rubber, utmost care must be exercised to have it attached
to the rail, so that when the latter is fastened to the bed there shall
be uniform height all around the table; otherwise the ball when it
strikes the cushion will be deflected from the true course or rebound.
On top of the rail next to the cushion edge a narrow ∟ is cut the entire
length. The cushion forms the other side, making a square groove, thus
⊔.
The cushion is now ready to be covered with the cloth.
The latter, made of the same material as the bed cloth, is cut to fit.
One edge is tucked into the groove just described, with the outside, or
face, downward. A tight-fitting ferule is then forced into the groove,
thus holding the cloth firmly between the cushion and the rail. The
cloth is then drawn over the top of the ferule, hiding the latter from
sight, and is drawn down over the rubber and fastened on the under side
of the rail with steel tacks. Great care and much experience is
necessary to successfully conduct this apparently simple operation; for
it is quite easy to pull the cloth so tightly at different points as to
bend out of shape the apex to the rubber triangle. On the other hand,
not to pull it tight enough will leave the cloth loose, which is not
only unsightly, but will impair the rubber and destroy the accuracy of
the balls rebounding from it.
The completed rail is then covered with a finishing strip, known as the
blind rail, which covers the unsightly bolt heads and adds to the
artistic effect of the table. On the cheap grades there are no blind
rails, the bolts being decorated with brass caps.
The final operation is the construction of pockets.
The pocket irons are semi-circular pieces of metal with flat flanges
extending at right angles at both ends of the arc. Stout black leather
is stitched around the round part of the iron, thus hiding the latter,
and affording a good hold to which the leather, or worsted knitted,
baskets are attached, and protection for billiard balls when striking.
The flanges are sunk flush into the top of the rail; thus the pocket
iron spans the interstices between the rails. The half of the pocket net
not attached to the irons is tacked to the edge of the frame, underneath
the bed, and covered with red leather, to withstand wear and for
decorative effect.
Four hooks are then fastened to the frame, underneath the table, near
the corner legs. These are termed bridge hooks and are for the purpose
of having the cue-bridge ready of access for the players when necessary.
The table is thus completed for playing use. There are ingenious
devices, termed the “return gutters” and convertible rails, which are
worthy of description.
In tables thus equipped, the base of the pocket is opened--a stiff
leather, funnel-shaped contrivance being substituted for the woolen or
open leather pocket. This funnel opening leads into a wooden canal or
gutter, the main stem of which runs on an incline the length of the
table underneath. From this center gutter debouches branch to each of
the pockets. The gutters are lined with rubber, to render noiseless the
balls as they roll from the pocket openings into and along the gutters,
at the lowest point of which--the head of the table--they fall into the
“receiver.” The latter is a specially designed box, felt lined, with
sufficient capacity to contain the fifteen balls used in the pocket
game.
The gutter return is a great convenience in collecting the balls to rack
them for a new game.
Carom tables have no pockets.
Carom and pocket billiards are so different that either they must be
played on separate tables, or else the rails are so constructed as to be
interchangeable. The billiard expert is not satisfied unless the whole
rail is changed. This is done by building the table without the regular
rails, and by having a separate set of rails for each game, which are
held in position by clamps and quickly interchanged. They conform to the
general design and decoration of the table.
Another method is merely to change the cushions. The back of the rubber
is reinforced by a wood strip, into which are placed metal sockets.
Bolts or ratchets are inserted through the rail, and clamp the cushion
to the wall of the rail. The convertible rails, however, because of
their rigidity, are more desirable than the convertible cushions.
The cheapest and most unsatisfactory device is known as pocket plugs. On
a permanently constructed pocket table, right-angled plugs of the rubber
cushion are screwed to the corner pocket irons and straight sections are
screwed to the side pocket irons. These, however, never perfectly fit at
the cushion joints, consequently carom play at those points is out of
the question.
[Illustration: A MODERN HIGH-CLASS POCKET BILLIARD TABLE]
Cheap cues are made in one continuous piece; or a special piece for the
“butt” and one for the shaft of the cue. The “butt” and body are
dovetailed together.
In making a high-grade cue, a choice piece of imported wood, such as
ebony, mahogany, or rosewood, is cut into blocks about three inches
square and twenty inches long. One of these is then roughly turned down
on a lathe until it is round and slightly tapers all the way from one
end to the other. At the narrow end it is then sawed four ways toward
the thicker end, a distance of seven inches. This is the “butt.” The
next section of either domestic or imported hard wood is forty-four
inches long. This, too, receives a rough rotundity and tapering on a
lathe. At the thicker end, a sawing-out process creates an opening, so
that the “butt” and shaft can dovetail to a depth of seven inches.
The cue is then sawed across into halves. On the base of the upper half
a hard wood screw is inserted and at the top of the butt a threaded hole
is bored. To strengthen the joint, the hollow screw-hole end is capped
with an ivory ferule sunk flush with the surface. This is the jointed
cue--a great convenience to the player who travels or carries his cue
home when he plays at the club or public academy.
At the narrow end of the cue, the tapering ceases about three-quarters
of an inch from the end and flanges out according to the kind of “tip”
the player prefers. This end is capped with an ivory ferule and upon the
top of the latter, the leather tip is glued.
Before this latter operation, the finished tapering, smoothing,
varnishing and polishing is done by hand.
Sometimes a flat surface a few inches long is planed on the
circumference of the cue, extending up from the butt end and a
mother-of-pearl name plate is sunk into the handle.
Cues run in weight from fifteen to twenty-two ounces. This means the
manufacture of cues according to weight, as well as taper, material,
finish and quality of the tip. Each of these embrace a mass of detail
too voluminous for recital here.
_The Balls._--In the past, as far as we can historically trace, billiard
balls were made of ivory. Until recently no superior substitute had been
invented, but it is the consensus of opinion among expert billiardists
that the newly manufactured synthetic ivory ball is equal, if not
superior, in action and wearing quality, to real ivory.
[Illustration: MAKING CUES]
Elephant-tusk ivory, the only kind used in billiard ball manufacturing,
is growing scarcer every year, with a consequent increase in price.
In the ivory storage vaults of one large company, there is held from
$150,000 to $300,000 worth of ivory, ranging from the tusk up to the
finished product.
Ivory is of cellular, not fibrous, construction. Through the center of
the tusk runs the great nerve of the tooth. The structural cells build
up around the nerve. Surrounding the nerve, the cells are small and more
compact. As the tusk grows in length on the living elephant it also
expands; but the cells grow larger and less compact as the tusk expands
in circumference. It is quite apparent, therefore, that the weight
centers around the nerve. To have a perfectly balanced ball, one that
will roll true in every direction, the ball must be so turned out of the
tusk that the nerve center runs exactly through the middle of the ball.
The process is as follows: The tusk is sawed into blocks about 2-3/4
inches in size. These are of irregular cylindrical form, depending on
the form of the tusk’s circumference. Only that portion of the tusk can
be used, the diameter of which is greater than the intended diameter of
the ball. The rest of the tusk is used for ornaments, piano keys, etc.
At least six inches from the point of the tusk must be discarded because
the circumference is too small. The hollow part at the base of the tusk
must also be discarded. There are defects discovered only when the ball
is being turned or the segments cut. For all of the discarded portions
and the fragments and shavings from the segments when the ball is
turned, the manufacturer receives less than one-fourth of the price per
pound which he paid for the whole tusk.
A segment is placed in a lathe--with the nerve center resting on the
lathe point. The ball is then either turned down from the outside or cut
out with an ingeniously constructed curved cutter from the inside of the
segment. In the latter operation the ball lies loose in the center of
the segment, which must be sawed in half to release it. Ivory seasons
only to a slight depth. The thin seasoning on the surface seems to act
as a shell which keeps raw the substance underneath. For this reason,
when a ball is turned out of the tusk and the raw ivory thus exposed,
the ball is stored away in a room of even temperature for about a year,
that it may properly season before being finished. The red ball is dyed
after seasoning, and at the time of final turning called finishing.
Another peculiarity about ivory is the fact that, owing to the cellular
construction, in seasoning the ball never contracts at the nerve ends,
but always around the other circumference, termed the “belly.”
Therefore, when the balls are turned, the circumference around the
“belly” is made greater than around the nerve ends, to allow for the
shrinkage in the former. Each manufacturer carefully guards the secret
of his allowance, which is made according to his experience and
knowledge of ivory seasoning variations.
After seasoning, the balls are smoothed with shagreen and polished.
Except for the cue ball, no ivory balls are used today on the pocket
table. As a substitute, a great variety of composition balls are used.
The composition is another trade secret. Having been carefully weighed
in a perfectly dry state, the necessary amount of composition is placed
in a telescoping steel cylinder, the two ends of which are perfect
hemispheres and the diameter of which on the inside is the exact
diameter of the proposed ball. The cylinder is then placed in a
hydraulic press and under a pressure of 30,000 pounds to the square
inch, the cylinder and its contents are telescoped until the mass inside
is perfectly round.
The molded ball is then taken from the press and smoothed. The holes for
the number tablets are bored and the tablets forced into position. The
tablets are made to conform to the rotundity of the ball and set flush
with the surface. The ball is then smoothed and polished.
The cue bridge handle is made in a manner similar to the cue, except
that it is not jointed and the span is substituted for the tip. The span
has four slots along the top, which maintains a contour to assist the
player in striking the ball on either side, or top or bottom of the
center facing the player, when the cue ball is too far away to make the
bridge with his hand and fingers. The span is made of either hard wood
or ivory.
The temperate and torrid zones of the world are ransacked in order to
secure the wood, the minerals and the animal substances, all of which
are necessary to provide the means of play. Those of us who play the
game (none of us, not even Willis Hoppe, know all its possibilities) may
well paraphrase Thomas Carlyle’s reference to books and say, “Blessings
on Herodotus, or whoever it was who invented billiards.”
* * * * *
What is the Hottest Place in the United States?
A narrow valley in California, called “Death Valley,” between the
Panamint and Funeral Mountains, is considered the dryest and hottest
place in the United States.
Its central part is three or four hundred feet below sea level and is
covered with salt. Its temperature has reached the extreme of 122° F.
It is called “Death Valley” because a party of emigrants perished there
in 1849.
[Illustration: WHITE BLACKBERRY]
[Illustration: THE SPINELESS CACTUS IN FRUIT]
What are White Blackberries Like?
The accompanying illustrations show some remarkable white blackberries
which have been developed by the great horticulturist, Luther Burbank of
California. They grow thickly, are large in size and the taste is
similar to that of the ordinary variety. Some spineless cactus in fruit
are also shown. They make an excellent cattle food.
He has also originated a new fruit, the plumcot, by combining the plum
and the apricot; developed very excellent varieties of potatoes and
cherries; and produced various new apples and stoneless prunes as well
as new peaches, nuts, roses, callas, violet-odored lilies and many other
new varieties.
The son of a Massachusetts farmer, he became deeply interested in plant
life and engaged in experiments on hybridization of plants. Removing to
California, he established the Burbank Exposition Farms at Santa Rosa,
where he undertook the work of cross-breeding on an extended scale. In
1905 the Carnegie Institute granted him $10,000 yearly for ten years to
continue his work. He has very many extensive experiments under way and
has nearly 3,000 distinct botanical specimens in his plantation.
Why do They Have a Dog-Watch on Shipboard?
The “dog-watch” is a nautical term distinguishing two watches of two
hours each, from 4 to 6 P. M. and 6 to 8 P. M.
All the other watches count four hours each, and without the
introduction of the dog-watches, the same hours would always fall to be
kept as watch by the same portion of the crew.
How Much Gold has a 14-Carat Ring?
One often speaks of a ring as being 14-carat gold, or of 22- or 18-carat
watch cases or jewelry, but do all of us know just what we mean by 14,
18 or 22 carat?
Gold is divided into twenty-four parts--that is, pure gold is said to
contain twenty-four carats--the carat being just a measurement term. A
ring or watch case marked 14K or 18K means that fourteen or eighteen
parts of it are pure gold, the balance of the twenty-four carats being
some sort of alloy, copper being generally used. If articles of jewelry
were made of pure gold they would not wear well, as gold is a very soft
metal, and it is, therefore, necessary to mix the gold with some harder
substance.
What is an Electro-Magnet?
An electro-magnet is a piece of iron temporarily converted into a magnet
by means of a current of electricity sent through a wire which is coiled
around it. The wire is usually covered with silk, cotton, gutta percha
or some other insulator, to prevent the current from leaping across, and
compel it to travel through the whole length of the wire.
The more pure and soft the iron is, the stronger will its magnetism be
while it lasts, and the more completely will it disappear when the
current stops. Steel is less affected than soft iron for the time, but
remains permanently magnetized after the current ceases. Electro-magnets
are usually much more powerful than other magnets of the same size.
The iron which is magnetized by the current passing around it is called
the core. It is frequently straight, the wire being wound upon it like
thread upon a reel; but very frequently it has the shape of a U or
horseshoe, the wire being coiled round the two ends and the bend of the
U left uncovered.