CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



are placed at the four corners and in the middle, 

 opposite to each other, to hold the balls, which, 

 when played into them, are called 'hazards.' The 

 cues are long smooth sticks, with one end thick, 

 and the other pointed ; and the small end is 

 covered with leather. The maces slender sticks 

 with a club at one end, adapted for pushing are 

 rarely taken in hand except by tyros and ladies, 

 the butt-end of the cue, when the point cannot 

 conveniently be used, being commonly employed 

 instead. The three balls are of ivory, ranging 

 from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, 

 and two of them are white, and one is red. One 

 of the former has a spot upon it ; and when two 

 persons are playing, he who uses the spot ball is 

 called Spot, and he who uses the plain ball, Plain. 

 The cue is held in the right hand, and supported, 



Fig. 6. Bridge. 



in playing, by the forefinger and thumb of the left so 

 placed as to form a ' bridge ;' and the ball is struck 

 with the point of the cue, which is chalked, to pre- 

 vent its slipping. On a certain mark (' spot') on the 

 cloth, at the distance of about a foot from one end 

 of the table, and exactly in its centre, the red ball 

 is placed before commencing the game. At the 

 other or lower end, and at the distance of about 

 two feet from it, a line is drawn across the table, 

 and the space within this line is called baulk. 

 From the centre of this line a semicircle is 

 described between it and the lower end, of about 

 20 inches diameter, from within which every ball 

 ' in hand ' must be played. A ball is said to be 

 ' in hand ' when it is off the table. The object of 

 the player is, by striking his own ball against the red 

 ball or his adversary's, to drive either it or them 

 into the pockets, or else to make a ' cannon ' that 

 is to say, to strike both balls with his own. It is 

 well, however, to avoid as far as possible pocketing 

 your adversary's ball, as it then remains 'in 

 hand,' that is to say, is no longer on the table | 

 till it is his turn to play. The score is usually 

 recorded by a third person, by means of a 

 marking-board. The game of billiards proper 

 (two white balls and the red) can be played 

 by two, three, or four persons ; but it is most 

 commonly played by two, and the ordinary game 

 is that called Carambole, which was introduced 

 from France at the same time with the third or 

 red ball. The technical term 'cannoning' may per- 

 haps have arisen from ' caramboling,' which was 

 the old word for striking both balls with your own. 

 The method of play and the rules of the game are 

 generally as follows : 



1. The limit of the game is properly 21, though it is 

 sometimes made 24, 50, 63, 100, or more, as may be 

 agreed upon before commencing. The shorter games were 

 probably used when billiard-tables were rarer, so that 

 persons waiting for the use of them might sooner have 

 their turn ; 50, or ' 50 up,' as it is called, is now the 

 most usual limit. 



2. For the lead and choice of balls, the players string 

 that is to say, placing their balls within the semicircle, 

 they strike them against the furthermost cushion, in order 

 to see which will return nearest the cushion next to 

 them : the owner of the ball so placed, provided it does 



680 



not strike the other ball, has then the option ; but after 

 the first match, the winner of each game leads. 



3. The red ball on the spot at the upper end is 

 replaced there on being put into a pocket, knocked off 

 the table, or when the balls are 'broken' (see 19) 

 after a foul stroke ; but should any ball be on the 

 spot, or so near to it as to prevent the red being placed 

 there without touching the ball, the red must be placed 

 in the centre of the table. 



4. The points of the game are these : I for a miss, 

 2 for a cannon, 2 for a white hazard, 3 for a red hazard, 

 and 3 for 'running a coo;' but the miss and the coo 

 count for the adversary. 



5. A white winning hazard is made when you play 

 at the white ball and pocket it ; a white losing hazard, 

 when you pocket your own ball off the white. These 

 names of ' winning ' and ' losing ' were used in the old 

 game of billiards with two balls, but their meaning is 

 now reversed ; it now being commonly a afoadvantage to 

 make a winning hazard ; and vue versd. 



6. A red winning hazard is when you pocket the 

 red ; a red losing hazard, when you pocket your own 

 ball off the red. 



7. A cannon is when your ball strikes the other two. 



8. A miss is when your ball strikes no other. 



9. A coo is when your ball goes into a pocket, or 

 jumps off the table without striking another. 



10. A four-stroke is made by playing at the white, 

 making a cannon, and pocketing your own or adversary's 

 ball ; or by pocketing his and your own without the 

 cannon, or by playing at the red, making a cannon, and 

 pocketing your opponent's ball. 



11. A five-stroke is made by playing at the red, 

 making a cannon, and pocketing your own or the red ; 

 or by pocketing the red and your adversary's ball with- 

 out the cannon ; or by pocketing your own and ad- 

 versary's ball off the red ; or by playing at the white, 

 making a cannon, and pocketing the red ; or by play- 

 ing at the white, and pocketing your own and the red. 



12. A six-stroke is made by playing at the red, and 

 pocketing it and your own ; or by striking the white 

 first, making a cannon, and pocketing your own and 

 adversary's ball. 



13. A seven -stroke is made by playing at the red, 

 making a cannon, and pocketing your own and adver- 

 sary's ball ; or by playing at the white first, making 

 a cannon, and pocketing your own or adversary's and 

 the red ; or by striking the white, and pocketing all 

 the balls without a cannon. 



14. An eight-stroke is made by playing at the red 

 ball, making a cannon, and pocketing your own and 

 the red ; or by striking the red, and pocketing all the 

 balls without the cannon. 



15. A nine-stroke is made when you cannon by 

 striking the white first, and pocket all the balls. 



1 6. A ten-stroke is made when you cannon by 

 playing at the red first, and pocket all the balls. This 

 is the greatest number that can be made. 



17. If the striker, in making a cannon or hazard, 

 should by accident touch either of the balls with his 

 cue, hand, or otherwise, the adversary can, if he thinks 

 proper, claim the stroke as foul, and have the balls 

 broken ; in which case, the points made by such stroke 

 are not scored, and the person claiming the foul stroke 

 leads off. 



1 8. Foul strokes are made as follows namely, by 

 touching any ball while rolling ; by moving another 

 ball in any way while taking aim or in the act of 

 striking ; by pushing the balls together when playing 

 with the butt of the cue ; by playing with both feet 

 off the floor, unless permission is asked and granted ; 

 by playing at a ball before it has done rolling ; or by 

 playing with the wrong ball : in this last case, should 

 a hazard or cannon be made, the adversary can have 

 the balls broken and lead off; or should no score be 

 made by such stroke, he can take his choice of balls and 

 play. 



