INDOOR AMUSEMENTS. 



19. In 'breaking' the balls, you take them all off 

 the table, place the red on the spot, and both parties 

 play from the baulk as at commencing. 



20. If the balls have been changed, and it cannot 

 be ascertained by whom, the game must be played 

 out with them as they then are ; or even if two strokes 

 have been made before the mistake is discovered, it 

 must still be played out in the same way. 



21. Should the striker, in making a cannon or 

 hazard, knock his own or either of the other balls off 

 the table, he cannot score the points made by such 

 stroke, and the opponent plays, but the balls are not 

 broken. 



22. If a ball stops on the edge of a pocket, and 

 afterwards falls in, either through the shaking of the 

 room, or table, or by any other accident, it must be 

 replaced as near the original place as possible. 



23. Should the striker, when in hand (i. e., when his 

 ball is off the table), play at a ball in baulk, his adver- 

 sary has the option of scoring a miss, or of having the 

 balls replaced, and the stroke played again, or of break- 

 ing the balls. 



24. If the striker's ball touch another, he must play, 

 and should he make a cannon or hazard, the adversary 

 can claim it as foul, or he can allow points to be scored 

 and the person to play on ; but should the striker not 

 score, it is at the option of the opponent to break them 

 or not. 



25. Should the marker, whilst marking for the 

 players, by accident touch either of the balls, while 

 rolling or not, it must be put as near as possible to the 

 place it would have otherwise occupied. 



26. If the last player should alter the direction of the 

 ball while rolling, with cue, hand, or otherwise, the 

 striker may place it where he thinks proper. 



27. A fine-ball is when either the white or red is 

 exactly on the line of the baulk, in which case it cannot 

 be played at by a person whose ball is in hand, it being 

 considered in baulk. 



28. If the red ball has been put into a pocket, it must 

 not be placed on the spot till the other balls have 

 done rolling, as the stroke is not finished till the balls 

 stop. 



29. If the striker should touch his ball by accident 

 when taking aim, it is not a stroke, and the ball is to be 

 replaced ; but should he touch it in the act of striking, 

 then it is a stroke. 



30. If either of the balls lodges on a cushion, it is off 

 the table, and should a cannon or hazard have been 

 made, it does not score, and the ball must be placed on 

 the spot, or played from the baulk, according to whether 

 it is red or white. 



31. Any person refusing to play the game out after he 

 has played one stroke, loses it. 



32. In a match of four, each person is at liberty to 

 offer his partner advice. 



33. All disputes in the game to be decided by the 

 marker or other referee, but no person has a right to 

 interfere until appealed to by one or both players. 



34. It is called a love-game when no score has been 

 made by the loser. 



As evidence of what may be done in the way of 

 swift and sure performance by masters of this game, 

 we may mention that two of them (one of whom 

 was the celebrated Kentfield) actually played 

 thirty games of ' 24 up ' that is to say, supposing 

 they were well-contested matches, they scored 

 about 700 each within an hour. 



The American Game. 



This game is played with four balls, two white, 

 one dark-red, and one light-red. At the com- 

 mencement of the game, the dark-red is placed 

 on the spot in the centre of the upper half of the 

 table, and the light-red in a similar position at 



the lower or baulk end, and is considered in baulk, 

 and consequently cannot be played at when the 

 striker's ball is in hand. The baulk is con- 

 sidered to be all the space within the line, not 

 the semicircle merely. The players string for the 

 lead, the winner having choice. Whoever leads 

 must give a miss which does not count any- 

 where behind the red ball, or, failing to leave it 

 behind, has the option of putting it on the winning 

 and losing spot at the end of the table. The 

 opponent must then either play at the white ball, 

 or give a miss which does count for should 

 he strike either of the reds, the adversary could 

 either have it played over again, or score a miss, 

 and have the advantage of the position of the 

 balls. The game consists of cannons and winning 

 hazards ; losing hazards score against the player 

 making them, either two or three, besides the loss 

 of whatever he may have made. If the player 

 makes two and loses his own ball, he loses two- 

 that is, if he strikes the white ball first ; but if he 

 strikes the red ball first, he loses three. The 

 points of the game are two for a cannon, if made 

 off the white on either of the red balls ; three, if 

 off the two red balls ; and five if off all ; and for 

 hazards two for the white, three for either of the 

 reds, and eight if all are holed consequently, it 

 is possible to make thirteen by one stroke. If a 

 foul stroke is made, the balls must remain as they 

 have run, and not be broken and placed on the 

 spots as in the three-ball game. If the striker's 

 ball touches another, he cannot score. The red 

 balls, when holed, must always be placed on their 

 respective spots, where they are put at the begin- 

 ning of the game ; but in case the spot happens 

 to be occupied by another ball, it must be held 

 in hand till the balls are removed, and then 

 spotted after the balls have done running. If the 

 striker's ball goes over the table after making a 

 score, it counts against him the same as the losing 

 hazard. 



Game of Pool. 



The only other game played upon a billiard- 

 table which it seems necessary for us to notice, is 

 that called Pool. It is quite different from the 

 games above described, nor does a good player at 

 these always distinguish himself at pooL Pool is 

 the game chiefly pursued at all the public billiard- 

 rooms, and is the sole profession of many persons 

 who might otherwise employ themselves to more 

 advantage, if not to greater profit, since the 

 requisites for forming a first-rate player are really 

 high namely, steadiness of hand and eye, imper- 

 turbable temper, and exact dynamical calculation. 

 At pool, each player has three ' lives,' one of which 

 he loses when he pockets his own ball, or is 

 pocketed by another. When all his ' lives ' are 

 lost he is ' dead,' and, unless he ' stars,' retires. 

 Thus, the game continues until two players only 

 are left, when he who remains in last secures the 

 whole of the pool or stakes, or perhaps divides 

 with the other player. Pool may be played by 

 any number of persons when played between 

 two only, it is called ' single pool,' and is nothing 

 else than the old game at billiards played before 

 the introduction of the red ball and after various 

 methods, such as playing at the last player, play- 

 ing at the nearest ball, and playing at any ball 

 whatever. The most common is that of playing 

 at the last player, the rules of which game are 



