THE BOARD OF GREEN CLOTH 335 



Pool was in great vogue in my 'Varsity days. An 

 Australian at Trinity told me that he made from ^150 to 

 ;^200 a year at pool ; and there was a Johnian who was 

 known as the " tizzy Sweeper." I always thought public 

 pool " low form," and the men who played regularly had 

 something of the stamp of the billiard sharper. 



A good many men have been ruined by their infatuation 

 for billiards, and no one can deny its dangerous fascination. 

 The most extraordinary instance I ever heard of was that 

 of an amateur who some eighty years ago devoted himself 

 entirely to the game. His name was Andrews. He was a 

 gentleman of ample private means, but he lived only for 

 billiards ; his mind was a blank for any other idea. The 

 sums for which Andrews played were very large, but, 

 though his winnings were immense, he really cared little 

 for the filthy lucre — love of the game was paramount 

 with him, and he was never guilty of sharp practice. 



One night he won upwards of ;^iooo off a colonel in the 

 Guards who fancied himself very much with the cue. The 

 loser made an appointment to go with him next day to the 

 City to sell out stock for the amount due. They took a 

 hackney-coach, and at starting tossed which should pay the 

 fare. Andrews lost : then offered to toss for a sovereign 

 lost again, grew excited, tossed for ten, then twenty, then 

 fifty, then double or quits, till he had lost every penny he 

 had won at billiards the night before. Then the colonel 

 put his head out and told the cabman to drive them back 

 to the West End. This was not by any means an isolated 

 instance of Andrews' bad luck. What he won at billiards 

 he invariably lost at dice or cards, until he was stripped of 

 every shilling he possessed, except a small annuity which 

 just sufficed to save him from beggary. 



Peall's record " all in " break of 3304 was made in 1890 ; 

 John Roberts' spot-barred record of 1892, in 1894; but as 

 far back as 1858 there were "tall" exploits with the cue 

 in America which threw all British records into the shade. 

 In 1858 John W. Hester, in a match with Henry Prieto, 

 ran out with an unfinished break of two thousand one 

 hundred and fifty-seven, including seven hundred and 

 nineteen consecutive cannons. The American game. 



