  [When not otherwise specified, all play was at ordinary C. C., with three 2? balls on 5×10 table, cushion being taken at some time before hitting second object-ball.] First Public Exhibition. Opening of Tobin & Bosworth’s Room, Boston, October, 1867.—Played with four balls on a 5½×11 four-pocket table, Joseph Dion, of Montreal, defeating John McDevitt, of N. Y. City. First Public Match Contest. Bumstead Hall, Boston, February 21st.—$250 a side, Jacob Schaefer discounting John H. Flack. Schaefer’s actual score at close, 300; average of all points he made, 2.50; best run, 35. Flack’s total, 299; best run, 8. Time, 5h. 50m. First Tournament. Begun in a St. Louis billiard room, March 14th.—The games, as reported, were 400 points up, and the best averages of the four prize-winners (Frank Day, S. G. Baldwin, Eugene Wolff, and Edward Warner) 3.60, 2.98, 2.14, and 3.15, with 23, 18, 14, and 38 as their high runs respectively. Figures sometimes need vouchers. It was not until three years later that the finest professionals in the land were able to equal some of the foregoing, and not until 1883 that such professionals ventured upon longer games in tournament than 200 points, and then on a 4½×9 table. The Sexton-Schaefer Matches. All independent of one another. First: Cooper Institute, N. Y. City, February 15th.—$500 a side, Schaefer, 400—3.92—26; Sexton, 396—21. Same hall, December 29th.—$2,500 a side. Sexton, 600—3.87—77; Schaefer, 576—23. That 77 is still record-high for a public match. Academy of Music, same city and like stake, April 27, 1882.—Sexton, 600—4.05—32; Schaefer, 538—28. (Owing to the 77 run in the other, this match drew by far the most money cushion-caroms have ever known.) First Tournament in the East. Philadelphia Roomkeepers’ Championship, played in various rooms, April 4–20, 1881.—Victor Estephe winning 6—0, McLaughlin 5—1, Chris. Bird, Ed. Nelms, and Robt. Hunter 3—3, Pincus Levy 1—5, and Jas. Palmer 0—6. All games 150 up. In ensuing matches, same points, Estephe beat McLaughlin and Hunter, and then McLaughlin won six straight—from Estephe, Bird, and Palmer once apiece, and from Hunter thrice. Only Four-handed Game in Public. Winter Circus, Paris, France, June 26, 1881.—4½×9 table, purse game. Vignaux and Garnier, 600—6.12—25 and 12 each for best run; Slosson and Lucien Piot, 577—22 and 14 for runs. Only World’s Championship. Tammany Hall, November 14–19th and Cooper Institute, November 21–26th, both N. Y. City.—For an emblem and $2,500 in prize money. Games, 200 points up, nine for every player. Slosson and Lon Morris were first and second in playing off triple tie.
There having been but one other first-class professional tournament, and that on different terms, it would subserve no purpose to figure out the exact average of the entire play. Approximately, 3.04. There was never a match for this championship. Sexton challenged, and on September 23d Dion resigned on the ground that the conditions announced when he competed for the emblem had not been observed. Sexton held it thenceforward without challenge. 1882.First Tournament “Down East.” Boston, Mass., closing January 5th.—For amateur championship. Prize-winners were Moses Yatter, E. H. Marshall, G. A. Roberts, Thos. R. Tarrant, and Chas. F. Campbell. The last subsequently acquired the emblematic silver cup and lost it to Marshall, April 12th, by 250 to 241. Campbell and Yatter played for the State championship on January 25, 1883, and out of that match (C., 250—1.85—12; Y., 249—11) came the State championship of 1884. Piot vs. Schaefer. Grand CafÉ, Paris, February 10th.—$50 a side. P., 200; S., 198. Eugene Kimball vs. Sexton. Cooper Institute, N. Y. City, April 29th.—$500 a side. K. (with odds of 150), 500—3.37 in 350—26; S., 403—42. Slosson vs. Sexton. Assembly Buildings, Philadelphia, public contest in aid of National Billiard Association. Slosson, 300; Sexton, 198. Daly vs. Kimball. Tammany Hall, N. Y. City, June 1st.—$500 a side, even up. D., 500—4.35—28; K., 347—30. [See Sexton vs. Daly below, and also Carter vs. Gallagher under 1884, for 4.35 as a tie on high record average thrice.] Sexton vs. Daly. Independent matches, each for $500 a side and in Tammany Hall, N. Y. City.—December 1, 1882: S., 500—3.57—27; D., 456—24. January 6, 1883: D., 500—4.35—44; S. 467—30. Only Championship of America. Tammany Hall, N. Y. City, May 14–25th.—$3,000 in money and an emblem presented by H. W. Collender; 500 points on 4½×9; shot to count whether cue-ball cushioned before hitting second object-ball or after hitting both and before hitting either again. This was a revival. It was little followed after 1883, and was expunged from the rules in 1897.
There was but one match. Sexton and Vignaux both challenged, Daly resigned to Sexton as having priority, and Slosson challenged on September 22d. Sexton thereupon named Chicago and unexpectedly a 5×10 table for the contest. This was the first time that a champion ever chose a place not his own residence, and such a naming did not happen again until April, 1902, when, Schaefer and Vignaux both being in Paris, the former named N. Y. City, and in consequence there was no contest. Slosson was not to be balked, and finally found himself up against a faster Collender cushion than he had been given to practise with, which will explain the drop in average. SEXTON LOSES TO SLOSSON. Central Music Hall, Chicago, October 24th.—Championship and $500 a side. Slosson, 500—3.55—38; Sexton, 483—30. Next day, Slosson resigned the emblem to its donor. Passing again to Sexton without further competition, it eventually became his in perpetuity. Johnson vs. Reeves for $1,000 a Side. Madison Square Hall, N. Y. City, November 9th.—4½×9 table. David Johnson, 250—2.14—13; John T. Reeves, 233—12. (See Bookmakers’ Tournaments.) Carter vs. Gallagher. St. Louis, February 20th.—$500 a side. C., 400—4.35—33; G., 327—31. [Carried a term higher, Carter’s average becomes a shade better than the best prior match record, being 4.348 to Daly’s 4.347.] Championship of Massachusetts. W. P. Marshall’s Room, Boston, tournament on 4½×9, ending March 1st.—Moses Yatter 8—1, E. H. Marshall 7—2, C. F. Campbell 6—3, and T. W. Allen 3—4, prize-winners. Allen made the best run, 26, and Campbell the highest winning average, 3.33. There were nine match-contests for the emblem, John Morse Championship of Ohio. Mozart Hall, Cincinnati, April 21–26th.—4½×9 table. Seven contestants, these four being prize-winners: John A. Thatcher, 6—0, $200 and medal; Tony Honing, 4—3, $125; Harry Bussey, 4—2 (beaten by Honing in play-off), $75; and West (beat W. De Long in play-off), $50. Championship competition ended with tournament. Second Massachusetts Championship. This was the pioneer prohibition one, Yatter and Campbell being barred. Boston, January 12th to February 13th.—4½×9 table. Jas. O’Neil 9—0, Fred Eames 7—2, E. H. Marshall 6—3, and Chas. Barnard 5—4, were prize-winners. Best average, 3.45, was by Eames, whose 22 tied W. G. Gilman’s for high-run prize, won by G. in playing off. Emblem was held successively by O’Neil (forfeited through illness), Marshall, O’Neil again, and Eames finally. Sexton vs. Slosson. Irving Hall, N. Y. City, May 6th.—$2,550 ($1,500 staked on Slosson against $1,050 on Sexton). Sexton, 500—4.42—30; Slosson, 486—35. (See 1866 and 1887 for this match average surpassed.) Bookmakers’ Handicaps. The Reeves-Johnson match of 1883, which was a heavily speculative event, led to a series of bookmakers’ tournaments in this city, February 8–18, 1886; January 31st to February 14, 1887; January 23–27, 1888; and January 14–22, 1889, the winners of which severally were Chas. Davis, Joseph Cotton, Davis again, and David Johnson. The last-named was at “scratch” in two out of four, and Davis always at “scratch” except in the third, when Reeves, playing 170 to his 150, tied him, but was beaten in the play-off. All but the 1887 tournament were on a 4½×9. Only Real Sweepstakes Known to Billiards. Two of the foregoing bookmakers’ handicaps—those of 1888 and 1889, Davis winning one and Cotton the other—were genuine sweepstakes. Entrance fees may combine to form stakes, but not sweepstakes when portioned out. Return game, Central Music Hall, Chicago, December 17th.—Schaefer, 500—4.50—48; Slosson, 430—22. Slosson vs. Schaefer. Central Music Hall, Chicago, April 4th.—First game of match of two (see “Balkline,” 14:2, 1887, for the other), each for $500 a side. Slosson, 500—4.81—25; Schaefer, 488—49. The average is still match-high. Winner overcame the longest lead known to a public match at this game. When Schaefer needed but 130 to go, Slosson was 120 behind. First Contest of Multiple Nights. Light Infantry Armory, Washington, D. C., May 23–28th.—Game for a purse, 300 points nightly. Daly, 1800—4.66—38; Sexton, 1182—46. Multiplying nights at cushion caroms has been given a trial but once since, and then by Slosson and Schaefer (see 1899). First Public Handicap. Madison Street Theatre, Chicago, November 5–22d.—This was Frank C. Ives’s tournamental dÉbut.
Average of tournament, 3.005. There has been no technically public handicap at cushion caroms since. Donovan vs. Chas. Schaefer. St. Louis, December 19th.—Match for $500 a side. S., 200—1.98—13; D., 152—10. Championship of Pennsylvania. Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, January 9–26th.—200–point games, eight contestants and seven prize-winners, viz., McLaughlin, 7—0; Burris, 6—1; Bullock, 5—2; Pollard, 4—3; P. Levy, 3—4; J. Cline, 2—5; Palmer, 1—6. Eighth man was Edward Woods, 0—7. Matches were not meant to follow. The championship emblem, won by McLaughlin along with $210, was presented by H. J. Bergman. Five-handed Tournament in Boston. John J. Murphy’s Hub Palace, finishing January 4th.—4½×9 table. Eames, 4—0; Yatter, 3—1; and John Dankleman; C. F. Campbell, and W. M. Gilman, 1—3 apiece, divided third money. On January 16th, for $150 a side, 4½×9, Eames defeated Yatter by 200 to 209, and in same room, March 7th, and at C. T. Shean’s Room, Springfield, March 20th, he defeated L. A. Guillet in a home-and-home, $100 a side. Garnier vs. Carter. Paris, February 2d.—$500 a side. G., 300; C., 293. February 26th: G., 300; C., 233. Carter vs. Vignaux. Paris, February 10th.—$500 a side. C., 50; V., 49. Schaefer vs. Vignaux. Paris, December 27th.—$500 a side. S., 400—3.96; V., 345. Fournil vs. Gallagher. Daly’s Room, N. Y. City, December 3–7th.—Formal American dÉbut of Edouard Fournil, of Paris, France. Purse game, 200 points nightly. With 45 for high run against 37, F. won by 1,000 to 848. Last Professional Tournament. Bumstead Hall, Boston, April 13–17th.—Under auspices of Daly and Ives, 300–point games.
Approximate average of tournament, 4.67. Ives’s 85 was run against Daly. While it is absolutely the highest in public, yet it cannot properly be compared with Sexton’s 77 in virtually a $6,250 stake match (not counting side bets) that he won from Schaefer by no more than 4 per cent. in 600. 1899.Schaefer’s Highest Run of Record. Lenox Lyceum, N. Y. City, May 22d.—Second game of match of two, each for $500 a side (see Balkline, May 13, 1899, for first). Slosson, 500—4.60—34; Schaefer, 359—55. Second Match of Multiple Nights. Madison Square Garden Concert Hall, N. Y. City, October 30 to November 1st.—$500 a side. Slosson, 900—4.57—37; Schaefer, 757—41. McLaughlin vs. Gallagher. Maurice Daly’s, N. Y. City, November 6–10.—Purse game, best in five. McLaughlin, who won the odd, also made the more points—944 to 924. Amateur Revival Tournaments. After having been out of fashion for years, the game was revived in winter of 1902–3 at Maurice Daly’s, N. Y. City, by Messrs. Mark Muldaur, Albert Brock, Wm. Gershel and F. Poggenburg, who finished in that order without unusual play, and at Foley’s, Chicago, August 31st to October 31st, C. F. Conklin (scratch at 125) winning by 7—1 in games, and making best run (21), and highest winning average (2.75). S. W. Miller made 3.33 in the opening game, but it was canceled with the game itself when Ballard, whom Miller had beaten, withdrew from tournament. Miller, Beard and Hale tied, and play-off gave Miller second prize, Beard third, and Hale fourth. Conklin was beaten by none but Hale (100). Miller and Beard were at 70. 3.55 in 500—G. F. Slosson, 1883. CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH RUN.38 in 500 (still his best record in match, with 40 his best in tournament)—G. F. Slosson, 1883. CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT AVERAGE.6.25 in 200—J. Schaefer (with 3.56 by G. F. Slosson for high general average, but the two were second and third winners only), 1881. 10.00 in 500–point game, 4½×9 table—J. Schaefer, with 6.559 for best general average, that of winner-in-chief (M. Daly) being 6.550, 1883. CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT RUN.45 in 200–point game—J. Dion, winner, 1881. 65 in 500–point game, 4½×9 table—W. Sexton, 1883 (T. Wallace ran 76 in play-off for second prize, but championship tournament was then over). NON-CHAMPIONSHIP AVERAGES.3.92 in 400—J. Schaefer, 1881. 4.81 in 500—G. F. Slosson, 1887. 4.05 in 600—W. Sexton, 1882 (see under 1881). 4.66 in 1800—M. Daly, 1887. 4.57 in 900—G. F. Slosson, 1902. NON-CHAMPIONSHIP RUNS.27 in 400—W. Sexton, 1881. 77 in 600—W. Sexton, 1881. 46 in 1800—W. Sexton, 1887. 55 in 500—J. Schaefer, 1899. 41 in 900—J. Schaefer, 1902. NON-CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENTS.In Chicago, in 1887, Schaefer made his best average (10 in 200) on a 5×10 table, and Slosson his highest run of all (40); and in Boston, in 1896, Ives ran 85 (highest of all runs) and made the best general average on 5×10 table (5.29). |
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