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Show " ; BILLIARD 1C BOWLING I! The origin of billiards is unknown. 1 . As far back as 30 B. C. when Anthony J . and Cleopatra were making themselves them-selves notorious, billiards seems to have been a popular pastime. (Shaps-i (Shaps-i peare's "Anthony and Cleopatra," act L 11, scene 5.) Billiards was brought into this country by the Spaniards who settled in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565, and since then has numbered many of our leading men and women as its patrons. pa-trons. Many of our presidents from George Washington's time on have played the game in the billiard parlor of the executive mansion. In 1S40, J. M. Brunswick, who operated op-erated a small furniture repair shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, began to manufacture manu-facture billiard tables, practically all of which were then Imported. The business flourished. At first only the 6x12 English pocket tables were made later the small French carom tables were built. At this time Julius Balke was the owner of the Great Western Billiard Table manufactory, also located lo-cated at Cincinnati. In 1S59 he was taken into partnership with the Brunswick people. By 1880, H. W. Collender, a billiard manufacturer of New York City, had Joined what was called The Bruns-wick-Balke-Collender Co. This company has grown steadily from that day to this. It has furnished fur-nished a large part of the world's present billiard and bowling equipment equip-ment and has been the leading factor fac-tor In the development of the game to the high position it now holds. The history of billiards and bowling in America Is largely a history of this progressive firm. For nearly a thousand years bowl- lng has been popular in England, Scotland, France, Germany and Hol-I Hol-I land, but it appears that it first was played in England out of doors, and, in parts of Britain it is still played on the turf. The Dutch founders of ' New York had their bowling green, which is still one of the parks of the lower part of Manhattan Island. The old game, of course, was much different from the modern game, and it appears- that in the twelfth century cen-tury there was no pins at all, the players merely trying to see who could cast round stones nearest a mark. But in the following centuries, the present day game was evolved. Bowling is not a matter of strength, although, as In golf, one can bowl as strenuously or as gently as he pleases. . It is a scientific game. It is like billiards in a way. It Is the curve one puts on the ball which really counts. "You never saw a bowler who had appendicitis, rheumatism or suffered from insomnia," declared a bowler for the past fifteen years, who previous previ-ous to taking up the game suffered, from rheumatism every winter. The number of women bowlers is increasing year by year. Bowling is not only a splendid physical phy-sical exercise, (but it Is also among the 'best mental recreational activities. activi-ties. A billiard game will soothe those wrinkles in your brain cells. If Macbeth Mac-beth had. been a billiard player he nvruiuui. nuiiivu U.UUU.L LUfcJ "raveled sleeve of care." He would havo called Lady Macbeth for a sociable so-ciable game of billiards, and the two would have forgotten all about their troubles and the play would have ended, differently maybe there wouldn't have been any play. Golf is a mental stimulant; billiards is a mental sedative. Golf quickens the mind; billiards rests it. |