Brooklyn, N. Y., Amateur Annual. Daly’s Assembly Rooms, February 4–14th.—Handicap tournament for diamonds, 5 × 10. Arthur R. Townsend (scratch, 375), winning 3—1, won first prize and also made highest single average (15), highest general average (7.40), and highest run (116). Townsend was tied by Wm. Barnard (375), but defeated him, in playing off for first and second, by 375 to 185.
Third Tourney for Amateur Championship of America. Second and last for Townsend Cup. N. Y. Racquet Club, May 13–18th. Average of tournament (four games apiece), 6.01.
| W. | R. | Av. | G. A. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orville Oddie, Jr. | 4 | 195 | 17.32 | 8.56 |
| A. R. Townsend | 3 | 138 | 11.11 | 7.57 |
| R. J. Maginniss | 2 | 94 | 11.53 | 5.68 |
| H. D. Jennings | 1 | 101 | 11.53 | 5.31 |
| Andrew Miller | 0 | 42 | 4.07 |
May 12, 1900, a third annual competition having been found impracticable, the club committee awarded the Townsend Cup to Oddie.
Joseph Capron vs. John Donahue. Montreal, Can., September 18th.—$250 a side. Capron won by 500 to about 340, but loser made best run (66).
Schaefer vs. McKenna. November.—Match for $2,500 a side, even up. Death of Schaefer’s wife caused his side to pay $500 for postponement to January, and death of McKenna meanwhile ended match.
Brooklyn, N. Y., Annual Amateur Handicap. Daly’s Assembly Rooms, March 10–22d.—Average of tournament (five games apiece), 5.10.
| W. | R. | Av. | G. A. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. R. Townsend (500) | 4 | 257 | 17.24 | 9.83 |
| Dr. H. D. Jennings (300) | 3 | 91 | 8.57 | 4.73 |
| Frank A. Keeney (300) | 3 | 135 | 5.77 | 5.49 |
| Herbert S. Haskell (500) | 2 | 171 | 9.43 | 6.65 |
| Wm. H. Barnard (350) | 1 | 56 | 3.50 | 3. |
| George Moulton (275) | 1 | 39 | 3.44 | 2.90 |
J. Schaefer vs. J. F. B. McCleery. San Francisco, May 29th, 30th, 31st.—$200 a side, 3000 points, Schaefer giving odds of discount, 4½ × 9, c. b. S., 3000 (winning score)—average, 751 in actual score (3004)—run, 3000; McC., 15—run, 13.
F. C. Ives vs. McCleery. Same city, same table, a day or two later, Ives conceding 1000 for a stake of $250 a side. Ives, 3000—176.46—982; McC., 1748—717.
Nothing could more fitly close the chronicle of regular three-ball caroms than those McCleery matches. For other than amateurs or rising professionals, the game had lacked approval ever since the spring of 1879. Several of the contests after that were designed chiefly to surpass the “run” and “average” records of one or two professionals earlier in the wonder-working field; and so lamentably did the unrestricted game decline that first-class players, avoiding one another to the neglect of championships, welcomed matches with fourth or fifth-rate ones on 4½ × 9 tables.
Kerkau vs. McLaughlin. Daly’s Room, N. Y. City, purse games. August 16–21st.—McLaughlin, 6000—run, 1290; K., 4749, total. Sept. 6–11th.—Kerkau, 6000—run, 1355; McL., 4520—run, 1349. Averages in both were light for the high runs.