THE ORIGIN OF SNOOKER’S POOL.
Empire, Fremantle, Saturday 29 February 1908
Billiards
(By Hazard)
THE ORIGIN OF SNOOKER’S POOL.
Unlike most billiard games, Snooker’s Pool is a comparatively modem invention, and it would appear a fairly easy matter to trace it to its source. Yet this is not the case, and those who well remember the introduction of the game into this country seem to have no certain knowledge of where it came from. Some credit our American cousins with the honor of devising this fine game, and others say it originated in India. In connection with the latter theory, the writer well remembers playing at Snooker’s Pool with a distinguished army officer, who had seen much service in India (writes S.A.M.* in “World of Billiards”). During the game a red ball and a colored ball were potted with one stroke, and, of course, the striker was promptly penalised the value of the colored ball, which dropped into a pocket some little time after the red had been pocketed.
“That is not correct,” said the officer, “The striker should be credited with the value of both balls as the red was pocketed first”
The rules were consulted, and the military gentleman had to admit they were against him.
“But I think the rule must be wrong,” he continued. “You see I knew the inventor of the game very well indeed. He was a Captain Snooker, in the Bengal Artillery, and I played many games with him in the old days out in the Shiny East. He always allowed both balls to count if potted in one stroke, provided a red was the first to reach a pocket.”
Without referring to the point at issue as regards the rules, it seems that the above incident throws some light on the origin of this fascinating pool game.
*S.A.M. – Scipio Africanus ‘Sam’ Mussabini (1867-1927), played billiards to a high standard and reported on matches as a sports journalist during the winter months. In 1897 he co-authored a technical book on billiards and began writing articles for a billiards journal “World of Billiards”. In 1902, he became its assistant editor and later the joint proprietor and editor. In 1904 he wrote a two-volume book on the technicalities of billiards. He was also one of the top billiard referees. (Administrator’s Note)