Cold Billiards 1892
Corner on Coal
Daily Leader Thursday, January 14, 1892
“At a certain billiard hall in the city a party of gentlemen were punching the ivory spheres this morning, which in itself would not occasion comment, but they were arrayed in heavy overcoats and gloves, and that was something peculiar.
“‘What’s all this masquerading for?’ asked the reporter.
“‘Trying to get warm,’ was the reply; and it developed upon investigation that the proprietor sets his stove going only when there are players at the tables, and as it takes about an hour to get the machine heated up, the players get frozen out, and when they go out so does the fire in the stove, thus perpetuating an Arctic air but slightly modified by the occasional combustion of a shovel full of coal, while the proprietor sits in a remote corner and fans himself industriously and the water freezes in the bucket. It is alleged that the proprietor has ordered a car load of straw because of its easy combustion and quick heating properties.”
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