1895–96–97
Championship Tournament. Syracuse, N. Y., November and December, 1895, closing 14th.—Clearwater first, De Oro second, and Keogh third. For matches, see under 1889.
1897
Seventy-five Balls Consecutively. Dallas, Tex., January 9th.—The late Samuel Barnes, giving his opponent odds of 60, holed 75 balls from the start without a miss. Almost certainly on a 4½ × 9 table, and probably, also, with pocket-openings above regulation size.
Ninety-seven Balls in Succession. Toledo, O., September 10th.—By Clearwater. See remarks above. There is the further objection to going outside of a frame to count pocketings as “runs” that the best players are not usually their makers. Such “runs” tend rather to come to losers. A player anxious to win cannot afford to run a risk that, sometimes justifiable when far behind, is folly when commandingly ahead. Besides, the rules themselves have been in conflict, one championship code (expired) having required the winner of one frame to open the next, while a later championship code (also expired) made it optional with him. The Toledo game was probably a mere exhibition. Clearwater has since holed 118 balls on a 4½ × 9.