I would bet against it being a Hardinge.
Almost every Hardinge manual lathe has a vari-speed headstock. They use a Reeve's drive pulley system to change the speed. You do this from a control box located above the headstock. This lathe doesn't have that control box, and, this lathe has a headstock that hinges open to presumably access the belt. The Hardinge headstock is completely sealed.
Most Hardinge lathes also have the motor mounted under the lathe inside the cabinet.
You can check on ebay for Hardinge lathe and see what the speed control adjustment looks like.
I worked in a toolroom for a couple of years and we had 5 or 6 hardinge toolroom lathes. One was brand new in 98 or 99, and the others were anywhere from 30 years old or newer. They all looked almost identical, with very few design changes over the years. They were very nice lathes to use. Extremely smooth and precise.
I don't think a Hardinge lathe would really make a good pool cue lathe. They are based on a 5C spindle, so the through hole in the spindle is something like 1 inch. And the center to center distance is about 2 feet (I'm working off of 6 years' memory). They probably offered longer beds, but I doubt there are many of them out there.