From the November 19th, 1899 New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/search/ :
NOTABLE BOY BILLIARD PLAYER.
"Willie" Hoppe, Little Higher than the Table, Makes Great Shots.
A small, light-haired boy has attracted much attention lately by his marvelous billiard playing in the rooms of Maurice Daly.
The boy, "Willie" Hoppe. of Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, is but eleven years old, and not very large for his age, his head and shoulders barely reaching above the billiard table.
He began playing on an old pool table in his father's hotel, his opponent in those games being his brother Frank, who is slightly older.
The table was in poor condition, and the balls were but little better, but these handicaps did not feaze the youngsters, who played game after game, using a chair to elevate them in making the shots.
Maurice Daly has the youngster in hand, and believes he will be the equal of any player in this country within the next five years. He has the best points of Schaefer's game, and the accurate knowledge of angles that is a feature of Student Slosson's play.
During the past week the boy has been an attentive looker-on at all the games of the intercity and interclub amateur billiard tournament at Slosson's Academy, and has taken note of all the difficult shots that were made.
Friday was ladies' night in the tournament, and the youngster participated in and won an exhibition contest from Edward McLaughlin, the veteran player. The old style game, without the use of balk lines, was played. "Willie" evoked the applause of the crowd by magnificent open table work at the start. He finished the game with a beautiful run along the rails, nursing the balls in clever fashion.
Some of his carroms were very difficult, and the boy was compelled at times to lie along the table on his stomach in order to reach the ivories. He has done wonderful work in practice, having an unfinished run of 310 to his credit at the straight rail game. His record at fourteen-inch balk line is 98, his best average for 200 points being 12.
NOTABLE BOY BILLIARD PLAYER.
"Willie" Hoppe, Little Higher than the Table, Makes Great Shots.
A small, light-haired boy has attracted much attention lately by his marvelous billiard playing in the rooms of Maurice Daly.
The boy, "Willie" Hoppe. of Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, is but eleven years old, and not very large for his age, his head and shoulders barely reaching above the billiard table.
He began playing on an old pool table in his father's hotel, his opponent in those games being his brother Frank, who is slightly older.
The table was in poor condition, and the balls were but little better, but these handicaps did not feaze the youngsters, who played game after game, using a chair to elevate them in making the shots.
Maurice Daly has the youngster in hand, and believes he will be the equal of any player in this country within the next five years. He has the best points of Schaefer's game, and the accurate knowledge of angles that is a feature of Student Slosson's play.
During the past week the boy has been an attentive looker-on at all the games of the intercity and interclub amateur billiard tournament at Slosson's Academy, and has taken note of all the difficult shots that were made.
Friday was ladies' night in the tournament, and the youngster participated in and won an exhibition contest from Edward McLaughlin, the veteran player. The old style game, without the use of balk lines, was played. "Willie" evoked the applause of the crowd by magnificent open table work at the start. He finished the game with a beautiful run along the rails, nursing the balls in clever fashion.
Some of his carroms were very difficult, and the boy was compelled at times to lie along the table on his stomach in order to reach the ivories. He has done wonderful work in practice, having an unfinished run of 310 to his credit at the straight rail game. His record at fourteen-inch balk line is 98, his best average for 200 points being 12.
