Youngest Cue Shark Shoots Left-Handed

1915

August Kieckhefer, Holder of Three Titles, Makes Fast Rise in Billiard World

Years ago, twelve to be exact, August Kieckhefer strolled over to a cue rack in a billiard hall in Chicago and stood contemplating the polished sticks with their fascinating leather and ivory tips.

He had never handled a cue, but when asked to play he decided it would be a good time to start. He was only 14 and wore short trousers. How he got into a billiard hall at that age history does not tell, but he has been in a lot of them since. He holds three titles.

Goodness only knows why Kieckhefer picked out a cue with his left hand that night twelve years ago, but he did and he played the entire game with his left hand. He has played with the southpaw ever since.

Becomes Pool Shark

Chance must have made him a left-hand cueist, for in everything else, from writing and eating to "mitting" a friend, he is right-handed.

Kieckhefer's first game was pool, called pocket billiards now. That was in 1903. Six years later he was State champion of Wisconsin.

Then he turned to three-cushion billiards and won the championship of Milwaukee, Wis., in 1910. During the next three years he didn't do much except practice, then in 1914 won the interstate title.

Kieckhefer kept practicing and this year, at the age of 26, played for the world's title against Alfred De Oro, the Cuban, who is past 50 and held the pool championship eighteen consecutive years before he became three-cushion king.

Trains Like a Fighter

"Billiard players are born," says Kieckhefer. "It's the stroke that counts and that's born in you, not acquired."

When preparing for a tournament or big match he trains a good deal like a fighter. He walks two hours every morning. He is careful about his food, claiming even a slight attack of indigestion might throw him off form.

Training for Left-Handedness

1915

Positive Results Not Seen as Anticipated

Some time ago the development of left-handedness in children was warmly advocated by various persons, not only because in this way reliance could be placed on both upper extremities for mechanical work, which would undoubtedly be of advantage in case of serious disturbance of the functions of the right arm, but also because the hope was entertained that by training the left arm a second speech center might develop in the right hemisphere of the brain in the same way as the well-developed right arm corresponds with the speech center place in the left half of the brain.

The Berlin physician, M. Frankel, was especially active in the advocacy of this idea — in fact, experiments in this direction were undertaken in various localities. The practical results which have been so far reported do not correspond in any degree to the optimistic expectations of the advocates of the method, says the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Doctor Schafer, on the basis of permission granted by the school deputation, collected statistics with reference to the left-handedness among about 18,000 pupils of the Berlin public schools. These statistics show that 4.06 per cent of all the children are left-handed, 5.5 per cent of all the boys and 2.98 per cent of the girls. The percentage of children in whom both hands are equally developed is very small, being only .21 per cent. The overwhelming majority, 95.73 per cent of all the children, are distinctly right-handed. In several school districts, among 448 teachers, there were ten who were left-handed.

L. Katscher's work on "Training the Left Hand" was the theoretical basis for the exercises to train the left hand. They included exercises in writing, arithmetic manual training and gymnastics; especially in the last two systematic efforts were made. In general, the result showed that the possibility of employing the hitherto unused left hand at first excited great joy and marked interest, but the physical awkwardness generally was a great hindrance.

The outcome of the whole experiment shows that in no case could a preference for the left hand be developed. It may be trained to be a welcome assistant to the right hand, but never a substitute for it. In teaching writing the complaint is made of a deterioration in handwriting. The children refused to write with the left hand, became nervous and worried over it, and increased intellectual development was in no case observed. Almost all those who gave an opinion were unanimous that the advantages stood in no relation to the expenditure of time, pains and patience.