H. Nelmes & Co.
H. NELMES & Co., Billiard Table Makers, 121, Wellington Street, Glasgow.
The popularity to which the game of billiards has attained within the past half century is a worthy tribute to the elegance of motion which the game involves and the splendidly scientific character of the strokes by which the game, when properly played, is accomplished. Every billiard player knows the vast importance of having a superior table upon which to exercise his skill, and the greatest champions of billiards that the world has yet seen attribute no small share of their success to the extreme accuracy in manufacture which characterises the productions of the most eminent billiard table manufacturers. In this connection it is very gratifying to note, in our historical sketches of renowned Glasgow commercial houses, a firm that stands in a pre-eminent position in the billiard table manufacturing art of Scotland.
The house of Messrs. Henry Nelmes & Co. was established in Sauchiehall Street nearly forty years ago, and consequently can with justice claim to be considered the oldest established firm of billiard table makers in Scotland. In 1870 the business was transferred from Sauchiehall Street to the present appropriately appointed premises in Wellington Street. The interior arrangements are all that could be desired, and with an unrivalled equipment of plant, machinery, and appliances, the firm is in a position to execute the largest orders with the utmost promptitude and expedition. All descriptions of billiard tables are here manufactured, as well as every item that justly enters into the category of billiard room furnishings. The connection of the firm extends over the whole of the United Kingdom, and orders have been executed with the utmost precision for patrons in India and other distant parts of the earth. Messrs. Henry Nelmes & Co. number among their patrons the elite of the Kingdom, and many of the leading clubs of Scotland have the good fortune to possess tables manufactured by this enterprising firm.
As showing a special feature in connection with the firms
manufacture, we venture to quote the opinion of a constant supporter of the
firm, and one whose opinion will not be gainsaid by those acquainted with the
game of billiards, namely, Mr. W. M. Green, for twenty years the billiard
champion of Scotland.
Messrs. Henry Nelmes & Co.,
121, Wellington Street.
25, Drury Street, Glasgow.
April 21 st, 1890.
Gentlemen, As inventor of the Premier Low-Set patent India
rubber billiard cushions suggested by me to you in 1880, and made for me then,
and since adopted, at my advice, by some of the London billiard table makers in
1886, I beg to thank you for the efficient manner in which you have put them on
to the six tables you made for me this year. They are the finest, fastest, and,
above all, the easiest to play from, when the ball is close to the cushion, that
I have ever seen during my 40 years billiard experience. I can also say that
every table you have made for me (twenty in all) has given great satisfaction to
myself and my patrons, of which the majority are the best amateur billiard
players in Glasgow. Yours truly, W. M. Green.
It is also deserving of remark, in connection with this firm, that it is the only house in Scotland that manufactures billiard balls. Mr. Nelmes is the inventor of a machine which secures the greatest possible accuracy and roundness in the ball, and the firm thus possesses exceptional facilities for adjusting balls that have already been worn irregularly. Recolouring of pool and pyramid balls also forms an important item in the firms programme, while a considerable business is the hire of billiard tables to private patrons, hotels, and clubs in all parts of the country. The firm enjoys a very large and steadily increasing connection, and the success that awards its conscientious efforts is a just tribute to the skill, capacity, and thorough integrity characteristic of the administration in every department of the extensive business enterprise.
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