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lastth©sodichis lien, tus ©r,th©rththeith. s itbyies.ledforaedienhattelera'sm’sthe-mein’st totheamvas,lt;*k,morno.nafactbyB.ionthe:en-fat-:, or indginhy,;ionitescourage 01 tne man, mm uaa typuies ms in statuary, cost ©zop.uum.—— -HOW BABE BALLS ARE MADE,Evolution of the Ever-Popular LeatherSphere.Th© accompanying cut shows the shapeof one of the quarters of the primitive ball cover, and expert oall manufacturers declare that it was first suggested by the quartering of an orange.Finally came the pattern of today, with curving edges so gracetully rounded that when firmly sewed it seldom tears loo e.The building of a league ball is a most ravetul and skilful job, and it requires a nice judgment to follow accurately the league rules as to the measure and weight while the hall is in process of building.It muit weigh exactly five ounces and measure nine inches in circumference -no more and no less.Let us step inside, and watch a work- . man build a league ball. He is a quick, nervous American, one of many who stand beside the windows at a funny, littleapparatus, which doesduty as a workbench.It 10 an uprightstandard of hardwood, waist high to the workman, and about six inches square at the top.In the top of th© standard is a cup like the half of a sphere.It is not as large as a base ball. Beginning the bulidingof a ball, the workman takes irora an old peachbasket full of rubber three pieces to a spheres one of the ball,littlo globes. It isth© nucleus of the ball. It is made in this country by a rubber company expressly for base balls.The rubber balls are run into moulds, likeold-time musket balls, and. as with them, a rim is left around the# ball by the failure of the sides of the mould to exactly fit together.Taking the rubber ball in his left hand the workman bolds it at the ends of his fingers and taking an end of blue woollen yam he winds it on the ball with amotion of his right hand so rapid that you can not follow it while with the left hand, as the ball grows large, lie turns it so slowly one way and another that the ball can scarcely be seen to revolve.As it grows larger itis worked down from the finger tips into ihe hollow of the hand.The yarn is the old-fashioned blue stock-ng yarn, and the players will have blue ram or they kick. Why they insist on its icing blue no one knows, forth© natural vool is white. It is bought by the manu-blfcins his work he throws 40or 50 stamped nieces of leather into a tub of water. Theleather must he wet through,ho that whenit dries it will be as tight as the bark to a tree and as hard as iron.Th© workman takes two of the curious shaped pieces, tits them togo her over theball 90 that the edges meet, and with a three-cornered needle, similar to that used by glovers, and threaded with lush linen thread, he begins anywhere on the seam and sews rapidly around until he has made the eircu t of the sphere.1 he chunk is laid away to dry. The best makers let them lie weeks to dry, but the workmen will take up one of thedry chunksand finish a bail for us. He winds thehorsehide covered ball with blue again until it approaches the regulation size. '1 hen comes the last winding with camel’s hair thread, imported for the purpose.The thread is dampened, and it winds far more tightly around the hall than the finest silk. l h© pounding of the ball is continued until it is supposed to he heavy enough and large enough. To make sure that the rules are being observed the workman from time to time puts the ball into a s«’al©. something like a scale for weighing letters.SEWING ON THE COVER.Th# final process of building is putting on the last cover. It is necessary that t he cover shall be dampened, and about the process of dampening the workmen say there is a secret, and you mustn’t ask him how it is done. The cover must be dampened, so as to stretch on tightly, and not too tightly.If it is too damp it will be spotted and won’t be prettv. The sewing is with ©ither red or white Irish fiax linen, most of the league players preferring red. If a league ball were to he cut through the middle it would look like the accompanying diagram.LEAGUE COVER—'TWOTO A BALL.After sewing on the cover there remains only th© wrapping of the hall is tissue paper and afterward in tin foil, and finally the packing of it in a stout paper which it comfortably tits.A league hail costs to jobbers $1.50 at retail. The manufacturers sell them at $12.60a dozen,—LN. Y. Sun.
Newspaper Details
Boston Weekly Globe
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Sat, Jun 07, 1890
Page 5
Full Page
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Anonymous
SC, USA 19 Mar 2020
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