Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 151, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1910 — MANUFACTURE OF BOWLING MATERIAL A GREAT INDUSTRY. [ARTICLE]

MANUFACTURE OF BOWLING MATERIAL A GREAT INDUSTRY.

Did you, Mr. Bowler, ever stop and think of the manufacture of balls, pins and alleys—or the origin of the material and the vast American industries supported by the ten pin game. Very few people ponder over th'e why and wherefore. Few know what material is used and where it comes from. To many it" will be surprising to learn that scores of sailors and hundreds of Latin-Americans gain their living from the bowling game. It is generally known that one big alley making company is capitalized at more than a million dollars and ranks with the big corporations of the country, but of the things the bowler Is most particular of —the bowling balls—he knows least. Balls are seen first in America in great heaps of short, crooked logs with bark still intact on a New York wharf after a 15,000-mile journey from South America. This wood is lignum vitae. About 2,000 tons of it are cut up each year. But other kinds are also used. When a bowler wants Something showy and is willing to pay the price, such a man takes to mahogany, cobobolo or any similar expensive material, provided that it is close grained enough. When a woman bowler, wants something better than lignum vitae she generally selects rosewood, and is as careful in giving her order to insist on a piece of wood being selected on account of its beauty when polished as the more important quality of durability.

Five firms situated in or pear New York and one in Chicago practically supply all the bowling enthusiasts of the United States with these balls. Pins, which generally are made from kiln dried rock maple grown in Maine and New York are tuj-ned out by numerous planing mills scattered all over the country; A bowling ball looks as if it were easy to make, yet its manufacture involves a long process covering a period of three days. The actual time put upon it is only a matter of three hours, but the work is slow and requires long waits between the steps toward completion. A log free from knots and cracks is first cut into pieces a trifle larger than the diameter of the ball after it is finished. This allows for two little projectors on , either side called “bits,” where clamps of the lathe hold the block of wood while revolving at lightning speed under the keen edged tool cutting into the har'd fiber like a sharp knife slicing a fresh cheese. The preliminary turning and trimming occupies only a few minutes, when the block is shaved and pared down to the required size. The bits are then cut off and the whole thing sandpapered. A coat of shellac is applied and the ball is put to one side to dry. It then gets another sandpapering. This is no sooner done than the workman again carefully applies the shellac brush. When the shellac dries the second time the surface is rubbed with oil. The work doesn’t stop then, for the moment the oil is dried the hall gets another vigorous sandpapering. Then for the last time it gets more shellac. When thoroughly dry the sphere is ready for the two holes to be cut for the bowler's thumb and middle finger. The last stage of the laborious process is the polishing, which gives the ball the appearance it has when, it reposes on the rack waiting to be sent crashing down the alley. Sometimes there is considerable waste in cutting up the logs because of cracks and fissures in the wood. On this account an ordinary sized log may yield only one block sound enough to put on the turning lathe, while it ought to make six or seven. The life of the average bowling ball is about two years. The best balls cost $5 or $6, while the cheapest scale down near the dollar mark. Players who have bowled so many years that they look upon themselves as experts become dissatisfied with the accommodations of the ordinary club alley and buy a ball or two for their own exclusive use. These they generally* order direct from the maker instead of from a sporting goods store. It is no uncommon thing for the daily mail of one of these factories in New York or Brooklyn to bring in individual orders from various states as far west as California and Washington, with an occasional letter from Europe. Most of the trade, however, is done with clubs and owners of alleys, who order in bulk.