Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 June 1902 — MAKING A BILLIARD BALL. [ARTICLE]

MAKING A BILLIARD BALL.

Much Care and Tims Are Expended in Perfecting the Sphere. Few” people'teallze the fact that It takes nearly a year to make a billiard ball fit for use by those who Indulge In the “gentleman’s game.” Infinite pains have to be expended on tMs Important part of the equipment that contributes to their enjoyment; ? Billiard balls are made from elephants’ tusks, and only the small tusks, from four to six inches In thetr thickest diameter, will do, for these furnish the best Ivory. The price of this Ivory ba» greatly Increased of late and the demand la far In excess of the supply. The stringency In the market has induced a prominent blUlard company to offer 510,000 for a perfect substitute for Ivory. The elephants’ tusks come from the factories cut up In sections, each having been cut Just large enough to allow of the turning of a single ball. < htly skilled labor is employed to work u|>un It The exact center of the piece imi*t first be discovered by measurement. 11 Is then placed in a socket and one-half of the ball Is turned by a sharp-edged steel Instrument The Ivory is then hung up In a net for a time. Later the second half Is turned and the ball again hung np as beforfe In a room where the temperature Is from 60 to 70 degrees. The balk must be kept thus suspended for about a year, when It Is rubbed and polished to as near a certain weight as possible, and to a diameter of two and three-eighths Inches. Even with the greatest care it Is Impossible to make two balls of exactly the same weight The life of a billiard ball after It Is placed In use Is an uncertain quantity. If the room In wMch it Is kept is too hot the pores of the Ivory may close and a crack ensues. Then It has to be returned to the factory, where It Is shaved off, and consequently reduced In size. A second-rate billiard-room gets it next. By and by it develops another crack, and again goes back to the factory, where this time It Is probably fixed up for a cue ball In pool. When It lias reached Its last limit of usefulness ats a baiiitishoughthydealerstlavhQfie and ivory and turned Into buttons.