Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-09-02
E-BAllS.

BASE.BALLS.
One Thousand Horses Hides Used An
nualiy In Their Manufacture.
The interesting fact was learned by
reporter that the hides of about one
thousand horses and the skins of at
least ten times as many sheep are cut
up into coverings for bace-balls in this
city every season. by one manu-.
facturcr alone three tons of yarn are
used a year for the insidcs OF basc-
balls. The hide and skin used Is per-
fcctly white, being alum tanned, and
comes from Philadelphia. Out of one
horses hide the covering, for twelve
dozen balls are cut and out OF one
shccp-skin three dozen. Two strips of
the leather are required for each ball.
cut wide and rounding at each end so
that they fit in to each other when put
around tho yarn ball. Each piece. for
n league ball, is seven inches long by
two inches widc at the rounded
ends. The pieces are cut with a die.
Old fashioned blue Shaker yarn is used
for the inside of y League ball, which
is wound tightly around 4 small rubber
bail weighing exactly one ounce. The
improved League ball has now double
coverings of horsc.hid,, which Is re.
gardcd as great improvement 1t Is
also stitched with gut The balls are
made entirely by hand and it requires
no little skill to shape them perfectly
round. This is done by placing them
in an iron cup about the size of the
ball and striking it twiiha mallct at diff
fcrcnt stages OF tho winding. Men do
this work. They easiy make ten
dozen league balls in lay and from
forty to fifty dozen ordinary bnse-balls
in the same length of time. Their
wages arc $3.50 day. Women sew
tho coverings together on tho ball.
This requires considerable skill and
strong iinger-muscles. hey can sew
from two and half u three dozen
league balls in day. aid from four.
teen to sixteen dozen q the cheaper
grades. They are paid by tho piece.
ninety cents dozen fr tho League
work and ten cents fG the others.
They earn about Sl2 week. Tho
balls are scwcd with whit Is known as
Barkcr's flax, which .omcs in rc'l.
blue, orange and pink colors. The
finest balls are scwcl with pink.
Iorsc-hidc covered balls are made
in fourteen different v,ric.ics. They
are named the Extra League, League.
Professional Dead, league Junior.
Amateur Dead, American Club, Allan
tic, Star of the West, Red Stocking.
Cock of the Walk, Bounding Rock.
Stai. King of the Diam ind and Metro
politan Club. In tho ihcep-skin coy.
cred there are iiftecE varieties. They
are named Dollar Dead, Half-dollar
Dead. Champion, Boys League. Prac.
tice. Casino, Quarter Dollar, Atalanta.
Boys Dead, Reliance. little Star, Boss,
None Such, No. % White, No. 90 Fam
cy. The latter are covered with four
different colors.
Mr.. S. w. Brock, q v,tcranauthority
on the subject, from whom the above
facts were ATTAINED, said: ''Pcoplc
have the idea that tho baseball bust.
ness don't amount to any thing. Why.
I remember that those who started to
go into it few years ago were hooted
ut as throwing their time and money
away. They were told that there were
not enough base-balls used in the
whole country to make 1t pay. But
you may be surprised 10 know 1t, yet
it is a fact, that one house alone in
this city does business Of $4,000 q
year at it, making nothing else. There
is a large demand for them. especial.
ly from the West and South, and they
are sent from here to Canada, Omahs,
New Orleans and Cuba in large guam
titles. 1t is an interesting fact that 10
Cuba the baseball fever in on the rapid
increase, though as yet they buy only
the cheaper grades. In the height oi
the season the largest house here en-
ploys seventy.fve persons and turns
out three hundred dozen balls day.
This year the manufacturers have more
orders than they can I'LL, and the
demand Is far ahead Of any previous
year. An interesting fact about base
balls is that in the past fifteen year.
the only important change in The pro.
fcssional dead ball is that Of double
cover or course fifteen years ago
they did not have every thing quite SC
zinc about ball. for there were nc
professional clubs then, and playera
were not so particular No patent wa
ever obtained on thu shape OF the
covering to o baseball. though there
have been number OF claimants to II
] invention, ~ y Nsil end ErwNs