The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-08-20
1000 HoRsEs' HIDES 4 YEAE.
What II Takes 10 satisfy the Base
Ball Fiend.

The interesting fact was learned vas-
terday, says The NeU York MaH a0d
Cypress, that the hides of abou, one
thousand horses and the skins of az
least ten times as many sheep are ont
up into coverings for base-balls in this
city every season. By one manufac-
turer alone three tons of yarn are used
a year for the insides of base-balls
The hide and skin used is perfectly
white, being alum tanned, and comes
from Philadelphia. Out oil one horses
hide the coverings for twelve dozen
balls are cut, and out of one sheepskin
three dozen. Two strips of the leather
are required for each ball, cut wide and
rounding at each end SO that thew fit
into each other when put around the
yarn ball. Each piece, for a league
ball, is seven inches long by two inches
wide at the rounded ends. The pieces
are cut with a die. Old-fashioned blue
Shaker yarn is used for the inside of
the league ball, which is wound tightly
around a small rubber ball weighing
one n The improved league ball
has now double coverings of horsehide.
which is regarded as a great improve
ment. 1t is also stitched with ont.
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 n. iron cup about the
size OF the ball and striking it with a
mallet at different stages of the wind
ing. Men do this work. They easily
make ten dozen league balls in a day
and from forty to fifty dozen ordinary
base-balls in the same length of tine.
Their wages are 81. so a day. Women
sew the coverings together on the ball.
This requires considerable skill and
strong finger muscles. They can sew
from. t~wo-and-half to three dozen
league balls in a day, and from four
teen to sixteen dozen of the cheaper
grades. They are paid by the piece, 80
cents a dozen for the league work and
10 cents a dozen for the others. They
earn about $12 a week. The balls are
sewed with what is known as Barker's
flax, which comes in red, blue, orange,
and pink colors. The finest balls are
sewed with pink. Horsehide covered
balls are made in fourteen different va
rieties.
Mr.. S. w. Brock, a veteran authori-
ty on the subject, from whom the above
facts were obtained, said: people
have the idea that the base ball bust
ness doesn't amount to anything. Why,
/ remember that those who started to
go into it a few years ago were hooted
Mt as throwing their time and money
away. They were told that there were
not enough base-balls used in the
try to make it pay. But you may be
surprised to know it, yet it is a fact,
that one house alone in this city does
q business of $50, 900 a year at it,
making nothing else. There is a large
demand for them, especially from the
west and south, and they are sent from
here to Canada, Omaha, New Orleans,
and Cuba in large quantities. 1t is an
interesting fact that in Cuba the base
ball fever is on the rapid increase,
though as yet they buy only the cheap
-er grades. In the height of the season
the largest house here employees seven
ty-five persons and turns out three hun
dred dozen balls a day. This year the
manufacturers have more orders than
they can fill, and the demand is far
ahead Of any previous year. An inter-
asting fact about base-balls is that in
the past fifteen years the only impor-
tant change in the professional dead
ball is that of a double cover. Of
course fifteen years ago they did not
have everything quite SO fine about a
ball. for there were no professional
clubs then, and players were not SO par
ticular. No patent was ever obtained
on the shape Of the covering to a base
bali, though there have been a number
of claimants to its invention"
M WH