Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-08-23
HOW GLOBES ARE MADE.
Boston's Factory for Turning Out spher
Maps of the Earth.

Boston's Factory for Turning Out Sphere
Maps of the Earth.
The factory that turns out these wonder
ful geographical spheres which are sent
hence to all parts of the civilized world is a
shabby little building up an obscure alley
way called Mount Vernon avenue, writes q
Boston correspondent. The first process in
making a globe is to cover the model all
over with thick layer Of pasteboard IN a
moist state. When it has dried sharp
knife is passed around it so as to separate
the pasteboard coat into two hemispher-
ical shells, which are then taken off the
model and united at the cut edges with
glue. The hollow sphere thus formed is
the skeleton Of the globe that is TO be- The
next thing is TO cover it with coating of
white enamel about one-eighth of an inch
in thickness, composed of whiting, oil, tur-
pentine, glue and other things. When this
is done the ball is turned TO perfect round
ness with a machine, the operation of
which is too sacred to be exhibited TO the
casual visitor. At the conclusion of the
process it looks like nothing so much as a
highly magniied white marble, such as a
giant might play knuckle-down with.
The iron rod running through the center
Of the original model and projecting at both
the new globe which serve very well for the
North and South poles, and through these a
metal axis is run to represent the axis of
the earth. To be perfect the globe must re-
volve evenly upon It's axis when the latter is
held horizontally, without exhibiting any dis
position to stop with one side up rather than
another III it does not do so IL must be bal
anced by boring hole in the lighter side
and fastening within little bag containing g
as many shot as may be requisite. Then
the hole is plugged up and the surface is
made even again. The next thing is to
mark the surface off with pencil lines into
mathematical segments corresponding pre-
cisely in shape with the sections of map
that are TO be pasted on.
These map sections are made from copper
plates in just the sizes and shapes required
TO fit the globes they are made for, one set
of course, covering the entire surface Of a
sphere. They are printed, many Of them
together, like dress patterns, on sheets Of
the finest linen paper, and are cut out care
fully with sharp-pointed knife. To paste
them on properly, so that they will meet
perfectly at the edges and not show the
lines OF joining, requires great pains and
skill. When this is accomplished the differ
ent countries and so forth are tinted by
manu- "ibh NhtSi tOlOIS lHcTe IS no
especial rule for this, save that contrasts
are sought TO help the eye. Finally, the
whole is overlaid with an astonishingly brllli-
ant white varnish, which is Of such almost
metallic hardness that it will wear ndefi-
nitely without scratching, preserving al
ways its brightness.
Now the globe is done and ready for
mounting. A beautiful thing it is too-its
printing as clear as copper-plate can make
it, the colors vivid and, above all, correct
in every detail according to the very latest
geographical information. And yet the
man who executed the plates employed to-
day has been dead many years. His name
was w b. Amin, and it is said that his
equal in map engraving doest not exist in
the world at present. That is the reason
why the plates he made are still in use, be-
cause they are better than any new ones
that can be obtained. When any alteration
is necessary, owing to geographical changes
or discoveries, they are taken to a certain re.
markable expert here in Boston, who beats
the part that is TO be corrected fiat and en-
graves what is required on the new sur
face