The national leader., 1889-02-16
HOW GLOBES ARE MADE.
A Process RequIrfns Much Patience
aud Skill.

The factory that turns out these
wonderful geographical spheres, says a
Boston letter, 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.
The first process in making globe is to
cover the model all over with thick
layer of pasteboard in moist state.
When it has dried a sharp knife is pass
ed around it so as to separate the paste
board coat into two hemispherical shells,
which are then taken off the model and
united at the cut edges with glue. The
hollow sphere thus formed is the skele-
ton 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, turpentine, glue and other things.
When this is done the ball is turned TO
perfect roundness with 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 highly
magnlfed white marble, such as giant
might play knuckle-down with. The
iron rod running through the center of
the original model and projecting at
both ends through the surface has left
holes in the new globe which serve very
well for the north and south poles. and
throu Oh these a metal axis is run to
represent the axis of the earth. To be
perfect the globe must revolve evenly
upon this axis when the latter is held
horizontally, without exhibiting any
disposition to stop with one side up
rather than another. If it does not do
so it must he balanced by boring a hole
in the lighter side and fastening within
a little bag containing as many shot as
may he requisite. Then the hole is
plugged up and the surface made even
again. The next thing Is to mark the
surface off with pencil lines into mathe-
matical 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 en-
tire 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 carefully
with a sharp-pOinted knife. TO paste
them on properly, so that they will
meet perfectly at the edges and not
show the lines Of jointing, requires
great pains and skill. When this is
accomplished the different countries,
and SO forth, are tinted by hand with
water colors. There IS no especial rule
for this, save that contrasts are sought
to help the eye. Finally. the whole is
overlaid with an astonishingly brilliant
white vanish, which is of such almost
metallic hardness that it will wear in
definitely without scratching, preserving
always its brightness.
Now the globe is done and ready for
mounting. A beautiful thing it is, too
IT'S 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 informa-
tion. And yet the man who executed
the plates employed to-day has been
dead many years. His name is w. b.
Amin, and it is said THAI his equal at
map engraving does not exist in the
world at present. That is the reason
why the plates he made are still in use
because 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 remarkable
expert In Boston, who beats the p trs
that IS to be corrected fiat, and engraves
what is required on the new surface.