Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-05-14
FROM A BILLIARD BALL INTO A
BUTTON.
The Shining IvorieS Have Brief but
Active Existence.

Ahe SHINING 1VOrleS nave ErleI OUT
Active Existence.
How many persons who WELD
billiard cue are aware of the time,
trouble and expense of making the
ivory spheres? The billiard ball, in
it's natural state, is the principal means
of defense for an elephant. In time
the elephant falls victim to the ven
turesome hunter, and he parts with his
tusks, which are the most valuable of
all his possessions to commerce. Most
of the tusks find their way to London,
which is the great sales mart for ivory.
There, twice year spring and fall :
the buyers of ivory gather.
There are different grades of ivory,
and only the finer kinds are suitable
for making billiard balls. The best
comes from the small tusks, which are
from four to six inches in diameter at
the thickest end. These are sawed into
blocks, each section being large enough
to allow the turning of single ball.
The factories devoted to the billiard
ball industry in this country usually
receive the ivory in this shape, the sec
tons being marked so that the turner's
know from what part of the tusk each
piece comes from, and in this way can
calculate as to it's grain and quality
1t takes long time to produce a per-
feet ball, and only skilled labor is en-
ployed,
The exact center of the ball is first
discovered by means of measurement.
The block is then placed in a socket,
and one-half of the ball is turned by
an instrument made OF the finest and
sharpest edged steel. The half-turned
ball is then hung up in a net for short
while, then the second half is turned,
and the ball hung up as before i'll
room the temperature of which is kept
at from 60 to 70 degrees. The roughly
turned ball is kept in this position for
about year. Then comes the polish
ing, whitening, etc. A great deal Of
hard rubbing is also necessary, as the
ball before being used should be near
certain weight as possible and meas
ure % inches in diameter. 1t has been
found impossible to get two balls ex-
actly the same weight. Very often
they will be heavier on one side than
on the other. and frequently they split
right through the center. This is due
to decay.
In the window of one of the large
manufactures of billiard balls in this
city lies tusk about two feet long
1t was purchased some years ago, and
while being sawed in two the saw came
in contact with an obstruction. It
proved to be a rifle bullet, which had
penetrated the elephant when quite
young, for the whole inside of the tuslk
had decayed appearance.
The price of ivory for making billiard
balls has greatly increased within the
past few years, and the demand ex-
ceeds the supply. The Brunswick
Bake Billiard Company have offered
$40, 900 for a perfect substitute for
ivory, but nothing thus far has been
invented that combines the elasticity
and durability of the ivory ball. Not
until after it is placed on the table is
the real life of the billiard ball shown.
The pores in the ivory may close, and
then if the ball is kept in hot room it
is likely to crack. or it may crack by
reason of conclusion with other balls.
This is one of the great difficulties to
contend against. To overcome this the
balls should be kept at as even tenn
perature as possible.
When a billiard ball is first used it
occupies the first rank. A crack may
soon be exposed and then it is re-
turned to the factory. The nick is
shaved off, and it comes back slightly
smaller in size. 1t may then find its
way into some second-rate billiard
room. After some more hard usage it
is again returned to the factory and
comes forth again much reduced in size
and probably becomes a cue ball in
| pool. After it is found to be practi-
cally useless for the purposes for which
it was originally made, it is bought by
dealers in bone and ivory, and the balls
are then turned into buttons or they
are burned and used in the making of