Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-10
THINGS MADE FOR SPORTS,
Teols Of Curious Material for Playin
Games With.

Tsols Of Curious Material for Playing
Games With.
s'Do you know, don't think ever saw SO
~ much vice in such little room, - said the
Sunday school reporter of The STAR, gazing in
at the window of dealer of sporting goods on
Pennsylvania
''yice?" queried the dealer, standing in the
doorway.
why, certainly. Look at all those dice and
dice boxes For what immoral purposes are
they intended, pray?''
That is more than can tell, :" responded the
dealer, but can infsrm you as to how they
are manufactured Dice are mostly made in
Germany, and the material used 10 bone, but
they are not the sort to buy, because you never
md two Of them alike as TO size, shape or
marking. When you see a die marked on its
sides with the numbers all askew you may know
that it is . German product. 1t is in New York
city and the towns near by the metropolis that
the best dice sold are made, of q celluloid COM
position that Is particularly excellent for the
purpose Each die is precisely like every
other one, even to the poker dice, which are
stamped when soft and subsequently baked, so
Chat the aces. kings, queens, jacks and ten
spots are as perfect it is possible to make
them in plastic material A novelty il black
dice with white spots, you may see IN the
rounded corners, bee Use persons who know
about such things believe that they throw bet
ter"
That is horrible" said the Sunday school
reporter, but zee what presume are poker
ehipA"
WHERE roKKa CHIPS ARE MADE.
You are right. The manufacture Of poker
chips u IN important industry in this country
ono % successful, in fact, that Mr. Mckinley
hes not thought it worth while to protect the
business in his tariff bill. They are made
mostly in New York and its vicinity Of the same
ceIlalosd composition have been speaking Of.
You can buy real ivory chips for from "a to %
hundred. while those of celluloid cost only rs
cents- u y worth saying that the imitation has
some advantage over the real For example, q
eeiiuloid chip viii not crack if you drop it Sc
fax - beauty u concerned the artificial material
= not 10 be sneezed at Look for yourself at
tAoee chips in the window, some Of which are
% close . counterfeit Of ivory that few persons
can tell the difference, while others are ex-
quaate limitations Of horn, tortoise shell, agate,
onyx and other substances. All of them are
Preparations Of the same sort Of celiuloid mix
tnre- Here are dice cups made in the same
way. Are they not pretty? And yet you can
throw them across the room and they viii
never break"
Those billiard balls are ivory, of course"
mot At all They are of the celluloid COM
positaon also. For that purpose it is not quite
% good - ivory because it has not the weight
nor the same degree Of elasticity, but il serves
very fairly - . substitute nevertheless. Ivory
cannot be used very much longer for billiard
bsiis, inamuch a. the elephant and the walrus
are on the verge of extinction"
fHE RLAYrNo CARD INDUSTRY.
But do You know ! never saw 30 extensive Q
display Of playing cards.
''Isn' it 6ne?' replied the dealer "Cards are
narveiousiy cheap nowadays. Only few years
ego you couldn't get good pack for less than
70 cents, whereas today you can buy q very fair
enc for Is cents, and IS cents is a fancy price
And yet there Is q protective tariff Of 50 cen h
. pack on imported cards. Competition has
done it. The biggest playing card factories are
In New York city, where the finest cards in the
world are made. One concern there has S40O.-
oo0 worth Of machinery a. part Of its plant. The
machinery required is very costly. Each pack
ID printed entire on a single sheet Of cardboard
and afterward cut apart The latter operation
has TO be performed with the utmost accuracy
In order that the edges Of the cards may coin
eide. Dies are used for the printing, and very
sxpenSive colors are employed"
'whafs that awful noise in the next room?''
asked the early guest at the banquet
That" replied the newspaper reporter who
had already arrived with a sharp pencil and q
sharper appetite. must be the table groanine
under all the delicacies Of the ason."-forris-
tcUa Herald