The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-06-05
THINGS roR SPORTS.
How Dice, Poker Chips, billiard Balls.
and Cards are Made.


Do you know, don't think ever
saw so much vice in such q little
room" said the Sunday school report
er Of the Washington Star. gazing in
at the window of a dealer of sporting
goods on Pennsylvania avenue.
fice? queried the dealer. standing
in the doorway.
Why, certainly Look at all those
dice and dice boxes. For what inn
moral purposes are they intended
praygp
That is more than / can telI.n re-
sponded the dealer, nbut | can inform
you as to how they are manufactured.
Dice are mostly made in Germany, and
the material used is bone bat they are
not the sort to buy. because you never
find two of them alike as to size. shape.
or marking. When you see q 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 metro
polls that the best dice sold are made,
of celluloid composition that is par
ticularly 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 that the aces. kings, queens.
jacks. and ten spots are as perfect Is
it is possible to make them in plastic
material
"A novelty is black dice with white
spots, as you may see in the window
All American dice are made with
rounded corners, because persons who
know about such things believe that
they throw better"
That is horrible. ' said the Sunday
school reporter, ..but see what pre-
sumo are poker chips"
You are right. The manufacture
of poker chips is an important industry
in this country-one SO successful. In
fact, that MIR. Mckinley has not thought
it worth while to protect the business
in his tariff bill. They are made most
ly in New York and its vicinity of the
same celluloid composition have been
speaking of. You can buy real ivory
chips for from - to $8 for 100. while
those of celluloid cost only IS cents II
is worth saying that the Imitation has
some advantage over the real For
example. celluloid chip will not crack
if you drop it. So far as beauty is con-
cerned the artificial material is not to
be sneezed at Look for yourself at the
chips in the window, some of whies. are
so close counterfeit of ivorv that few
persons can tell the differences. while
others are exquisite limitations of born.
tortoise shell. agate. onyx. and other
substances. All of them are precara-
tons Of the same sort of eeIlulosd nix
ture- Here are dice cups made in the
same way Are they not prexty7
Those billiard balls are ivory. OF
course
Not at all. They are of the esllu-
loid composition also. For that pur-
pose it is not quite SO good as ivory
because it has not the weight nor the
same degree of elasticity. but it serves
very fairly as q substitute. 1everthe-
less Ivory can not be used verv
much longer for billiard balls inas-
much as the elephant and the walrus
are on the verge of extinction"
But do you know l never saw 50
extensive display of playing cards. .
Isn't it fne?" replied the dealer
Cards are marvelously cheap newa-
days Only a few years ago you could
not get good pack for less than 70
cents, whereas to-day you can buy =
very fair one for Is cents, and So cents
is a fancy price. Competition has done
it. The biggest play -card factories
are in New York city, where the finest
cards in the world are made. One
concern there has 800. 600 worth ofks
as part of its plant The
required is very cosflv9nz
Each pack is printed entire on q sd
gle sheet of cardboard and aftefward
cut apart The latter operation has to
be performed with the utmost accuracy.
in order that the edges of the cards
may coincide Dies are used for the
printing, and very expensive eolors
are emDloyed y