The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-08-14
RUFE'S BILLIARD BALLS.
Not Ivory. Nor CeIluloid, and Were Neve
Turned Came by a Gift of Nature.

Not Ivory. Nor CeIluloid, and Were Neve
Turned Came by "A Gift of Nature
''How does it come that you have rcd
white, and blue billiard balls?' asked
the whip salesman of Rufe Eisele, VIII,
keeps the Brant house at Sloop Creek.
"'Tis kinder extraordinary, amt it?'
said Rufe. But somehow or another
extraordinary things happen down here
You wouldn't believe it if told you that
I had them balls afore I had the table
I bought the table for $40 from Bart
Greenleaf and he won it at rafe up to
Asbury. That tables with plum $3.50
and the balls is just gift of nature.
Come by special act of Providence,
you might say. You never see balls
just like them before. They amt ivory,
and they ain't celluloid. If they was
celluloid they wouldn't be here now.
They amt this patent putty compost
ton that they make cheap pool balls of
either. just what they are amt pre-
pared to say, and 'spect that the ma
ture of the material these were made
from is cheap from what it was at first.
Ill tell you how 1 come by 'em, and
you'll learn what extraordinary things
can happen down hereaways. A year
ago the 18th of June there was party
of Brooklyn fellows down here, and they
set out for good time. They fetched
cards and chips with them, and lowed
to play poker until four o'clock in the
mornin' and then go fishing I sot up
with them and took hand in the game.
We were settin' at that round table, and
it was pushed over in the corner between
them windows. Long about IL o'clock
l was mixing drinks for the crowd.
when l heard thunder and mutterin'
and see flashes of lightnin'. told them
fellows they'd better move away from
the windows, but they laughed at me.
"One fellow had been winning right
straight along. He had a big pile of
chips in front of him, and they was in his
way. So he began stacking them up
accordin' to color and laid 25 of each
kind in stacks side by side on the win
dow sill. Meanwhile the storm broke
and the lightning played hob around
the house. The party got kinder scared
and jumped up promptly when 1 pro-
posed to all to go to the bar and have q
drink. J was just settin' out the glasses
when there was a swish of lightning
that turned the whole air blue. didn't
hear any thunder, but l see big balls of
fire dancing round the room, and one
of them hit me right on the breast and
knocked me down behind the bar.
Every man IN the room was hit plumb
in the gizzald with a ball of fire and
knocked fiat. I don't know how long it
was before we all came to and took our
drinks, but | do know that the storm
had passed. | looked around, and was
surprised to lind that nothing had been
hurt. After the fellows all took their
drinks they wanted to play poker again,
and started FOR the table. There the fell
low that had won most of the chips put
up boiler about them. He said some
body had got 'em.
'I didn't b'lieve that possible, and 1
told him that the lightning had probab
ly knocked them often the window sill.
Then he looked on the floor under the
table and said: 4 don't see no chips,
but here's a billiard ball." and he picked
up red ball. Now, 1 never had bill
lard ball in my house before, and /
thought that he was playing trick on
me, until one of the other fellows moved
his feet and rolled a white ball out on
the floor. picked it up and found it
was hot. A minute later Ike Hicks gave
whoop and held up a blue billiard ball,
saying it was the first he had ever seen
in his life. Then it came to us all at
once that the lightning had struck them
poker chips and melted 'em into solid
balls. P'raps they amt quite as regular
as some, but they answer all our pur-
poses.-N. Y. Sun.