Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-01-18
BILLIARD CALLS.
The Time. Cn~c, Troubie and Ez-
pepSe OF Making Them.

The Time. Cnrc. Trouble and Ez-
pepSe OF Making Them.
Few pcrsons who WELD a billiard
cue are aware Ct the time, trouble
and expense Of making the ivory
spheres. The billiard ball in its nat
ural state is the principal means of
defense for an elephant In time the
elephant falls victim TO the venture
some hunter. and he parts with his
tusks, which are the most valuable OF
all his possessions TO commerce. Most
Of the tuslis find their way 10 London
which is the greatest sales mart for
ivory.
There are different kinds 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 al
the thickest end. They are sawed into
blocks, each section being large enough
TO allow of the turning of a single
| ball.
The factories devoted to the billiard
ball industry in this country usually
+ receive the ivory in this shape, the
sections being marked so that the
turner's know from what part Of the
/ tusk each piece comes and in this way
can calculate as TO its grain and quail
ity. 1t takes long time to produce
perfect billiard ball. and only skilled
labor is employed.
! The exact center OF the ball Is first
discovered by means of measurement
The block is then placed in n 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 net fol
awhile; then the second half IS turned
and the ball hung up as before In a
room the temperature of which is KEPT
from 60 to 20 degrees.
The roughly turned ball is kept In
this position about year. Then comes
the polishing. whitening, etc. a good
deal of hard rubbing is also necessary
as the ball, before being used, should
be as near Il certain weight rs possible
and measure two and three-eightl
inches in diameter. 1t has been found
impossible to get two balls exactly 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.
Not until after it has been placed or
the table Is the real life of the billiard
ball shown. The pores Of the ivory
may close. and then if the ball Is KEEP
I'm hot room 1t is likely to crack, or Il
may crack by reason of conclusion
with other balls. This Is one of the
great difficulties to contend against. TC
overcome this the balls should be KEEP
in as even temperature as possible
When n billiard ball is first used, +
occupies the first rank. a crack may
soon be exposed and then it is returned
TO the factory. The nick is shaved off
and it comes back slightly smaller II
size. 1t may then find its way Int
some second rate billiard room. Aftel
some more hard usage 1t Is again re
turned to the factory and comes fortl
again much reduced in size and prob
ably becomes cue ball in pool.
After it is found TO be practically
useless for the purposes for which i
was originally made it is bought by
dealers i'm bone and ivory. and the bal
is then turned into buttons or burned
and used in the making Of ivory black
New York Herald.