Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-11-17

betent TO turn a billiard ball. One OF
these experienced operators at the lathe
is nearly 80 years old at that. Three
other men are working at the ivory
lathe, learning the business, which at
this particular stage is exacting more
skill than ever before in the history of
ivory turning, for the reason that never
before in the history of the lathe was
it so easy for an unskilled workman 20
eat up his salary in a wasteful n
OF cutting and turning.
Two years ago a block of ivory of
size and quality for a clear ivory bill
lard ball could be bought for $3.50 in
the New York market. Today i have
to pay $14 for such a block, and it is
not always easy to get a quotation at
that figure. A first class billiard ball
must be two and three-eighths inches
In diameter, absolutely round TO the
5,000th part of an inch, free from
"barky" outside and a cracks, of live
ivory, white and clear.
In order to make a selection of a
tusk's possibilities-always to get three
balls of this regulation size and clear
ness from a tusk weighing from 10 TO
100 pounds. allowing for the hollow por-
ions and avoiding the ename and the
sand craeks-here is the art of the COM
petent ivory turner, for which he is
greatly u%nderpaid and ~underappre-
ciated.
There are fewer men in the business,
perhaps, than in any other occupation
demanding a three years'apprenticeship.
and they may remain as few until the
employer realizes that a man whose
lack of skill might cost a weeks wages
in a single ball. is a man deserving pay
in proportion.
The making of a billiard bali involves
headwork and handwork. There is no
automatic lathe combination that ever
Will turn out a perfect billiard ball,
however it may produce the pool ball
in it's irregularity of form. But before
the trained hand can make ready to
turn out the perfect sphere of the bill
lard ball, the trained eye and judy
ment of the turner will have been taxed
to their best effort.
In the first place, the nan will need
10 recognize the quality OF ivory. He
must know whether IL be of the best
quality, as well as of the most econon-
ical form in the tusk. And when he
has made. his purchase of best pos
sible material, a single drafty windo
In his shop when the mercury is 10 de-
grees above zero may ruin his ivory
stock in five minutes.
Zanzibar and the general west coast
of Africa produce the best elephant
ivory, while the Siberian ivory from the
dead mastodon Is the least valuable,
yet requiring good judgment TO dis
tinguish 1t in many cases. This dead
ivory from Siberia is less valuable III
a ball than is the composition Of cell
luloid and bone dust.
Tusks Vary Much in Possibilities.
The tusk of the African elephant Will
run from 10 pounds to $50 pounds. But
no two tusks, even OF the same weight,
present like possibilities in ball making.
One tusk may be blunt and short, while
4. L 49, Il. 4Ig, A,A1 - 49, 90 n
sharp point. In a general way, how
ever, a tusk that weighs $50 pounds
will be about 5 feet 8 inches long. It's
general structure Is that OF the cows
horn, running from a shell at the base,
gradually t~hickening until the hollow
disappears, a little short of half the
tusks length. From this ending Of the
hollow the tusk tapers sharply until,
If It makes three billiard balls OF stand
ard size and best quality, 1t Is all that
may be expected of 1t for that pur-
pose. This means that a little less
than eight inches OF the tusks length
is available. How TO dispose of the
remainder of it to the best advantage,
leaving only a few ounces to loss, is
the chief business of the ivory worker.
Cutting a tusk for the three ball
blocks is a job in itself. In the first
place the length of the hollow nno
be certain. Also the outside OF the
tusk, almost certainly will have sand
cracks IN the enamel, and. whether
they be deep or shallow, VIII be Of
much consequence. But, allowing for
these minut cracks, which must be
turned out TO the last shadow from
the best ball, together with the last
microscopic trace OF the enamel, tins.
first block for the ball is cut as close
as possible TO the point Of the tusk.
After this first block Is cut to the last
limit Of economy the others may be cut
comparatively easily.
Saving Art Always to BE Exercised.
But there is the saving art even in
this saving up of these sections. There
IS the upward curve TO the tusk to be
accounted for. At a first glance it
might appear well enough to laylnen to
make these four savings in parallel
lines across the tusk. AS a matter Of
fact, they must be made from the In
side of the curve In lines diverging
from a common center. which wegld be
somewhere about the spot where the
sawyer would stand The saving rem
ders the ends of the block like those
of a piece OF cake cut from a thick bit
of pastry having the hole up through
the center. The object, of course, is
to get the greatest possible diameter
for the ball.
When the ivory Is cut in this manner
the depth of the sand racks that show
at each end may be seen. But right
here the ivory turne has necessity for
caution If the weather outside be at the
freezing point or below. a wintry blast.
blowing over a section OF this ivory.
may split il through and through like
a piece of glass. A draft through a
crack in a partition of my workroom
last winter cost me a Sf4 block, and il
hadn't lain on the shelf longer than
five minutes :
But the sand crack itself is trouble
enough for any man In the work. 1t
may be only Il minute fraction of an
inch deep, or It ma be q third of an
inch. It may run straight toward the
center of the tusk or it may take a
turn which will leave the thinnest pos
sible she'll of surface between It and
the finished sphere, ready to crack off AT
the first touch OF a cue, How 10 an
ticipate the angle of these cracks and
cut to the saving Of a 5.000th part of an
'nch belongs TO the art of the turner.
Harness Ring One of By-Products.
When the pail block is In hand. ready
for cutting, the object OF the turner is
to save the last possible scrap of the
substance. 1T Is here that the ivory
harness ring that was once so popular
is saved. Allowing for the curve of the
ball a more or less triangular cutting
is made from each end OF the block.
This triangular material is a rough cir
Gle In form, having In IL the greatest
thickness of material hat is possible,
while leaving enough for the bali it,
self. In this manne the thickest pos
sible rings are made.
After cutting tae ring material from