Evening journal., 1911-04-06
PUSHDALL FOR /,
The RICH MAN
Sphere Is Six Feet in Dlame-
ter and Costs
$500
FIVE HIDES ARE
NEEDED TO MAKE IT

The biggest and most costly ball
used in game is the pushball. which
is made six feet In diameter and costs
5000 though even al that price there Is
said to be no very great profit in II.
The outside covering OF the pushball
is made Of a cowhide leather that is
imported from England This covering
is composed Of 20 strips which are
sewed together by hand. Each of these
strips is between nine and 10 feet long.
or half the circumference of the ball
The strips are widest I'm the middle,
tapering uniformly TO points at either
end, at the poles Of the ball, where
they are further secured by leather
caps sewed on. To get the leather
needed for a pushball It is necessary
to cut up FIVE or six hides, which
makes the cost Of the cover high. It
takes two men the better part Of a
week to sew this material together.
The bladder for the ball is made Of
the best rubber, which is cut into
strips and cemented together I'm sucn
shape that II will form a globe fitting
the leather cover when inflated The
leather covering is practically inde-
strucible. The very best ruber bladder
may give out in two or three years. A
new bladder costs $3.50. A large cylin-
der foot pump suitable for initiating
this mighty ball costs $40.
The game OF pushball is Of American
origin. The first pushball was made in
Newton. Mass. in 1884. This ball had a
covering Of leather shaped on a wood
en- form built for the purpose.
According to Push Ball which con-
tains a history Of the game with the
playing rules. the first pushball game
I'm New York was played with a can
vass ball stuffed with hay on Thanks
giving Day November q, 1902 At the
last moment the manager of the ath-
letic park where the game was to be
played found II impossible to get a
ball In time for the match, but he was
not dismayed by that Canvas was
bought and a bale OF hay, and there
I was pressed into service a neighbor-
ing shoemaker to do the sewing. The
result was ball that may not have
been perfect sphere but still II was a
pretty good looking ball, and it would
do.
But when II was finished-it had
been made out I'm the field-it was too
big to get through any door. and so it
was left out over night. the night be-
fore the match and tnat night II rain
ed In the morning when this canvas
covered, hay-stuifed pushball was put
in play Il was found that It had ac-
cumulated rainwater, and It. accumu-
lated more as It was rolled from the
pools about the field The ball that
should have weighed 80 pounds or
thereabout soon came to weigh nearly
800 and it soon began to lose shane.
II was tremendously hard work
/ pushing this ball about on a muddy
held, and only half game was played.
and though one side had scored a goal
! the first pushball game played on Man
haitian Island was declared a draw.
! In its earlier DEVELOPMENT the push
ball was made of an alright rubber
fabric, but that ball was soon SUPER
seded by the ball IN its present perfect
form. of leather with a rubber bladder
The game OF pushhall is played be-
tween opposing teams of men on a
gridiron with a goal at each end. each
team trying to push the ball through
opposing teams goal Commonly play
ed on a field. pushball may be PLAYED
indoor as we'll as out. Usually PLAYED
by men afoot It is also played by men
on horseback
Soon after it's origination pushbaIl
was introduced into England. where
II is now perhaps played more than ia
Is here. II is also played on the Cou-
unent.