The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1911-09-23
MAKING CLAY MARBLES
AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY
One Ohio Manufacturer Turns Out
125, 100000 Annually-How
They Are Made.

It has been estimated by statisti-
clans that more than 200,000,00o
small clay marbles are bought annG-
ally by BOYS. 1t is known fact that
1875, 100000 of these little clay
pills" are made every year by one
clay marble manufacturer in OHIO.
Most of them are made or rolled by
young girls
The clay marble industry OF the
United States is one that little
thought has been given to. and pre-
cious little is known by people in
general as to the scope. The mar
BILE manufacturer does not devote all
his attention to the manufacturing
of the game marble There are
various uses to which the marble Is
put, and as a matter of fact the size
varies according to the intended use.
The Standard Oil company is one of
the largest buyers of marbles, and
these are used for oil cans, and lar
ger sizes are started in graded pipe
lines to clean out the parafine which
gathers on the side of the pipe as it
flows to the tanks.
Clay marbles are also used by the
/; manufacturers of rubber, ink and
salt chemicals and powder makers.
They are also used in grinding the
large stones of the photographer and
by railway supply people. Puzzle
box makers are also large buyers
OF marbles
The size OF the clay marbles as
made in the United States vary from
nine-sixteenths of an inch in diam
eter, which is the small pin the
boys play with, to one measuring
six inches in diameter, or about the
size of small cannon ball
The making of clay marbles forms
an interesting journey in ceramics.
The method of making all kinds of
marbles is the same with the excep-
ton of the classic" which, OF
course is made of glass. Clays
used in the marble industry are of
plastic nature. These clays are cast
into a pug mill, or chaser" and as
the heavy wheels revolve over the
clay it drops in pulverized form
then lifted by an endless elevator
system to storage bins. from where
it is allowed to pass through pug
mills
The stiff clay is then forced thru
the perforated base of the pug mill,
and it comes from the mill in the
form of clay strings, the diameter OF
~ l.
holes in the base of the mill to con-
form to the size marble to be made.
These rolls of strings of clay are
pulled from the pug mill when the
are about eighteen inches in length
and placed on q flat board and then
are taken to the clay shops or where
the marbles are made.
The rolls of clay first placed
evenly in trough and n workman
cuts the rolls of clay into cubes. the
size being specified according to the
order. The cutting is done with
saw, ard seven rolls of clay will form
over 200 little cubes, and it is from
these cubes that the marble is
rolled.
After the cubes have been cut they
are placed in an ordinary tin pan
and these carried to the girls who
make the marbles. A handful of
cubes is picked up. and these are
placed one at time in grooved
plaster of paris mold The size or
the groove depends upon the size OF
the marble to be made When there
is one clay cube in each groove
plaster oblong block is placed in po-
sition on top of the cubes and this
is pushed forward and backward I'M
til the little clay cube becomes round
and rolled true, This operation re-
quires very little time, and the clay
marble In its green state Is picked
up and a handful placed In tray.
They are then glazed and fired in an
ordinary potter's furnace.