Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-05-02
BASEBALL MAKING
Materials and Methods Used In
Building Up the Spheres.

There are few fans who realize just
how much work is required in the
making Of a regulation sized baseball.
The centers Of basebaIls are made OF
pure Para rubber IN most cases. but
the cork center ball. which has been
patented. is an exception. The idea Of
the center piece of rubber, Of course, is
TO give the ball resiliency. If base
ball was made without this center piece
1t would be "dead"-that is. it would
not have the desired bounding quail
ties. the life" The centerpieces are
generally made TO order for the base
ball factories The next process in the
making of a ball is the winding on of
pure wooden yarn. There was a time
when the yarn was wound around the
Para by hand. but soon it became nee
essary to get machine which would
do the work of man. 1t was found in
the times when the yarn was wound
by hand that the man coming to work
at 9 O'Clock in the morning was putting
out better balls than be was in the aft
ernoon around o'clock. Winding by
manu- was a AAACoonC gOOs anu oAN
the late afternoon the men began to
get tired. and consequently the yarn
was not wound around the ball tight
enough. Many balls were returned to
the factory because they did not pos
sess the resilient powers.
Realizing that this personal defect
was something which had to be over
90
pose was worked upon and perfected.
Now all baSeballs are wound by me-
chanical power, and much better work
than man did or can do is accom-
plished. The yarn is wound around
the Para under heavy tension. almost
to the breaking point Consequently
when enough has been put on the bail
is very strong and almost solid, due to
the tight tension used. In the days of
hand making many balls were soggy
and soft because a uniform tension
could not be kept by the person wind
ing. There are three layers OF wooden
yarn over the para. For about an inch
in thickness three ply yarn Of blue
color is used. and over this is wound
thin layer Of white two ply yarn. The
blue yarn is again brought into use.
but is only of one ply.
Naturally II develops that something
TO cover the wool yarn must be used in
order TO keep il from unwinding. The
ball must be solid. so that when it
comes in contact with a bat the
threads will not break or move out of
nj ~
hair stretched yarn is the best for Gov
ering the ball after the wool has been
put on and the ball is the size desired.
This hair is put on wet and when il
dries a contraction takes place. max
ing the ball more firm and at the same
time solidifying it. Only a thin layer
of the camel's hair is used. just
enough TO warrant the wool yarn keep
ing in position After the drying proc
ess is over very fine layer of spe-
cially made cement is applied by
means of dipping the ball into the
fluid. Then the ball is ready 10 cover
Most tails are covered with alum ia n
hOrSehide. the best material, il is claim
ed. which has been found TO be OF good
use for the hammering which a base
ball gets. This is cut into its proper
shape by means of pin dies, which also
punch small holes around the edge Of
the hide to be used in the sewing. The
ball is sent to the men doing the sew
ing. which is now and always has been
done by hand. Machines have been
tried, but not one of them has proved