Evening star., 1921-08-28
How Base Balls Are
Made.

ENERALLY speaking, the eenters
of base balls are made Of pure
para rubber. the exception being the
cork-center ball The idea of the rub
Der center is, Of course. to give the
ball resiliency. II a base ball were
made without this center piece IL
would be dead" 1t would not have
the desired bounding qualities. TIL
center pieces arc generally made 10
order for the base ball factories.
The next step in the manufacture of
q ball 10 the winding on OF pure woolrn
yarn. There was a time when the yarn
was wound around the rubber center b'
hand. but soon it became necessary 10
devise 4 machine that would do this
work. It was found. during the time the
yarn was wound by hand. that the mar
coming to work At o'clock in the
sck vas s,u turnns ~ Gu IN tss
Winding by hand was tedious Job. and
toward the aforementioned hour the
worker began to show signs OF fatigue.
with the result that the yarn was moi
wound around the center tight enough
, Many balls were returned to the factory
because they did not exhibit sufiicient
resiliency.
A machine for winding was. therefore.
perfected. Now all base balls are wound
work is turned out than was possibl.
under the old order. The yarn Is wound
around the para under heavy tension.
almost to a breaking point. Conse-
Quently when sufficient yarn has been
put on the ball. it is very strong and
solid. In the days Of handwriting many
balls were soesy and soft because
uniform tension could not be main
tanned by the person winding.
There are three layers Of woolen yarn
&H.A HauV fnrt In
thickness tlree-ply yarn Of q blue color
is used. and over this 10 wound thin
layer OF white. two-ply yarn. The blue
yarn is again brought into use, but is
only OF one-ply.
Something must be done to cover TIE
wool yarn in order that ii may not un-
wind. The ball must be solid. 80 that
when IL comes in contact with a bat the
threads will not break or move out of
place. 1t has been found that camels
ering the ball after the wool has been
put on and the ball has reached the
desired size. This hair is put on Wei
and when it dries contraction takes
the same time solidifying it. Only q thin
layer of the camei's hair Is used. JUS
enough to insure the wool yarns rigid
position. Upon the completion Of the
drying process a very hne layer OF spe-
Of dipping. Then the ball 10 ready for
the cover
Most balls are covered with alum tan
horsehide, the best material. II is
claimed. which has been found to with
stand the ''hammering'' that q base bali
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
then sent to men who do the sewing.
which is the one part Of the manufactur"
of a ball which must be accomplished
by hand. Machines have been tried. but
not one Of them has proved equal to the
must possess great skill. and absolute
accuracy is essential. A sewer at his
best cannot do more than from two to
three dozen balls a day.
With the cover sewed on, the finish
ing-up process comes next. Naturally.
just after the sewing has been COM
pleted. the seams are rather rough.
good base bail, one will notice. is smooth
over the entire surface. including the
seams. A pitcher would not. IL he had
to use a ball with rough seams. be able
to do his best work. since q bulge I'm
the ball would affect his ,'control." Also
the roughness would make his fingers
sore from continual rubbing. Therefore,
to obviate this the ball IL put In a roll
ing machine. which presses out the
over. This done. the trademark ia
stamped. together with the guarantee"
and q statement Of the size and weight
Of the ball. The balls are then taken
to the packing room. where they are
wrapped in tissue paper. They are then
sealed In pasteboard boxes, and are
ready for shipment.