August i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



357 



PNEUMATIC PLAYING BALLS. 



A SII.K thread pneumatic golf ball is the latest tliiuj; out 

 -^^ in j^olfdoni, and its orij^in and luanufaeture both be- 

 long to Akron, Ohio — that great center of golf ball produc- 

 tion. When tlie pneumatic golf ball was put out, a year or 

 so ago, it marked a great departure and attracted wide at- 

 tention, and it succeeded at once in gaining a stronghold in 

 the favor of players. This was a hollow sphere carrying 

 compressed air to furnish the resilient quality, being wound 

 with cotton thread to give the requisite strength, and then 

 provided with a shell of Gutta-percha to 

 give it toughness to resist the wear of the 

 club in pla\-ing. 



In the opinion of many players no other 

 golf ball is so lively or resilient as the 

 ])tieumatic. The heavy blow of the drive 

 depresses the flexilde wall of the ball and 

 "touches u]) " the air already compressed 

 to a resiliency far greater than pure new 

 rul)ber. The pressure of the compressed 

 air in the heart of the pneumatic ball is ex- 

 actly the same in everj- direction, and thus 

 keeps the ball a perfect sphere. But the 

 instant of depression from a heavy blow is 

 sufficient to seat the ball firmly on the face 

 of the club and maintain the contact dur- 

 ing more of the follow through. This is a 

 further aid to distance and the best help in 

 controlling direction. In the 

 latest balls of this type im- 

 provements have been made in 

 marking and otherwise, but a 

 very distinct improvement re- 

 mains to be mentioned. 



This is the wrajjping of the ' 

 inner sphere vi'ith silk, instead ' 

 of cotton. It was felt that the 

 only radical improvement pos- 

 sible in the regular pneumatic 

 ball was in the greater compres- 

 sion of the air core. In the 

 new type, the pressure has been 

 brought up from 800 to 1200 

 |iounds per square inch. To with- 

 stand this greater pressure, use 

 has been made of the most expen- 

 sive fine spun silk thread, wound 

 round and round the airtight com- 

 position which forms the inner 

 wall of the pneumatic ball. The 

 result is a ball particularly re- 

 sponsive to the driving stroke. 



The resiliency of the silk pneu- 

 matic decreases consistently as the 

 force of the stroke lessens, and in 

 "putting" it can be given suf- 

 ficient speed to maintain direction 

 and surely reach the hole, with 

 the confidence that it will go down 

 and stay down. The silk wound 

 ball is, of course, more expensive 



REACHING THE COMPRESSED AIR 



SILK WOUND PNEUMATIC GOLF BALU 



PNEUMATIC BASEBALL, 



than the cotton wound, but even at its higher price it is of- 

 fered as the economical golf ball. 



Another product of the same firm is the pneumatic l)ase- 

 ball, which has been used by a number of clubs in Akron 

 and its vicinity, while the manufacturers have been getting 

 ready the machinery necessary for making it in quantities. 

 Many tests have indicated that the use of this ball improves 

 the game, besides which it possesses greater duraljility than 

 anj- balls hitherto in use. The pneumatic baseball has a 

 compressed air center and cannot be batted soft or punky 

 because of the strong pressure outward of the compressed air 

 at the center of the ball. The pneumatic ball is as hard and 

 as plasable at the end of the game as at the start. The 

 pneumatic baseball will be made in two styles — one a 

 "flyer," in which everj- advantage is taken of the resiliency 

 of compressed air, described as a great ball for town lots and 

 for players who enjoy a batting game, and a regular league 

 ball which is of standard size and weight, 

 liy their method of winding, the league 

 ball is so deadened or controlled that in 

 play it is no more lively than the standard 

 league balls u.sed heretofore. The jjneu- 

 matic baseball will be sold at about the 

 same retail price as other standard balls. 



There remains to be mentioned a pneu- 

 matic cricket ball also made by the same 

 firm, with which very satisfactory tests 

 lave been had in England. This, with 

 their pneumatic polo ball, completes a line 

 of pneumatics covering the 

 most active sports at present 

 popular throughout America 

 and the English speaking coun- 

 tries. As has already been 

 mentioned in The India Rlh- 

 i;ER World, the inventor of 

 the pneumatic principle as ap- 

 plied to balls is Mr. A. T. 

 .Saunders. The manufacturers 

 of all the balls here mentioned 

 are the Goodyear Tire and Rub- 

 ber Co., Akron, Ohio. 

 The Goodyear companj- are men- 

 tioned as having received lately a 

 cabled order from Siam for 5 dozen 

 pneumatic golf balls, and they 

 are shipping balls to everj- coun- 

 try where golf is played. Peter 

 Robinson, a professional near 

 Pittsburgh, writes: "The pneu- 

 matic is the best putting ball I 

 ever used. I never saw any ball 

 run so true as it does." 



The pneumatic polo ball above 

 mentioned was first tried at New- 

 port last vSeptember, and was pro- 

 nounced excellent in certain feat- 

 ures by some players who urged 

 the makers to complete the ball 

 in all its details, and this they 

 have since been engaged in doing, 

 with excellent results. 



