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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[SEPTEMl'EK I. Mill. 



THE GOLF BALL MANUFACTURE.* 



i:i ROBERT MILNE. 



AMONG tin- games belonging to the whole range of sport, 

 ** none lias had such a distinct influence on the genera! pub- 

 lic, as golf. It has hail a most helpful influence in the further- 

 ance of the public health. In England, the municipalities are 

 trying to excel each other in providing for the working classes 

 health giving recreations, whose great usefulness cannot be de- 

 nied; and golf links are being laid out near all the large cities. 

 While golf has been played for centuries, the game recently has 

 been greatly advanced and developed by the introduction of the 

 Haskell type of ball. In olden times the balls consisted of solidly 

 compressed leather shells, stuffed with feathers. Such balls were 

 replaced with solid balls of gutta-percha, which were at first 

 given an approximately spherical shape by means of peculiar 

 hammer devices, but were made later in special molds. Still 

 more recently the Haskell ball, consisting of a rubber cone and a 

 gutta-percha shell, were placed upon the market and revolution- 

 ized the sport. For one thing, the game became more attractive 

 to ladies. 



There has been some very expensive litigation over golf ball 

 patents, one result of which has been to open the industry to a 

 much wider field than a few years ago. The manufacture of golf 

 balls and the best methods of construction have meanwhile been 

 generally and definitely systematized, but as the practical process 

 of making these balls is very valuable, it is still being guarded 

 « ith the greatest possible secrecy. 



Manufacture or Golf Balls. 

 The center of the golf ball today consists of vulcanized, float- 

 ing rubber waste, chiefly an entangled mass of torn rubber 

 threads. In order to shape this mass and make it hard, it is 

 wound with tightly stretched strips of rubber, measuring from 10 

 to 20 millimeters in width, until the ball measures 18 milli- 

 meters in diameter. The rubber strips used are similar to the 

 insulating tape used for electric wires. 



When this core has thus been prepared, it is given a covering 

 of rubber threads. These threads are I millimeter thick and 

 from 3 to 4 millimeters wide, and made of the highest grade rub- 

 ber, not containing any sulphur in its free state. While winding 

 the threads around the core, they are tightly stretched. This 

 covering constitutes the most resistant part of the ball, and the 

 rubber threads or strands of which it is composed must be very 

 carefully wound. A number of different machines have been 

 constructed for this purpose. One of these winding machines 

 consists of an approximately spherical steel ball, operating on 

 steel rollers of peculiar shape. This machine produces a very 

 clastic core. The difficulties formerly encountered in manufactur- 

 ing golf balls have been considerably lessened by the use of this 

 simple machine. 



After tin- core thus prepared has been carefully tested, it is 

 provided with a covering of hardened gutta-percha or balata, 

 composed of sections with special rims or flanges. These sec- 

 tions are laid over the core and are then joined together in 

 pressure molds. The sections of the covering are made in cast 

 iron molds, while the pressure molds are made (if steel and 

 equipped with the necessary trade marks and names, the im- 

 pression of which appears on the finished golf balls. Great care 

 is required for all of these operations, since the gutta-percha 

 covering will otherwise soon come off. The pressure molds 

 are heated in a common vulcanizing press and subsequently 

 cooled, whereupon the balls are taken out and any gutta-percha 

 that may adhere to the scams of the mold is removed. The 

 method formerly used, of winding gutta-percha strips around 

 the core, has consequently been abandoned. 



A further important factor is the painting of the golf balls. 

 The painting must be resistant as well as elastic, as it would 



otherwise crack and scale off. The most practical method is to 

 give the ball six coats, starting with a coat of boiled linseed oil, 

 followed by several coats of paint, and finishing with two coats 

 of high grade enamel. 



After wrapping each finished golf ball separately in some or- 

 namented fabric, they are packed in small, handsome boxes, con- 

 taining one dozen each. 



In England, the dealer's selling price for the balls ranges 

 between g pence and 2 shillings 6 pence each, the selling price 

 of the bulk of the highest grade golf balls being at the present 

 time 2 shillings. 



The average number of balls required each day during the golf 

 season is estimated at from 450 to 500 gross, or 64,800 to 72,000 

 balls. The consumption is undoubtedly increasing, since golf is 

 now being played in all parts of the world, and new golf clubs 

 are being organized everywhere. Players are eager to test every 

 new kind of golf ball placed upon the market, and if the new 

 golf ball stands the test, its sale promises good profits for the 

 dealer, providing he advertises the brand effectively. 



GROWTH OF THE STOUGHTON COMPANY. 



"THE Stoughton Rubber Co. (Stoughton, Massachusetts) 

 •*■ recently purchased land adjoining their plant, and at once 

 plans were begun for an additional building which, it is under- 

 stood, is to be of concrete, three stories high and 130 x 50 feet. 

 The business of the Stoughton company, always successful, has 

 been growing rapidly of late. The employes number over 400, 

 and the new buildings will provide for a larger working force. 



This business was begun in 1877 as the Mystic Rubber Co., 

 with $13,000 capital paid in. The name Stoughton Rubber Co. 

 was adopted early in 1889, and its capital increased to $100,000. 

 Later in the year the figure was raised to $200,000, and the 

 name and good will taken over of the Hall Rubber Co. (Water- 

 town, Massachusetts). The capitalization is now $250,000. 



At the foundation of the business one of the traveling sales- 

 men was Ira Foss Burnham. Four years later he was made 

 factory superintendent, and since that time he has been in 

 charge of the business. In 1893 he was elected president and 

 general manager. 



The concern at Stoughton was among the very first to make 

 rubber gossamer garments. When the demand for such goods 

 declined, the company added rubber service clothing to their 

 products ; later a full line of mackintosh rubber goods, and, 

 finally, a cravenette department was organized. The company 

 are thus in a position to supply all kinds of waterproof clothing. 

 A Stoughton newspaper presents a picture of 32 employes who 

 have been on the payroll for an average of 19% years. 



•From the Gummi-Zeitung. 



RUBBER IN ARGENTINA. 



AN official report from the American minister at Buenos 

 Aires quotes the government botanist of Argentina to the 

 effect that the Mexican guayule plant (Parthenium argentatum) 

 has not been discovered in that country. The minister states, 

 however, that there is an abundant growth of what he calls 

 "guayule arbustivo," also known locally as "yarillas," which is 

 rich in resin, believed to be of value for use in varnish making. 

 This plant constitutes almost the only vegetation in the arid por- 

 tion of the republic, but its commercial exploitation is not known 

 to have been commenced. 



The same report mentions the existence on the eastern slope 

 of the cordilleras of a small tree of the Euphorbiacece which 

 is said to contain good rubber, but no rubber has yet been ex- 

 ported from Argentina. For the previous state of knowledge on 

 this subject see The India Rubber World, April 1, 1906 

 Cpage 219). 



