Conference 7.286::golf

477.0. ""THE CHANGE DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGY IN EARLY 1900"" by OURVAX::GLASS () Wed Dec 21 1988 09:04

"Hi,
I found this to be a most interesting and thought provoking issue from the turn
of the century wherein American ingenuity took a foreign product and turned it
into a high volume enterprise that has still sustained itself for nearly 100
years.

Have the Japanese done the same thing with electronics and automobiles or will
a "Haskell" arise in each of those industries to turn our fortunes around?

Only time will tell and by the way, there are no baseballs or softballs or
gloves now made in the United States but the games survive as has golf in
Scotland!
Tom


            ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
            ++++++           THE HASKELL BALL MACHINE         ++++++            
            ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

            LAST PUBLICATION- GOLF COLLECTORS' SOCIETY BULLETIN #96

            FIRST PUBLISHED - COUNTRY LIFE IN AMERICA of APRIL, 1905


  Golf now ranks as one of the most popular sports in America, and the growth
in interest since its general introduction in 1895 or 1896 is remarkable. There
are now between fourten and fifteen hundred recognized golf courses in this
country, and the players are beyond number. It is natural that the game should
have gained so rapidly, for in almost every part of the land admirable golf
country can be found and the American temperament lends itself to the develop-
ment of the game. It is a curious fact, however, that the greatest improvement
in the game since its establishment centuries ago in Scotland, occurred not long
after it became a national sport in America.
  American invention has supplied new impetus to golf on both sides of the 
ocean, for the almost universal use of the Haskell ball has set an entirely new
standard in all countries where the game is played, and has even made necessary
a change in links that have been fought over for many decades by famous golfers.
  Mr. Walter Travis, writing about his successful "invasion" of England and the
winning of the world's most important golf match, says: "When I was over last,
three years ago, I was looked upon there as a long driver, though no one had 
particularly charged me with that on this side. Since then the Haskell ball has
made its appearance, and the Britishers generally seem to have devoted  them-
selves to seeing how far they could out-drive the other fellow." It is hardly
necessary to say that Mr. Travis won the championship with the Haskell ball,
though his opponents also played with the great American ball. In fact, the
Haskell ball was the first American production to overcome British prejudice; 
it was the first successful "invasion"; Travis's all-conquering trip was the
second. At one time this American invention sold on the ancient course of St.
Andrews, perhaps the most famous in the world, at a pound sterling (five 
dollars) each, so great was the demand. It may be safely said that the Haskell
ball has won all the important championships in recent years.
  For years _ the only golf ball [then] in use was made of solid gutta percha
(the sap of a tree which grows in the East Indies) .
  Softened by heat, the semielastic tough material was pressed into the famil-
iar shape. One day in the spring of 1898 two enthusiastic American golfers -
Mr. Colburn Haskell and Mr. B. G. Work - conceived of the idea of making a golf
ball with a soft rubber center, one of the inventors happily being also an
expert in the manufacturing of rubber.
  The first ball wound laboriously by hand by the inventors was teed up by the
professional at the Cleveland Golf Club and driven over a bunker that had never
been carried before. This test proved its value at once and the manufacture was
begun immediately.
  Since no machines existed to do the work, the first product was wound by hand,
the total output being three balls a day; the utmost accomplishment of an 
expert.
  The makers of the Haskell ball, the B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio after
two years experimenting, produced a marvelous machine that does in three min-
utes the work that formerly required the entire effort of a deft worker through
the long hours of a working day, and the daily output has been increased from
three balls to eighteen thousand.
  A description of the construction of the Haskell ball will explain its succ-
ess. A center or core of hard rubber about the size of a small marble is wound
with seven hundred feet of tightly stretched pure Para rubber thread. A center
is thus obtained of unequaled elasticity and sufficient hardness, the stretching
of the rubber strands securing the latter quality; since the rubber could be
easily cut by the impact of the golf club, a cover of gutta percha about an 
eight of an inch thick is put on in such a way that it is seamless. The heavy
pressure of brass dies adds the necessary knobs and reduces the ball to the
proper size and roundness. A long series of tests with a specially invented
driving machine, whereby a predetermined stroke could be delivered to the ball,
determined exactly what size and weight produced the best result, and the Has-
kell must come up to this standard. Each ball is tested three times.: first by
the workman who runs the winding machine, then by experts after the winding is
completed by means of steel guages, for size; then by means of delicate scales
when the gutta precha and the core it is to cover are made to balance a complete
ball. Eachcenter is wrapped with the gutta percha that is eventually to cover
that particular center.
  Besides these tests, cores are taken at random from each day's output and
tested in a press to guage their elasticity, and finally, completed balls are
tried by the driving machine from time to time and their efficiency proved. A
putting machine has also been devised to prove the Haskell's superiority in this
respect as well. By means of these tests the Haskell balls are always kept up to
standard.
  Though the winding of the rubber centers is accomplished by machine, the Has-
kell ball is essentially a hand product, for not only is the ball fashioned by
hands, but the materials add a long list of manual processes and personal ins-
pections. The gutta percha covers are put on by hand and the three coats of
vegetable paint are rubbed in by the palms of boys, a process that adds per-
manence to the finish. It is to the handwork and the expensive mateials that
the increased cost of the ball is due.
  About five years ago; the total daily output of Haskell golf balls by the
B. F. Goodrich Company was but three. Then as the output increased the demand
grew in a much greater proportion, and Haskell balls sold at as high a pre-
mium as 1,00 per cent. The output has increased from three to eighteen thou-
sand a day.
  The magnitude of this production can be better understood when it is real-
ized that more than 238 miles of stretched rubber cord is wound on a day's out-
put of Haskell balls.
  The materials from which Haskell balls are made comes from opposite sides of
the globe, the gutta percha being sap drawn from trees in the East Indies, while
the rubber comes from the headwaters of the Amazon River. So the materials gat-
hered from far away places are made into golf balls in Akron, O. , and sent 
forth again to every quarter of the globe, to play their part in the pleasure
and healthful sport of the people of every nationality.
  The Haskell ball is the best obtainable for amateur and professional, begin-
ner and finsihed golfer; it is quite as durable as the solid ball and adds
greatly to the pleasure and interest of the game. It has been tested beyond per-
adventure and has never been found wanting. A gain of twenty to twenty-five 
yards over the solid ball in the carry of a drive may be depended upon.
  The player who uses the Haskell ball has an immense advantage over an oppon-
ent who plays the solid ball.
  It is hoped that ... the text will explain its superiority.
          - B. F. Goodrich Company
            Akron, O.