Bowling Catalog E

THE recent revival of this interesting game has resulted in the application of modern principles of system and exactness to Alleys, Pins, and Balls. What would have been very good ten years ago will not answer at all now. The alley in particular must be right from the start and remain so. This can only be expected of experienced builders, using first class materials. We have been building alleys for ten years and by giving them careful study have produced good alleys. This catalogue describes them in every detail. There are alleys and ALLEYS, but there is only one “STANDARD” ALLEY. The statements we make regarding it are facts, borne out by the class of people who use it.
Yours respectfully,
N ARRAGANSETT M ACHINE C O. ,
Providence, R. I.
CONSTRUCTION. The beds rest on sleepers supported at their ends by sills running the entire length of the alleys. These may rest on a concrete, cement, or other solid floor, or on posts or piers set 8 ft. apart, or where the ground is firm and dry of a gravelly nature, on flat stones laid on the ground. The sills raise both sleepers and bed clear of the ground or cement, and as there is ample air space beneath them they are not liable to be affected by moisture which nearly always collects in confined places near the ground. The beds are made of strips three inches wide, tongued and grooved on the sides, (see page 14) and are built up by nailing and glueing each strip on top of the preceding one until the bed stands on edge 42 inches high: in this way the strips are firmly driven together and a solid bed secured. The bed is then laid down, screwed to the sleepers and planed.
DURABILITY. This is secured, first by the use of good well-seasoned timber. Second by the ample air space beneath the alleys. As we use large quantities of the Hard White Maple of which the beds are made, we have arranged with several of the largest mills in the country to select from their finest stock the best for our use, shipping in car-load lots. No such timber can be found in any city yards. The Sills and Sleepers are of Selected Hard Pine, known as one of the most durable woods. As none of the woodwork is bedded in cement or in any way closed up there is no tendency to dry rot, and it cannot be affected by any ordinary degree of moisture. By long experience in alley building we have ascertained the most durable materials for different parts and their best forms, features that save wear and avoid early and expensive repairs.