 The two of them experimented with different formulations to achieve the cue ball "" that Spinks sought.They settled on a mixture of Illinois-sourced silica with small amounts of corundum or aloxite (aluminum oxide, AL2O3), founding the William A. Spinks Company in Chicago after securing a patent on March 9, 1897.Spinks later left the company, but it retained his name and was subsequently run by Hoskins, and later by Hoskins's cousin Edmund F. , after Hoskins moved on to other projects.