Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-12-07
GLASS MANUFACTURE

SCTlDeS the process OF iHdklDS Pia0o"" -
one of the establishments OF that city, as
! follows
The pots in which the batch" of mixture
is melted, are thirty-nine inches high by
! forty-three inches in diameter They are
made of the finest Missouri and Allegheny
clay and the greatest possible care must
be exercised in their manufacture.
| housewife may get an accidental atom Of
dirt into the bread she makes and be for
given, but there is no pardon for the man
who mixes ever so little dirt with the pot
clay, and his sin will surely find him out,
| for piece of dirt less than a pea will ruin
the pot About one hundred Of these pots
are kept on hand ready for use. They are
not fit to be used until they have the seal OF
age upon them.
The materials used are principally sand,
lead, pearlash and nitrc. The sand IS OF
the purest Missouri, and before it is used 1t
is washed thoroughly, and when it is put
into the "batch" it is pure enough for the
neatest housewife Of old to have sprinkied
he "best room" floor witha'
furnace provided with large iron pan
by way of bottom, is used for pulverizlng
the lead On the floor near by is piled a
quantity Of pig-ead, and into this iron bot
toned oven these pigs are placed for roast
ing. a little long g-handled hoe is kept STIR
ring the melted lead scum of hardened
metal appears on the surface and is showed
back into a second division, called burn
ing oven" Here the lead is thoroughly
burned and when it is taken out it is sift
ed, after which it is fine, red powder
A large tank holds a saturated solution
of pearlash 1t is left in this tank until all
impurities settle to the bottom, when the
clear portion of the liquid is decanted into
another tank through which a coil of steam
pipe passes Here it is boiled by steam
until the liquid evaporates, and pure ash
remains as white and stainless as snow
The nitre employed in the manufacture Is
treated in the same manner These ingre-
dients are now ready to be mixed into glass
dough"
The batch is made up of the following
proportions 1000 pounds of sand, $50
pounds Of lead, 500 pounds of pearlash, and
200 pounds of nitre.
The "batch" when it is ready, is of "a
pretty, cinnamon color, and does not look i'll
the least as if in tweL ty-four hours hence it
would be shining beautiful goblets and
fruit dishes When the ingredients are
ready for transformation the mess is shov-
eled into little dray and hauled to the pots
The next that we see of this pretty, ciu-
namon-colored mixture, is when il is taken,
in little melted bits, on the end of rods, out
of the glowing mouth of the furnace. 1t is
glass now, and no trick of art or incanta-
ton Of science can make sand and lead and
pearlash and saltpetre of it again. Stand
ing all about the different furnaces are ma
ny presses, all provided with distinct and
different moulds. Each press is tended by
a workman, assisted by two or three boys
A boy runs from the furnace to the press
with little wad of melted glass twisting
rapidly on the end Of "a rod. He holds the
rod over the open mouth of the mould and
let's the glass run in till the operator clips
it with pair of shears By the working
of lever the mould is closed and the "fo-
lower" pressed into it, Wncn by another
motion of the lever, the mould is opened
the glass article is taken out complete per-
haps it Is goblet, or "A tumblcr. or Il dainty
wine glass, or celery glass, or a lager
beer mug, with a handle on all COMPLETE
Whatever it is, it is perfect and complete
The articles made are not all pressed
Perhaps it is for cut glass ware, and then
it is blown and worked up smoothly and
deftly by hand. The larger jars also are
blown rather than pressed These jars are
taken, by some strange attraction. on the
ends Of rods and thrust into the mouths OF
the ''glory holes till almost at the melting
point again, when they are returned To the
workman who gives them the final shaping
touches. After they have been formed, all
the glass, both pressed and blown, is placed
in the annealing oven to temper
In the fnishing-room little grind-stones
are whirling in all directions. One man
has stand near him filled with all manner
Of the finer bottles for druggists He
seizes a glass stopper, fastens it Oh a kind
of spindle and fits over it kind of iron
mould lined with fine emory. In this mould
which is stationary, the stopper whirls rap
idly grinding its surface down true as a
die The mould is taken off and the mouth
of the bottle which the stopper is to fit is
smeared with wet emery and held over the
whirling stopper till the two surfaces fit
with absolute accuracy, and that is the way
that ground glass shoppers are fitted An
other man holds the rough bottom of a
tumbler against the grind-stone until it is
smooth? another is fiuting a goblet or
pitcher. For this he uses smooth-blown
ware He holds the different parts skill
fully against the stone until the required
shape is given, that is the way glass is"cut"