River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1872-10-25

UTILITY uhu bNloOlnS, anu stripping.
and filing doyou suppose that bit of
stick has been through since it was
happy branch of tree, holding its
armful OF leaves up to the sum-
In the first place, ii was rudely cut
from its home, its lovely leaves stripped
of, and taken with lots of other sticks
to the cane-maker.
As the bark is taken off, it went into
the hands Of the peeler, who put it into
a kettle to boil. You didn't think
grandpa's cane can be boiled like a DO
tato, did you9 Well, that's only the
beginning of troubles for the poor
stick. After boiling two or three
hours, its skin was peeled off, and it
went to the crookmaker, for you see 1t
is bent over at the top. This man just
stuck the head of the unfortunate stick
into hot, wet sand.
That soon took the stiffness out OF it.
and made it very yielding--for while.
The workman took advantage of the
pliable mood, and bent it over into a
crook, holding it there until il was cold
and dry, when all its stiffness came
back, and 1T couldn't get straight
again.
The straightener, who next operated
on the stick, had a groove in a plank,
and after taking the last spark of spirit
out OF the branch by burying il in hot,
dry sand, he crowded and forced it in
to this groove, and left it thereto
harden again. If it was not naturally
knotted, IT would have to be filed with
proper roughness, but this stick had
Its own natural knots on.
After all this comes polishing, rub
bling with sandpaper, emery, or rotten
stone, and smoothening with fish-skiu.
Still, after that, the long-suffering stick
is stained, so his own mother tree
wouldn't know him. Some of them
are even. burned outside, and then the
burnt part scraped off in spots, TO make
an old-looking, spotted stick.
At last comes the varnish. But it
can't rest yet, it must have ferule,
which is a kind of iron shoe-forhasn
it foot, if it's walking stick ?-and
then come the ornaments, if it has any.
Some have brass rings; others have
gold or silver plates for a name; 9th
ers are tipped with gold or silver.
Don't imagine these are all the varie-
ties. Why one man at the Worlds
Fair displayed five hundred different
kinds!
For handles alone they use ivory,
agate, gutta percha, horn, tortoise
shell, mother of pearl, corneila, leath-
er, and dozen other kinds that can't
remember.
For the stick themselves, there is
scarcely tree or grass large enough
that is not used, from the palm to the
cane
You know the cane-which gives
name to our walking sticks-is moth
ing but a big kind of grass, don't You
Then, as il nature didn't furnish
enough variety, in the shape of sticks,
they use whalebone, gutta-percha,
rams horns, q hope they have a good
time getting those straight ivory, and
shark spine. Then they are endless
varieties of heads from the doctors
gold headed, pepper box looking top, to
the stays head, or ivory foot.
There are also other kinds of walk
ing sticks than those We see every dav.
There's the Alpenstock, without which
it isn't safe to climb the mountains in
Switzerland. 1t is very long, and. has
a sharp iron in the end, to keep it from
slipping.
In the Middle Ages the Pilgrims used
heavy, stout walking stick, or staff,
they called it, the top of which was hol-
low like box. IL was made TO hold
relics and a cruci6x, out some odd
things found their way in the curious
little boxes.
One pilgrim, who wished TO intro
duce silk worms into Europe when it
was sure death to do it, stuffed his box
with silk worms eggs, and brought
them safely away. Gold pieces often
found secure hiding places there.
Nowadays it's the fashion TO crowd
camp stools, umbrellas, fishing rods,
artists cases, and other pieces Of furni
ture into cane A Scotch doctor had
made one to hold stock OF medicines,
and surgical instruments. Another
an Englishman- had room in his cane
for a map of London. Others you've
probably seen with swords and dirks in
them.
But the drollest cane / ever heard of
held looking glass, dressing case,
inkstand, telescope, thermometer,
drawing instruments, paper, and
matches.
A man who owned that, could almost
travel without trunk.