Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-06-18
AMONG THE GLASSMAKERS.
BY CARRIE F. MILLER.

Going into the glassworks, let us look
first into the room where the "batches'
are mixed, ready for melting. Here lies
the sand, in heap, looking something
like a snowdrift, it is so white. This is
the principal ingredient used in glass
making and must be the very purest and
whitest that can be obtained, or the glass
will not be clear and bright. AS, nice and
clean as the sand is when brought here, it
has to be thoroughly washed, to free it
from anything that might injure the
quality of the glass. So, too, the pearlash
has to go through a cleansing process, be-
fore it will suit the very particular man
who attends to the mixing Of the COM
pound. This is done in another part of
the building, by teaching the pearlash in
great bottles, and after it has well settled,
evaporating the water. To the sand and
| pearlash are added litharge, or red lead, a
| little manganese, nitre and arsenic, and
sometimes cobalt 1t requires great care
in getting the right proportions of the
different materials. This will make a
very fine quality of glass, such as is used
| for our finest tableware, mirrors, and all
other articles that require the greatest
| purity and brilliancy. For more COM
mon kind of glass, coarser materials are
used, and lime takes the place of lead
After the batch is thoroughly mixed, it
is taken to the furnace and poured into
great pot Of fre-clay, that will hold a great
| many hundred pounds The heat of this
| furnace is so terrible that we do not care
to inspect it very closely, and we are glad
| to get out and breathe cooler air. In
about eighteen or twenty hours some one
opens the pot, that has been securely
closed, and tries the glass; 1t is doing nice
ly, though as yet only partly melted. AS it
has settled down a good deal, he puts in
fresh lot of the batch, and closes up the
mouth Of the pot again. Once again it is
tried, and is then found to be clear and
bright. 1t has taken thirty-fve Or forty
hours to change the dry mixture into a
molten mass, ready for working.
And now commences busy time; for
glass, like candy, must be worked while
it is soft. Quite a number Of men and
boys are employed at time in making up
the ware. A part of it is to be made into
lamp chimneys. The experienced
"blower" sits near the furnace, waiting
for his work to be brought to him. His
assistant dips long iron tube into the
pot of melted glass, taking up a sufficient
quantity for one chimney, rolls it on fiat
piece of iron, and blowing drought it a
little, hands it to the other to finish. He
blows through the tube, pinches the partly
formed chimney, whirls it swiftly around,
heats it in the furnace to soften it-for by
this time it has become too cool to work
nicely-turns up rim at the bottom,
tests its width and with piece of cold
steel cuts it off at the right length. All
this has been done in about minute from
the time the glass was taken from the pot.
Further on the workmen-still called
blowers, though they now have no blow
ing to do-are moulding the glass. Be-
fore the mould press, a machine for press
| ing the glass into various articles, that
could not be shaped by the first method,
the blower sits ready for the lump of
glass that the assistant is bringing on his
iron rod. This he pours into the open
mould on the platform, and taking pair
of shears, he cuts off just the right guam
tity; then, pushing the mould into its
place, down comes a p1unger pressin 6
the glass into its proper shape. Then the
mould is taken away, and a dainty little
vase is turned out Of it, just right to put
upon your table, filled with fresh roses
These moulds are Of cast-iron, and some
of them are engraven with very beautiful
: patterns.
Yonder is a pot of red glass, from
which some handsome lamps are being
made; but see how careful the blowers
are Of it! They first take ball of clear
glass, large enough to make the lamp, and
then dipping it quickly into the red glass,
coat it with that color. In whatever way
the lamp may be shaped, the color re
mains the same, and one would hardly
t think that the brilliant hue is only on the
surface. The very great cost of the color
ing-oxydized gold-makes it necessary
to use it sparingly, or the articles would
be too expensive for common use.
The wares now made are not allowed
to cool off suddenly. They are talnen tc
the annealing furnace, which is many fee
in length, with one end heated very hot
and the other cold Here is a constan
7 succession Of iron pans moving along OF
! rollers. The glassware is put into par
t at the hot end, and rolls along cooling of
$ gradually till it comes out cold at tn,
other end. The articles do not look 81
t well as they did before for the sulphur il
s the coke used in the annealing furnac
has given them blush tint, but wash
t, ing in cold water makes them clean an
:. bright