The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1875-01-14
HOW DISHES ARE MADE.
E. A. in the Cincinnati Commercial.

E. A. in the Cincinnati Commercial. -
Here is the beginning" said Mr.. II n
pest.
He pointed to three large piles of drab
mud. The three piles of drab mud each
of different shade of drabness from the
other-didn't look much like an elegant
white granite dinner set, to be sure or
even like a common, cheap, yelloW-white
saucer; but there was the beginning of
both the granite dinner set and the cheap
yellow saucer.
eNown says Mr.. Tempest, "there are
only eight different materials used in
making a teacup There are five differ
ent kinds Of clay to begin with.
Some come from Illinois, some from
Pennsylvania and the kaolin comes
from away up in a corner of New York
Rhe kaolin is very expensive, and We
don't use SO much of that. Then, again,
some kinds of our clay come from Mis-
souri,"
1--WE mix in other materials-flint, field
spar and fluOrspar-tO make the dishes
hard, white and clear. Flint is put in to
give weight and Whiteness, feldspar binds
the mass together and gives it the clear,
metallic ring. The materials are put into
these tubs first"
| looked into the "tubs," very unlike
any tubs | was acquainted with. Into
these tubs they chucked the five kinds of
drab mud and the other stuff to be mixed
up. A stream of water about the color of
white wash-I found out what made it
that color atterward-keeps running into
the great tubs, and down through the
middle of each runs an arrangement for
all the world like a new-fangled horizon
tai churn-dasher This keeps turning
around all the time, and the clay and
water are Whopped about everlastingly
on the arm of the churn- dasher like the
little old witch on the mill wheel of the
story. At this stage your teacups and
things look like tremendous pot of pan
cake batter.
Unto those tubs" said Mr.. Tempest,
eve put 2,7O0 pounds of clay at once, and
with the clay about 700 pounds of flint
and feld-spar. We call that quantity a
charge The flint and feld-spar are
red up from the bottom all the time, so as
to keep the mixture even.'
From the first tu0s into more tubs Still
the churn dashers keeping up their "dem-
milton horwid gwind," until at length the
flint and fell-spar and the five kinds of
which, to all appearances, precisely re-
sembles a good article of country cream.
When it is like country cream, then your
teacup is ready for the next step, which
consists in running the country cream in
to hydraulic press and squeezing all the
water out OF It,"
1--WE make one change every day." said
Mr.. Tempest. Each charge goes through
six tubs The last tubs we call the set
Ting tubs and the mixture passes out Of
the Settling tubs into the hydraulic press
es. Formerly no hydraulic presses were
used, and then we cooked the mixture
in friedrich tile to get the water out of 1t.
But the heat formed gases and injured
some portions Of the clay. Now, the hy-
draulic presses simply squeeze the water
out, retaining all the elements of the clay,
and our ware has improved greatly since
we used them. The water which is
squeezed out of the presses, of course, has
considerable clay in it. So we collect
this water as it runs out, and pump it
back up into the mixing tubs and use 1t
over and over again, so as not to waste
any of the clay. We have used the n.y.
draulie presses about six years. Here,
Georgep' said Mr.. Tempest to one who
seemed to be chief cook of the hydraulic
presses.
Then sGeorge,' if I remember the name
rightly, called one of his attendant spir-
its, and they two took my teacup out OF
the press, IN which it had been pressed as
fiat and almost as thin as a newspaper.
The country cream liquid runs into the
press between two layers of the heaviest
possible boiling cloth. The boiling cloth
lets the water out and holds the clay in.
From going into the hydraulic press in a
state resembling country cream, the tea
cup comes out of it substance which is
very much like light bread dough
George and his familiar scraped this
dough from the boiling cloth, and rolled
it up like wad of rolled jelly cake you
see it makes one think ofdough and cook.
ing all the way through, and flung ii
upon the table.
"Now it goes into the pug MILL" says
Mr. Tempest.
THE What?"
"Pug mill, pug MILL" replied Mr.
Tempest.
Anything like pug nose?' suggested 1
"No," said Mr.. Tempest, mot a bit; 10
siah WedgwoOd first gave it the name
think. The pug mlll is simply big tub
which is filled with knives that work like
inverted augers. The clay is thrown il
upon the revolving knives and turned
and mixed until it gets the wind all Ou
of it, and it is exactly the same tempera
ture all through. Then it is ready to be
nodded The work of the pug mill useC
to be done entirely by hand, the clay be
ing kneaded and pounded by boys unit
it was right. But now one pug mill doe
the work at least of ten boys"
"You mention Josiah WedgwoOd," sale
|. "Was he the particular WedgwOoC
who gave name to the Wedgwood ware q
HE was. Josiah Wedgwood was thu
Kings potter for many years. He brough
the potter's art to greater perfection thar
anybody before him, and made tableware
for the aristocracy and nobility, and tina
gave him great name There is plent!
of other tableware just as good as tn
Wedgwood ware, now, only the Wedg
wood ware has the name, and that make
everybody try to get it, III.
ibid we ever get any real Wedgwoot
ware in this country?"
Mr. Tempest smiled to himself in al
amused, knowing sort of way. mo.
said he, 1--WE don't"
The clay is ground up in pug mil
till it is completely ''pugged"-that's tn
word for it, [ tRink-and comes out a
the bottom of the mill in thick, solid