The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-09-10
MEN WHO MAKE G0LDLEAF
4 GAINING THAT REQUIRES NOT
ONLY AIMS, BUr BRAINS.
How an Ounce Of Gold II Made to Cover 100
square Fcct OF Surfac SKILLED Labor
where Blunder Must Cost Many Dollars.

nlm IL familiar In the form Of gliding on picture
and othcr frames. but this is only small part
OF the purposes to which 1t Is applied The
bookbinders among the gold beater's best
customers, almost fabulous quantities OF the
leaf being used In finishing, lettering, gliding
edges and otherwise adjoining books The
humblest muslin binding has at any rate
It's title in gold letters and on the bevelled and
costly bindings Of ANNALS and holiday works
gold leaf is no slight item Of expense The sign
writer's and fancy workers use large quantities.
The gdcd and elaborate inscriptions on the
windows of the Anglo-Bengalco and other dis
Interested life, loan, trust, and insurance COM
panies, and those Of the Buncombe bank
and similar Institutions, well as those
of humber pretensions form con-
slant demand our kind hut cruel
friends tho dentists, too. are patrons OF the
gold beater. For tho dentist is made not only
special article chemically pure, but cunning
processes elaborate the foil after II has reached
the minimum Of tcnuity, into soft spongy mass
which can bo deity punched into the remotest
Granny Of tooth. For him little golden cylin-
doris are spun out out Of nossy webs, that he
may countcract the effects Of tany or the no
glect OF the early tooth brush, and for his use
are made little spongy nuggets, mat LOON . ik
fingers into golden pellets
Entering gold beating establishment the Wis
itors attention H. FIRST attracted 10y the din OF
twenty or thirty hammer, weighing from eight
to eighteen pounds apiece. falling under the
skilful grasp OF the sturdy pounders on the
packs in which Is the precious metal. The men
resemble So many blacksmiths at the anvil eN-
cept that their blows are loss rapid aud the
strokes moro measured and regular, and there
is more rebound to the hammers: Then. too
without changing the monotony OF the stroke
the g0Id heater shift, hi. hammer from one
hand to the other. and turns the little bunch OF
skin ON which 1t dcsceuds hrst 10 one side aud
then ~ the opposite one, and then back again
f..r l.ll tHIa fs
| packet must he kept IN motion. You are IN a
| dusty, dingy room. White chalk dust Is on the
nuor the anylls the walls. every where. II settles
on your clothing, and you can see II nnhtlus In
the air. There are fragments u rotten stone
scattered nbodt, waiting To be pulNorilcd, and
| pieces of yellow larchment and scraps OF gold
beaters skin, aud once in while you soc little
yellow hit Of gold leaf on the door. As you near
| one Of the beaters see more - them and
the question i quickly put. why you don't
waste gold In that manner. do you ...,...
"Oh. no. Is the reply. We waste nothing
here The very air Is fun Of nying atom of gold.
but We save most oft Every iittls while each
particle Of dust Is swept from the noors and put
| through the IRE Here j. the sink where the
men wash their hands. You see this little box
! through which the waste water runs II catches
| many dollars worth uf gold In year Every
! thing is saved II the men drop these little
! scras Of leaf, it's their own loss. not ours in
fact. IL our gain, for every man is given 80 much
| gold In weight and he Is required To return the
weight IL gold leaf. II he loses any he has to
:; iiow much DO the men earnf"
| They do piece work. This Il employment
| where the workman is known by his chips. In
beating gold proI ". there Is certain amount
| II waste in proportion To the amount furnished.
| The Workman receives So much gold and SO
| many ounces Of il make just 50 much waste.
| The workman carefully saves tho waste, and
turns in what he finishes. The waste he melts
over into button. and the number of buttons
of certain weight that he has At the end of the
wees Indicate how much gold he has beaten.
! The buttons must tally with the amount he had
| given him To beat. He gets pay by IN. button.
he b S sd srS %s thai he has
making waste purposely and that goes against
him rs "a Workman. At the same time inc men
are very careful to take care Of al their waste,
! but a little bit II the thinnest will get ON the
floor sometimes. It's just like all piece work.
| some are Industrious some lazy They make
The insot Of gold comes from the mint in
| shape. perhaps Ave Inches long one men wide.
| aud not quite 40 thick. 1t must nfst be alleged
TO; col ", for fashions prevail III gldlng A. n
wlitr yellow t. deep golden 60 or. silver IL en-
ullA ed {" shten And copper I" darNen IL. nav
INK rivcd the alloy. II Is recast into nearly the
same shape It had at the mint, and thon the
! thinning process begins. on ne same principle
| thai railroad iron Is made. the bar IL forced
! between iron rollers. being annealed each time
h pArses through. that It's ductility may he well
! aud the nfty peunyweishts 1t ~ frat contained.
instead u being siG Inches are seven yards long
| when this degree Of tenuity i obtained, the
/ ribbon. then about an inl and a half in width,
rs rut into squares. and placed IN she Clutch
/ Tho "cutcA' Is book three inches square, con-
/ partly animal and partly vegetable the rompo-
/ sitiun Of which is -errct. These clutches
imported from L"ndoi" Mne'f 4l',e IN, , ~
| q. hammer. weighing fourteen or fifteen pounds.
until the iunre 80 metal rea'Hrs tn' rHHe. rus
/ general, lake a. "ut iNf an h'ur mo W"rA
man then, with u peculiar tool called awason
/ sharpcued cuts the leaf MO i"nf parts saus-
/ INK by the nn-harienvt ruuuet, in- n-"rlus
-'lnnr" and "ItI dc, y, - ihy'r ur"s
/ luar"s is then placed .u the "-houli"r winch
! b. simply "a collection 81 loose Leaves. about four
iurhe, -,liAtr made 90 The intcsi ines of the OK.
! prepared IN "a WAY whirh trad" secr"i Inc
] edges ARE Wrapped ia Nrllnm, and frightened
/ win "a strip of reed and here the leaf j. beaten
J again With au cig1t-p'lud hammer for No
] hours and half. when IL /, ready Tor the pac~,
| tlnldbeater. -kin j, made = the cHcum 81 the
/ u1. II l. well ceansed and the mucus surfaces
are doubled together and made to nrmlA adj
/ here The skin /, then tanned 10y peculiar
/ process IN which alum. isingiaes. aud the whites
AMI il il messed and dried and cut into leayrs
i've and nm eighth inches square. Eight hundred
aud fifty nf these leaves make the book or pack,
! and IA H. preparation the coca ~ I'VE hr;drrd
IulOckS are used. The skin Is semi irhu~I parent
! before being heatrn, ana in color ia not unlike
raw hido or = drum head. Il viii stand furious
! sheet Of letter paper. lietnre the discovery NJ
the goldheater's s>in. parchment va, used
! ochrc or chal> being placed between the leaves
to prevent their adherng
dred aud my beatings II Is sold To the maker
u putoh or bronze metal who pays about
| So for IT, between each beating the skin
IA rubbed with tale, roasted, and powdered
! which removes greaSiness anu renders the
| gold less liable To break. In the process Of
/ beating the pack II worked repeatedly in the
hands, that il. bent IN every direction To equal
IL distribute the heat generated 10y the hammer
| and 10 prevent the gold adhering To- the skin.
! The requirement Of Skin in this MOULDING or
| bending process Is obtained only after long
| practice and II j. part If the gOdbeatera art. A
hiuuder must destroy the pack and render u-olcs.
the work already done to the gold A he metal Is
| beaten out 10 the edge of The -,iu ID b., removed
| and again rut in four pieces with The wagon.
| rhe pieces are replaced In the pnrk and again
| hammered To- It's edge. The prncc-s /, rcpehtc
| until the gold is Of the required thnne-.. The
| hammer used Ia the ilunl hcatiugs IL N about
seven pounds weight II il slightly convex On
itS face, and the art 81 the heat'r is so 10 work
that the centre shall Al all times be the thinnrst
| part ~ the leaf; aud while he must hammer all
| parts In such An equal manner that tile original
square shall grow slowly toward the edges, tho
| thichest part must always he at the outside and
fall among his waste. Here Is whcr" practice and
| tho exuerIness OF a light hand doing heavy work
| tell. OF MY penny weights ia gold lon the ingOt
seventeen h. the return IN leaf. the rest being in
| scrap. II would seem that machinery might hs
| devised to do the heavy, INDUSTRIOUS labor of
beating but the ntclllg cnro ia lac King, and man
| alone can Judge when TO turn the Iach, or how
To direct the work 81 rs To keep the thick edge
| outrriuu-t.
The English method Of heating ordinary COM
! mercia gold leaf Is to dnncal AN inEut in hot
| ashes to remove the grease, and then run il he
tween highly polished steel rollers until II Is one