Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-01-25
Table Cutlery.
ohEST "a

for the eating Of fish or fruit, for which
purposes silver or plated knives are
expressly made and in universal use. In
Germany the inferior quality of the
ta6le-cutlery is q source OF constant
annoyance, while in France competition
with English manufactures has long
been keen. The cutlery of Great Brit
ain carried away most of the prizes for
superior workmanship aud finish, and
even yet the "Rodgers" aud other
special makes command the highest
prices, but within the last forty years
great progress has been made in the
United States in this industry. And
while the finest and most expensive
cutlery is still imported from Sheffield
and other .centers of English manufac-
sfure an immense trade in domestic
cutlery has sprung up, and American
knives are found upon many European
tables. There are various reasons for
this, foremost among them the fact
chat in this country machinery enters
far more largely into the manufacture
of cutlery than in England, where
the :; finest, steel blades ; are forged,
ground, and polished by hand.
each blade receiving share of
minute and individual attention ". hich
is impossible where hundreds are turned
out at one time. This individual ma
anipulation enables workman to de-
-tect the very smallest irregularity in the
warp of the steel, and to be stow upon
each separate piece that passes through
his hands the amount of care that is
necessary to bring it to the very highest
state of perfection. For this reason the
trade in English cutlery, still shows an
s. C.,
concerned, and the Sheffield manufac-
turersstands 4unriValed in The highest
branches of his art. And again, in turn
ing out-very cheap goods, such. for eS-
ample, as are found at the fye-cent
stores, the English factories can still
compete satisfactorily with Those of this
country, owing to the greater cheapness
of labor but it is in the vast interme-
diate field of general supply for ordinary
use that we must seek the, results of
American enterprise. And in this field
the British confess themselves out
lrivaled. OF the numberless houseswhich
a few years ago were represented in this
country for middle-class, cutlery goods,
not one in ten remains, and not only is
the home demand supplied by cutlery
of domestic make, but very large ex-l
ryorts are made to different parts of the
world, notably to Afriea, Australia,
: Germany, and Spain. In addition to
the great advantages which the use of
machinery gives the American. manu-
fseturer of middle-class goods. he de-
<Tives still further facility from the va
tiety of the materials now used for han
dies. 90 *
Tho expense of a knife depends very
n Al II
goods almost entirely so, the same
for the blades, and the price of imported
cutlery has increased largely within the
1ast few wears upon this account. The
handles of the best English knives are
invariably made of ivory, and in this
article there has been formidable adj
vance of no less than from $500 to $500
ton, and there is prospect of q still
further rise in price. The value of a
ton of ivory is about $4,000, and the
estimate of material used is one pound
to one dozen small knives. In this
, country, on the contrary, ivory is now
comparatively little used, other materi-
.ais being employed for handles even
for the finest knives. OF these celluloid
is the most remarkable. The English
claim to have been the inventors OF this
or of a precisely similar material, which
as known as xlon1ite, and q large trade
has been carried on by them in
ceiiuioid-handle knives, but nothing in
comparison to the extent to which they
are manufactured in this country. The
tsasis of celluloid is tissue paper, and
'camphor enters largely into its compo-
sition, together with pigment of white
zinc lead, which gives the necessary
hardness. 1t is almost impossible to
break it, and there is no danger of the
uusightlv cracks in q celluloid knife
handle which are the perpetual torment
of. the mistresses of Irish servants.
Besides celluloid various materials are
pressed into the service by American
Ingenuity. Cheap knives have handles
, of cocoa bola wood, which is imported
from the isthmus, and in spite of diff
Guilty of transport is very much cheaper
thaa bone. Then we have the ebony
handles, the material for which is i'm
ported from Zanzibar, carried from the.
interior of Africa upon the backs of
natives aud shipped in immense guam.
titles to America. Rubber handles again
play an important part, the royalty upon
the patent, which is an old German one
aud has now lapsed, having amounted
to $4,000 q year. Many varieties of
bone, too, are used, and horn is still in
demand for the handles of carving
knives and forks. An immense trade is
done in the solid steel knives, of which
handle and blade are made inone piece.
These, which are of British manufacture,
are imported here and plated for the
American market. Plated table cutlery,
as we have seen, is popular here and
immense quantities of 1t are supplied to
the Southern States. The appearance
of American cutlery is much in its
favor. In the cheaper knives metal is
used in the handles, and serves both as
ornament and rivets, and great atten-
ton is paid to the shape both of handle
and blade. Some of the more expensive
KNIVES and plated forks have pearl
handles curiously cut and twisted. The
pearl itself is imported from India and
Manila, and cut in New York city,
where pearl-cutting forms distinct
branch of trade. A finely-finished knife
.~.syos Through fiftv different hands