Huntsville gazette., 1883-01-20
Table Cutlery.

expressly made and in universal use. In
Germany the Inferior quality of the
table-cutlery is a 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 and finish, and
even yet the ''Rodgers" and other
| special makes command the highest
prices, bat 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-
ture an immense trade in domestic
cutlery has sprung up, and American
knives are found upon many European
4 tables. There are various reasons for
this, foremost among them the fact
that 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 a share of
minute and individual attention which
is impossible where hundreds are turned
out at one time. This individual ma
nipulation enables a workman to de-
tect the very smallest irreguiarity in the
warp of the steel, and to bestow 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
increase as far as the finest goods are
concerned, and the Sheffield manufac-
turer stands unrivaled in the highest
branches of his art. And again, in turn
ing out very cheap goods, such, for eX-
ample, as are found at the five-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
rivaled. OF the numberless houses which
a few years ago were represented in this
country for middle-class cutlery goods,
not one in ten remains, and no. only is
the home demand supplied by cutlery
of domestic make, but very large ex-
ports are made to different parts of the
world, notably to Africa, Australia,
Germany, and Spain. In addition to
the great advantages which the use of
machinery gives the American manu-
facturer of middle-class goods, he de-
rive5 still further facility from the va
riety of the materials now used for han
dies.
The expense of a knife depends very
| greatly upon the handle, in first-class
goods almost entirely so, the same
| quality of steel being invariably used
| for the blades, and the price of imported
cutlery has increased largely within the
| last few years 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 $400
ton, and there is prospect of still
further rise in price. The value of q
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 precisely similar material, which
| is known as Xlomite, and a large trade
has been carried on by them in
celluloid- handle knives, but nothing in
comparison to the extent to which they
are manufactured in this country. The
! L ILL.,
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
unsightlv cracks in a celluloid knife
handle which are the perpetual torment
of the mistresses of Irish servants.
| Be sides 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
than 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
ndJlNGS anu SHlppcl III IilHiCnoO iu1h-
titles to America. Rubber handles again
play an important part, the royalty upon
the patent, which is an old German one
and has now lapsed, having amounted
to $4,000 a 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 in one 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
L-a,oh oe +rada A Enalv-finishad Knife