The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-01-25
How Venetian Beads are Made.

How Venetian Beads are Made.
I have seen them make beads in
Venice. and very interesting work it
Is. 4 man takes cylinder Of glass.
say two inches thick by seven or eight
inches long, SO hot that it is soft. rolls
it smoothly round on table and
punches hole through it lengthwise
with an iron rod Then two boys seize
its ends with pincers and run away
rapidly in opposite directions. The
faster they run and the further they go
before the glass cools so that it viii no
longer draw, the finer will be the rod
they will pull it out to, and thin as it
may be that rod will be hollow all the
way through. But it will not all be of
the same thickness. In the center it
will be very thin, and toward the ends
will be less so. Therefore the work
man breaks it up into short rods and
carefully sorts them to get together
those of like diameter. Then the beads
are cut from the ends of those rods. a
handful of them at q time, as you
would cut of bits from q bunch of
grass. How they do that never quite
understood. There is something in it l
did not learn, for the. rods are cold.
The beads are cut off without smashing
even the most delicate, and with the
greatest accuracy in length. All can
say is, they do it, and for the proof
there are the beads. Now, to smooth
the ends OF those little bits. which have
sharp edges. quantities of them are put
in biz drums with ashes, and at apretty
high temperature are eyolved there
until they are round and smooth. If
they are to be sold merely as round
seed beads they are at this point i'm
ished, and are put upon strings by chill
dren. The rapidity with which that is
done is astonishing. Each child has
before it a great pile of the beads. and
in each hand holds four or five long
threaded needles. which are rapidly
thrust into the pile until each needle is
full. when the beads are pushed back
on the threads. An attempt has been
made to introduce unstrung beads. but
consumers would not have them. The
stringing is the practical evidence that
each bead is perfect. and that is de-
manded.
There is still another way in which
beads are made in Venice; and that is
over lamp that keeps glass red hot
while the artisan molds other colored
glasses on it, or shapes it into the
strange forms you have seen among the
old samples. In that branch of manu-
facture, however, the skilled glass;
workers of Bohemia, Thuringia and
Paris come into direct competit on, es-
pecially in the production Of the beau
tiful rather than the quaint in bead
work. To revert to the great staple
product, the round seed beads. Ii it is
desired to still further increase their
beauty and value, they are sent TO
Bohemia, where, around Gablouz and
Liebenau mainly, they are cut That
work 1 have never seen done, and how
it is done don't know. l only know
that the workmen there are capable of
taking round seed beads, as small as
the very smallest pin-heads, and ac-
curately grinding on them from three
to five smooth polished faces, as mag
be required. The more they are cut
the more valuable they are. Here, for
instance, are some ruby colored ones,
cut five times-mere specks, you see
which are worth to import about $3.50
a pound They are sold in punches.
Each bunch consists of 100 strings,
upon each of which are ten dozens of
beads, and the bunch is worth S1.25
wholesale. Retailers generally. make
from 80 10 100 per cent. profit on them.
Those fipe-cut beads are used in max
ing those fine dress trimmings that
sometimes sell as high IS $50 a yard.
Difference in color of SEED beads makes
no difference in price, and size does not
very greatly aiect value, but the cut
ting does, enormously. The cheapest
k nds are only worth twelve cents
pound.
OF the fine and gh-priced hollow
ball beads-ROman pearls, m rror
beads, etc.-which are much used for
necklaces for ball. opera and wedding
dresses, the best come from Paris.
Each bead is made separately, blown at
the end of tube of soft glass, and
shaped as required, either by hand or
in mold. II it is to initiate q pearl,
its Inferior is coated with preparation
made from the scales of a certain kind
of fish taken in the Mediterranean. and
that is protected by wax. In the cheap
kind only one or two coatings of wax
will be given, but tue best are filled up
solid, which gives them much CREATE
strength. Colors are given to them by
tinting the wax. For the mirror beads
q quicAsilvering like that used to make
looking-glasses must be laid on coat
ing inside. The workmen have to suck
it up into the little bulbs-a very I'M
healthy occupation. These pearl beads
range in price from "a gross of strings
ten inches long up to s5 or go do en-
for strings of the same length. Size
affects their value, but not a great deal.
They are in all possible tints, and it is
an interesting fact that if you should
have q hundred kinds of them some
woman would be certain to come in and
demand one kind you had not.
The attempt has been made to manu-
facture beads in this country, but. ex-
cept for the mined ate supply Of par
ticular demand at cost five times above
that of the imported articles, the en-
deavor has been a failure. The seed
beads and bugles-elongated beads
for dress trimmings, made in Ven
ice, amount in value to some 2.0O0,-
900 francs per annufn, and the United
States is the 81 .th largest consumer of
that supply.--Cor. N. Y. Sun.