The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-02-09
The Last Female Craze.

The rapidty with which one wild
idea can chase another in and out OF
a warm corner in the femin ne heart is
illustrated in the passion which has de-
veloped for working in brass among
the ladies of Pittsburg 1t is hardly a
year since the crazy quilt was at its
height as popular lunacy. Christian
ladies, whose conduct in all else was
SO straightforward plumb could not
have corrected solitary line, did not
hesitate to steal, lie or cheat that their
store of silk patches might be increas-
ed They traded with each other and
boosted like horse dealers when they
rot the better of the bargain, they beg
ged cravats and hat Innings of their
gentleman friends, they cajoled deck
hands in dry goods stores, and stopped
at nothing when patches were in view.
And vet, after all this work, the crazy
quilt has been dropped with forty mill
ion unfinished ones in the country and
possibly fifty completed, for little bit
of brass.
Pittsburg has been slow in taking up
the new idea. Brass pounding rep
ousse work, they call twas popular
in an amateur way one year ago IN
New York and Philadelphia; Cincinnati
and Cleveland had the disease six
months ago. and it was only when it
got east and west that Pittsburg sue
cumbed. Now the avidity with which
it is taken up indicates a strong desire
to make up for lost time. In way this
brass pounding is art work, and it is
plainly several degrees higher in the
scale artistic than the crazy-quilt. 1t
is simpler, more easily mastered, and
more satisfactory than any branch OF
painting, and for these reasons it is
popular on sight with people ambitious
to acquire reputation for being ar
tistic.
The outfit required for brass-poun-
der consists of sheet of brass, a ham,
mer. a set of tools, a sheet OF carbon
paper, and tiugers that don't object to
peinr mashed. The brass is almost as
thin as paper and as tough as II can be
made. 1t costs 40 cents a pound, and
that quantity will furnish material for
month of hammering. The tools
come in sets of from three to nine
pieces. The principal ones are CHS
el-like concern for marking outlines, a
straight punch for making single
marks, and de-faced affair that gives
the roughened appearance to the back
ground. The others are notifications
Of these A complete set can be had
for two dollars. The hammer is of the
machinist's pattern, and costs 10 cents,
the carbon paper costs II cents, the
patterns are worth anything one choos-
es to pay, and the fingers, financially
considered, vary according TO the ply
sicians employed. The total expense
for starting up as brass-pounder-
barring the tuition fees-is 1887.
In beginning operations the sheet OF
brass is securely tackled to board, the
carbon paper is laid on the brass and
the pattern over that. With stylus
or a crochet needle if there is no stylus
on the premises-the pattern is traced
out, the carbon paper conveying the
marks to the brass. The pounding
then commences. First the outline i:
punched out plainly, This done, the
brass all around is pounded down witt
the die until it presents roughenet
appearance. The main features in The
pattern are left untouched and stanC
out like relief work. The effect wher
| finished, is of brass casting, casua
examination never suggesting that tn
brass is only thin sheet.
The articles made in this manner arr
sconces plaques, crumb-trays, or any
thing when the reverse side is not to b.
exhibited. At the school of desigI
there is large class, and the privat
classes in the two cities are almos
countless.
The noise made by the operation
when half a dozen energetic young la
dies are at work is deafening. Tn
people in the Penn Bank thought
boiler ward had been established i
their midst when the School of Desig
went into the brass business and Their
were stories told of distracted men hid
ING in the cellar while private classe
were in blast. One young lady VIII
was busily engaged in rubbing vile
smelling compound on plaque sh
had Just finished and was bringing 1t I
a high state of polish, illustrated IN
noise with the remark: 1.-The wors
thing about this is that we cant talk
one can't hear their own ears. In
pounding of brass is popular, but tn
craze will be short lived. Six lesson
make an expert, and it is SO simpl
that ANYBODY can learn it. The resuI
must be deluge OF brass ornaments
In six months the parlor in Pittsbur
that cant show brass work will be tn
exception; it will be as common
chromos, and like chromos, Will Q
banished to the servants quarters.