Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-08-28

threatens to exceed the supply of the
metal Sheets of platinum are bought
by chemists, who have them convert
ed into cruclbles and other forms"
The reporters curiosity was
awakened by Mr. Bakers mention of
the old lady who made those very fine
draw plates, and on his return to the
city lac hunted her up Mrs Francis
A. JeSnnot. the lady in question, was
found in neat apartments in a hand
some Hat in West Flfty-first street,
Age has slvered her hair, but her
eyes are still bright, and her move
ments indicate elasticity and strength.
She is native Of Neufchatel, Swilzer-
land, aud speaks Esglish with little
difficulty, but whenever the reporters
English was a little hard for her a
very pretty glrl with brilliant eyes
ana crnkly iet.black hair, who subse-
quently proved to be a daughter of
Mrs. Jeaunot. came to the rescue.
With the girls occasional aid, the old
lady's story was as follows:
81 have been in this business for
thirty years learned it when | was
"a girl in Switzerland. Very few in
this country know anything correctly
about it, Numbers Of people endea-
vor to find it out, and they experiment
to learn it, especially to do it by ma
.chinery, but without success But
ah, me 1t is no longer a business
that is worth anything Thirty years
ago many stone draw plates were
wanted, for then there was a great
deal done in filagree gold j.welry.
Then the plates were worth from 81 so
up to as high as $l5, according TO the
magnitude of the stones and the size
of the holes | bored IN them.
Now, however all that good time is
past Nobody wants iilagree gold
iewelry any more, and there is SO lit
tie demand for lino wire of the prec-
ious metals that few draw plates are
desired The prices now are no more
than from SL25 up TO say S. but 1t is
very rare shat one is required, the cost
of which is more than Sl Aud of
that a very large part must so to the
lapidary to pay for the stone and for
his work incutting Il to an even round
disk Then, what | get for the long
aud hard work Of boring the stone by
hand is very little. BY handle Oh,
yes. That must always be the good
way. The work of the machine is not
perfect It never produces such good
plates as are made by the hard and
eye of the trained artisan. How are
they boredf ALI, sir, you rust excuse
me That do not tell you that II is
simple, but there is just little Of it
that is secret and that little makes
the vast difference between producing
work which is good and that which is
NOT H. has cost me no little TO learn
it, and while it is worth very little just
now, perhaps fashion may change,
and plates may be wanted 90 make
gold wire again to an extent that may
be profitable do not wish 10 tell
every body that which will deprive me
Of the little advantage my knowledge
gives me The stonesN Oh, we of
course do not use finely colored ones.
| They are too valuable. But those that
we employ must be genuine sapphires
and rubies, sound aud withost flaws.
! Here are some You SEQ they look
like only irregular Jumps Of muddy
/ tinted broken glass. Here is finish
ed one.
The old lady exhibited piece of
solid brass about an inch long, three
quarters Of an inch in width and one.
sixth in thickness. La its centre was
small disk of stone with a hole
through il, a hole that was very
smooth, wide on one side, and hardly
perceptible on the other. The stone
was sunk deep Into the brass and
bedded firmly in it. She went on:
you will find, if you try thai you
can with difficulty push through that
hole "A hair from your beard. But,
small as it is it must be perfectly
smooth, aud Of an accurate gauge, |
do not any longer myself set the
stones in the brass, rs ! am not so
strong as | once was My son does
that for me But neither he nor my
daughter nor anybody else in this
country | believe, can bore the holes
so well as ] can even yet How
| long does q draw plate 'astf Ali
Practically forever Except by
clumsy handling or accident, IT does
not need TO be replaced at least in one
| lifetime. And there IS another reason
why ] sell so fow now Those who
require them are supplied Watch
! iqwelsY Yes, | used TO make them,
but do so no longer. They can be
imported from Europe at the price OF
81 a dozen, aud at such a figure one
could not earn bread in making them