Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1886-04-02
HOW BRUSHES ARE MADE.
Bristies Imported from Russia-!rhs
Bootblack's Brush.

Bfietiee 1mpoftc0 rum huseh8-SIn8
Bootblack's Brush.
When the bristles Of the wild boar OK
Russia are imported, they are very dirty,
and are not straight. The curve is owing
to the fact that the bristles grow toward
the tail of the animal and hug the body.
BY boiling they are made pliable, and
are then bound with cord in punches an
inch in diameter, and dried in rooms kept
at a temperature of 100 degrees. AS
bristles are bought by weight, the pur-
chaser of raw material loses 10 per cent
by the absorption of the moisture, and if
he washes them he loses another 10 per
cent. because of the weight of dirt Of
which they are relieved.
The importer of bristles always stores
them in wet warehouse ON the river
front, So they will absorb water and
weigh more. He also binds each bundle
with about fifty feet of cord, which is
sometimes substituted for the native
bark string which is put around the
bundles in Russia. and the cord will
drink in another generous allowance Of
moisture. which must he dried out at the
expense of the brushmaker. Black
bristles are the lowest grade, gray next,
yellow third. and white are the most ex-
pensive. Backing brushes are made of
horse hair us well as bristles.
The bootblack who has q stand on
Park row or Broadway will use a
horse hair brush. because no matter
how thick the dirt and blackening
may be on the boot, the horse
hair will polish over it all, and do the
job quickly. At the Hoffman house and
Fifth Avenue hotel the bootman uses a
bristle brush which he would pay 81 for
at retail, but he usually buys them by
the dozen, and orders for $50 worth are
not few. a bristle brush takes off all
the backing which has gathered from
previous shines, and puts ON a thin,
hard polish that lasts the travelling man
or senator all wet day. There is a
place in Chicago called the Chicago
boot-blacking parlor, where 1900
shines are made in day, only with
bristle brushes. and they send to New
York firm to get them. You can not sell
a brush to the proprietor of hotel
backing stand which has not French
polish and a groove for the fingers and
thumb.
When a rosy but perhaps delicate
woman goes to the Turkish baths for the
first time she is treated by the attendant
with only goats brush. Her soft, pink
flesh could not stand anything rougher.
So the brush trade must furnish what is
wanted for every class of people and all
conditions Of life. People often talk of
camel's-hair brushes, but there is no such
thing in the market. They are made of
squirreltail hair, which is got from the
red squirrel of Russia, though perhaps
the majority Of camel's-hair brushes are
only skunk hair.
Probably every man, woman or child
uses hair brush, but not one in thou
sand knows where the bristles come
from or how the brush is made. On en-
tering a factory one is struck by the fact
that no machinery is used. If il were
not for boring holes there would not even
be lathe in the whole establishment.
Every brush has an exact weight of
bristles in it. On the benches in front
of the workmen are scales in which they
put the bristles which are to form a
brush, and then as they sew them
in, or stick them in holes with cement,
they gauge the five or ten ounces Of
bristles so that the allowance will hold
out for the entire brush. This is done
solely by the touch, and the brush
makers knack is the estimate of his skill
and salary. They are paid by the piece
in most places, and unless brush is cor
rectly made they must take it apart and
make it again. Many earn $50 a week.
The hair brush in the rough is piece
of wood, perhaps six or twelve inches
long and one or two wide, and has no
curved shape. The bristles are sewed in
with wire before the handle is sawed out
or the end rounded. There are so few
men in this country who can cut out the
handles Of brush with artistic accuracy
and beauty that they command large
salaries. The stiff end of bristle is the
root. The other end is split, and it is
owing to this fact that the shoemaker
has what he calls a waxed end for sew
ing with. He braids or twists the two
parts of the split end with his heavy
sewing thread and the bristles is his
needle. There is fiber or nap on o
bristle so noticeable that if one tries to
work it between the thumb and forefin-
ger against the nap the bristle will move
in directly the opposite direction from
that intended.
The public know so little of the quail
ity of bristles that manufacturers have
found il easy to deceive them with cheap
limitations, and some firms make moth
ing but the inferior article. Their fac
tories are called slaughter houses in the
trade. They pay their hands by the
week, and undersell the market. A
fibrous root called tampico, found in
Mexico near the city of Tampico, can be
split up into bristles when dried and pre-
pared. 1t looks like bunch of bristles,
but has reddish tinge. Rice root is
used, too, for horse brushes. A genuine
bristle can be told by the way it burns
flashing up and curling like a snake.
Tampico burns with a steady light, and
slowly.-New York Star.