Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-01
BRUSHES OF BRISTLES.
How They Are Manufactured by
 Hand and Machine.
Where Good BristIes Como From-Ths American Hog Not Up to Growing Them-Brush-Ma Makers wsses-The
 Views of a Manufacturer.

Them-Brush- Makers WsSes-The Views of Manufacturer.
 "Learning trade now isn't what 1t was when l was boy" said prosperous Mar ket street (St. Louis) brush-maker to a Globe Democrat reporter. ''I worked four years before I received cent of pay. Now, boy beglns and thinks it hard if he can not get mans wages at the first, and in few months he thinks he knows all there is But about brushes.n
 Then he went on to tell that there were two kinds - machine and handmade Brushes from Eastern houses were mostly machine-made, but he turned out nothing but hand-work. Beyond this classification there were also sample and compound | brushes. The former have but one tuft, such as those used by painters, and are made principally of the hair of camels, bad gers or goats. With this kind he has noth- ing to do, only making those for which bristles are required, which are fixed in the brushes back by being what is techni- cally called "drawn." The brush-maker's wife, an expert in the work, gave a demon stration of the process.
 The back of what was to be horse brush when finished was taken. It was full of small holes. In the bench was a large pin. around which was wound fine wire of cop per and tin, made expressly for the pur- pose this being more tenacious than copper alone. A loop in the wire was passed through hole in the brush back, and a pinch of bristles put in the loop that was then drawn back through the hole, doubling the brlstles as it went. The bristles were not pulled clear through, but there were enough to fit tightly in the hole The wire was pulled snug by the pur- chase on the pin around which it was coled' and, the operation being repeated with each hole, there was complete and unbroken network of wire holding the | brlstles in place when all was done. As ! each row of brlstles was secured, it was 1 cut to the deslred length with large pair of bench shears. There only remained, then for second back and handle to be sewed on, and the brush was ready for boxing The woman chatted merrly, as her hands flew at their task The brstles were ar- ranged in a box of the right width to let them lie across, all the "butts'' being one way. She held a bunch in her right hand in addition to grasping the brush back with the first two fingers and thumb, and took the pinch for the loop of wire with the left hand. Practice had made her perfect, and her rapidity was wonderful.
 "A brush like this," said she, her words keeping time with her hands as they flashed back and forth, 'has four hundred and thirteen holes, and I can draw them in an hour can tell by the feeling almost to a single bristle whether have picked up the right quantity. This drawing is the French way. You sec I double the bristle so that the heavy end is saved, the top, or light end, being cut off. The American way IS to put the bristles in any way, with out regard to which is the top or the butt Then, when they are trimmed, there are two cut ends and so much more danger of splitting. They would not allow that in French shop.'
 All the bristles for good brushes were said to be imported Those for clothes, hair, horse and other brushes come from Russia, and fine white bristles for shaving and varnlsh brushes from France. Amer lean brlStleS are too short and soft to be of any use except for cheap brushes, and it is customary to mix split whalebone with them. Russian bristles cost S195 to s. 90 per pound, and $1,000 worth of the best can be packed in a common flour barrel. The American hog is not the right kind to get good brush bristle from. He is killed too young for one thing, it was asserted In Russia the hogs are allowed to grow old and big, and their longest bristles will meas ere inches. The difference in wages paid brush-makers in France and America was brought up
 1.-The best work" said the Market street manufacturer, is the toothbrush We
 
 America, because it don't pay In France girls draw them at cents for 1,000 holes, and 6,OOO or 1000 draws is a good days work pay 25 cents per 1000 draws for horse brushes, and have had girls earn s9 week. Girls are peculiar, though. had one girl lately who had no trouble in earn ing S9 a week, but all of a sudden she dropped to g. When I asked her what the trouble was she turned up her nose and said she didn't have to work any more, she was going to get married'"
 In making tooth-brushes the bristIes are wired the same as in a horse brush, except the wire is very fine and the holes are not bored through. They go nearly through, leaving thin shell at the back
 After the holes ars bored they are con- nected by sawed line that stops just short ot the end, this line allowing space to do the drawing and keep the wire hidden The interstices are then filled with cement The virtues of good toothbrush can be pre- served for long period by observing care in shaking the water out after using and standing up as to dry as quickly as pos sible. By allowing the bristles to remain wet they swell and spread the space made Ill saving until section will split of, as well as lose their life and strength. A cer- tain class of brushes are made without being sawed. If these are examined it will be seen that holes have been bored in the bristle end of the handle, and nicely plugged up The wire is worked through these holes, and it is claimed that ths effects the same result as is secured through the sawed back.
 In 1870 a machine was patented for mak- ing brushes 1t folds the bristles and forces them into the hole by a twisting motion at the rate of a hole a second. The bristles are fed from a metallic comb. The bristles are separated and doubled by plunger that has rotary motion and literally screws the bristles into the brush Some of the machines work in a string to hold the bris- ties, but if this breaks it can not be re- paired. The objection made to the machine brush is that the bristles have weakness for coming out, whole tufs at time. This is a gratifying episode during the making of toilet, as the bristles are sure to fly in all directions, and the easing up of the pressure by the escape of one tuft is usual ly the signal for wholesale stampede.
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