The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-03-22
A IALK ON CANES.
Differ Ient styles and Different Ways
Carryfpc the sticks.


Differ ent Styles and Different Ways of
Carrying the sticks.
The fashion in canes, as well as in
the way of carrying these necessary
concomitants of stylish dress" said 8
dealer IN these articles, changes
from year to year. When our fathers
were lads the proper caper was TO car
ry a whalebone or malacca stick. The
dandies OF those days apparently never
learned that a cane should be carried
in any other way than by its handle
1t remained for the young men of the
present day to invent the aesthetic
style Of swinging a stick that is deli
cately balanced between the thumb and
forefnger, while the proper accompa-
nying gait was the springing walk
with bent knees and arms akimbo.
Then came the genuine aesthetic
style with all its hmpid impness, by
which the langUid cane was held in
front of the body, while the elbows
were well forward and the shoulders
more bent even than in the swinging
style. The fashion of holding the fer
rule down followed, then of grasping
the stick by the middle with the ferrule
pointing forward, and now the cane
should be carried by the mid
die with the handle forward The
material for canes is even more varied
than tho styles of carrying them.
The buckhOrn handle and plain stick is
about as popular now as any thing and
is the result of the reaction against the
craze for silver heads. Many canes
are made from imported woods, the
celebrated whongee sticks coming from
China, where they are celebrated for
the regularity Of their joints, which
are the points at which the leaves
branch of The orange and lemon are
highly priced and are imported prin-
cipally from the West Indies, although
Florida is supplying many of these at
the present time. The orange stick is
known by its beautiful green bark,
with fine longitudinal markings and
the lemon by the symmetry OF its pro-
portions and both prominence and reg
ularity Of its knots. Myrtle sticks
have a value on account of the pecul-
iarity Of their appearance and are inn
ported from Algeria. The IA jah stick
is another Importation and is n species
of palm grown in Borneo. Those canes
known as palm canes are distinguished
by al angular or more or less gat sur
face, are brownish or spotted in ap-
pearance and have neither knob nor
curl. The most celebrated Of all palm
canes is the maiacsa, which doubtless
viii never lose its popularity with men
! of middle or advanced age. The ma
| lacca stick is cut from a species OF
| calamus, a slender climbing palm, and
! does not come from Malacca, as the
name would imply, but from a small
! town on tho opposite coast of Su-
! matra. Other imported canes s,re Of
| ebony, palmetto, rosewood, thorn,
| cactus hairwood, partridge wood and
| lots OF other varieties. The manufact-
ure of canes is by no means the sim
! pie process one might imagine it to be.
| In Jersey many families support them
/ selves by gathering sticks tit for canes,
! which they find in the swamps,
Strengthening them with an old wise.
! ste;lming them over a common iron
! kettle, and after roughly scraping
them. sending them in bundles TO the
city manufacturers Many imported
| sticks come in their native twisted or
! crooked state and have TO be straight
! ened by mechanical means in the fac
tories. The process is to bury them
in hot sand until thoy become pliable.
! In front Of the sand are boards about
six feet long fixed at an angle inclined
! TO the workman and having uotchcs in
! their edges When Il stick IS pliable
the workman puts it in notch and
| bends it in an opposite direction TO
! that in which il is naturally crooked.
| 1t IS then left awhile to set. To form
| an artificial crook or curl for the
handle the workman places one end
! in a wise and thon bends it, at the
same time pouring on the yielding
! wood 4 constant stream of fire from Il
| gas jet. Sometimes the wood Is
| charrcd, but this is rubbed smooth by
sandpaper. There are lots of other
interesting points about canes, which
have not time to enlightcn you upon
| just now. Come in again aud I'll tell
you some more. Brooklyn Eagle.