The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-08-10
TIE GLASS INDUSTRY.
GLASS Beads and Imitation Gems = How
the Eauiy Inventors Were Treated-The
Possibilities of the Future.

The master melters rank next, though
they seldom get more than half tina,
amount From these earnings the
prices slope down to the small tending
boys, who are paid thirty cents for ten
hours work. The blowers occupation
is laborious, but not unhealthful. He
works eight or ten hours at a stretch,
finishing one melt of glass. There are
four or five melts every week, each re-
quiring sixteen hours to fuse, ten hours
of blowing and ten hours of fattoning.
The work is always by the piece, and
in teams or in 'shops," each composed
of one master-workman and several
younger assistants.
There are in operation in the United
States about one hundred and sixty
furnaces, at which there are employed
about 1000 blowers, gatherers, flat
teners and cutters. They are bound
together by union that dictates the
quantity each workman may make,
the number OF apprentices that may be
taken generally not more than two to
u furnace), that prohibits any foreign
workman from getting a place in the
factories, or any glass from being made
in the months of July and August. The
average time they have worked in the
last four years has been less than eight
mon9hs and half Much of the time
lost has been spent in strikes or dis
putes with the manufacturers about
wages.
Most of the worlds beads are Vene-
tian. In the island of Murano a thou
sand workmen are devoted to this
branch. The first process is to draw
the glass into tubes of the diameter of
the proposed bead. For this purpose
the glasshouse at Murano has kind of
rope-walk gallery $50 feet long. By
gathering various colors from different
pots aud twisting them into one mass
many combinations of color are made
The tubes are carefully sorted by diam
eters, and Clipped into fragments of
uniform size. These pieces are stirred
in IL mixture of sand and ashes, which
fills the holes and prevents the sides
from closing together when they are
heated. They are next placed in Il
kind of frying-pan, and constantly
stirred over fire until the edges are
rounded into globular form. When
cool they are shaken in one set of
ievcs until the ashes are separated,
and in another series of sieves until
they are perfectly sorted by sizes.
Then they are threaded by children,
tied in bundles, and exported to the
ends of the earth. France has long
produced the pearl beads" which in
the finer forms are close limitations of
pearls. They are said to have been in
vented by NJ. Joaquin, in 1876. The
common variety threaded for ornament
is blown from glass tubes. An expert
workmen can blow 5000 or 5000
globules in Il day. They are lined
with powdered fish scales and filled
with wax. 1t takes 10000 fish to make
a pound of the scaly essence of pearl
Until recently the heirs of Joaquin still
carried on n large factory of these
The best of them are
blown irregular to counterfeit nature.
some in pear shape, others like olives,
and they easily pass for genuine.
Imitation gems formerly employed
the chief attention of the highest artifi-
GERS in glass. They are still the chief
idea of ornamental glass in China. In
the ancient and middle ages they cir
culated everywhere without much dan
ger of discovery, and their formulas
were held as precious secrets. Blan-
court first published their compositions
in 1896. Now they are common prop
orty, and with growth of science in the
past century an expert knowledge has
become widely disseminated which
EASILY detects the paste from the real |
ewel, particularly as the modern false
stones are less successful copies than
he old glassmakers produced. More
study is now given to artificial gems,
which are true gems, being composed |
If the same materials as the genuine |
mes, but manufactured.
The future of the glass industry in |
he United States is encouraging, for it |
$ only since the war that the manu-
acture of polished plate has grown up;
md there are now running or building |
'nough furnaces to supply all that will
Dc used in the country. II is within
he last ten years that the manufacture
'f cathedral and rough plate has been
thoroughly established, at first disput-
ng and now controlling the home mar
ret against England and Belgium. The
in window-glass has also
,een great, and there are workmen
md manufacturers who think they see
he rising sun of much better days and
! much better American glass. The
OF capital in powerful
must certainly lead to changes
n the system of labor that are bound
o ensure more finished product A
lew glass recently invented in Ger
many is said to add marvelously to the
'ower of the microscope. A Yale pro-
essor announces the invention of a
'erfect acromatic telescope lens.
Legend tells of the lost invention of
'malleable glass" Tiberius is said to
ave discouraged genius who found
he secret by beheading him, fearing
he innovation would reduce the value
I gold. 1t is also recorded that Car
inal Ricbelieu was presented with
ust OF malleable glass by chemist,
Tho purposely let it fall into fragments,
nd mended it before his eyes with
ammer The inyentOr was nrOmntlv