The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1889-09-26
SODA WAFER FouNTAiNs.


HEED BY Boston.
There Is one great industry. almost
monopolized by Boston, which seems
never to have been written up. How
many people are there who know that
4our-fifthsa ofssall the soda. MATER an
paratus In the world is manufactured
In this citya Two small factories, one
In New York and the other in Phila-
delphia, produce the remaining one
fifth. More than half OF the entire
demand in this way is provided for by
q single concern here, which sends its
fountains and other fizzy drink para
phernalia to all parts OF the earth. 1t
costs more to build soda water
fountain Of the first class than to put
up moderately expensive house. The
finest pattern made is sold for &c, 900.
Such an elaborate affair as this is not
constructed for the New England
trade. The descendants OF the frugal
Pnritans do not care for gorgeousness
SO glittering in their apothecary shops
1t is in the booming. and galluptious
West TINT one obtains his virtuous
tipple fresh drawn from miracle like
this in vert-de maurin marble from
the Pyreneos and Mexican onyx at 26
cents a pound in the crude, with mir,
rors Of French plate and pure silver
fittings.
One gets some notion OF the vast
ness Of the industry when it is learned
that two Boston firms are tho largest
users Of fine colored marbles in the
world. Nearly all of the material in
this line has to be imported, though
some brown Tennessee marbles are
employed for cheap work. The most
costly marble is the beautiful green
traced vcrt-de-maurin already mem
toned. Slightly less precious are the
Algerian red marble. the Belgian
black. the ST. Beaune, and ex-
quisitely notified Namur. There
is scarcely country in the world that
is not drawn upon for its marble,
which arrives here always in huge
blocks just as 1t comes from the
quarry. The first step thnn toward
building the fountain is to cut such a
-block-twelve feet cube, let usssay-
into slabs, and the manner In which
this operation IS performed would ex-
cite your astonishment After being
chafed down by steel wheels with wet
sand the slab is polished Iaboriousiy
by hand with whetstones. The final
shine is put on by felt eaf'h kind of
marble recurring some particular kind
of assistant ffS the performance of this
process. such rs jewelers. rouge,
polishers' putty, or oxalic nciA Cir
cular holes are cut u the slab, n de-
sired, with revolving steel saws.
though little ones are made with a
a small tabular drill, the piercing end
OF which is set around with circle of
good sized diamonds. Those stones
are not of the precious variety, how
ever, being black and not useful for
ornamental purposes. But they cut
just the same. Beveled and rounded
edges are put on by revolving steam
instruments that do the work auto
matically, and thus the piece Of
marble is turned out in finished shape,
to be bottled and cemented with others
into the soda water fountain of which
it is intended to form part. The
marble dust produced incidentally to
the processes described is mostly sold
as an Ingredient for asphaltum pave
mont mixture and to adulterate
putty. The making OF the fountains
inside work is not loss 1aborous than
the preparation and construction OF
the marble exterior. 1t does not occur
to you to imagine. as you quaff a re-
freshing beverage dispensed by the
apothecary, what wonderful amount
of thought and really scientific In
genuity have been required to pro-
duce for your benefit that frothing
glass OF soda water. with its delicious
'.bite" and flavor at a temperature OF
50 degrees Fahrenheit. -Bostor Cor
Chicago Tribune. ~.