, 1889-04-09
MANUFACTURING CORKS.
FACTS ABOUT A USEFUL BUT NEG
LEcTED LITTLE ARTICLE.

Dame Nature Kind to the Trces-The
machinery Used In Reducing the Bark
to stopper" and How 1t Works.
Just at the present time q business
which makes about as little as any bust
ness can well make and keep itself from
swapping is the making of corks.
Chicago can boast of but two such es-
tablishments, and at first glance there
seems literally no reason at all why 1t
should not be a most lucrative business.
There is ever a steady demand for
corks; the employees are kept busy almost
continually and receive tolerably fair
wages; each of the Chicago houses has n
good trade, both wholesale and retail,
yet they make no money.
Some time ago the cork manufacturers
formed n league under which thoy bound
themselves to certain things. For a
time all went well, but soon it was dis
covered that several were not fulfilling
their agreement and the entire thing
was, to put it mildly, busted"
vt present, therefore, they are pro-
ceeding on the "go as you please" plan,
and each N is heartily sick of it. OBJ
stinacy and the hope of better things in
the future are all that prevent many of
them from selling out.
What would champagne be without
the cork, and yet when it leaves its N
tum in the mou of the bottle, with its
soul inspiring pop" so much anxiety is
felt TO get at what is beyond it that no
thought whatever is given TO the insig-
nificant cork; yet had it the gift of
speech Of what wonderful things it could
tell
II lark AND ITS COST.
Every piece of cork which enters his
city has been brought all the way from
sunny Spain. In the climate of no other
country will the cork tree, whence it all
comes, thrive rs under the blue skies of
Spain. Large quantities are shipped
every ear from Madrid, Lisbon, and
N or two other cities, one of the Chi
cago houses alone using nearly 5000
bales last year.
The entire bark is stripped from the
tree trunk, leaving it naked and bare,
but Dame Nature is kind, and o n new
covering begins to appear, of which it is
again deprived b. lyman, rapacious of gain.
Seldom is the bark of much more than
an inch in thickness, for the good reason
that it is usually taken off ere it has time
to grow thicker. However, the tree can
not live and be robbed of its bark ~oftener
than once in six years.
The bark is broken or cut Into pieces
averaging n foot or more in length and
various widths, pressed fiat, and
packed in bales. These are transported
to some seaport town, slowed away In
vessels, and carried to New York. The
average cost of n bale upon landing runs
from S1S to $50 or 500, depending, of
COURSE, upon the quality Of tho material.
Some of the bark is exceedingly porous,
with streaks and holes running through
it, which does not bring the price, natur-
ally, which is paid for that which is en-
tirely free from blemish. The last men,
toned is called velvet cork" and used
only in bottles filed with the finest wines.
Such n self willed substance as cham
pagne otherwise might mako its way
through the cork.
Upon reaching the factory the bales
are unPacked, and piece by piece soaked
for n short time-not more than ten or
twenty minutes-in n vat filed with
boiling water, after which the cork is
softer and much easier to handle.
A cutter takes the pieces, places them
within reach Of a rapidly revolving
wheel, with al edge SO sharp that it is
best to keep ones fingers at n safe dis
tance. The bark is cut by his wheel
into strips, the width of the diameter of
the required cork. The strips are then
placed in front of a cylindrical Instru-
ment, which moves back and forth Mt
the will of the mi nipulator, and punches
out the corks, much after tho same
fashion that our grandmothers punched
out those good old fashioned cookies,
which were the delightof our childhood.
The next machine with which the cork
comes into close contact is a most com
pick one. A cup like receptacle is ex-
tended, the operative. in the case spoken
of, n young girl, quickly places therein
the cork; it Is withdrawn, held against
a horizontal, sharp and rapidly ~revolv-
ing wheel in such a manner that the out
side is pared off with that peculiar soft
crunching sound that cork makes, leav-
ing one end reduced In size and the
whole cut in a uniform shape.
The waste material and finished cork
are then dropped by the machine into
receptacles placed to receive them and
the cup extended for yet another cork.
The whole thing is lone in the twink
ling of an eye; almost before you see
the cork in place it is trimmed, dropped,
and the machine is ready for another.
. The operator sits in q low seat beside
the machine, and as she feeds it per
forms with head and body a peculiar
weaving motion back and forth, al
though she herself is evidently uncon-
scious of 1t.
Everything in this country is lone by
machinery, but the reporter was shown
come beautiful carving from cork lone
by hand by foreign workmen. A small
cottage was complete even to the
shingles on the roof and the palings of
the fence. A linked chain, which had
been over a yard long and all made of
one piece of bark, was also quite a curl
osity, al were the neatest of wine
glasses and several other small articles.
Chicago Tribune.
A Chicago Millionaire.
Potter Palmer, the Chicago millionaire,