The Red Cloud chief., 1889-10-25
MUSCLE AND JUDGMENT
b Two Prime Requirements Of the Gold.
LeAt~r's Trade.

AND JUDGMENT /
the Two Prime Requirements of the Gold
heaters Trnde.
Collaborating isa trade OF muscle AMI
Judgment There is judgment in know
ing how to strike the little package Oh
The stone. muscle in the hammers
~ciOck-like rise and fall. The motion
Is q OF the wrist. The worhmas'S
elbow joint stiaens. the hammer falls
and rebounis Nearly to its starting
point So. actually. it is not the
physical effort. it seems. even though
the hammers. n for each process.
weigh eighteen. twelve. and seven
pounds.
Each beater receives fifty penny
weight ofgOld. rolled from the bar into
the fOrm Of n crinkly ribbon seven
yards long and an inch IN width. Cut
into lSJ pieces these go into the
''cutch." This consists vi detached
leaves of a vegetable fiber. betxeeu
each OF wtehi is placed 4 piece OF gold.
Slipped ir.tpa tightly-iit;in: paI. she
package is laid On the stone ard Sss,
hSmrner falls again and again the aim
being TO drive the weight toward TIE,
edges. From 5he Clutch" the sheets.
then leaves. ARE picked out With
curious bOXwOod pincers. Harding
with the fingers especially ut the lut-
ter stages. wousl be most likel2 to-
break the leaf. Each Leaf is then Guar-
tered by Il section of bamboo cane on Il
little implement Known Us a ..waSou,,'
but'in reality 4 tiny sled.
The second pad il, the "shoder." II
has 80 leaves and Is /. inches square
The force of the blow, here is greater.
The leaves are beaten, oIt To- the VERY
edge as they Were not before. and thes
gold o0ze u The@s. particles are
carefully brushed of i,sN an apron at
tached 10 the stone. for the workman
must account Tor every ore of his fifty
pennyweights.
In the third process there are three
''mOlds" of 300 leaves each and five
inches square. Each mold requires
some four hours work. Che leaves
are now 40 thin that the slightest mis-
Judgment will produce disastrous re-
suits. In spite of the nca. generated
by the blows dampness cr1seps in be-
tween the edges. Dryness is,positively
essential here: 50. whenever necessary.
the mold Is placed in IA press-not un-
like an ordinary copying prcss-just
taken from IN oven. A shors pressure
liberates th. moisture.
When sufficiently beaten Use mOlds
go to girls. who with pincers and
wagon" make up books of twenty-five
leaves each, three and thrcs-eighth
inches square Each workman. from
his beating os three mods IS to fill
books. That is called . .tail."
For it he receives 50. The moiGs show
total number of 400 leaves. Eighty
books need but 900. For every other
book he a I'll. perfect leaves only
being used. s, cents is paid. Thus. il
every leaf was perfect, he wOul1 m;Zk a
81 Is extra. %
As the ''wagna" cuts the leIy, -
inches square Ehere is u continual
This. with the imperfect
is put in with the shOder waste.
Il is all melted into a ''buttOE' and
weighed. This mast come to 33 penny
weights. For the 80 books II penny
weights is allowed. but they may weigh
the workman ear make Them
The thinner the leaf. so long as perfect.
the better. Whatever the waste weighs
over 33 pennyweights 81 a penny
is paid the workman. For ev-
cry pennyweight under 81. is dedrrted.
Thus. although the gold is useGl Over
again. it takes 51penny weights To turn
out IL. And. again. n eve
he turns out an over number Of
may have such shortages IN his
as to bring his balance cn tho
wrong way.
Three beatingsa week is the average
number. The skilled wOrkmaIr can
make $50. and perhaps a little more.
The actual number OF men employed is
there being only l75 in this city.
Most are Eng.lshmen. Collaborating
is done principally in the East. BOSTON
and Philadelphia furnishing nos: Of
the other wOrkrnen. 1t is in the latter
city that the largest shop in the Emitted
States is located A union regulates
wages and matters Of the trade The
out of a.sNld-beaters' shOp.vhere
q number of me r employed is a
expensive matter. Each mans
personal outfit is worth some $3.50. the
.Olds alone costing $50 apiece.-N. Y
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