Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-10-04
ABOUT GOLD BEATING.
AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF THE
CURIOUS TRADE

sot the Physical Effort IL Looks, Al
though the Hammers Used WeIgi,
Many Pounds-The Great Care Nee
essary In the Progress OF the Pro-
cess.
Gold beating is trade of muscle and
of judgment. There is Judgment in
knowing Just how to strike the little
package on the stone, muscle In the ham
mer's clock-liie rise and fall. The mo-
tion Is one Of the wrist. The workman's IS
elbow joint stiffens, the hammer falls
and rebounds nearly to its starting point
so, actually, 1t is not the physical effort
it seems, even though the hammers, one
for each process, weigh eighteen, twelve
and seven pounds.
Each beater receives so pennyweight
OF gold, rolled from the bar into the form
OF cTinkly ribbon, seven yards long and
an inch in width. Cut into $50 pieces
these go into the "cutch." This consists
of detached leaves of vegetable fibre,
between each Of which is placed O. piece
of gold. Slipped into tightly fitting
pad, the package Is laid on the stone, and
the hammer falls again and again, the
aim being to drive the weight toward
the edges. From the "cutch" the sheets
then leaves, are picked out with curious
lockwood pinoers. Handling with the
fingers, especially at the latter stages.
would be most liable to break the leaf
Each leaf is then quartered by section
OF bamboo cane on a little implement
known as ''wagon," but in reality a
tiny sled.
The second pad is the ''shoder." 1t
has 72O leaves, and is 4 ii inches square.
The force of the blows here is greater.
lanVha N,,H 60
edge as they were not before, and the
gold oozes out. These particles are care
fully brushed Off into an apron attached
to the stone, for the workman must ac-
count for every one of his 80 penny
weights.
In the third process there are three
''molds" of 900 leaves each and five
inches square. Each mold requires some
four hours work. The leaves are now
80 thin that the slightest misjudgment
will produce disastrous results. In spite
OF the heat generated by the blows damp
ness creeps in between the edges. Dry
ness is positively essential here; So
whenever necessary, the mold is placed
in press-not unlike an ordinary copy
ing pres5-just taken from an oven A
short pressure liberates the moisture.
When sufficiently beaten the mold
goes to girls who with pincers and
wagon" make up books of twenty-five
leaves each, three and three-eighths
inches square. Each workman, from his
beating OF three molds, is to fill eighty
books. That is called 'tail." For H.
he receives So. The molds show total
number of 2,700 leaves. Eighty books |
need but 1000, For every other book he |
can fill, perfect leaves only being used, |
Ia cents is paid. Thus, ii every Leaf |
was perfect, he would make S1.75 extra. |
NAs the ''wagon" cuts the leaves 8 3-S |
inches square there is a continual waste. |
This, with the imperfect leaves, is pu |
in with the shoder waste. 1t is all |
melted into a "button" and weighed.
TITS must come to 80 pennywcight4
For the eighty books II pennyweights i
allowed, but they may weigh Whatever
the workman can make them. The thin
ner the leaf, so long as perfect, the bet
ter. Whatever the waste weighs over
50 pennyweights 81 pennyweight J.,
PAID the workman. For every penny
weight under, 81 is deducted. Thus, al
though the gold Is used oyer again, it |
takes so pennyweights to turn out H.
And again man, even though he turns
out an over number OF books, may have
such shortages in his waste as to bring
his balance the wrong way.
1nFee Deatlngs week Is the average |
number. The skilled workman can make
$40, and perhaps a little more. The ac-
tual number Of men employed is small.
Most are Englishmen. Gold beating is
done principally in the east, Boston and
Philadelphia furnishing most Of the
workmen. 1t is in the latter city that
the largest shop in the United States is
located. The fitting out of gold-bea
er's shop where a number of men are
employed is rather expensive matter.
Each mans personal outfit is worth
some $3.50, the molds alone costing $50 a
piece.