Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-03-01
bows were well forward and the should

bows we're well forward and the should
ers more bent even than i'm the swing
ing style. The fashion of holding the
ferrule down followed, then of grasping
the stick by the middle with the ferrule
pointing forward and now the cane
should be carried by it's middle with the
handle forward. The material FOR
canes is even more varied than the
styles of carrying them. The buckhorn
handle and plain stick is about rs pop
ular now as anything and As
the result of the reaction against
the craze for silver heads Many
canes are made from imported
woods, the celebrated whongee sticks
coming from China, where they are
celebrated for the regularity of their
joints, which are the points at which
the leaves branch Off The orange and
lemon are highly priced and are inn
ported principally from the West
Indies, although Florida is supplying
many OF these at the present time. The
orange stick is known by its beautiful
green bark, with fine longitudinal
markings and the lemon by the
symmetry of its proportions and both
prominence and regularity of its knots.
Myrtle sticks have value on account
of the popularity of their appearance
and are imported from Algeria. The
rajah stick is another importation and
is Il species of palm grown in Borneo.
Those canes known as palm canes arc
distinguished by an angular or more
or less flat surface, are brownish or
spotted in appearance and have neither
knob nor curl. The most celebrated of
all palm canes is the malacca, which
doubtless will never lose its popularity
with men of middle or advanced age.
The maacca stick is cut from a species
of calamus, slender climbing palm,
and does not come from Malacca, as
the name would imply, but from
small town on the opposite coast OF
Sumatra. Other imported canes are
of ebony, palmetto, rosewood, thorn,
cactus HARDWOOD, partridge wood and
lots of other varieties. The manu-
facture of canes is by no means the
simple process one might imagine it TO
be. In Jersey many families support
themselves by gathering sticks, fit for
canes, which they find in the swamps,
Strengthening them with an old wise,
stcaming them over common iron
Kettle, and after roughly scraping
them, sending them in bundles to the
city manufacturers. Many imported
sticks come in their native twisted or
crooked state and have to be straight
ened by mechanical means in the fac
tories The process is to bury them in
hot sand until they become pliabIe. In
front Of the sand are boards about six
feet long fixed at an angle inclined to
the workman aud having nOtches in
their edges. When stick is pliable
the workman puts it in a notch and
bends it in an opposite direction to that
in which it is naturally crooked 1t is
then left awhile TO set 70 form an
artificial crook or curl for the handle
the workman places one end in "A wise
and then bends il, at the same time
pouring on the yielding wood a con-
slant stream OF fire from gas jet.
Sometimes the wood j. charred, but
this is rubbed smooth by sandpaper.
There are lots of other interesting
points about canes, which | have not
time 10 enlighten you upon just now
Come in again and I'll tell you some
more. "-Brooklyn Eagle.