The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1890-11-27

IN Indus Represented Ivy but One
Sssa.l in Cincinnati.

L. =. .,.s.,.t on Third street il he
nj gold Lsater's shop in Cincinnati Il
=. Iten Tia re for II years, and every
,i,r 4 those. II years the bang, lang OF
- el.er's hammer has gone on, yet
- people know there is representa-
tx. Of the ancient ard honorable"
.l:ae in our city. Ancient it is lad ed,
having been in existence among tie
Greeks, Romans. and Egyptians.
y ether they used the same processes
q. tiosc now used or not is not known,
~. !. i, thought they were very much
i..e those Of to-day. The first record of
gold beating is that of a German monk
NAMED TheopLilus in the twelfth cea-
iuy.
TIC gold used in gold beating Is EEre
= | ailoyel with copper end silver to
,ut the color required. When the gold
Is a.y lower than % carats fine it IS al
logged with pure silver, as copper makes
il 100 harsh to beat Sixteen carat gold
in so much taken the color OF silver
tat il would be mistaken for that metal.
The gold is melted in crucibleS Of Ger
man SAND. 1t is then poured into ingots,
fo. ge / and rolled about as thin as writ
iag raper This Is then cut into little
p: + c,.s about one inch square. weighing
ai4ut p ounces. Each man get $50 worth
of these twice week These are placed
i'm what is known as kutch, which IS
simply package of French pal era about
four inches square. This French paper
is Il sort OF imitation parchment and u
used in the first proce. because the gold
is then too thick to put in books OF so
called skin. In this kutch, Which IS
| fitted into an envelope of parchment,
| The gold is beaten with a IS pound ham
mer until about four inches sqdare, This
| beating is done with a peculiar motion
| The hammer comes down and Is allowed
| to rebound to about the height Of the
| beater's head. He then seems to catch
| it and throw a little higher, AMI allows
| it to come down without any apparent
effort. The Leater stands at lis work
and moves the upper half of his hody
with the hammer.
These four inch pieces of leaf are taken
out Of this "kutch" and cut into quar-
tiers. This is done with what is known
as wagon, little sled like arrange
ment with the runners made OF split
reeds, sharpened with a knife. III y are
exceedingly sharp and cut with great
ease Then those quarters are PUT IN a
i"shoder," which is Il book of "s"itl, rs
it is called. This skin is made OF tn2 in
testines of bulls and is very exlcnaiv :.
Here it is again beaten until 1t II I'D uS
four inches square 1t is then quAIter1 |
and beaten again Ill Skin iooks
"mold-. Each mold contains 1909
leaves.
To clear these leaves of skin of the
gold that adheres to them thct r.
sprinkled with brine, Which Is to De
burned and ground up and thea ! rui..ed
with an English hare's foot. The Amer
lean rabbits foot isa't fine haired
enough.
After the leaf Is taken from the mold,
having received its third beating, it il
trimmed carefully until 80 inches square
These are then rut i'll little books. q
leaves to a boo. 1wen.y books Of :;
leaves ,ach make pack, which sells tol
about 81. When the leaf is ready fol
sale it is so thil that 1t takes $50, 60,
leaves, placed one on tie other, to maze
a solid inch.
To learn the goldbca G. : trade require
an apprenticeship of four years. 1t l.
indeed more a science than trade
Machinery has been introduced III SONS
place, to 90 the bcatin;s, btt i can onl,
be used in the first and secon precise
as the third requires the skill AMI ~ Nj
, edge of just how hard to strike owing /
the different weights Of the gold. ii.
r beating is done on "stones Of Italia
| marble set in the floor. On account 0
, these stones the business can not lie ca:
ried on in any but Il ground floor.
The sweepings are all kept and refine
9 for the gold dust that is III them. I'll
broken crucibles, too, are Kept and th
gold gotten out of them. Ever thin
t must lie kept perfectly dry. 50 as 10 Irt
+ vent the l,af from sticking. In hant
: ling the leaf Il rair OF buxwood pincei
is employed. The foil would stick 5
r the fingers us to make it imroasilla
handle them,
r The foil is used principally for sigi
g and for gliding the edges and i,inding
books. One Of the largest users of f.
s in this city is a playing card firm, W /
. use it for gliding the edges Of their card
L Dentists leaf is made of pure gold al
q is not made in this city at all.
h To get the parchment needed tle Gil
cinnati firm buys up oil deed, inden
,e ures, and the like. they have a roll
"a Darchments down there that would mai
al aatiquarian's eyes sparkle No
Z them are English and of the eighteen
d century, although sometimes one Of Il
Ia | sixteenth is come across Cinci:'n.
Times Sar