Telegram-herald., 1890-02-20
HOW CORKs ARE MADE.
Interesting Facss About a. UnDrs-
ts1z-O1s Industry.
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bzokers % Gs-Est - ssass tie Ma1z-
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There = vzil u mystery h4ngtng
over cora nlsnuise .ory ~hieh. 90
eor1inx o. TIE New Iork Lr11ne. a
eiftc--s - g4er-s. o. l1s tsenty t@e-
tories Ia E1- country none ~l-L receive
visitors. Their employees labor behind
barred portals and only d-1er nom
State charges ia not wearing barred
clothes OF taess twenty factories four
are Ia Eea ark tour Ia Boston. three
Il Lancaster. Pa. three IN Canada, ono
Il Baltimore, one IN Pittsburgh, Pa,
ene IN Norwich. Conn., and tie rest IN
unfreq aeEted places Six importers
feed these concerns with stock
A cork factory Is al odd place
Scarcely sound comes from the build
ings ~heFe tie industry Is carried on
kOlssless machinery whigls Win great
rapldityi The only sound heard is that OF
escaplng steam. Cork IS soft and
elastic, as every body knows. and IS the
bark Of Z species OF oak which grows
sbUndantly in Portugal, Italy and Spain.
principally IN Spain. Tho trees grow
- prodigiOus size and live 70 the ripe
old age OF 80 years. A. hfteen they
begin - bear and continue % furnish
new crops OF bark every hye years. The
harvesting occurs IN the early spring.
At that season Of the year large num-
Der OF labOrers are turned loose in the
wilderness and the barking begins In
cisions are made around the trees and
the bark Is stripped Of. II Is then
boiled % take out the SAP after which
it passes through the pressing process.
When dry IL IS cut, scraped, trimmed
and put up in bales like cotton for
shipment.
At the factories II IL slaced IN a square
box and steamed 20 soften IL. 50 that IL
can be easily worked Then it goes 70
the saw and is cut into long strips.
These saws are different from ordinary
saws, inasmuch as they have no teeth.
They are provided with a razor-like
edge instead. They make . coo reyolu-
tions minute, and il one should be 50
unfortunate as 20 feed his Anger instead
complete and clean.
From tho saver the strips go TO tho
punching machine. This is a simple
piece OF mechanism. furnished with
punches OF all sizes, from three-eighths
Of an inch 20 five inches in diameter.
IL is operated with 3 lever and does its
work as fast as c man can handle it.
The strips are punched with the grain,
Vnd 10 requires no little judgment 70
guard against imPerfections in the bark.
l. is here that the greatest waste in the
material IS experienced. From q strip
OF bark a trife over a foot long only
dozen corks can be mako and half of the
material is lost. But the waste does not
end here. It goes tagging the cork al
over the factory. Even those that are
so successful as 70 DO nodded into use
ful form have 20 be sorted and goodly
number are rejected. So that waste is
one OF the characteristic features of the
manufacture OF cork. Within the last
few years, however, uses havo been
found for these scraps which have con-
siderably lessened the manufacturers
loss.
After being punched into circular
form the c0rks go 70 tho tapering ma
chine, where their final preparation
comes. This is by far the most interest
ing part OF this interesting industry.
Not So very many years ago the only
tapering machine known was an ordinary
man and his knife. Now handmade
corks are unknown. This finishing ma
chine IS nothing more OF less than a
70 ,,.f.
manner Of al Old-fashioned apple-peoler.
The corks are put iu5O an iron hand,
which conveys them 10 an imaginary
mouth, when up comes the knife and the
shavings fly. The finished cork then
drops out Of place to make room Tor an
other. When running tho machine Pc
sembles hungry man. Its capacity *
about ono hundred gross per day.
But bot,le shoppers are not the only
things which arc made or cork. Many
specialues, such as cork washers Of
various sizes, caps for pocket fasks and
kerosene oil cans and sliced corks are
manufactured O. so. Sliced co-6 IS used
for insoles. It IL also used IN silk ma
cbinery where friction occurs. Tle
cork washers are fest taking the place
OF rubber ones and are now considered
the only thing with which % pack
valves, as the troUblesouo oil, which
eats up rubber. has no eject on cork.
Before uses we're discovered FOR the
waste some hundreds ~ tons were
burned Up every month, and thousands
OF dollars we're lost ia tlis way. Things
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