New-York tribune., 1890-01-05
HOW CORKS ARE MADE.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT AN UMPIRE
TENTIOUS INDUSTRY.

Tnero ts veil Of mystery hanging cork
manufactorv which is difficult TO pierce Of the
twenty factories in this country none VIII receive
visitors Their employees labor behind barred portals
and only differ from State charges In not wearing
barred clothes. OF these twenty factories four are
I'm this city four in Boston, three in Lancaster PENN
three in Canada one in Baltimore, one in Pttsburg
one in Norwich. Conn and the rest in unfrcquenied
places six importers feed these concerns with stock
\ cork factory f., odd place scarcely a sound
comes from the buildings where the industry is carried
on Noiscless machinery whrls with great rapidly
the only sound heard is That of escaping steam
Cork is soft and elastic. as everybody knows. and Is
the bark Of a species of oak which grows abundanily
in Portugal Italy and spain principally in Spain
The trees grow 10 a plodiGous size and live 70 the
ripe old age Of $50 yeas At fifteen they begin to
bear and continue % furnish new crops of bark every
five years. The harvesting occurs in the early spring
that Of the year large number Of aborerS
are turned loose in the wilderness and tho barking
begins. Inc,ions are made around the trees and tho
bark is stripped OF. 1t is then boiled TO take out tho
sap after which It passes through the pressing process
When dry it j, cut. scrapcl, trimmed and put up in
bale, like cotton for shipment. The bark varies in
thickness from half inch 10 five inches. and the price
iucuatc, from TO 80 cents pound.
At the factories it IS placed I'm a square box and
steamed To soften IT, that t be easily worked
Then it. goc, to the saw and is cut into long strips
Jlt~f saws are Inherent llblN oNllldA SAWS idHi'H u
they have teeth. They are provided with a
razor Ike edge iu,tcld. They make 1000 revolutions
a minute, and If one should bc unfortunate as t.
feed his fnsor instead of cork, ampuaiion would be
Just as complete and clean.
From the saver the strips go 10 the punching
machine This +, simple piece of mechanism.
furnished with punches Of all sizes, from three eighth
Of inch to five inches in diameter. 1t IS operated
with lever and doe, its work fast man can
lao SIR arc mn che1W "a the and
It requires no little judgment To guard against i'm
perfcctions in the bark It is here that the greatest
waste in the material IS experienced. From strip
Of bark tIihc over foot long only dozen cork, can
he made and half OF the material is lost But the
waste does not end here. II goes tagging the cork
all the factory Even those that are 80 success,
nl as TO be moulded into a useful form have Ia be
sorted and coodly number are icjccted. 50 tat
waste is one OF the characteristic features Of the manu-
facturc of cork Within the last few years, however,
uses have been found for these scraps which have
cons dcrably lc,~cncd the manufacturers loss.
After being punched into circular form the corls 60
the iapcrns machine. where their final preparation
comes This is by far hc most interesting part Of MS
uterr,t.H- industry. Not so very many year aso me
only taIciiuc machine known wa, an ordinary man
and Dis knife. Now hand made oorhS ar" unknown.
This finishing machine j. noillns more or i'@, liA
a lathe thr knife of which move, after the manner "i
an Old fashioned apple lcclcr. ,' c'ih' AI. l,1.
into am iron hand, which convey, Them Z" -Hi-l.al
mouth. when Pop come, the knife aud thc shtrluSs
hv The finished corl then drops ont ~ pl'c" n1l'
room for another When running th' machiu" l'.
.cmhle~ hungry man. II, capacity j, about 100
grH,s per day
But botil- -toppcrs are not the only things which
are made OF c0,k Many spccalUc-. such As cork
washers II var1.- sizes. caps for pocket TASKS a!
kerosene Oh cans and sliced coris are manufactured
also SLICED cork is used for In-uc-. II f. also used
i'm silk mach merry where friction occur. The cork
washer, fat taking the piac" of rubber ones ana
are Row u.drI,d tlc only thing with which 10 pack
valves. AS ihc troublesome OIL which ca', up rubber
ic,oro Uses were discovered for the waste some
hundreds Of tons Werr burned nap every month. a'd
thousands 4 d0lar- Vrr. lost Zoo thi- uav. Thing,
az. ffetcut now however. Al the vast. Is - Urrd
10 t- oy and made into lifc pres rvc- cork j1cho's
cork ~priuhaI Iar.r iu which c'a-- .- pach .. ana
lnulrIm. ItI- iuly'rIcl >uIH is also extensively
used 90 pack Naa-a grape, in i".H- haHa'' safe Atd
u..f. Bed u.i''i.--.- and Yacht cushions ar. al-'
made OF the shA}.l-- and aye superior 10 those uaHc
OF other materials Do fact. tlry ARE so superior and
como 30 li.. tIat hut few can aNorl tc luxury
Every we'll furnished yacht, however, is thoroughly
equipped With them
Tie cork business s. probably th" only industry
known 90 ths civilized world which las up bunker.
dealer or ., between. but there ar" 80 f." manu-
factories. aad Halted demand for the goods that
such Am individual could ro' "k" ou' an cAi-i'uc" 'n
10 alIn'. Consequently the OUU-i- are u'ir own
AGENT and the, mal." their owH sales. mostly q"
druggists and mineral water hn'tl"r. fhc c0rhs being
put up iu bag and sold iy tnr gross.