Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1890-03-22
MANUFACTURE OF C0RkS.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT A LIT
TIE KNOWN INDUSTRY.
Cork is the Bark Of Species Of OAK
How 1t is Boiled Softcned and
Punched

Punched.
There IS i veil 2 mvstcrv hanging oFer
& cork mandatory which IS difficult -
pierce. OF the twenty factories il tbs
country none viii receive %yi.itors. Their
employees labor behind barred portals AMI
only differ from>Statc charge. IL not wear
ing barred clothes. OF theSetwruty fac
tories four arc ia this city, tour ia Ras
ton, three il Lancaster, Penn, three il
Canada; one in Baltimore, one hi Pits
burg, one II Norwich, Conn, and the
ret IN unfrr4ucntcd plact, Six import
ers feed these concerns "ith .spck.
A cork factory is AN odd pItce. >oarec
~ i sound comes from tie buildings
whore thr industry j carried ~. Noise
less machinery whirl- with greet r,pidlty
the only sound heard j that o.. c-cspiag
steam. Cotk i SOFT aud elastic. a- yer.
body knows, and j. the barb u 4 species
Of oak winch grow .,bundantll IN Potta-
gal, italy and spin, principally IN pain.
The trccs grow - = prod.1ols ..ze
ana live totlc ripe Old a@c II 10 years.
NJ fifteen they BEGIN to bral auj continue
- furnish n"w rrols -, brA every
five years, The harvesting occur. IN the
carly ,prIAg. Atifit era.,n II the year
II largo numbef 4 laborer, are turned
loosr IN the wildcfre,, and The barhin9
begins. missions are made around the
tree, and tle bark i stripped III. i Is
then boiled to take ont the sap, after
which il passes through the pr. ine pro
WA. l,, =. n ,+ 4,r.Li 2
trimmed and put al, n bales ike cotton
for shipment The bark y%arie> IA thich
ness from iralf IN inch to tiycluclp"~, and
the price iluctuAtc" from %tilrec 70 thirty
cents Il pound.
AT the lactorio- II i placed ia a square
box and steamed 70 soften it, 50 that il
can be easily worked. Then il zoe, 10
the saw and i, cut INTO long strips. These
saws are different from o|rIinart SAVE, in
asmuch IS thry have no teeth. The, arc
provided witiha razor like cti@c instead
They make 1000 revolutions a-minute,
and if one should be SO unfortunate rs 10
feed his finger instead Of cork am putt-
ton would b" just X complete md clean.
From thcsa"cr hcstrips gothic punch
in1 machine. TAi, j. i simple piece Of
mechanism, furnished with punches Of
? all sizes, from thrcc-ci@hths Of an inch to
. five inches in diameter. 1t il operated
with Il lever and 'iocs lis work as fast Is
aman can handle it. The stripes are
punched with the grain and ArcQuircs
no little Judgment to guard against i'm
projections IN the bark. It is here that
the greatest vast" in the material is cx-
pcricnccd. From 4 "trip Of barA a trIt'c
over a foot long only 4 dozen corkS can
be made, and half Of the material is lost.
But the waste docs not end here. Itoocs
tagging the cork AL over the factory.
Even those that are 50 successful rs to be
moulded into II useful formA have to be-
sorted NHd IA 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
have been found for these scraps which
have considerably lcssened the manuflc
turcrs lass.
After being punched into circular form
the corks go to the tapering machine,
where their final preparation comes.
This is by far the most interesting part
of this interesting industry Not SO
very many years ago the only tapering
machine known Wa IN ordinary man and
his knife. Now hand made corkS are
. unknown. This finishing machine IS
nothing more or less than a lathe, the
knife Of which moves after the manner Of
an old fashioned apple p%eeler. The corks
are put INTO an iron hand, which CONVEYS
them to Il imaginary mouth, when UP
comes the knife and the >havings fly.
The finished cork then drops ont of place
b. make room for another. When run
ming the marhin" resembles 4 hungry
man. Its capacity Is about loo gross per
day.
i5ut bottle shoppers are not the only
things which are madc Of cork. Many
specialties, such a. cork washers Of vari-
ous sizes, caps for poekc, iaSks and kero-
Sent oil ans and sliced corhS are manu-
featured also. Sliced cork is used 70,
%insolcs. II is also used IN silk machinery
where friction occurs. The cork washers
are fast taking the place ot rubber ones
and are now considered the only thing
with which II pack valves as tie trouble
some oil, which eats VI, mI.oer, has 10
effect on cork.
Before uses were discovered for tie
waste some hundreds Of tons wore burned
up every month, and thousands Of dol.
lars were lost in this way. Things are
different new, however. All the waste
is shipped e this city lnd mada into life
prescrverS, cork Jackets, cork sprink.ed
paper, in which glass j. packed, AMI La
oieum. This pulyerizej stuff j also ex-
tensively used e pack Malaga grapes ii,
being handy, safe and light. Bed mat
tresses and yacht cushions are also made
OF the >haylu5s, anl .re superior t.
those made Of o,hes materials. III fact,
they are So superior and ,ane So higl
that bu, few can a!!erdtat luxury. Every
well furnished Yacht, however. is thor.
oushly equipped with -Aem-Nes Ior.
Iri}4ne.