Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1891-03-20
PIPES AND PIPE MAKERS.


Nassau street. t~twecn Beek man and
Cedar. IN built dodblc. There Ia q row
Of shops and stores there In front with
y marrow siivw aik ana suuth-i row ~
factories behind. There are many
~ tous things made In these factories,
which front on small areaways aud
old-timc courts. Sil,crware. canes.
badges. aud small machinery of all
kinds are made there. Besides there
are several pipe factories. One OF the
most interesting Of these pipe factories
Is near John street. II IN room on
the first noor lighted by two windows
which never have ray Of sunlight.
The man In charge Of the factory was
born In Austria and learned the pro-
fcssion, which his father had before
him. lie IL man well along toward
% years OF aye. with gray hair and
moustache. He wears q pair Of gold
trimmed spectacles. and when he works
he puts on gcid-rimmcd eyeglasses
over them. lie Is very proud Of his
My father lived In Vienna In the
old time" said he. lie was n genius.
lie passed six examinations In his pro-
fessioB. In amber. meerschaum. rub
Der. ivory. wood. and metals. At that
time man had To serve an apprcn-
ticeship for long term before he be-
came a journeynan; then he had To
travel around and sec the world before
he was allowed to open u shop. My
father had natural genius for his pro-
fession. and passed the examinations
without having 10 serve an apprentice
ship. lie proved that he was not an
apprentice"
There are many things in the back
room which show that both the father
aud the son were genuscs In their pro-
fessiou. There Is the cap Of tool
handle la which William Birnbaum,
the man who has charge. had made
set Of chessman. The box Is one and
. quarter inches In diameter by half an
Inch Ia height. There IL room In II
for the whole set. lie has things which
he made when he was fifteen, which
show the Kind OF an apprenticeship he
went through.
lie does not show these things to all
OF his customers. but he keeps them
put away Ia n cabinet with number
Of carved objects. One Of them IL an
amber skull. II Is less than three
quarters Of nm inch high, but the bones
and articulations are distinctly marked.
The carving II so finc that magnify
Ing glass has to be used to see IL In de-
tail. Another IL q holder whese q
monk with hollow head for cigarettes
Is laughing. but Il requires magnify
ing glass 10 sec the lines Of his mirth.
One Of the best pieces Of carving. which
also inculcates moral lesson, IN a
skull and holds tho wine bowl In place.
The wine bowl Is followed out for
cigarettes. The most costly Of the
pipes represents a mermaid holding a
conch shell close To her breast. Her
scaly tail Is twined about a large
branch OF white coral. which will be-
come brown when the pipe is smoked.
Each scale Is perfect. The mermaid has
much more expression In her face than
have some Of the big statues In Cen
trail Park. though there Is hardly half
an inch OF mecrschaum ON which 10
carve the lines.
The man In charge had a pride in
his work. He took the reporter in
his workroom and showed him the
raw amber aud meerschaum, the half
finished pipes and the finished carv-
ings. The mccrschaum comes from
Turkey in boxes. A box holds about
fifty pounds and il worth from twenty
to three hundred dollars. according
TO the size aud quality Of the pieces.
II looks like plaster Of Paris smoothed
OIL and rounded. The amber looks
like becswaS or large pieces OF resin.
II comes In pieces. and Is worth from
two 10 fifty dollars n pound. Nicer
schaum 10 make a fve-dollar pipe
costs about two dollars and half.
The amber tips raw cost about one
quarter or onc-half ~ much.
When an order comes for pipe the
proprietor goes through tho stock Of
meerschaum to get piece out Of which
the pipe can he cut with a. little loss
rs possible. four-iifths Of the mecr.
schaum Is wasted. though the chips
are often saved aud made into imita.
ton mecrschaum pipes. The mecr
schaum II first cut on n circular saw
into piece little larger than the
pipe. II the cutting shows holes OF
cracks the piece Is cast aside. Then II
Is soaked In water for fifteen minute.
and cut the rough shape with n knife.