San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-04-28
MEERSCHAUM CARVING.
l. is A DIFFICULT AND ALMOST UN-
KNOWN ART IN AMERICA.

d. "a hriist Tells What He Knows
4 ,r, tjIv SuhJect-Some Examples Of
H. vrA--Something About Himself
and iIiS :.usiness-HOw He Proceeds.
There's curious little tobacco store on
one of the leading South End thorough.
fares. 1t has been there for many years,
and is so small that one might pass by 3
hundred times without ever noticing it,
The door opening into this little shop is
just off the sidewalk, and suspended over
the door is a large gilded wooden pipe,
which serves rs Il sign to indicate the char
acter of the place.
While sauntering down the street the
other afternoon the writer's attention was
attracted TO this little shop by noticing two
or three men gazing interestedly into its
narrow window, and he paused to see what
they were admiring. Being interested in
meerschaum pipes, the young newspaper
man thought he would like to look more
closely at some of those in the display. So
he opened the door and stepped into the
place.
It was a curious little room, perl@''S 20
feet long by or feet wide and ne.... l. .
door was a small showcase, one end Of
which contained few boxes of cigars and
the rest was filed with pipes, mostly Of
meerschaum, many of them in very odd
patterns. The shelves behind the showcase
were piled high with all kinds of smokers
articles and small boxes containing pieces
of raw meerschaum and amber.
THE SHOP.
And on the opposite wall were hung sew
eral very quaint pictures. AT the back of
the shop was n small lathe with a foot
pedal, and beside it was kit of tools pc
culiar to the work Of pipe making. At this
lathe the proprietor of the place was indus
triously working on piece of amber. to be
used as the mouthpiece of pipe, and he
looked up as the door opened aud the young
man approached him. When meerschaum
carving was spoken of he became enthusi-
astic, and was very willing to talk.
did you make those pipes in the win
dow" was asked.
yes, sir; and those in the showcase, too.
But those pipes are quite plain b, Nd" sol. 3
of the carving have done. There Is very
little meerschaum carving done in Boston,
and, in fact, there are but few first class
artists in meerschaum in this country,
and even those came from some foreign
place. There are a good many workmen
here who cut plain pipes out of meer-
schaum, because that work, like any other
trade, can be acquired; but in order for a
man to do any fine carving he must be a
born artist. In this country men learn
only a part of a trade, but where l came
from young man is Obliged to learn his
trade from beginning to end.
MY father was turner to the king Of
Prussia, and so, you see, he must have been
fine artist Ny brother and myself were
brought up in the art of carving, and my
brother was the finest carver ever saw,
either in meerschaum or wood. wish you
could see some examples of his work. How
ever, will show you some specimens Of
carving that have made, and try aud tell
you what you want to know.
SOAKING THE MEERsCHAUM.
when an order comes for pipe I some
times have to look through an entire box
to find a piece of meerschaum that will suit
the design | wish to make. Ithens soak the
piece in cold water until it sinks, which
will take from fifteen to twenty minutes.
then saw the block as near as possible to
the size required, so as not to waste the
meerschaum, and rough out the pipe with
q Rnlfe. tIaClnS Tue UIOCh on Jne ldJNe
cut the plain part of the pipe, and bore the
stem to the bowl. If the pipe is to be carved
] lay it away until thoroughly dried.
"The meerschaum has to be hard in order
to carve it. When the carving is completed
the pipe is Boiled in beeswax and then
polished. After the amber stem has been
inserted the pipe is finished and ready for
the customer 1t is not generally known,
but meerschaum pipe would never color
SO beautifully if it were not boiled in wax.
IAN ordinary meerschaum pipe can be
made in three days, but if it is to be carved
of course no specified time can be stated.
An artist might be many weeks, or eI en-
months, on a single pipe"
"Do you have many orders for elaborate
desigusi"
Not so many as used to have years ago
I suppose if had nice store down town
should get more orders for fine work. But
Americans who can afford to pay several
hundred dollars for a beautiful piece OF
meerschaum carving will, as rule, buy 1t
abroad, oftentimes as q souvenir OF some
country which .thev -h::Tn Visited have