Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-05-07
a LAMP CHIMNEY.
The Hard Work Necessary to Make an Ar
ticle That Sells for SO little.

FtNie tnht Sells Tor SO little
BE careful not 10 break that lamp
chimney, It doesn't cost much You saw
Let MS see. That chimney. which you
are handling so carelessly cost thou
sands Of dollars in brain and travel and
machinery and strong mems strength,
and the freghtnge Of gallant ships. You
don't see then, how we can buy it for
ten cents? Well there are many, many
thousands Of them being made every
day, so the manufacturer divides up the
expense and let's US have them cheap.
But even one could never have been
made without that enormous expense.
Did you ever see one made? have.
went the other day to a factory where
they turn out one thousand seven hun
dred gross each week. Figure that out,
can you. 1t comes some where near
million a month, does it not?
suppose that You have some sort of
a dim notion as to the mixture of VIII ch.
glass is made. Sand and soda, You say,
and you recall the story of It's discovery
by some Phenician Robinson Crusoes,
who set their cooking vessels on blocks
of rock soda on the sand, and whose
fire fused together the sand and soda
forming a crude glass,
But | fear that glass would hardly
satisfy your fancy for lamp chimney.
You would find fault with il as having
too deep a tint of BLUSH green and
losing its luster as time went on. 1t
might be better to substitute lime for
soda, and still better to use both of
them with the sand. Indeed, for a very
first-class lamp chimney such as you
and need to brighten up our wits and
enliven the family circle, we want sew
eral additions TO the first crude formula
of sand and soda" You want, doyou
not, clear, smooth glass, tough enough
10 bear your Needless harding and all
sudden changes of temperature?
Then this is our combinations First
inter cor saltpeter) which we shall bring
from Chill, in South America, where it
is found in great quantities. encrusted
upon the surface of the ground; next
pearl-ash or potash, from Holland
where it is obtained from the refuse
left after making sugar from beets; the
soda-ash is from England and is pro-
duced from rock salt which is mined in
Great Britain. These first three in
gradients are all varieties of the soda
element, which is what is needed to
fuse with the sand, in order to make
glass of any description Some of
them add beauty of color and some brill
liancy. II is a great secret of the trade
10 get the proportions exactly right.
Then comes the sand. The very best is
found near Berlin, Germany, where
there is a great tract of sand. thirty
miles square, The lead is truly Amer
lean Ito its praise be it said, and is
mined in Missouri, is brought to the
factory in great solid bars called pigs.
There it is subjected to a current of
heated ain. which oxidizes it. changing
it into red lead or oxide of lead 1t is
curious that one hundred pounds Of pig
4ead make one hundred and ten pounds
of this oxide So be careful how you
say light as air for You see that the
air it is which adds the extra ten pounds
of oxygen to the lead. This red lead
increases the luster of the glass. To all
this mixture, which Won viii hear the
worlxmen call 'frit, " ask them TO add a
certain amount of broken glass, for here
we will gather mp the fragments that
nothing be lost" Have YOU learned, by
the way, that this Scripture rule is the
rule of the business world? 1t is grow
ing to be SO more and more. Now our
men viii load up great carts or bar
rows. Of this frit and transport them TO
the fire pots. These great pots, or
crucibles, of clay are placed IN
the furnace. Opposite each pot is
a door in the side of the furnace.
Through this the pot is filled with the
fritz the furnace is closed. and the glass
is left TO fuse in the intense heat until
it is ready to work. Then the door is
opened and a man comes with his lolw,
hollow blowpipe He thrusts in one
end and brings out lump of redhot,
molten glass. He blows through the
other end of the pipe and the glass ex-
pands into ball. lie points the pipe
downward and moves it up and down,
blowing meanwhile, and the ball length
ems into u shape much like a chimney,
Then he runs across and sets il in 4
frame and hurries back with another
pipe for another lump Of glass, The
second man takes it and gently. but
swiftly. twirls it as he blows through
the pipe Then boy lifts the cover OF
chimney shaped mold, into which the
man lays the mass Of redhot glass on
the end Of the pipe The cover goes
back in its place and the man blows
through the pipe The glass expands
filing the mold. and the chimney come,
out quite perfect in form, except that i
IS closed at the top. This man ear
shape seventy each hour Now Ii,
thrusts it into a furnace till it is almos
melting, and bringing il out, cuts hol,
at the top, and with a shaping lash,
gives it its form. Now the chimney