The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-04-30
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A LAMP CHIMNEY.

The Hard Work Necessary to Make m Ar
ticIe That Sells for 80 Little.
BE careful not to break that lamp
chimney. 1t doesn't cost much. you say
Let MS see. That chimney. which von
are handling SO carelcssly cost thou
sands of dollars in brain and travel and
machinery and strong mems strength.
and the freightage Of gallant ships. You
don't see then. how we can buy it for
ten centso Well there are many. many
thousands Of them being made every
day. SO the manufactures divides mp the
expense and lets 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 hum
dred gross each week. Figure that out.
can you. 1t comes some where near a
million a month. does it not
/ suppose that you have some sort of
dim notion as to the mixture Of which
glass is made. Sand and soda. You say,
and You recall the story of its discovery
by some Phrnician Robinson Crusoes.
of rock soda. on the sand. and whose
fire fused together the sand and soda
forming crude glass.
But | fear that glass would hardly
satisfy Your fancy for lamp chimney.
You would find fault with il as having
too deep 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 very
first-class lamp chimney. such as you
and need to brighten up our wits and
enliven the family circle. we want sew
of sand and soda" You want. do YOU
! not clear. smooth glass. tough enough
to bear your needless handling and all
sudden changes of temperature?
Then this is our combination: First
inter tor saltpetcr1 which we shall bring
from Chilli, 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
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 bril-
liancy. 1t is a great secret of the trade
to get the proportions exactly right.
Then comes the sand. The very best is
found near Berlin. Germany. where
there is great tract of sand. thirty
miles square. The lead is truly Amer
lean ito its praise be ii said. and is
factory in great solid bars. called pigs.
There il is subjected to IA current of
heated air. which oxidizes it. changing
ii into red lead or oxide Of lead 1t is
curious that one hundred pounds of pig
! lead make one hundred and ten pounds
of this oxide. So be careful how you
say light as air.. for you see that the
air il 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 you will hear the
certain amount of broken glass, for here
we will gather up the fragments that
nothing be lost" Have you learned. by
the way. that this Scripture rule is the
rule of the business worlda 1t is grow
ing to be SO more and more. Now our
men will load up great carts, or bar
rows, of this frit and transport them tu
the fire pots. These great pots. or
crucibles. of clay are placed in
the furnace. Opposite each pot is
door in the side of the furnace.
Through this the pot is filled with the
frit. the furnace is closed. and the glass
is left to fuse in the intense heat until
it is ready III work. Then the door is
opened and a man comes with his long.
hollow blowpipe. lie thrusts in one
end and brings out a lump of retlhot
molten glass. lie 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 shape much like a chimney
Then he runs across and sets it in a
frame and hnrries 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
filling the mold and the chimney comes
out quite perfect in form. except that j,
is closed at the top. This man ear
shape seventy each hour Now he
thrusts it into IL furnace till it is almos,
melting. and bringing it out cuts hol.
ut the top. and with shaping lathe
gives it its form. Now the chimney i.
cut free from the blowpipe at the lower
end. and the base is heated. shaped and
measured. This base must be aecu
rate or it will not fit. and YOU know
how the chimney would go wabblin.
!. about. You Or | would break it tn,
: first time we tried to carry the lam
across the room. and you See by thi
time it is altogether too valuable III
: article to he endangered. Now we hav,
plain chimney. But we are ambi
tious to have Il pearl top" So it il
seized in a clamp and thrust again int
burning fiery furnace" until the to-
is melting, when out it comes and goe
into IA mold which gives it the prett,
fare and curve of the pearl top.
Another heating smooths and round
out al inequalities. Tine rough-eu
base is secured long while ON "A ~
volving table with sand and waite,
Now you will not cut your fingers ON i,
Look at y our chimney hear the to
:, and see if you can find the name of tn
: manufacturers etched in small type Tn
- man who patented the process for etcf
ing the name studied upon it for lon
time. He is by birth German. and h
found in Germany some such process.
but it was clumsy and slow. Tina
! would not do for an Americanized lie,
/ man. and he kept experimenting an
trying until he found just the right wa