Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-18
BUTTONS OF IVORY.
Most of Those Used on Coats Nova
days Are of Vegetable Growth.
MADE FROM A WONDERFUL NUT.
It Grows Wild in the Equatorial Regions Of
South America.
THE SHAPING AND THE C0LORING
rcoRREsroNDENcE OF THE DISPATCH. :,

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DIsPArcH.I
NEW YORK, Oct. lido you know oi
! what material the buttons on your coat are
made? Well, perhaps if you did you would
never recognize it in the raw For in four
cases out of five it is material vulgarly
known as vegetable ivory. To the trade it
is the ivory nut.
Down on the pier of the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company will be seen long rows
of sacks made of jute which bear the ap-
pearance externally of being filled with po-
tatoes. These are stacked up at the head
OF the pier in the open air. There is no
danger of them being carried away, for they
are as heavy as lead, and in their present
state these nuts are not extremely valuable
Potatoes would not remain in that exposed
position untouched q single night. The
ivory nut, however, is valuable only when
it comes from the hands of the manufacturer
in the button or the ornamental state. The
ivory nut is grown in the equatorial re-
gions of South America. The principal
point OF shipment is Colon on the isthmus.
HOW THE IVORY GROWS.
Like the banana the ivory nut is perennial
in its native cline, and may be found in all
stages from the bud to the ripened nut at all
seasons of the year. It is brought to the
United States by both sail and steam vessels,
so the trade is now sufficiently heavy to war
rant speciality of the article. Very few
people have ever seen it in its natural state,
which is in great punches incased in shell
which houtwardlyresembles in diamond rough
ness the surface of pineapple. The entire
cluster of nuts in this she'll is as big as
mans head and looks like-well, it looks like
no other variety of natures products. This
she'll or outward protection of the ivory nut
comes off easily after the nuts are ripe. At
this stage they fall from the trees, which are
about IA or Is feet high, and are packed
on the backs of natives to the points Of ship
ment. The nuts themselves are grouped
together within the covering somewhat like
chestnuIs in the burr. which nut they re-
senble in shape. They are singly about the
color of an unwashed last years potato,
and as hard as an elephants tusk.
THE TREE ISN'T CULTIVATED.
The grain of the ivory nut is white and
even of texture so that it is easily carved.
sawn and worked into any desirable shape.
1t should be said that there are about 30
nuts in one of these clusters. The ivory
nut tree is not farmed or raised artifcially
as is the banana tree, but grows in its natu-
1aI btdGc duu dlGtE lGS own manner In the
forests the same as the hickory or the chest
nut or walnut.
About four thousand tons of the iyory
nut are brought to this country annually.
Owing to the cheapness of the raw material
there is not more than hundred and fifty
thousands dollars per annum involved in
the traffic. From Messrs. Snyder &
Wheeler, in Pearl street, 1 learned that
perhaps fifteen hundred persons in New
York were employed in the handling and
manufacturing OF the ivory nut and its
products.
"The principal use of vegetable tyorv
now" said Mr.. Wheeler, whose firm of bro
kers deals in the rticle incidentally, ais in
the manufacture of buttons. A good many
people probably think that the buttons on
their spring clothes are made of rubber or
bone-and so they used to be- Now,howeyer
vegetable ivory is the principal material
used. The nut in its green state is filled
with milky substance which hardens upon
rlpen1ng into q fine, even grained tough |
substance. In this state it is sawn into
slabs of the necessary thickness and turned
into buttons by machinery.
MAKES A CAPITAL BUTTON
"Unlike the rubber button and bone it is
not affected by heat OF cold and is less liable
to break in the eye. The manu-
facturers are located in number of Eastern
cities, though the raw material that comes
to this country is usually landed at this port
The cost of manufacturing is the principal
item ps expense. About so per cent of the |
cost OF the manufactured article is in the |
labor. The greatest production in this coun- |
try was in 1889 and 1890, but the Germans
having the advantage of cheap labor are |
now able to successfully compete with |
American manufacture 1t is true that most |
of it is used in this country, but we are now |
getting considerable amount of the manu- |
1actured article from Germany. The duty Is |
40 per cent, too, Is per cent of that being q |
raise under the Mckinley act.
mo, they do not enter into the question OF |
competition as to pearl buttons. With $780, |
900 representing the annual outlay on the |
raw material, and 70 per cent of the entire
American product, you can figure out to
yourself about the amount Of money in
volved in both handling and the manufact-
ure. In the earlier stages of Its use vegetable |
ivory was principally known in the shape Of |
ornaments of various kinds. II you will re-
member number Of years ago it was ex-
tensively handled by train mon and street
fakirs who peddled baskets full of little
trinkets made from the ivory nut. At pres
ent practically the whole product of the
Ivory nut goes into buttons.
CAN COLOR THE BUTT oNs.
One of the peculiar features of the material
IN relation to buttons is its suscep tibility to
,oloring matter. 1t can be colored anything
that is desired by the manufacturers. You
will notice that the artistic tailor makes use
,f buttons to garments. In the Scotch
weed suits of light and mottled texture, or
of any color whatever where q
,olid button is used, one in perfect harmony
With the material may be selected. The
varieties in shape and color are almost
countless. The material takes the color
inely, as said. The buttons made in this
country from it are just as good as those
made abroad, the point of competition be-
ng in the cost of labor"
Above the door in the brokers' office hangs
me of the great clusters of the ivory nut In
Is native shell. There is probably not a
nan in 10000 among the most intelligent
Who could tell what that exhibit is. The
luts when taken out or even rs they are
brought in the sack at the pier will when
craped with q knife give off a rich odor
irnilar to what is known as the Brazil or
ream nut. They smell good enough to eat,
hough it would take a pretty powerful set
# teeth to crack one. Lying there stacked
p on the pier they are interesting if only as
Illustrative of the great variety of extraor-
inary things brought to New York from
arious parts of the world and the ingenuity |
# those who have cleverly adapted them to
he uses of mankind.