The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1892-05-19

NJ NH04 tCaOCIS Oh ItN
Mtx3NHA GOLD LEAF are
N8E3&S6a many boys who
/M 1EW 'NSH viii find the follow
~! 1IA)X,gAing article on the
\ N;,IsL> >I2,W subject of how
HGt9 7 marbles are made
rI of special interest.
I y And there are men
N. also who will
doubtless snd in it something to in
terest and instruct them as we'll. 1t
was written for the Chicago Inter-
Ocean by Benz. Northrop:
"What becomes of all the marbles?
There are 100000 marbles
brought from Germany and sold to the
boys and girls of this country every
year. That would give every child of
the marble-playing age about fifty
marbles year, and yet in spite of this
a marble two seasons old is not com non,
and one that dates back four years is
old enough to pass as an antique, and
is kept by its owner "for luck" like
Continental dimes, Peter Barlow
knives, and relics of bygone days.
No one can tell you what becomes
of the marbles, but l can tell you how
marbles are made.
They are all made in Germany, and
marble grinding, molding, glazing and
painting form one of the chief indus
tries in large part of the Thuringen
Woods. The work is largely done by
the peasant woodlanders in their
homes.
The commonest of all marbles are
the "brownies About 600, 900 900
of them are imported every year. They
are not made from clay, as most boys
suppose, but from a peculiar sort of
sandstone which is found in these Ger
man woods. Throughout the district
there are large numbers of quarries and
mills. These are owned by the marble
capitalists. The stone is cut into small
squares by machinery. These are then
| distributed by the miller to the work
men, who take them by the carload to
their homes. -'
The process of grinding is primitive
| in the extreme. Each workman has a
machine about as large as a sewing
machine. A treadle which is worked
by the foot furnishes the power. The
machine consists Of two disks, one Of
which rests on top of the other like
pancakes on plate. The lower disk
is made of iron and is grooved with u
shaped furrows, which start at the
center and 60 out to the edge as the
spokes of a wheel extend from the hub
to the rim. These furrows are wider
at the rim than at the centre. In the
centre there is round hole precisely
the size of the marble which is to be
made from the square piece of stone.
| These grooves are filled with the
small squares of stone. Then the upper
disk, which is made of wood, is pressed
hard down upon the lower and the
treadle begins to work. At each pres
sure of the foot the wooden disk re.
wolves. With each revolution the edges
of the stone wear off until the squares
become round, and at length the
finished marble drops through the hole
into the box below. The stones are kept
wet during the grinding by flow O.
water into the projecting edge of the
iron disk. These are different disk:
for different sized marbles.
THE CUBES OF STONE IN THE GRINDING
DISK.
China marbles are nodded from ella,
; in factories where they are baked ane
glazed in the New Jersey factories
These factories, however, are small
affairs for the most part, and the worl
is done by hand and foot power. Th'
clay is nodded in foot-power pres
, which looks very much like grind
. ing machine and has two disks which
. come together but do not revolve
: Each disk is filed with semi-roun
: holes like that in one-half OF bulle
] mold. When the disks come togethe
a the halves of the holes fit tight,
, forming a perfectly round mold. Th
f clay is fitted into the holes of the lowe
{ disk. Then the upper one is draw
t down, and when the pressure
removed the marbles are found lyln
in the cups on the lower disk ready fe
the baking. The pressure is SO gre:
that the clay which does not find roo'
in the molds is squeezed out at tt
J. sides, where it may be scraped togeth'
and use.l owe, again.
After the marbles are dried, bake
and glazed, they are sent to the pea
!: ant painters. Painting, like marbl
grinding, is done at the homes of Il
workmen. The painters machine IS
foot-power contrivance which lool
like turner's lathe set on end.
r the end is small cup into which 4
marble fits. When the treadle
pressed this cup revolves. The paint
dips his fine brush in paint and hol
it to the marble. One revolution pain
4 blue equator on the little glot
s. Another brush and second revol
lie tion paints a red tropic OF caprice
iOther intermediate latitudinal liz
are traced both north and south of
:. equator. Then the marble is turn
10 10 half way around and the process
ls repeated. When it is finished the lii