The morning call., 1893-01-09
Thousands of Them Kept
i'm Stock.
A CHAT ABOUT CUTLERY.
The Styles Change Every Two Years.
Gentlemen Now Carry Only
Two-BIaded Knives.


unless we happen 70 be Interested ~ the
business. and some Of the big cutters can.
when they feel In he hum0T. tell some sur
prising things. The way the country boy is
dissatisfied with his new knife while he sees
1t Ia the store surrounded by dozens OF
other shining knives and how much better
it looks when he has ii at home all by itself
is a familiar old story. But suppose the
country boy had to select bis knife from an
assortment of 10000 knives? That is the
number of pocket-knives that some of the
large cutters in this city keep in stock.
Cutlery is composed of knives and forks,
scissors and such little trinkets, some read
ers may be Inclined to say. and there is
nothing about it that we are not familiar
with. Very we'll, then, that challenge is
accepted at once. Here Is piece OF cutlery,
for a beginning. that most people know
nothing about. 1t is a combined knife and
fork for the use OF one-armed men. The
cutters discovered some time ago that one
armed men found the use Of the knife and
fork very unhandy. as they bad to lay down
the knife before they could begin operations
with the fork. Not only this. but the regu-
lation knife, without the assistance Of
fork to hold the food in place while cutting,
showed the food all about the plate. They
therefore produced what they called the
knife-fork. This instrument has a handle
like any ordinary tabie-knfe, but the blade
Is broader and sharply curved. The cut
ting edge Is on the convex side, and with a
semirotary motion it will cut piece of the
toughest meat without altering its position
on the plate. The end of the blade opens
ont into three prongs, Ike broad fork. and
with one of these instruments a one-armed
man can hold his own at any boarding.
house table. Occasionally an uniformed
customer tries to buy one of these knife
forks for an icepick. but the cutler always
explains its use.
In the mere matter OF pocket-knives,
which are familiar enough TO every male
human creature, there is great deal to be
learned at the cutters. Some sacred menu
cries have TO be buried when we begin to
imbbe information. For instance, the boy
of the present is Gebarred from the inesti-
mable privilege OF carrying Barlow knife.
Every good man who was once a country
boy will smile with inward satisfaction at
the mere mention Of Barlow knife. Its
handle was iron two-thirds of the way
down, and the remainder was rough
bone. 1t had only one blade, but that al
ways made of good steel. Ii sold for from 6
to 20 cents, according to the pocket Of the
boy and the conscience of the retailer. 1t
was so big and strong and yet so we'll
shaped that it was equally useful for driv-
ing a nail, cutting down sapling or extract
ing silver. But the Barlow knife is no
more. Fashions In pocket-knives change
every two years, the cutters say, so 1t would
be too much to expect 10 find any trace of a
knife that was common enough thirty years
ago. No doubt Barlow himself is dead, but
his~name was once as familiar to American
bows as Peter Parley's.
The many bladed pocket-knfe also has
gene out OF fashion. IL has not disappeared
as completely as the Barlow knife. for the
cutters still nuke and sell it, but it is more
for curiosity than for actual use. Ten
foS hin1Y "a 10 a SfN
bladed knife had to hide its diminished
h, ad before one that had eight blades. So
completely has the fashion changed that six
and eight biaded knives may now be bought
on the street stands for % cents, warranted
as much steel in the handle as In the blades.
The genleman's pocket-kDife OF to-day has
two blades, and Is eminently The knife OF
common sense.
You must not" one Of our large cutters
SAYS, speak OF think of pocket-knife as a
luxury; IL is necessity. No gentleman can
do without one. But it is used only, in the
city. for sharpening pencils. eIasing ink and
perhaps for cutting the nails. Two small
blades made of good steel are as good as
dozen. The demand is all for knife Of that
surt, with handles 10 suit the fancy and the
pocket / can sell you such knife for %
cents or for 500, and in both cases tn steel
of the blade Will be the same. The 25-cent
knife will hava.a common bone handle, the
500 knife will have handle of gold. per-
haps ornamented with little diamond
chipping or two; but for use 1t Will be no
better than the other.
The pocket-knife most In favor at present
has two blades, one at each end, and the
point of one blade is rounded off and bur-
nished especially for the care of the nails.
This part of the knife has no sharp edges. SO
that it is impossible To cut either the skin or
the rail with it. The cutters say, with some
show of reason. that the ordinary knife
point, which Is sharp, scrapes away little
ridge on the inside OF the nail and so makes
a receptacle for The deposit of more dirt.
This knife. which is a prominent repre-
sentative OF the style IN vogue, is
broader ia the handle than common.
and the handle is faced all over with
bone or ivory, without any metal
In sight except on the back. When
a man wishes To make an ambulatory
to0-shop OF himself and carry not only
knife, but scissors, comb, glmlet button
hook. avis and a dozen other instruments,
all contained within the same handle, he
buys one Of the eighteen-bladed affairs that
are sometimes seen. These denominations
were III great request few years ago, but
they have gone completely out Of fashion,
particularly in the city, and when they sell
now it is principally TO countrymen. Some
of them are mole than an inch in thickness
and very unwieldy in the pocket. Some
gentlemen who wish to be classed as
that is known as 1.-THE horseman's FRIEND"
which includes q small tool for extracting
stones from q horses foot and corhserew
for extracting other things.
The 1900 different styles of pocketkniyes.
of which 10000 specimens are kept in
stock, are only part of the endless variety
of instruments made for carrying in gen.
tleman's pockets. If we were to accept
everything the cutters offer us and carry all
their little inventions In our pockets, the
smallest man to be met In the streets could
not weigh less than 200 pounds. Keyrings,
ma;chboxes, buttonhooks, tobaceo-boxes,
cigar cutters, metal cigarcases, scissors,
stampboxes are only few of the pocket
articles.
every responsible dealer" says the cut
Ter, rs very particular about the quality of
steel in the knives he sells. His reputation
depends upon that. a good poeketknife
should last lifetime with proper care. But
how few gentlemen take care at all OF their
knives. A good knife should be oiled aud
cleaned frequently, aud the dirt should be
cleaned out OF the joints.
The cutters all believe in the encourage
ment of hunting, because when a city man
goes a-hunting be usually makes an arsenal
of himself, and carries along enough knives
and other tools to supply a tribe of Indians.
A good hunting-knife is considered one OF
the first requisites, although professional
hunters and irappers get along very nicely
with An ola Jackknfe. The swedish hunt
iDg-knife is one of the most popular for
this purpose. 1t has ring at the end to
fasten to the belt Che belt also is to be
bought at the cutlers), and the handle shuts
down into the blade. The fly-open knife is
also POPULAR with hunters. because when
spring Is touched the blade flies open. The
theory is that the hunter is struggling des-
perately with his prey with one hand and
mas only the other at liberty to operate his
knife with.
Occasionally new article of cutlery
comes 10 remind us that we have heretofore
been living in stage of savagery. The
English have given us the latest reminder in
the form of bread server" with which
the slices of bread are TO be taken up from
the plate. The bread server is. of course.
of silver. and If we would be really aud
truly English 1t must find place on our
tables at once. 1t is suggestive, this little
instrument. of something that is still lack
inp The server lifts the slice from thu