Evening star., 1896-02-08

They keep in countenance the candied
straw berries, cherries, violets and ., rose
leaves that are but one-half as costly-sell-
ing at the same rate as the familiar glace
fruits-and the unfamiliar caprice" which
looks as though scented red or amber wine
had been frozen in to hail
So much the casual customer sees. One
who inquiries into the reasons and processes
of the shop will find after a little question:
ing that the owner of it is a big manufac-
turer as well, and that there is very much
more to this fairy merchandise than what
Immediately meets the eye. AS, for exam
PIE, the pattern maker. He stays at the
very top of the building-where he has a
factory in miniature. Usually he is a
farlslan, and always an artist of the first
water. Often he speaks no English; but he
hardly needs it, so eloquent are his ewes
and fingers. His domain is a pattern of
cleanliness. The copper kettles shine. the
marble moldlng slab is immaculate, and
SO are the great mans big apron and white
Starched CAP
From his flavors, sugar, fruits and nuts
he is forever evolving new colors and com
pm pLnauons. HIS experiments are sent into
the snop and, if they take" the pattern
and formula go at once to the factory for
wholesale use. Yet pronounced successes
are rare and it is not too much to saw tha +
1ne inventor of taking and entirely new
sweet would receive from the candy makers
more than the Roman emperor offered for
new pleasure.
Meanwhile our artist stands beside the
three
handy They are sharp and short, of yari-
Gus curve and temper In front of him.
above the slab, is long-hooded gas let. or
rather an iron cylinder through which shoot
eedies or hame Ii is perhaps foot above
the slab, and heat from it keeps the CANDY
there Workably warm without melting II
is just now long roll Of pea-green. which
the pattern maker is turning into youny
peas half open. He cuts off a bit from the
end, rolls into ball as big as a marble. fla +
tens it and sets other smaller balls in a row
along the middle deft wrist motion
turns the edges of the fattened bit toward
each other-and, behold! there is your pea
pod to the life, opening delicately to show
the fruit within.
The peas are an Easter fashion; they will
be passe before Thanksgiving. Fashion. Won
see, has very much to do with the success or
1allure of such wares. That comes to Won
more than ever forcibly when you step into
the stock room and note the array of fancy
baskets, bags and boxes, the cost of which
runs up into the thousands; yet this ulti-
mate value wholly depends upon their catch
ing the fancy of the Buying world This is
particularly true of the things of lace and
seasons. o. @s
Still these are hardly so Interesting as the
h.g, squarish, commercial-lookins pauer
boxes one finds little further on First
rosy young women line then. generously
with fine waxed paper; then they go to 9TH
ers, who fit into Them divisions of stiff ma
u
candy Is delicate. ItfcalnDt bear even its
own weight without crushing, and is pack
ed barely one layer deep with these i'm
maculate tenders between the various com
ponents. u III
Next the boxes gp to the fillers-brisk
young women, each with silver tray hold
ing one particular sort Of bon bon. Thew
pass up and down the tablerwhere the boxes
are set, putting one piece, neither more nor
less, from the trays they carry into each
subdivision of the box. The candy must be
handled delicately, and for the most part
with tongs. Then the waxed paper Is folded
over, the top put on, and the box wrapped
and tied. After that it is sealed and stamp
ed with the makers name and guarantee.
Once upon time the process of candy
making was summed up with two words
sugar and skill; but candy in these end-of-
thc-century days means very much more.
Whatever the world yields of flower or
fruit, of nut or spicy essence, has been laid
under tribute for the sweets of our time.
A candy factory has very much the look
of any other factory-except that it is, in
every part, kept scrupulously clean The
machinery, too, may lcok thought more
incomprehensible than the ordinary bands
and pulleys and shafts and cog wheels.
But there is no mstakipg the use Of the big,
deep. beautifully polished copper kettles:
Sugar Is put into them, barrel at time,
with more or less water. according to its