The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-02

piece goes to polisher, who uses wheels of willow, cork and fiber with ground pumice stone, putty powder and rouge as polishing materials. The willow wheels have segments that are joined together so that the wear Is across the grain of the wood, the ends of the fibers carrying the polishing ma terials and working with proper fric- tion. Gradually all of the lines that have been cut become clean and clear as the polishing progresses. It is dirty work throughout. Water and sand cover everything in the roughing, wa ter flies from the smoothing wheels, and thin paste bespatters the polish CT. In the final cleaning whirling brushes remove every particle of dried paste or powder, and the piece comes forth brilliant lustrous and perfect. In that way a butter plate, worth one dollar, and a punch bowl, worth one dollar and half, are produced. Many pieces are spoiled during the process, notwithstanding the careful attention. One workman may handle many pieces without accident, and then be bothered by something that he could not pre- vent.
 A fine sense of touch is needed when a workman will cut half way through a punch bowl that weighs several pounds, and then, with the same wheel, cut half way through a champagne glass. Some times the pieces become so fragile that they are crushed to splinters when pressed against pol ishing brush.
 Il. ,4r. of fI,o nf cutting, smoothing requires the most time. A dozen decanters, with sim pie design, can be turned out in ten days, whereas single piece, with special and elaborate design, may re- i quire a month. Duplicating a special design in order to keep set complete, and cutting down a broken article to save as much as possible of an elabo- rate design, are some of the trials that workmen undertake.
 l Competition in :, the production of original designs and shapes is so great that many of them must be patented for the protection of the designers. (
 The possibilities of combining lines and figures for designs that can be ap- piled are numerous, but the restrictions are numerous, also, and, while the pro- duction of new shapes and the enlarge ment of the field for cut glass are giv- | ing wider scope to the talent of design CTS the close imitation of pressed glass is urging designers and cutters on to better results and the use of more cost ly materials in some of the old lines.
 The efforts to give glass the brilliant luster of precious stones the vibratory l qualities of precious metals and the 1 toughness of other transparent sub stances have resulted in the production of some remarkably fine pieces here and in Europe, and the beauties of the art of cutting are appreciated now more than ever before. The nlanipula- tion of the crude material is resulting in more artistic shapes, and the cut ter's handiwork is under the supervi- sion of trained minds, although the machinery remains rude. Facets, points, prisms and futed spaces reflect and dissect light in dazzling quantities, according to established principles and applied experience, and the ordinary observer must be impressed by the large displays nowadays An examina- tion of the outside of many articles of cut glass does not reveal the extensive cuttings so we'll as one of the inside. Look inside if you wish to trace the delicate lines of an elaborate design.