The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-04-30
$50, 900, 900 POKER CHIPS.
The Annual Product of the United States
Factories.
(rrom tie New York sun.


Enough poker chips are manufactured
in the Cniued States every year to make
stack oye1 sixty miles tigh if placed
one on top OF the ct or. If laid edge to
edge they would e2tena along the entire
length CT the Erie canal on the towpath
and back again, with sufficient number
over to STOCK hundred high playing
gambling houses. This is only The an
Il ual pIonuot What tue total number of
chips in tn country is no nun can tell.
FOR years the novelty and specially
compares have bean turning out the
chips, and, taking into consideration
the lasting qualities OF the disks, one
may estimate conservativelg that there
are many more than a5a, Ut0, 800 of these
tokens mat are psrd to .epreseGt the
coin IN games OF chance.
Where, When OF now tho pokeT chip
originated is a Ii ysteiy. The name of
| the genius who d.ecq., red 1t was easier
to lose q colured bit vi metal or bone
than to p TT w46h IA portion Ut the uni
yersal circulating iAe"lum Is lost 10 MIS-
tory, but his wsuuM - still rtcog niZed
anu his example followed. The poker
ohip industry is not an adjunct or side
line to a manufacturing establishment,
but business that is recognize as legit-
innate, productive and profitable.
The chip is one of the simplest things
to make Imaginable. Ivory chips have
had their day; so have the bone ones.
Men will not pay the price for these ar
ticles when tha substit utes do as well.
The time was when old school gamblers
played with square, oblong and ootagonal
markers, but now the degotee OF chance
stakes his fortune on the circular chip,
and cares not whether it be expensive or
cheap, as long as the banker Is honest in
the redemption of it. 10 make poker
chips is as easy as the ohildlike pastims
of making mud pies, ana tne process is
somewhat similar.
South America is one of the largest
consumers OF chips. The people, of the
repu blios there seem to take to playing
games of chance as naturally as q BARN
acie takes to ships cotton. Mexico
uses an enormous quantity, usually of
Nm expensive variety. The Mexicans ara
fond of ornament, and their faro ana
poker chips are bright with gold and sill
YER. inlaid in rich designs. The lumber
men OF Canada call for Thousands of the
cheap kinds, and in fact, every civilized
and semi civilized nation outside of
Europe uses the Amsrioan-made article
The process of manufacture is interest
ing because of its simplicity. The COM
poDition-and each firm has its own for.
IN uIa for this, which Is kept secret-is
mixed and dyed and then passed between
stone rollers, from Which 1t comes in
sheet ABOUT half an inch in thickness.
These sheets are cut into squares of
about eight inches and allowed 10 hard
en-.
AtterWard these squares are put on
heated plates and softened to the oons}s-
tency of dough. The workmeu cut them
into narrow strips and lay the stripp
across the face of heavy steel die, which
is now subjected to pressure of ca O0o
pounds After minute under this heavy
weight, the die is opened and the ohins
fall out. Girls put them on a polishing
wheel with wonderful rapidity, and thon
the chips are ready for boxing and shin
ping.
:, You can have your choice of grades in
cn ~ s. from 1 y, thousand up to So apiece
1T all depends on your taste
and your willingness to spend money
put the fancy ones are not included in
tne returns OF the manufacturers, for any
order below 100, 600 is too small to be
nuisance.