The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-07-01

STAT Iurpose-<A Big macn1no 100 IN
tricate For Description.
The inquisitive man alighted from
the cars in the CITY of Lewiston, Me. :,
and stood OH the station platform in an
attitude of indecision, for he was at a
loss to say i'll which direction it would
be most desirable to turn.
Il can earn dollar day packing
tootllpicks, and that is better than
working in the cotton factories," he
heard little girl say to companion,
and instantly the inquisitive man had
found an occupation.
Packing toothpicksl Of all things,
prefer to see q toothpick factory, and
it is fortunate I Numbered on board
that train,' he said to himself.
Then, with the air Of one bent on
most urgent business, the inquisitive
man set out in search of the toothpick
factory.
1t was not so imposing structure as
he had expected to see, but there was
so much hustle and semblance of i'll
dustry everywhere around the establish
ment that his disappointment us to the
general appearance Of the building was
soon forgotten.
lnclosing the structure, as if to pre-
vent its escape, were long rows of small
logs and short rows of big logs, each
one exactly four feet in length, from
all Of which tho bark had been neatly
ana entirely removed
Its birch and maple, of course. We
don't use any other kind" small boy
said i'll answer to the inquisitiye mans
question. 81 reckon you re stranger
round these parts?"
Il do not remember ever having been
hero BEFORE
Then guess you never have, be-
cause you wouldn't be likely to forget IL
toothpick factory if you'd ever seen one
We make 100000 picks day, and
that's quite Il pile. Anyhow, you'd think
so if you had to count 'cm before get
ting bito to eat Want to see the ma
chine?"
Can you show it to me?''
That's what I'm hero for
II should think that it would Ice
more profitable to work in the factory
than to idle your time away answering
the questions of ignorant people like
myself
That's where you make big mis-
take, mister. It's a mighty mean man
who won't pay me for showing him
round, and pick up fair wages when
there's n good crop of visitors. Come
along, and I'll show you the toothpick
business. Here i'll this yard the stock is
sawed into pieces Ga inches long"
And the small boy pointed to the in
closure i'll which IL dozen or more circu-
lar saws were buZzing and humming as
they quickly divided the logs into the
required lengths.
All pieces not clear and straight
grained were thrown aside, and the re-
malnder was being packed into barrels
so made that wide crevices appeared be-
tween the slaves.
Yes, that's all right, the small boy
said, answering the inquisitive mans
look OF inquiry. The stock is being
packed for the steaming room When
tho barrels are full, they'll be taken
there and left about three hours, when
the blocks will be almost as soft as
leather. Charging the wood with steam
drives out all the sap. and it is then
ready for splitting. Come this way and
you can see how that part of tho work
is done''
The small boy led the visitor to n
room i'll the main building, where was
what is known as a veneer machine"
a piece of mechanism not unlike Il lathe.
which was rapidly converting the wood
into pliablo bands, hardly thicker than
ordinary cardboard. The keen knives
cut the Ga inch blocks so readily and
smoothly that tho general appearance of
the work was much as if roll of cream
colored ribbon was being unwound and
thrown carelessly on the floor. Two
boys were gathering up tho damp ma
terial and winding it on huge spools.
They're getting it ready for the big
machine" the guide said as he chewed
fragment of the wooden ribbon. "Ev-
cry one of the spools holds about 100
feet of the veneer, and the rest of the
work is done so quickly that you won't
have much OF chance to see the oper-
ation.'
The "big machine" was so intricate
that the inquisitive man realized that
he could not describe it intelligently,
even though he should spend many
hours studying its construction. He
saw at one end of Il long, narrow struc-
ture, filled with wheels and knives,
arms on which tho spools of veneer
were hung and observed that men push
eel the ends of the wooden ribbon
through narrow slots, where it was
seized by little steel fingers.
He knew that somewhere inside the
machine the material was being cut,
trimmed and smoothed into fiat picks
with ohisellike ends. for directly oppo.
site to where the veneer was being fed
to the iron workman long spout shot
out toothnicks in heMildnrirn nn,nhnrs