The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-04-17
BILLIONS OF TooTHPlcKs.
Made by Machinery in Maine Chiefly, and
by Hand in Portugal md Japan.

by Hand in Portugal md Japan.
Nobody knows how many billions of
wooden toothpieks are made and used in
this country every year. The aggregate
is SO enormous as to lie practically meal
culable. And to the total of the domestic
product must DO added the imported
toothpicks.
While the output of this industry is so
vast, American ingenuity has improved
automatic machinery until it requires
the employment Of comparatively few
persons. Ninety five Ter cent. of NIL
toothpicks manufactured in the United
States are made from white birch timter
in franklin county, Maine. and yet
scarcely mere than hundred persons ale
employed in the industry in that State.
Outside of the State Ct Maine, the prin-
cipal factories are in Pennsylvania, Mas
saehusetts, and western New York.
Some maple and Poplar are useil IN the
manufacture of American toothnickH.
but white birch is the standard timber
in ali the factories.
TIE industry Is o very simple ole
Fist, of course, comes TIE work of The
Ioie.bers, or Iumhermen. In the forests
or Maine every winter tAere az great
camps of lumhermen engaged IN telling
and hauling out titnEer Tor vsslOus COM
mercinl uses. MEeney er tie foreman Cf
camp comes across particularly fine
wnite birch tree he orders il cut down,
anu the mail part OF the trunk laid aside
TO be resei we'd for the toutupick factories.
When enough legs have been obtained
h. nj I'll
nearest Tue factory, whence they are
hauled by taHms 10 show that tue vast
supply OF toothpicks colnesffrcm very
small proportlonate quantity CT timber,
1t may be said That not mule than 5. 90
cords Of wood nre used III this industry
annually.
When the logs reach the factory they
are first stripped ct their bark. The logs
are then PLAYED on trucks, moving on
rails. and pushed up to tie automatic
fLachlnes ny which they ara cut into ve-
heers. VeneeIs, as applied TO this Indus
Cry, are thin strips OF wood of about the
dimensions OF. an ordinary piece of BLOT,
ting paper-that is, the strips are about
as thick ss the toothpicks IRE INTENDED
TO be and as W lde rs tee picks will De
long. Extreme care must be exeI cised
in placing tue logs in the machines SO as
70 have Tie grain run straight in the
strips. Tie veneers are led into ma
chiDe co imposed OF peculiarly shaped and
rapluIy revolving knives, the edges af
which are as sharp as they can be made.
1nls machine works automatically and
with 1reDienhouS speed, and is so COLI
structed that the finished picks come
forth sharpe ned at both euds at the rate
OF tens of thousands an hour. 1t requires
only few weeks for the factories to turn
out supply sufficient to meet tile de-
mand for whole year. Then the facto-
ries are shut down again, to remain
closed until the following spring. The
wages paid to American workers in this
industry range from 81. SO to So 90 day.
Most of the toothpicks made in Maine
come firm tim Der that has been seasoned
] in the open air. Picks of that material
retain something of the natural sweet
ness Of the birch and maple. and are soft
and pllacle while retaining sufficient
nrmness. Kiln dried wood is apt to re-
suit In too much brittleness, causing
sharp spiinters to break off, which injure
the enamel of the teeth. Recently some
of the American manufacturers have
been putting up toothIicks in miniature
barrels highly ornnmenled by carving or
hand painting. These are turned out at
I. the same factories.
The best toothpicks made anywhere in
the world come from Portugal. They
are Whitfield by hand from orangewoou
splints by peasant girls, the only tool
used being an ordinary jackknife. These
picks are as smooth as ivory and will not
break into splinters. They are expensive.
Ihe girls no make the picks receive
less than ten cents day. AS the duty on
the foreign made picks is only IS per
cont. they can be sold here for less than
picks of similar quality could he manu-
featured in this country, despite tho in-
proved A american machinery and skilled
labor. The profit on American picks is
I almost exclusively on the cheaper prod
sxncts. Some of the Portuguese picks are
j; highly ornamentei with hand carving.
i4They are too expenfiye for ordinary com
IDerce. Small quantities have been i'm
ported into this country On rare occasions
for use at notable bsDquets, or as unique
specimens of hRndicrafJ.
Next to Portugal, japan sends the
greatest supply CT toothpicks to the
United States. These are made By hand
from fire reeds. Jhev, too, are sold in
Gloss competition with tho nerican
prodHct, owing to the cheaper labor In
japan. The cases in which the Japanese
picks are incloged are fine specimens of
skill with the jackknife. They are of
wood, cut into strips as thin and deli
cate as tissue paper, but very strong
The cases are ornalnented with hand
painted Japaness scenes and are OF size
convenient to be carried in the vest pock-
ct. The competition between the Japa-
nese ana Portuguese makers ON the one
side and American manufacturers on the
ottei has become SO keen that Mir. Ding
ley has proposed for tbs new tariff law
duty on foreign toothpioksl. almost tw ice
MS great as the one contained in the pres
emit law. An importer of toothpioks said
recently that the japanese picks can be
made and sold Gin the American market,
cases and all, for loss than the cost of this
paper boxes that contain the domestic
rioks.-New York Sun.