San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-07-25
MAKING TOOTHPICKS.
THE INoUlsiTIvE MAN LEARNS SOME
THING IN LEWISTON.

lu6 luQutsltlNS mdu dllRntSu lIOll
the cars in the city of Lewiston, Me.
and stood on the station platform in al
attitude Of INDIGESTION, for he was at ;
loss to say in which direction it would
be most desirable to turn.
81 can earn dollar day packing
toothpicks, and that is better thar
working in the cotton factories" h
heard q little girl'say to companion
and instantly the inquisitive man hat
found an occupation.
Packing toothpicks! OF all things,
/ prefer TO see toOthpick factory, ano
it is fortunate blunGercd on board
that train" he said to himself.
Then, with the air of one bent OIL
most urgent business the inquisitivt
man set out in search Of the toothpicl
factory.
1t was not so imposing structure as
he had expected TO see, but there was
SO much hustle and semblarce of in.
dustry everyw here around the establish.
ment that his disappointment as to the
general appearance Of the building wal
soon forgotten.
Inclosing 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 i'll length, from
all of which the bark had been neatly
and entirely removed.
"It's birch and maple, Of course. We
don't use any other kind" a small boy
said in answer to the inquisitive mans
question. II reckon you're stranger
round these parts?"
Il do not remember ever having beer
here before.
Then l guess you never have, be.
cause you wouldn't be likely to forget Q
toothpick fGctory if you'd ever seen one.
We make G,O0O,000 picks a day, and
that's quite pile. Anyhow, you'd think
so if you had to count 'em before get.
ting bite to eat. Want to see the ma.
chine?'
"Can you show it to REP"
''That's what I'm here for"
81 should think that it would be
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 mighty mean man
who won't pay me for showing him
round, and 1 pick up fair wages when
there's a 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. I"
And the small boy pointed to the in
closure in which dozen or more circu-
lar saws were buzzing and bumming as
they quickly divided the logs into the
required lengths.
All pieces not clear and straight
grained were thrown aside, and the re-
mainder was being packed into barrels
so made that wide crevices appeared be-
tween the slaves.
Eyes, that's all right, the small boy
said, answering the inquisitive mans
look of inquiry. 1.-THE stock is being
packed for the steaming room. Wher
the 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 the work
is done.
The small boy led the visitor to Q
room in the main building, where was
what is known as veneer machine,
a piece Of mechanism not unlike lathe,
which was rapidly converting the WOOD
into pliable bands, hardly thicker than
ordinary cardboard. The keen knives
cut the Ga inch blocks so readily ano
smoothly that the general appearance OF
the work was much as if roll of crs am
colored ribbon was being unwound and
thrown carelcssly on the floor. Two
boys were gathering up the damp ma
terial and winding it on huge spools.
They're getting itTCady for the big
machine" the guide said as he cheweC
fragment Of the wooden ribbon. "Ev
cry one CT the spools holds about lOl
feet of the veneer, and the rest of tn
work is done so quickly that you won
have much of a chance to see the opCr
alton.
The "big machine" was so Intricate
that the inquisitive man realized tina
he could not describe it intelligently
even though he should spend man.
hours studying its construction. IL
saw at one end of long, narrow struC
ture, filled with wheels and knives
arms on which the spools of venee
were hung and observed that men push
ed the ends of the wooden ribbo
through narrow slots, where it wa
seized by little steel fingers.
He knew that somewhere inside th
machine the material was being cut
trimmed and smoothed into fiat pick
with chisellike ends, for directly oppC
site to where the veneer was being fe
to the iron workman a long spout she
out toothpicks in bewildering numbers
1t was a perfect cloud Of tiny bits {
wood, which would soon have burie
the machine itself but for the fact thu
boys were gathering the harvest int
wooden boxes with wire bottoms capi
BILE of holding a peck or more.