The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-04
so Years Of Cures.
USES OF TIN FOIL.
Growth of an Important Industry
From n Humble Beginning.


The ever-growing extent and variety of
the use of the substance known as tinfol,
as wen as the many ornamental forms in
which it is now supplied, must have at
tracted the attention of large numbers of
persons most of whom, however know
nothing of its origin, history, or mode of
manufacture. Only persons past middle
age, as a rule, are aware that this article
is a product of the last half of the cen
fury, and few of these recall the facts
that it is practically an American inven-
ton and was first introduced in New York
The invention was made in 1852 or 1858
the writer's Informant being unable to tell
the exact year without a search through
old business papers. There was then liv-
ing in New York young man named
John j. Crooke who had been connected
with the drug and chemical trade, but
whose inventive faculties led him to eX-
pertinent in lines outside his own vocation
The East River front, in that neighbor-
hood of which Seventh street was one of
the busiest points, was in those days alive
with the industry of the ship-carpenters.
and young Crooke had opportunities for
observing many details in the construction
of vessels According to the recollection
of an old friend of his, he conceived the
idea of OVERLAPPING iron bolts with copper,
SO as to provide a cheap but good substi-
tute for the bolts of pure copper used in
ship building, and as sequel of this at
tempt which was not successful, devised
the plan of combining two metals for the
production of tinfol. The same narrator
saws that the inventor associated two or
three other young men with him in the
enterprise, and, with little borrowed cap
ital, secured some sets of secondhand roll
lers at the price of old iron, with which he
70 of n a
small building In Stanton street Robert
Crooke president of the John j. Crooke
COMPANY and nephew of its founder, had
not before heard of this account when it
was mentioned to him the other day, and
said he had understood that tinfoil was an
independent invention, not led up to by
any other He also believed that new ma
chinery had to be devised for the produc-
ton of the article. The statement of the
man who knows most about the matter,
the inventor himself, could not be obtain
ed, as he is now living, at ripe old age,
in Colorado. giving his attention to large
mining and smelling interests Oh Which ne
is the proprietor.
Prior TO Mr., Crooke's invention, the only
tinfoil known was pure tin, beaten thin
by the same process, that is applied to
gold leaf. OF course, this was expensive,
and it was liable to be easily torn, so that
it was used chiefly for the wrapping of
up in ornamental shape. 1t was made
only in England, and little was imported
TO this country. Mr.. Crooke hit upon the
idea of rolling tin upon sheets of lead
and welding the two metals together, lead
being the cheaper of the two, while tin
has more tensile strength and Is more
pleasing to the eye. His first rolling-mill
was at Nos 1886 and 337 Stanton street.
where the rolling method was applied
both to the new foil and to pure tin. A
business card of this establishment has
been preserved, which bears the inscrip-
ton: Foil Rolling Mills and Metallic
Cap Works; tobacconists' foil, plain or en-
bossed; the sheet-foil for druggists and
bottlers superior to the imported article"
The new fol. was first used for the wrap
ping of fine-cut tobacco, which had pre-
viously been wrapped in paper only. Its
advantages for this purpose were obvious,
including its slightly appearance and its
property to keep tobacco moist. The noted
John Anderson was among the first of the
tobacconists to use the foil extensively
and his example was soon followed by the
Lorillards and others. The printing or
stamping of names and designs upon the
foil was a speedy outgrowth of its manu-
facture, which was stimulated after the
war times by the printing of the inter-
nal-revenue stamp directly upon the to-
bacco wrappers. A contract for this work
was obtained by Mr. Crooke from the
United States government, after many
complaints of fraud and of loss to the rev
enue through difficulties connected with
the use of paper stamps
Vast quantities of the foil are used for
the packing of domestic Limburger cheese.
the material being sent to the northwest
ern states for that purpose by the car
load. The wrapping of cigarettes in tin
foil is comparatively new development
the importance of which is manifest when
the extent of cigarette manufacture is
considered About one-half of the OUTPUT
of the Crooke factory is rolled in pure
tin, as the proprietors always insist that
only this shall be used when the foil wrap
ping is to be directly In contact with food
Large amounts are taken for the packing
of yeast cakes and also for fancy cheeses
and other fooo products of the "delicates-
sem order. A great demand for the
PURE tin comes from the manufacturers
OF plug tobacco, who use 1t for the wrap.
ping of the separate plugs and also in
sheets between layers of the tobacco. When
a machine for packing tobacco was in
vented. which required tinfoil and paper
to he fed into 1t together, a process was
devised by which the foil was furnished
already backed with thick paper and firm.
~ adhermg to it. The pure tin, by this