Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-07-09

Among the practical arts which
have been brought to n high degree of
perfection i'll America, that of glass
cutting is especially conspicuous. In
the higher and costlier grades of cut
glass scarcely any is imported. Eu-
rope does not produce anything that
competes with the brilliant and beau
tiful wares turned out at the leading
glass.cuttlng establishments of the
United States. Glass cut in Bohemia
Is still imported to some extent, but it
is of the cheaper kind, and is bought
because of its cheapness and for that
reason only. The fact is that Bo-
hemia has lost its prestige in glass
cutting, and the palm of superiority
is borne by America as against all
competitors. American cut glass is,
III the brOadest sense, distinctively
American. In designing and cutting
it is the work of American artists and
artisans. Originality and taste, pro.
gress and skill are the elements that
characterize Yankee supremacy in
this as in many other lines of native
manufacture.
"For several years past" said an
importer, Europe has stood still
when America was rapidly advancing
in glass cutting. In the old country
they are fogyish and conventional in
their ideas, and cling to old styles
and designs. Here, on the contrary,
the styles are new, progressive and at
tractive. Nowadays America origi.
mates all the novelties in glassware,
and has done more than all the rest of
the world combined in broadening the
scope of the art and in popularizing
its products. To large extent cut
glass has displaced decorated pottery
in the setting of handsome table.
Outside of the pieces which necessarily
belong to full China dinner set, the
fashion now is for as much cut glass
as possible. Punch bowls, salad bowls,
berry dishes, ice cream sets, vases,
lamps, candlelabra, etc, are now done
in cut glass, where formerly ceramic
ware was used. Possibly you are not
aware of the wide range and variety
of articles that are now included in a
complete outfit of cut glass. In addi-
tion to those just mentioned, there
are oyster bowls, orange and nut
bowls, epergnes, champagne, claret,
wine, whisky and brandy jugs, decant-
ers, cigar jars, tob acco jars, pitchers,
tankards, oil bottles, mustards, syrup
jugs, sugar sifters, carafes, small
cheese and butter dishes, cheese COW
ers and plates, pickle and biscuit jars,
ice bowls, tubs and strainers, celery
dishes and trays, cake-plates, bonbon-
nieres, olive dishes, candlesticks,
sugar bowls, cream jugs, tumblers and
goblets, while cut glass handles EN-
bellish ladies of solid silver, ice cream
knives, and salad forks and spoons"
For vessels that are to be decorated
by cutting, engraving, or etching,
flint glass is used. The manufacture
of flint glass for cutting is old in
America. AS far back as 1872, the
Crown Glass Company was producing
flint glass in Boston, and in 1918 the
New England Glass Company, also of
Boston, had in operation two flint
glass furnaces and twenty-four cutting
wheels. Some of the cut glass articles
produced at these pioneer establish
ments are still in existence. In SIM
plicity and crudity of design and exc
cution they contrast oddly with the
superb work of the present day. The
pots used for melting the ingredients
that make up flint glass are three feet
high and four or five feet in diameter
and will hold about 1,50O pounds of
melted glass. Until within few
years most of the clay used in max
ing these pots came from England
and Germany, but excellent clay for this
purpose is now found in the United
States, and is coming more and more
into use. The clay must be almost
wholly free from lime and iron, and
in its treatment the utmost care is
necessary, as the slightest flaw would
endanger the valuable contents of a
melting pot and result in serious loss.
Several of these pots are placed on a
platform of stone or fire brick inside
the furnace, each pot opposite small
opening through which it can be filled
with "frit," the technical name given
to the mixture of sand and oxides OF
lead and potash from which flint glass
is made.
The Governor and the Editor.
Outburst.
Editor Durham is making it pretty
warm for Governor Rogers over pub
lished interview in regard to the Debs
colony; and if we are judge of eyi