The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-19
china. The gold beaters in china arc. far .

China. The gold beaters in China are. far
behind modern methods of production.
Their leaf is thicker and is only one-haIf
the size of other leaves. In Japan, the max
ing of gold leaf has been started only re-
Gently, but the manufacturers are progress
sive and have investigated American meth
DDS thoroughly. Cheapness and longer hours
of labor have given the German manufac-
turers decided advantages. Many girls are
employed and entire families are engaged
in the production of gold leaf
The German gOldbeater lives in the out
skirts of the village. He brings home
strip of the precious metal, which the man.
ufacturer has given to him to be beaten
into leaf. From the three-year-old child to
the decrepit old grandmother, every MEM
Der of the family must work and the result
is a fair income in a land where the cost
of living is not dear
1t is estimated that in America a gold
beaten working full time can produce eight
packages of gold in 9. week The market
1t is $725 per pack. If the seven hundred
goldbeaters in the United States work on
full time their output aggregates value
of $4,000 per week. Manufacturers say that
even now, under the advanced scale, the
wages of goldbeaters do not provide more
than a fair living. The lowest wages of
Piece workers are paid So per beating.
Each beating represents from eighty TO one one
contain twenty-five leaves each
MEASURED OUT
The workman is given so pennyweights
Of gold in the form of ribbon roll: he is
allowed certain amount for beating, and
each book is expected to contain a certain
number of grains of gold. IL his books
found to contain less than the specified
amount, the workman is obliged to make
good the shortage. A skillful workman is
sometimes able to produce the required
number of leaves and have an excess of
gold left. This is done by beating the gold
thinner in the center, which, within certain
limitations. really produces better leaf and
after the trimming the waste saved is
greater. In such cases the workman is
credited with the amount saved and it goes
TO swell his wages. Some men have as much
as two pennyweights of gold on each beat
ing. and the aggregate is considerable. This
| rule applies only to men who DO piece work.
The men who work for weekly wages are
not held responsible for waste.
In the larger factories the men are usu-
ally paid by the beating. In smaller shops,
where men have started in business for
themselves ON small capital the weekly
wage system has been found preferable, as
these manufacturers do part of the work
themselves, employing boys as assistants.
The collaborating industry supplies limited.
but light and pleasant work for women.
They are employed to trim the gold and
place ii in the book, and with steady en-
ployment, a woman can fnish about nifty
Under the Wilson tariff law the larger
proportion of gold leaf used here was inn
ported, and steady employment was rare.
Tie heaters asked for reduced wages them
selves when the circumstance required that
that policy be pursued The protection of
$l.75 per pack. granted by the Dingley law,
has restored wages TO a living standard.
With the general Improvement in business
has come increase in the demand for
gold leaf used in the arts.
The gold leaf of commerce diners from
that used by dentists The latter is pure
and the leaves are thicker Ordinary gold
leaf is alleged from p carats plus down
to IA carats. varying according TO the color
desired by the consumer Ine aarKer
shades are the purer. They contain an alloy
of copper and silver, but the latter only is
used i'm alloying the lighter shades OF gold.
There are a dozen or more standard SHADES
of gold leaf, varying in tone from pale
lemon to deep rich gold.
ITS MANY USES.
AS an illustration of the extent to which
the manufacture of gold leaf has pro-
crossed in this country. the W. II. Kemp
factory, one of the Oldest in the United
states may be cited. 1t was established in
1879 at which time not more than one hum
bred men We're employed in the making of
leaf in the United States The business re-
manned alomst stationary until after the
war. when the demand increased rapidly.
The use of gold leaf on advertising signs
and for many decorative purposes, which
had not previously been known, was then
introduced. The annual output of this fac
tory is at present greater than the entire
production of all the factories in the United
States prior 20 1863. y recent Improvement
is patent gold leaf. which may be trans
ferred directly from a paper TO which IL is
pasted to the object TO be decorated. 1t
slmpiiiies the laying on OF stripes, and is