Evening star., 1898-10-29
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There are between 25O.OOo and 100000
pounds of mica used in the United States
annually" said a wholesale dealer in that
mineral in New York to a writer for The
Star recently. North Carolina. New
Hampshire and other states once supplied
all the mica used in this country, but 50
extensively has the material been utilized
in the past ten years in various arts and
mechanical trades that many of our most
productive mines have been pretty nearly
exhausted. The consequence is that about
- per cent of the material is now imported
from Norway. Sweden and Russia, and the
expense incident to shipping it to this coun-
try has raised the price of the article 20 per
cent. The wholesale price for mica at pres
ent varies from S12O TO S2J pound. ac-
cording to the size and quality of the sheet.
and a still larger advance may be expected
II new American mines are not soon dis
covered.
The material is largely used in the arts
for spectacles and optical Instruments, es-
pecially for holding small objects for ex-
animation through d microscope 1t is also
used. when finely ground, for making
bronze powder Sheet mica is used, as Is
well known, instead of glass in places eX-
posed To heat. such as refectors, headlights
and stove and lantern lights. On naval
ships il has taken the place of glass in
portfolio. where 1t is not easily frac-
tured by the discharge of heavy guns.
The working of a mica mine is COM
parauively easy and inexpensive process
Sheets Of the silicate stand in upright
Lodges. and, when uncovered are easily
separated from the adjacent rock. Then
with hammers the splitting up of the strata
Is accomplished without much trouble
Blocks yielding sheets two and two and a
half feet square have often been Quarried
in New Hampshire. Scrap mica is gath
cred in the mines in great quantities, much
of ii being the debris left where the sheet
mica has been broken by the picks in cut
ting it out. 1t is ground up for use in var
nISh and paints and makes glttering
coating for wall paper. 1t is worth from
81 TO SO ton.
x x > :: y
Washington pie is distinctly a home
production" explained 18th street baker
To a Star reporter. and originated in this
city. though 1 am not clear as to the exact
date. have had an intimate acquaintance
with Washington pie for forty years. and
.uring that time have made and handled
immense quantity of 1t. As it was orig
IHally m@de II was very fine, though It fell
into disrepute during the war, when Ger
tain bakers, in their efforts to produce
great quantities of it, were not so very
careful as to what it was composed Of
Washington pie, properly made, consists.
in the way Of works. of odds and ends of
broken cakes that pile up in bakeshops.
They are just as good as if they We're
whole, but because they are not whole they
are 1T times Unsalable. When bakers
found themselves with an oVerstock of
tTuken cakes on hand they generally went
into Washington pie. The first process was
To ddmpcH them with water and milk or
SftYyF raj hFf, in md
some spices There was a pie crust nut
under and over it and the result was Wash
Il ston pie. Now and then some pies that
happened TO get broken were put into the
works which made Washington pie so
JC0thsOrne and satisfactory to so many
thousands When it was fresh and hot it
was decidedly good eating. When the civil
war came on there was a great demand
for Washington pie from the soldiers and
suffers. and some bakers got to making it
out of stale bread and the like, and for
awhile II fell cut OF favor, and the younger
generations grew up without even knowing
what nice thing Washington pie. when
properly made, is. or was. for it is practical
ly back number now, 1t was always
baked in square pans about two and u
half feet wide and long, and was always
cut up into squares when sold. In many
OF the hotels and boarding houses Wash
irGtOn pie was served at meals covered
with a nice sauce, and In this way there
was more of it served than any other pies.
There was nothing exclusive about It. for
nearly all bakers made II ana found q
ready sale for it, many serving 1t to their
customers while II was hot. There were
also great quantities of ii sold by the
bakers In the city markets. During this
time there was a great sale for Washing
ton pie in Baltimore, though. Of course
there was nothing of Washington about it
except the name. 1t also found its way to
New York, and even to this day Washing
ton pie is consumed in great Quantities at
Fl- HG1ISr other tow n
lunch places. There is some Washington
pie stin made and sold in this city. but it
is inconsiderable in comparison TO what
the Washington bOys of thirty-five OF forty
years ago consumed
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II don't know whether it is compliment
tary or otherwise. but do know that IT is
fact that the head Of the average Wash
lHg,On boy is larger than that of the
average boy Of many other cities" re-
marked travelling salesman for a large
mat and cap manufacturing firm to a
Star reporter. '.AlI men engaged in the
lat and cap trade know it, and have
learned it by their business experience
The heads of the boys in Baltimore
average three or four sizes smaller than
those of Washington. and It is known
10 the cap trade that they can always get
ria Of any extra large sizes of boys caps
''- -"utliB tNtm 10 Washington. | have
mad q recent experience in selling a bows
cap In Baltimore the sizes desired by the
dealers ran all the way from Is to G9s leav-
ing me with . large lot of the larger sizes
10 dispose Of found no difficulty in doing
So, Tor no dealer here wanted ANYTHING
smaller than G@s, and wanted them all the
way up 10 : and ~. The heads of the bows
N Richmond are about the same as regards
size as those IN Baltimore, and they com
pare with the heads of boys in Atlan,a
ChaFleston. Savannah and New Orleans. In
none OF these cities could the large sizes
ordered in this city be sold, except in small
0G1htities The Chicago boy has head as
large as the Washington boy, and 50 does
the New York boy. but the Boston or
Philadelphia boy has not. The Washington
t'N has the largest head of any south or
southwestern city, and is only equaied in
New York and Chicago. 1t is for others "a
say what al this means. ! can only state
the Iact that is developed in the hat and
cap trade. for IL is a fact as certainly
proven time and time again in my own ex-
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