The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-02-05

dividual make and contrivance hang
ready at hand. Near by in an adioin-
ing compartment is what might be
termed the foundry of the factory, for
there all the moulds are cast and the
crude jellies and sweetmeats take on
definite form. 1t is a veritable cloud
room of white, and in the drifting mist
the mems forms move noiselessly. Their
heads are powdered with corn-starch,
their mustaches are whitened with it,
1t is all over, around. ard about them,
and has settled even on their shoes.
Several men nll shallow wooden trays
with the flling-fine flour from a 1eep
bin, and as fast as they are smOothed
off on the top, they are placed on long
tables and wooden mOulds, in sheets
the size of the top of the tray, pressed
down into them. The fine starch read
lily yields to the indentatiOn, and the
oval or circular or anchor mark Is fixed
at regular intervals in the surface of
the white tray. Another man comes
along nowhere are no girls in this
| department-ani drains q bright col
ored jelly into the little holes in the
COrnstarch bed. After these trays are
| filed the candy is left to harden
| certain number of hours and then
turned out clear and clean from the
| flour, requiring only a little polishing
| to convert it into glstening pink and
| amber drops. In another room, where
| troops of fresh-faced girls are at work,
! copper vessels are set up at a conVen-
| lent angle and rotated by machinery.
| Bushels of white coated almonds spin
around in one vat; pink peppcrmints
| twirl in another.
THE THREE ESSENTIALS.
These rotators do lot of work for
us" explains the superintendent. I'VE
| put the almonds in and gradually coat
! them over evenly with liquid creamed
! sugar That is done with hot air.
Later we turn on cold air and the rapid
motion fans them into coOlness and
hardens them as we'll When they are
dumped out they glitter like crystal.
! Ten years ago all of this kind of work.
coating and manipulating Of them to
! harden, was done by hand and not done
nearly as well in three times the length
| of time"
All the departments of the factory
are interesting. Even the room where
the making of taffy and of plain block
candy is carried on, where the yards
| OF yellow sweetness are pulled out and
slapped back and forth in the crisping
| process and then laid lengthwise on a
slab, to be Clipped into blocks by a
pink faced German holding a huge pair
| of shears. Evenly, regularly he meas
ures off the portions and clips the
sticky mass in two with as much ease
as though he were shipping threads or
| cutting paper. Further on at long
rows of tables deft girl fingers are plac-
ing delicate tidbits in enamelled paper
and folding away long and round pieces
in little crimpy holders that look like
lace. Others take these individual
pieces and range them in the boxes
filed underneath the tables ready for
| use.
Precision, accuracy, and scrupulous
neatness. These are the watchwords
OF the candy factory.
"A kettle fun cooked a minimum of
a second too long is spoiled for use"
said the manager, and "if the mixer
| gets his portion a trifle too thick or
too thin II is out of the question for
irst-grade stuff. If pistachio nut or
an almond is dipped a mite too deep
in cream 1t will spoil the appearance
Of the lot and If the girl who arranges
the layers in the boxes gets them a
| little askew the value of the box is
lowered. We preach exactness and
care from morning until night, and |
believe the young girls and boys who
work here are likely to make careful,