Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-01-13
WOODEN TOOTHPICKS

L w AA AA4.A OAAN
BILLIONS OF THEM USED ANNUALLY
IN THIS COUNTRY.
Nearly All Of Them Are Made Of
White Birch Timber In franklin
County, Me.-Portugal's Handmade
Orange Wood Toothpicks.
In polite society 1t Is considered such a
serious breach Of good n to use q
toothpick before others that naturally one
would imagine that the use of these some
time accessories to the table is rather lin.
tied and that their manufacture and sale
must represent a very small industry. AS
o matter Of fact, however, not millions
but billions Of them are annually used in
this country. The narrator, Of course, Is
speaking now Of those of wooden make
and not Of quill toothpicks. When there
Is added to the domestic use of these
dental implements tho enormous number
that is imported investigation discloses
the fact that the industry is really a vast
one and has reached such proportions that
ut last American ingenuity has found re-
course to tho invention OF automatic ma
CulIlCIy " o1o ItbHlN Alu OCOlloIAICtsAp lO.
duction Of these thin splinters Of wood.
For this reason tho number of persons en-
ployed in the manufacture is comparative
ly small.
Ninety five per cent of all the toothpioks
made in the United States arc formed
from white birch timber in Franklin
100 persons are employed in the industry
IN that ctutn Gly,tci1n 0f tho Diva NNron
State the principal factories are in Penn.
sylvanin, Massachusetts and western New
York. Maple and poplar are sometime
used in the manufacture of American
toothpicks, but white birch is the standard
timber in al the factories. The industry
is u very simple ons. First, of course,
comes tho work of tho forcstcrs. In the
woods of Maine every winter there are
great camps of lumbcrmen engaged in
telling and hauling out timber for various
commercial uses. Whenever the foreman
of u camp comes across a particularly fine
white birch tree he orders it cut down
II tho main part of the trunk laid aside
to be reserved for tho toothpick factories.
When enough logs have been obtained,
they are sent to the boom nearest the fac.
tory, whence they aro hauled by teams.
That the vast supply Of toothpicks comes
from q very small quantity of timber is
shown by tho fact that not more than
5000 cords of wood are used in this indus.
try annually.
When the logs reach the factory, they
arc first stripped of their bark. They are
then placed on trucks, moving on rails,
and pushed to tho automatic machines by
which they arc cut into veneers, which are
thin strips Of wood of about the dimen.
sious of an ordinary piece of blotting pa
per-that is,' the strips arc about as thick
as tho toothpicks are intended to be and
as wide as the picks will be long. Extreme
care must be exercised in placing the logs
In tho machines SO US to have the grain
u straight in the strips. The veneers are
fed into q machine composed of peculiarly
shaped and rapidly revolving knives, the
edges of which arc as sharp as they can
be made. This machine works automatic
ally and with tremendous speed and Is so
constructed that the finished picks come
forth %sharpened at both ends at the rate OF
tens of thousands an hour. It requires on.
~ q few weeks for the factories to turn
out a supply sufficient to meet the demand
for q whole year. Then the factories are
shut down again, to remain closed until
the following spring. The wages paid tc
American workers in this industry range
from 81. so to So. so a day.
Most Of the toothpicks made in Maine
come from timber that has been seasoned
in the open air and retain something of
the natural sweetness of the birch and ma.
pie and are soft and pliable while retain.
ing sufficient flrmness. Kiln dried wood
is apt to result in too much brittlepess,
causing sharp splinters to break of, which
injure the enamel of the teeth. Recently
some of the American manufacturers have
been putting up toothpicks in miniature
barrels highly ornamented by carving OF
hand painting. These are turned out at
+ the same factories.
The best toothpicks made anywhere in
the world ON from Portugal. They are
whitfield by hand from orange wood splints
by peasant girls, the only tool used being
an ordinary jaokknife. These picks are a.
smooth as ivory and will not break into
splinters. They are expensive. Only one
hotel in Philadelphia supplies them. The
girls who make the picks receive less than
10 cents q day. As the duty on the foreign
made picks 10 only IS per cent they can be
sold here for less than picks Of similar
quality could be manufactured in this
country, despite the improved American
machinery and skilled labor. The profit
on American picks is almost exclusively
on the cheaper products. Some Of the Por,
tuguese picks are highly ornamented wit
hand carving. They are too expensive 70.
ordinary commerce. Small quantities have
been imported into this country on rart
occasions for use at notable banquets OF
as unique specimens Of handicraft. I.
Next to Portugal, Japan sends til.
greatest supply Of toothpioks to the Unit.
ed States. These are made by hand from
fine reeds. They, too, are sold in close
competition with the American product,
owing to the cheaper labor in Japan.
The cases in which the Japanese picks
are inolosed are fine specimens Of skill
with the jaokknife. They are of wood, cut
into strips as thin and delicate as tissue
paper, but very strong. The cases are or.