The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-01-04
NineN-FW Per Cent Made From White
Birch Timber al Franklin, Me.
A few FACTORIES AT OTHER PLACES
The Process Of Manufacture Very Simple and In a
Few Weeks Factories Turn 0ui Supply
That WIN Last a Year.

serious breach of good manners TO use a /,
eoothpick 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 very small Industry. ~
a 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 the enormous number
that Is imported investigation discloses
the fact that the industry is really vast
one and has reached such proportions that
at last American ingenuity has found re-
course to the invention of automatic ma
chinery for the rapid and economical pro-
duction of these thin splinters of wood.
For this roasca the number of persons en-
ployed in the manufacture is comparative
ly small
Ninety five per cent Of all the tootbpicks
made In the United States are formed
from white birch timber In Franklin
county, Me-, and yet scarcely more than
100 persons Arc employed in the industry
in that state. Outside of the Pine Tree
State the principal factories are in Penn
sylvania, Massachusetts, and western New
York Maple and poplar are sometimes
used in the manufacture of American
toothpicks, but white birch Is the standard
timber in all the factories The industry
Is very simple one First. OF course,
comes the work of the foresters In the
woods Of Maine every winter there are
great camps Of lumbermen engaged In
telling and hauling out timber for various
commercial uses. Whenever the foreman
of camp comes across particularly fine
white birch tree he orders 1t cut down
and tho main part of the trunk laid aside
to be reserved for the toothpick factories.
When enough logs have been obtained,
they are sent to tho boom nearest the fac
tory, whence they are hauled by teams.
That the vast supply OF tootbpicks comes
from very small quantity Of timber Is
shown by the fact that not more than
5000 cords of wood are used in this indus
try annually.
When tho logs reach the factory, they
are first stripped of their bark. They are
then placed on trucks, moving on rails,
and pushed TO the automatic machines by
which they are cut into venoers, which are
thin strips Of wood of about the dimen
sious of an ordinary piece of blotting pa
por--that is, the strips are about as thick
as wide as the picks will be long. Extreme
care must be exercised In placing the logs
in the machines so as to have the grain
run straight in the strips. The veneers are
fed into a machine composed Of peculiarly
shaped and rapidly revolving knives, the
edges of which are 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 sharrened at both ends at the rate of
tons of thousands an hour. 1t requires on
ly few weeks for the factories TO turn
out n supply sufficient TO meet the demand
for n whole year. Then the factories are
shut down again, to remain closed until
the following spring. The wages paid to
American workers in this industry range
from 81. 80 to s8. 90 a day.
Most Of the toothpioks made in Maino
come from timber TINT has been seasoned
In the open aiv and retain something OF
the natural sweetness Of the birch and ma
pie and are soft and plisble while retain.
ing sufficient flrmness. Kiln dried wood
Is apt to result In too much brittlepess,
causing sharp splinters to break off, 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 or
hand painting. These are turned out al
the same factories.
The best toothpicks made anywhere in
the world come from Portugal. They arc
whitfield by hand from orange wood splints
by peasant girls, the only tool used being
an ordinary jackknife. These picks are as
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 day. As the duty on the foreign
made picks is only 80 per cent they can be
sold here for lees than picks ot 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.
tuguose picks are highly ornamented with
hand carving They are too expensive for
ordinary commerce. Small quantities have
been imported into this country ON rare
occasions for NE at notable banquets or
as unique specimens of handicraft.
Next To Portugal, Japan sends tho
greatest supply of toothpicks TO the Unit
ed States. These are made 10y hand from
fine reeds They too, are sold In closo
competition with the American product,
owing Co the cheaper labor In Japan
Tho cases In which the Japanese picks
are inclosed arr line specimens Of skill
with the jackkDife. They are Of wood cus
into strips rs thin and delicate a. tissue
paper, but very strong The cases are or
namentpd with hand painted Japane-s
sucnes and nrc ~ ~ Sire convenient 90 bc
carried In the vest pocket. The Compcti