Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-05-25
Canes and Their HISTORY.

reIle1 10 MIN In cOnFerSation t"'' II .a,,,
not know how he should be sooo coi"-
During the second half of the 18th CEN
fury there was one particular k,nu 81
walking sticks which was gtneraiy uscu
by females in an advanced stage OF nIc.
They were between five ana SIN rec. :"
length, of a taper and slender inaAe:
a Shepherds crook, and twisted through
out the whole extent of the wanu. inr
materials were either ivory, wooa OF
gold The length of the most fashionaoie
sticks called for the following satire from
the London Chronicle in ll62:, DO not
some of us strut about with waih,ls
with yard of vanished cane. scrapeu
taper and bound at one end with waxec
thread, and the other tipped with a, neat
ivory head as big as silver penny. penny. Go
ures on the handles of sticks Is propaoly
traceable to the baton carried by the
fools and testers who were retained by
sovereigns and nobemcn for the amusc-
ment of themselves and their guests IN
the 10th century. Chautrey. the eminent
sculptor. began his career when. as a
pocket knife upon sticks taken from the
hedges. 1t was the accuracy OF one of
these which found him a patron. who
kindly took him by the hand until he en-
tered the path to fame and fortune.
The raw material from which are pro-
duced the almost countless varieties of
sticks in the market is brought from
nearly every part of the earth: Olives
from America. Queensland and South At
RIGA, pimento from the West Indies. chief
ly Jamaica: myrtle from south Europe
and most of the countries around the
Mediterranean sea: ash from America.
South Europe and Africa; cornell or cor
nelian cherry from mid and south Europe.
and some parts of Asia: also several
varieties of each of the following: Oak
orange, cherry. hazel, thorn, Ceylon
vines. supplejacks, palm, orangeine. crab
birch, beech. sycamore, lancewood, ebony.
tulip tree: snakewood rosewood. bamboo.
betel, Malacca. uIrd s-eye maple, green
heart. etc.
But though extensive. the raw material
is nothing compared with the multiple
cation of species which arise as manutac-
ture proceeds. The reason of this lies in
the fact that from nearly every kind of
raw material several distinct kinds of
sticks are subject TO nine different pro
cesses-sawing. filing. Strengthening. fin
ishlng. staining. vanishing. pumicing.
finecoating and ferruling. In large houses
each process is carried out by different
workmen. More than this. il Is possible
to take half dozen olives, and by treat
ing each Of them differently to produce a
corresponding number of sticks. which
are known in the market as pepper. nut
meg. cinnamon. Australian bay. acacia
and olive.siX distinct kinds from the
same wood. This is done more or less in
every branch of the trade especially
among what is known as ''naturals." that
Is, sticks made from single branch Of
tree. The handle is made to the desired
shape from 4 piece of a thicker branch
which is left on for that purpose when
the stick Is cut. As II is difficult to get
SUFFICIENT quantity of sticks grown like
this, the difficulty is met by Joining the
required piece on. The joint is so neat
that most people would never notice il. or
II they did. it would be more BY accident
than design.
There are many curious things made
up into walking sticks, such as snake
skins stretched on wood, sinews of large
animals. sunflower stalks cabbage
stumps. sticks rendered curious by ma
ture some of which are OF very stranse
and fantastic growth.
A most remarkable cane was smooth
round stick. on which knots were made
with plaster of paris, and then covered
neatly all over with table covering, the
pattern of which resembed wood Thu
edges were so neatly Joined as to be in
visible. The whole produced a very nov
ell and peculiar stick which deceived many
experts. who believing it 10 be wood.
We're puzzled at the peculiar grain
Canes are made from scarce specimens
OF wood. such as Australian black wood.
muskWood, zebra wood, cypress pine. deo-
OAR wood colamander. lignum vitae. etc.
n favcrite stick. both Tor the sake OF
Its appearance and its great rightly, is
the raJah cane. Very little is known OF
US !, botanical origin, exceptt, that it is the
species OF CalamUs. II is grown in Bor-
neo. and is said to derive its name of
rajah in consequence of the duties paii
for its export to the Rajah of Borneo
The modus operandi whereby sticks
which grow crooked are made straight
is not generally known. and is fun of IN
lerest. The main object at first is to
render the wood or cane soft and pliablc
10 90 TINS, II Is plunged into heated sand
WOODS such as oak, ash, orange. etc re-
qulre wet sand. while olives, pimento and
All varieties of cane require dry sand
! II addition to this contrIvance called "A
morse IS used which consists of PLANK
OF beech two inches thick. set up on on.
end al an angle of IS to 90 degrees our
of the two edges Of this plank pieces ar
cut, to allow the insertion OF the stick
Wnen sufficiently heated. the stick is
lever, 1t is bent here and bent there until
IT is perfectly straight. This process Is
repeated at later stage. which is called
baking For this second process dry
made quite straight. but as stiff "a it is
possible to make it. The success of this
process depends entirely upon the juds-
the 'klnman. He must determine how
much heat is required. and whether wet
or dry sand. If he gives too much heat,
cases Is useless. as it will rarely come out
straight afterward. If. on the other tand
he does not make it hot enough, il is liza
bic to break in halves.
Wet sand is also used for bending pur-
poses, but more improved method for
sticks requiring moist heat is 10 boil them
IN water. For bending canes and wood
recurring dry heat, powerful gas Jet Is
used. All such work requires an external
knowledge OF the nature and growth of
! he material to be operated upon. and
large amount of skill in the process.
In recent years many important changes
and Improvements have been effected in
the trade, nearly all of which may be
traced to the general use of steam power
in place of manual labor. 1t began by
the introduction of an elaborate system
of band wing to do the heavier kinds of
work considerable saving of raw ma
terial was the first result and many va
varieties of wood not before in use were
introduced. After this, steam power was
applied to turning. joining varnish-mak-
ing. and ultimately to the whole trade
Probably the most extraordinary cane
In this country is one of goodiy proper
tons carried by Senator Jones' the Ne
vada millionaire. and the reason he clings
to 1t as tenaciously as he does is quite
unique.
Many years ago Senator Jones, then
president of a bank in San Francisco.
started to ride home on q street car
When the conductor came around for the
fare Mr.. Jones discovered that he was
without cent. He got off and walked
back to the bank, where he secured a
handful OF change. II wish ! had a walk
ing stick that would hold 100 nickels," he
SAID, "and ,llcn thing like this would
not occur"
This remark was repeated in the pres-
ence of Judge Goodwin, of Salt Lake CITY
who started subscription to purchase
the nickel-hodinr cane. y very hand
some walking stick of ebony. with a
heayy gold head. was procured, and tn,
inside was followed out and 100 nickels
placed therein. The cane was later sent
Sxyltn