Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-19

who takes it to a rack and breaks the
roller loose from the blowpipe.
The snapper gathers a small lump Of
melted glass on the end of Il rod and
dexterously runs a narrow ribbon of
the stuff around the ends of the roller,
both at the blowpipe end and the
closed end The little ribbons of
melted glass cool in a few seconds,
when they are removed, leaving a mar
row zone of almost red-hot glass
around the rollers at each end. Then,
taking a tool that resembles solder
ing iron, the snapper rubs it for II mo-
ment on his forehead, and when the
point of it is moistened with prespira-
ton, he runs the iron around the roller
at the heated spot. The glass cracks
and separates as cleanly as if cut with
a diamond, the blowpipe is removed
and the closed cylinder has become
| roller-a sheet of glass rolled up the
same as a sheet of music, only in
continuous roll, without edges. The
| roller is then ready to go to the flat
tener.
| The flattener works in another part of
the building, where are located the
| fiattening ovens. These ovens are
| heated to a temperature sufficient to
soften the glass so that it may be
| rolled out into sheets. A series of fire
clay tables, placed in Il circle, like the
Spokes of a wheel, revolve in the ovens,
and on these tables the rollers are
flattened They are placed inside, al
| lowed to become hot, and then q cold
| iron is run along the inside from end to
! end. The contact of the iron cuts the
| glass, which is then Strengthened out
! upon the table. The fiattener has Il
| number of billetS of green wood, at
tached to long iron handles, and with
these billets, which are shaped in such
Il manner as to do the work expected of
them, he irons the softened sheet of
glass until it is perfectly fiat and
| smooth. The tables inside the oven
| revolve, the flattened sheet is carried
away and another roller is brought in
to position before the tlattener. AS the
! flattened sheets cool they are lifted to
Il place on Il long, travelling rack, on
which they are, by stages, removed
from the ovens, being allowed to cool
as they go. This is done in order that
| the glass may not be shattered by too
quick an exposure to the air.
| When the sheets are taken from the
| tlattening ovens they are covered with
a greasy. dirty-looking coat of chemi-
cals-soda. potash, silicates of the diff
ferent salts, etc,-which must be re
moved, and for this purpose the rough
sheets are placed in an acid bath. COM
posed of hydrochloric and Sulphuric
acids, more or less diluted. After their
| immersion in this bath the sheets are
| taken to the cutting-room, where
workmen cut them into sizes and make
| them ready for the packers. Hardly a
scrap of the glass except the rough
edges, is Wasted-in fact, none is
wasted, as all refuse goes back to be
melted. After the cutters have finished
their work, the glass is packed in boxes
and is then ready for the market.
Each branch of glassmaking is a sep
arate trade A blower more than like
ly knows nothing about gathering, and
a snapper could not do the work of
either, although working alongside of
both. A .teaser,'' who mixes the batch,
does nothing else. while the fiatteners
and cutters all have their own unions
and are a distinct branch of the in
dustry. Glass men live between
fires" When the fire is in," every
thing is lovely, and the glass men and
! their families live like lords: but when
| the fire is OUT the families generally
| troop back East, while the fathers and
brothers go camping until the fires
start again. GlassWorkers, as a whole,
are better paid than workmen employed
in any other branch of labor Blowers
making from $50 to 1925 a week, work.
ing shifts of eight hours; snappers can
make from SIS to $50 a week, while
gatherers' wages viii vary between $40
and $40 weekly. F'latteners make all
the way from $25 to $50 a week, and a
master teaser' will earn from SIS to
| 500 weekly. This. of course, is during
the fire, and the wages stop when the
| fires are out-in June-and do not be-
gin until operations are resumed in
| September or October. And in n great
many cases the end of the fire finds the
| glassworker with only his last pay on
which to live until fall.-Indianapolis
| News.
London Bridge, when widened, viii
be lighted from the center, and not