The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-11-06
packing GOLD LEAF.
Delicate Work, Requiring Expert Us
of the Breath,


of the Breath.
New York Tribune: One may some.
times see protruding from the wall o.
a business building in the downtown
districts a mans hand and arm of he
roic size. h hand grasps a hammel
and the arm is tensed into a master
full blow. The whole is gilded. 1t il
the sign of a gold-beater's establish
ment. Gold beating is one of the tradet
that in its 1nal issues employ a certain
number of girls and m There ar,
not many Of them, compared with tn,
crowds who work at millinery, finish,
ing underwear, neckwear and Other
similar callings. After the gold is beat
en- it has to be packed in convenient
form to place on the market. This Ii
where the girls came in. They pacl
the gold leaf.
The curious thing about gold leaf
packing is that it is done almost en-.
tirely with the breath. So delicate IL
the operation involved in transferring
a sheet of almost transparent gold leai
from n place to another that only by
a light puff Of breath is 1t possible
to do 1t at all. 1t takes a girl about
six weeks of apprenticeship, during
which she gives her time, to become ar
expert at the business-a bright girl,
that is to say. A slow. u~nteachable
girl might require twice as long. There
are some girls who canno learn at all
Ihese generally drop out after three
or -four weeks as nobody wants to
bother with them, and they themselves
are eager to get into a more COngenial
line.
tha 80 90 paehits eoiol9tS IA iiitliiS
from between the leaves OF parchment
IN which they come from the gold-beat-
ers hands to a board, where they are
nlaoinn . 49,. squaie, ~ men ~
booL - ,rhia. pG.Meei lne leaNes Oh tle
of tney arg soiu. Inc ieases
nooiI Tha.n anahe "hat Is eulieu d
nen+ ore l,oVo sheets vi palcn-
5IIa5 a .lAoiu, 1i 100 "let
~ ~ WY are l,ooo sheets OF goiu ieat
go nolus come from England at
reaSt me SKIN out OF which they are
sininn 1s inele IS d secret ABOUT the
stna VI .ie inaterlal "hlch is uhder-
~ ~ ~ r!lslahd. 'Each leaf IN
~ ttoiu - lVe incnes square
- ~ le soiu iedl sels iNto tre fnoio
Icy lar along on lts Journey TO
49, tol9utlier' oenlhd the mold are
ny piueesses'
me EoIu, 70 oegln with, m in the
Iolil u oars, or and mas to be
"sisneu anu hlelteu ana made INTO
to'i,Miue ilpooHs pelore anything a
We zone win 1t. The ribbon is then
- ~ me-, squares ana piaced IN the
su.ct, which IS -pook OF leaves OF
paiClLiiieht ana PAPER the
aeases OF the ciutch the inch squares or
~ seiioW rlppon are beaten until
my arc spread out 10 about three and
one-lail illcnes square. they are then
.iaislerred 10 the shoulder, another
oook OF SKIN leaves, and beaten, beaten
u'lqar the hammer or a stalwart man
Wheh each gold leaf is beaten so
mn mat IRON eight TO ten penny
Melsnts OF gold can be taken from the
euses Oh the ~shouloer, the leaves are
isalh transferred. TINS time to the
tlolu' IN the moid they are beaten
oul houis more. All the beating is
uoLe win II Woooen manner, weigh
ing from seven 10 eighteen pounds, on
d ~sheepsKln cushion, which rests on the
Top OF Il granite post. one end of this
srahlle post passes through the floor
ing ana rests on the Dare ground. the
ldea oelng that the rebound which
comes from STRIKING the hammer on
me granite llghtehs the task for the
WORKER. AS IL IS, gold beating is a
lidru anu lhoholoious gaming.
Inc gold mat is used for gold leaf is
from " TO 70 karat. A little alloy of
copper n silver is added to make it
spread IWenty-four karat. or per-
lectly pure gold, would be impossible
TO