The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-13
THE CHAMPION GLASS BLOWER.
Only Cylinder 81 by "a Inches or
Over Are Turned Out by ''Big Joe"
From the indianapolis News.

| LOFlnuX.
From the indianapolis News
"Rig Joe" Loraux, the big ring
blower" who has no trouble in blow
ing out from $25 to $50 day making
world breaking records during the
glass season, is laid out fat on his
back at his home in "Belgiumtown"-
South Harvard City-and the doctors
have posted mo admittance" over the
| sick-room. big Joe" has the grip,
complicated with fever.
big Joe's" monument is already up.
1t is in one of Philadelphia parks,
and is a. great, beautiful cylinder of
glass that stands 96 inches high and
is 63 inches in circumference. The
great cylinder is without a flaw, and
to-day, as for several years, it stands
as the greatest piece of window glass
ever blown in this or any other coun-
try.
big joe" who is an artist in his
way, is only thirty-eight years old, but
he has already made an international
reputation that has stood for some
years unchallenged. He is the long dis
lance, all-round champion big ring
window glass blower of Belgium and
the United States, and he has made
more money and has made higher pay
roll records than any other glass blow
or.
Big joe has comparatively little
trouble in making $500 a month during
the blowing season. The high month
ly wage record was established by Lo-
rfaux in Hartford City last year, when
he drew $641 for four weeks work
When he made this record he was
| H. zv,T-
only. six days a week. He seldom falls
short of $50 a month, and he says that
he will average over $500 a month for
the last six years. He turns out only
big sizes--cylinders 81 by 81 inches or
overland he gets $7.S5 for every half
dozen of them. This is a fraction over
81. 80 apiece He has blown as many as
thirty-one of these in one day-$4O
worth it is not infrequent that he
turns out thirty of them without any
specially great effort, making $39.
The largest cylinder that Loriaux or
| any other blower ever blew is the one
that has been set up in Philadelphia
1t is the only one of the record break
ing cylinders that has been kept in
cylinder form. Other record break
when fiattened and squared UP by the
squared up" is the term for
cutting out flaws and making the glass
into a square, faultless piece-measur-
ed So by 80, 81 by 80 and so by 80
inches. These cylinders, when squared,
produced about 1880 square inches
of perfect glass. To blow them, Lo-
riaux handled from fifty-five to sixty
! five pounds of glass. All of this glass
is extra heavy and is known as double
thick
The average window glass blower
turns out cylinders ranging up to about
AZ by So inches single strength" or
40 by 60 inches double thick" These
cylinders, before being "f1attened and
squared" only contain about 2400
inches of glass. and this is greatly re-
duced in the finishing processes, which
only leave the glass that is without
flaw In blowing these single strengths
only sixteen to twenty pounds of glass
are gathered on the end of the blow
pipe, and for the double strength cyl
inders only twenty-five to twenty-six
pounds are used.
The trick of handling a great molten
ball of cherry red glass, weighing fifty,
sixty or sixty-fve pounds, and blow
ing it out into great cylindrical form,
is known only to LoriauX and a very
few other men. Loriaux places the
number at less than a half dozen, and
Secretary Lewis of the Hartford City
plant thinks that fifteen or twenty
| would be an outside estimate.
ing over six feet-but he is not unusu-
ally strong for one of his build. Many
men who are much stronger find them
selves absolutely powerless to handle
| even forty pounds of this molten glass
Many extravagant stories have been
put out concerning LoriauX's wonder
| full chest expansion" and his lung and
blowing capacity. Loriaux says that it
is all wind" He says his chest ex-
pansion is not greater than that of the
ordinary man of his build, and that he
hasn't enough wind to blow tuba in
a band. ITS all trick in handling
the big lump" he said. Secretary
Lewis says tits a sleight"
I.oriaux says there is one man in In
diana that blows glass in his class. He
is Gray Schmidt, the "big ring" blower
at Orestes. Schmidt makes almost as
much money as LoriauX.
Loriaux gets TO work on an average
of about seven months a year. He is
good for $500 in those months and
has FIVE months in which to loaf. He
has been making big wages for about
six years now, and has cleaned up al
most $4,000 in that time. People who
do not know him intimately. but who
do know that he cannot speak English
very we'll. say that he is illiterate. 1t
is true that he can neither read nor
write English. but he has a good
| French education, and at his home
one finds a number of the better grade
of French books and some French
magazines and papers, and he is edu-
eating his children. They speak Eng
lish and French fiuently.
He is a Belgian by birth, being born
near Charleroi. He came to America
in 1890. and began working in Illinois
factories. Unlike many of his country
men who have come to this country
to work in glass factories, he lives well,
and though his home is little one and
very modest, Mrs. LoriauX. who is
| typical French Belgian. keeps it with
characteristic French neatness. Lori
aux LAYS up his earnings. and ii Is
thought that he has $4,000 in bank.
He does not fear the invasion of the
window glass blowing machine, for II
is Is not proposed yet 10 build big
| ring" blowers.
T. n L.