The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-03-14
WORKERS IN PEWTER
An Interesting Trade Thai II Fol-
lowed Mostly by sons OF the
F-atherIund.

a
Workers in pevterply an interesting
trade on the far east side. These men
make a variety Of articles useful and
ornamental, from several alloys of lead
and tin. Their tools are few and SIM
plea strong lathe for working the
metal in sheets, cutting implements Of
smaller size for trimming and shaping
articles, molds for casting in a great va
riety Of forms, and the familiar bucket
furnace for melting the pewter. The
shops are small, and many of the work
men are self-employing. In some shops
the proprietor works witfhis men, and
a boy is kept at small wages learning
the trade. Most Of the workmen are
foreigners, many of them German. says
the New York Times.
One of the tiniest and most interest
ing of those shops has been conducted
for nearly a quarter of a century by
the widow Of a German worker in pew
ter. She employs workmen to exc
cute her contracts, and furnishes a few
articles of pewter to the large shops,
besides doing a retail trade. In this lit
tie shop are made hundreds of tops for
beer mugs. These mugs are imported
without lids, Some are stems, others
of earthenware. still others of glass.
Most of the German stems have little
holes at the top Of the handle. This
hole is to receive the stout metallic
pin upon which the lid is hinged. The
lids are of many sizes and shapes, In
some the pewter is a mere ring, within
which is inserted a disk of decorated
porcelain or painted glass. The work
man'not only casts and afixes the ring
of the metal, but puts in place and Sc
cures the central disk. Other lids are
of solid pewter, decorated with a va
riety of designs. The molds Look like
great mushrooms with particularly
long stems. 1t costs from 40 cents to
rs cents to have a lid put on a beer
mug. Some of specially large size and
intricate design cost a good deal more,
Another part of the business of this
little shop is the making of warming
pans, doubtless of the very pattern as
that which figured in the celebrated
case of Barden versus Pickwick. These
are SlOuI oval hGSSSlS5 HOlUluS lIOlL
half a gallon to a gallon. They are cast
true and highly smoothed and pol
ished. They look like dishes for the
table. The mouth of the warming par
has two shoppers the inner so nicely
fitted that il is nearly or quite all
tight, although it is a disk of meta
slipped in and ont by hand; the outer
one q screw.
The warming pan Of metal is a lux
ury of the rich, as it costs S.. and is tot
heavy to serve many of the purpose.
of the familiar rubber bag. 1t has III,
advantage, however, of never wearin!
out and never s%pringing a leak.
The peweter workers trade is a nea
and interesting me, and fairly profit
} able, since it requires considerable skill
and taste. The metal is easily worker
on the lathe and with hand cuttinI
! tools, and the manufacturing process
4 is subject to small loss, for clipping
and filings + carefully preserved an
Z remelted for future use. Like a goo
i many of the skilled trades of the city
its very smaIlness saves it from fallin
into the hands of factory owners, an
gives the few woEkmen a positionof III
T usual independence. The trade, how
. ever is largely dependent upon order
: from the crsckery and department
stores. but these still employ a numbe
Of persons.