Evening star., 1903-07-18
OUTPUT OF TOOTHPICKS.
Millions Are Manufactured in America
and More Imported.

From the New York Times.
There is one article OF manufacture that
is used extensively in the United States
that no has an idea OF the annual
quantity consumed. namely. wooden tooth
picks. According to an expert, the number
is simply incalculabls. Millions upon mil
lions OF the tiny wooden slivers are turned
out every year from American factories
alone, and on top OF this tremendous out
put come importations from Portugal and
Japan and other countries nearly as large
the domestic product.
Most of the American toothpicks come
from Franklin county in Maine. near the
forest home OF the white birch, ont OF
which ninety five per cent OF the domestic
toothpicks are made This wood Is SOFT
and pliable and of admirable resistance
for the purpose for which IT Is used.
Whole mills in Maine are devoted 70 sup
plying the country with toothpicks and in
the industry is to be found some OF tho
finest and most intricate of machinery.
So tremendous is the output of these ma
chimes that In brief season during the
spring enough toothpicks can be made to
supply the markets OF the entire country
for the year to come.
A further idea Of the capacity OF the ma
chimes may be had from the fact that only
100 men are necessary to operate and run
all the mills in Franklin county. Other
mills Of this kind are scattered throughout
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and west
ern New York. but the real home Of the
toothpick is in Maine. White birch is not
the only wood used for the domestic tooth
pick: maple and poplar are employed as
WELL but birch has the property of retain
ing its forest odor and sweetness.
The Telling of toothpick trees is only
incidental to the regular lumber work Of
the Maine foresters. No especial men are
sent out to hunt up suitable trees. But
whenever the foreman OF a gang OF woods
men comes across a tree especially adapted
tn ok hp d.rS fAll
aside. The branches Of the tree then
trimmed and only the trunk itself Is trans
ported to the mills. There the bark Is
skinned and the naked trunk Is run through
a machine which sewers 1t into veneers.
"Veneers'' Is the technical expression for
thin strips of wood no thicker thar a piece
of blotting paper and no wider than the
length of a toothpick. Once the trunk
has been cut into these sheets of wood.
only one process remains to turn out the
toOthpicks flt for packing and shipping To
market. The veneers are fed into sec
ond machine supplied with sharp. rotary
knives that whirl at tremendous high speed.
shipping the veneers into toothpicks at
the rate of hundreds Of thousands hour.
1t is only the so-called fancy toothpick
that Is not made in this country In Por-
tugal. from where most OF the orange wood
picks are imported, the sticks are sharp
ened by young girls who. In return for
turning out picks sharp as needles and
smooth as ivory. are paid three cents a
day. The Japanese toothpickS are made
OF fine reeds and are distinct from those
sent to this country by the Portuguese
manufacturers. A Japanese toothpick is
delicate and thin as tissue paper. and never
theleSS strong and plable. The Japanese
tcothpick maker earns even less than his
Portuguese fellow craftsman. his remu-
neration being but fraction more than
two cents day. In short. thousand
toothpicks may be bought in Japan for as
much as it costs only to pack and box
5000 OF American make.