Chicago eagle., 1903-06-06
OUTPUT OF TOoTHPIcKs.
billions Manufactured In America
and More Imported.


and More Imported.
There Is one article of manufacture
that is used so extensively In the Uni.
ted States that no one has an idea OF
the annual quantity consumed. namely,
wooden tOothpicks. According to an
expert, the number is simply incalcul-
able. Millions upon millions of the tiny
wooden slivers are turned out every
year from American factories alone,
and on top of this tremendous output
come importations from Portugal and
Japan and other countries nearly as
large as the domestic product.
Most of the American toothplcks, nc-
cording to the New York Times, come
from Franklin County, In Maine, near
the forest home of the wh.e birch, out
of which % per cent of the domestic
toothpicks are made. This wood is soft
and pliable and of admirable resistance
for the purpose for which 1t Is used.
Whole mills In Maine are devoted tU
supplying the country with toothpicks,
and in the industry is to be found some
of the finest and most intricate of ma
chlnery. So tremendous Is the output
of these machines that in n brief sea-
son, during the spring, enough tooth.
picks can be made to supply the mar
kcts of the. entire country for the year
| to come.
A further idea Of the capacity Of the
machines may he had from the fact that
only 100 men are necessary to operate
and run all the mills In Franklin Coun.
| ty. Other mills of this kind are scat.
tered throughout Pennsylvania and
MASSACHUSETTS and western New York.
but the real home of the toothpick is
Maine.
| White birch Is not the only wood used
, for the domestic toothpick; maple and
poplar are employed as well, but birch
has the property of retaining Its forest
odor and sweetness.
The Telling of toothplck trees Is only
incidental to the regular lumber work
or the Maine forcsters. No especial
men are sent out TO hunt up suitable
trees. But whenever the foreman of q
gang Of woodsmen comes across tree
especially adapted TO toothpicks he or
dcrs 1t fclled and laid aside. The
branches OF the tree are then trimmed
and only the trunk itself Is transported
to the mills. There the bark Is skinned
and the naked trunk IL run through a
machine which sewers II into vencers.
"Neneers' IL the technical expression
for thin strips of wood no thicker than
a piece of blotting paper and 10 wider
than the length of Il toothpick. Once
the trunk has been cut into these sheets
of wood, only one process remains TO
turn out the toothpicks lit for packing
and shipping to market. The venecrs
are fed into second machine supplied
with sharp. rotary knives that whirl ut
tremendous high speed, shipping the
veneers into toothpcks mt the rate Of
hundreds Of thousands an hour.
1t Is only the so.callcd fancy" tooth
pick that Is not made In this country.
In Portugal, from where most of the
orangewood picks are imported. the
sticks are sharpened by young girls
who. In return for turning out "picks"
sharp as needles and smooth us ivory,
are paid cents day.
The japanese toothpicks nrc 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
nevertheless strong and pllable. The
J japanese toothpick-maker earns even
less than his Portuguese fellow crafts.
man, his remuneration being fraction
more than . cents day. In short, Il
thousand toothpIcks may be bought In
. Japan for rs much as It costs to pack
and box 5000 Of American make.