Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-09-01
OUTPUT OF TooTHPIcKs.
Millions Manufactured In Americi
and More Imported.

OUTPUT OF TOO1HPICkS-
Millions Manufactured In America
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 an
large as the domestic product.
Most of the American toothpicks, ac-
ccrd;ng to the New York Times, come
from Franklin County, in Maine, near
the forest home of the white birch, out
Of which 95 per cent Of the domestic
teothpicks 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 to
supplying the country with toothpicks.
and in the industry is to be found some
of the finest and most intricate Of ma
chinery. So tremendous Is the output
Of these machines that in a brief sea-
son, during the spring. enough tooth
picks can be made to supply the mar
kets of the entire country for the year
to come.
A further idea Of the capacity OF the
hi ho hnd hof 70 Qfsf q
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 In
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 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 woodsmen comes across a tree
especially adapted to toothpicks he or
ders it felled aud 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 is run through q
machine which sewers it into veneers.
"Veneers' Is the technical expression
for thin strips of wood no thicker than
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- f1t for packing
and shipping to market. The veneeTs
are fed into a second machine supplied
with sharp, rotary knives that whirl at
tremendous high speed, shipping the
veneers inte toothpicks at the rate OF
hundreds Of thousands an hour.
1t is only the so-called 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 as ivory
are paid cents a day.
The japanese toothpicks are made. OF
! fne reeds, and are distinct from thoss
sent to this country by the Portuguese
manufacturers. A Japanese toothpich
is delicate and thin as tissue paper, anG
nevertheless strong and pliable. The
Japanese toothpick-maker earns ever
less than his Portuguese fellow crafts
man. his remuneration being fraction
more than cents a day. In short, 6
thousand toothpicks may be bought IL
Japan for as much as 1t costs to pack
and box 5000 Of American make.