The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-07
these latter being the way of the fin
ished cork.
Shaping the Cork.

break in half. So first we cut across
| Tor the length of the cork, then we cut
| with the grain for the width of the
| cork. Now these little pieces are ready
to be turned into the finished article"
| Picking up one or two of the cubes.
the cutter moved it across the floor to
where one of the machines was stand
ing. Don't put your fingers near the
| blade" he cautioned hastily. There's
| nothing sharper than the blade of this
knife. It's made of the very best and
| hardest steel there is" Then, just as
the auditors We're about to murmur
sheffield" he continued: Made in
France, that blade was the very best
| steel there is" Cautiously enough, this
| is also the case with the hair-dressing
trade; the best scissors are nowadays
French ones).
Twenty-six inches of sharp blade
were quite sufficient to scare away I'M
| initiated fingers. Nothing requires
| sharper blade than cork cutting; it
must be absolutely perfect or the stuff
is torn; and If that blade goes wrong
| 1t takes me one complete day to
| grind 1t into order again-a very hard
days work it is. tool" How do you
| manage to keep ii sharp" asked one
of the party. The man laughed. 1T is
ground after each cork is cut" he re-
! piled. IF not, the second cork would
be perceptibly inferior to the first one
So much sharpening seemed to imply
/ vast amount of labor until he point
| ed to a couple of small dark wheels
| fixed to the machine in such a manner
that the blade passed along them each
| time 1t was drawn back. These small
wheels were of the finest possible em-
cry, and automatically ground the
| blade after every cork in turn. No
oil was used at all, so he explained,
and he then proceeded to demonstrate
the working of the machine. Pushing
a wide basket close to the other side
of the machine. he took up his position
on the left hand side drew tray of
| pieces of cork to him, and, selecting
a short length, set it against a. small
wheel which was placed almost against
the blade and at right angles to it.
| Then he pressed with his foot upon a
| treadle, pressing on to the other end
of the piece of cork and thus holding
| 1t against the wheel.
When secured between these two, he
removed his fingers, grasped the up
right handle of the long blade and
pushed 1t steadily forward; and in the
twinkling of an eye the piece OF rough
| cork had assumed familiar aspect.
The pressure of the blade against the
cork caused the little wheel, and with
| 1t, of course, the cork) to revolve; and
| in its turn this same spinning allowed
the knife to cut even all the way
round the cork. BY the time the blade
| had been pushed to the rurthest eX-
tremity of the machine, the cork had
been neatly pared all around; then the
treadle was released and the cork roll
ed away with final spin into the bas-
| ket awaiting 1t on the other side. It
| was also shown that the machine can
be set to produce any taper desired.
Use of Old COrks.
But the most curious part OF the
trade was explained when one OF the
audience, catching sign of a baskets
1 full Of old corks, demanded the reason
of their presence. From the cork
| merchants account 1t appeared that a
large trade is done in remodeling old
| corks: that is to say, those used for
| wine bottles are bought in immense
quantities, cut down by the machine
into a smaller size, and sold to the
| pubicans for stopping pint bottles.
Having once had the corkscrew through
them they are useless for anything
else, and, indeed. there would be a
heavy fine for selling them to chemists
with whom large proportion of the
cork trade is carried on-but they are
used for temporarily stopping the pint
bottles taken out of the public houses
by children under fourteen years of
age.
The act requires these bottles to be
securely fastened down, and so sealed,
the old corks are afforded a new lease
OF life. FOR this purpose not only is
the old cork put on the machine and
reduced all the way round, but a thin
slice is taken off the top and bottom
as well. The remodeling of second
hand corks is piece work and paid for
as follows: Id. per gross for each
of the two cuts and lid. per gross
for the machine work. Thus explained
the merchant he had TO pay 311d. pen
gross in wages and the corks are sold
at the rate of Cd. a gross to the pub
licans. Out of the remaining 217d.
he must not only purchase the old
corks, but also find a profit. OF course,
II is possible to work up an enormous
number of corks in an hour; for the
work is never checked. Backward
and forward runs the huge blade, the
forward movement cutting the cork,
the reverse one grinding 1t in prepara-
ton for the next stroke; and the cut
ter feeds the machine with the left
hand, while never releasing his hold
on the handle with the right.
Some one suggested the possibility
of increasing the speed by machinery;
but at that the cutter shook his head.
Considering the extraordinary sharp
ness of the blade and its dangerous
proximity to the fingers when the cork
was put into position, he himself would
take no risks of that nature. so he
averred. As 1t was, his instinct told
him when anything was amiss. and,
without stopping to think or reason
over the matter, he could check the
blade at once; but to have that twen-
ty-six inch blade of steel moving by
machinery--hc would rather be excus-
ed. IL was heavy work, certainly, al
ternately pushing and pulling that
blade for hours at a stretch but un-
less an automatic feed could be ar
ranged TO the machine It would turn
the cork cutting business into a fear
fully dangerous employment.
The best paid corks are the tiny
ones sold TO chemists for the ends of
hypodermic tubes; minute little atoms
that can be cut out OF almost any
scrap Of cork. always provided II is
of the best quality. There are not
many cutters who can do such fine
work and the trade Is now in the
hands of two OF three men only, and
the cutter took special pains to inn
press upon his customers that he him
self was one OF the privileged number.
Like all other trades, that OF the
cork cutter is beginning to feel the
ill-effects of foreign competition; the
finished article is nowadays imported
in large quantities instead Of coming
over In the raw, and once prosper
Gus business Is gradually dying out.