Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-29

buttons was usually the hoofs of cattle.
which were boiled in large kettles to soften
them, and then cut to the desired shape.
The patterns are stamped on them by ny
draulic pressure The vegetable ivory In
dustry was introduced In this country by
A w. Critchlow, who established himself
at Leeds, Mass, in 1859. The material from
which this sort of button was made Is the
seed of fruit grown in South America.
The fruit grows on a palm, and the princi-
pal shipping point to this country Is Colon.
in the canal zone. The seed Is known as
ivory nut. and is about the size of a hens
egg. These nuts are cut into halves and
small blocks for the making Of the buttons
are sawed from the halves. The vegetable
ivory is especially adapted to coloring. and
many varieties of color are obtained.
Many vain attempts were made to manu-
facture a composition button, and it was
not until 1875 that anything like success
attended the efforts of the experimenters.
In that year however, a company was
formed to manufacture buttons that look
very much like those made of vegetable
ivory. The buttons are made of gums and
chemicals and have the effect of softening
by heat and hardening by cold. The ma
terfals are mixed In steam heated grinders,
and in liquid form are run off in sheets to
cool. The manufacture of campaign and
photograph buttons has become large in
dustry in the United States, thousands of
dollars being spent on this branch along
every year. Buttons are also made from
potatoes that are so cleverly fashioned as
to be almost indistinguishab from those
of bone or horn except by expert. But
tons are made from casein taken from skim
milk. from blood and from seaweed. In
the patent Office there are 34S patents on
machines for making buttons, and 800
patents on buttons themselves.
The most important feature of the but
ton industry in the United States Is the
manufacture of pearl buttons. 1t embraces
buttons made from mother-of pearl and
from the shells of the unios, which are so
abundant In the Mississippi river. In value
the production of these varieties of buttons
in 1900 formed 4s.4 per cent of the product
for the entire button industry. The maxi
ing of buttons from mother-of-pearl was
introduced into the United States on a small
scale about 1856. At that time and for
many years thereafter, the shells were
brought from China. but now the markets
of the world are supplied principally from
South Australia and from the South Sea
Islands The higher grades of pearl but
tons are still manufactured from the ocean
smell, and the production of these far out
ranked that of all other kinds constituting
3o.2 per cent of the total value of buttons
manufactured in the United States.
In 1890 there was not single fresh water
pearl button made in the United States In
1900 the making of these buttons conSti-
tuted the second most important branch of
the button industry. In Europe shells of
the mussels found in rivers have been util-
iLeu iOT button making Tor the last nttY
years. To Mr.. j. F. Boepple of Muscatine
Iowa. belongs the credit of having started
the industry in the United States, and now
1t is the source of income for thousands of
persons. In 1891 Mr.. Boepple, who is a ma
tive of Hamburg, Germany where he
learned the trade of making pearl buttons
formed partnership for the manufacture
or buttons from the ''unio' or niger
head shells. as they are called locally
which were banked up for miles along the
river in front of Muscatine.
A few years ago the mussel shells were
delivered at the factories at about 50 to 60
cents per leo pounds, while at the same
time ocean shells were worth from $50 to
$50 for the same quantity In February,
1913, prices went up to SIS to $50 per ton
for 'niggerheads. but in July of the same
year they-were cheaper than ever before or
since, selling at 80 cents per 100 pounds.
The cheapest grade of ocean shells are the
Panama. which sell at 101s cents per pound
The improvements In machinery in recent
years have been so rapid that some manu-
iacturers nave exchanged their machines
three times in three years each time prac-
tically re-equipping the entire plants
The majority of the factories in the west
do not finish the buttons but merely cut
the blanks. These are then sent to the fac
tories In the east, which are supplied with
improved machinery for the finishing of the
buttons. Some of these eastern factories
iot sASiiS maui JULIUS out OF imported
mother-of-pearl shells, but now their prin-
cipil work is the finishing of the home
product.
Notwithstanding the enormous progress
TINS Dranch OF the industry has made dur
ing the last five years, 1t Is yet in its in
fancy. The only disquieting circumstance
Is the injudicious and wanton depreciation
OF the shell deposits The beds In front of
Muscatine, Iowa, are already exhausted
and unless something is done to protect the
mussels, it will not be long before the raw
material for this industry Will be ex-
hausted.