Arizona republican., 1906-05-13
HOW mEERscHAUM IS MINED.
Where lt Is Found-Proesss of Making
 lt Into Pipes

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 Despite our familiarity with meer- schaum. as used in pipes. it Is safe to say that few of us have more than a vague idea of the peculiar properties of this substance. or the condition Lu which it occurs in nature The an cients believed the substance To be pet Tified seafOam. hence the German name meerschaum. meaning seafOam. and very apt name it is. for the mineral Is very white and so light that it Uiu float when dry. Pieces of meerschauu1 have been found floating Iu the Black sea. which were evidently washed out of their matrix by the waves This may also have had its inrtuencs on the seafoam theory of its formation.
 Meerschaum is found in bes- quality and most abundant quantity lu Asia Minor, though IL also occurs in Greece Spain, MOrayia and Morocco. and even in this country in South Carolina The richest mines are on the plains os Esk!shehr. 250 miles southeast or Con stantinOple- One or these mines is said to be 1000 years old. and consists of about 1000 pits within an area af six miles, all but about l5o Of which have been exhausted. The mineral occurs Iu nOdules or Jumps of various and irreE- ular sizes. buried in the auuvial de- posit of the plain. Another mine com Prises 5000 pits. only loo of which are being worked.
 The material is mined by the iuhabI- tants or the surrounding villages and transported in the rough to EsHishehr. The meerschaum Is soft when mined. but soon haTdens when exposed To rhe air. For this reason the humps are roughly scraoed off at first and then laid aside to dry. When dry they are subjected to a thorough scrapiEE and cleaning, and are finally waxed and polished. The humps are now sorted according to size in four classes and packed in boxes In this condition the neerschaum is shipped JO the pipe manufacturers
 In a meerschaum pipe factory the larger pieces are cut with band saw to a convenient size. after which the meeTschaum IS soaked in water uurll 1t becomes quite soft Meegschae when wet becomes very sOapy. and will pro duce quite la;her 5f rubbed In fact the material serves as a very good sub stitute for soap, and is thus Us-d lu Morocco Aeerschaum dust makes al excellent cleaning powder for renewing spots from fabrics. ter being thor oughly soaked. the meerschaum can be
  shaped with a knife 10 the form or pipe. When dry the bowl and stem shanks are drilled and then if the pipe is or pain pattern. it is turned on a lathe to the desired form If square stem shank is desired. it is shaped with Ia file. The shank Is now shoulder-d and threaded to receive the amber stem piece. These stems are cut from plates of solid amber. most of which ss inn ported from Germany.
 Amber occurs in many parts 0f Eu- rope and America. but in largest quan- tity along the coast of Germany. This fossil gum is found in Jumps or grains and is melted at $50 degrees F. and TO- flied.
 There are two qualities of amber. the transparent and the opaque or cloudy the latter being much tougher. and therefore. more servIceable- The pipe stems. after being toO-ed out. are bent to the required shape They are frs immersed in oil and heated until they lose much O. their brittIeness- Then they are held over an alcohol flame and bent as desired The threaded ends of the stem are pro -ected while bending by an arbOr screwed therein
 The pipes are now carefully smOothel with pieces of American rush. or shave grass. The stem of the grass owing to the natural de-Osit of silica. has a fine roughness which perfectly adapts e for this service. After the pipes have been properly finished with the rush they are immersed in melted wax for short time. depending on the density of the meerschaum. and then they are given a high polish with chalk precipi- tate.
 Meerschaum is an excellent material for artistic carving. and some ca "a tobacco pipes are perfect gems os art
 In the selection of meerSchaum pipe one should be careful not 10 pick a dead white specimen That which is of a slight creamy color will soonest take on that beautiful rich ye low brown shade which so delights the smoker Nor should the meerschaurn be too lighr as that is an indication that it is too porous to color properly. while on the other hand a very heavy lmeerschaum may be almost tOo dense to absorb the cOloring nicotine
 A great many sO-called meerschaum pipes are made from artificial meer- schaum. a material composed Of the chips and dust of meerschaum banded with some solution and moulded into blocks. The artificial product Is some what heavier than the genuine Thsre are still other ways or initiating meer- schaum. and a novice will find much difficulty in successfully selecting a genuine meerschaum pipe of good quality.-Scientific American
 
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