The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-25

Bestsn state House Takes q Third er an
Acre OF Gold Leaf.

Acre 90 Gold Leaf.
The problem Of regilding q dome may
be ~visualiZed by looking at a derby hat
and imagining that n dozen ants have the
task of covering it with squares OF beaten
gold, each square neatly fitting It's neigh
bors.
Naturally. says the Boston TRANSCRIPT.
these miniature workmen will commence
at the top, cautiously descending back
ward and leaving behind them on the almost
fiat crown Of tho derby q plain Of gold sur
prislng to flies and other onlookers.
Then, from working on an almost nat
surface our industrious ants will fi9d the
derby gradually becoming more n more
p~recipitous until the descent is finally al
together perpendicular. and II their legs
and ideas Of equilibrium were manlike in
stead Of antlike they must inevitably all
OF on the table and be carried away in an
ant ambulance.
To make the figure complete, therefore.
It would be necessary to erect a miniature
staging all around the derby, to place in
addition an electric Fan representing the
winds OF November) within easy ans oil
IL and to persuade some c~onscientious
smoker representing the activity Of neigh
boring chimneys) TO draw his chair to the
table and every now and then envelop the
scene OF operations in a cloud Of smoke.
For the present regilding Of b lone
Of the Boston State House eight pounds OF
gold must be hammered to the necessary
thinness to provide the material with which
to begin gliding, and gold leaf Of the best
quality sufficient to cover nearly a third
Of an acre must be turned out TO order.
This gold arrived in Boston In ingots
about six inches long. n inch wide and
one-eighth OF an inch thick. One OF these
ingots having been alleged for color. Is
first rolled and annealed between steel
rollers until 1t becomes a golden ribbon
eight wards long. This ribbo is then cut
INTO 100 squares, corresponding to the 200
leaves OF the clutch, which is made in London
Of a peculiar kind of paper that viii stand
continuous beating and whose compost
ton is a trade secret.
Beaten for t~hree-quarters OF an hour
between the leaves of the Clutch with a twelve
or fourteen pound hammer, each square
of gold spreads until II covers nine square
inches. Each OF these squares Is cut into
four equal parts and these inserted between
the 500 leaves Of the shoder. This Is similar
to the clutch, but one inch wider and longer
and made OF the intestines OF oxen. Here
IL Is hammered for an hour with an eight
pOund hammer.
Taken from the shoder the sheets are
again cut into four equal parts q the
original eight yards of ribbon have become
800 pieces Of thin gold, about five inches
Quare
Finally these squares, a thousand at a
time. are inserted in a mould OF a thousand
leaves of Ok intestines land here again
the exact preparation Of the five hundred
intestines necessary 70 make a single mould
is a trade ~secsetl, and gradually beaten
TO the required thinness.
Taken from the mould the leaves are
trimmed by young women, handling them
delicately with wooden pincers, to squares
OF three and a half inches, twenty-five
squares being inserted between the leaves
Of a small paper book. and twenty of these
books being combined in q pack for the
convenience Of the workmen who are later
20 transfer the beaten gold to its final posi-
ton.
In the case Of the dome the entire gliding
will probably empty 275 packs, or use up
some 1877 900 little squares OF gold. This
gold is of % carat quality, beaten to a thin
ness of one two hundred and forty thou
sandth part Of an inch, and to cover the
expanse of the dome about 5000 worth
of IL il necessary.
To pay for the work Of distributing this
gold over the surface OF the dome requires
a little more than another 81 900, thus max
ing the total cost of the establishment
something less than one mill apiece were
il divided up among the inhabitants OF
Boston proDer,