The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-09-12
hiking Of DEADOHNS
Some 100000 Turned Out
Yearly in This Country.
LARGE SIZES EXPORTED


Work-The Handle Maker an Ex.
psrt-Hand Work.
There is only one demijohn factory
IN New York, this one being located in
Bf1,Klyn borough. Most of the work
Is done by young women. There are
employed some men, who put on the
handles, though there is here at work
oue blind man, who makes bottoms,
but most of the weaving of the basket
coverings around the bottles, which
includes the bulk of the work. Is done
by young women, says the New YORK
Sun.
In making the wicker covering OF
q demijohn the work begins at the
lottom. The wcayers sit with their
backs to the wall in two lines down
tie sides OF the factory room facing
the centre, while down the middle
OF the room, standing ON the floor,
are long rows of demijohn bottles 10
be covered. At the end of each row
Of basket weavers sits a bottom max
eT.
The bottom maker picks UP a suflici
Cut number of reeds or sticks of length
and size suitable for the bottom or
lUe cover to be made and these sticks
he crosses so that their ends radiate
like the points of a star and then he
proceeds quickly to weave in ana out
over these radiating sticks reeds to
H. H., -
suugly in at the centre at the start.
aud then rapidly running the reed
around and around in and out of the
radiatlng sticks until he has brought
the bottom thus woven to the re-
quired dimensions.
Perhaps he tests this then with
wooden guage TO see that it is just
right, as 1t is more than likely to be,
IJr he becomes adept by long practice
and he can tell pretty accurately with
out measuring, and then he snips OF
the projecting ends of the sticks and
tosses the bottom to a girl, who puts
In the uprights.
The uprights are the reeds that
form the vertical framework OF the
long reeds, and shorter ones alternat-
ing all around. The shorter reeds
viii go up the side of the bottle and
over the shoulder to the bottom OF
the neck; the long reeds will go up
the side and over the shoulder and
OH up the top of the neck.
When the uprights have thus been
placed another girl takes the bot
tom and bends the uprignts up and
weaves around among them at the
bend three courses Of reed. This fixes
all the upright in their relative posi-
tons, and the weaving, thus done.
makes also sort of swallow cup OF
basket work deep enough to hold the
bottle in place without shifting when
II has been placed within the skele-
ton framework, and the weaving OF
the complete basket is begun.
Supporting the bottle in her lap with
its neck to the front, the basket weav-
er now starts making the basket work
around it, beginning at the base; the
reeds that are to be woven in are all
thoroughly soaked before using to
make them soft and pliable and easy
to work so they can be drawn
and fitted snugly. All the uprights
suck out around the bottle long and
wayy toward the neck, and 1t might
seem that it would be a difficult thing
toget round them to get the weaves she
weaves among them into place: but
the weaver has way Of bending the
pprights aside one after another as
she comes to them, all the time stead
ily rotating the bottle as she runs the
reed around it, in and out, under and
over the uprights, which spring back
one after another as she passes on.
With its cover completed, the demi-
John now goes to the hanule man TO
have its handle put on. The woven
cover is made of split reeds; the han
die is of whole reed.
First the handle maker cuts short
length of reed, one end of which he
tucks under the basketwork on one
side of the bottle just below the
shoulder while he bends and tucks the
other end into the top of the basket
work around the neck, This reed is
called a false bow; it really serves
SIS a core for and form on which he
VIII now build the handle.
He now takes a reed Of some length,
one end of which with the end OF a
tool made for the purpose, he puts
through the demijohn covering along
side the lower end of the false bow
Drawing the end of this reed well
through from under the covering, the
handle maker doubles it up along the
other end, and the reed thus doubled
ne winds with two or three turns
around the false bow unt.. he comes
TO the neck of the bottle, around
which he turns it,
This gives the handle it's secure
hold there, as running it through the
cover does below and that turn around
The neck, with the double reed, also
covers the raw edge of the weaving