The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-12
MAKING SODA WATER sraAws.
A Trade Which Keeps Two Young
Girls in Pocket Money!

A Trade Which Keeps Two Young
Girls in Pocket Money.
"we make our own allowance rais-
ing soda water straws." said a young
girl who came to New York the
other day on a shopping trip. Five
years ago we moved to the country
and father planted rye patch for
the chickens. The next summer,
when the grain began to ripen. my
sister and |. who were small girls,
used to play hide and seek in the
rye patch. Then we began to pick
some Of the longest straws and make
suckers ! don't know Just how
long this was going on when mother
took us into town with her one day
and we went to q drugstore and had
some soda
1T was the first soda water my
sister and ! had ever tasted and we
noticed that the straws we're Just like
the suckers we had been making for
our own use. One of us called moth
er's attention to this fact and she very
promptly recognized the opportunity
for turning our play into money
making business. She sent for the
head of that department of the store
and learned that there was a demand
or good straws at $i.25 a thousand,
done up in little bundles containing
100 straws each.
The next day father cut an arm
full of straw and brought IL to us on
the back piazza. Then under moth
er's direction we cut our first soda
water stfaws for the trade. That
wear and the next mother worked
with us. but for the last three years
sister and / have been doing II all
alone and every cent we make is our
own.
For us there is no outlay besides
Cur own work. Father plants the
rye each year for the chickens and
cows and gives us as many straws as
we can clean and bundle So far as
our experience goes that is the only
limit to the market
ITO make the best soda water
straws the rye should be cut a little
underripe and left loose. not tied in
bundles When allowed to dry In the
field the straws will split and are
worthless. The heads of the rye are
cut off so there Is no waste OF the
grain. Only about two joints OF each
straw can be used. as the first two
are generally spoiled by cutting and
the last. the one next the grain head,
is much too small The first step af-
ter getting the straw in the work.
room Is to clip out the joints with
the scissors. peel off the outer COW
ering; then grade them as to size and
length and make into small bundles
of 100 each.
"The longest straws we turn out
are Ia inches. while the shortest are
Z. The straws should always be clip
| ped with sharp scissors obliquely,
| because If cut straight across they
| are graded as machine cut and do not
bring such II good price. Another
important point is that each bundle
should contain straws as nearly the
same size as ii is possible to get
them and they should be exactly the
same length
When we first began the work our
season was very short. because the
straw ripened so quickly. Nov that
we have learned. how to keep the
straw in condition by housing It in
a cool and not too damp cellar the
| season Is more than twice as long
and we make about Ave times as
much money. Our customers are al
ways willing to buy more straws
tnan we have. and have understood
from them that the wholesale dealers
were eager TO buy at any season OF
the year During the season. which
now includes nearly our entire school
vacation, my sister and earn $5 a
week apiece working about Ave hours
a day,"-New York Sun.