The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-10-12
GLASS CUTTING IN JAPAN.


GLASS CUTTING IN JAPAN.
The next congress will have some
work cut out for it, in order to pro-
vide better tariff protection for our
cut glass manufacturers and work.
men. This will be a very important
and a vital subject to every work
man in the cut glass industry. Japan
has gone into the cut glass business
in earnest and while it will be a year
or more before we shall have to meet
| their competition yet it is bound to
come. The history of the introduce
! tion of this industry in the east is of
very recent date. A few Japanese
| learned the art of blowing and cut
! ting here in America and now, back
ed by a number of capitalists in their
own country, have opened up a school
! of instruction which consists of a
regularly appointed factory which
now employs nearly 800 expert hands
and about the same number who are
| learning the trade. These experts
are turning out some beautiful spec
linens of ware. A letter from an
American in Toxic who is interested
| in another industry sends us the
| following information in regard to
| the progress of this work. He
states:
ut is wonderful to witness the
deftness of these people in handling
! glass and the great results they get
in this new industry. They not only
copy the designs of our American
manufacturers readily, but they have
line of designs of their own which,
although fantastic, are beautiful to
look at, and one wonders how they
manage to get such wonderful and
artistic results. American cutting
seems to be confined to straight lines
and curves with a large radius, but
these Japs cut circles, twisted lines
and all sorts of shapes. One design
which was cut on a large bowl repre-
sents the draping and folds of a cur
tain which is hung in festoons to the
upper edge of the bowl Every fold
is perfectly and gracefully delineated,
the texture of the silk can be dis
cerned in faint and exquisite lines,
while the patterns of the material
are clearly outlined in the cutting.
No written description could do JUS
tice to this one particular piece of
work. 1t must be seen to be APP
preciated. | have seen any quanti-
ty of cut glass but never anything
to equal this in beauty and in work
manship. An inquiry as to the labor
cost of their work brought an an
swer that was revelation. A bowl
cut after an American pattern and
which l know would cost IS for labor
= alone in America, cost $2.10 of Jap
: anese labor and this included the
labor of packing ready for shipment
| or m
cutting to a great extent, but have
4. number of ingenious devices that
enable them to do work which as yet
we have not done. One of the mills
they use resembles a drill with which
they cut very fine lines and fancy
: figures. This is not an engrayer's
tool, but one that cuts the glass
deeply and does it rapidly. Their
: shop or instruction room is the only
= room ! was asked to enter 1t was
a model of neatness and quietness
every person seemed to be a mute
: but my short inspection kept me in
wonderland as l noted the quickness
: and deftness with which they handled
, the ware. Their glass is clear as q
: crystal, and not very brittle. l was
? surprised to see the superintendent
take a bowl which was partly finish.
ed and drop it on the floor. He was
a short man but the distance the
bowl fell was at least three feet. AT.
| ter dropping it he rolled the bowl or
> it's edge a distance of at least TWEEN
: ty feet on the board floor He then
placed the bowl on a bench and
swung over it large glass about 2
) inches in diameter which had good
: magnifying qualities and requested
, me to see if | could discover any
cracks or damage done to the bowl
but not crack, nor could | see any
Clipped points on it. There were five
of these magnifying glasses on this
: bench and every piece of glass when
finished is examined under one OF
them. After carefully examining the
bowl the Jap smiled and said you
cannot do that with American glass
J This concern will employ 1000 eX
perienced glass cutters before 1911
closes and they claim that their la
! Dor cost will be greatly reduced wheL
they have full complement of meI
who have a longer experience. AT
ter my visit to the factory, while de-
scribing my trip to a member of the
German Embassy, he told me that
this concern had made large punch
bowl and set of goblets which haC
been sent to the Emperor William
The bowl was a combination of cut
and engraved work and the design
was the coat of arms of the German
= Empire, together with all the insignf
: of the different kingdoms of the EN-
pire. Each goblet represented {
kingdom or duchy of the empire. j
was pronounced remarkable Sc
both in design and workmanship By
all who inspected same.