Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-07-23
BUTTONS PRICES AND
PRoBz Is RECEIVED
* u. S. WAR BOARD
RnEieGlm Tells Wkss, Where, WAen.
Nhy and New

button =
Consult Bulletin No. IS. of the War
Industries Boards history OF prices
during the war, Just published BY the
Government Printing once II is en-
titled Prices ID the Button Indus
TRY. and Ii by John Il Curran. The
bulletin III one o9 81 o. different sub
jects aimed 70 make the price quota
ltions gathered by various government
agencies available 10 men concerned
with problems 81 business readiust-
mont, and also 10 provide peTma-
nent record Of the price fluctuations
which accompanied the world war
One can find out LOT about but
tons In this bulletin. For Instance
I'm his country, the packing houses
furnish the great hulk OF the material
used for buttons
This refers to bone buttons.
'tThe bones used for buttons are
the shin bones OF front and hind legs
ot cattle and cost on an average about
$50 ton.
DO you know what your shoe but
ton Is besides d bniton7 The bulletin
says:
THE ordinary shoe button II made
of papiermache III the process On
manufacture the buttons are saturated
with linseed OIL or amber yarnish 10
give greater drmness. and when thor
loughly dried are coated with hot, di-
llnted amber varnish and then baked
4
pumice they are coated with the re-
qulred color. dried. and again polished,
and this process Ii repeated for three
or more coats. They are finally COW
cred with clear eopai varnish.
In glass buttons:
Imports fell on from $4,000 in
1914 to S2,776 in 1917, as q result Of
shutting on trade with Austria No
better illustration can be found Of d
complete change ID ar-tine trade
conditions than this exclusion Of d
d4stInctiveIy foreign product and the
substitution os the domestic article.
for the Imported domestic produc-
ton In 1914 Of III 900 gross had grown
lin 1917 to nearly 600, 900 gress, pEacti-
cally 200 per cent Z
In this division OF the button indus
Try. the bulletin says.
.tThe rise In wages has been from
so to 80 per cent Laborers who re-
ceiyed $3.50 10 $3.50 d day IN 1916 re-
ceiyed in 1918 $3.50 to $3.50
Wages went up In other sections
For the buttoh Industry. too. 1t appears
went up considerably According TO
manufacturers. there were increases
from 1913 Ia 1918 in the vegetable
ivory button industry og from 96 to LOO
fper cent. tn the ocean-peari button
section. II appears that wages advanc-
"a between, sl.AA and 1918 from 81 e
so pei cent.
As 10 metal buttons
tsIn this industry. domestic manu-
facturers are not dependent upon any
foreign country for button mater
ials :
Ii appears that there Is some four-
dalton for referring to some persons
heads as nuts for, In telling that
vegetable ivory buttons are made from
tagua nuts imported principally from
| Ecuador, Columbia and Panama, the
bulletin says:
..The nuts. which are covered With
| d hard shell, grow IN heads, etc
(Compilers Of slang dictionaries.
take notice
ii you like button which hap
pens to be an ''ocean-peari button,
but do not like the price In other
words. III you are one % put the but
In button. " mayAe this information will
explain matters:
.The seconds under competitive
conditions must be sold at prices often
less than the cost OF manufacture;
hence, the, more perfect buttons are
sold propoftionately higher and in Q
sense are loaded IN price to carry
the burden Of the factory loss on sec
onds. :
l4ow siSnple):
',Fresh-water pearl buttons consti-
tute the most important class In
quantity and value Of the buttons pro-
duced in this country The nussel
she'll found In the Mississippi and It's
tributaries furnishes the raw material
THE most serious problem IN the in-
dustry ii the Increase II imports of
cheap fresh-water pearl buttons from
Japan 4
/ And so the story goes,
These are little high spots" which
project from the more prosaic stalls
teal matter, but the prose is there
for puxElDse as well as these pro
tections. for every effort has been
made 10 publish this and the other
bulletins Ia time to be Of practical
service In Changing from war to peace