Year: 1869

we pr0Quce no DllStes VI auy CouoeQuonoS'. -
this country. A comparatively small quantity il
annually saved, and goes into the manufacture o.
scrubbing, shoe and other coarse kinds OF brushes
but for brstles in generalw we depend upon transat
lantic sources Of supply. There is another kind o.
hair that costs immensely. 1t is the hair Of the
badger. It is used for making the brushes d
grainers. The tails Of the animal alone supply it.
The price in gold is thirty dollars pound. Most
Of it comes from Germany. For the last four
years none have been procurable. The Prussian
government got into its noddle notion to adopt
the badgers tail in its infantrymeu's hats, much
as our bucktail regiment sported in the caudal ap,
pendages Of deer. The result was that grainerf
found their brushes about as scarce as shabby bon
nets in fashionable churches.


The idea of camel-hair brushes is surely pleas
ant fiction. 1t is like calling small bladed knife
pen knife, Nobody makes quill pens in this era
and no camels offer their hair for brushes of any
kind. The material of all this kind Of brush We
are indebted to the tails Of the raccoon, opossum
silver martin, skunk and Hudson Bay sable. II
is not less queer than true that while all these fur
are produced on our own soil, we must 90 to Eng
land to buy the tails. The furs are shipped to Eu
rope, tails and all. The shipper won't cut them
of, lest he mar the integrity Of the skins There
has always been an active demand for long goat
hair for brush making purposes. Every billy-goat
carries an appendage beneath his chin from four to
ten inches long. Eugenia took fancy to it as 9
trimming for her pelisse, and, presto all the sup
ply was lifted far beyond price that would prove
Al 10 ho r,ood m
article of trimming The retail traders give to the
article fanciful name, but the chances are that
the tippet or muff known as Angora goat fleece,
was once supported by four-legged ranger with a
pair Of horns surmounting his caput


There are many ways of preparing hair and bris.
ties and some ways, also, of eking out the supply.
Manila produces grass that in second class brush
es can be so ntermingled as to deceive the eye Of
anybody but an expert. Shred whalebone was
formerly employed in no considerable extent, but
the only available kinds Of whalebone are very
nearly now as dear as bristles, In the manufacto.
ry of brushes the struggle is now between this
country and Europe. The French make goods
showy and poor. The scarcity of materials Of all
kinds for making brushes is gradually increasing,
and endeavors are now being made to utilize the
vast quantity of American bristles that annually
90 to waste in the big porkeries Of Cincinnati and
Chicago. At the asylum for the blind, the manu-.
facture of the commoner kinds of brushes is a
prominent branch of industry, and it is touching
to see the manner in which the absolutely sightless
can perfect their work.


In mechanical point of view the art of brush
making is difficult one. Few branches of indus.
try prove more remunerative to the artisan The
home manufacturer, owing to circumstances he
cannot avert, has to compete with foreign work.
men. The only trouble: that the French and
English manufacturer can put into the market an
article at four dollars dozen, only distinguishabe
after being used from an article costing treble the
money. And that's what's the matter with the
brush trade.-Northern Paper.