The Plattsmouth daily herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1883-19??, April 11, 1889, Image 3

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    life
E3Si;SlSi:S5EIIIlinES ccr
Y-r-
Srisla IFoint 2FIsEsacIng&9 with Marrow to Match.
Wide.
E. Jr. DO VET & SON,
TOILERS IN STRIPES.
SHOEMAKING IN THE KINGS COUNTY
(N. Y.) PENITENTIARY.
Turning Out Three Tlmim:ml Pairs of
Daily Wonderful .Machine Eui
jilovvl I'rt'f Labor in (lie nuiltling.
WoDirn Who Work u:il Never Smile.
That immense stone structure on Nos
trand avenue, near Prospect Park,
Urookhn. is the Kin'a County ie;iiten
tiary, one of tlie most widely known and
best managed institutions in the United
fixates. About seven hundred men and
women are confined there.
The most interesting part of the insti
tution is the big shoe factory, which is
situated on the eastern end of the build
ing, it 13 a T shaped building, three
stories in he ight.
Ilere 500 convicts are engaged in
making shoes for the Day State Shoe
and leather company, a corporation
which lias made a vast fortune out of
convict labor. It gets its shop rent,
steam power, lalxr and all for about
$3,000 a month alout one-quarter of
what it would cost the employer of
honest lalor.
The men n::d boys who work in the
prison factory range in age from 13 to
tio years. Some are ninety day men and
others are long term men. They wear
the rough, striped shoddy garb, the pop
ular fashion in all prisons.
HACIIINXS WITH BRAINS.
Each man gets a day's task and lie i3
kept at it until it is finished. Some of
the inmates are very expert and finish
: their shre of the work aa early as 3
. o'clock. Three thousand pairs of shoes
:aro turned out of the prison every day.
All the instructors and overseers are
citizens who i side outside of the peni
tentiary. In passing through the shop
they can be readily distinguished from
the inmates, who are uniformed, shaved
and close cropped.
The factory is espec ially interesting. It
is arranged and managed like any big
factory of the kind. The machines used
are cf the most approved patterns. They
perform without exciting comment
things which would have been consid
ered most wonderful a few years ago.
They are especially adapted for the com
mon work which the company manu
factures. There i3 one little simple looking ma
chine which, as if by magic, chops and
changes thin little sheets of wood into
shoe pegs, and then drives them into the
soles of shoes at one operation in so short
a time that the visiter is amazed. The
cold machine works and throbs as if en
dowed with a head, heart and intellig
nce. Another machine that is driving men
out of the business was working away,
guided by a convict mechanic This
machine attaches a heel to a6hoeand
-then trims the heel as nicely as a human
land could do the work and much faster.
Jt -was a powerful implement, and every
time it moved it looked as if it was going
sta crash the shoe into uuln.
WILL OFFEK ON THURSDAY,
J
o
THE
Memstitched
U: ? or two blows lar-tencHl tho heel to
t'.u i..':(.e. The turn of n crnn": wi the
trimmer in motion and it r:;piuly peeled
the rough edges off the hod and left it
ready for the burnisher tho man who
polishes the edges of the heels or soles.
Ti" reporter eaw another noisy little
machine in operation. It does a trroiit
1 deal of work and does it well. The ma
chine not only punched the holes for
laces, but drove eyelets into them at the
same time.
Another raachirre sent two needles
flying and they sewed a double row of
stitches at one time. This reduces vamp
ing to one operation.
'flu reporter ysj shown every ma
chine. It is the custom of tho prisoners
to f.'.iow every visitor a sample of the
work they are engaged upon. They
hand it without saying a word. The
rule; forbid any conversation on tho part i
of thy inmates. The reporter passed
through the building without hearing a
single word. The citizen mechanics ani
keepers alone are allowed to speak.
SILENT AS TUB TOMB.
So:ne of the men beccmo expcrt3 at
some part of the trade. None of thein
ever can learn it all through, becausa
machinery is supplanting hand work.
W hen they becomo freo they frequently
manage to get good situations.
Two keepers guard each floor, but i.i
case of an outbreak, a score of men would
lo ready for action in a minute. Tl:9
prisoners there, however, as a rule, are
well behaved.
The keeper opened a door and tho re
porter found himself in a room filled
with bright, cheerful, chatting and neatly
dressed girls. They were bent over
machines or tables, working busily.
They aro employed on fancy work by
the company. They go to tho peniten
tiary every morning and leave it every
night for their homes.
Th. reporter was then escorted to a
low frame structure in tho middle of tho
yard. Tho scene hero was altogether
different. The room was bright end
cheerful, bat it was silent as a tomb, al
though forty women were in it. They
were prisoners. Some of them had very
hardened faces marked by an I-don"t-care
expression; others looked as if tl:?y
had abandoned all hope. Only one
turned around to see who had come.
These unfortunate women were attired
in rough Lluo dresses. They wero en
gaged in shocmaking. They are, of
course, kept apart from the men prison
ers and isolated from tho respectable t
girls who work in tho prison. Some of i
them are life . prisoners confined for
homicide.
TLero were desperate women in that
room women who have terrorized men t
in UicL time, but the discipline is so per- i
feet ihero that order is maintained by a .
single matron seated on an elevated plat- I
form which enables her to 6eo all over
tho room. Her only assistant is a lady
overseer. Hew York Journal.
Malicious Tell me, is your wife cu
rious. 'She? I really believe she came into ;
tiro world only out of puro curiosity." i
Klipfrpnde Blaetter.
noimcings
THE DAILY HERALD: "I'LATTGMOUTH, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY,'
shown In tla city at swaces wliiclt will toe tlie very lowest
,
ASSORTMENT CONSISTS OF
'(TO 10
Fimdssg. Marrow Swiss EraiIbriciery.
IEnahfioilery9 In all widths.
E. G. DOVEY & SON,
MANUFACTURING CORKS.
FACTS ABOUT A USEFUL BUT NEG
LECTED LITTLE ARTICLE.
The Raw Slat ria.1 Comes from Spain.
Dame Nature Kim to the Trees The
Machinery Used in Ketliuinj; the Hark
to "stoppers" and How It Works.
Just at the present time a business
which mr.kes about as little as any busi
ness can ivell make and keep itself from
swamping is tha making of corks.
Chicago can boast of but two such es
tablishments, and at first glance there
seems li';erally no reason at all why it
should r.ot be a most lucrative business.
There is ever a steady demand for
corks: the employes are kept busy almost
contiiu.ally and receive tolerably fair
wages; each of the Chicago houses has a
good trade, both wholesale and retail,
yet they make no money.
Some time ago the cork manufacturers
formed a league under which they bound
themselves to certain tilings. For a
time all tvent well, but soon it was dis
covered that several were not fulfilling
their agreement and the entire thing
was, to put it mildly, "busted."
At present, therefore, they are pro
celling on the "go as you please" plan,
and each one is heartily sick of it. Ob
stinacy and the hope of better things in
tho future are all that prevent many of
them from selling out.
What would champagne be without
the cork, and yet when it leaves its sanc
tum in the mouth of the bottle, with its
sduI inspiring "pop," so much anxiety is
felt to get at what is beyond it that no
thought whatever is given to tho insig
nificant cork; yet had it the gift of
speech of what wonderful things it could
tell.
THE BARK AND ITS COST.
Every piece of cork which enters tliis
city has been brought all the way from
sunny Spain. In the climate of no other
country will the cork tree, whence it all
comes, thrive as under the blue skies of
Spain. Large quantities are 'shipped
every year from Madrid, Lisbon, and
one or two other cities, one of the Chi
cago houses alone using nearly 0,000
bales last year.
The entire bark is stripped from the
tree trunk, leaving it naked and bare,
but Dame Nature is kind, and soon a new
covering begins to appear, of which it is
again deprived by man, rapacious of gain.
Seldom is the bark of much more than
an inch in tliickness, for the good reason
that it is usually taken off ere it has time
to grow thicker. LTowever, the tree can
not live and be robbed of its bark oftener
than once in six years.
The bark is broken or cut into pieces
averaging a foot or more in length and
various widtlis, pressed out flat, and
packed in bales. These are transported
to some seaport town, stowed away in
vessels, and carried to New York. The
average cost of a bale upon landing runs
from $18 to $50 or G0, depending, of
course, upon tho quality of the material. :
Some of the bark is exceedingly poroue. 1
to
Manisook Founcinjgs9 froasa
with streaks and holes" "ruhnTngtnrougn
it, which does not bring the price, natur
ally, which is paid for that which is en
tirely free from blemish. The last men
tioned is called "velvet cork," and used
only in bottles filled with tho finest wines.
Such a self willed substance as cham
pagne otherwise might make its way
through the cork.
Upon reaching the factory the bales
are unpacked, and piece by piece soaked
for a short time not more than ten or
twenty minutes in a vat filled with
boiling water, after which the cork is
softer and much easier to handle.
A cutter takes the pieces, places them
within reach of a rapidly revolving
wheel, with an edge so sharp that it is
best to keep one's fingers at a safe dis
tance. The bark is cut by this wheel
into strips, the width of the diameter of
the required cork. Tho strips aro then
placed in front of a cylindrical instru
ment, which moves back and forth at
tho will of the mr aipulator, and punches
out the corks, jauch after the same
fashion that our grandmothers punched
out those good old fashioned cookies,
which were the delightof our childhood.
The net machine with which the cork
comes into close contact is a most com
plex one. A cup like receptacle is ex
tended, the operative, in the case spoken
of, a young girl, quickly places therein
the cor!;: it is withdrawn, held against
a horizontal, sharp and rapidly revolv
ing wheel in such a manner that the out
side is pared elf with that peculiar soft
crunching sound that cork makes, leav
ing one end reduced in size and the
whole cut in a uniform shape.
The waste material and finished cork
are then dropped by the machine into
receptacles placed to receive them and
the cup extended for yet another cork.
The whole thing is done in the twink
ling of an eye: almost before you see
the cork in place it is trimmed, dropped,
and the machine is ready for another.
The operator sits in a low seat beside
the machine, and as she feeds it per
forms with head and body a peculiar
fearing motion back ar-d forth, al
though she herself is evidently uncon
scious of it.
Everything in this country is done by
machinery, but the reporter was shown
come beautiful carving from cork done
by hand by foreign workmen. A small
cottage was complete even to the
6hingle3 on the roof and the palings of
tho fence. A linked chain, which liad
been over a yard long and all made of
one piece of bark, was also quite a curi
osity, as. were the neatest of wine
glasses and several other small articles.
Chicago Tribune.
A Chicago Millionaire.
Potter Palmer, the Chicago millionaire,
earned his first salary as a clerk in a lit
tle country 6tore in a Pennsylvania vil
lage, lie made his money by judicious
investments in real estate in Clucago,
and though he lost 2.500,000 in the great
Chicago fire and had to borrow on mort
gages 1,500,000 to retrieve himself, he
is again on top, with several spare mill
ions to push his schemes along. New
York Telezrain.
APRIL 11; 1S89.
APEIL 4,
13
km
IfiaiiibiflBg?Ift
E. Go DOVEY & SON.
Imitation Wines.
We hare never yet heard of a wino
rjiercham quixotic enough to deal avow
edly in "imitation wines," says a London,
journal, or even to inform his customers
that the champagnes and clarets, sau
ternes and burgundies with which he sup
plies them at so many shillings a dozen,
were imported into France for con ver
sion from Spain. Italy, Hungary, Greece,
or even far California. It is still less
agreeable, from the purchaser's point of
view, to reflect that these so called wines
were manufactured of all sorts of hete
rogeneous ingredients at Hamburg, the
headquarters of continental falsi licit ion
a city in which more "vin de Bor
deaux" is annually produced than in the
whole department of the Gironde. just
as more "Ilavanas" are fabricated than
go to three times the entire yield of all
the Cuban tobacco plantations.
With respect to these malpractices,
heavy charges, we regret to say, only
too solidly founded on fact, have of late
been brought against the wine trade, by
persons manifestly well acquainted with
the nefarious maneuvers in which grow
ers and shippers, importers and retailers
alike, are leagued together with the com
mon purpose of defrauding the consumer.
Their victim being the only honest man
connected with the whole transaction
that is. if he pays his wine bill is neces
sarily at the mercy of so formidable a
hostile coalition, and is fore condemned,
so to sjx;ak. without benefit of clergy, to
exchange good money for worthless
wares, deliberately palmed upon him un
der false pretenses. Boston Herald.
AVhat She Gave.
"Oh dear, ' I've nothin to put in the
box for foreign missions!" complained a
little girl of our acquaintance. "No,"
said her friend, as she gave the little
maid a caress, "but you are a little home
missionary."
And was she not? She spent an hour
that morning amusing her baby sister,
who was cross with cutting teeth. She
sewed up a tear in brother Ned's ball,
and hunted up some twine for his kite
string, and she did it with a smiling face,
and not a word of being bothered.
Yesterday this little home missionary
attended the door bell for Mary, the
housemaid, and let her go to visit her
sick child. Meantime she wrote a letter
to her absent father, who was away on
business, in which she told him all the
home news in a frank, artless way, giv
ing the man a thrill of loving pride and
pleasure in his little daughter.
She listened to one of grandma's old
stories, told many times before, with
patient attention. She laughed just at
the right time to please tho old lady, and
when it was ended, she said:
"That's one of your good old stories,
grandma."
la many ways did this little maid help
and cheer her mother. So, though she
could not contribute to the aid of foreign
"mission, she gave what could to add to
the happiness of those about her, and
who can do better than that? Youth's
Companion.
1
)mnMIMl IJII1L11LM
lliyiaM-lllM'li'Mlif, TIM
1.4 to JSffi Isaehcs
Thoroughly cloanne the blood, which 19 the
fountain of health, by unintr Lr. Pierce's Gold
en Medical Discovery, and irood digestion, a
fair skin, buoyant spirits, and bodily health
and vifror will be established.
Golden Medical Discovery cures all humors,
from the common pimple, blotch, or eruption,
to the worst Scrofula, or blood-poison. Ka
pecially has it proven its eflicacy in curing
8alt-rlieurn or Tetter, Kczema, Erysipelas,
'ever - sores. Hip-joint Disease. Scrofulous
Sores and Swelling, Enlarged Glands, UoU
tre or Thick Keck, and tating- Bores or
Ulcers.
Golden Medical Discovery cures Consump
tion (which Is Scrofula of tho Lunps), by fts
wonderful blood - purifyinir, invigorating,
and nutritive properties. If taken in timu.
For Weak Lanrs, Spitting of Diood, Short
ness of Ureath, Catarrh in the Head, Hron
ehitis. Severe Coughs, Asthma, and kindred
affections. It is a sovereign remedy. It
promptly cures the severest Coughs.
For Torpid Liver, Biliousness, or "liver
Complaint," Dyspepsia, and indigestion, it la
an unequaled remedy. Bold by drutfglsta.
Prlca f l.WJ, or six bottles fox $5X0.
ZL (count v fet Kvr.voii,)
Civil Engineer
Surveyor and Draftsman
Plans, Specifications and Esti.nutes, Mu
nicipal Work, Maps &c.
PLATTSMOUTH. - - NEB.
C F. SM ITH,
The Boss Tailor
M;iiu SC., Over Merges' Shoe Store.
Has the best and rn"st complete ftock
of samples, both foreign and domestic
woolens that ever came went of Missouri
river. Note these prices: Business suits
from to drtfcs suits, sfiS to $4?5,
pants $1, $0, $G.50 and upwards.
CZFWill guarantee a fit.
Prices Defy Comoetilion.
business! directory.
- , r r r - - -. , - . ..
ATTOJiXKY.
t. S. F. THOMAS.
Attorner-.it-bttw and N;iry Public. O.Tice In
Fiizgrra d I?lock. l"lat;moutli, Nt-h.
ATTOXNi.Y.
a. x. sr U.I VAN.
Attorney-af-l.aw. Will ?lve prompt Attention
to ail 1 iif!ne lntriiMei u htm. OflVe la
C'uiun Block, East side, PlattHinouth. eb.
GKOCEKIKS.
CHRIS.' WOTM.FAP.T1I.
staple a nil Fancy Groceries, CJlassware and
Croukery. Flour and Feed.
j.n.EH3ioxs,ai. D.
IDVfEOPATHIC
Physician Surgeon
ofn. and resi nc corner of Seventh tret
and Va'i'j;'in Ave me Teleplinhp S.. ).
Chronic D;" " id Di'ft es of Women and
Children a sneeia'.ty. Uillce hourf, 9 11 to a. In.
2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p. tu .
r 71
6s?
Nc-yv.,....-;',