HOW A BONE BUTTON IS MADE

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 31 January 1890, Page 2

HOW A BONE BUTTON IS MADE

From human bones? No. From bones of dog or cattle? Np. , The other day (writes a correspondent) I happen to coll on Mr Chttrob/ who is the master of a small fcdttpn factory in and was greatly interested in seeing a tailor'f bone button made, just suoh a one as you would find on your ulster or a tweed coat. It was a queer little factory, mad* out of two or " itifee cottages rolltd into one. First of all I was introduced to the raw material, which lay on tho floor ot a dark and dingy little workshop, in which a solitary workman was standing at bjs bench. "There," said Mr Church, pointing to what I took to be potatoes, " there you see what we call vegetablotivory. It comes from South Amerida, and growß in clusters of half a -dozen nuts. That is the firet ttate-if the button." We then went up to tho workman who was cutting up the kernelg of the nuts «t a swiftly revolving circular saw, aii operation requiring great dexterity, fot'tfr slip might cost him a finger. This is tho first process. , The kernel is easily extracted, tho shell m which it is enclosed being very thin arid although the kernel is a nut it would take a very strong pair pf. jaws' to crack it, and the teeth cannot touch it The little white ikbirwbfch are cut put by the saws are taken to the next department, where tho button is really, formed, in the, Belies of lathes through which itii-*ptsiecL The toolmaker, whose oflice, isyery important, works at one end if me room tne first lathe outs gut the button with the de«r«d biroumfißreiice, regulated by a series 'of 'gitofcei? the work being passed 4ti to' Atfiers for the rim and bo on. Two men- Avere drilling the four holes of tht buttons, this being done by taking ttp'«ach ono and subjecting it to tho^- action oi the four-pronged horiironja^djills, doing thoir work, with rainarkable deftness and rapidity. The button, so far as its form goes, is finished. It now remains to do the polishing and dyeing. In another room ' are half-a-dozen hexagonal howftjrevolv- | ing in an atmosphere of dusk ,sP»ey oontain the buttons which are now being polished by tße action of some hard powder, which is placed with them in boxes. There is a Secret ia every trade, and I fcnby that tho contents of tho mixture vritk which tho buttons are eventually stained are not devulgod to tho. .world. Down below I was taken into another room, in which there wero scores of, tins containing dyes,, and many buckets holding chenuotl solutioDt. When the buttons 1 are ready for receiving the dye they are placed on a tin tray holding I think a gross. Tho dye is then blown on to them by a spray, which oausos the liquid to fall vorj naturally Tho trays are then put into a ga heated oven, and afterwards put on to the cards ready for tho market. Su«hi is the interesting history of a bon« button one of the many wonders of Birmingham, thai town of magicians. ; : . ■ ; , :.<.