GLASS-MAKING. 



167 



according to the taste and requirements of the purchaser. He 

 may order anything, from the tiny vial of one-drachm capacity up 

 to the ungainly carboy holding fourteen gallons. He may have 

 any tints desired, from the colorless flint glass through all shades of 

 oreen and brown and blue to the bottle of absolute blackness. Or 



Fig. 7. The Annealing Leek, as seen fkom the Front. 



he may have any shape or form he pleases. Few if any bottles 

 are kept in stock or made until ordered. Nearly all of the work 

 is the direct filling of orders. 



It is only by comparison with the older order of things that 

 one can appreciate the large improvements that have recently 

 been introduced into the process of bottle-making. In the Glass- 

 boro works the Ferrari furnace has effected many changes and 

 many economies. I am told, on very reliable authority, that not 

 only is the quality of the glass much improved by the employ- 

 ment of these furnaces, but that in addition the experience of five 

 years has shown their maintenance and operation to be notably 

 less expensive than the old-style pot furnaces. In the matter of 

 fuel the saving is said to have been more than fifty per cent. The 

 repairs have also cost as much less in proportion. When the 

 melting was done in pots, the cost of these alone made an appreci- 

 able item in the year's expenses. Each one cost about fifty dollars, 

 and their average life was only two months. Occasionally one was 

 known to last nine months, but for every such exception there 

 were from two to three dozen which failed in less than a month. 

 The four furnaces in operation would require in all about forty 

 pots, and these renewed every two months would mean during the 



