INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



requiring great skill and judgment on the part of the 

 master-melter. As a first stage of the process the 

 melting-pots "monkey pots," as they are called 

 are filled with the batch and heated until the contents 

 melt. This requires several hours, and when accom- 

 plished the shrunken bulk is increased with fresh 

 shoveling of sand, and this melted in turn, until the 

 pots are almost full of the liquid. As a finishing 

 touch a small shoveling of "cullet," or broken glass, is 

 thrown in and melted a dash of flavoring to the brew, 

 so to speak. 



All this time the master-melter has been crowding 

 his fires to their limit, meanwhile keeping a watchful 

 eye on the condition of the melting mass. Fourteen, 

 sixteen, even twenty or more hours he must wait be- 

 fore the liquid attains the right consistency. Then 

 gradually the fires are lowered, and the temperature 

 of the molten glass reduced until it is a little thicker 

 than thick molasses the consistency of tar on a hot day 

 which is the ideal condition for manipulation by the 

 blowers. This finishes the work of the master-melter. 

 Now different sets of trained workmen take charge of 

 the contents of the monkey pots. 



The first of these is the gatherer, who dips out a 

 certain quantity of the hot, gummy glass on the end 

 of the long blowpipes. The position of this workman 

 is a most trying one, as he must be constantly in close 

 proximity to the blistering heat of the furnaces. To 

 protect himself he wears a kind of shield or mask held 

 in his teeth in front of his face. With hands protected 

 by coarse gloves, he dips the end of the blowpipe into 



