How Pipes are made 171 



polish given by a pumice-stone wheel. The hole 

 through the stem is bored by a steel wire, having a 

 cutting tip, turned rapidly by a lathe. Another 

 machine cuts the thread in the end of the stem to 

 screw the mouthpiece ; the silver band or mount, 

 hall-marked at the Government Assay Offices, is 

 fixed and the mouthpiece attached. The pipe is 

 then polished by the naked hand with a preparation 

 of rouge and olive-oil, and is ready for the smoker. 



The qualities for which the maker looks in a briar 

 are three — good figuring and veining of wood, free- 

 dom from knots, and density. In its natural state 

 the briar is of a light colour, and a darker hue is 

 obtained by polishing with linseed or olive oil. This 

 accounts for the peculiar oily condition of many 

 dark briars, rendering their smoking for some time 

 most unpleasant. If the smoker prefer a dark briar 

 he will find that a light one soon assumes a deeper 

 hue, and smokes much more sweetly than a greasy, 

 artificially-darkened one. 



A briar pipe goes through no less than eighty-four 

 processes in its manufacture. Only 8 per cent, of all 

 turned out are perfect and of the first quality, eleven 

 out of every twelve pipes being rejected from the 

 premier class for flaws. Only experts can detect 

 the tiny cracks in the unsmoked briar, through which 

 tobacco juices will ultimately ooze. These imperfect 

 pipes are assorted and priced according to their 

 merits or demerits. 



That small but essential part of a pipe, the mouth- 

 piece, still remains to be dealt with. Amber mouth- 

 pieces are, of course, infinitely superior to vulcanite 



