Tobacco-pipes are made of a fine white clay, found chiefly in the
island of Purbeck, and called, from its use, pipe-clay. Dr. Ure gives
the following account of the manufacture of tobacco-pipes:--“A child
fashions a ball of clay from the heap, rolls it out into a slender
cylinder upon a plank, with the palms of his hands, in order to form
the stem of the pipe. He sticks a lump at the end of the cylinder,
for forming the bowl; which, having done, he lays the piece aside
for a day or two to get more consistence. In proportion as he makes
these rough figures, he arranges them by dozens on a board, and hands
them to the pipe-maker. The pipe is finished by means of a folding
brass or iron mould, channelled inside of the shape of the stem and
the bowl, and capable of being opened at the two ends. It is formed
of two pieces, each hollowed out like a half pipe cut as it were
lengthwise, and these two jaws when brought together constitute the
exact space for making one pipe; there are small pins in one side of
the mould, corresponding to holes in the other, which serve as guides
for applying the two together with precision. The workman takes a
long iron wire, with its end oiled, and pushes it through the soft
clay in the direction of the stem, to form the bore, and he directs
the wire by feeling with his left hand the progress of the point.
He lays the pipe in the groove of one of the jaws of the mould,
with the wire sticking in it, applies the other jaw, brings them
smartly together, and unites them by a clamp or vice, which produces
the external form; a lever is now brought down, which presses an
oiled stopper into the bowl of the pipe while it is in the mould,
forcing it sufficiently down to form the cavity, the wire in the
meanwhile being thrust backwards and forwards, so as to pierce the
tube completely through; the wire must become visible at the bottom
of the bowl, otherwise the pipe will be imperfect. The wire is now
withdrawn, the jaws of the mould opened, the pipe taken out, and
the redundant clay removed with a knife; after drying for a day or
two, the pipes are scraped, polished with a piece of hard wood, and,
the stems being bent into the desired form, they are carried to the
baking kiln, which is capable of firing fifty gross in from eight to
twelve hours. A workman and a child can easily make five gross of
pipes in a day.”
Illustration: FURNACE.
The pipes known as “meerschaum” are cut and shaped out of a natural
earth or mineral, found chiefly in the island of Samos; it is not a
clay, but consists of silica, magnesia, and lime, and is therefore
a kind of magnesian limestone. It is nearly white, very light and
porous, is easily cut with a knife, and bears a beautiful polish when
saturated with the oil of the tobacco, which at the same time gives
to the pipes a rich dark-brown color.
The meerschaum pipes sold in London are saturated with wax or grease,
to cause them to color more easily, and many are not meerschaum at
all, but are made of the dust produced in the cutting and boring
of the real meerschaum pipes, mixed up with size; these fictitious
pipes are heavier and less porous than the true meerschaum pipes, and
neither color so readily nor bear so beautiful a polish; they are,
moreover, much more easily broken.