DIGGING FOR MEERSCHAUM.

Northland Age, Volume 3, Issue 38, 7 May 1907, Page 6

DIGGING FOR MEERSCHAUM.

Few of the smokers tq ’’■'hose hearts a meerschaum pipe is dear know anything of the history of the material. Some interesting particulars of its source and treatment are given in tne “Board of Trade Journal.” The district of Eskischehir, Asia Minor, supplies the whole of the meerschaum, used throughout the world, and the industry gives employment to about 4,000 persons, mainly Kurds and Persians. The best yield is obtained from mines, but supplies are also still obtained from the sea.

The methods of working are primitive, and no attempt is made to secure immunity from accidents, although these occur from time to time. Batches of from three to fifteen workmen are set to sink a well about one metre in diameter, and no propping-up is effected until they strike, at a depth of 30, 40, or even 60 metros, a bod of the red clay, in which is found meerschaum mixed with serpentine in pieoes ranging from the size of a hazel nut to that of an apple. The extraction of these pieces is often attended with great difficulties, but work is carried on day and night. When purchased by the wholesale merchants the meerschaum is humid, heavy, and of a yellowish tinge. It has, therefore, to be dried, either in the sun or. in a kiln, according to the season of the year. This causes two-thirds to waste away, but turns it a snow-white colour. It is afterwards rubbed with hot water and sand, and finally polished with wax, and is then ready to be placed on the market.