close to the heat of the molten glass.

Later, in the cool offices of the company, where the roar of the
furnaces penetrated only as a dull undertone, and electric fans whizzed
away the heat of the summer afternoon, I learned more of the technique
of the bottle industry. Each shape demanded by the trade requires a
special mold, made of cast iron and cut according to the design
submitted. There are, of course, standard shapes for standard bottles;
these are alluded to (reversing the usual practise of metonymy) by using
thing contained for container, as "ginger ales," "olives," "mustards,"
"sodas" and (low be it spoken) "beers." But when a firm places an order
for bottles of a particular shape, or ones with lettering in relief on
the glass, special molds must be made; and after the lot is finished the
molds are useless till another order for that particular design comes
in. A few standard molds are made so that plates with lettering can be
inserted for customers who want trademarks or firm names on their
bottles; but the great majority of the lettered bottles have their own
molds, made especially for them and unable to be used for any other lot.

All bottles are blown in molds; it is in the handling of the molten
glass and the actual blowing that machinery has come to take the place
of men in the glass industry. The first type of machine to be developed
was for blowing the bottle and finishing it, thus doing away with three
of the six men formerly employed in making one bottle. In appearance the
bottle-blowing machine is merely two circular platforms, revolving in
the same horizontal plane, each carrying five molds. One of the
platforms revolves close to the furnace door, and as each mold comes
around it automatically opens and the gatherer draws from the furnace
enough glass for the bottle which is being made at the time, and places
it in the mold. The mold closes, and the platform turns on, bringing