Corkscrew

“ The rank-and-file Vigilantes were standing around yacking at one another, and a smaller group—Dad and Sigurd Ngozori and the Reverend Sugitsuma and Oscar and Joe and Corkscrew and Nip and the Mahatma—were in a huddle around Dad's editorial table, discussing strategy and tactics.
"Well, we'd better get back to the docks before it starts," Corkscrew was saying. "No hunter crew will follow anybody but their own ships' officers."
"We'll have to have somebody the uptown people will follow," Oscar said. "These people won't take orders from a woolly-pants hunter captain. ”

“ If good corks are used, of sufficiently large size to be extracted without the corkscrew, they may be employed many times in succession, especially if they are soaked in boiling water after, which restores them to their original shape, and renews their elasticity. ”

“ The roads were lonely, and you might ride for miles without coming across a house or a human being. When Johnson essayed his ginger-beer the cork broke off about half-way down. He found himself unable to force the lower half of the cork into the bottle, and he had no corkscrew with which to draw it out. Johnson was disappointed, but he rode on in search of humanity and the chance to borrow a cork-screw. ”

“ She smiled in her sleek way while she turned the corkscrew. “Here,” she added, “is what will steady them for a while at any rate.”
130The cork came forth with a chirp that once more brought the fire to the toper’s eye.
“Ho, ho!” he cried, every crease in his face that had before spelt despondency now wreathing rapture.
“Wait a bit,” she bade him, still keeping her strong hand on the bottle neck. She dived into the left pocket and brought forth a short cut-glass beaker. “You’re not going,” said she, “to drink Sir David’s Comet port out of a mug!” ”

“ This little species occurred most plentifully in the neighbourhood of "Hermit Hill," and the natives brought me great numbers of it. According to them the animal invariably sleeps in the corners of the stiff leaves of the common Corkscrew Palm, Pandanus odoratissimus.
The animal may be seen at night flitting about in the trees, and in Arnhem Land is everywhere common in the vicinity of water. It is extremely savage, and bites viciously. Whenever I kept a number of them together in captivity they would always fight, and very often kill each other. ”

“ The cork stopper industry had its permanent origin in Spain, in the Province of Gerona, town of Llacostera, towards the latter part of 1750 and was contemporaneous with the inception of the glass bottle, although corkwood was used many years before as a stopper for amphora, etc., as noted in a previous chapter.
The trade flourished there until wars and schisms rent the country and drove the industry to the mountains. There it slumbered and struggled for many years until the peace was restored and the people assured that the dangers were passed. ”

“ Finally, cork parings and waste, properly carbonized, produce Spanish or cork black, one of the most beautiful and durable blacks known in painting.”
The recent uses for corkwood are, as a float in the carburetter of an automobile, the cork insert in the periphery of a pulley, [33] cork paper for cigarette tips, a wadding for shot-gun cartridges, cork-coated fabric for balloons, as a filling for automobile tires, as a disk in the non-refillable bottle, for the making of casks and barrels in which to store wine, and the ground cork wood for shipping fruit, etc. in, to prevent spoiling. ”

“ I further take the precaution of compressing, and, as it were, biting the cork, three-fourths of its length, by means of the instrument already described (fig. 3) , beginning at the small end. The cork is rendered more supple; the pores of the cork are brought closer; it is somewhat lengthened, and its thickness is so much diminished at the extremity which is put into the mouth of the bottle, that a large cork may be made [22] to enter a very moderate opening. The action of the heat within the vessel is such, that the cork swells within, and the corking is thus rendered perfect. ”

“ In the French departments of the Landes and Gironde the Quercus Occidentalis forms extensive woods, as also in Spain, Algeria and in some parts of Italy, while the Quercus Suber is a native of the Atlantic side of France and Portugal, where this [13] tree grows to the greatest perfection, and to which countries we are indebted for the major part of our supply. The cork tree bears a general resemblance to the broad-leaved kind of (Quercus Ilex, Holm) or evergreen oak, of which species some authors consider it only a variety; but when full grown it forms a much handsomer tree. ”

“ Corky got tired of bein' t'other dear charmer; and two days before the round-up was to meet he rode over to Quemado again, and calls time. Annie wouldn't either play or pay; just gave up, loose-head, 'bout bein' a sister or other female relative, and 'bein' unprepared to make a decision'—all that sort of rot women seem to just have to say instead of 'yes' or 'no' or 'go to.' Corky came back on a high jump, all shot to pieces, primed for a spree to drown his sorrow in. But it was too far to whiskey for a man who didn't care for it anyway ”

“ He tells us the cork-tree did not grow throughout Italy, and in no part whatever of Gaul. At the present day it is abundant in France, and Fee states that the acorns of Quercus suber are of an agreeable flavor, and the hams of Bayonne are said to owe their high reputation from the pigs having fed on the acorns of the cork-tree. Some ancient authors speak of the cork-tree as the female of the holm-oak (Quercus ilex) , and in countries where the holm does not grow, they used to substitute the wood of the cork tree. ”

“ Soon the cork made its appearance, but much damaged by the water.
“That’s vexing,” said Lord Edward, “for if papers are inside, they’ll be in a pretty state!”
“It’s to be feared they will,” said the Major.
“But it is a lucky thing the shark swallowed them, I must say,” added Glenarvan, “for the bottle would have sunk to the bottom before long with such a cork as this.”
“That’s true enough,” replied John Mangles, “and yet it would have been better to have fished them up in the open sea. ”

“ Ffinch descended with a similar kind intention, and expressed shocked concern; but her kissing, endearments, and honeyed words, were a waste of time and breath.
"I shall never get over it, Finchie, never!" moaned the girl, "and I won't rest till the panther has been killed, and skinned. Daddy has offered a reward of thirty rupees,—but so far it is no use."
"Take her out riding—make her go," commanded Mrs. Ffinch, "she can't sit here all day nursing her grief. Try what you can do, Captain Mayne, take her up to the Meaches, Nellie has returned home, and Major Meach always amuses Nancy." ”

“ Some people thought Captain Calvert handsome; to others, he unpleasantly recalled a well-bred greyhound with an uncertain temper.
"Well, Nancy darling," Mrs. Ffinch began in her clear high voice, "so here we are at last! We had a smash—ran into a bullock bandy at a corner—the bandy, like the 'Coo,' got the worst of it!"
Her glance travelled to Mayne, and as her eyes rested on him, they brightened,—after the manner of a hunter who sees game afoot!
A tall, well set-up young fellow, with clear-cut features, candid dark eyes, and an air of distinction—quite a find! ”

“ Unfortunately, the herds in foraging for food destroy the young trees and thus do serious and permanent injury by preventing new growth.
The “corkwood,” or cork of commerce, is the outer bark of the cork oak. When it has attained a diameter of approximately five inches, or, to be more exact, measures forty centimeters in circumference according to the Spanish governmental regulations, which the tree does usually by the time it is twenty years old, the virgin cork, as the first stripping of bark is called, is removed. ”

“ The wounded survivor lies in the stern of the boat. The boy bails incessantly. The water is thrown in at the stern in passing over the boat from the prow.
"It's bad on that rooster!" says Corkey, as he hears the water dashing on the prostrate form. "Wonder if his head is out of the drink?"
"Yessah!" stammers the boy, feeling slowly in the stern.
The work and the fear settle into a sodden, unbroken period of three hours more. Growing familiarity with the seas aids Corkey in holding the craft to the wind. But how long can he last? How long can he defy the wind? ”

“ THE CORKWING
The most common of all our Wrasses is the little Corkwing, (Crenilabrus Cornubicus) . It is less pretentious than some of its fellows; yet bright-coloured specimens are very pretty, and their minuteness, hardiness, and lively manners make them very desirable tenants of an Aquarium. The common dimensions are about two inches in length, but specimens are not rare of twice that size. The colour is green, more or less brilliant; large and well-coloured individuals may be confounded with the Green Wrasse (Labrus Donovani) , which is also not rare with us ”

“ What Corky kicked at was the way the above Worple used to harry him.
Corky's uncle, you see, didn't want him to be an artist. He didn't think he had any talent in that direction. He was always urging him to chuck Art and go into the jute business and start at the bottom and work his way up. Jute had apparently become a sort of obsession with him. He seemed to attach almost a spiritual importance to it. And what Corky said was that, while he didn't know what they did at the bottom of the jute business, instinct told him that it was something too beastly for words. ”

“ After stopping five days on the island we started out on the sixth, with a bit of breeze propelling us over a rippling sea. On the eighth day, by which time we were no longer sailing through the milk but in briny blue water, we came in sight of many men running over the sea, like us in every way, both in shape and in size, except only their feet, which were of cork: that is why they were called Corkfeet, if I am not mistaken. ”

“ The outer layer of bark in the cork oak by annual additions from within gradually becomes a thick soft homogeneous mass, possessing those compressible and elastic properties upon which the economic value of the material chiefly depends. The first stripping of cork from young trees takes place when they are from fifteen to twenty years of age. The yield, which is rough, unequal and woody in texture, is called virgin cork, and is useful only as a tanning substance, or for forming rustic work in ferneries, conservatories, &c. ”

“ The corky part of the bark which is outside is composed of closed cells, exclusively, so built together that no connection of a tubular nature runs up and down the tree, although horizontal passages radiating toward the woody parts of the tree are [26] numerous. In the woody part of the tree, on the contrary, and in the inner bark, vertical passages or tubes exist, while a connection is kept up with the pith of the tree by means of medullary rays. In one species of tree, known as the cork-oak, this is strongly developed. ”

“ Do you take the left, and then we shall clear one another."
He turned up his long sleeves, shook hands with me, and was out through the low door in a moment with myself at his heels, and we had the long oars in our hands and were charging the two men before they knew that we were not some of their own crew. Then Cork shouted and drew his sword, making for me just as my comrade's levelled weapon struck his man fairly in the chest, so that he doubled up with a howl and was hurled under the rail into the sea. ”

“ Polishers of gold have used it from time immemorial, in the form of narrow strips, for rubbing their work with rouge. The wheels with which crystals are polished are faced with it, and watchmaker’s lens mounted in cork, the lightness of which prevents the muscles of the face from tiring.
In the industries, driving pulleys are now beginning to be provided with cork in order to secure an adhesion of the belting. In carpenter shops these bands of cork are now advantageously replacing rubber ones for covering the pulleys over which the band saw runs. ”

“ When I return I am sent for in the corking-room. The forewoman lends me a blue gingham dress and tells me I am to do "piece"-work. There are three who work together at every corking-table. My two companions are a woman with goggles and a one-eyed boy. We are not a brilliant trio. The job consists in evening the vinegar in the bottles, driving the cork in, first with a machine, then with a hammer, letting out the air with a knife stuck under the cork, capping the corks, sealing the caps, counting and distributing the bottles. ”

“ From Cogolin all roads lead to the heart of the Maures, and the stream of carts loaded with great slabs of cork is incessant.
Here, as in many other parts of Les Maures, the manufacture of corks is an industry which furnishes a livelihood to many. The workrooms of the cork-makers, to attract clients or amuse the populace—the writer doesn’t know which—are often in full view from the street. Certainly it is amusing to see a workman stamp out, or cut out, the corks and drop them into a waiting basket, as if they were plums gathered from a tree. ”

“ From Hyères to that place is just fifty miles, and the quick trains do it in four, the slow in five hours.
The mountains are mantled in cork wood, save the bald heads of some, and the making of corks is the main industry of the scattered villages.
The cork tree (Quercus suber) retains its leaves for two years. It has two envelopes of bark, which are quite distinct. The inner cannot be removed without destroying the life of the tree.
Virgin cork is not of much value; it is employed only for nets, and has no elasticity. ”

“ At the age of about forty years the oak begins to yield its best bark, continuing productive as a rule for [19] almost a century. [19] The cork of the first barking is called Corcho-Bornio, Borniza or virgin, and is so coarse, rough, and dense in texture that it is of little commercial value. The second barking is called “pelas,” or secondary cork, and this and subsequent barkings constitute the cork of commerce. As the bark is removed it is gathered up in piles (rusque) and left for a few days to dry. ”