Moulds are usually opened, shut, and dipped by boys, but in up-to-date glass works an automatic machine called a “Mechanical Boy” is used. With this machine, the mould is operated at the desire of the workman and not at the desire of the boy. The output is considerably expedited by the use of these automatic devices for opening and shutting the moulds. It is obvious that whatever the shape of the mould, or whatever the design within the case, the glass takes the impression and retains it in after working. In this way, square sections, fluted indentations, or raised bosses can be formed with facility and regularity. [Illustration: _By permission of_ _Melin & Co._ VERTICAL CRACKING-OFF MACHINE ] The Glass Workers’ Union consider that the introduction of machinery deprives men of their independence and right to work, but as yet the glass blowers have been always fully occupied with useful work about the factories in which such machines have been introduced, so it cannot be said that they have been forced to be idle. The advantages possessed by these automatic machines in their larger output at so much less cost compared with hand labour is the great factor in inducing their adoption; and in these days of progress and competition such machines enable the glass manufacturers to cope with the increasing demand and go far towards bringing a factory up to date and making it well equipped. Manufacturers should certainly turn their attention to these mechanical methods, as their use is quite general on the Continent and in America, and by their use the metal can be worked out of the pots or tanks much more quickly, increasing considerably the turnout or capacity of the furnace against the fuel consumption. Much of the glassware imported into this country is composed of such articles as would have been manipulated by machines, and, unless a similar method of manufacturing them is adopted here, we cannot hope to compete with other countries in supplying our own needs. In the writer’s opinion, it is mainly due to the adoption of machinery for producing glassware that the continental people have been enabled to undersell us in our own market, and English manufacturers could produce at a much cheaper rate if they would only adopt similar methods of manufacture and the gas-fired furnaces as used abroad. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XII CROWN, SHEET, AND PLATE GLASS The glass used in windows may be either crown, sheet, or plate.