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Safety

Charles Sulz addressed the topic of bottler safety in his 1888 book A Treatise on Beverages or The Complete Practical Bottler with the following illustration and comments:

Testing Carbonated Beverages…A requisite for bottling is a test gauge.  This is an instrument for ascertaining the pressure of gas in the bottles filled with carbonated waters, after they are corked, in order to check the work of the bottlers, and also to test the beverages of different makers.  By this gauge an employer has it in his power to ascertain if the bottler is keeping correct pressure in the bottles, also to see if the same class of drinks are alike.  It is easily attached to a bottle by a screw for penetrating the cork, provided with a small cock and union.

The gauge is used in the following manner: - To test a bottle, first insert the point on the end of the screw to penetrate the cork for the screw to follow, pass the screw entirely through the cork, and the point will fall out to the bottom of the bottle, leaving the passage through the cork clear; attach the gauge by the small union and turn the cock, to let the pressure into the gauge.