IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
I.I
11.25
|50 "^"^ ■■■
g la B2 |0
'^
o>
/2
%>.>
Hiotographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WfST MAIN STRIIT
WEBSTIR.N.Y. I4SM
(716) 172-4303
^\
<^
•^
\\
o^
'<^
.i !
4^
CIHM/ICMH
Microfiche
Series.
CIHIVI/iCMH
Collection de
microfiches.
Canadian Institute for Historical Microraproductions / Institut Canadian da microraproductions historiquas
Technical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquas
T>.« Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast
original copy availabia for filming. Faatures of this
copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua,
which may altar any of tha imagas in tha
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.
D
D
D
D
D
D
Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur
I I Covers damaged/
Couverture endommagAe
Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restauria et/ou peliiculte
□ Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque
I I Coloured maps/
Cartes giographiquas en couleur
Coloured init (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)
I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur
Bound with other material/
Ralii avac d'autres documents
Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/
La re liure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intirieure
Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutias
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte.
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6tA fiimAes.
Additional comments:/
Commentaires supplimantairas;
Tha
tot
L'Institut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a tti poasibia de se procurer. Les details
da cat exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du
point de vue bibliographique. qui peuvent modifier
nne image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une
jTiodlf ication dans la m6thode normale de f ilmage
sont indiqute ci-dessous.
I I Coloured pages/
Pagea da couleur
Pages damaged/
Pages endommagias
Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurias et/ou pelliculAes
Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages dicolortes, tachaties ou piquAas
Pages detached/
Pages dAtachies
Tha
poa
of
filrrl
Ori|
bai
tha
aior
othi
firat
aiof
ori
r~l Showthrough/
Transparence
r^ Quality of print varies/
Quality inAgale de I'impression
Includes supplementary material/
Comprend du material suppl^mantaire
Only edition available/
Seule Mition disponible
D
Pages wholly or partially obscured hy errata
slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiallement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., ont Ati filmies A nouveau de fa^on A
obtenir la mailleure image possible.
The
aha
TIN
whi
Mai
diff(
anti
bagi
righ
reqi
mat
This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/
Ce document est film* au taux da rMuctlon IndiquA ci-dessous.
10X
14X
18X
22X
26X
30X
1
^
12X
16X
aox
24X
28X
32X
The copy filmed h«r« ha* b««n raproducMl thanks
to th* ganarosity of:
Douglas Library
Quean's University
L'axemplaira film* fut reproduit grAce A la
gAnArositt da:
Douglas Library
Queen's University
The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and In keeping with the
filming contract specifications.
Original copies In printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or llluetrated Impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other orlginel copies are filmed beginning on the
first pege with e printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page vvith a printed
or illustrated impression.
Les images suivantes ont AtA reproduites avec le
plus grand soln, compta tenu de la condition et
de la nattet* de rexemplaire fiimi, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.
Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est ImprimAe sent fiimAs en commenpant
par le premier plat et en termlnant soit par la
derniire page qui comporte une empreinte
d'imprassion ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, salon le cas. Tous les autras exemplaires
originaux sent filmte en commenpant par la
pramlAre pege qui comporte une amprainte
d'imprassion ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.
The lest recorded frame on eech microfiche
shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON-
TINUED "), or the symbol y (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.
Un dee symboles suivants apparaltra sur la
darnlAre image de cheque microfiche, seion le
ces: le symbols «► signifie "A SUIVRE". le
symbols V signifie "FIN".
Meps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratioa. Those too lerge to be
entirely included In one exposure are filmed
beginning In the upper left hend corner, left to
right end top to bottom, aa many frames aa
required. The following diagrama Illustrate the
method:
Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
filmAs 4k dee taux de reduction diffArents.
LorsquB 'e document est trop grand pour Atre
reproc'-jtt en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir
de I'l igle supArleur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de heut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nAcesssire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mAthode.
1
2
3
32X
1
2
3
4
5
6
AG
(
a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CP THB
UNITED STATES,
iFrom tfjr lEarliest Settlements to t\)t present SEtme:
M
BEING
A COMPLETE SURVEY OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIES,
EMBRACING
AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE; INCLUDING THE CULTIVATION
OF COTTON, TOBACCO, WHEAT; THE RAISING OF HORSES, NEAT-
CATTLE, ETC.; ALL THE IMPORTANT MANUFACTURES,
SHIl'FING AND FISHERIES, RAILROADS, MINES AND
MINING, AND OIL; ALSO A HISTORY OF THE
COAL-MINERS AND THE MOLLV MAGUIRES;
HANKS, INSURANCE, AND COMMERCE;
TRADE-UNIONS, STRIKES, AND
EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT;
TOGETHER WITH A DESCRIPTION OF
CANADIAN INDUSTRIES.
Sn Btbtn iSooItis.
COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED WITH ABOUT THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS BY
THE MOST EMINENT ARTISfS.
BY
ALBERT S. BOLLES,
LECTURER IN POLITICAL ECONOMY IN BOSTON UNIVERSITY, AND AUTHOR
OF "the CONl-LICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL," AND
"chapters IN POLITICAL ECONOMY."
NORWICH, CONN. :
THE IIENIIY BILL I'UMLISHING COMPANY.
1881.
r'
HC 103 B 15
Copyright, 1878, by
The Henry Bill Puulishing Company.
\ \
Franklin Press:
Bltcirotyped and Printed by
Rand, Aviry, &> Co.,
Boston.
/
I- ',
**>
PREFACE.
...'^.•>
^>^' '
THE present work was projected by the author several years ago, and is
now given to the public in the belief that it will prove really useful,
inasmuch as nothing worthy of the name has appeared, while the field itself is
quite as deserving of study as any other portion or phase of American history.
A great variety of materials have been collected and used in the present
undertaking : many facts, also, have been gathered from conversation with
persons who were more or less ^miliar with some special l)ranch of American
industry. The author has sought to make proper acknowledgment for all
facts and incidents herein related, though doubtless he has failed to do
justice to every work and author from whom special information has been
drawn. On page 56 he omitted to state that the statistics relating to ship-
ments of cotton were taken from Mr. Dana's valuable work entitled " Cotton
from Seed to Loom ; " while it ought to be mentioned, that, in the introductory
chapter, free use has been made of the short but excellent sketches of. Ben :
Perlcy I'oorc and Charles L. Flint of the History of Agriculture contained in
the United-States Agricultural Reports, as well as the paper of the latter on
American Horses which is to be found in the same publication. Likewise,
in describing the Pittsburgh riots of 1877, liberal use was made of the mes-
sage of Ciov. Hartranft, which contained a very concise and tnithful account
of that shocking aflair.
Nor would I (a\\ to express my very great indebtedness to Henry Hall of
"The New-York Tribune," and James Hall of Norwich, Conn., without whose
assistance the preparation of this work for the press would have been much
longer delayed.
To Mr. C. A. Cutter, Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, my sincerest
809S15
iv
PREFACE.
thanks are due, and are hereby tendered, for the exceedingly liberal use of the
books of that institution ; and also to the Librarian of the Boston Public
Library for special privileges of a similar character. I would further add my
obligations to the Librarian of the Astor Library for the privilege of consulting
to my best advantage the treasures of that collection. The aids thus obtained
from these three noble institutions were invaluable : indeed, without them, it
would have been impossible for the author to have executed the present work.
Norwich, Conn., Oct. If, 1878. *•
PRKFACK TO THE THIRD EDITION.
THAT two editions of this work sliould be exhausted within a few months
strongly verifies the author's belief, when writing it, tiiat such a work was
needed. Since the first edition was issued, changes and improvements in the
text and illustrations iiave been made, which, it is believed, will render the
work still more valuable to the reader.
THli AUTHOR.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
BOOK I.
AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.
CIIAI'TER I.
General History 1-31
lotroduclory. — Indian Agriculuire. — Colonial Agriculture in the Southern Colonies. — Colo-
nial Agriculture in the New-England Colonics. — French Colonial Agriculture. — Effects
of American Revolution. — Causes of Progress in Agriculture. — Homestead Laws. —
Agricultural Societies. — Granger Movement. — Agricultural Education and Literature.
— Establishment of State Boards of Agriculture.
CHAPTER H.
Agricultural Implements 32-45
CHAPTER ni.
Cotton 46-61
CHAPTER IV.
Wheat 62-72
CHAPTER V.
Corn 73-79
CHAPTER VI.
Sugar and Molasses ' I0-89
CHAPTER VII. ^
Tobacco 90-9S
CHAPTER VIII.
Grass and Hay 99-101
T
I I
vi ' CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
Minor Crops ••• 102-iij
CHAPTER X.
Neat-Cattle 1 14-126
CHAPTER XI.
lit'l-TKR AND ClIEESB I27-I36
CHAPTER XII.
The Horse ijr-M'"^
The Troliing-Horse, — The I'auiig-Horie.
CHAPTER XHI.
Sheep 149-156
CHAPTER XIV.
Swine «S7-'63
CHAPTER XV.
HORriCUUURK, iNURSERIES, AND pRUIT-KAISINd 164-18I
BOOK II.
MANUFACTURES.
1
CH.M'TEK I.
Manufacture ok Iron and Stfei 185-216
E.irly History. — Forty Years of Rcprcssinn .mil StniRRlc. — The EiTcct of T.iriPTs. — The
Era of Anthracite Kiicl and the Hot llhisl. — The (Jrowth nf Rolling-Mills. — Influence
of Paris Exposition on Americ.-in Iron-Maniifaclure. — The Manufacture of Steel.
vs
CHAPTER 1 1.
Ikon and Steel Manufactures :i7-3iS
Nails. — Cutlery. — Clocks and Watches. — Iron Pipes and Tnhes. — I^.omotivcs. — Sewing-
Machines. — Firc-.Arms. — Iron-working Machiner>'. — Axes ami S.iws — .Stoves. — Safes.
— Iron Bridges, — Printing- Presses. — Wire. — Water-Wheels. — Locks. — Pumps.
s
CHAPTER HI. **
Manufactures of Gold, Silver, and Other Metals 316-368
Coinage. — Jewelry. — Gold and Silver I-eaf. — Silver 'I'alilc-Ware. — Copper and Brass TTten-
sils.— Bronze Ware and Statuary. — Hells. — Lead-Manufactures. — Stereotyping. —
Tin -Ware. — Toys. — Applications of Zinc.
1
CONTRNTS. Vii
CHAPTER IV.
The Manufacture ok Wool 369-40*
(Jcncral History of ilie Woolkn-Manufaclure. — Spinning and Weaving. — Hati. —Carpets. —
Shoddy. — Clothing. — Hosiery.
CHAPTER V.
TnK Manukaciurk (jk CorroN 403-426
CHAPTER VI.
SlLK-MANOfACTURE 427*443
CHAPTER VH.
Shok ANn I.F.ATiiKR MANUt^ACTURis 444-456
CIIAPTKR VI H.
Pater ano PArER-HANOiNcjs 4S7-4'i8
CHAPTER I\.
Gunpowder and Fireworks . . . • < .... 469-478
CHAPTER X.
India-Ruiimkr Manufactures 479-4^7
CHAPTER XI.
CiiEMicAi. Manufactures 488-496
CHAPTER XH.
Wood and DriiER Manufactures 497-559
Lumlwr. — Wood -Working Machinery. — Furniture. — Starch. — Wine, Spiriu, and Beer. —
Cordage and li.igging. —Soap. — Flour. — Miisic.il Instruments. — Matches. —Gl.-is»-
Warc and Tottery. — Glue. —VencerinB. — Carri.igcs and Cars. ;
CHAPTER XIH.
Conclusion 560-565
-* BOOK III.
SHIPPING AND RAILROADS.
CHAPTER I.
Wooden Ships ... * 569-582
CHAPTER II.
Steamboats 583-59.5
'h
!h
Viii CO A' TENTS.
CHAPTER III.
Iron Steamships 596-tio2
CHAPTER IV.
Canau O03-60H
CHAPTER V.
The Fisheries ()09-6i8
CHAPTER VI.
Railroads 619-664
BOOK IV.
MINES AND MINING, AND OIL. '
CHAPTER I.
MiNiNO 667-672
General Hutoiy,
CHAPTER II. 9
Gold . 673-685 >
CHAPTER III.
Silver 686-692 .
CHAPTER IV.
Lead 693-696
CHAPTER V.
Copp'-R 697-703
CHAPTER VI.
Coal 704-734
Coal-Minen. ^ The Molly Magulret. — Later Hit tory. — Biluminous-coa! Mining.
CHAPTER VII.
Iron 73S-747
CHAPTER VIII.
Minor Metals 74^-753
CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER IX.
QUARRVINO 754-759
^ CHAPTER X.
Salt 760-767
CHAPTER XI.
Petroleum 768-780
BOOK V.
BANKING, INSURANCE, AND COMMERCE.
CHAPTER I.
Banking 783-812
Early Colonial Period. — Firit Bank of the United States. — Second Bank of the United Stale*.
— Stale Banks. — MassachiiKtts. — New York. — Uliio. — Indiana. — Illinois. — Ken-
.ucky. — Tenneuee, — Miuiisippi.
CHAPTER II.
^ Insurance 813-849
Marine. — KIrc. — Life. — Accident.
CHAPTER HI.
Commerce 8SO-87&
Ante-Revolutionary Period. — Post-Revolutionary Period.
BOOK VI.
TRADE-UNIONS AND EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT.
CHAPTER I.
Trade-Unions 88i-«88
CHAPTER II.
Eight-Hour Movement 889-890
CHAPTER HI.
Later History of Trade-Unions 891-903.
II
r,
X CONTENTS.
BOOK VII.
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
The Industries of Canada .... 907-936
The I"isheri«s. — The lumber-Trade. — Mining. — Farming. — Manufacturing.
itl
; t \
BOOK I.
AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE.
1
!
!
1
• >
i
I
t
I'
1
^
\
t
►
r
■ 1
P'
•
K
•
f
\
i
' ^- " ■
1,
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL HISTORY.
INTRODUCTORY.
FOR ages historians have been busy in writing about political and military
events, leaving quite out of sight the social and industrial life of nations,
as unworthy of notice. To recent historians a truer historic instinct has been
given ; and, by uniting with it a broader and more profound cul- D,„g^g„j
ture, they are setting before the world juster, more varied, and methodaof
more complete pictures of the civilization of the past. Other his- ^["'"' *"**"
torians there are who exhibit only a single side or phase of material
life, but, unlike their predecessors, are concerned not less with political or
military events than with social and industrial characteristics.
It is true that a history of agriculture is free from those startling sensations
which spring from the vivid description of battles and othei operations of war,
the intrigues of diplomacy, the uncertain and checkered course of importance
legislation, the wild freaks of rulers, or the tragedies and comedies of history at
of social life. But agriculture possesses an interest for us as deep '*' "^^
and abiding as any other phase of history. It is a healthy study ; for we are
taken out of doors, are brought into intimate relationship with Nature, and
learn of her boundless generosity and rewards for well-doing. Moreover, it is
a history of some of man's greatest triumphs, won, not by striking down his
brother, but by conquest over Nature through accident or experiment.
No wonder, then, that the cultivation of the soil has proved so attractive to
the world's greatest men. When the Roman patrician, Cincinnatus, left his
farm to assume the dictatorship of Rome, he betook himself to _.
his gentle occupation as soon as he had delivered his country men have
from the enemy. And likewise Washington, when retiring from ''"" ■''*"
the cares of state, fled to Mount Vernon, where, amid his
rich and numerous acres, he daily drank heavy draughts of pure enjoyment,
for which he had often longed during an anxious civil career and the still
^-.---fi-j^^^<^@i«feMMlMI
2 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
more troubled days of the Revolution. Even of Webster it may be questioned,
whether, with all his fitness and fondness for the national Senate, he did not
derive greater happiness from his farm in Marshfield ; for what fact can more
touchingly attest his attachment to it than his dying request for his cattle to
be driven one by one past the window of the room where he lay, that he might
look once more upon them before his eyes were forever closed ?
Remembering how vast is the space filled by agriculture in the industries of
our country, no further justification is required for writing its history. For a
Justification '°"S pcriod, agricultural products have led the list of exjiorts to
(or writing a Other countries, and will lead them for years and centuries to come,
history of jf ^ l^jstory of the efforts to destrov life be worth preserving,
agriculture. ^ . i o>
surely a history of those means in which so many are engaged to sus-
tain life is not less worthy of preservation. The famous minister of Henry IV.
of France, Sully, called agriculture, including both tillage and pasturage, " the
two breasts of the state." Strikingly true as the figure is, will not a review of
the subject, by showing \s hat has been already accomplished, excite the farmer
to new experiments and inquiry ? • .
m
INDIAN ACiRICU I.TURK.
The North- American Indian was not an agriculturist : he regarded the cul-
tivation of the soil as degrading. Vet, as it was necessary for some one to
Indians Cultivate it in order to obtain a living, the task fell to tiie okl
raised corn, women and children. Though the Indian was slack, careless, an<l
lazy, he exercised more forethought and care about his corn-crop than any
thing else. When Capt. John Smith visited Virginia in 1609, in writing of the
Indians he says, " The greatest labor they take is in planting their corn ; for
the country is naturally overgrown with wood. To prepare the ground, they
bruise the bark of trees near the roots ; then do they scorch the roots with fire,
that they grow no more." Very likely from them our ancestors learned the
process of belting or girdling trees by cutting through the sap-wood ; thus
causing the fall of the spray and the decay of the smaller branches, and admit-
ting the sun and air in sufficient quantities for corn to grow and bear fruit.
The mode of planting and cultivating corn was rude enough, and betokens
as clearly as any other trace of their civilization how simple and low it was.
Mode of Every spring-time, the dead wood on the ground, and jierhaps
planting. other branches and brush, were collected and burned to obtain
ashes to enrich the soil ; after which the surface of the ground was scratched
with the flat shoulder-blade of the moose, or with crooked i)ieces of wood.
Then bills were made with the rudest sort of wooden hoes or clam-shells,
about four feet apart, in each of which was placed an alewife caught from the
adjoining stream, or a horseshoe crab picked up from the seashore. Upon
this stimulant were dropped half a dozen grains of corn, which were covered ;
■;
I
OF THE UNITED STATES.
INDIAN HOES.
and a hut was then built in the middle of the field, wherein lived the police to
protect their work from the ravages of birds. One can very easily imagine,
in those times, when the forests were alive with birds, what
would be the fate of a cornfield if left to itself. While the
smaller birds and animals were prevented from eating up
the tender blade only by constant watchfulness, the stronger
stalk and full-grown corn were preserved by the exercise of
the same ceaseless vigilance.
As the corn grew the earth was scraped around it, until
the hills were two feet high, — a custom still followed in
many parts of the country. Before the corn was fully ripe,
it was plucked ; and the seed for the next year was selected from those stalks
containing the largest number of ears, and hung up in the wigwam. The
remainder was dried in the husk, over smouldering fires, or in the Harvesting
sun ; after which i)rocess it was husked, shelled, packed in birch- »nd storing
bark boxes, and buried in holes in the earth, which were lined
with bark to protect the grain more perfectly from frost and moisture. A writer
says these excavated hams were carefiiUy concealed by the women from their
lazy husbands and sons, lest they should discover and eat up their contents ;
yet, with all the care they could take, the hogs of the colonists often unhinged
their barn-doors, and helped themselves to the golden treasure. History says
that one of these Indian bams was discovered by the Pilgrims at Truro, at a
time when tiieir store of provisions was so reduced as to contain but five
kernels of corn to each individual.
Com thus dried, cracked in a stone-mortar and boiled, was called " o-mo-
nee ; " and " sup-paun," when pounded into meal and sifted through a basket
for ash-cakes. When on the war-path, the Indian warrior lived How in-
upon parched corn called "no-kake." When Roger Williams dians cooked
journeyed through the forests on the way to his future home, near '*"""
Narragansett Bay, accompanied by the Indians whom he loved, and who
never proved treacherous to him, he says that each man carried a little basket
of this kind of food, — enough to last for several days. 'l"he Indians also pre-
pared corn in another way, which has become well known, and will probably
he long contiiuied. We allude to the niode of mixing corn with beans, and
l)reparing a dish known among them as " mu-si-quatash," which in these days
has been abbreviated to succotash. The original dish, however, according to
(iordkin, was not composed simply of corn and beans : several other ingredients
were included, " fish and flesh of all sorts, either new-taken or dried, venison,
bcar's-flesh, beaver, moose, otter, or raccoon, cut into small pieces, Jerusalem
artichokes, ground-nuts, acorns, pumpkins, and scpiashes."
While corn was the chief product raised by the Indian, he cultivated or
collectetl several other fruits and vegetalMes. Among their corn were planted
peas and beans, the vines climbing up the corn-stalks ; thus economizing the
4
I
I
I 1
l\\
<; ir
f3
4 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
use of pea-brush and bean-poles. Surely this was an exhibition of economy
in labor and material worthy of a savage. During the month of May they
Other fruit* also planted " pumpkins " among their corn, " and a fruit like unto
raised. ^ musk-melon, but less and worse, which they called ' macocks.' "
The bold and unblushing sunflower was also cultivated ; but instead of putting
its seeds to the ignoble use of hen-fodder, as the moderns do. they were made
into bread. In some parts of the country wild rice was gathered and kept
^or winter use; and Barlowe, who visited North Carolina in 1584, aflirms that
le saw there "both wheat and oats." Tobacco was everywhere cultivated,
tluge grape-vines intwined many a forest-tree, and the woods abounded with
other wild fruits and berries. Gourds were raised, of all sizes, from the huge
•* cal-a-bash-es," holding two or three gallons apiece, to the " tiny receptacles
of pigments used in painting for war." Cherries and plums also abounded,
large quantities of which were dried for winter use. Concerning the cultiva-
tion of the apple, something will be said in another place.
Although the Indians knew nothing about sugar-cane, they were not without
sugar ; for they extracted it from the maple, just as we do now. Mixed with
Dainty freshly-pounded " sup-paun," and seasoned with dried whortle-
disiies and berries, a dainty dish was baked for high festivals ; and, for an
beverage*. accompanying beverage, the dried meats of oil-nuts were pounded,
and boiled in the juice of sassafras. For lights on such occasions, candles
were made from the green wax of the bayberry, with rush wicks, which burned
brightly, and yielded a pleasant odor.
Their provisions were stored in boxes made of birch-bark ; and their cutting
instruments and sharp weapons were pointed with flint-stone, shells, or bones,
initrument* '^ ^^^^ earthen vessels were used ; but the superiority of our civili-
and domeatic zation, in its material characteristics, over the aboriginal, presents
animal*. ^^ more Striking contrast than in the variety and improvement of
means for cultivating the soil. It may also be added, that the Indian possessed
no domestic animals except a few small dogs, and no poultry.
Such is a brief picture of the agricultural life of the Indian. I^ng ago the
cheerless wigwam was supplanted by the pleasant home, the crabbed orchard
Fate of In- W large and more luscious fruit, and the ill-tilled, scanty corn-
dianacricut- patch by more careful tillage and abundant crops. Although
*""' cattle-shows and agricultural anniversaries were unknown, the
Indians celebrated their " green-corn dance " and the feast of the " harvest-
moon." But,
" Alas for them I their day is o'er; '
Their fires are out from hill to shore ;
No more for them the red deer bounds ;
The plough is in their hunting-grounds ;
The pale man's axe rings through their woods,
The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods ;
Their pleasant springs are dry."
OF THE UNITED STATES.
COLONIAL AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES.
The system of agriculture which swept away the aboriginal system, though
vastly superior to it, was, nevertheless, very imperfect compared with the
system of modern days. Two very different systems flourished in who settled
the colonics, each of which requires a separate description. To Virginia,
the Southern cobnies first came an aristocratic people, with their servants and
slaves. They were followed by Scotch merchants and mechanics, who were
succeeded by French Huguenots of high spirit and attainments ; while at a
later period flocked large numbers of Scotch Jacobins, on account of the
unsuccessful rebellions of the pretenders to the Scottish throne. A true
glimpse of the immigration by which Virginia, the mother of the South Atlantic
Stati;s, was colonized, may be obtained from the response of the governor,
Sir William Berkeley, to one of the interrogatories propounded to him by the
liritish lords-commissioners of foreign affairs. In response to the inijuiry,
" What number of English, Scotch, and Irish have, for these seven years last
past, come yearly to plant and inhabit with your government? " and also, " What
blacks or slaves have been brought within the same?" he replied, " Yearly
there come in of servants about fifteen hundred. Most are F^nglish, few
Scotch, and fewer Irish, and not above two or three ships of negroes in seven
years." Nothing is said of the free immigrants, though included in the
interrogatory ; and their number was, doubtless, too inconsiderable for notice.
In the same examination Sir William says, " But I thank God there are no
free schools or printing ; for learning has brought disobedience and heresy and
sects into the world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the
best government. God keep us from both ! "
The feudal system also, which was weakening in England, was adopted,
though in an earlier form, as the following extract from one of the royal
grants will show. It gave ^he patentee the right "to divide the Feudal sya-
said tract or territory of land into counties, hundreds, parishes, tem adopted,
titliings, townships, hamlets, and boroughs, and to erect and build cities,
towns, parishes, churches, colleges, chapels, free schools, almshouses, and houses
of correction, and to endow the same at their free will and pleasure ; and did
ajipoint them full and perpetual patrons of all such churches so to be built and
endowed ; with power, also, to divide any part or parcel of said tract or
territory, or portion of land, into manors, and to call the same after their own
or any of their names, or by other name or names whatsoever ; and within the
same to hold a court in the nature of a court-baron, and to hold pleas of all .
actions, trespasses, covenants, accounts, contracts, detinues, debts, and demands
whatsoever, when the debt or thing demanded exceed not the value of forty
shillings sterling money of England ; and to receive and take all amerce-
ments, fruits, commodities, advantages, perquisites, and emoluments whatso-
ever, to such respective court-barons belonging or in any wise appertaining ;
n^muamemati-it fa.imtffmnmatfMBBtBfM
iin
If
I ii
6 INDUSTRIAL II /SI OK Y
and, further, to hold within the same manor, a court-lect and view of frank*
pledge of all the tenants, residents, and inhabitants of the hundred within such
respective manors."
NBW RIVER PLOIIGH-TEAM, VIRGINIA.
The farms in Virginia and Maryland were extensive, fronting on the Ches-
apeake ]5ay or its tributaries, and running a long way into the interior. Not
Farms and far from the shore of river or bay was located the planter's mansion,
mansions. jq which came ships from England, bringing merchandise in
exchange for tobacco ; or other craft laden with the products of New-
England fisheries, or of West-India plantations, to barter for tobacco, wheat,
or corn. The intervening space between the mansion-house and water-side
was usually laid out as a garden, in the prim, stiff style of those days, with
terraces, arbors, and wide walks bordered with box. Most of the houses were
built of English brick, the iron-work, and also much of the interior, being
imported. Entering the hall, we are told by a Virginia antiquarian, walls
were seen covered with deer's antlers, fishing-rods, and guns ; portraits of
cavaliers and dames and children ; even carefully-painted pictures of race-
horses, on whose speed and bottom many thousands of pounds had been
staked, and lost and won, in their day and generation. On one side of the
hall a broad staircase, with oaken balustrade, led to the numerous apartments
above ; and on the opposite side a door gave entrance into the great dining-
hall. The dining-room was decorated with great elegance; the carved oak
wainscot extending above the mantlepiece in an unbroken expanse of fruits
and flowers, hideous laughing faces, and armorial devices, to the cornice. The
furniture was in the Louis Quatorze style, with carved backs to the low-seated
chairs. There were Chelsea figures, and a sideboard full of plate, and a
Japan cabinet, and a Kidderminster carpet ; while in the great fire-place a few
twigs crackled on huge and highly-polished brass andirons. On the walls
hung pictures of gay gallants, brave warriors, and fair dames whose eyes out-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
shone their diamonds ; and more than one ancestor looked grimly down clad
in cuirass and armlets, and holding in his mailed hand the sword which had
done bloody service in its time. The lady portraits, as an invariable rule,
were decorated with sunset clouds .of yellow lace ; the bright locks were
powdered ; and many little black patches set off the dazzling fairness of the
rounded chins.
Near the mansion were tenements for the manager and the overseers,
and the slave cabins. The first philanthropist to improve the condition of
his slaves, according to trustwt by authority, was Col. John i„_,„yg.
Taylor of the Rappahannock Valley, who was equally distin- ment of con-
guishcd in the last century as a farmer, author, and statesman. JJ^'°^" "'
" He built commodious brick dwellings for them, and accustomed
them to plank floors, glass windows, and decent, civilized habits of living.
He, besides, furnished them more regularly and abundantly with food and
clothing than was then usual. His negroes multiplied rapidly, became more
honest and industrious ; and his crops increased."
The pioneers of Virginia are described as contrasting strongly with the
planters and their adherents. In most cases they were younger sons, unlucky
gamesters, turbulent spirits, rejected lovers, or disbanded soldiers. The pioneers
who turned their backs upon civilization to live an untrammelled °' Virginia.
life in some fertile mountain-gap or rich river-bottom. Game was plentiful ;
and they were hunters rather than farmers, sending their peltries to market,
and only cultivating enough land to supply their wants. This unrestrained life
became a passion ; and, as the tide of civilization advanced westward, the
pioneers would leave their " .settlements " with their " improvements," to seek
some spot in the wilderness where as yet no white man's foot had trodden.
Tobacco early became the staple product of Virginia, although laws numer-
ous and stringent were enacted to prevent its cultivation. Efforts were put
Ibrth to encourage other branches of industry ; yet little attention Cultivation
was paid to tlicm except for purposes of home consumption. °' tobacco,
rianters still continued the culture of the exhausting tobacco-plant, with con-
tinuous cropping, shallow jjloughing, and no fertilizing, until the soil grew weak,
and unfit for cultivation. Small ploughs and heavy hoes were used in cultivat-
ing it ; and when the crop was gathered, cured, and packed into hogsheads,
it was rolled away to the nearest wharf for insjicction and transportation.
In those early days good roads were unknown, and wagons were few : so a
pole and whipple-trees were attached to each hogshead by an iron bolt driven
into the centre of one head, thus converting the cask into a huge roller. For
many years the places for deposit and inspection of tobacco were called
" rolling-houses."
Though cotton was raised at an early date, it was not grown in sufficient
quantities for export : intleed, the cultivation of tobacco absorbed the chief
attention of the planter, especially in Virginia, until the opening of the
ii '
8
JNDUSTHIAl. HISTORY
eighteenth century. Farther south, in South Carolina, rice was cultivated.
It is related, that, in 1694, a vessel from Madagascar put into C'harleslon in
Cotton. rie«, d's""<-'ss, the captain of which, in return for favors rendered by the
•nd other governor, gave him a bag of rice. The governor, who had seen
pro ucti. ^1^^, j^|.^|^j growing in the hot swamps of Madagasi;ar, conceivetl
the idea of raising rice in his own colony : acconiingly it was planted, and brought
forth abundantly. The soil proved well adapted to the plant, and it was not
■» ,
(1=
1.
•^^
^■.'v:%., ;-.;-%i-^f*^
MANNtR OK CAKIiVINli TOIIACCO I'llRIV YllAHS A(.0.
long before tlie marshes of (leorgia and South Carolina were covered with rice-
plantations. Exports of rice to England soon after began, and in 1724
a huntlred thousand barrels were sent from the latter State. Experiments in
wine-making were undertaken at an early period; and in 1758 the London
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Commerce, and Manufactures, pro-
posed premiums for its production. The same society offered premiums for
hemp, opium, olives, pot and pearl a.shes, barilla, logwood, scammony, myrtle-
wax, sarsaparilla-root, and the gum from the persimmon-tree. It was supposed
that this gum might prove a substitute for gum-arabic ; but the cost of gather-
ing and transporting it was too great, and the experiment failed. After a
three-years' trial, the premium was withdrawn.
Besides the premiums offered by this society, the British Parliament granted
OF THE U/V/TED STATES. 9
considerable sums of money at various times to stimulate the culture of silk,
indigo, and other plants. Colonial trade, however, was guarded p„„,u„,
none the less strictly ; for the colonists were obliged to send all offered by
their suri)lus products to England, and were forbidden purchasing °^1|,'*^,|'"'
any foreign manufactures save in a British port.
iment granted
COLONIAL AGRICULTURE IN THE NEW-ENGLAND COLONIES.
Let us now look toward the North, and watch the landing of the Pilgrims,
and their first efforts in cultivating the soil. The colonists of Virginia, who
came somewhat earlier, as we have seen, had confined their atten- ThePiigrime
tion cinefly to the raising of tobacco ; and as their climate was "n ■gricui-
less rigorous, and their summers were longer, it was easier for them "" ''*°'' '"
to obtain a living. The Pilgrims were an agricultural people, the clergy form-
ing no exception ; anil for a long period they were among the foremost in
New England in trying experiments, and inciting their fiocks to patient and
intelligent industry. One of the reasons why they came here from Holland,
according to Hancroft, was, because they " had been bred to agricultural pur-
suits," which they could not follow in the land of their temporary adoption.
That they continued to follow their original pursuit as their chief one for
many years after tiieir arrival is familiar history. Hut their task was a severe
one. Cleared fields were small and few ; and their implements Difficulty of
were ill fitted to clear the dense woods, anil subdue the stubborn cultivating
soil. Some implements, doubtless, were obtained from the mother- * ' •" •
land ; but the only metal to be found here that they could work was bog-iron
ore, which was very brittle, and often spoiled a day's work. The w«nt of
magnitude of their task, from lack of appropriate means, it is per- P'opef »»«>•»•
haps more difficult for us in this age to realize than almost any other feature
of our history, because farming-implements have been brought to such a degree
of perfection.
The system of agriculture best adapted to the country could only be
learned by experiment. Of course the settlers brought with them the ideas and
products of their mother-land ; but how poor was their outfit they succen in
soon learned. Indian-corn, pumpkins, squashes, beans, potatoes, larming
tobacco, and other vegetables and fruits, which were found grow- ""n,ine*d *'
ing here, it was easy to cultivate by inijuiry from the Indians, and only by ex-
with greater success than ever attended the efforts of their teach- p"''"«"*-
crs ; but in respect to the fruits transplanted, as well as the horses, sheep, and
other animals brought hither, it was only found out by numerous experiments
and many losses what our climate and soil were best fitted to raise and sustain.
What did the English immigrant know about the country until he came here,
anil how English cattle and fruits would thrive under such altered conditions?
It would be an interesting chapter to trace the history of these experiments ;
lO
rNDVSTKlAl. HISTORY
'II
IH
:5^
MAVPI.OWKR.
but our space is too limited, even if tlie necessary information could be gath«
ered. Suffice it to say, after trial some vegetal )les and grasses were aban-
doned, while the appropriate locality
of others was discovered. Hemp,
indigo, rice, cotton, madder, millet,
si)elt, lentils, liicern, sainfoin, and
many other things, were tried in
New Kngland, and failed, as did
other crops in the Southern roK)-
nies. Not only the plants of Eu-
rope, but many from Asia and the
Kast Indies, were tried, including
cinnamon and vp.ious commercial
plants. Some of these crops, on
experiment, failed entirely ; others
flourished after a fashion, but proved
unjirofitable ; others flourished with
peculiar luxuriance, and with characters unchanged ; and still others, under
the new <onditions, assumed new < haracters or excellences. Before the war
of the Revolu on, these trials had been made from Maine to Texas ; and so
completely had this century and a half of experiments solved the great prob-
lems of adajjtation, ac( limation, and often naturalization, that not a single
important sjiecies of domestic animal has been profitably introduced since,
nor but one plant (sorghum) of sufficient importance to be recognized in our
official statistics. So writes one whose accuracy none will (juestion.'
Ixt us reproduce the picture of a New- Eng-
land colony during this period. It is the one
flourishing at Massachusetts Hay, which was
founded not long after the Plymouth Colony.
Picture of a Within this peaceful realm s(]iiatter-
New-Eng- sovereignty was unknown ; for no
land colony. i„(iiyi,i„..jj\vas permitted to estal)lish
himself without authority of the government.
Each body swarmed out with a regular airotment
of individual farms, baseil in extent upon the
wealth of the settlers ; a great pasture, a jieat-
meadow, a salt-marsh, and fishing-grounds, being
held in common. These farms were so laid out,
that no house was over half a mile from the
meeting-house ; and it was with astonishing ra-
pidity that agricultural communities sprang up, like the fabled warriors of
Cadmus, into full-armed life. Like those mythological knights, they were
' Professor Brewer of Yale Collesc
KNOT-REKI..
OF THE UNITED STATES.
II
armed with weapons, not for their own destruction, but for the defen< e of
their liberties and their homes. From these small farming-hamlets have grown
lip most of the towns and cities of our country, and from one of them went
forth the alpiia of colonization in the (ireat West. In the log-cabin of that
agricultural era were first cultivated the true thougii austere religion, the
doMiestic virtues, the sturdy habits of frugal industry, the daring spirit, and
the devoted love of liberty, that have so advanced the prosperity and the glory
of this Western continent. Ihe acDrns planted by our fathers have be( ouie
stately trees, under whose umbrageous foliage thousands of their descendants,
and others whom the grateful shade has invited from less-favored lands, find
protection, shelter, and repose.
'I'he same writer has given a felicitous sketch of the houses of the early set-
tlers, drawn from a carefiil perusal of the materials collected by the tireless
antitiuarian. Imagine yourself as belonging to a "committee on Home. of
farms," and then let us visit one of these yeomen. Riding along theeariy
a "trail," indicated by marked trees, we find his horse and cattle- ""'"'••
shed standing near an old Indian clearing, encircleil by a high palisade, which
includes the spring,
that water may be
brought without dan-
ger from the " bloody
savages." The
house, whi( li is over
a small deep cellar, is
built of logs, notched
where they meet at
the corners, with a
thatched roof, and a
large chimney at one
end, built of stones
cemented with clay.
The small wintlows
are covered with oiled
pa])er, with i)rotect-
ing shutters ; and the
massive door is thick
enough to be bullet-
proof. Pulling the
"latch-string," we enter, and find that the floor, and the tloor of the loft which
forms the ceiling, are made of " rifted " or split pine, roughly smoothed with
the adze ; while the immense hearth, occupying nearly an entire side of the
house, is of large flat stones. There are no partition-walls ; but thick serge
curtains are so hung, that at night they divide off the flock-beds, upon which
HOUSE OK AN IvAKtV SETTI lU.
Hi
III : -^
12
INDUSTRIAL niSTOHY
\\\
l\
w- im.
■p.
\ it*
I
J n
BIBLE AND SPECS.
there are piles of rugs, coverlets, and flannel sheets. A high-backed chair or
two, a massive table, a large chest with a carved front, and some Indian birch-
bark boxes, are ranged around the walls ; while on a large " dressoir " we see
wooden bowls and trenchers, eartiien platters, horn drinking-cups, and a pewter
tankard. The corselet, matchlock,' and bandoliers are ready for defence, with
1 halberd, if the senior occupant of the house holds a commission in " ye
trainband ; " and from a " lean-to " shed comes the great wheel or the clang
of the loom, as the busy " helmates " hasten to finish their "stents." High
. _ on the mantle-shelf, with a " cresset-
lamp " on one side, and the time-
marking hour-glass on the other, is
the well-thumbed Bible, which was not
left for show. " Our especial desire
is," say the company's instructions,
"that you take especial care, in set-
tling these families, that the chief in
the family be grounded in religion,
whereby morning and evening family-r
duties may be duly performed, and a
watchful eye held over all in each
family by one or more in each family
appointed thereto, so that disorders may be prevented, and ill weeds nipt
before they take too great a head."
While a greater variety of crops was cultivated in New England than in the
Southern colonies, yet nowhere was seen any thing like scientific farming. As
new lands could be easily obtained, old ones were not thoroughly
tilled. When the soil became exhausted from much bearing, and
no enrichment, and grew too poor to raise wheat, corn was planted ; when this
would no longer thrive, barley or rye was sown : thus the quality of the crop
decreased with the starving soil, until beans alone were raised ; and, when these
ceased to grow, the field was abandoned.
A dearth of interest in cultivating the soil continued until the close of the
Revolution. Previous to that time, no spirit of inquiry in this great industry
Little inter- ^^^^ abroad to give a charm to daily toil. Hard work was the
est taken in order of the day, into which neither poetry nor science ever en-
agricu ure. ^g^^j ^j^^ farmer remained fast to his farm ; and it was almost
as true of him as it was of the Sybarites, who dwelt on the eastern side of Italy,
and who prided themselves on growing gray between the bridges of their
Lagoon City, — he never went beyond his narrow boundaries, and hardly knew
of a world outside of himself.
There were gatherings, it is true, besides those for religious worship, where
neighbors met and conversed with each other. Upon election-days people
mingled, and also at " raisings," when flip and cider flowed plentifully. The
Farming
■unscientific.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
13
'i
\
'■i.
" husking," too, was a social as well as industrial gathering, where the same
favorite drinks v/ent round, followed by a rich feast upon pump- o.therings
kin-pies, which formed one of the most thoroughly-enjoyed of the early
dishes of the early settlers. Longfellow has immortalized the
" husking " in the song of Hiawatha, and we are sure our readers will delight
in recalling the scene. The maize-field having grown and ripened,
" Till it stood in all the splendor
Of its garments green and yellow,
Of its tassels and its plumage,
And the maize-ears full and shining
Gleamed from bursting sheets of verdure;
Then Nokomis, the old woman,"
spoke to Minnehaha, the merry Laughing-Water ;
" And they called the women round them.
Called the young men and the maidens.
To the harvest of the cornfields,
• . ' To the husking of the maize-ear.
i% * On the border of the forest,
Underneath the fragrant pine-trees.
Sat the old men and the warriors,
Smoking in the pleasant shadow.
In uninterrupted sile.ice
Looked they at the gamesome labor
Of the young men and the women ;
Listened to their noisy talking,
To their laughter and their singing;
Heard them chattering like the magpies.
Heard them laughing like the bluejays.
Heard them singing like the robins.
And, whene'er some lucky maiden
Found a red ear in the husking,
Found a maize-ear red as blood is,
' Nershka I ' cried they all together,
' Nershka I you shall have a sweetheart,
You shall have a handsome husband I '
' Ugh I ' the old men all responded
From their seats beneath the pine-trees."
The obstinacy with which old ideas werr. cherished quenched the spirit of
agricultural improvement. It is not to the credit of our ancestors, that, in many
a town, the possession of superior intelligence, except by the causes
minister and doctor, was not honored, but ridiculed. If a choicer which
, , . , . , checked og-
spint arose, who ventured to try expenments, he was neither ricuiturai
< heered nor encouraged, but, on the other hand, was laughed at improve-
for his folly. One who has studied the history of these times """ "
"./ell says, that if such a one " did not plant just as many acres of com as
14
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
his fathers did, and tliat, too, in tiie ' old of the moon ; ' if he did not sow
just as much rye to the acre, use the same number of oxen to plough, and
get in his crops in the same diy ; or if he did not hoe as many times as his
fatlier and his grandfather did ; if, in fine, ho ditl not wear the same kind of
homespun dress, and adopt the same religious views and prejudices, — he was
shunned in company by the old and young, and looked upon as a visionary."
WHlTEFIIM.l) S HOlSi;, LOOKING WEST.
WHITKIIELUS IIOISK, I.niiKlNc; SOITII.
'- W
crops
unknown
The rotation of crops was a thing unknown in those times. No one ever
Rotation of tliouglu of fertilizing the soil. It lias l)cen said, tliat, even witiiiu
the memory of men now living, l)arns were sometimes removed to
get them out of the way of heaps of manure by which tiiey were
surrounded, rather than incur the exiiense and trouble of i)utting these
a( ( umulations upon the fields. Swine were generally allowed to run at large,
M,.,=„- ;iiid cattle were rarelv housed during night or winter. It was
Manage- . ^ ^
ment of tliouglit necessary to leavi; them out of doors, and expose tiieui to
'°" '■ the summer's sun anil dew and to the winter's storm, in order " to
toughen " them. .\ writer sajs, '' It was the common opinion in the \'irginia
Colony, that housing and milking cows in winter would kill them." Urief as
this sketch is, who cannot fail to see how great and numerous have been the
improvements in farming sine e the Pilgrims, to use their own words, " left their
pleasant and beautiful homes in l^ngland to plant their poor cottages in llie
wilderness"? J'or a century and a half the colonists throughout the country
remained in a stationary state in respect to their leading ))ursuit. Their
implements, few and imperfect, were never imjiroved ; the hoe, jjloiigh, spade,
fork, and oc( asiiMiaiiy a harrow, comprising pretty nearly the whole inventory.
Witii this coarse anil slimier outfit their heavy task was ((Mitinued for many a
louLT and wearv year.
i!'i:\cii coi.oM.M. .AfiRlcri.TfKr..
.\ word may l)e said concerning the French colonists, before closing the
history. of this period. Wiiile tiie Knglisii, Dutch, and Swedes were taking
])ossession of the soil from the l'enobs<'ot to the .Altamaha. the I'rench en-
tered the Ciulf of St. Lawrence, ascended the river bearing that name,
crossed the lakes, f.jund the head waters of the Mi.ssissippi, and were borne
OF THE UNITED STATES.
15
id not sow
plough, and
times as his
ne kind of
s, — he was
k'isionary."
N(; sni'Tii.
So one e\i.T
even witiiin
removed to
\\ tliey were
itting these
in at large,
er. It was
ose tiiem to
1 order " to
the Virginia
" Urief as
e been tiie
i, " left their
ages in tiie
the country
suit. 'I'heir
)ugii, spade,
.' inventory,
ior many a
closing the
were taking
I'rench en-
that name,
were borne
\^J^^*
.,. ..I ■■■■i.^. i.,>i Trn'irmiffiapri'r-Ty|»'ihi
i6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
on its broad current to the Gulf of Mexico. The discoveries of the French,
Cultivation ^^ joumey of La Salle among the Indians and down the mighty
of the sugar- Stream, are full of romantic interest ; but we can only stop to
""*■ note what was done when the French landed in Louisiana, and
began the permanent conquest of the soil. A variety of crops was planted ; but
none flourished like the sugar-cane, which had been transported into Spain from
India by the Saracens, again to Madeira, and thence to the West-India Islands,
from which the French planters obtained their plants. For several years its
cultivation proved unsuccessful. Not until 1764 did the experiment succeed,
upon the eastern bank of the Mississippi, under the intelligent and careful
culture of Chevalier de Mazan. The following year, Destrehan, the royal
treasurer in the colony, and other planters, erected works on the opposite
bank below New Orleans ; but the results were disappointing. Indeed, the
planters lost so much heart, that, in 1 769, they abandoned the business, and
turned their attention to the cilti ation of indigo, cotton, tobacco, rice, corn,
and other crops. A few small gardeners continued to plant sugar-cane in the
neighborhood of the city, which they retailed in the market for the use of
children ; or expressed the juice, making sirup, which they sold in bottles.
More than twenty-five years elapsed before further efforts were made to culti-
vate the sugar- plant.
The engraving here inserted represents the early process of manufacturing
sugar, and will not be without interest to our readers. The cane was stripped
Early mode ^^ '^^ leaves, and ground, or rather crushed, by a heavy stone made
of making to rcvolvc by manual force. The expressed juice, after boiling in
sugar. ^ caldron, was ladled into large stone jars, which were exposed
to the rays of the sun until the sugar crystallized. Later on we shall learn
what success attended renewed efforts in the way of cultivating the sugar-
plant.
EFFECTS OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
The American Revolution wrought a profound change in the agriculture of
the country ; not, indeed, in the way of stimulating interest in the cultivation of
the soil, but in giving greater freedom in the exchange of commodities. Thrift-
less as was the mode of farming prior to that event, during the Revolution it
was well-nigh paralyzed ; nor did it speedily • '■over. So dull were the people
to the vast capacities of the country and to the great fortunes which lay
before them, that the same spirit wliich animated 4Jie ante-Revolutionary farmiT
Revolution was found to live within the breast of his immediate descend-
ants. But the policy of England, which was to make the colonics
as profitable as jwssible to the mother-country without thought of
• an adecjuate return, came to an end. Restrictions against manu-
facturing were removed. The colonists were free to buy where
they plea;ied : no longer could I'.ngland compel them to buy of her. On the
gave free-
dom in pur-
chase and
sale of com
modities.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
17
Other hand, they were at liberty to sell their surplus in any market in the
world. Thus their horizon was immensely broadened. The transition from
a colony to a state was complete.
CAUSES OF PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE.
Until the present century was fairly inaugurated, American agriculture can-
not be said to have made any notable progress : it had simply made a com-
mencement. Since then a number of causes have combined to causes of
give it marked development and stimulus. Among the first of prosperity in
these is national peace. In time of war, the agricultural classes "^' culture,
are drawn on most heavily for soldiery. The extent to which foreign nations,
especially those of Euroijc, were en-
gaged in war prior to 1815, was a gieat
liinilcrance to their agricultural pros-
perity. The United States have enjoyed
a remarkable advantage in this regard.
A second influtuice which we have felt
was the foreign demand for our produc-
tions. This is touched ui)on repeat-
edly in the ensuing chajjters of this
work. It will suffice to note here the
fact that densely-populated countries
like those of Kurope, especially where
the people are largely engaged in man-
ufacturing pursuits, look to the regions
of the earth which are sparsely settled
for agricultural products, food, and tex-
tile fabrics. I'Acn in our colonial days
we had shown great possibilities of pro-
duction, though but litUe reality ; and
as soon as our independence was
achieved, and we took a place among the nations of the earth, we were looked
to eagerly as a supi)Iier of agricultural protluce to the vvorld. This foreign
demand has been felt more i)articularly by cotton and tobacco planters, grain-
growers, and stock-raisers ; but an immense variety of other produce has
gone to make up our enormous export trade. Still another great stimulus has
been afforded to the agricultural interests of this country by the invention of
improved implements for use by the husbandman. This marked advance
in a[;riculture is treateil by itself in another chapter of this work.
I'ive other influences that have operateil to forward and develop this in-
dustry are, — the oc-cupation of the \\'est under the encouragement of govern-
ment legislation and land and railroad companies; co-operative effort, the
SPINNING-WHekL.
m.
— -"■■^■'TT' ^- -
18
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
mutual exchange of experience, and the patronage of organized agricultural
Other causes societies \ the tbundation of a special department of government
specified. f^^ the collation and dissemination of information among the agri-
cultural classes, and otherwise aiding them in their pursuits ; the devclOiMiient
of a class of literature devoted to tliese subjects ; and tlie special scientific
education aflbrded by agricultural colleges.
IIOMKSTKAI) I.AW.S.
The vast expanse of our arable territory, and the steps we have taken to
encourage its occupation and settlement, have been elements of prime impor-
Extension of ^''^"''^" '" ^''"-" development of our agricultural interests. Prior to
farming the Revolution, the American settlements were confmed cliiofly to
°"'^' the Adantic coast. After the war, adventurers began to explore
ami locate in the Ohio Valley. The I,ouisiana purchase in 1803, the large
annexation of territory from Mexico in 1847, and the definition of our British-
American boundary, enlarged our domain wonderfully, and added greatly to
the area susceptible to tillage east of the Mississippi.
kl one time the unsettled " public " domain of tlie United States embraced
1,446,716,072 acres, exclusive of the Alaska purchase. It is out of this that
tT ..I .1 tiie States and Territories not inchuled within the present limit of
public the original thirteen were erected. Of this vast area, large grants
domain. j^_^^.^, j^^.^.j^ niade to soldiers for military service, to r.iilroads, to
agricultural colleges and odier purposes, an;l reservations made for Inilians
and government use. A very considerable proportion is mountainous or
sterile sand ; yet the extent of territory suited to agricultural purposes exceeds
the like territory of any country in Europe.
But the United States not only had the land, but promoted its jiurchase and
settlement by mmiificent offers. In 1841 Congress passed a law providing for
Sale of pub- the sale of tliese j)ublic lands for the remarkal)ly low price of a
lie lands. dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, in lots of a hundred and sixty
acres or less each, to tliose who would really go to live tiiereon, and cultivate
liiom. This i)re-emi)ti()n law was followed up in 1862 by another piece of legis-
lation, known as the '• Homestead A< t," which provided that the settler might
have tlie land for nothing, under proper conditions. Prior to and during the
operation of these laws, tlie new ^\'estern States aiul the railroad companies
therein put fortli special efforts to draw agriculturists thither.
The consecjucnce of these inducements was to draw people in large num
bers from the I'^astern States, and even from ICurope. Doubtless the Irish
famine l)etween 1845 and 1847, and the poor success of (he (Ger-
man revolution of 1848, did mucli to accelerate foreign emigra-
tion, — a movement which the Know-nothing movement in i)olitics a decade
later slightly checked. But as larg(,^ numbers of unopposed Swedes also caiiK.
Emigration.
■ -I
OF THE UNITED STATES.
•9
over, and as the greater proportion of the new-comers went West to live on
farms, it is apparent that our pre-emption and homestead laws we'-e a great
attraction. The perfcc:tly surprising growth of tlie States of the Ohio and
Mississipjii Valleys can hardly be attributed solely to the fertility of 'he soil in
that section, remarkable as that feature of it was.
'I'hose who have looked into the subject say that agriculture thrives nowhere
with such life and success as where the men who do the work own the soil.
t.MltiKANT THAIS.
Under the iMiropcan feudal system, and liie tenantry system which has sue-
( eeded it. tlie rustic populace are citlier liircd by, or lease their land from,
exacting owners, and never know such a thing as jjroprietorship. ,
l!ut here tiie agriculturist is matle to feel the dignity of Jabor of agricui-
and a larger stimulus of self-interest l)v the consciousness that he »"■■»' P'o*-
perity.
may own the broad acres which lie tills. No other country in
the world has felt the influence of this incentive as has the United States.
ACiKICt'LTrKAT. SOCIKTIKS.
The first steps toward organization for encouraging and forwarding tillage
and the arts related thereto in tliis country were taken by the Philadelphia
.Society for tlie Promotion of .Agriculture in 171^4. Similar ""^s p^,^ j|g„
were formed in New Vt)rk in 1791 (incorporated two years later), of agricui-
in ^.lassachusetts in 1702, and iu South Carolina. .At this »"'»' s°"e-
ties.
tune the conception of such societies was almost entirely new.
Their formation had only just begun in l-nglanil. Hut few men understood
fli
'I
':»■;■ J
30
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
how the institution was to operate ; and the membership being slim, and not
over-practical, little good was at first effected. There was much talk, at first,
of taking these boards under governmental management, and assisting then)
with governmental appropriations. Washington was interested greatly in the
subject. He was, while yet President of the Untied States, an honorary mem-
ber of the Philadelphia organization to which we have alluded. He, as well as
Adams and Jefferson, was a practical farmer on a large scale. He cauglit part
of his inspiration from correspondence with Arthur Young and Sir John Sinclair
of England, who were active in the spheres of agri':ultural organization and
information. These gentlemen suggested to him the value of a national agri-
cultural board founded and fostered by the United-States Government ; but
Washington's idea was, that the formation of smaller societies was a pre-
requisite to the greater one. These continued to be organized throughout
the States slowly, and with slight results. The Kennebec Agricultural Society
was instituted at Augusta, Me., in 1800, being the second society incorpo-
rated inside of Massachusetts, the separation between the two States not hav-
ing been effected until a later period. A voluntary association of Middlesex-
county husbandmen existed in Massachusetts as early as 1 794 ; but it was not
incorporated until 1803.
The first agricultural fair in this country was held at Washington, then a " city
in the woods," in 1804, at the suggestion of the commissioner of patents, and
The flrit under the auspices of the municipal authorities, who voted to hold
agricultural them semi-annually. The first one, held in October of that year,
'' '■ showed the advantage, educationally, of exhibiting choice produce
and stock ; and at the spring exhibition the next year over one hundred
dollars in premiums were offered, which proved a stimulus to the farmers'
efforts. The next provision for a fair was that made by the Columbian Agri-
cultural Society for the Promotion of Rural and Domestic Economy, at
Georgetown, D.C. The organization was effected in the fall of 1809, and its
first fair was held the following May. Large premiums were offered on that
occasion for sheep-raising. In 1816 the Massachusetts society held a fair at
Brighton, at which premiums were offered for a variety of articles ; and a
ploughing-match was had to show off the training of cattle.
These fairs brought the farmers together for an interchange of thought and
experience, far more valuable than the old husking-bees and sheep-shearings
Advantage that formed the earlier neighborhood rural gatherings. They
of (airs. excited rivalry as well as afforded new hints. Furthermore, they
advertised the stock of some enterprising breeder to his neighbors ; and the
consequent sales enabled him to reap a rich harvest from his venturesome
_. ,,„,„,. investments of time, trouble, and money. The agricultural soci-
tion of eties also collected and printed such information as they could
knowledge procure, individual members contributing papers on topics with
which they were familiar, and these transactions being published
either for circulation or reference.
OF THE UNITED STATES,
•1
[ slim, antl not
-h talk, at first,
assisting them
I greatly in the
honorary mem-
He, as well as
He caught part
lir John Sinclaii
rganization and
\ national agri-
wernment ; but
ies was a pre-
zed throughout
[Cultural Society
lociety incorpo-
I States not hav- ,
I of Middlesex-
; but it was not
ton, then a "city
of patents, and
lo voted to hold
ler of that year,
choice produce
;r one hundred
to the farmers'
Columbian Agri-
c Economy, at
af 1809, and its
ofiered on that
ty held a fair at
articles; and a
of thought and
sheep-shearings
therings. They
urthermore, they
ghbors ; and the
his venturesome
igricultural soci-
)n as they could
i on topics with
being published
s
33
IND US TKIA I. Ills TOR Y
• A
.'.' i.
>r'
,r
For the first forty years of the present century the organization of county
ineraateof ^"^' *''^*'-* societies was slow and infre(iucnt. IJut between 1840
agricultural and 1850 State and county soc'eties were numerously formed all
aoc etiei. ^^^^ ^^^ country ; and, since that time, scarcely an agricultural
region within our national limits has been without one or both.
In 1 84 1 an effort was made in Washington to organize a national agricid-
tural society with the fund bctiucathed .'. r the purpose by Hugh Smithson.
But the establishment of the Smithsonian Institute matle the endowment
available for the other purpose; and the project was abandoned until i<S52,
when a convention of a hundred and fifty-two delegates, representing twelve
state agricultural associations and eleven other States and Territories, met, and
organized a national society, which was a realization of George Washington's
long-cherished idea. It was not incorporated until i860; but before that
time it had undertaken a special publication of its own, and had lield service-
able national fairs. The interruptions of the war, and the assumption of some
of its functions by the general department of agriculture in 1863, resulted in
its disintegration and virtual abandonment.
Special societies, too, have been organized in the interest of special
branches of agriculture. Horticultural societies (of which the first was
. formed in 1829), pomological societies, Southern planters' societies,
progresiof dairymen's societies (state and national), sheep-raisers' and wool-
apeciaito- growers', cattle and horse breeding societies, poultry and bee
keepers' associations, and the like, have grown up within the i)ast
quarter of a century very numerously ; and these, like the more comprehen-
sive " agricultural " societies, have done much, by the interchange of observa-
tions, experiment, and exhibition, to awaken and heighten individual interest,
improve the standards of stock, enlighten the cultivator or breeder as to the
best methods of operation, and to dignify the agricultural industry before the
world. ('
In 1867 the records of the department of agriculture showed that 1,367
organizations of this general character were in nominal existence throughout
the country. Some few had been discontinued ; but most of them were
revived, or supplanted by new ones. And, besides these, many other such
societies have since been formed. ,
GKANGKR MOVKMKNT.
p
\, %
In this connection it may be well to mention a system of organization for
Granger the promotion of agricultural interests which is still more recent,
movement, a^d somewhat different from the societies we have thus far men-
tioned. We refer to the Patrons of Husbandry, whose association and influ-
ence constitute what is known as " the Granger movement" in this country.
At the close of the civil war the agriculturists of the West found them-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
n
selves, for one reason or another, badly situated. Their farms were mortgaged,
they obtained poor remuneration for their produce, and their org«nii«tion
prospects were gloomy indeed. Letters of complaint about oftheflrtt
these and other kindred evils poured into the department at °""«*'-
Washington in great numbers. P^inally it occurred to Mr. William Saunders —
a Scotchman of education and culture connected with the agricultural bureau,
and in charge of the ganlens and conservatories of that establishment — that
many of these evils could be overcome were the farmers to organize after the
manner of the Masons and Odd Fellows. He did not belong to either frater-
nity himself; but in 1867 he broached the idea to Mr. O. H. Kelley (a clerk
in the post-office department), Mr, J. R. '"hompson, and William M. Ireland,
all of whom were Masons ; to the Rev. A. B. Grosh, who held a high rank
among the Odd Fellows ; and to the Rev. John Trimble, jun. On the 3d of
August, 1867, these gentlemen met, and devised a scheme for a society, as yet
nameless, which contemplated the objects Mr. Saunders had in view. Soon
afterward he had occasion to visit Western New-York State, and there he
interested a number of his agricultural friends in the enterprise. In the
autumn a second, third, and fourth degree was perfected, and the name
" Patrons of Husbandry " was adopted. The National Orange was organized
in December, with the following officers : William Saunders, master ; J. R.
Thompson, lecturer ; Anson Bartlett, overseer ; William Miner, steward ; A. S.
Moss, assistant steward ; the Rev. A. B. Grosh, chaplain ; William M. Ireland,
treasurer ; O. H. Kelley, secretary ; and Edward P. Faris, gate-keeper. The
constitution provided for the admission of women ; and four feminine offices
were created, named respectively Ceres, Pomona, Flora, and Lady Assistant
Stewardess. There was also an executive committee appointed. Later in the
month a subordinate Grange was formed, with about sixty members. On the ist
of January, 1868, Mr. Saunders disseminated throughout the country circulars
setting forth the principles of the order, and urging the organization of Granges
and the foundation of Grange libraries.
Progress was at first very slow. For three months the local Grange in
Washington was the only subordinate one in the whole country. On the ist
of April Mr. Kelley resigned his government clerkship, and gave Growth of
his whole time and energy to promoting the growth of the order ; **'* "'■''"'■•
for which he was to have a salary of $2,000, provided he could organize
enough Granges to secure it in fees. During April, four were formed ; and,
before the year was out, six more, these latter in Minnesota. In 1869 to the
original eleven were added thirty-nine, and in 1870 thirty-eight. Besides
these, there were the National Grange, already mentioned, and three State
Granges. Mr. Kelley came to Washington again Jan. i, 1871, as the secretary
and executive officer of the organization. From that time forward progress
ws rapid. The additions to the order numbered 125 in 1871, 1,160 in 1872,
8,600 in 1873, 11,000 in 1874, and about the same number in 1875. At the
I li $■
84
INDUSTRIAL JllSTOKY
ll
Its object!.
close of the last-named year, a few Granges having become extinct, there were
about 30,000 in the country altogether, with a membcrshij) of about 2,500,000.
Since then it has grown but little, the movement having about reached its
climax in 1875.
The objects of this order, which was secret b«t strictly non-political, were
the higher social and intellectual culture of the members, and the dispensing
with the services and profits of the middlemen in both buying and
selling. The former end was attained by the introduction of
music and literary exercises at the meeting of the drange ; and thus thousands
of rude farmers and farmers' wives were led to develop and gratify tastes, and
engage in avocations, pursued by i)ersons in more advantageous conditions of
Mode of '•'*■*• '^^'^ latter end was secured by several means. Agencies
attaining were established for the sale of produce directly to shippers and
""■ other legitimate jnirchasers, thereby dispensing with the medium
of speculators. Thus the farmers were enabled to get better prices for their
crops. The same sort of co-operation saved to the farmers the large j)rofits
of middlemen in buying household furniture and farming-utensils. Hooks,
sewing-machines, all kinds of implements and merchandise, were procured at a
saving of from twenty-five to thirty per cent through these agencies. These
advantages, and co-operation in other directions, put the farmers in a more
prosperous condition than ever before, cleared off their debts, and gave them
many comforts and novelties uliich otherwise they could not have enjoyed.
It was one of the first principles of the order that it should in no way
meddle with politics ; and though it has been alleged repeate<lly that this or
_,. _ that candidate for local, state, or national office, had been elected
The Grange ' '
disiociated or defeated through Granger i- fluence, i)ositive and emphatic deni-
from poll- jj]g qC ji^^. same have been m,..i«, by the officers of the organiza-
tion. The discussion of poliucal topics in meetings of the Grange
is also prohibited.
A semi-political influence has, however, been exerted bv the order, though
to an extent, doubtless, far less than has been generally believed. One of the
Demands ^^''^ against which the Western agriculturist declaimed most bit-
made of the terly was the discrimination of the railroad comininies against
raiiroadi. \qq^ shippers of freight, in favor of through shi])pers. It was felt
that these exactions were grievous, and a remedy was sought in legislation.
No " Granger " tickets were put in nomination ; yet, doubtless with this object
in view, the Patrons of Husbandry gained sufficient strength in the lilinois and
Wisconsin legislatures to secure the enactment of State laws in 1873, restrict-
ing the railroad tariffs to a basis more favorable to the farmers who were way-
passengers and shippers. The railroad companies resisted this legislation at
first as unconstitutional, declaring that a State had no right to modify their
charters when once granted. The matter went into the State courts, and, by
appeal, to the United-States courts. But in 1876 a test case, appealed to the
1 A
OF THE I'NITRD STATES, t|
Supreme Cotirt of the nation, cvokc<l a decision to the effect that the " Potter
Law" of Wisconsin, the most famous of all these "dranger" enactments, was
constitutional. Tlic moral effect of this decision was to secure greater or less
concessions from the Western railroads to the agricultural interest.
ACJRICULTUkAL !■ DUCATION AND LITERATURE.
Roth in luigland and in this country the idea of governmental encour-
agL-mont was .it first associated with popular organizations for promoting hus-
bandry. It has been remarked, that, until a (piarter of the prest-nt
< cnlury had passed away, agriculture had become no more of a xol^wlrn^.
science in Kurope than it had been for centuries. lUit Hacon's menuien-
pliil()so[)hy was applied to agriculture by original .md enterprising i""!^^'^"*"*
I!iili>ih minds in the eighteenth century; and the writings of
Jothro I'lill, Arthur Voimg, Lord Kames, and Sir John Sinclair, were followed
by the establishment of a British National Hoard of Agriculture by William Pitt
in 179.}. In the minds of many Americans of that day and later the idea
of congressional provision for this industry was warmly cherisheil ; but it was
long in attaining realization.
In 1837-38 the coimtry was roused, by the necessity for importing several
million dollars' worth of breadstuffs, to a consciousness, that owing to the
exhaustion of the soil, and bad management in other respects,
agriiultup- was sadly languishing. One of the two means of relief prj",*i*^o7**
suggested by the leading minds of that day was a government money for
ajjpropriation, to be expended by the commissioner of patents ■«''="'»"'•'
' ' ' ^ ' ' purposes.
for the " collation of agricultural statistics, investigations for pio-
moting agriculture and rural economy, and the i)rocurement of seeds and
cuttings for gratuitous distribution among the fanners." At this time the Hon.
Henry L. Kllsworlh was commissioner of patents, and it was at his suggestion
that Congress appropriated a thousand dollars for this purpose in 1839. A
like one was made in 1842; for each of the next two years two thousand
dollars were appropriated; in 1845 the amount was three thousand dollars;
then a year was missed. Resuming at the same figure in 1847, the govern-
ment thereafter regularly made provision, gradually increasing the sum, until,
ill 1862, it amounted to sixty thousand dollars. Twice and thrice that sum
has since been expeniled in a single year. Previous to this date the depart-
ment had been little more than a clerkship in the patent office; and the
annual reports, beginning with one in 1854, long constituted a part of the
report of the commissioner of patents. Hy a law of 1862 a dis- org«ni«tion
tinct bureau of agriculture was erected, with a commissioner at of bureau of
its head, a chief clerk, botanist, entomologist, statistician, and •«''"'*""•
other subordinates. Since that time the size and capacity and the usefulness
of the department have steadily increased.
m»»
26
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
.iii;i,
'!> ill
of informa-
tion.
This government establishment has done for more thoroughly and on a
much broader scale much of the work of a local agricultural society, and a
Work ac- great deal besides. By the collection of facts and figures showing
compiished the extent to which stock-raising and crop-growing of various kinds
y ureau. -^^^Q conducted in different sections of the country, the value of
the property, the cost of the several branches of the business, the profits, the
character of maladies, pests, bad weather and other embarrassments, the pecu-
liarities of soil and climate which were favorable and unfavorable to certain
crops, the effects of experiments with various plants and breeds of animals,
the results of observation upon the use of new implements and new methods
of cultivation, and so on, it was possible to draw deductions scientifically,
which could not be reached in any other way, and which were of immense
value to the farming-interest.
Agricultural publications and correspondence from abroad were procured,
showing the general condition and special features of the industry in other
c 11 cti parts of the world, and the useful parts of such information made
and diffusion accessible to the American farmer. Special essays upon various
plants, modes of culture, and breeds of animals, were obtained
from gentlemen of experience and knowledge all over the coun-
try ; and these were made to bear more particularly upon the value and use-
fulness of the choicer kinds of stock, and varieties of crops, in order to excite
a desire to select, raise, and breed only the best.
In addition to the collection of this information, the department procured
abroad and elsewhere the choicest seeds, plants, and cuttings, and experi-
mented with them on government grounds in order to ascertain
their habits, vitality, and utility. The more perfect and valuable
specimens were extensively propagated ; and the seeds, cuttings,
and plants were distributed all over the country among fanners
and gardeners. Thus a greater degree of excellence was secured
in produce. The adaptation of these to the locality whither they were sent,
and the success of their introduction, was ascertained by the department for
its own and the public's information.
Improved varieties of our staples, such as cotton, wheat, and corn, were
sought after. Great attention was given to the introduction of plants not
Introduction indigenous, but valuable, and likely to be suited to our country.
of new The silk-worm and the mulberry-tree, ramie-grass, jute or Chinese
hemp, sorghum, vines for wine, raisins, olives, and tea and coffee
CoUection of
■eeds, &c.,
and experi-
ments with
them.
plants.
plants, are only a few of the innumerable importations made by the department,
cultivated on its own grounds, and disseminated throughout the country.
The department has never gone into stock-breeding and importation, but
has procured a vast amount of information upon the subject in all its
ramifications.
The printing of all this valuable information, and its broad dissemination
OF THE UNITED STATES.
37
gratuitously throughout the land, have educated the country and advanced
the science of agriculture almost beyond computation. Without usefulness
doubt it has enriched the agricultural classes and the country ofagricui-
generally a thousand-fold more than its cost ; and there is reason |J|^"j '*'''"*'
to believe, that, before many years, the facilities and influence of
the bureau will be increased by its erection into a full-grown " department "
of the administration, co-equal with those which conduct our revenue, postal,
military, and naval service.
broad dissemination
ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE BOARDS OF AGRICULTURE.
In several of tiie States, Boards of Agriculture have been constituted under
government auspices, sometimes based upon the remains of a defunct State
agricultural society, and sometimes organized independently. These State
boards are maintained by appropriations, establish experiment-stations, provide
for lectures in different parts of the State, promote local farmers' clubs, and
iniblish their proceedings. Their work, in some cases, will compare very
favorably with that carried on at Washington.
Education in the science of agriculture, however, is the great thing that
has developed the industry. This has been done partly by the discussions of
clubs and societies, by the dissemination of documents by socie- introduction
ties and the government, by the literature produced by individual of scientific
enterprise, and by special schools for the thorough training of ""ethodsmto
students in the theory and practice of farming. In the olden time,
and indeed until within a century, the farmer looked at agriculture as little
more than gathering what Mother Earth would yield him spontaneously. He
had not studied the subject of vegetation, weather, soil, chemistry, and tlie
other elements which entered into and vitally affected his industry. He had
not indulged in wide observation, nor reduced his labor to what could be
termed a science. Nearly a hundred years ago, scientific methods of wide-
spread observation, logical deduction, and experimental application of theory,
were begun by a few enterprising agriculturists, or patrons of agriculture,
in the Old World, and subsequently in America. But no provision for pro-
curing scientific information, and making it practically useful, has equalled
the establishment of special agricultural colleges. Except Germany, this coun-
try has no equal in the educational advantages sh.; offers her people in this
direction ; although the establishment of these institutions is comparatively
recent.
The first three agricultural schools were started in Germany and Switzerland
in 1799. They were located at Celle in Hanover, near Berne, poundingof
and at Kruman, Bohemia. In 181 1 a private forestry-school was agricultural
established in Saxony, which in 18 16 was transferred to the state, ** °"'*"
and in 1830 became an agricultural college. The great agricultural college of
I
■I
♦
Li
28
/N/) l/S TRIAL IIISTOK Y
Europe — that at Hohenheim, near Stuttgart — was founded in 1818, and
another such institution was started in Pomerania in 1835. Ten years ago
Contrast be- there Were a hundred and forty-four stations, institutes, schools,
tween jj,i(j coUegts in Germany. Great Britain has but two of any
Europe and , i- i , , ,. „ ,
United consequence, — one at Cirencester, estabhshed before 1840, and
States. one near Dublin. French legislation in 1848 led to the organiza-
tion of one college at Versailles, and several minor schools in various parts of
France.
It will be seen from these facts, and from others which we are about to
state, that Europe led us but very little in agricultural education, and soon fell
Efforts of behind. We have already referred to the depression of agriculture
Judge Buei. in America between 1830 and 1840. Besides the suggestion then
made for a government bureau of agriculture, the establishment of technical
sciiools in this department of knowledge was strongly recommended, Judge
Buel of New York being foremost in pressing the idea. No immediate action
was t?ken, however.
In 1844 an agricultural department was established in connection with
Oberlin College, Ohio. A separate college was founded at Cleveland in
Increase of 1855, to which the Oberlin endowment was transferred. In 1854
agricultural Dr. William Terrell made a bequest to the University of Georgia,
°° '■ amounting to $ 20,000, to establish a professorship of agriculture.
.Arrangements for a similar departmt 'X in connection with Amherst College
were made by Massachusetts in 1S55. Subsecpiently a veterinary institute
was established at Boston. In 1852 a charter was obtained for an independent
aLTJcultural college. The endowment was to be raised from town, county,
and ])ersonal subscriptions. Little was done toward organization until 1855.
It was i860 before the school was in operation ; and, the war breaking out soon
after, .t closed after two terms.
Michigan was the first State, after Ohio, to get an independent agricultural
college in actual operation. The act of incorporation and appropriation
passed Feb. 12, 1855. A farm of 676 acres, mostly wooded,
at first was purchased, and buildings erected for college-purposes,
students' boarding-house, and professors' residences. The institu-
tion went into i)ractical ojieration in 1857; and its stock-stables,
botanical gardens, and course of instruction, soon made it famous.
The original grant was of ;S56,ooo : a subsecjuent one of $40,000 was made ;
and even then there was a debt of $13,000, making a total cost of $109,000.
In i860 it passed under control of the State Board. Tht 'hird juch independ-
ent institution was the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, opened in Centre
County of that State in 1859. Three years later its name was changed to the
Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. Iowa made a grant of $10,000 for
such an institution in 1858, and got it going on a small scale in 1859. The
Ovid College appears to have been the fifth of these institutions.
Formation of
agricultural
schools in
Michigan
and Penn-
sylvania.
.MtMIHI"-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
99
Congres-
sional grant
for State
agricultural
colleges.
In 1862 Congress passed an act granting land to each State in the Union, to
the extent of 30,000 acres for each representative in Congress, the proceeds
of the sales of which were to go to agricultural and mechanical
colleges. Immediately steps were taken in several of the Northern
States for the foundation of industrial schools of this sort. Massa-
chusetts devoted the proceeds of one-tenth of her land-scrip to
buying a farm at Amherst, which cost $40,000 ; and $75,000 more
was appropriated for the buildings of her Agricultural College. In New York
the land-scrip was given to Cornell University, which had an agricultural
department. In Connecticut the Sheffield Scientific School profited in the
same way. Kentucky at first established a college in connection with the
State University, but subsequently separated it, and bought a farm for it,
which included " Ashland," the historic estate of Henry Clay. This school
was opened in 1866 ; in which year the colleges of Maine, Vermont, and New
Jersey, were nearly or quite completed. Where some institution had already
been founded, as in Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio, they were made the recipients
of the Federal grants. In some States the endowment was utilized at existing
universities by the opening of special departments. The Southern States
followed suit soon after the war. In 1876 all the States but Nevada had
availed themselves of the government provision ; and there were then 41
industrial colleges in existence in this country, with 463 professors and 3,703
students in all grades. In 1875 there were 382 graduates from these colleges ;
a number steadily increasing since. At the present time nearly all the land-
scrip has been sold, some of it having been exceedingly desirable.
Our agricultural literature has been regarded by eminent authority as not
exclusively a cause of the development of agricultural science, but as partly
an outgrowth of that advance in thought and interest ; for, with Agricultural
slight exceptions, we had very little until nearly a quarter of the "f"'""-
present century hail passed. In the middle of the last century the Rev. Jared
Eliot of Connecticut prepared and published several papers on the state of
husbandry in this country, which were almost as valuable to his generation as
the famous " Georgics " of Virgil. But these essays were a little ahead of the
time, and had but few readers. The Philadelphia, New- York, and Massachu-
setts societies also published their transactions, which were valuable. Those
of Massachusetts, beginning in 1 796, were especially heloful.
Mr. Flint thinks that " The .'\in »rican Farmer," published in Baltimore for
the first time in 1819, was the first purely agricultural periodical in the United
States. It soon attained a wide circulation, and seems to have Agricultural
set the fiirmers to reading and thinking more scientifically than pe"odicais.
before. " The Agricultural Intelligencer " was started in Boston the following
year; but it lived only a few months. In 1822, however, a new venture
was made with better success. Mr. T. G. Fessenden founded "The New-
Knjjland Farmer," which was continued until 1846; when, upon its death,
I I '
I
4,1 '' ^ i\
30
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
another periodical of the same name, weekly and monthly, succeeded It. Mr.
Samuel Fleet started " The New- York Farmer " soon after the New-England
publication made its advent, subsequently selling it out to D. K. Miner.
Mr. Luther Tucker, an experienced agricultural editor, started still another
paper in New- York State, near Rochester, in 183 1. It was called "The
Genesee Farmer," and, though it was long in becoming firmly established,
eventually became a valuable and widely-circulated periodical. Judge Buel
of Albany founded "The Cultivator " in 1833; and in 1839, on his death, it
was consolidated with "The Genesee Farmer." "The American Agricul-
turist" wds started in 1842. Shortly prior to this, and since, numerous other
periodicals, weekly and monthly, sprang up ; and their publication, and
increase of cir lation, rapidly developed. Among these may be mentioned
"The Maine Farmer," "The Rural New-Yorker," "The Country Gentle-
man," "The Ohio Farmer," "The Michigan Farmer," "The Valley Farmer,"
" The Wisconsin Farmer," " The North-western Farmer," " The Southern
Planter." There are now between fifty and sixty weekly and monthly agricul-
tural periodicals in this country. Besides those, many other papers devote
a special department to agriculture, stock-raising, dairying, poultry, and fruit.
Then, too, within the past forty years, a considerable number of books have
been written on special topics in agricultural and horticultural science ; Andrew
Agricultural Jackson Downing having been one of tiie earliest and most prolific
books. writers on the subject. The reports of the United-States Govern-
ment, first prepared by a clerk of the Patent Office in 1839, and then, after
1862, by the commissioner of the Agricultural Bureau, have also proved
exceedingly valuable accessions to this class of American literature.
I ! ^if \
e;
.,^
• ♦
\ v'*
^lipl
OF THE UNITED STATES.
3'
succeeded it. Mr.
r the New-England
to L). K. Miner,
tarted still another
t was called "The
firmly established,
»dical. Judge Buel
39, on his death, it
American Agricul-
;e, numerous other
ir publication, and
may be mentioned
e Country Cientle-
'he Valley Farmer,"
', rhc Southern
nd monthly agricul-
other papers devote
poultry, and fruit,
mber of books have
al science ; Andrew
ist and most prolific
ited-States Govern-
?39, and then, after
have also proved
terature.
ii
Jl! 'l'
iii'm
iiiiiiiiiii j/i
W.
laiiiia
mMii i
i.'^'^^m^mA
*■'"""■' '"!",fr-;ir'*n,,:
M
M
M
f ■ I u
i
1,
'.u-r
?' m
if
m
II
iiri
Sfk^ »
-ill
' ■" 1,1'' ii p
I, 'I ;■'!. i'^
^■'.1 ■':-^':l:lill,lllliillil!ji|J|l(|ii|f
asset.
\ ;|
3*
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
< ■*
CHAPTER II.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. ^, ,
ONE of the most interesting and important features in the history of
American agriculture relates to the improvement of means for cultivat-
ing the soil. The history is a record of marked originality, perseverance.
Hi h h c- ^"^ great triumphs, with enough of tragic disappointment or
ter of Ameri- pecuniary loss to spice the tale ; while the vast development given
to American resources and wealth by the improvement of these
prerequisites to toil has given this nation its distinctive pre-emi-
nence. Our highest rank among the peoples of the earth, in a material point
of view, is as an agricultural people ; and though great progress has been made
in other industries, to which Americans can look with justifiable pride, im-
provement in means for subduing and cultivating the land .is still the most
marked characteristic of native inventive genius.
The most impoitant of agricultural implements is the plough : besides, it is
one of the oldest ; for its origin is lost in the dim twilight of antiquity. The
Origin of the plough is probably an improvement upon the hoe, which can lay
plough. claim to a still more ancient history. At first, it was made of the
tough crotches of trees ; then the forked piece was trimmed and bound to the
can inven-
tive genius
ANCIENT HOB AND PLOUGHS.
handle to prevent the two from splitting apart. In the accompanying engraving
an ancient kind of hoe is given. The plough had a similar and equally humble
origivi. It was not the product of great and enduring genius. The earliest
ploughs known to us were rude enough in their construction. Like hoes, one
limb of a tree formed the beam of the plough, and the other the share ; from
which simple device improvements have been slowly made, until this imple-
ment has been brought nearly to perfection.
M 'iii
OF THE UNITED STATES.
33
Wlien the colonists first began to upturn the soil, the plough was a very rude
affair. It was made wholly of wood. The beam, standard, and handles, if the
plough had two, were of seasoned stuff; and the mould-board was a Rude„e,,
block of wood, and approximating to the curve required. A great of early
deal of power was needed to draw it. Yet even this, rude as it p'°"«''"*
was, far excelled the plough used in the days of Elisha, who, when summoned
to assume the functions of prophet and teacher for the Hebrew children, was
walking behind his plough drawn by twelve yoke of oxen. The earliest ploughs
were doubtless imported, and as early as 1617 they might be seen pirstimpor-
upon a Virginia plantation. The complaint of the governor at that tation of
time was, not lack of instruments, but " skilful husbandmen, and P'°"**'»-
means to set their ploughs on work, having as good ground as any man can
desire, and about forty bulls and oxen ; but they wanted men to bring them to
labor, iron for ploughs, and harness for the cattle." But ten years later, it is
recorded there were only thirty ploughs in the colony at Massachusetts Bay ;
and, for twelve years after the landing of the Pilgrims, the farmers there had
none whatever, and were compelled to prepare their lands for seed with clumsy
hoes. It has been affirmed that it was the custom in that part of the country,
even to a much later period, for any one owmng a plough to go about and do
the ploughing for the inhabitants over a considerable extent of territory. A
town often paid a bounty to any one who would buy and kee]) a i)lough in
repair for the purpose of going al)out to work in this way. The massive old
wooden plough required a strong and well-fed team to move it through the
soil, a heavy, muscular man to press into the ground, another to hold, and
another to drive.
During all the centuries preceding the present one, but few improvements
were made in this most important of all agricultural implements. All the
earlier ones never turned a furrow, but only stirred up the ground ; slowness of
and hence they were difficult to draw, beside doing their work early im-
very imperfectly. In the last century the plough in use among the p^^"""""'*
French settlers in Illinois was made of wood, with a small point of iron tied
upon the nose with strips of raw-hide. The beam rested upon an axle and
small wooden wheels ; while the oxen which drew it were yoked by
their horns by means oi a straight yoke attached by raw leather ^"^^x^^°^
si aps, with a pole extending from the yoke back to the axle, ploughs used
Knight has described the English plough in use among the colo- '" ***''
nies along the coast in 1776 as being made of wood, except the
wrought-iron share, and some bolts and nuts whereby the parts were fastened
together. The standard rose nearly vertically, having attached to it the beam
and the sole-piece. On the nose of the beam hung the clevis. The mould-
board and share were attached to a frame braced between the beam and the
sole. The wooden mould-board was sometimes plated with sheet-iron, or by
strips made by hammering out old horseshoes. A clump of iron shaped like
34
INDUSTRIAL jr IS TORY
a half spear formed the point. It was known as a " biiU-ploiigh," " bull-
tongue," or " bar-share " plough. 'I'wo pins in the standard formed the handles,
and it recjuired the strength of a man to manage it. The work was slowly
and poorly performed by cattle.
During the last century, the Carey plough, as it was termed, was more ex-
tensively employed than any other, and may be briefly described, although the
c«rey form varied very much, according to the ideas and skill of the
plough. blacksmith who made it. It had a clumsy wrought-iron share, a
land-side and standard made of wood, a wooden mould-board, often plated
over in a rough manner with pieces of old saw-plates, tin, or sheet-iron.
The handles were upright, and were held by two pins. A powerful man was
required to hold it, and double the strengtn of team now commonly used was
required in doing the same kind of work.
?f-
of the firit
catt-iron
plough.
I'Lour.H OK i8ia.
The first cast-iron plough ever seen in this country was imported from
Scotland soon after the Revolution, and was the invention of James
Importation ' ■'
Small of Berwickshire. The mould-board was cast-iron, with a
wrought-iron share, the form being somewhat similar to those
now in use.
The first person in this country who devoted his attention seriously to this
subject was Thomas Jefferson. Immersed as he was in the politics of the
Jefferson's time, he never lost his interest in the greatest of all pursuits ; and
interest in from 1 788 to 1793 he Studied and experimented diligently to
t esu ject. determine the proper form of the mould-board, treating it as a
" lifling-wedge and an upsetting-wedge," and endeavoring to ascertain the
curve necessary to accomplish this purpose with the least friction. Probably
he was stimulated to exercise his genius in this direction by receiving an
improved plough from the agricultural society of the Department of the
Seine in France. His son-in-law, O i. Randolph, whom Jefferson regarded as
the best farmer in Virginia, soon ? ter invented a side-hill plough adapted
to the hilly regions of that State. This plough was made with two wings
welded to the same bar, with their planes at right angles to each other ; so
that, by turning a bar adjusted to an axis, either wing could be laid flat on the
ground, while the other, standing vertically, served as a mould-board.
Stimulated by the example tf Jefierson, others entered this field of inven-
ifcf
OF THE UNITED STATES.
35
was more ex-
tioh. Robert Smith of Pennsylvania, it is said, took out the first patent for
the mould-board alone of a plough ; and Newbold of Burlington, g,,,^ iny,„.
N.J., in 1797 patented a plough with a mould-board, share, and Honnecured
land-side all cast together. Peacock in his patent, in 1807, cast '•J'P'**"*'
his plough in three pieces, the front of the colter entering a notch in the
breast of the share. We now come to the invention of Jethro Wood of
Scipio, N.Y., whose improvement was made in 1819. It was much Wood's in-
superior to any previous invention ; but he entertained a wiong mention.
idea concerning its novelty, supposing it to be the first iron plough ever
invented. Its peculiar merit consisted in the mode of securing the cast-iron
portions together by lugs and locking-pieces, doing away with screw-bolts, and
much weight, complexity, and expense. Wood did more than any other person
to drive out of use the cumbrous contrivances common throughout the coun-
try by supplanting them with a lighter, cheaper, and more effective implement.
It was the first plough in which the parts most exposed to wear could lie
renewed in the field by the substitution of cast pieces. Wood was entitled
to a great deal of credit for i genius and enterprise whi^h he displayed ;
but, like many an unlucky invt or before and since his time, he ispent all his
fortune in developing and defending his invention.
Since his day improvements have been -continuous, and every year new
designs are sent to the Patent Office ; nor does human skill show scarce a sign
of abatement in this direction.
The application of steam to ploughing in the United States makes another
phase of improvement in agricultural implements worthy of mention. The
first invention of the kind in the United States was patented by E. steam-
C. Bellinger of South Carolina in 1833; but, for some reason or v'""**"*-
other, it never went into general use. Twenty-one years later, John Fowler
of England improved upon Bellinger's invention so far as to manufacture and
employ several of his machines. About the same time that Fowler's invention
appeared, several other American improvements were made upon a very
(lilTerent principle. Engines were designed to travel over the field, drawing
l)loughs behind them. I'romising as these various inventions are, many im-
provements are required to make them perfect ; and a splendid field still lies
before the genius of the inventor.
Great ns has been the economy effected by using the improved plough, the
farmer, for a long time, did not take so kindly and quickly to successive im-
l)rovements in this most important of all agricultural implements j.^^^ ^
as he does now. Slowly learned as were the i>rinciples upon were slow to
wliich the true construction of the jjlough depended, — the turning ■''°p* '■"'
over and pulverizing of the soil with the least friction, — farmers
were slower still in adopting any improvement. Not unfrequently they asserted
that cast-iron poisoned the ground, and spoiled crops ; and so they adhered
to tiieir old clumsy wooden affairs. Slowly has this prejudice worn away, and
lii
'isf
36
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Mrith its disappearance every real improvement has been more and more
eagerly tested. The inventor has been stimulated to prosecute his
efforts more critically : he has found that different kinds of ploughs
will work to the best advantage on various soils ; that, while one
is best adapted for a dam|) soil, another is for dry ; and that,
wliilc one works well on level ground, another turns over the
soil more perfectly on the hill-side. Ik-sides, there has been an enormous
Eagerness of
modern
farmers to
test inven-
tions.
"^ i
STEAM-rLOUCH.
improvement in the manufacture of the plough itself. Formerly, ploughs were
made by every country blacksmith ; and liis wt)rk, however skilful, must have
been rude enough compared with that performed by the great concerns which
are expressly fitted up to manufacture these instruments.
The saving which follows the employment of this one invention is enormous.
We know of no method of estimating it with exactness ; but he who stops a
moment to consider how many days he would be in digging up ten acres
with a hoe or with one of the earliest ploughs invented as a substitute,
i"H\
OF THE UNITED STATES.
37
and realizes Iiow quickly and how much more perfectly the work is done
now, will be able to form an estimate for himsel(; Without Economy of
tliis invention, thousands of acres would be untilled, or, if cul- modern
.... • /• ^ plough*.
tivated at all, only m a very miperfect manner.
There are several outgrowths of the plough, among which are the horso-hoe,
invented by James Alden of New- York State, and others, and the so-called
cultivator, i)rovided with a series of diminutive plough-points to Hone-hoe
stir the soil about the roots of corn, cotton, and other crops, andcuitiva-
These implements,. while of minor importance, have been of vast
value ; for with one of them, one horse, and a man, more work can be done
than thirty men caii do provided with hand-hoes.
HOKSB-HuK.
The harrow.
The harrow, the next implement to be used in tillage after ploughing, is but
a little different tool from what it was in the days of the ancients.
Indeed, few implements have changed so immaterially in construc-
tion, and principle of operation, as this.
Very little data is attainable showing the progress Of seed-drills for plant-
ing. Jared Eliot, writing in 1754, allude- to Mr. Tull's wheat-drill as a
wonderful invention ; but, owing to its cumbersome and compli- planting-
catcd construction, he urges Mr. Clapp, President of Yale College, machines.
to api)ly his " mathematical learning and mechanical genius " lO the invention
i)f a simpler machine. Drills for spreading manure were soon after devised.
Tile most marked improvement in seed-drills adapted to all kinds of crops
has been made within the present century.
As regards practical value, probably no agricultural implement can compare
with the mower and reaper. After the farmer has planted and raised a crop,
he must harvest it : and it happens that most of his hay ripens at Mower and
one time j and so with his wheat, rye, barley, oats, and buckwheat. '•*?«'.
St
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
If the hay be rut too soon or too late, it is of poor quality : and, if grain is
allowed to get over-ripe, it rattles out of the husk, and is lost ; or it sprouts in
the head, and spoils. 'I'housanils anil thousands of acres of wheat in the
fertile West were wasted in a single season before the reaper was perfected,
owing to the inability of the owner to secure help enough to harvest it in the
proper time.
While it is true that American mowers and reapers are acknowledged to be
the best in the world, and have always triumphed over all rivals in competitive
jjjjj trials in luigland, l"'rance, Germany, Russia, and South America,
American they are not of American origin. 'I'iie mo' .cr was invented in Ku-
inventtoni. ^^^^ . j^^j^ Yankee genius simplified and improved it greatly. Nof
is the invention so very recent. The great improvement of the original dates
back scarcely more than a generation ; but the first reaping-machine of history
is that mentioned by Pliny the elder as in use among the (lauls over eightcMi
centuries ago, or about the year 23 of the Christian era. At that time, and
until within fifty years of the present day, most of the reaping of grain was
done by the sickle. Hut Pliny mentions particularly a large-sized van on
Descri tion wheels, with teeth projecting from the forward edge, and driven
of Pliny's through the oat and barley fields, with an ox yoked in the rear,
reaping- between thills, in such a way as to i)ush tlie machine ahead of
machine.
him. Sometimes the sickles thus employed cut off the heads of
grain at the top of the stalk, and sometimes half way dow.. the stalk ; but
in either case the grain fell over into the van. Palladius, an Kastern e( cle-
siastical WTiter, A.D. 391, describing these same reapers, or an improvement
thereupon, says that the driver could regulate the elevation or depression of
the teeth by means of a lever. 'I'luis it will be seen that a semi-barbaric rat c
had invented and used a reaping-machine long before Rome's glory had
departed, and even before Christ was crucified.
In 1785 we read of proposals being submitted in F.ngland for the construc-
tion of a reaper; but, from the tlescription, it does not appear to have differed
Early Eng- substantially from that of the ancient Oallic husbandmen. And
iish reaping, yet, as iu the development of a plant or of a fine art, we now
machines. l)^.gin jq SCO in rudimentary shape some new elements of the
perfected machine. The i)ower was applied as formerly, from behind, by
either horse or ox ; and the big box or van was emptied into a storeroom
when full. But mention is made of a heavy drive-wheel, toothed wheels, and
pulleys ; which indicates that a series of knives were made to beat against the
teeth in a different manner from those of old. Another reaper is described iu
1 799, which cut a swath two feet wide, and threw it to the ground on one siile.
This was another advance on the past ; for the machine could now work with
less frequent interruption. Agricultural writers always estimate the work of a
horse as equal to five men, and judge the value of a machine accordingly.
As this reaper, with a horse and a boy, could do more than six men with
OF THE rXITF.D STATES.
39
: and, if grain is
; or it sprouts in
of wheat in the
er was nerfoctctl,
iiarvest it in the
tnowlcdgcd to l)t'
Is in competitive
1 South America,
s invented in V.w-
\ it greatly. Nof
;he original dates
lachine of history
uis over eighteen
Vt that time, and
)ing of grain was
irge-sizcd van on
edge, and driven
uked in the n.ar,
lachine ahea(i of
t off the heads of
\-.. tlie stalk ; hut
m Kastern e( ( le
an improvement
or depression of
cmi-barbaric rac c
ome's glory had
for the construc-
ir to have differed
sbandmen. And
fine art, we now
elements of the
from behind, by
into a storeroom
othed wheels, and
> beat against the
er is described in
3und on one side.
Id now work with
ite the work of a
hine accordingly,
han six men with
yammiUm
iriiatt
40
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
s:i
^
*';:!
sickles, it fulfilled the requirements of a labor-saving machine.
British machines deserve to be noticed. Mr. Gladstone devised one in 1806,
which delivered the grain in gavels to be bound ; and Mr. Pkmckett constructed
one the following year, which was drawn, instead of pushed, by the horse. In
1822 Mr. Mann brought forward a reaper, under the auspices of the Highland
Society of Scotland, which would cut ten acres in ten hours. In addition to
being drawn, and having a side-projecting cutter-bar, this machine made use
of a sliding or reciprocating knife, had a reel to beat the grain against the
knives, and had a platform on which the grain fell.
The first record of an American invention of this sort is of a mower,
constructed by an ingenious mechanic of Genoa, Cayuga County, N.Y., in
First Ameri- 1826 or 1828. The characteristic feature of it was a large wheel,
can mower, y.'hich revolvcd horizontally near the ground, and which was pro-
vided with scythe-like knives on its periphery. A heavy drive-whe commu-
nicated the necessary power. It was drawn by a single horse. The, machine
never amounted to much, and was never perfected ; but it marks the first
awakening of decided interest in this direction in America.
In 1828 Samuel Lane of Maine invented a reaper, and is said to have
combined therewith a " thresher ; " but we think this is a verbal error, and that
Lane's " mower " is meant. A successful mower, which had some little
reaper. popularity, was invented by V*'illiam Manning of New Jersey in
1831 ; and in 18^4 the Ambler patent applied Hussey's vibratory knives to
the mower.
In 1833 the first really successful and famous American reaper was
invented by Hussey of Maryland. This had reciprocating knives, which oper-
Huitey's ated through slatted fingers, — an entirely new principle, — and
reaper. t],-. cutter- oar was hinged so as to turn up at right angles with the
ground. M'Cormick of Virginia patented a combined mower and reaper in
1834, which, with subsequent improvements, took a council medal at the
World's Fair in London in 185 1.
The period from 1830 to 1850 was one during which preat attention was
given to improving these machines ; but even more ingeiii'ity has been ap-
plied to their improvement since then, no less than three thousand patents
having been taken out for such harvesters in tiiis country. Among tiie most
important attachments to the reaping-machine is the self-rake, which lays the
grain off in gavels for binding ; which work was formerly done by an extra man
seated on the machine.
P'rom about 1855, experiments have been made to devise and perfect a
machine which shall bind grain as fast as it is cut. The man who has given the
Grain- '^°^' attention thereto is Allen Sherwood of Auburn, N.Y. His
binding apparatus consists of a series of fingers, arranged horizontally,
mac ine. upon which the grain is delivered by the rake in bundles ; which
fingers, co-operating with a slender, curved arm, are made to embrace the
OF THE UNITED STATES.
41
;. iwo more
bundle, and instantaneously girdle it with fine wire, which is cut from a reel,
and its ends are twisted together for a knot. As yet, we believe that the ma-
chine has never come into practical use.
The American mowers and reapers are now awarded the palm of superi-
ority the world over. In 1855 a competitive trial of reapers was i.^d near
Paris, France, in which machines from F^ngland, America, and superiority
Algiers, participated. The result was, that the American machine of American
cut an acre of oats in twenty-two minutes ; the English, in sixty- '"°*'*" •"••
six minutes ; and the Algerian, in seventy-two ; and the same
triumph has been repeatedly achieved in other similar contests. Our machines
are exported to all parts of the civilized world, in preference to those of every
other country.
The average capacity of the American reaper is fifteen acres per day ;
but, under favorable circumstances, it will reap twenty or twenty- live : whereas,
by hand, aj» acre and a half to a man is a large average. But c, x i.
this comparison does not fully represent the great advantage of advantages
this invention to the fiirmer. It must be remembered that these "' American
reaper.
increased harvesving facilities enable him to gather crops which
otherwise would spoil and be lost altogether, so short is the season ia which
grain must be harvested, if at all.
The manufacture of reapers and mowers amounts to between eighty thou-
sand and a hundred thousand a year ; and, though they are made Manufacture
at Chicago and elsewhere in large numbers, the prmcipal centre of mowers
of the industry in America is Auburn, N.Y. and reapers.
Several machines have been invented within the present century, which
have materially ficilitated the gathering of the hay-crop. One of these is the
tedder, which upturns the new-cut and half-cured grass as it lies Tedders
upon the ground, and promotes its more rapid curing. Thus the rakes, and
risk of exposure to sudden summer storms is greatly lessened. '*"''*■
Another very valuable implement is the horse-rake. It is found in many
forms ; but the two most esteemed are those with curved steel tines attached
to a bar hinged to a light axletree, — first brought out in Pennsylvania, and
manufactured by the Messrs. Sprout at Muncy, Lycoming County, — and those
which have two sets of wooden teeth, lie close to the ground, an<l revolve at
tlie will of the driver. These latter were invented by H. N. Tracy of Essex
junction, Vt. These rakes are used to gather pease, beans, and other crops,
and enable the farmer to handle both them and his hay with far greater
rapidity than of old It is estimated that they do ten times the work of hand-
rakes. The invention of the horse fork, by means of which whole haycocks
can be hoisted into the wagon, or from tlie wagon to the stack or mow, has
also been the work of the past generation, and largely conduced to the saving
of labor and time.
Agricultural implements may be divided into three principal classes, — those
tttrnM
iB
mm
I'
I!
42
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
which prepare and till the soil, those which gamer the crop, and those which
Pouto-diK- separate the precious part of the product from its refuse. In ad-
«"• dition to the mower and reaper and the he se-rake and tedder,
there are several less important machines belonging to this second class. The
most interesting is the potato-digger. Several attempts to devise a machine
which shall plough up these tubers from the furrow, separate them from the
loose earth, and deposit them on the surface of the ground, have been made,
but none of them with perfect success. The great difficulty is in separating
the potatoes from the dirt, when once exhumed.
ik
1. i- I
HAY-TEDDBR.
V
Mil
Prominent among the third class of machines above referred to is that
which takes tlic piace of the flail. For thousands of years, even back in the
Thrething- days of Israel's glory, grain was separated from its husk by throw-
machine, ing jt upon large threshing-floors, beating it with flails, or causing
it to be trampled by horses or oxen, and then purging the floor with a fan in
the hand.
The modern threshing-machine is less than a hundred years old, and, like
■%m^
OF THE UNITED STATES
43
years old, and, like
the reaper, is a foreign invention, which has been greatly improved upon by
American ingenuity. Attempts were made to devise such appara- a foreign
tus by Menzies in 1732, and Stirling in 1758, in Scotland; but invention,
both failed, because of an unsuccessful principle. In 1 786 Andrew Meikle
of East Lothian, also a Scot, invented a machine which proved effective.
This device introduced the sheaf between rollers, and caused it to be beaten
with arms on a drum. The English improved upon this arrangement by
making this drum operate in a concave " breasting," which allowed of a more
vigorous scutching and rubbing. The loosened grain fell mostly through bars
in this concave, while the straw was carried onward to the shaker. The Ameri-
cans improved on this still further by putting spikes, or teeth, both on the drum
and the concave, and also by making the whole machine lighter and swifter
than the cumbrous English apparatus. A famous trial of rival threshers was
had in England in 1853 on the ifarm of Mr. Mechi, Tiptree Hall, ,„p„ye.
Kelvedon ; and the American machine did nearly three times the ments in
work the English machine did in the same time, and turned out J^^°J^^^"f*
the grain much cleaner. A subsequent trial was made in France,
which resulted as follows : Pitt's (American) machine threshed seven hundred
and forty litres of wheat in an hour; Clayton's (English), four hundred and
ten; Duvoir's (French), two hundred and fifty; Pinet's (French), one hun-
dred and fifty ; and six experts with flails, sixty altogether.
The threshing-machine is generally owned by itinerant proprietors, who go
through the country working for successive farmers, as in the early colonial
days did the plough-owners. At first they were operated by tread- y^^^^ ^^
mill and rotary lever horse-powers ; but now portable six or ten operating
horse power engines are largely employed. The capacity of one * """
good steam-power threshing- machine in a season of three months is from forty
thousand to a hundred thousand bushels of grain. There is a record of a
horse-power thresher cleaning eighty thousand four hundred bushels in fifty-
two days, of which eleven thousand three hundred were threshed in five days
and a lialf.
Small winnowing-machines, for hand use, have been used from early colo-
nial days. Special machines for threshing clover, and gathering its winnowing-
st'cd, have also been devised (luring the present century. machines.
No effective machine for cutting corn or husking it has yet been de-
vised, although repeated attempts in those directions have been made. A
sheller exists, however, which removes the grain from the cob, and
which is operated by hand, shelling one ear at a time; and a J^'tin'g"''"
more rapid separator, worked by horse-power, has also been huaWng.and
developed therefrom, and come into extensive use in the Western •''*'""'
grain regions.
Probably no machine has so conduced to the sudden and vast develop-
ment of any agricultural industry in the whole world as the cotton-gin. The
r ': r
'jSliSSigSag
an
■ ■-'■ ■■ ti
iiii
■'i
'Ifl
,
V '
•ti
1
'ili
44
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Cot<on-gin.
Roller-gin.
cotton-boll contains coarse, hairy seeds, which cling to the soft fibre, and
whi^h need to be removed therefi-om before the latter can be marketed or
manufactured. A century ago tl.is labor was generally performed
by women and children in the house, at evening ; and the process
was so slow and laborious, that cotton-culture was not particularly profitable.
In India a bow and string were used to whip the cotton, and thus remove
the seeds : this implement was first used in this country in Georgia, the market-
able fibre being called " Georgia bowed cotton."
A machine called a gin, designed to accomplish this object more expedi-
tiously, is said to have been invented in 1742 by a French planter who lived on
Dubreuii'i the present site of New Orleans, and who was named Dubreuil.
invention. -p^g invention greatly stimulated the culture of the plant. Its
mechanism is not described ; but it probably was a less efficient appanvtus
than the roller or saw gin.
Early in the Revolution, a roller-gin, composed of burnished gun-barrels
fixed in wooden rollers, was devised by Kinsey Borden, — the man who brought
the Sea-Island cotton to this country. Whether the idea was origi-
nal with him, or imported, is not known. Mr. Hissell of Georgia
simplified the roller-gin in 1 788. Its product for a day was about five pounds
of cleaned cotton. Shortly after the Revolution, Joseph Eve, or Eaves, of
Rliode Island (who is also spoken of as tiie son of a Pennsylvania loyalist
who had moved to the West Indies), introduced into Georgia an improvement
on the roller-gin. It was fiirnished with a double set of rollers, and operated
by ox-power ins^^ad of a hand-crank or treadle, "it was not patented until
1803. Ill letters written at that day, there is a suggestion of the possibility,
that, before Eve's machine was introduced, a foot-gin was in extensive use near
Philadelphia, wiiich was superior to that em])loyed in Georgia, Still another
roller-gin is mentioned as having been introthiced from the West Indies, or
invented by Mr. Crebs, who used it on his plantation on the Pascagoula River,
in what was then called West Florida, but is now Alabama.
The best of all machines for this purpose, however, is that which is be-
lieved to have been the invention of Eli Whitney ; namely, the saw-gin. We
Whitney'! refer to this in connection with the history of cotton-culture in
invention. j|,jg country. This machine employed an entirely new principle ;
namely, teeth on a roller, for which sets of t:ircular saws were afterwards
substituted, rotating so closely to a set of parallel bars as to catch the fibrous
cotton on the other side, and pull it through, leaving the seeds. Its relative
superiority will be better understood when we say Miat it enabled the planter,
with the employment of a single hand, to clean a thousand pounds of cotton
a day j whereas the roller-gin would clean but twenty-five, and hand-picking
but five or six. Bishop truly remarks of this invention, that, " in economical
value, it ranks with those of Arkwriglit and Fulton." Indeed, it did more for
the southern section of this country than the improvementa en the plough, the
sickle, and the flail, did for the North.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
45
Besides all these machines of which we have made mention, a host of
others of less importance have been invented. Stone and stump extractors,
which are of material use in clearing the soil for cultivation, have come into
use within a generation. But, while they were valuable in the improvement of
limited areas in the East, the most rapid extension of 'r agriculture has been
in the West, where trees were scarce, and such apparatus was unnecess.iry.
Hence they have really promoted our agricultural interests as a whole buc
little. Saws for lumber, ditching-machines, drain-tiles, land-rollers, planting-
machines, improved hoes, rakes, shovels, scythes, wagons, churns, bee-hives,
pruning-knives, and other ajjparatus and implements for farm-labor, have been
invented almost without number, some of them proving hig'My popular and
convenient.
The introduction of these new means of culture and harvesting has revo-
lutionized the several branches of agriculture completely within the past
century of our history, and has incalculably increased our capacity of pro-
duction. The wide use into which these have come will be realized when it
is known that the agricultural implements manufactured in the United States
in 1870 amounted in value to fifty million dollars; though but part of this, it
must be remembered, was for the export trade. The aggregate value of such
apparatus owned throughout the country was a hundred and fifty-two million
dollars in 1850: in 1870 it had increased to three hundred and thirty-seven
million dollars, or more than doubled. Without doubt, it will be twice this
figure by i88o.
V, ..;
ii
ai^tU^ihlMan
4f
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
!■■ IJI'*''
■^\
'•■U
CHAPTER III.
COTTON.
NO one industry in the United States is of so great value and importance
to the nation and to the world as cotton-culture. Tliough the annual
product is not worth more than half as much as either our corn or wheat croj),
Importance ^'^ '^'*^^' enough left Over to export, after our own consumption, to
of cotton- more than equal the sum total of our cereal exports. It is the one
"****■ great product which we offer the other nations of the globe in
exchange for what we want from them. Except petroleum, it is the leading
product upon which the outside world is most dependent upon America. Yet
our total product annually is worth four times our total product of rock-oil.
Moreover, while we export scarcely two-thirds of our petroleum, we send
abroad nearly three-fourths of our cotton. Within a century, cotton has
come to succeed silk, linen, and wool, as the most useful and common textile
fabric for clothing. It is a necessity of life in all civilized and semi-civilized
quarters of the globe, and the United States raises seven-eighths of the
world's supply. And not only do we raise the most cotton, hut also the best
cotton produced by any nation under heaven. It is as characteristic a product
of this country as spices are of the Indies, or tea of China, bit vastly more
precious. It has exerted a greater political influence over this country than
any other one interest. For a centur)' it was intimately xssociated with negro
slavery, and those who were identified with both constituted one party to the
greatest civil war known on this continent. In that strife, the dependence
of drcat Britain on the cotton States of our Union for the basis of her greatest
manufacturing industry, and source of wealth, determined the sympathies of
the empire, whose friendship was of the greatest value to the contending
factions. As the well-informed and thoughtful American looks forward
into the industrial future of his country, he sees no agricultural interest that
promises to be an equally permanent and remunerative reliance in coming
years. Great Britain, it is true, is trying to become independent of the United
States by raising her cotton supply in India. Thus far, however, her efforts have
not been very successful. The quantity has been largely increased ; but *he
OF THE UNITED STATES.
47
quality has not been much improved. So inferior is its value for manufac-
turing purposes, that India cotton can only be used by mixing it with some
longer staple. Even the India manufacturers, who aspire to the production
of only the coarsest and cheapest fabrics, are obliged to import cotton to mix
with that of native growth. Nor is this defect likely to be soon remedied.
The physical conditions of India are such as to render it quite impossible for
cotton ever to be grown there possessing the sime length, strength, and deli-
cacy of fibre, as is found in the American pro(?.uct. Thus Nature has crowned
our country with an advantage in raising cotton which will probably ever baffle
human genius to overcome.
; and importance
'hough the annual
)m or wheat crop,
n consumption, to
)rts. It is the one
is of the globe in
, it is the leading
pon ,\merica. Yet
oduct of rock-oil.
troleum, we send
ntury, cotton has
common textile
and semi-civilized
n-eighths of the
>»it also the best
;;teristic a product
a, b It vastly more
this country than
jciated with negro
one party to the
the dependence
asis of her greatest
the sympathies of
:o the contending
Kin looks forward
tural interest that
eliance in coming
dent of the United
er, her efforts have
ncreased; but *he
JNDIA SlMNNING-WHEKl..
Although the name " cotton " is of .\rabic origin, and the plant is indige-
nous to all warm climates of the >vorld, the fibre was first utilized in India,
whence came our word " calico," and then in Persia, which gave £,,,y g„,,
us the first " muslin." Thence its culture and use extended into ture of cot-
China, Arabia, Africa, and Kurope. Herodotus discovered the
Hindoos cultivating the plant, and weaving its delicate fleeces into cloth, 450
H.C. ; and from that people the Greeks and Romans imported it before the
Christian era, first for awnings, then tents, and then for clothing. Hindostan
still produces considerable cotton ; but her poor communications from the
interior to the coast, and her inability to raise as good a quality of cotton as
the United States (the American varieties not being successfully cultivated),
leave her far in the background as a reliance for the world, although England
still imports largely from her. Farther India and the islands of the Indian
Archipelago produce cotton likewise, to some extent. China has cultivated it
\( ...
MiUHtaiiiMi
|l. i'
48
INDUSTRIAL HISTORy
varloul
countriei
since the eleventh century, but has to import to supply her own manufactories.
Japan raises a coarse, inferior grade of cotton. Livingstone found it growing
_ ,. , in abundance in Central Africa. On the western coast of thai
culture ot
cotton by grand geographical division it has been tviltivated with marked
success, although to no very notable extent. The late Lord I'alm
erstoi, for many years one of Kngland's greatest statesmen, and
long her prime-minister, is said to have feared that the supply from the United
States would some time
give out ; and he urged
upon his country the
policy of encouraging
cotton-culture on the
west coast of .Africa as
the great resource of the
future. .\s yet, iiis fears
and expectations ha\e
been but poorlyjustified.
The Moors brought tiic
cotton-plant from .\ra-
^^^ .^-— ^^ ''''^ '"'" Northern .Afri
Tair^jPf^l!^^3g*±Z^ T • jBH^f^ Iv^^ '^^ '^"'' Spain. In the
J S^^jljS^jSyL'T^ SP TH^KjBWM i^ latter country, its use by
r*- <A /iLj» VI!l» V^^Kfnai^l^Vl (j^^j Moslems for mak
ing turbans gave rise
to a Christian prejudic r
against its culture. V.^
pecial cflbrts were made
to introduce cotton intu
Kgypt in 1821, and thrv
have been attentled li\
quite successful results.
Colimibus discovered cotton growing on the new-found Island of His-
paniola ; Magellan saw it in Brazil ; anil Pizarro, in Peru. Cortez gatheretl it
Discovery of '" Southern Cuba to (piilt into his soldiers' armor, and, on reach-
ing Mexico, found it under high cultivation and use ; the natives
weaving it into the most delicate and beautiful curtains and robes,
and, mingled with feathers, converting it into the most lovely and richly
colored ornaments. Other explorers found it growing as far north as tiu'
banks of the Mississippi and some of its tributaries, and some of the Indians
of Texas and New Mexico even yet utilize it for blanke;s.
Naturalists find many varieties of cotton in existence, and their classifi-
cation thereof differs greatly. The division is made by them according to
botanical distinctions, rather tlian such practical ones as the length and quality
\
-*»l
COTTON-PLANT.
cotton in
New World
' r
OF THE UNITED STATES.
49
of the fibre. But all kinds of cotton may be narrowed tlown substantially
to three botanical classes, — the Gossypium hcrbaceum, atboreum, and
hirsutum, or herbaceous, tree, and shrub cotton. The tree and varietiM of
shrub cotton-plants have a life of from six to ten years, and the cotton,
arborescent species sometimes grow to a height of twenty feet. In the United
States, however, only the herbaceous or annual varieties are under cultivation ;
and these may be classified as follows : —
The upland cotton, with a short staple, a yellow blossom changing to red,
and naked black seeds (this was the first kind introduced into this country) j
the Tennessee cotton, wliich partially succeeded the above-named, ci«iiiflc«.
because of its freedom from rot, and which has seeds covered tion of cot-
with green down ; the Mexican, which has to a great extent sue- *°"*
ccedcil both of the two previous-named varieties (especially in Mississippi)
because of its greater vigor and productiveness, and which has seeds covered
with a ilingy, whitisii-brown down ; and the Sea-Islantl cotton, which has black
seeds and a long stajjle, and is the finest cotton in the world.
Tiio historian I'urciias says that cotton, probably the short-stapled, was
planted in this country by early settlers in 1621. Historical papers in South
C arolina indicate that it was under cultivation in that colony in cuitivatioB
1666. Maryland is known to have grown it as a garden-plant of cotton bj
in 1 739 ; and some forty years later it was to be found in Cape- '^°'°" *'"'
May County, New Jersey. At the breaking-out of the Revolutionary war,
(Jen. Delagall had no less than thirty acres of green-seed cotton under culti-
vation. Up to about this time the manufacture of cotton ivas attended with
great disadvantages. The ilemand was
siigiit, and scarcely any one but fan-
ciers thought of raising it in this coun-
try. There were, nevertlieless, some
exports prior to the Revolution, state-
ments to the contrary notwilhstantling.
In I y.uS seven bags of cotton-wool
were sent from Ciiarleston, S.C., to
Kngland, valued at three pounds eleven
shillings and fivepence each. Further
shipments were made in 1754 and 1770.
Anil yet in 1 784, when eight bags were
found aboartl an .American vessel by the British at sea, they were seized, on
the plea that America could not produce so much, — two thousand pounds.
To Alexander I5issell is due the credit of bringing here the Sea-Island
( otton. He cultivated it first on St. Simon's Island, at the mouth introduction
nf the Savannah. For a time its culture was limited to the islands of Sea-iiiand
iilT a i)art of South Carolina's coast and at the mouth of the '=°"°°'
Savannah River. Afterwards it was cultivated in the lowlands of the conti-
COTTON-GIN.
5«
TND 'JS TKfA L III .' TOR Y
%M
\
'1 . ;
\A
nent, Li mosi places icss th in fiPocn miles from the coast, but in one place in
(leorgia no leis fhan a lumilrc<l and tweniy-five miles inland. In Middle and
Western Florida the Sea-Island cotton has since been very extensively grown
Something was done toward tht cultivation of Sea- Island cotton on the Texan
coast upwards of twenty years .igo, with tolerable suc(ess. h deteriorates
rapidly, howe\er, when cultivated in the interior. Its excellence and the
limited size of the crop give it the ascendency in the market. In 1H06 it
brought thirty cents a pound when the short-stapled cotton brought but
twenty: in iHifi it was v. olh lorty-seven cents to twenty-seven for the short.
]5y careful selcctifjn of seed, and unicpie improvcm-nt of the pU'nt. Mr. Kinse\
Biuden of St. John's, Colieton District, S.C., raised the best Sea-Island cotton
about that tinir. and could get twenty-five cents more a pound than other
raisers. The crop of iH;2, amounting to eight million pounds, was the largest
(){ this variety ever pnn'.iced in this country ; and a bale sent to I'ingland in
1857, from iMlisto, S.C, brought the highest price on re< ord, — one d')ll;u
and thirtj-five cents a |)o;;'i'l. It niight be remarked in this conniM tion, that
the Ilihdoor, spun the cotton (il)re so finely 'in one occasion, that it took .1
hundred aiid fificen miles of tlircad to make a p(-'uid. Mnglish spinners ha\r
stretched AuKTii ,i.n St.:-Islaud cotton out so fine, that a pound of it woull
reach a thousand and twenty-six mil -s.
In "The \'car-l»ook of .Agriculture " we find this account of the intnxluc -
lion of the .Mexican cotton to the I'nited States by Walter Hurling of Natt he/. :
Introduction "^'^ ' .So6 he was sent by Oen. Wilkinson to the (ity of Mexico,
of Mexican where he dined with the viceroy. In the ( ourse of the conver-
cotton. sation at the table concerning the imxlucts of the country, lie
requested j)ennission to import some of the Mexican cotton-seed. — a re(|Mesi
tliat was not granted, on the ground that it was prohibited by the Spanish (lov-
cmmcnt. Hut the viceroy, over his wine, sportively accorded his free ])ennis
sion to take home with him as many Mexican dolls as he might fane y, — .1
permission well understood, and which, in the same vein, was accejitcd. The
stuffing of these dolls was understood to have been cottonseed."
By the caiefiil selection of seed, the use of seed from another section of
the country, and iike expedients, enterprising growers have at various tinii^
developed seemingly new varieties in many Iwcalities South, and each of thesi
has had an ephemeral local fame. Hut they did not differ substantially from
any of the foregoing varieties. AttemjUs have been made, too, to naturali/u
other foreign species, such as the Nankin in (leorgia, but not to any notable
e>ctent. The upland varieties most po])ular at the jjresent time are said to l)c
the Dickson, I*'-'eler. Cheatham, IJoyd's Prolific, Simjjson, Petit (lulf, Johnston,
Ilurlong, Shujieck (or Schupach), Ramases, Matagorda Silk, Java Prolific, and
South-American Champion.
Five causes have operated very decidedly to develop the culture of
cotton in this country. The first of these was the remarkable improvements
^v4w^
OJ^' THE UNITED STATES,
5«
ut in one place in
In Middle and
'xtensively grown,
ton on tiie 'I'exan
. It deteriorates
(cllence and thi
rket. In 1806 it
tt(.n brought bnl
en for the short,
pli'nt. Mr. Kinse\
Sea- Island cotton
Kiunil than other
(Is, was tlu' largest
.MU to l-'.nglanil in
ord, — t)ne d)llai
is ronn<'( tion, that
on. that it took .1
lish spinners havt'
pomid of it wonl:l
It of the iiitrodiK -
iirling of Natciiez :
le ( ity of Mexico,
rse of the conver-
f the country, lie
seed, — a reqiiesl
y the Spanisii (lov-
(l his free perinis-
.' might fancy. — a
IS accei)ted. 'I'lic
eed."
mother section of
e at various times
and each of thes(
- sul)stantially from
, too, to natnrali/e
not to any notable
me are said to be
etil (iulf, Johnston,
, Java Prolific, an>l
made, a littl" over a century ago, in the machinery for spinning .nd weaving
<otton, together with the gradual discovery in England that cott n alone ( oiild
be used for making cloth. In 1 738 Wyatt invented the spinning-
jenny to succeed the distaff. Later the process of carding cot- .^.'hlch'ied to
ton was devised by Paid. Arkwright and Hargreaves imjiroved (ir>eiopment
on the previous spinning-machines; and then, in 1779, Crompton °|„^on "" "'
invented the mule, utilizing the ideas of his predecessors. Cart-
wright patented his power-loom in 1787; but it was not tmtil the present
( entury that it came into use. These remarkable improvements v.-ry naturally
stimulated the prodiu tion of cotton, and the application of Watt's steam-
engine to the manufa( ture of the fibre in 1785 .added still fiirther impetus to
the industry. For a time, in Kngland, cotton was used only to adulterate
linen. Some time afterw;'rds it was f(jimd that it might be used altogether fof
filling a flaxen warp ; and finally both warp an<l woof were made of cotton.
COTTON-OIN.
A still greater stimulus to cotton-culture was given by the invention of the
cotton-gin. Previous to that event the ditticulty of .separating the seeds from
the fil)re of the cotton-boll was so great that the cost of the piod- invention of
net formed a very serious obsta( le to its use ; but the cotton- <:o"on-gin.
gin removed this, and immediately gave this material the most marked ascend-
ency over other textiles for cheapness and utility.
s«
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Ml
;;ii
The honor of this invention unqnestiona!)Iy belongs to Kli Whitney, who
went from New Haven, Conn., to Siivannah, (la., as a tutor in the family of
Whitney'! Mrs. (len. dreene, in 1792. Here he learned of the difticiilty
invention. experienced by the short-staple cultivators in separating the cotton
from the seed. Meing of an ingenious turn of njind, he ai)|)lied himself to
the construction of a machine which would perform the wjrk. At first he
covered a roller with hooked wire teeth like those of the cards, and revolved
it close to a frame of parallel wires on which the ball cotton lay, so as to catch
the fibre, and draw it through, leaving the seeds. 'The teeth not |)roving
strong enough, he substituted a series of saws on his cylinder, whi( h worked
far better. Behind the saw cylintler he placed revolving brushes, which dex-
terously removed the fibre. When the machine was completed, he showed it
to the neighboring farmers, who pronounced it a success. The next year he
got his invention i)atented, and then, with the cooperation and capital of one
Miller, went into the business uf manufacturing it, and using it to gin cotton
for patrons. Hut patent-laws were then new, almost unknown, and poorly
understood, (,'otton- cultivators hired ordinary mechanics to make these
machines for them, in utter disregard of the patentee's rights. In 1794
Whitney's sickness and that of his employees delayed their work ; and in
1795 their sliop was destroyed by fire. Thus the infringers were given still
greater chance to impose tipon him, the immense value of the invention
being almost instantly recognized. Protracted and wide-spread litigation
ensued ; but so ably was Whitney fought in the courts, that he could get l)ut
slight damages, or none at all, in return for his pains and his own outlay.
Subsecjuently the State of South Carolina paid him fifty thousand dohars for
his invention ; but the costs of his litigation swallowed it all up. The story is
one of the most jiitiable in American history. 'I'he original invention was sus-
ceptible of little improvement, unlike many others for which Americans have
become famous ; and he deserves the honor of being on<; of his country's
greatest material benefactors. Yet he reaped not a bit of fruit for his skill,
and there stands not a monument to his memory to-day.
Of course the invention of the gin wrought a wontlerful effect. The profit
Effect of his of cotton-culture was thus immensely enhanced, and the business
invention. ^y.,g rapidly extended ; rice and tobacco, which for a time exceetl-
ed cotton in value as an export, very quickly dropping to a subordinate rank.
A third influence upon American cotton-culture was the introduction of
negro labor ; which, however, was an effect as well as a cause. The blacks
seemed to be admirably adapted to jierform the recpiisite labor in the scorch-
ing climate of the Southern States, where alone the plant could
be grown : hence the ra])id development of the slavery system,
already ingrafted upon our body jjolitic. Although the experience of the
past twelve years shows that slavery is not essential to cotton-culture ; that free
n(?gro labor is as good as slave labor, so far as the yield is concerned, if not
Negro labor.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
%%
better ; anrl that arrlimatcd whites can do good service on the cotton-planta-
tion, — yet i)racti«ally the work of raising our cotton was, until the late civil
war, done altogether by the negroes of this country ; and they have been an
important means in the extension of the industry.
Fourthly, the expansion of the area of the United States In the South
naturally gave further <leveIopment to cotton-culture. At the close of the
last century, as wc have already indicated, the little cotton grown ^^ .
in this country was confined almost entirely to South ('arolina and of ara* of
(leorgia. From the former it extended into North t'arolina, and 'o"""'
^ culture.
from the latter into what soon became the State of Alabama.
Kentucky and Tennessee were rapidly occupied by settlers at that period of
our history, and the latter gave great attention to cotton. At the commcncp-
nient of the present century the Louisiana purchase gave us the State of that
-»-ani\r. ^n
LoITONHjIN.
name, Arkansas, and other territory beyond the Mississippi, which soon was
occupied and developed. The State of MississipjM rose to the dignity of
sisterhood in our Union. Florida was annexed in 1820, and finally Texas
was added to our domain in 1845. p:ach of these territorial acquisitions, and
the enterprise thereby stimulated, gave impetus to this particular branch of
American agriculture.
And, fifthly, the great foreign demand for this product of America has
liii
Ij !(;, 'I
^smm
* llil
':! .!i
54 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
conduced enormously to its culture. To be sure, much of the cotton which
we exported for manufacture abroad, particularly in F2ngland, came back to us
again for our own use as clothing. But, inasmuch as our manufac-
turmg mdustry was not developed, we could not have utilized the
staple, and would no' have had any occasion to raise it if Europe had not
called for it. And t' le demand was the greater, because it was soon discovered
that our cotton was altogether the best in the world. For instance, in the
year 1 790 only one bale out of every thousand imported into England canif
from this country : in 1 799 the proportion was one in every nine. This pro-
portion steadily increased, until, in thirty or forty years, we furnished England
with seven bales out of every eight that she consumed. Of late years our
exportation to England has not kept pace with our production, because we are
coming to manuf;^ ture a larger shi.re of our yield ourselves, both for our own
use and for export ; yet our export has steadily increased, and even ni)\v
amounts to nearly two-thirds of our yield, r.nd still constitutes England's cliief
reliance.
The stimulus which the foreign demand gives to oir: cotton-culture will be
better understood if one considers the proportion in which the various couii-
Cottonpro- ^■''*^^ °^ ^^^ world produce the raw material, and the proportion in
duction of which they manufacture it. The foregoing figures represent the
thewori . situation before our late war; sin e which time we have come to
manufacture more of our product ourselves, and foreign countries have
obtained a perceptibly smaller supply from us. As yet, however, these changes
are slight. The production of the world in 1856 was as follows : —
BALES.
West Indies 4.090
Brazil 5,500
Egypt 86,445
East Indies 445.637
Total outside United States 541,672
United Statts 3,880,580
That is, we produced seven-eighths of the world's cotton. Now for tiie
consumption. In 1850 it was thus estimated : —
BALKS.
Great Britain 1,513,000
United States 487,800
France t . . . 369,300
Russia 125,300
Trieste and Austria 125,200
Hamburg and Hremen 70,700
Holland and Belgium 7ii700
Spain 80,400
Italy, Sweden, &c 52,100
Total 2,895,400
the cotton which
, came back to us
;h as our manufac-
have utilized the
■ Europe had not
as soon discovered
or instance, in the
ito England camo
y nine. This pro-
furnished England
Of late years oui
ion, because we are
s, both for our own
icd, and even now
tes England's chief
jtton-culture will be
1 the various couii-
id the proportion in
gures represent tlic
le we have come to
ign countries have
vever, these changes
jUows : —
BALES.
4.090
S.5OO
86,445
. 445.637
541,672
3.880,580
otton. Now for the
BALRS.
1,513,000
487,800
369,300
125,200
125,200
70,700
71,700
80,400
52,100
2,895,400
OF THE UNITED STATES. 55
Thus it appeai-s that England manufactured half or more of the world's
cotton. Very naturally, then, the principal producer furnished the Quantity
principal consumer most of her supply, as will appear from tlie exported by
following statement of our export in i860 : —
BALES.
To England 3.037.762
" France 709.9'8
" Other Countries 671,535
Total 4,419,215
This figure represents the abnormal export of the year following that of our
largest crop, and is the largest aggregate shipment we ever made in any one
year. We propose to give now, somewhat more in detail, a state- shipment
ment showing the extent of our exportation of cotton during a for several
series of years ; and, if thi« be compared with the statement *""•■
which we shall presently give of our total production, it will be easy to see
what share of the whole yield we have been accustomed to sell to other coun-
tries in exchange for what we have been obliged to buy from them.
We have already mentioned that we sent small amounts in " sacks " to
England in 1748, 1754, and 1770; and that seventy-one bags, amounting to
about eight bales, were seized aboard an American vessel in 1 784, Early ihtp-
because it was deemed impossible that this country could produce "e^**-
so much, and that such a quantity of cotton could only have been obtained by
the ship illegitimately. In 1789 we shipped no less than 842 bales to Eng-
land. In 1 791, it is stated in the Agricultural Bureau's Report for 1862, we
exported 189,316 pounds, or 4,733 bales of the modern standard.' In 1800,
so rapid was the development of the industry, we exported 17,789,803 pounds,
or 44,476 bales, — an increase of nearly ten to one in a single shipmenM
decade. During the next thirty years the increase was about four- i>3»->'S5-
teen-fold, as will be seen from the following table : —
^ POUNDS.
Five years ending 1830* . . . . . . 1,273,232,281
1835 1,695,970,409
" " " 1840 2,621,360,414
'84s 3.443.757.674
•850 3.S5'.036,3i7
'855' 5,128,295,80s
During the twenty-five years from the first half-decade to the last half-
decade here registered the increase was a trifle over fourfold, shipmeata
I lerewith we give the figures for the next twenty-two years, sepa- «856-i»77.
rately and in bales : — ■ \
• Four hundred pounds. • Average per year, in bales, 636,616.
* Average per year, in bales, 3,564,148,
rn'itirir -rrfmn ■ ■ j-iriBiBr—iBBMaMI
56 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
, VBAR. h. LBS.
1856 2.953.77'
IS57 2,251,496
1858 2,589.732
1859 3."20,5i9
i860 3.773.256
1861 3,126,867
1863 12,661
1S63 28,462
1864 29,982
1865 16,517
1866 1.552.457
1867 1.552.761
1868 1,657,015
1869 1,448,020
1870 2,178,917
1871 3.'66,742
1872 i.9S7.3'4
1873 2,679,986 ^
1874 2.838,172
1875 2,680,841
1S76 3.248.409
1877 3.043.084
Thus it will be seen that in i860 we attained the climax of our exportation,
the amount being nearly a hundred times what it was in 1800, and almost a
Comments thousand times what it was in 1791. The war accounts for the
onforcgoiaK falling-off of the next five years, and the slow recuperation from
*■**'■ that influence for the figures of the next five. While, however, the
crops have once more gotten up to ante-war figures, the development of our
manufactures lessens the exportation of the raw material ; and it is doubtful
whether we reach the figures of i860 again for many years. It must be
remembered, however, that, prior to the war, a share of the cotton which we
exported came back to us manufactured, and costing us nearly six times what
we were paid for it in a raw state : hence our receipts for exported cotton were
not clear gain. I5ut now we are repurchasing only small (juantities of our
cotton in thread, yarn, or cloth, and are sending abroad manuflictured cotton
to an extent more than compensating for the falling-off in ti.e raw material.
At the commencement of this century, the export to England represented
PMdttctio pretty much our whole yield. We manufacti'.rcd at home an
before and Utterly insignificant amount. As late as 1850, our export com-
after civil prised Over five-sixths of the crop. The following table shows the
total production for the eleven years immediately before the wai
and the eleven immediately after, the bdles averaging 440 pounds each : —
VHAR. nALiis.
1S50 2,355,257
1851 3.015.029
1852 3,262,882
h. LBS.
2,953.77'
2,251,496
2,589.732
3>"20.5'9
3.773.-56
3,126,867
12,661
28,462
29,982
16,517
1,552.457
. 1,552.761
, 1,657.0" 5
. 1,448,020
. 2,i78,9>7
. 3,166,742
. i,957.3'4
. 2,679.986 \
. 2,838,172
. 2,680,841
. 3.248,409
. 3.043.084
jf our exportation,
5oo, and almost a
accounts for the
recuperation from
Hiile, however, the
:velopment of our
and it is doubtful
jars. It must be
e cotton which we
irly six times what
ported cotton were
quantities of our
inufiictured cotton
e raw material,
jgland represented
tured at home an
, our export coni-
ng table shows the
tely before the wai
ounds each : —
nALus.
• 2.355.257
• 3.015.029
. 3,262,882
n
OF THE UNITED STATES. 57
VBAR. BALKS.
1853 2,930,027
1854 2,847,339
1855 3.527.845
1856 2>939.5'9
1857 3."3.962
1858 3.851.481
1859 4.669,770
i860 3.656.006
Total 36,169,117
1865 2,193,987
1866 2,019,774
1867 , • • • 2,593,993
1868 . 2,439,039
1869 3.'54.946
1870 4.352.3'7
1871 2,974,351
1872 3,930.508
1873 4,«70,388
1874 3.832,991
1875 1 4,669,288
Total 36,33'.582
It will be seen that the increase in our crop is quite steady. The varia-
tions noticeable are partly due to pests (of which the army-worm is the most
destructive), to wet weather, and to the fluctuation •,'" prices. Inasmuch as
the increase in the demand is .-ly slight and gradual, it is Effect of
noticeable that over-production usually so depresses the price, production
tliat the cultivation next year is slightly discouraged. This will °" '"^'"'
be apparent from a comparison of the yield of 1859 with i860, and 1870
with 1871. The effect of quantity on ])rice will be realized from the follow-
ing comparison : 1869, crop of 3,154,940 bales brought 23.6 cents a pound,
or ;?346,223,774 ; 1870, crop of 4,352,317 bales brought only 14.9 cents a
pound, or $301,550,283.
The effect of the late civil war was to stop the production of cotton
almost altogether for four years. Some of the staple produced before that
interruption was hoarded; some was captured, especially in the Effect of war
Attakapas region of Ix)uisiana in 1863 ; some was burned to keep on produc-
it from falling into the hands of the Unionists ; and a very little of *'°"'
it was taken out by blockade-runners to foreign countries. The Southern
States made loans of money in England in anticipation of future production
and of securing inilependence ; which loans were necessarily left unpaid.
During the war, attempts were made in the North to cultivate cotton; seed
from our own country, China, Peru, and elsewhere, being widely distributed
> The crop of 1876 was about 4,500,000 bales, and that of 1877 was 4.750,000, — the largest ever known in
•his country.
I:' ;!
ilf*(
58
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
and planted. From Maine to Minnesota, and from Canada to Mason and
Diy.on's Line, earnest efforts to cultivate this then rare and precious fibre were
put forth. But, while the plant flourished finely, the bolls would not mature ;
and except in limited localities, in Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kansas,
nothing was accomplished. Meantime India's crop and export were largely
augmented, and became the chief reliance of the outside world. Hut, as
soon as the war was over, this country (luickly came to the front as the world's
chief producer.
LUrru.S-PKESii.
since the
war.
Indeed, the recuperation of this industry, in view of the emancipation of
the slaves, the change from compulsory to free labor, the necessary demorali-
Pro<« action '-^tion of society attendant upon the substitution, and the repeiAtod
predictions that we could ne\er raise a crop of three million
bales again, is simply marvellous. Reference to our tables of
production will show, that, during the eleven years next after the war, wc
raised more cotton than during the corresponding period betorr, and that
five times ' since the war we have raised a larger crop than any year an-
terior to it, omitting the exceptional crop of 1859; and there is no doul)t,
that, were our market once assured, we cou'd increase our annual yield tu
ten million bales inside of ten years.
Besides the substitution of free for slave labor, some other notable
changes have lately been taking place in this indi;.stry.
As with most of our other agricultural interests, there is a westward
I In 1870, 1873, 187s, 1876, and 1877. llie lait-namcd r.jup t:xce«ii* even thai of 1859,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
59
a to Mason and
ccious fibre were
»uld not mature ;
3uri, and Kansas,
port were largely
i world. But, as
ant as the world's
e emancipation of
necessary demorali-
n, and the repeated
p of three million
; to our tables of
t after the war, wc
d betort', and that
than any year an-
there is no doubt,
3ur annual yield to
ome other notable
iiere is a westward
veil that of 1859.
movement of the centre of -cotton production. In 1849 Alabama stood in
the front rank, with Georgia next, and Mississippi third. In p,„j^, ,.;,n
1859 Mississippi had the lead, with Alabama second, Louisiana of the sev
third, and Georgia fourth. In 1876, as will be seen by the follow- "^'^Ji,""""
ing table showing distribution of yield and fertility, Mississippi
was first, Texas second, Louisiana third, Alabama fourth, and Arkansas and
Georgia nearly equal : —
ACKKS I'KR
HAl.E.
North Carolina,
Soutli Carolina .
(a-ori^ia
Florida
Alabama .
Mississijipi
Louisiana .
Texas ^ .
Arkansas .
Tennessee .
Intlian Territory, &c.
Total .
210,000
310,000
505,000
50,000
S33.000
760,000
560,000
690,000
515,000
260,000
45,000
4,438,000
2.9
3-oS
3
33
3-25
2.6
2,2 c
2.15
2.85
2.6
2.63
609,000
945,500
1,515,000
165,000
1.732.250
1,976,000
! ,260,000
1,483,500
1,133,000
741,000
117,000
11,677,250
It may be remarked in passing, that, while our product is as large as before
the war (larger on the average), our acreage is less, it having ^^,g,geies«
bcLMi upwards of thirteen million in i86o.* This shows an im- than before
provcment in methods of cultivation. ° ^"'
Improved cultivation is noticeable in several respects. The relative pro-
portion of corn and other supply crops is increasing. Heretofore pork and
meal have been bought from the North ; but, raising them at home, the food
of the laborer is made cheaper, and the profit on labor is greater. Then, too,
rotation of crops is studied more closely in consequence.
Greater pains are taken to prevent waste of the soil, and also to feed
and restore it. Beyond the Mississippi, along the new and 0,^,^^^
rich alluvial bottom-lands of the Red River and Ouachita, no economy in
such expedients are now necessary : but, in the States east of the '"'**v»tion
Mississippi, greater economy is practised with cotton-seed and
lot manures ; and experirnents are numerous with commercial fertilizers used
chiefly in combination with composts of home material.
• The distribution of the cotton-'mlture in the so-called cotton-belt is very uneven. Out of seven hundred and
fifty-nine counties, no less than ninety-three produced no cotton at ^1 in 1870, and two hundred and twenty-
seven others from less than a thousand bales down to one; whereas seventy-nine produced about hclf of the
whole crop, each yielding upwards of ten thousand bales. As an illustration on a smaller scale, it may be staled
that four out of Tennessee's eighty-five counties produced fovir-tenths of that State's crop in 1870. Com, the
other prominent Southern crop, though of much loss importance in the aggregate, is much better distributed.
6o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
The soil is being cultivated more thoroughly, and with improved imple-
ments, especially in those regions where white labor is in the largest pro-
portion.
A noticeable diminution in the size of farms is going on, which conduces
to higher culture. Between i860 and 1870 the number of farms of over a
SmBiier hundred acres decreased in every cotton State, and those of under
farms. ^ hundred acres increased, the reduction being twenty-two per
cent, and the increase thirty-five per cent. This movement is still progress-
ing, the ratios being largest in fjjuth Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida.
There is a tendency to depart from the method of working on shares
(which came into vogue immediately after the war), and to pay cash wages
Mode of instead ; and, on the whole, wag?s are growing a trifle less. Where
working the share system prevails, — and it still predominates, — contracts
'"""■ vary somewhat in particulars. Thus bare labor gets al)out one-
fourth of the crop on rich lands, and one-third on poor soils. If the laborers
Rates of re- fumish their own rations, they get from four-tenths to one-half the
muneration. crop, according to the productiveness of the soils. As the supply
of crops becomes more plenty and larger, the tend(.'ncy will be for the help to
provide themselves more and more with rations, and rely less on the land-
owner. The proprietor receives a third or half of the yield ; if he provides
implements, live-
stock, and rations
for the help, about
two-thirds. Rations
^^ ___ » onsist of about two
^k' ^ W^M'^''^««fi^^kftr " "^HMBpff-i^ luuidred pounds ul
<-W^ •'" iuBHnn/.BKIHBBE: * '.iJ. *'?r ■•^^w i bacon and fifteen
bushels of meal per
man a year, which
is cfiuivalent to from
forty dollars to sixty
dollars. A iantUorii
will sometimes let
his land for a bale
of cotton to a man,
and half a bale for a
woman, giving them
the rest. Where cash
is paid, the yearly
system rather than the monthly is pursued ; and the rate is from a hundred
dollar:, to a hundred and forty-five dollars for a "full hand," and half or
two-thirds that for youths and women.
The freedmen are coming to take a proprietary interest in the labor, rather
1^.
'*Si#S
COTTON-I'ACKBT.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
«t
twenty-two per
than to work as hirelings ; which tends to greater economy, thrift, and energy.
One in twenty of tlie freednien are cultivating lands of their own, and in
Florida the propOiPon is one in twelve.
Like every other great industry of the country, cotton-culture has given
character and development to cities, railroads, and shipping-interests. Just as
Chicago and Buffalo are built up out of tlie grain-business, Cincinnati out of
pork-i)roduction, and Pittsburg out of iron ; so cotton has done Effect of cot-
much to create Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans, (Jal- ton-cuiture
veston, Vicksburg, and Memphis. Railroads from the interior of "n''d*u"t°rier
the cotton States to their centres of export have been built more and move-
for this class of freight than for passenger- traffic, and it is the """*••
cotton-interest that so earnestly seconds the schemes of Northern capitalists
for a Texas Pacific Railroad. Mxcept river-boats, the South has never owned
mucii shipping ; but the heavy export-trade of cotton necessarily has given
great expansion to American and foreign ship-building and navigation. So
wide-spread and huge is the production, that no cotton-rings, like the coal, oil,
and grain cli(iues, have ever existed to control the markets. Hut the political
influence of the cotton-growers has been the most powerful tliat has ever been
wielded by any one interest in this country ; tiiough now, the necessity for
its assertion having gone by, it is no longer noticeable.
n the labor, rather
\( . .!
6a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER v.
WHEAT.
•« rj ;;■
-.■i
*
t
%
* ' ;;
P
ft
Mk
Iflli
THE culture of wheat is among the very earliest products in American
agriculture, and is now, in point of aggregate cash value, one of the three
Importance most valuable. Moreover, it is a prime necessity of existence,
of wheat. Food to maintain life, and clothing, and houses to shelter us, arc,
of course, the very essentials of living. Bread is indeed the staff of life ; and
though, previous to its invention by the Greeks several centuries before Christ,
otlier articles of diet formed the stajile of human food, yet wheat breail is
nt)\v characteristic of civilization. No people on the face of the globe have
fully emerged from barbarism who do not live principally upon wheat.
Indeed, the cultivation of that grain has had more than any other one
thing to do with raising man from a nomadic and unintellectual life, as will
_ be apparent to almost any one upon reflection. C'rt:vec(eur, thr
wheat- old French traveller, illustrates this point by attributing this uttcr-
raising u,.on ^^^^^, j^ ^^^ ^j- ^^ aboriginal cliiefs in this country, in a speech
nomadic life. " ^
to his own people : " Do you not see the whites livmg upon
seeds, while we eat flesh? tiiat flesh requires more than thirty moons to grow
uj), and is then often scarce ? that each of the wonderful seeds they sow in thf
earth returns them a hundred-fold? The flesh on which we subsist has four
leg.i to escape from us, while we have but two to pursue and capture it. The
grain remains where the wh.ite men plant it, and grows. With them winter i>
a period of rest, while with us it is a time of laborious himting. For tlu■^c
reasons they have so many more children than we, and live longer than we do.
I say, therefore, unto every one that will hear me, that before the cedar of our
village shall have died down with age, and the maple-trees of the valley haw
ceased to give us sugar, the race of the little corn (wheat) sowers will haw
exterminated the race of flesh-eaters, i)rovided their huntsmen do not become
sowers."
The thought might be traced still further ; but it is not within our provim c
to do so.
The earliest origin of wheat is unknown. It is generally conceded, that,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
63
' tinlike oiir fruits and domestic animals, it was not developed from a wild,
inferior growth by iumian culture.' It is claimed, moreover, that it has been
found growing wild in uninhabited regions of I'ersia, Mesopotamia, and Texas.
Kgypt was one of the greatest wheat-producing countries of origin o(
ancient limes : thither Jacob's sons went for it in the days of a w*""-
famine in Canaan thirty-six centuries ago. Identically the same grain of
that age, extracteil from the cerements of mummies th^t were entombed in
Joseph's time, has lately been planted; and the produc is a grain substan-
tially the same as our moflcrn wheat, only a trifle larger and better. Thus
it will be seen, that, from the earliest historical period, this grain has remained
substantially unchanged ; and, though upwards of three hundred vn -i ^ are
said to exist, these may practically be narrowed down to three, --v he .rd
wheat of Southern Russia, Italy, Sicily, P^gypt, the Barbary • tes. li,
i'eru, and other warm countries ; the so-called Polish wheat ; na the soft
wheat of Northern Russia, France, England, and North America. ^' e hard
wheats, it may Ijc remarked, possess rather morr of gluten tuan ^.le other
varieties ; while the soft wheats abound rather in siarch.
The I'oypuans were not only among the most famous of a.ici..nt agricul-
turists, but they also devised a method of preserving grain which has never
yet been excelleil ; namely, placing it in stone depositories her- cultivation
metically sealed. Many eminent historians have taken the mam- of wheat in
moth Pyramids of that land for granaries ; but, besides these, '*'''*■
they are known to have had other huge receptacles in which they stored grain
for years at a time.
The Israelites were educated in the arts of husbandry during their bond-
age to the Pharaohs, and practised them extensively in later days ; and the
Hible contains many beautiful references to the wheatfields of Palestine.
Without dwelling further upon the ancient history of this precious grain,
we proceed to consider its introduction to and culture in our own country.
Cereal grasses were found under cultivation in Mexico by Cortez in 1530;
hut luiropean wheat was introduced there by accident ; one of the Spaniards
finiling a few grains mixed with his rice, which he carefully sorted _
out, and planted. Thus, in time, the newly-brought grain was scat- cultivation
tcrtd about the Spanish-.Xmerican colonies, and finally spread into °' *•'«■*•'»
' "^ ' America.
ten itory now belonging to the United States. Wheat was neces-
sarily sown by the earliest English colonists of this country almost immedi-
ately upon their arrival : indeed, Gosnold is said to have planted it on the
I'.lizabelh Islands, off Massachusetts, as early as 1602. For a time, Virginia
gave much attention to its cultivation ; and in 1648 several hundred acres in
• In The Ve.->r-Book of Agrictiliiirc for 1856 the editor mentions some curious facts which had recently been
laid before the French Academy, relative m the iransforniation of two gr.isses, — /Egilops ovata and jfigilo^i
triariistrata. A gardener named Esprit Kabrc of Ailge, France, by seven years experimenting found he could
develop from these two grasses all or the greater niimlwr of our species of wheat. A savage plant, under culli-
vatioo, was thus made lu change its entire aspect and figure, and gradually auumc a new character.
64
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
that colony were sown with wheat. Hut the more profitable tobacco-crop
soon supplanted it ; and for nearly a century scarcely any was raised, even
though the colonial authorities offered a premium thereon. Since the Revo-
lution, iiowever, this branch of agriculture has revived ; anil Virginia raises a
good wheat-crop. In New Kngland, wheat was grown rather assiduously imtil
about 1G62, when, for four successive years, the blast and mildew damage«l \W
crop to such an extent as to greatly discourage those who raised itj and so
the colonists fell back again on corn and potatoes, to which they have given
r^.^
iM
K
:
* ■ ■
1'
1
11
J'^A\
I
Bl.Vn-IAN GKANAKV.
great attentioo, even down to the present time. Colonial subsidies Id
wheat-growers in those days stimulated them but very little, the failure oi
their crops more than offsetting such encouragement. Wheat was grown in
New England somev.-hat more generally in the early part of the present
century ; but the wearing-out of the soil, and other causes, led to its neglei t.
Vigorous efforts have been made to revive the industry, but without success.
During the last century consideral)Ie wheat was grown in the Hudson ami
Mohawk River valleys of New York, and in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In 1750 New Jersey produced more wheat than any other of our colonics;
or THE l.'.\'/7ED S7-A7V-:s.
65
and, long ht-forc fliat date, wheat and wheat-flour were exportcfl from New
York and I'liiladelpliia. After tlie Kevohition. Western New York graihially
tame to l)e settled ; and it is now a particularly produetive region, although
the impoverishing of the soil makes a slight decline in the culture of the
wheat there.
Writing nearly twenty years ago, when the enormous development of
wheat-culture in the Western States had not been attained, Klip[iart said,
"The Slates south of North Carolina, or, say, latituile thirty-three Kiipparf*
<legrees, never have been and never will he wheat-growing States, opinion upon
Kentu(kv, 'I'ennessee, and Missouri are best ailapted to corn ; and e^""^'"'
' . . , wheat.
wlieat can never l)e regarded as the great staple of either. Cotton
is liie great staple of 'I'ennessee ; hemp and tobacco, of Kentucky and
Missouri. Kentucky, and Missouri too, are unsurpassed as grazing sections
and for raising stock ; and there is no reason to suppose that they will change
tlie agriculture best suited to their conditions for wheat-culture."
The ceusus of i860 and of 1870 verify these predictions won- ^^^ ^^^,
derfuUy ; alliiougii the wheat-map given in connection with the last opinion verl-
national census shows an area where some wheat is cultivated in '"•«'• by cen-
lUI.
Nortii-western Soutli Carolina, and Northern (leorgia and .Alabama.
Klijiparl furthermore says, in tlie same connection, '• It is a melancholy
truth, and one that reflects much on the skill and foresight of .American
farmers, that, while the wheat-croi) of I'!ngland has increased ' at least fifty per
cent in the last centurv, that of the United States has fallen off in _.
' ' Change of
nearly the same proportion. A century ago, New ICngland, Deli- wheat-pro-
ware," and Virginia raised an ordinary crop : now a wheatfield is a ''"'='"8
, , , region.
rarity in those States, and they may be regarded as no longer
wheat-producing regions. Portions of New York that formerly produced thirty
bushels to the acre now seldom average over eight bushels ; and Ohio,
new as she is (in 1S60), with her virgin soil, does not yield thir- consequence
teen bushels to the acre. If we go on as we have for the past o» change
century, from bad to worse, in our tillage, the lands in Ohio, in ""*'"""•
half a c entury from this time, will not produce wheat enough to supply our
own wants. It is less than that time since Vermont was a great wheat-export-
ing State : now she does not export a bushel, but imports at least two-thirds of
all the flour consumed in that State. Instead of increasing the productiveness
(li Our wheat-land, as is done in England, our wheat-region is diminished more
than one-half, and the productive quality of what is still used has diminished
in e(|ual proportion "
I The writer evitlcntly does not me.nn increase in the aEgregalc yield, but incre.ise in proportion to acreage
mill |Ki[)ul.niQn. I'crhap.s he uses some such basis of calculation as that employed by the coiiiinissioner of the
I iiiieil-Si.ites census for 1870 in his crop maps. By him the number of bushels, tons, or (Munds, produced in
cull ciiunty, is divided separately, first by the number of inhabitants, and then by the number of acres of im-
jirovcil land: the two quotients thus obtained are multiplied together, and the square root taken of the result.
' I'his is less true to-day of Delaware than the other sections named. It certainly is not true of Maryland
and Pennsylvania.
^
M
INDUSTKIAI. IIISTONY
Whether or not tliese hi},'iil)rioiis im'»li(tions will nltim;ite!y |)r()ve true, if
is iin|)()ssible to say. In the ( dik Imling p.uanraidi of tliis « ii.i|itiT we .show
Wheat cui- ^^''X '''^T '"''■' ""' *" '""' ^i-'i ^■'V'-'tl will) the utmost I'onrKience. Itiii
ture moving ihls iiuiih is certain : witiiin the jjast thirty years the star ofenipiri
weitwar . j^^ wlieat-prodiictioii has moved rapidly westward : and the conn
try has rapidly iiu reased its wheat-production, even out of proportion to tin
increase of poi)iilation. Thus in 1X50 Pennsylvania was the larj,'est wheat
producing State in the I nion. Ohio second, New York third, ami Virj^ini i
fourth. For the next decade, ( )hio iiel<l the lead.' In iSOo Illinois was lir->i.
Indiana second, W isi onsin third, Ohio fourth, Virj;inia fifth, IVnnsyKani.i
sixth, and New York seventh, with Iowa and Mi( hi^^an a close eighth and
ninth. In 1870 Pennsylvania had sunk to the seventh rank, with Virginia and
New York still lower ; and to-day they rate still farther down the list. In 1X50
Maryland produced as miic h as either Michigan or Wisconsin : now ea( h of
those States yields from four to six times as much as then, while Maryland's
production has scarcely changed.
The United-States commissioner of agriculture brings out this Western
movement forcibly in his report for 1876. He says, " Not only is the volume
of wheat to-day more than threefold greater than twenty-eight years ago, but the
increase of that portion of it grown west of the Mississippi River is
greater than the entire croj) of 1849. Five jjercent only was then
produced west of the Mississippi River; and in 1876, a year of
comparative failure in the North-West, it was forty per <ent.
Dividing the country into three sections, — the first including the
Atlantic-coast States, with Pennsylvania, and the Virginias to the Ohio River,
and the second and third separated by the Mississippi River, — we find more
than half the wheat grown in the first in 1 849, the percentages in each section
changing rapidly, as follows : — -
Wheat
frown weit
of the Mli-
aiaaippi
River.
•■^v'pl;;
tW'-
Is «,
Atlantic Coast
Central IJelt .
Trans-Mississippi Ucit
~-
-■ - ■ — •
^^^H
1849.
1859.
1869.
1876.
■
■ <
51.4
307
20
19.6
43-3
54.6
49
40.8
^H I
53
14.7
3'
39-6
■ '
" The first section has now a little more than one-third of its former ])r()-
portion ; even the second, which was swept with so heavy a wave of immigra-
Proportioni ^'"" '" ^'^'-' '^''^^ (Icccnnial period, exhibits a declining percentage ;
between the while the third has eight times its former prominence, even in a
•ectons. y^^^j. Qf JQ^y production of spring wheat, and jjromises to make the
proportion nine to one in 1877. A few years more will find a i)repondcrating
' Pennrlvania was returned iis yielding 15,367,69: bushels of whe.il in llie .cnsus of 1850, and Ohio as
only 16,487,351. nii.1 W.1S really the crop of 1849. Ohio produced 28.769,119 buslich of wheal in 18511. — ^
tremendous leap 10 the fnmi,
OF THE UNITEP STATES.
•»
liMy provi- tnic, it
iluiplir wr sliDw
confitlciit r. liiil
the star of fiiipiri
I : antl tin- i oun
l)ri>p<irtit)n to tin
;hc larj;cht wheat
linl, and Virnini.i
) Illinois was fir-^t.
iflh, IVnnsylvani.i
close eighth am!
with Virginia and
1 the list. In 1S51)
sin : now eai h ol
, while Maryland's
out this Western
only is the voinnu'
t years ago, Init tin-
Mississip])! River is
cent only was then
in 1876, a year ot
as forty per rent.
first inchiding the
o the Ohio River.
r, — we fiml more
[jes in each section
/ ,1
i8«9.
1876.
20
19.6
49
40.S
3«
39-6
I of its fc
rmer pro-
a wave of immigra-
L'clining per<:entage ;
minence, even \\\ a
•omises to make tin;
id a prep
andcrating
.oiiMis of 1850, and Ohio as
,lich i)f wheat in i8y>, — »
weight of wheatprodiKtion lieyond the ' Father of Waters.' ('omparin« rela-
tive (|iianlities. rather tlian proportions of the crop, we find that the Atlantic
coast has held its own and little more : the central lielt produces three times
as much ; the trans- Mississippi holt, more than twenty times aH much. I'he
figures are as follows : —
Atlantic Coast
Ciiitral lli'lt .
'l'raii!i-Mis!iiHHi|)pi licit
Tcilal .
«*4'J.
l«S9-
51,657,020 1 53.294. "37 57.4-6,37'
4),522,646 ! 04,4S«/)O0 i.to.S77,o7o
5,306,278 25.352,178 89,.}(>.m85
1M9.
100485,944
173,104.9^4
287,745,626
1I76.
56,4»<j,5oo
1 18,122,000
1 14,745,000
2K«y.356.5oo'
Crop of 1B77.
If the exact distribution of the crop of 1877, amounting to three himdred
and sixty millions of bushels, could be given, w«' imagine the
change would a|)pcar even more marked than in these figures of
the ( ommissioner.
The jiopulation of this country, for the years 1850, i860, 1870, and 1877.
was in the almost exact ratio, respectively, of three, four, five, ,j,j|„ „, p,o.
and six ; ' but the aggregate wheat-production of those years was auction to
in the ratio of four, seven, eleven and a h.ilf, and fourteen and a f"''"'" ""•
half.-' As the increase from 1840 to 1850 was only fifteen per cent, — stimcly
e(|ual to the increase in population, — it is easy to see when the new impulse
began to be felt.
We now come to consider some of the causes of the marked development
of this dei)artment of .American agriculture. The first of them was the rapid
occupation ' of the prairie-land in the Ohio and Upper-Mississippi Valleys l)y
emigrants from the l-'astern States, and from (lermany, Scandi- c^,^, „,
navia, and other countries of Ktirope, toward the middle of this development
century. Another was the remarkable adapt.ibility of the soil and "*'*'*"=■»-
climate of th;« section to wheat-growing.* Still another was the
famine in Ireland in 1847, which made an unusual foreign demand for Ameri-
can cereals. Still another was the development of the railroad * system in
' The exact figures are, 23,191,876, 31,443,331, 38,558,371, and aliout 45,c<»,u<x..
' The figures arc, 100,485,941 bushels, 173,104,934, 387,745,626, and about 360,000,000.
' While cmigralion promoted wheat-culture and exiK)rtation, the wheat-intcrei,!, in turn, built u;. citie*.
Kiir twenty years Chicago has been the greatest grain-di!p6t of the world. Diiflaln was likcwiitc Vw'i up by
Ihf (jrain-trade.
« J.nncs Caird, an Englishman, hiiving travelled through Illinois in 1858, rcmarke<l upon the fr:til,;r of its
M>il in his writings. He attributed it largely to the luxurious growth of grass on the prairicx ».h« ., bc'ng
liiiriH'd by the Indians or whites, year after year for centuries, deposited a great wealth of ashf . He look
Mvcral samples ol the soil to Prof. Voelcker, consulting chemist of the Royal Agricultural Society rf England,
wild said, " I have never before analyzed soils which contained so much nitrogen: nor do I find any suilr richer
in nilrojjen than these."
•'' The railroad companies, by advertisement and by selling lands at lo / figurck, did much to promote
.'Miii; ration.
If' .,)f^'4.
68
/NDl'S TK/A L Ills TOR Y
If
Sift'
'Hi
V i
i* ii
it
those States, and the construction of the Erie Canal, whicli opened up
ample facilities for transportation eastward. But more than any of these
other influences, perhaps, the improvement of agricultural implements (l)y
Yankee ingenuity) gave impetus to wheat-culture. I'",lsewhere we have con-
sidered this matter ; and of the improvement in tiie plough early in tills
century, and of the invention of tlic thresliing-machine in place of the
poetic but feebly-efficient old flail, we need not here remark. But what Mr.
Charles L. Flint says of the reaper bears immediately upon the subject.
He remarks, —
" The sickle, which was in almost universal use until a very recent date,
is undoubtedly one of the most ancient of all our farming-implements,
Reajiing by the use of it was always slow
and laijorious : while, from the fact that
many of our grains would ripen at the same
time, there was a liability to loss before they
coukl be gathered ; and practically there
Quotation was a much greater loss from
from Flint. |].,j,; (ausc tluui tlicrc is at the
l)resent time. It is not, therefore, too mucii
to say, that the successful introduction of the
reaper into the grainfields of this country
has added millions of dollars to the value of
our annual harvests, by enabling us to se-
cure the whole proiluct, and to enlarge tlie
area of our wiieatfields, with a certainty of
being able to gather the crop. NoUiing
was more suri)rising to the mercantile coiii-
numity of iMirope than the fixct that we
( ould coiUinue to export such vast tiuanti-
ties of wheat and other breadstuffs through
the midst of the late Rebellion, with a mil-
lion or two of able-bodied men in arms.
. . . The number of two - horse reapers
in operation throughout the country in the
harvest of 1861 performed an amount of
work equal to about a million of men."
Probably the number of these machines used in tlie summer of 1877 was more
than three hundred thousand, — eriuivalent to at least five millions of men.
'J'he exportation of wheat and wheat-flour from this country was a large
Exportation l>usiness prior to the Revolutionary war and for twenty-five years
ofwheatand subsequently. In 1791 we sent abroad 619,681 barrels of flour
wheat-flour. ^^^^ 1,018,339 bushels of wheat : this was equivalent to a trifle over
4,000,000 bushels. What proportion of our total product this was, we cannot
,r:|!!||:';. '
4 \,'l)
OF THE UNITED STATES.
69
say. The quantity has steadily increased in a larger proportion than the
yield, just as the yield has increased in larger proportion than the population.
For tiie five years ending 1845, the average exportation was but 7,000,000
busiiels, including flour. This was a comparatively slow increase. l'"roin
that point it was more rapid, partly owing to the start given by the Irish
(limine. l''or tiie next five years, the average was over 14,000,000 ; and, as
the crop of 1849 'was 100,485,941 bushels, it will be seen that our exports
amounted to about one-seventh of the yield. The Crimean war, by reducing
Russi.i's production, stimulated our export of wheat. During our own civil
war, tlie Southern market being cut oiT and our supply steadily increasing, we
exported abnormally, the proportion to the whole crop being something like
THRASHING WHEAT.
one-fifth. Our average crop for the years 1870-74 was 261,015,920 bushels;
and the average exportation 61,579,517, or nearly one-fourth. The export of
tliat year was slightly abnormal, owing to the failure of foreign crops. In 1874
it aggregated 91.510.408 bushels; but in 1875 it was only 72,802,605. 'I"hc
crop of 1877 was, in round numbers, 360,000,000 bushels ; and the estimated
exports very nearly a third thereof-
In his report for 1868, the United-States commissioner of agriculturo says,
' Census i)f i8so.
» The cocnmissioner of :ipriciilture, in his report for 1876, snys, thnt, in niir exporn of wheat nnil flniir, \\»
tcn.lenoy is to send less flour, nnil more Rrain. Fifty years .iro, flour .ouslitntcil nearly the whole of our wheal
exporl; lint in iS;!) it was luit little over oni--f Mirth of the whole, either in value or quantity. A special r.-ason
for this is found in the necessity for siviiit; ivery possible scope to indusiri.il production In Kurope. Ttic
UK reasiuK cost of Kiainproduction in Kurope, on the one hand, aiid the improvement in transatlantic transpor
taii.m.on the other, khvc to the Tuilliui; interest, espe, i ally in Knglanil and Kr.ancc, a margin of profit in grinding
American grain, which secured to that interest an euornions development.
■iiiiki
iiHii
!■ I
-it-
70
/A'z? f/^ rA'/^ A y/ A? yo A' r
over other
countries.
"The policy of growing grain for exportation, except as a pioneer expedient
Ascendency '" opt-^n'^g '1'^d improving farms, is not to be commended. No
material portion of our exports can ever be made up of brcadstuffs,
nor is it desirable that this should be." But since then our produc-
tion ^nd exportation of cereals have rapiilly increased ; while the exijortiuion of
cotton, with which he made comparison, has decidedly tlecreased. (^ur exports
of cotton in 1868 were worth $152,820,733 ; of uiicat and flour, $51,135,430
and of all brcadstuffs, $79,046,187. In 1875 our cotton exports amounted to
only about $175,000,000 ; while wheal and wheat-flour amounted to ^83,317,
937; corn, to $25,747,470 more ; and these, with other brcadstuffs, to about
$125,000,000. C'otton increased only about one-sixth, and cereals about one-
half, in the interval. When we consider that Russia and the United States
furnish those covmtries of the worKl wiiich cannot raise wheat enough for
theinsL-lves with three-(]uarters or more of the surjjlus in the producing coun-
tries ; that the United States now export nearly twice what Russia docs ; that,
notwithstanding Russia's recent introduction of improved agricultural imple-
ments, we are likely to maintain the same ascendency over her as regards
l)roduction, — we see that our wheat-exjjortation promises to continue a lead-
ing industry for many years to come. 'I'his will further appear on the consid-
eration of two or three other promising features of the history of wheat-culture
in .America.
Although the wheat-crop is susceptible to many hurtful influences, — sucii
as rust, blast, smut, the wheat-fly, weevil, chinch-bug, grasshoi)per, winter-killing
Injurious in- ^^^"^ exposure to frost, and the blowing and lodging from heavy
sects, grass- galcs, — yet these influences have thus far proved local, and havi'
oppers, c. j^c^rccly affcctcd the total production of the country at any tinu'.
The New-Fjigland blights of 1662-65, though discouraging, were limited. Tlu'
grasshop])er depredations of 1875 and 1876, in Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin, were very serious \n their effects
upon the farmers temporarily; and yet the effect on the total yield of tlu'
coimtry, or the ])rice of flour in the P'.ast, inasmuch as we had some of i874\
wheat left on hand, was to lessen but slightly our exportation. In 1877 tlu-
])est had nearly disappeared ; and, by i)lanting an extra area, we more ' llian
made up the loss.
The wars of independence and of 181 2-14 temporarily impaired our
product and exportation ; l)ut the war with Mexico in 1847-48, and
the late ci\il war, di<l not interfere ])ercej)til)lv. Clreat Britain i^
now so dependent upon us for bread, that sIk can scarcely go in
war with us again untler any circumstances : so we are safe in that
Effect of
wars upon
production
of wheat.
regard.
' The crop of 1875 was not mine iliaii Iwo iicr ccMil 1k;I(iw llic avcrnge, and that of 1876 not more than tlircf
per cent, — alKiiit eleven million Ixishels sliorl. The crop oC 1877 was Iwenty per lent al»vc the average, ami
fifty million bushels inoru tlian any fircvioiis yielj.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
71
)neer expedient
nmended. No
p of breadstuffs,
len our produc-
L' exportation of
[1. Our exports
ir, 55 >.i 35-430 ■
ts anioinitcd to
ted to ^8.^,317,-
dstuffs, to alxnit
reals about one-
,e Ignited States
leat enougli for
producing coun-
issia <locs ; tbat,
jricultural imple-
r her as regards
continue a lead-
ir on the consid-
of wlieat-culture
nfluences, — sucl)
per, winter-killiuK
dging from heavy
:d local, and havi'
untry at any time,
-ere limited. Thf
, Nebraska. Iowa,
IS in their effects
total yield of the
d some of 1874'--
on. In 1.S77 the'
a. we more ' than
irily impaired our
coin 1H47-48. ami
(keat Britain is
can scarcely go to
wo ar • safe in thai
r)f 1876 not more limn il'iif
nt above the average, aiiJ
villi
72
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Within ten or fifteen years the centre of wheat-production has moved west
of the Mississippi River. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan
Future pro- '^'^^P Steadily increasing their yields ; while Minnesota, Iowa,
auction of Nebraska, and Kansas have each a still greater developmenl yol
^ ""*■ in store. Then, too, California is looming up tremendously as
a wheat-growing State. In 1850 she .aised but 17,325 bushels ; ten years later,
5,928,470; twenty years later, 16,676,702 ; and now, upwards of 30,000,000.
If not so already, she will soon be the largest producer of wheat in the Union,
with a huge latent capacity for further development. Outside of the Slates
here named, there is comparatively little new territory which we can; devote to
the culture of this grain ; yet here is still magnificent promise, anil one which
even Russia cannot equal.
We have already alluded to Klippart's gloomy prophecies as !o the failure.-
of our wheat-production through impo- erishment of the soil. 7he expe-
rience of the Allan ic States, however, where (he chemical ele-
Restoring
exhausted ments of the soil are different from tnose of the y ti<ie-lancls
soils.
i^,.:
and from those of California, offers no sure analogy, it .iiust be
admitted that Ohio, which in 1859 yielded over thirteen IiihIkIs to the acre,
now produces but nine bushels and a half; yet, within a fov. uigcs of tliese
same dark auguries, Klijjpart points out the ajility of Ameii' husbandmen
to restore the fertility of the soil by artificial manui'.i. .^ the Fnr ishnvjn do,
and quotes Mr. Caird's allusions to the whea' fields of Lombardy, wiiicii
have steadily yielded crc; i^ i two thousand years. In v.ow o.' all these facts,
we fail to see why America i,- liV ..)• : > be worse off than iier principal rival,
Russia.
; ^'f;:
m4
OF THE UNITED STATES.
73
CHAPTER V.
CORN.
INDIAN-CORN, or maize, is the crop which this countrj' produces in the
largest quantity and value, and which has the widest acreage, while it ranks
next to wheat among our agricultural exports. Tiius in 1875 we raised
292,136,000 bushels of wheat, and 1,321,069,000 ot corn. In importance
1877 the corn-product was the same nearly, while wheat had of corn-crop,
increased to 360,000,000 bushels. In 1875 the value of our corn-crop was
^555>44S»930 j of wheat, $294,580,990 ; of hay, $342,203,445 ; and of cotton,
$272,936,400. That same year we had 10,803,030 acres yielding cotton,
23,507,964 yielding hay, 26,381,512 yielding wheat, and .^1,841,371 yielding
corn. Such is the story which the figures tell by comparing them. Though
used almost exclusively among the
cereals by the mass of the Southern
'people as an article of diet, it is not
so exclusively an article of human
food in the United States as wheat.
It is fed to horses largely, and to cattle,
sheep, and poultry, but to swine more
than to any other animal, the pork of
this country )eing largely fattened on
this grain. The stalks of tills grain,
too, make more nutritious fodvl"r for
live-stock than the straw of any other.
'riicre is also a perceptible consump-
tion of corn liy distillers of whiskey ;
and at times it has been so plentiful
ill some of the W^estern States, that it
has been used fcir fuel. It was much
cheaper, its heat considered, in many ^
localities, in 1871, than coal at nine dollars a ton ; and it was thus consumed
in large ([uantities although fires made of it required close attention.
dimtm
liiiC-
'11
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Regarding the origin of this particular grain, there has been much con
troversy. It has been claimed as a purely American product, all otlur
Origin of Countries getting it from the New World. While, however, then-
corn, c-i,^ \^Q ,^Q doubt that it was indigenous to America, it caniKii
be established that it first made its appearance in this country. In 1 204 tlif
Marquis of Montferrat and his companions brought back from the Orient to
Italy a grain known as " mclica," or " melaga," — a name which was afterwards
used interchangeal)ly with that of the real maize, and led to the supjiosition
that this kind of corn came first from Asia. The name "Turkish corn,"
which it long bore in Europe, gave rise to a supi)osition that it came fron,
Turkey's Asiatic possessions. Neither of these theories has been demon-
strated, however. Iiclter evidence of the fact that the Old World had tins
same grain under cultivation betbre Columbus discovered America is found
in the fact that the Chinese historian, Li-chi-tchin, speaks of a plant exactly
corresponding to it in his country toward the middle of the sixteenth century,
The proverbial slowness of that people in introducing new ideas and institii
lions, the sliortne.ss of the uUorval, and the inference from his remarks tli.it
the crop was long established, incline one to believe that they really had our
Indian-corn in ('iiina more than 'our centuries ago. Inileed, Oriental tniv
ehers incline to believe that it has been cultivated in the islands of the Indi.ni
Arciiipclago from rhe earliest ages. A fact of still more decisive character ii,
the disi:(Aery of maize in the cerements of a mummy exhumed at Thelns,
Egypt, under cin iimstances leading to a belief that it was two c^r tinw
thousand years old.
Ni.\\.rtheless, it is known that it was cultivated on this continent a great
many centuries ago. Longleilow embodies in his "Hiawatha" a well-known
E riiestcui- ^^g*-""*^' "^ ^hc Ojibways as to the gift of maize to the red man
tivationof by the CJreat Spirit. The .Aztec nations of Mexico and Central
America, who attained a high civilization, have a tradition that
the Toltecs introduced the culture of maize into this ccnmtry in
the seventh century ; but there is reason to believe that it was already com
mon with the natives at that time, and that the Toltecs merely improved \Yx
metluxl'^ of cultivation. The Mexicans had a deity corresponiling to \\\<:
Ceres of the Romans, who was supposed to watch over this croi), and wlidiii
they worshipped accordingly. The grain was raised plenteously from .SoutiKiii
Chili to the southern part of Pennsylvania when Kuropeans first visited Americ a.
Parched corn was the great \egetable staple of Indian diet.
Corn requires less < ultiv,uiun than alniust any other food-crop in tin-
country, although it is affectot more by the corwlition of the season than somi
Modeof cui- otlurs. It iwtffeis ilry. loamy soils, and rich boltom-iands, to wet,
tivation. j,^^,} tjays. Thoogh there are man'' varieties (some growing to
the height of fifteen or sixteen feel, and others scarrdv above one's knee ; nid
some being better adapted to one section than another, there b'-int; variation.
corn in
America
OF TJIK UNITED STATES.
75
ccn much con
jiluct, all otlur
, however, there
erica, it caniioi
^. In 1204 the
m the Orient to
■h was afterwarils
I the supposition
"Turkish com.'
at it came fruin
as been ilemon-
l World hail tins
\merica is found
)f a plant exactly
sixteenth century,
ideas and instiUi
his remarks th.ii
hey really had our
eed, Oriental trav-
nds of the Indi.in
L'cisive character 1:1
hunied at 'I'hebes.
was two or tlirce
also, in the shape, size, and color of the kernel), there are practically but two
kinds, — the white anil yellow, — each being divided into the hard and soft ; and
one or another is cultivated in almost every jjart of the United States where
agriculture is practised at all. From these various causes, the first emigrants
to tiiis country raised it extensively, relying upon it as the principal article of
food, and using it, also, for barter and export. Later, the crop was combined
with potatoes or pumpkins, or both, on small tracts of land ; and the three
flourished togiMher more prosperously than any one of them would with any
other common agricultural product. Thus we find that corn-culture followed
the whites into all new territory which they occupied. New Kngland raiseil
but cojuparatiscly little ; Init, long before the Revolution, New Jersey, Penn-
syi\ania, ;i.iid Delaware were exporting corn extensively, Virginia even more so,
and the two Carolinas ami Oeorgia also, having a surplus to exchange with
I'.nrope tor necessary imports. The aggregate export of the colonies in 1770
was 57X,_54Q bushels, — an amount more than once ecpialled by Virginia alone,
before the Revolution.
.\t the close of tiiat war. for a time, agriculture in this ' ■;:try maile little
heailway ; and some sp ;cial causes, like the sudden deve'i.ip.ent Effect of
of cotton-culture in the South, mav lune retarded the progress ot Revolution-
' , ary war
other lines bl agri( uUure. From these various causes, we find, upon com-
that from 1791, when we exported corn .and meal amounting to culture.
about 2,064,936 busiieis of grain, there was a gradual decline for over twenty
years in the export. In i.Soo it amounted to 2,032,435 bushels, and in 1810
to only 1 40,996.
Ill tiie next two decades, influences of a stimulating character began to
operate on this industry, which were followed up by others during succeeiling
vears ; so that the corn-croii has for tlie i)ast fiftv years shown ,
■ \ . J Increase
rapid im lease. In 1X25 tiie I'lric (.'anal was opened, giving cheap during next
transportation to Western croiJS. Railroads were built later, pen- *wenty
' years,
etrating all the more productive sections of the West. Emigra-
tion rapidly increased. I''arm-implements greatly improved, althougii these
were not so essential to corn a^ to some other grains. The value of this cereal
tor fattening cattle, too, began to be realized ; and its demand for this use was
soon vigorous. From 184010 1850. the tot.al yield increased from 377,531,-
S75 liushels to 592.071,104, — ;; irain of fifty-seven per cent, while population
was increasing but thirty-five yjer rent. Ihe increase of wheat during this
Mine was oniv fifteen iwa-.cnt. H\ iS<io the figures Ii.id grown to 838,792, -
i". — an ad\ance of but a trifle over lorty-one per cent, — three- increase
tr.arirTs of which gain was in the Northern States. Huring that *'"'=''•
(lei.u!-: the jiopiilatiun increased thirty-fi»'e per cent as [lefore, and wheat h.ad
increased nearly seventv-five jiercent. In i8>> a falling-off was not. "cable, the
product i)eing only 760,944,349 bushels. This, probably, was due to the corn-
linds beinii; converted, in some cases, to wheat-cultiire ; which, how ver. is n<H,
ii
76
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in the long-nin, quite so profitable. To continue the comparison: it may be
rcmarkctl tliat tlic increase in population during tiiat time was but a trifle over
twenty-two percent; but tl'.e wheat-yield rose over sixty per cent. In 1871
corn was unusually plenty in the West, and so cheap as to be used for fuel.
In 1875 the product was 1,321,000,000, nearly 500.000,000 of which gain was
effected witiiin the last year of the five. This was a jump of nearly seventy
five jier cent ; while wheat was increasing but two or three per cent, and the
population about eighteen. ,
ss:^"'
COKN-ltUSKER.
'fi:
depresses
the price.
It is noticeable, however, that a large crop of cereals or cotton so depresses
the price, that the real gain is l)ut slight ; and a re-action usually ensues,
Lar e yield which checks the production for a year or two. Thus, despite the
increase in the corn-production from 1874 to 1875 above men-
tioned, the two crops were marketed respectively for ;^55o.o43,oo()
anil 5555,445,000. The yiekl of the two years subsequent, accordingly, fell
off somewhat.
The export of corn from this country to Europe is a very important item
of our trade. Corn and corn-meal make up forty per cent of our cereal
Export of export. We have already remarked, that from 1791, when we
'^'""- sent abro.id 2,064,036 bushels of corn, there was, for many years,
a falling-off in the export of that commodity. For the whole five years end-
ing 1845, the total export, including com reduced to meal, was but 8,005,005
bushels, — an average of less than in 1791. But the Irish famine, during the
next half-decade, made a tremendous demand ; and during that interval the
exports aggregated 53,796,933 busiiels, or over 10,000,000 bushels a year.
With the terminatic of that famine came a falling-off in our export ; and these
t,f .. .■■
OF THE UNITED STATES.
w
n so depresses
figures were not paralleled again until 1865-70, when we sent abroad 53,413,-
372 bushels. During the next five years we sent ofl" 152,569,127 bushels, —
an average of over 30,000,000 a year. In 1876' we sent 50,910,532 bushels,
of which 1,416,960 was in the form of meal.-'
Corn being cultivated in but small quantities in Europe, especially outside
of France and Russia, the nations of that section of the globe are dependent
chiefly upon the United States for their supjjly ; and our shipments
to Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and France, arc ""o^er"""^"
.stcailily increasing. As an article of human diet, it is inferior countries
to wheat : nevertheless, it is finding constantly-increasing applica- g^°" """'^
tions as such. As food for horses, its consumption in Conti-
nental cities is also rapidly augmenting, it having been discovered that the
investing of money in corn is more economical than the purchase of oats.
The enormous crop of 1S75, anil the consequent low })rices, led Chicago
jjarties to negotiate with liritish stock-raisers to purchase corn for fodder,
h'rom the low prices and freights then prevailing, it was estimated that this trade
would prove profitable to both countries. But the movciiu'nt parUy defeated
itself by caUing out supplies of grain in excess of a normal demand, and,
consequently, by cutting down prices in Kngland below the calculated mini-
mum. Some of the grain, from lack of care in shipment, was injured by
lieating in ocean transit, causing considerable losses. On the whole, however,
it is estimated tiiat tlie profits of this movement iriorc than coimterbalanced
its losses. This was one of the causes that so greatly enlarged the export of
< orn during tiie fiscal year 1876.
In 1862 iIk' commissioner of agriculture remarked ll.at the
Opinton of
export of corn was very unilesirable, as it was worth more to this commis-
< ountry to keep our supply at home, have low prices, and fatten ^'^'^^" °'
...... ' agriculture
<mr cattle more cheaply. As the possibilities of our product are concerning
< omparatively unlimited, such solicitude does not seem to be ^^port oj
fully warranted.
It may be remarked, that corn exhausts our lands less rapidly than wheat ;
that it returns more handsome profits for increased care in cultivation than
some other crops ; and that careful experiments show that ex- _
' ' Corn a more
luuisted land may be renewed with artificial manures to sucli an exhaustive
extent as to pay immense dividends on the investment. These "°^ *''^"
' •^ wheat.
farts, and the steady increase of territory devoted to the produc-
tion of this cereal, make the outlook for the future of the industry rather more
certain and bright than that of wheat-culture.
■ These dates are of fiscal years, ending June 30. The export of 1876, therefore, is really based upon the
crop of the calendar year 1875.
' As in the case of wheat, the tendency in our corn-export has been steadily to send less manufactured
grain, and more unground. Thus, during the five years ending 1830, we sent abroad 3,530,710 bushels of corn
unground, and 3,133,632 in the form of meal. In 1876 the corn sent abroad as meal was but two and three-
fourths per cent of the whole quantity.
IXnUSTKIAL //IS TO NY
The distribution of corn-culture tliroughout tlio country is more even than
that of any other crop. Sugar, cotton, tobacco, iiay, and wiicat arc eacii
more sectional than corn. However, it is more particularly con-
pmii
Corn more , ...... ■ ,, .< ..i. i
gener.iiy fined to the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. Illinois produces not
raited than y,^|y jugre than any other one State, but more than all the ten
cotton States together, with Maryland and the two Virginias;
while (Jhio, Indiana, Uli
nois, Iowa, Missouri, and
Kansas, together, produce
two-thirds of the whole «T()p
of the country. The cul-
ture of t:orn, however, is
more evenly distributed
than that of cotton, sugar,
and tobacco in the South-
ern and Horder States ; ami
the policy of raising home-
supplies of this cereal is
coming to be more gener-
ally pursued there, that
section having suffered
more than once recently
from insufficient food-sup-
ply. New England, en-
gaged in manufacturing
pursuits rather than in
nit-KiiV III I.Nl'.il-Mil.l..
agriculture, does almost nothing in corn.
Production ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ wheat, SO with maize, there
moving
westward.
is a westward
migration of the centre of our production, as will be apparent
from the following table of percentages : —
SECTION.
1849.
1859.
.869.
187s.
Atlantic-coast St.-ites
Central Helt
Trans-Mississippi licit
30
58
12
24
SS
21
20
53
27
»4
5'
3S
The East has declined continuously and hopelessly ; the centre has held
a determined struggle, yielding only inch by inch ; the West ha.s trod the
track of destiny with accelerated step.
As a result of the rapid growth and the geographical location of the
great cornfields, there has been an immense growth of cities and railroads
OF THE UNITED STATES.
79
even than
arc each
ularly «-on-
Khiccs not
lU the tt;n
Virginias ;
iliana, IWi-
ssouri, antl
;r, protUite
^- whole iri'l'
The f.ul-
however, is
distribuletl
oUoP, sugar,
n the South-
r States ; anil
raising home-
his e.ereal is
more gencr-
there, that
-ing suffered
once recently
ient food-svip-
England, en-
manufacturing
ther than in
is a westward
ill be apparent
in that section of country between the Ohio and the (Ireat Lakes, and just
west of the Mississippi. On the rivers and lak-s, especially the latter, ship-
ping has grown immensely, to carry on the work of Iranspor- comequan-
tation. It would be difficult to say exactly how much of this ce«of railing
material wealth of development is due to corn, and how much otherlndua-
to wheat j but the division would give the former the larger triai and
share. (Chicago is, of course, the great centre of the corn-interest ; ""»*•'"«"'••
but many other lake and interior cities are the product of this industry. So
I oiuoletely dependent, too, on the grain-transportation business, are many of
the Western railroads, that their stocks rise and fall on Wall Street with every
ihu tuation of the crops and the demands therefor. Indeed, to corn, more
tiian to any other one agricultural product of this country, do we owe the
expansion of our material prosperity.
.-•^%
1869.
i875.
20
53
27
U
5"
35
centre has held
/est ha.s trod the
.1 location of the
ties and railroads
A.
>
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
I.U
1.1
ttiM2» |U
It Hi 12.2
; Its l^'O
IL25 in 1.4
d^y
Photographic
Sciences
Corporalion
23 WIST MAIN STRUT
WltSTU.N.Y. MStO
(716)t72-4S03
\
^. ,(fWm»J*M i l ii l»il,^MW>l mm ..
So
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
' i
CHAPTER VI.
SUGAR AND MOLASSES.
SUGAR and molasses are among those agricultural products of the United
States, which, in amount, fall far short of our necessities, rendering a
heavy import (chiefly from the West Indies) requisite to supply the defi-
Description ciency. The production is, moreover, limited in locality, as well
of sugar- as in quantity, being mostly confined to Louisiana. The cane
cane region, jj^jiygg^ ^^d is the Staple product, in all parts of the State south
of tlie latitude of Baton Rouge, except in the pine uplands bordering on
Texas. It must not be thought, however, that the whole of the region within
these boundaries actually produces sugar. The area of cultivated land is
comparatively small ; swamps, lakes, rivers, and bayous occupying most of
the surface of the country, and the territory available for planting being
restricted to narrow strips along the water-courses. The shores of the Mis-
sissippi, for fifty miles above and below New Orleans, are lined with cane-
fields, extending back for about a mile to the cypress-swamps. Along the
Atchafalaya, and the La Fourche, Plaquemine, Teche, Boeuf, Courtableau,
and other bayous west of the Mississippi, there is little besides sugar raised.
The Teche, and the parishes bordering upon it, known under the general
name of the Attakapas country, is the paradise of the sugar-planter. Per-
haps the land is no better than that along the other bayous ; but its conforma-
tion makes it easy of drainage, while the proximity of the Gulf gives it cool
breezes in summer, and the natural beauties of the region make it the most
attractive part of Louisiana. Longfellow's description in " Evangeline " fits
it very well : —
" Beautiful is the land, with its prairies, and forest of fruit-trees !
Under the feet a garden of flowers ; and the bluest of heavens
Bending above, and resting its dome o'-. the walls of the forest.
They who dwell there have named it the Eden of Louisiana."
There are many little descriptive passages in the poem that are remarkably
true to nature ; and the wonder is that Longfellow could have got the local
coloring so well without once visiting the region he pictures.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
8i
t;
s of the United
es, rendering a
iupply the defi-
localily, as well
ana. The cane
the State south
Is bordering on
he region within
jltivated land is
upying most of
■ planting being
jres of the Mis-
ined with cane-
nps. Along the
f, Courtableau,
des sugar raised,
der the general
ar-planter. Per-
ut its conforma-
ulf gives it cool
lake it the most
ivangeline" fits
ees:
;rens
rest,
a."
t are remarkably
ve got the local
Long before the Revolutionary war the New- England colonies carried on
a large commerce in sugar and molasses, which, with rum, they brought from
the West Indies, and carried hence to Europe. There were re- „ ,
' •^ Early eom-
fineries in various parts of Connecticut, and Massachusetts too, merce in
mostly for such sugar as was kept for home consumption. The ""»•' ■""'
enactment of laws by Parliament, restricting this carrying-trade
to British vessels, as also the stamp-acts, which threatened to lay a tax on
such sugar and molasses, seriously affected this industry.
Accounts of Virginia and North Carolina, by the earliest settlers, speak of
sugar-canes as indigenous to that section, but inaccurately. Sugar-canes do
not appear to have been grown in any part of what is now the g,^, ^^jj,.
United States until 1 751, when the Jesuits introduced them to vation in
Louisiana from San Domingo. The first sugar-mill in this section ^°"*•'•"■•
was erected by M. Dubreuil, whose plantation is now covered by the city of
New Orleans. But little headway was made in the culture until 1 794, when
persecuted Frenchmen fled from San Domingo to Louisiana, and carried their
business ideas with them. This State did not form a part of our Union,
however, until 1803. In later years the culture extended into Texas to a
slight extent. In 1805 an enterprising Georgia planter obtained Extension of
and set out in his own State one hundred young sugar anes. cu't^ire-
These were rapidly propagated ; and the culture extended into Florida,
Alabam- and elsewhere. It was soon found, though, that the soil of Lou-
isiana Wc^a oy far the most productive, and the industry never prospered very
much elsewhere. In 1850 eleven-twelfths of the yield of cane sugar and
molasses of this country was Louisiana's. The following table shows the
distribution in 1870 : —
Louisiana
Texas .
Tennessee
South Carolina
Florida .
Georgia .
Arkansas
Mississippi
Missouri
Alabama
Korth Carolina
Total
SUGAR,
HOGSHEADS.
80,706
2,020
1,410
I.OSS
952
644
92
49
49
3<
35
87.043
MOLASSES,
GALLONS.
4.585.150
246,062
3.629
436,882
344.339
553.19*
72,008
152,164
166,009
33.888
6.593.323
8a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Just as the tobacco-industry built up Richmond, so the sugar-business
built up New Orleans, although the cotton-interest had a share in the latter
work. Very few statistics are obtainable, showing the product
of cane sugar and molasses in other States ; and statisticians
treat that of Louisiana as about all there is in the country.
Bearing this fact in mind, one can learn much of the history of
the cane-sugar industry of this country, and realize how far it is
from meeting our needs, by glancing at the following table, showing the total
consumption in this country by tons, and what jiroportion thereof was im-
ported, and how much was raised in Louisiana : —
Sugar-
Interests
gave rise to
New
Orleans.
, 'if
YEARS.
IMPORTED.'
LOUISIANA.
TOTAL.'
I82I ....
26,672
14,000
40,672
1831
44,178
35,000
"9.178
I84I
65,601
38,000
103,601
1842
69,474
39,200
108,674
1843
28,854
64,360
93.214
1844
83,801
44.400
128,201
1845
88,336
45,000
133.336
1846
44.974
83,028
128,002
1847
98,410
71,040
169,450
1848
104,214
107,000
211,214
1849
103,121
99,180
202,301
1850
160,210
144,600
304,810
I85I
201,493
120,331
321.824
1852
196,558
118,659
3'S.2i7
•853
200,610
172.379
372.989
1854
150,854
234.444
385.298
•855
192,607
185.145
377.752
1856
255,292
123,468
378,760
1857
241,165
39,000
280,765
1858
244,758
143.734
388,492
1859
239.034
192.150
431,184
i860
296,950
118,331
415,181
1S61
241,420
122,399
363-819
1862
241,411
191,000
432.4"
1863
231.398
52.910
284.308
1864
192,660
28,000
220,660
1865
345.809
5,000
350,809
1866
383. '78
8,500
391,698
1867
378,068
22,500
400,568
1868
446.533
23.000
469,533
1869
447,899
45,000
492,899
1870
483,892
46,80c
530,692
187 I
553.714
79,600
633.3 '4
1872
567.573
69,800
637.373
1873
592,725
59.300
652,025
1874
661,869
48,500
710,569
187s
621,852
63,500
685.352
^1876
•
561,369
77,000
638,369 "
Omitting that which was cx[)ortcd again,
' Omitting the trifle consumed on Ihc I'acific coast,
OF THE (TNI TED STATES.
83
ugar-business
in the latter
the product
[ statisticians
the country,
he history of
how far it is
,'ing the total
;reof was im-
TOTAL.'
40,672
79.178
103,601
108,674
93.2 '4
128,201
133.336
128,002
169,450
211,214
202,301
304,810
321,824
3'S.2i7
372,989
385,298
377.752
378,760
280,765
388,492
431,184
415,181
363,819
432,411
284,308
220,660
350,809
391,698
400,568
469.533
492,899
530,692
633.314
637.373
652,025
710,369
685.352
638,369
ic I'acific coast.
Starting at nothing, our domestic production rapidly gained on bur im-
ports until 1843, when, spasmodically as it were, it suddenly overleaped and
more than doublad them. In 1846, 1848, and 1854, our domestic product
exceeded the imports, hut not to so great an extent. Owing to increase of
the accumulation of a large stock in the country in 1856, the P'^oductiou.
next year's home yield fell off amazingly. What abrupt and utter ruin was
brought upon this industry by the war m.iy be inferred from the fact, that, by
SlKiAK-MILL.
the year 1863, the cane-crop had dwindled down to 50,000 tons. In 1864 't
fell to 30,000 ; and in 1865, the last year of the war, shrunk to the minimum of
only 5,000 tons. 'I'he great tratle tliat was thus shattered in three years, has,
Jfe*:
84
INDUSTRTAL HISTORY
since the war, been slowly reviving ; but still a long time will have to elapse
before it again reaches the proportions to which it had attained in 1853. For
the past three or four years, owing to lalwr-troubles and political causes
which need not now be mentioned, the crop harvested in Louisiana was not
so large as many supposed it would be : still, in spite of every drawback, it
has increased 25,000 hogsheads each year, and during the season of 1876-77
amounted to 169,331 hogsheads, or a total of 190,672,570 pounds. It is
confidently expected that the crop of the season of 1877-78 will amount to
not less than 200,000 hogsheads.
It is asserted ' that the business of sugar-planting offers peculiar induce-
ments to Northern people who want to find new homes in the South. The
Profits and pro^ts are immediate, and, with proper management, very large,
prospects of A plantation near Franklin, with 1,100 acres in cane, received for
its product of sugar and molasses $120,000; and the net profit,
deducting all expenses, even to the cigars smoked by the planter
and his friends, was 160,000 dollars. This is an excepdonally large plantation.
About 300 acres under cultivation is an average one. The following is the
condensed balance-sheet, for 1876, of a 300-acre place above Franklin : —
this Indus
try
RECEIPTS.
400 hhds. sugar at eight cents per pound ^1,600
300 bbis, molasses at two dollars 600
Total ^2,200
EXPENSES.
Labor : twenty-five hands throughout year, and ten extra in sugar-mak-
ing season $12,000
Rations : five pounds pork and a peck of meal a week to each hand 2,500
Mule feed 1.500
Hogsheads and barrels 2,500
Purchase of mules, tools, repairs, &c. 3.000
Commission on sale of crop ..... .... 1.275
22.775
Profit I19.425
The cost of a plantation like this, in good condition, with sugar-house and
machinery in good repair, would range from $40,000 to $75,000. There is
usually three or four times as much swamp as arable land sold with a planta-
tion. But the swamp has a value ; for it furnishes the wood required for fuel
in the sugar-mill. A hogshead of sugar to the acre is a small yield, a hogs-
head and a half a fair yield, and two a large one. There are thirteen hundred
pounds of sugar in a hogshead ; and the price in New Orleans ranges from
seven cents for an ordinary brown grade to ten and eleven cents for the
white coffee-sugar made by vacuum pans and centrifugal machinery for sepa«
I N<ny-Vork Tribune.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
8|
rating the molasses from the sugar. Field-hands are paid sixteen dollars a
month and a ration, and have Saturday afternoons to themselves, and the use
of a mule to cultivate patches of their own. The cane they raise on these
patches is worked up by the planter, and they get half the product. An in-
dustrious negro will thus add a hundred dollars or more to his yearly earnings.
Thus far the land has usually been cultivated in large sections, two hun-
dred acres being considered the minimum quantity that would sustain the
expenses of a sugar-mill and of the colony of hands necesr iry to work both
land and mill. The large planters are now encouraging the tenant-system,
and a tendency to separate the business of sugar-making from Large and
cane-growing begins to show itself. On the smaller farms, where •""■" 'Mmt.
only a few hogsheads of sugar are produced, the owners are obliged to con-
tent themselves with crushing and boiling in the old-fashioned style ; thus
wasting much of the cane, and producing a very inferior brand of sugar.
Indeed, it is stated, that, of the 1,050 sugar-houses in operation in Louisiana,
upward of 250, or nearly one-fourth, still crush the cane by horse-power, — an
exceedingly primitive and unsatisfactory process, by which it is impossible to
extract any high percentage of juice from the cane. Great waste, and conse-
quently great loss, is naturally the result of this practice.'
It is proposed to revolutionize the whole system of sugar manufacturing by
abolishing all the old-fashioned and comparatively useless sugar houses and
presses, and establishing in each district of the great cane-growing region an
accessible and well-appointed mill of the most approved descrip- f^^^ ^^,
tion, and containing all the latest machinery. To these mills all of making
small farmers are to send theiv cane as soon as it is cut, disposing ""■■'•
of it at a fair market-price, or having it ground into sugar, paying the mill-
managers a small percentage for the work. It will be noticed that this system
is similar in many respects to that which governs the manufacture of cheese in
some of the great dairy districts of this State. There seems to be no reason
why its establishment in Louisiana should not be the beginning of a new and
more prosperous era in the history of the sugar-producing districts of the Peli-
can State. It ought certainly to result in the employment of large capital in
the manufacture of the staple, and a great increase in the area cultivated.
The consumption of sugar in all parts of the world is constantly increasing,
— increasing with amazing rapidity. In the United States alone, during the
year 1876, the total consumption, including the product of the maple-tree and
the sugar made from molasses, is estimated at not less than 745,000 tons.
This is fully one hundred per cent more than the amount consumed in 1863,
or than the average of the decade immediately preceding that year. From
these figures it will readily be seen, that, even were every acre of the rich allu-
vial bluff and prairie lands of Louisiana devoted exclusively to the cultivation
of sugar, there would still be no fear of over-production. Every pound that
• New- York Times, Sept. ii, 1877.
U made
from.
Beet-»U!*r.
INDUSTKIAI. HISTORY
••an Ik: maniifartnrod will liiid a ready market, ami a quick sale at remunera-
tive prices.
Most of the niolasses produced in this country is in suitable condition for
tahie use when it le^"''s the S')uthern sugar-house. The (ondition of sugar
usually is very (lin'crent, as it is the raw brown muscovado which
' needs to be refmed. Tliere are refineries for this product, as well
as for the raw sugars imi)orteil iu many of the large cities of the coimtry,
which <lo nn enormous businiss. and which have generally been very suc<ess-
ful. riie process of refining has l)een mu( h improved within a few years ;
and the former method, which seemed to Ik.' any thing but a refining process,
is rajndly going into disuse.
^, . SuL'ar is made from three other plants besides the American or
What bU|{Br ^ *
West-Indian « ane ; namely, the sugar-beet, the ('iiinese-cane or
sorghum, and mai)le-sap.
Forty per cent of the total sugar-product of the world is made from lu-ets.
Kx|)eriment was made in (iermany. toward the latter i)art of the last century,
by a chemist named .\( hard, who demonstrated that sugar could
be made from iieets. ihe first Napoleon did nuich to encourage
this industry in FraiK e, e>pe( ially in iSi j, when the blockade of French ports
prc( luded a foreign supply of < aucsugar. At one time 520o,ooo were jilaced
in the hands of tlie minister of agri( ulture to encourage it. Hut, after Water-
loo, l)eet->ugar production .iluiost died out. In 1S20 it revived again, ancl,
with lluctuations, has since rapidly and extensively developed, until the prod-
;;<t is inunense. Kxi)eriments in this country began as early as 1S38 ; David
I,. (Jhild (jf Northampton, .\l.iss., having produc ed 1,300 pounds of sugar that
year. The next attei'.pt was tliat of the (lennert brothers, (lermans, at ("hats-
worth, 111., in 1863, who bought 2,400 a< res of land, and went into beet-culture
for sugar very extensively. 'I'hey had bad luck for sevcr.il years. In 1870
they lonsolidated with a like establishment at Freeport, III., ami produced
that year 200,000 pounds of good sugar at moderate cost. Messrs. Honesteel
^^ Otto embarked in the busitiess at Fond <iu I^nc, Wis., in 1867; and
another co-operative enterprise was started at IJIack FLawk, Wis., in 1870.
Several ventures were made, too. in (,'alifornia, Mr. Wentworth of Alvarado
securing the .assistance of Honesteel and Otto in 1870; and the next year
they produced 1,000,000 pounds of sugar. Amherst Agricultural College,
the Virginia University, and other institutions and individuals, have experi-
mented.
Sorghum, or the Chinese-cane, was introduced into this country by the
liureau of Agriculture in 1856. It can be -ultivated in almost any part of the
country ; and, under the extensive notices given it by the commis-
sioner's reports, it soon met with a wide acceptance. It yields a
gooil sinjp, and but little sugar. The census of i860 showed the product of
that year to be, —
Sor|{hum.
I
OF THE UNITED STATES.
89
ncri<"an or
;o-(anc or
^- \
88 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CAI.LX>NI.
Iowa 1,211,512
Indiana 881,049
Illinois 806,589
Missouri 796,111
Oliio 779,076
Tennessee 706,663
Other States 568,123
Total 6,749,123
Iowa was then the largest producer; but Ohio developed the industry
more rapidly until 1866, since which year it has gradually declined there and
Production *" Indiana and Illinois. It extended up into Wisconsin too,
from tor. somewhat, but rather more largely in Kansas, and all through the
ghum. South, prominently in Georgia. It is estimated that we raise
annually 1 2,000,000 gallons of sirup, which, at sixty-five cents a gallon, would
come to 17,800,000 ; and 250,000 pounds of sugar, which, at six cents a
pound, would make the annual yield worth over ^7,815,000. When the
value of the crop comes to be c«tter understood, it is believed its culture will
be vastly increased.
The maple-sugar industry dates from the earliest colonial days, but has
not been carried on extensively in any part of the country. It is mostly in the
Maple. hands of individual farn:ers, and is chiefly confined to the North-
•uK«r. gfn States, from Maine into Minnesota, though reaching into Ken-
tucky. Statistics arc imperfect and scarce ; but the Department of Agriculture
says, that, in 181 1, Ohio produced 3,033,086 pounds, Kentucky 2,471,647,
and Vermont but 1,200,000. Probably the total production throughout the
country was something like 15,000,000 or 20,000,000, with sirup equivalent to
as much more, a gallon of sirup counting for ten pounds of sugar. The
census-returns for 1850, i860, and 1870, show the following total product in
pounds and gallons : —
1850.
i860.
1370.
Sugar ....
Sirup ....
34,253,436
106,782
40,120,205
'.597.589
28,443,645
921,436
In 1850 New York was the leading State, producing about thirty per cent
of the whole. Vermont held the second place, with Ohio third,
and Indiana fourth. In i860 the order was, — New York, Ver-
mont, Michigan, and Ohio. In 1870 Vermont had reached the first
place, with New York second, Ohio third, Michigan fourth, and
Indiana fifth. Several of the States have since improved on the fig-
ures of 1870 ; and it is likely that the total product now almost equals that of
Production
of maplt-
sugar in the
several
States.
OF THE UNITED STATES,
89
i860, and is worth something like |6,ooo,ooo. The utmost limit has already
been reached, in all probability, however ; though we are not likely to see a
very marked decline for a number of years. Much of the maple sugar and*
sirup used in this country comes from Canada.
9°
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER VII.
TOBACCO.
Early hii-
tory of
tobacco.
WHEN Columbus landed in Hispaniola, in 1492, he saw the natives
brcathiny out smoke from their nostrils ; and he was offered a roll of a
fragrant narcotic weed, in the form of a cigar, that he might ilo likewise. This
was the first that the civilized world ever knew of tobacco. The
Spaniards and Portuguese soon made Europe accpiainted with the
l)lant and its uses. In 1560 the agent of the King of Kran< c in
Portugal, named Jean Nicot, obtained from a Dutchman some seed of the plant
from I'lorida ; and thus it was introduccil into France, where it was known as
the Nicotian weed. Tobacco, the Indian name, appears to have been ai)plied
originally to the pipes wherein the Caribbecs smoked the dried leaves. In
1586 Sir Walter Raleigh and his colleagues, who had been unsuccessful in
founding a colony in America, brought back to England the custom of iising
tobacco; but until 1607, when the Jamestown Colony was planted, England
obtained the little tobacco which it used, indirectly, through the Spanianls,
from the West Indies. As the various nations of the world were using narcot-
ics and stimulants of various sorts, this new one had to fight its way into favor
against great prejudice. King James I. of England wrote a pamphlet in 1616,
vigorously denouncing its use; in 1624 Pope Urban VIII, decreed excommu-
nication to all who used snuff; in 1634 Russia affixed a penalty of cutting off
the nose for smoking tobacco ; and other nations restricted its importation,
culture, and use, in various ways, a favorite i)lan being to lay very heavy taxes
thereupon. Yet the use of the weed — which the American Indians smoked as
a solace to care, a cheer in idleness, and a token of fidelity around the council-
fire and at peace negotiations — soon became popular in Europe, and thus
spread all over the Old World, — into Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, the
Indies, and China. More than any other product of the soil, tobacco has an
unquestioned title exclusively to American origin.
The culture of tobacco was undertaken almost immediately by the first
settlers in Virginia; and it is recorded, that, in 1615, not only the gardens
and fields, but also the streets, of Jamestown, were planted therewith. It
OF TIfF. UNITED STATES.
9«
.[iiirkly l)cramc the staple- < rop of the colony. 'I'hc laws of the mother-
<(»iiiilry forhadc any maniifaduR's, even of necessary clothing; and tohacco
was soon found to be the most valuable of aj^'ricnltiiral products, cuitiv«tion
even wheat beinj; abandoned for its culture. IJy the year \(\22 o« tobacco
the product of Virginia had increased to sixty thousand pounds, " "' " '"
and it doubled in twenty years. Its culture was begun in llie l)ut< h colony of
New Netherlands (afterwards called New York) in 1646; but it never spread
very rapidly. Later, it was cultivated (|uite extensively in the neighborhood
(if I'hiladelphia. I-'rom Virginia tlie industry extended southward into the
Carolinas. The l-'renth corporation known as " The Company of the West "
SMOKIM. INsTKlMtN:s (M- All NATIONS.
introduced it into Louisiana in 1718. So rapiilly did the production increase
at first in Virginia, and so slowly was its consumption augmented abroad, that
prices fell, and the colonists could not make tobacco pay for their < lolhing.
\\\ 1639 the .Assembly ordered the product of the next two years to be burned,
except a hunilred anil twenty tliousand pounds, properly divided among the
planters, in order to check production and raise prices. A tract on Virginia,
printed in Ix)ndon in 1649, said that the price of ti)l)acco in the colony had
fallen to threepence a pound on account of the supply. In 1652 Cromwell
pa
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
i!« ij-
ordered all tobacco-plants in England to be destroyed, in order to give the
colonies a l)ettcr chance ; and the increasing popularity of the weed also
stimulated the production in the colonies again, and it made rapid strides.
In 1729 the proiluct of Virginia and Maryland had increased in quantity and
value, so as to be worth ;;^375,ooo; and a fleet of three hundred sail was
employed in its transportation. Ihe annual export from all the colonics for
the ten years prior to 1709 averaged 28,868,666 pounds; rmd from 1744
to 1776 the average was 40,000,000' pounds, or one-tenth of our i)rescnt
yield. Of this amount, more than three-quarters cai lo froiTi Virginia alone.
Prior to the Revolutionary war the planters had discovered that their
lands werr deteriorating; and from 1758, when Virginia exported 75,000
Increase of hogshcads, there was a falling-off for a nimibcr of years in
acreage until the amount raised on the original plantations. The acreage in-
'**"■ creased, however, extending into new States, notably Georgia and
Kentucky ; so that the total yield of the country kept about the same, or
increased slightly. In 1790 our exports were 118,460 hogsheads, — a figure
not reached again until 1840. In-
asmuch as domestic consumption
was increasing meantime, and the
taxes were enormous which foreign
countries imposed upon our tobacco
when imported by them, it is proba-
ble that our product increased at
least threefold during that period of
fifty years, — from something like
60,000,000 to over 200,000,000
pounds.
Between 1840 and 1850 tobacco
rulture remained almost at a stand-
still : indeed, the figures given by
the Agricultural Ikireau show a slight
Production falling-off. Thusini840
since 1840. the yij^id ^vjis 219,163,-
319 pounds, while in 1850 it was
but 199,752,655. During the next
decade, however, there was a very
marked development of the industry.
In that short time it attained double
dimensions, the returns for i860
being 434,209,461 pounds. Since that time it has been impossible to more than
approximate the yield, inasmuch as the heavy internal revenue-tax on tobacco
has induced producers to falsify their returns by diminishing them. Thus the
> Probably equivalent to ioo,aoo hogiheadii in that day. A hogihead now contains about i,ioo pound*.
TOBAtCU-I'l.AM.
If'
li Mi
OF THE UNITED STATES.
93
Effect of
emancipat-
census-statement for 1S70 gives 262,735,341 pounds as the total yield; but
tiie commissioner of agriculture estimates that it was at least 360,000,000 ;
and, as a further illustration, it may be stated, that in Ohio, in 1870, while the
returns to Federal census-takers aggregateil but 18,741,923 pounds, the State
assessors declared the crop to be 38,953,206 pounds. The returns for 1875
were 379,347,000 pounds; and, allowing for underrating in the statements, it
is safe to say that we raised something like 50c Joo,ooo or 600,000,000, or a
<|uartcr more than in i860. That we have mad< no more headway is ciiiefly
attributed by the old planters to the erriancipation of the slaves. They say
that the industrial demoralization attendant uj)on freeing the blacks
is felt far more by the tobacco-growers than by the cotton-growers,
it may be remarked, however, that, while the culture of cotton '"'*•"=
' slaves.
was almost entirely suspended during the war, the tobacco-interest
was but slightly alTecte<l, a small portion of the crop coming from Northern
States, and the Border States, which yielded the most, being largely free from
tiie depredations and paralysis of the pending conflict.
Though produced in all of the States, yet there were but fourteen, accord-
ing to the census of 1870, which yielded as much as one million pounds
apiece. Kentucky alone furnished forty per cent of the crop of 1870, and
oser thirty per cent of that of 1875. Kentucky and Virginia have, for twenty-
five years, raised more than half of the total product. The following table
shows the quantity produced in each State : —
STATES.
1850.
i860.
1870.
1875.
Kentucky ....
Virginia
Total ....
North Carolina
Tennessee ....
Missouri
M. try land ....
Ohio
Total. . . .
I'ennsylvania ....
Indiana
i'onnecticut ....
Massachusetts ....
Illinois
Other States ....
Grand total
55,501,196
56,803,227
112,304,423
".984.786
20,148,932
'7. "3.784
21,407,497
10,454,449
'93.4' 3.87'
6,338,784'
'99,752,655
108,102,433
'23.967.757
232,070,190
32.853.250
38.93'.277
25,086,196
38,410,965
25,528,972
392,880,850
41,328,611 »
434,209,461
105,305,869
38,086,364
'43.392,233
11,150,087
21,465,452
12,320,483
15.785.339
'8.741.973
221,855,567
40,879.774*
362,735,341
130,000,000
59, 240,000 »
189,240,000
14.750,000
35,000,000
40,000,000
22,000,000
13,500,000
314,490.000
16,000,000
12.750,000
9,900,000
8,500,000
8,000,000
9,7o7,ooo«
379,347.000
out I, soo pounds.
' Includes 1,140,000 from West Virginia. * Includes last five Suites above named, with those not named
at all in the table. * With the five Slates ab()ye named, makes 64,647,000.
amutmtm
I
If
wi
•1
, WKti
M
■ Wm
1
94
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
This irregularity of distribution will more clearly appear on a more minute
examination of returns. Thus one county in New Hami)shire (Cheshire)
Other fea- yielded nincty-seven per cint of the State's crop in 1370. Three
tures in pro- counties in Massachusetl , adjoining the Coimecticut River,
uction. yielded all but 23,610 of the 7,8:2,885 pounds raised in that
State. Connecticut grows some in each of her eight counties ; and yel
Hartford County produced 5,830,209 of the 8,328,798 pounds raised in the
State that year. In New-York State, three counties (Onondaga, Chemung, and
Steuben) yielded 1,884,048 out of 2,324.730 pounds. Pennsylvania produces
seven times what New York does ; and yet the great proportion of her yield
is confined io Bucks, Lancaster, and York Counties ; while nine-tenths of
what is grown in Bucks County is produced in the immediate vicinity of the
old William Penn mansion, in Falls Township. In 1869 three-fourths of
Ohio's yield was inside of one county (Montgomery) ; although the next year
the crop was so disseminated, that, according to the returns, ten counties
produced only a trifle over half. In the great tobacco belt, of course, the
distribution is considerably more even in proportion to the whole yield ; yet
the difference between the yield of the several towns in a county is often-
times very marked.
Among the more marked minor changes in the production of tobacco
is the development of the yield in Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Con-
Production nccticut, and Massachusetts, within the past twenty-five years,
by States. Ohio had already come to grow it largely prior to 1850. 'I"hc
two States next west, doubtless, were incited to the experiment more by her
example than by any thing else. In New Kngland the culture is confined
mostly to the Connecticut and Housatonic Valleys ; though tobacco-raising
vt'as scarcely known there even in 1850. Massachusetts yielded but 138,426
pounds that year j while in i860 she produced 3,233,198, and now raises more
than 8,000,000 pounds annually. Pennsylvania raised but 912,651 pounds in
1850; but in 1875 her crop amounted to 16,000,000 pounds. New York re-
turned 83,189 pounds as her yield in 1850. In 1869 the figures were
8,500,000 : since then they have greatly declined. This decline, as also that
to be noticed in some of the other States, is probably less than is returned.
Coming to the more productive regions, it is to be observed that Maryland,
North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee have bravely held their own during the
past quarter of r century, on the whole, though not doing as well now as they
did formerly. Virginia, long the chief producer, has been compelled to take
a second place in the line ; and Kentucky has come to the head of the pro-
cession. This westward movement of the centre of production is also
noticeable in the growth of Missouri's ])roduction.
The vari'.'ties of tobacco raised in the Unitetl States differ somewhat
according to the section. Connecticut yields a light-coloreil, fine-fibred leaf,
which niP! -s particularly good wrappers, and which is exported largely to
OF THE UNITED STATES.
95
Havana for the famous Havana cigars. This variety is used also for the fillers
of a cheaper grade of cigars. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,
and Ohio mostly raise the Connecticut seed-leaf; although West- varieties of
field, Mass., has a cross between the Connecticut and Cuban ; tobacco
and Ohio has also the so-called " Baltimore Cuba," and some of ^'own.
the stronger, heavier Virginia and Kentucky varieties, which are cut or pressed
for chewing, and are exported. Gadsden County, Florida, has alone succeed-
ed in raising the Cuban tobacco in all its excellence. It has a narrow leaf,
and possesses the peculiar aroma and delicious fragrance that characterize
ilie genuine Havana cigar. The northern counties of North Carolina raise
particularly fine wrappers, being both light-colored and of fine texture. In
otiier parts of the State, coarser, ranker kinds are cultivated. In
Maryland two principal varieties are noticeable, — the broad and
narrow leaf. The former commands the higher price ; but the
latter yields the greater quantity. Only a little is used for wrap-
]H,'rs : most of it is used for the fillers of strong cigars, snuff,
and as plug and twist for chewing. It is exported largely, es-
pecially to France. When cured, it varies in co/or from a bright
yellow to nutmeg or mahogany. The same is the case with Vir-
ginia's product and Kentucky's, which are of coarse texture and
great pungency. These three States are the principal exporters of the leaf.
W'e have already remarked, that, previous to the Revolution, tobacco was
for a long time our most valuable export ; and our export constituted, doubt-
less, nearly or quite three-fourths of our production. Our export
of 1790, which was 118,460 hogsheads, was not reached again
nominally until 1840, although in the interim the quantity contained in a
hogshead materially increased. A hogshead of tobacco now averages between
1,200 and 1,450 pounds. Herewith we give a statement of our exports since
1840: —
HOGSHEADS.
1840 119,484
I84I 147,828
1842 158,710
'843 94.454
1844 163,042
1845 I47.I68
•846 147.998
1847 378,440
1848 130,665
1849 101,531
'850 145.729
'851 95,945
'852 "37.097
•853 159.853
1854 126,107
'855 150,213
Exports.
96
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
J
i
J
^l|
HOGSHEADS.
1856 116,962
1857 156,848
1858 127,670
1859 198,846
i860 167,274
I86I 160,816
1862 107,233
1863 111,896
1864 109,905
1865 149.032
POUNDS.
1866 190,826,248
1867 184,803,065
1868 206,020,504
1869 181,527,630
1870 185,748,881
I87I 215,667,604
•872 234,936,892
•873 213,995,176
1874 318,097,804
1875 223,901,913
1876 218,310,265
1877 282,386,426
Our present export amounts to more than two-thirds of the crop-returns,
but probably amounts to scarcely, if any, more than half our real production,
wher the ^^^ value of our tobacco export is upwards of twenty million
export goes, dollars. Most of the product goes abroad in the form of leaf-
■nd in what tobacco : only a small proportion of it is manufactured. Some
of the raw material comes back to us worked up, though but
little. Most of our little import is of foreign varieties, desired for their pecul-
iar flavors. The great bulk of our export goes to England, France, Holland,
and Germany. In the large cities, there are extensive cigar-manufactories.
In England, the tobacco from America is chiefly for chewing. Scotland's im-
port is largely converted into snuff".
It is worth noticing, in connection with our exports of tobacco, that Euro-
pean countries impose a very heavy tax upon the American article ; England's
Foreign duty ^''^^ amounting to seventy-five cents a pound, and the average
upon to- duty on the bulk of American tobacco imported into all Europe
*"°' being about fifty cents a pound. In some of those countries the
cultivation of the plant is prohibited, in order that the government may get
the full benefit of this source of revenue. In 1859 the United States made
an unsuccessful attempt to secure the repeal of these taxes. Were they once
removed, undoubtedly our exports, and consequently our production, would
be greatly increased. . ;
OF THE UNITED STATES.
BADS.
962
848
670
846
.274
,816
.233
,896
1,905
1.032
DS.
3,248
3,065
3,504
7.630
8,881
7,604
,6,892
>S.«76
)7.8o4
)i.9'3
10,265
56,426
crop-returns,
I production,
venty million
form of leaf-
tured. Some
1, though but
ir their pecul-
.nce, Holland,
manufactories.
Scotland's im-
CO, that Euro-
;le; England's
id the average
Uo all Europe
: countries the
iment may get
:d States made
Vere they once
duction, would
It is estimated that the world's production of tobacco to-day is 4,500,-
000,000 pounds. Could we get at the truth, we should doubtless find that the
United States produce more than one-ninth of this. Most coun- worid'* pro-
tries that produce it either use up their own supply, like Mexico, «>"<:«o««-
or call for even more, as do France and Germany. This country is, therefore,
the main resource of Northern Europe.
Already our tobacco-crop is worth forty million dollars or more to us.
Were we able to secure its free admission into foreign countries, and were we
to resort to improved culture, restoring the soil where impov- value of
erished, this industry might attain a development almost beyond Americaa
calculation. *'"'
The several ways of using tobacco are too well known to require descrip-
tion. It may be worth while, however, to note how the " hard times " have
affected thosfc who indulge in this luxury. In the cigar-trade Cigariand
there has been a large decrease in sales, and cigarettes have grown c't"*"**'
in popular favor. The sale of cigarettes, until a year and a half ago, was an
unimportant item in trade, and they were kept more as a matter of conven-
ience for fashionable people than as a profitable investment. Heretofore
there were only a few brands, and the majority were of foreign manufacture :
now a hundred and twenty-one diflerent brands find a ready sale in the
market, two-thirds of which have been manufactured within the past eighteen
months. During the year 1877 the trade of New- York retail dealers in this
line increased two hundred per cent. That the habit of smoking tobacco in
tliis form is resorted to as a matter of economy is plainly shown by the fact
that old customers who were wont to purchase cigars of a superior quality
are now content with those of an inferior grade. Cigar-manufacturers, on
the contrary, deny that cigarettes are taking the place of cigars, and, while
admitting the great increase in the sale of cigarettes, regard it as a fashion
among smokers, and not as a matter of economy. They further declare, that
the greatest economy is shown by the trade in the purchase of inferior cigars.
The high-priced cigars once largely sold are now manufactured in smaller
(juantities, owing to the hard times. This does not include the very finest
(juality of Havana cigars, which were heretofore obtained almost exclusively
from abroad. Their manufacture is now carried on in this country, and, to a
great extent, has usurped the trade formerly confined to Havana and Key
\Vcst, because here they can be made and sold much cheaper. The manu-
facturers at those places are said to have become greatly alarmed at the
increasing trade in fine cigars in this country. Domestic manufacturers
affirm, in relation to the prevailing custom of cigarette-smoking, that it is
injurious, because certain poisonous ingredients are used in preparing the
paper of which the outer covering is made. Statistics at Washington show a
very large decrease in the manufacture and importation of cigars last year
in comparison with that of the previous year. According to the Bureau of
98
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Statistics, the total number of cigars and clieroots upon which the internal-
revenue tax was paid during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, was
1,828,807,396. This is a decrease of nearly 98,000,000 cigars from the year
previous. The amount of cigars manufactured and imported in this countr)'
during the year 1875 reached nearly 2,000,000,000. The value of the im-
ported cigars consumed in the United States during 1876 amounted to
12,289,712.89, and of snuff to J!i8,470.
a--
4:
!'i
: t
OF THE UNITED STATES.
n
CHAPTER VIII.
GRASS AND HAY.
THE hay-industry appears to have been forced upon the early colonists in
this country immediately upon their occupation. This was especially the
case in the Northern and Eastern States, where the winters were _ ,,, ,,
' Cultivation
long and severe, and where tlierc was great danger of the cattle of Braiie*
and horses dying of starvation. In those days the implements ^^ "''^
for cutting and gathering it were the simple scythe, rake, and
pilchfork. The grasses utilized were native, and grew wild, either on upland
meadows or sea-marshes. In England the clover and other " artificial "
IIAV-LOADEK.
grasses were cultivated before the native and real grasses ; but the reverse
was the case in this country. It was not until about a century ago, either,
that any attempt worth noting was made to sow grass-seed, and reduce its
culture to a science.
lOO
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
i
Timothy.
Probably the most nutritious hay in this country is made from the so-
called "Timothy-grass," which is named after Timothy Hanson, who carried
the seed of it from New York to Virginia and Carolina about the
middle of the last century. It is also known as Herd's-grass,
especially in New England. Jared Eliot says that a man named Herd found
it growing in a swamp near Piscataqua, N.H., early in the eighteenth century.
In England it was already known and cultivated, and it is said to have been
taken to Virginia by Peter Wynche in 1760. The Hungarian millet, which
has been moderately cultivated within a few years past, was introduced by
the Dejiartment of Agriculture. Ancjther importation is the orchard- grass, or
rough cock's-foot, common the world over, and introduced into Virginia from
England in 1 764, and which afterwards obtained a wide popularity farther north.
It endures drought admirably, yields a luxuriant aftermath, and affords excel-
lent pasturage. Clover, which is a forage i)lant of the leguminous family, and
not a genuine grass, was likewise imported into this country. )
The varieties of native grass in this country are almost innumerable,
though but few have any agricultural value. Among the earliest known and
Varieties of "i^st esteemed is the Kentucky blue-grass, widely prevalent in
early the West and in New P^ngland. It thrives best on limestone soils,
erasiet. ^^^ j^ ^.^,^ fattening. Cattle and horses fed thereon are usually
the choicest-looking stock. It is an early and vigorous plant, and makes
a i)ermanent turf. It is prized both for hay and pasturage. The red-top,
sometimes called Herd's-grass, in Pennsylvania and farther south is quite a
favorite, but is generally mixed with Timothy and clover. A grass called
" English bent," indigenous to the Connecticut Valley, and swamp wire or
fowl meadow, are two local New-England varieties. Besides these, the salt-
marsh, goose or creeping sea-meadow, is frequently grown at the seaside, and,
mixed with other hay, is regarded as excellent fodder. Most of the wild
prairie-grasses, while affording good pasturage, are not eligible for hay. In
the Far ^\■est, mostly in the Territories, the plains are coverec! with a short,
curly, native vegetation, called "gramma," or "buffalo-grass." It is the
natural and princii)al food of the bison, and cattle are fond of it. It is not
gathered, however, as hay.
The increasing demand for fodder for live-stock, and the improvement in
implements for cutting and curing hay, — the mower, horse-rake, tedder, and
horse-fork, — have, within the present century, given a great stim-
ulus to the hay-business. In the Southern States little attention
is given to it, because the stock can be pastured so large a part
of the season ; but, in the North, the severity of the season com-
pels the farmer to devote more attention thereto. There is a large
demand for hay, too, in the cities, where horses are stall-fed the year round,
and where large numbers of these animals are employed for private and public
conveyance and cartage. The villages and smaller cities in agricultural dis-
Causes of
increase of
cultivation
and con-
Bumption.
by th(
Corn
Wheat
Hay
OF THE UNITED STATES.
lOl
le SO-
:anicd
ut the
i-grass,
found
entury.
been
, which
ced by
p-ass, or
ia from
:r north,
s excel-
lily, and
merable,
awn and
ralent in
one soils,
e usually
d makes
red-top,
(luite a
called
wire or
the salt-
side, and,
the wild
hay. In
a short.
It is the
It is not
vement in
idder, and
great stim-
attention
•ge a part
ason com-
is a large
^ear round,
and public
ultural dis-
iss
CLOVBR-HULUtR.
tricts are generally supplied by cartage from bams and stacks in the adja-
cent country. For the larjje cities hay is pressed into bales, and it forms a
prominent article of
domestic commerce.
It is consumed, how-
ever, almost exclu-
sively at home.
Our census-returns
indiuled no mention
of our hay-crop prior
to 1840, in which year
the total product was ?1
reported at 10,248,- ■jf'
108 tons; in 1850 it ^.
was 13,838,642 ; in
i860 it was 19,083,-
896 ; in 1870 it was
27,316,048, and in 1875 the scarcely larger sura of 27,873,600 tons. Of this
amount New York produced nearly one-fifth (namely, 4,900,000 tons), and
Pennsylvania 2,400,000, or about half that quantity. Illinois statittieiof
came second in rank, with 3,050,000 tons. Ohio and Iowa each P'oducHon-
raised nearly 2,000,000 tons ; while Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Indiana, and
Wisconsin each raised over
1,000,000 tons. The rest was
distributed throughout the North
and West.
With the exception of wheat
and corn, there are no crops in
this country which equal hay in
value; although in 1875 wheat
threatened to step from the third
to the second rank as regards
value, where it was already in
point of acreage, as will be seen
HORSE-RAKE.
by the following comparison : —
•.■;.■.! ' \' ... \\
• .874.
1875.
• f '..'...tt )-
ACREAGE.
VALUE.
ACRBAGB.
VALUE.
Corn . ,. i- .
Wheat.
Hay ... .
4434 >. 37 1
26,381,512
23.507.964
#555.445.930
294,580,990
342,203,445
49.033.364
27,627,021
25,282,797
JS475,49i."o
300,259,300
300,901,253
I03
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
i
n
CHAPTER IX.
MINOR CROPS.
BARLEY grows wild in Sicily, Asia, and the United States, but is among
the very earliest cultivated cereals of the world. In this country there
g are two varieties, two-rowed and foiir-rowetl ; but in Kurope a kind
among the is grown which has six rows of kernels in a head, and is without
oldest ^i^j, jj^yf, Qp beard, which characterizes other barley. This is t'en-
cerealt.
erally planted in the fall, ours in the sjjring. In remote times it
was used largely for a coarse bread, and is now used to some extent abroad for
feeding horses. Its principal use at the present time is for malt ; and, as our
crops are not sufficient for our needs, we are obliged to import in addition to
our own yield.
Barley was sown by Gosnold on Elizabeth Islands, Mass., in 1602, and by
the Jamestown settlers in Virginia in 161 1; but in the latter region it soon
Cultivation gave jjlace to tobacco-culture. Good crops of it were raised in
bycoioniitt. Massachusetts in 1630. Small samples were sent out from the
Dutch colony of New Netherlands in 1626. In 1796 it was Rhode Island's
principal crop. It never gained a very extensive foothold in this country,
and its culture has been chiefly in those States which give the most attention
to grains. In 1840 we raised 4,161,504 bushels : in 1850 the amount returned
was 5,167,015. The census of i860 stated the total yield at 15,825,898, and
that of 1870 at 29,761,305 bushels. From the table of minor crops appended
to this chapter, it will be seen that California is the leading producer of this
grain, with New York second, and the grain States of the North-West following
closely.
Of all the grains, the oat most nearly resembles grass in appearance.
There is but one principal variety, — the common oat, which is thought to
have originated in Mesopotamia. It grows in cold climates and sterile soils,
and is highly prized in Northern Europe as an article of human
food, being used in the form of meal for porridge and small cakes,
and as grits, or groats, for gruel. In this country, however, it is principally
used as horse-feed. The straw is regarded as good fodder for milch-cows.
The crop is generally regarded as an exhausting one.
Oata.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
10$
wild oati.
A wild oat seems to he indigenous to California, whce hundreds of thou-
sands of acres are covered with it. The Indians gather it, and use it as any
other seed. Karly travellers used to call it pin-grass. The culti-
vated variety was introduced into this country liy Oosnold in 1602,
.ind it attained a much more extensive culture than either barley or rye. Of
late years the Department of Agriculture has done much to disseminate choice
varieties of seed for experiment, as also of barley. The census- statiitict o(
returns of 1840 put the total product of the country at 123,071,- p«"o«>uc»»on.
541 bushels: in 1850 it had increased to 146,584,179, in i860 to 172,643,-
185, and in 1870 to 282,107,157 bushels. Its distribution is more largely
ill the central and Ohio-valley sections of the Northern States. As will be
>een from the table appemled to this chapter, the last census showed Illinois
to be the leading i)roducer, with Pennsylvania second. New York a close third,
and the Western grain States next in order. Our oat-crop is almost entirely
consumed at home, and the exports are very light.
THKESIIBK, iiUI'AKATOK, AND CLBANIR.
Rya.
Rye ranks next to wheat, among the grains, as an article of human diet in
this country. In ancient Britain they were planted together. It grows on
sterile soils in high latitudes, and is not only the prevailing grain
of Northern Europe, but is also prevalent in the colder parts of
the United States. In bread-making, rye-flour is usually mixed with In-
dian-meal ; and the product is still very popular, though old-fashioned, with
the rural classes of New England. The grain is largely used, also, for the
distillation of whiskey ; and the straw is preferred above all others for stuffing
beds. There are several varieties of it ; and, like wheat, it is planted both in
the fall and spring.
It was used in this country as early as 1648, perhaps 1630; and in 1796
no less thin 50,614 barrels of rye-meal, representing five times as many bush-
104
INDUSTRIAL I/IS TORY
Buckwheat.
els of grain, were exported from Philadelphia alone. In 1801 the total export
from the whole country was hut 392,276 bushels. Its «:ultivation spread pretty
incrcai* of generally over the Northern States. IJeing well adapted to sterile
cultivation, jjoils, and not very exhaustive, it has retained a good foothold in
the Kast. Wheat so largely supplanted it, however, that the increase in the
crop has been very gradual, no real headway having been made at all for nearly
forty years.
Thus the total product in 1840 was 18,645,567 bushels; in 1850 it had
statiiticiof fallen to 14,188,813; in i860 it had risen to 21,101,380; but in
production. 1870 it was down to 16,918,793, at which time Pennsylvania was
the largest jjroducer. New York second, and Illinois third. It .still has a good
show in New Ilngland, but is more largely cultivated in the Western grain
States. Our total jjroduct is not consumed at home, and there is a slight
export of it to Kurope.
Buckwheat, like rye, is generally a secondary crop in this country. In
some j)laces it is grown simply for the honey it gives the bees.
The grain is used chiefly in flour, for pancakes.
It was broui'ht to this country by the Dutch West-India Company, and
sown on Manhattan Island for horse-feed. The Swedes also cultivateil it in
Early hii- New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It has been grown chiefly for
♦•"y- home-consumption, and the extension of the volume of the cro|>
has been very slow. The (piantity raised in 1840 was returned at 7,291,743
bushels; in 1850 it was 8,956,912; in i860 it was 17,571,818; but in 1870
only 9,821,721, of which New York and I'ennsylvania raised fully two-thirds,
the former rather more than the latter. The rest was pretty evenly distributed
among the Northern States.
Pease and beans have been grown in moderate quantity in this countr}-
both for the table and for cattle-fodder. Gosnold planted them in 1602, and
Peaie and (he Dutch raised them in 1 644 ; but it is known that the natives
beam. cultivated them before the white settlers did. On the South-Atlan-
tic coast they soon became popular, and from those colonies were exported in
moderate quantities before the Revolution. Thus North Carolina exported
10,000 bushels in 1753; South Carolina, 9,162 in 1754; and Savannah, 400
in 1755. The total exports of the two for twenty years prior to 181 7 averaged
90,000 bushels. In 1850 the total product of the country was 9,219,901
bushels; in i860 it was 15,061,995 ; but by 1870, like several of the minor
grain-crops, it fell off again, the census-returns being 5,746,027.
The two kinds of potatoes, Irish and sweet, are said to have originated in
this country, although the fact is not established ; and the two varieties are
somewhat confused in, early accounts. It is said that Raleigh took
back the potato to England in 1586; and the Spaniards are said
to have found the people of Quito eating a tuber, which answers the descrip-
tion of the sweet-potato, thirty or forty years before ; and by these explorers
Potatoes.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
««l
fOTAT(>t)l«;iN0 rLOUCH.
the plant was introduced to Kiirope, l)ecoming very pf)pular in Spain, France,
ami Italy, and even going to Asia. The ciiltiirt- of the swcct-|)otato has been
tinifincd principally to the Southern States of lliis country, though it has been
f^rown extensively in New Jersey, and even in l^ght loamy soils near Moston.
riif Irish j)otato, however, which is by far the most abundant, is mostly con-
fined to the North-
ern States, from New
l!ngland westward.
Neither kind attained
much prominence
until about the mid-
dle of the last cen-
lury, when we began
to make some slight
exports, and have
(untinued to do so
to the present ilay.
Among our exports
of vegetable food-stufls, the potato ranks next to wheat and corn. Owin^
to the effects of wet weather, dry-rot, the i>otato-fly, and of late years the
Colorado beeUe, this crop has fluctuated largely. The census of 1840 re-
turned 108,398,060 bushels of both kinds of potatoes as the
American product; in 1850 it h.id fallen off to 104,056,044,
owing to disease. In i860 we raised 111,148,867 bushels of Irish potatoes,
and 43,095,036 of sweet. In 1870 we produced 143.337.473 of the for-
mer, and 31,709,824 of the latter. In 1874 the crop of Irish potatoes was
166,000,000 bushels ; but the consecpient low prices, and the depredations of
the potato-bug, cut the crop of 1875 ilown to 125,000,000. The distribution
of the crop of 1870 is shown in the table a|)pen(led to this chapter.
Although hops grow wild in this country in some of the I-'astern States and
in the Mississippi and Missouri Valleys, the first ones cultivated in America
were from imported roots. Tliey were grown for home-use in
Massachusetts in 1638 or 1639, in New York in 1646, and in
Virginia in 1648; their culture being encouraged by governmental bounties
in the last-named colony in 1657. This branch of industry, however, grew
slowly, as the careless modes of picking and packing practised in America
N])oiled our market. But, at the close of the last century, the present system
of baling was resorted to ; and subsequendy something like a careful inspec-
tion and sorting was adopted. In 1806 Massachusetts created an office called
Inspector-General of Hops. The development of hop-growing has been con-
fined chiefly to the last two or three decades. In 1840 we produced 1,238,-
503 pounds; in 1850, 3,497,029; in i860, 10,991,996, of which New- York
State raised more than nine-tenths ; and in 1 8 70 the product had increased to
Statlitict.
Hop*.
io6
1^•D us TRIAL HIS TOJi V
25,456,669 pounds. A heavy export-demand between 1850 and i860 rather
stimulated the production ; though the inauguration of the system of stretching
wires from j)ole to pole, instead of using isolated poles, by Thomas D. Ayls-
worth of Herkimer County, New York, and other causes, seemed to confine the
industry chiefly to that State. During the latter part of the next decade the
crop in the East fared
poorly three or four
years in succession ;
and this gave the
Wisconsin farmers a
chance, which they
handsomely im-
proved. In 1870
New York produceil
only two-thirds of the
total yield, and Wis-
consin nearly one-
fifth : the rest was
distributed among the
Northern States. At-
tempts have been
made recently to cul-
tivate hops in the
' Southern States, but
with little success. In California, however, the hop-crop is beginning to
assume prominence, both for quantity and quality ; the price being the highest
of any hops raised in America.
Our exportation has been very uneven. American hops are rather stronger
and ranker than those of England and Bavaria, and are not sought for, except
Export of when the crops in Europe are short. Thus in 1855 we exported
hop*. a trifle over four million pounds, whereas during no previous ye.nr
had we exported much more than a quarter of a million pounds. In 1856
the export was but a trifle over a million, and in 1857 a trifle under a
million. During the next twenty years the crop gradually reached and passed
the figures of 1855. In 1875 we exported 5,331,950, and in 1876 nearly
9,000,000 pounds.
Flax, the fibre from which linen is made, grows wild in nearly all countries
of the globe, but was probably cultivated first in Egypt. It is very largely
grown in the north of Europe ; Russia, Belgium, and Ireland
having a wide reputation for the quantity and quality of their
product. The plant has other uses too. Its seed yields a valuable oil for
painting and burning, — namely, the linseed-oil ; and the refuse oil-cake, as
also the ground meal, ere highly prized as fodder for cattle. The seed is used
roDDBR-CUTTEK.
Flax.
OF TI/E UNITED STATES.
107
Hemp.
medicinally, and in several other exceedingly useful ways. It was first grown
in the New Netherlands, or New York, in this country, in 1626, in Massa-
chusetts in 1629, and in Virginia before 1648. The British Parliament offered
bounties for its culture by the patentees of Georgia in 1 733, 1 743, and 1 749.
I'ennsylvania raised a sufficient crop to export 70,000 bushels of flaxseed
in 1752, and by 1771 had increased the amount to 110,41'. Prior to and
immediately after the Revolution, flax was prized more highly relatively than
now, because cotton had not yet been utilized ; and the colonists prepared,
spun, and wove the fibre in almost every household.
Hemp, a different though similar plant, producing a coarser fibre, used
(hiefly for cordage, had a parallel hiiitory to that of flax in the early days of
tliis country. Seed was brought to Plymouth Colony, and planted,
as early as 1629. Bounties were offered for its culture by Virginia
.md Penns' ania ; but in the former tobacco was found to be more profita-
ble, and soon supplanted hemp almost altogether. New Jersey gave great
attention to hemp previous to the Revolution. Afterwards both flax and
licnip were prominent in the crops of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri,
which, between twenty-five and fifty years ago, were the leading producers in
the United States, although other Northern and the Eastern States continued
to raise them both in small (juantities.
Inasmuch as our i)ro(luct of hemp, ilax, and jute, — a coarse India fibre
resembling iiemp, and used for cheap bagging, —^ h^s fallen short of our neeils,
and our importation has always been large, amounting in the
aggregate at the present time to a value of over thirty million
dollars, the Department of Agriculture has given great attention to these plants,
and greatly encouraged their culture. It was found some fifteen years ago
that the India jute was being largely imported into this country for bagging ;
and inasmuch as the West needed the fibre for wool and grain shipments, and
the South for cotton, those sections were urgetl to cultivate the new plant.
This the South has come to do with marked success, though not to any very
great extent. In the West it was found that four-fifths of the tow fibre left
after removing the flax was wasted ; yet it was far stronger for bagging than
jute. Accordingly, the number of mills for utilizing it increased, and the waste
was lessened.
Since the breaking-out of the war, the fate of the flax and hemp crops has
l)ecn widely different : the former has increased, while the latter has sadly
declined. In 1850 our total hemp-crop amounted to 34,871 FUxand
tons; by 1859' the yield had increased again to 74,493, of which •»««"?•
Kentucky produced 39,409, and Missouri 19,268; but in 1870 it had fallen
to 12,746 tons, of which these two States together contributed five-sixths.
In 1850 the total yield of flax was 7,709,676 pounds, and 562,312 bushels of
seed; in 1859' the returns were only 4,720,145 pounds of flax, and 566,867
Jute.
I Cenius of i860.
■H
1 08
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
,K:S2
Ramie.
bushels of seed; but in 1870 the crop was 27,133,034 pounds of flax, and
Distribution 1.730.444 bushcls of seed.
of minor On the opposite page we give a table showing the distribution
crops. pj- jj^g niinor crops thus far treated for 1870.
It is not out of place to say something here concerning the production of
ramie, — a grass which is now being utilized in India.* More than seventy
years ago, attention was first directed to the properties of a fibre
which to many persons has since been made familiar as the
material out of which the fabric known as Chinese or Indian grass-cloth is
manufactured. Experiments were soon after made, under the auspices of the
British Admiralty, to test the strength of this fibre ; the result of which showed,
that, in whatever way the test is applied, the grass is three times stronger
than the best Russian hemp, while it is also much lighter. For all the
purposes for which hemp is used it was admitted to be very much superior.
In consecjuence of difficulties that arose in the process of preparation,
the matter remained a long time in abeyance. It was not until the last
Russian war that the subject received fresh notice. International strife has
often been the stimulus to new discoveries. When French ports were
blockaded, and French commerce was destroyed, in the days of the first
Napoleon, French physicians found a good substitute for ipecacuanha in the
root of the violet. Our own civil war stimulated the production of cotton in
Egypt, India, and the Pacific islands. The Russian war, cutting off the
supply of flax from Western Europe, led to the increased cultivation of jute
in India, and to its extended use and application ; at the same time, it turned
attention anew to the Indian-grass as another substitute ; and, although it is
only recently that any practical result has seemed likely, it promises now to
develop into an important source of industry.
In addition to the great strength of the fibre, it has a remarkable power of
resistance to the influence of moisture. Compared with other fibres, it may
almost be said to be indestructible. It is as fine as flax, and presents a glossy
lustre more nearly resembling silk. Manufacturers give it an intermediate
position between animal and vegetable fibres ; and those who have interested
themselves about it appear to consider it as an equal if not superior substitute
for flax, and very much superior in every respect to hemp. The chief reason
why it has not been sooner brought into use lies in the difficulty that has
hitherto been encountered in the preparation. Six years ago the Indian Gov-
ernment offered a premium equal to twenty-five thousand dollars for the
best machine for separating the fibre from the stems. This was, however, only
partially successful. Only one machine was sent in, and that only partly met
the requirements. At that time it was thought that only the green sterns could
be operated upon ; but it has since been shown that this is a mistake. The
dried stems afford a fibre equal in strength and durability, and only inferior in
> This account of ramie is drawn from Tlie New- York Times, Aug, 17, 1875.
1 " 3(W ff 3 "
; • . 3'3 2.
fS* 5
j %i
- > M 00 C
I CI
■ T*
Si O 9^>0 >0 Ui W Wi \«i
w» ■^ * 14 W *• OOW o* c
N W Ut LH UJ H V
■ OnW «• 0\ m <
1^
I, *<
5p<> W *Q '0 »- i w i
•M CT* CT»W1 O" CO^ -"^ M .#1,
t^\.
■*; * "^ " w 'J ■:>\f\ u* ^o
♦ '■J\ 00«0 Ul M O M
0'\^ _P W S4 ^fc, Jo^ I
^tX
M «0 * w - w -. - -
^■C 00 ot«i
• vtJt
1 *
* l*j M 00 ' •
w ir
M
W M
^0
^
■ Si
it
MM..
\" ■
•
M
OJ
' ■
H t
l#i M > .
OF THE UNITED STATES.
109
■■r f^»- ■ M^i' ■•■■■■■ i £■■'
::.::::::.:;;:■::.?:::::::.:::::::: :::i::::::::
5-
i
M O OOWl W •■ I.-
«0 M ^ >C W M <
« CO** COOOO O^OW^
• ^ 3^'
W CO 1/1
Oh H Ui OJ VI
00 o> "^
i>i U* -Nl 00'
p 09
Chi M M Cj
9>^ ►• OOM
I O '^ »< ^z* ^ 0* T^ui wi O wi
H 4> 9<<^ W Wi 9^ *" 'O M OQ
I 0^<0 '0\t\ OWVlW OVI
* M^C O^Q*W'»^*'^ -*"^(j(vC' M<-" ** M-O O'C QOO Ij
04 OJ "^ O C^'sjl 'si O 00-^ 0O« ■^■-•no.^O'^UiQOO-^
JVi M ^ ^ 00^ vCl^WUJvn M4k O^ O^i^ -^ >^. O ■* ^ 00 M 9^^ 0< W Cj Cn ^C Oi ^
«U1U1 •« O^Hviw a>-« 9^^ M.^ WWUi MW M*0 v^^^ O CO*^ Wt O "^ -^ VI
M Ut M M (>4 VJ U1
■*• 00> ^ ^ M -^ CO
i^l
t/1 vj i^ M <^ M OOUJ ^ O '^ Ut 9> M 10 ^"^ LU '
Oi Cj ^ M 0- go go*Q '-" ^ i w ui "
ui »• -Kj ^ V* w
K "^ *
S-S':
^ O^W ■» O^ M <
. in Ul «k I
■ U> "^ l/» Ln ^^ M '
M Ul
W I
O •• 00 Ui Lfi u v^''4 'Ji ^ ^ N I
) ui i^ W ■^ "^i 00 00 O^'O W> -^ I
^ 4» I^MOUIM ^4k MM,,
Oou ui<^ -^ hmmOO'^ UiO Ui :>M»jai 00^ o^ Cht -^ ^C o 00
00<O Vh'Q*0*« Xu*^M V>Cj mO ypl3>C)^>c'M '(>V C| "q 'cp'o M ik 00^ M op ' i^ '
<C ■* '•'«1^^*W M^<k4^^ QUJ M teo<» 00'>4 O0>n M u> Ut <& 0<t>i (T>4> M UJ OJ C' Q
«4 O^ O^tn 9' 00* ^ Mi^WVI Mte O OW-^Ut M 00M« 00<^ tO*<4UiOWa>M»«'w* W<
59
OS
e
n
^ ^ ^ M M u C^ui UJO<^vn^M<^ 00ts)<^^<^^*C^ O^Ul ^m Ul Q0<^ >• t^ iy> OC
kUt^O W M M^i^ OOO'^UiUi'O »« 9«Mi^^ M4k C^-'J m ut C" W 00 ?-« U* &-^
^ •- it C" 00 o^ "b 00 "■■ * 'o Ci "b Cj i Cn
o o c^ow ovooo o^>^ 4k
9 M M Ui I
fvO U1 M <
U) <»• U> I
M OO^'* 4- mQUjm-vj UMLnyiO M M
SA'^^ui CiCnMvj MW^Ci'o 0\"*J oj^jisuji M t>J ^M*0 4b
3 OcyO UJ* 0"*>JUtiOUJM4.MWUJ-»J ^«c * M «o * O'O ■* M Ovi CO li >■ M
M M 00-^ U) UI Ul to tO M OO-*- OJ 00^ Wi-><^»*M4kC^^ mC'vIM 0^ •-•^ »J
9, H 1^1 -^ 004» ^W W »J -^ U) '^ 00 QO'vt •-•■^^ M^^kW ■■ 0'>4«» M O 0^Q>O C>0*^<-'< ** (JOJVi »■ Q0> n --mv,
M M Q •" Wi M * OOOJ tn Q Ot »■ - 00 W ■* * 00-^ C^ 00 ^-tC 4k 0*^ Ch pi U ^ *C ^0* ■■ <7>hi*^^4> W>CM 1
'm i* -I
• M UI M MO
OD O ■*' W U* "^ '
O0\J\ U •• M « '
<- ^ o ^
0*0
i0*^'O<^Oi uiCnMi
I UI 0>-0 W M In 3^ -^ I
^'^ N M C
)4> Of Ui C
)V/i (> 00 •'
*
Uj o\
Ui >o
?"
UI (5^>o 4k
w
M >0
;ii:
*^ I
u» ■
5
Ui 9>
ON -4
M •* UI CT'^0 -^W*^ •-'U' H»»l (r>
1/1 Ui )0 Oi 04 Q UI Q ■■ <rfj <4' O 4k
Ui U £ M •^ 9.^ 0<« Ui M UI -* •
UI 4k v| u>
lO W 00 •* M 01
MO O UI
ijl — «0 •'J 4* '
UI i>U1 UI M
<0 uj w <n <^ M
H M UI CD M •-• -^ ,
M Ui ■»
xO t*i '-• 00 O
W 9> M ,
UI *0 w O-
-•I « ui -^ *'
N b Ci ^ 'Os *
04k -* -I 5
00 00 M o> *
i-SSg""
1?
1^
C3.
11
n 6
f1
3 3
I lO
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
gloss, and for these the existing machinery for flax and hemp is found to be
well adapted ; so that, while the best cloth will probably be made in India, or
wherever the plant is grown, the manufacture can be made to succeed wher-
ever the stems are imported. It is the knowledge of this fact that has given a
new impulse to the discovery. The Indian CJovernment is encouraging the
cultivation on a large scale. Within the last few months a great deal of new
machinery for the manufacture ha? been patented. Practical men are busily
at work, and in a short time there is little doubt but that manufactured articles
from this fibre will be placed upon the market. It is looked upon already
as one of the most useful staples, and as likely to take the place, either as a
substitute for or in combination with cotton, flax, hemp, jute, wool, or silk, and
to be valuable, also, in the mar facture of paper and for other minor uses.
The discovery cannot, however, be regarded as of much value to our
people unless the plant can be produced here. If this cannot be done, it will
be more likely to benefit the British manufacturer and Indian grower, at some
cost to our own. This is, therefore, an important aspect of the question. It
is not quite settled whether the Indian and the Chinese fibres are produced by
exactly the same plants. If they are (which is most probable), the Chinese
product has a little the advantage of the other in the market. This shows
tliat either climate or cultivation has, even there, something to do with the
quality of the fibre. The plant grows very freely, however, in India; and
experiments on a small scale indicate that it can be made equally successfii!
in Australia. It also flourishes wherever it has been tried on the coast of the
Mediterranean, and sonie very fair samples of the fibre have been grown in
the south of Franco. With care, it has been grown in England ; but it never
can be produced there on any scale for commercial jjurposes.
It is reasonable from this to conclude that there are many parts of the
United States where it could be cultivated on a large scale with advantage.
Its jiroduction in the South might become a new source of wealth, second
only, if not superior, to cotton. It would be necessary, in the first instance, to
start upon practical information, obtained in India, in regard to the best
methods of cultivation. About this there fn be no difficulty ; and, whetiici-
or not it be ultimately found that the soil and climate of this country arc
suitable, the subject is one which eminently deserves the careful consideration
of persons who arc interested in the maintenance of our manufacturing in-
terests.
Rice ranks nexi to wheat as the grain-food of human beings, taking the
whole world into consideration, although it forms the staple of the diet
of less civilized nations than the wheat-consumers. It is most
commonly raised in India and China, although Ceylon and Java
produce it in large quantities also. It is cultivated, too, in France, Himgary,
and other parts of Europe, and in the United State.^ and South America. It
is rather a tropical plant, although it grows as far north as the Ohio River ;
Rice.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Ill
the
diet
most
Java
gary.
It
ivcr ;
and a wild rice covers thousands of acres in the northern part of Minnesota,
furnishing a very palatable food to the Indians. Though resembling wheat
in the height, form, and appearance of the plant, and its harvesting and
threshing, yet it usually grows in marshy lands. An upland rice is found in
Maryland and Virginia, like that of Cochin ; but it yields only fifteen or twenty
bushels to the acre. Rice has also been grown on the sides of the Himalayas,
between three thousand and four thousand feet above the level of the sea.
I'he principal growth, however, is in the swamps, and, in this country, near the
rivers and sea, where, by a carefully-adjusted system of gateways, the land can
be flooded or drained as occasion requires, and where from forty to sixty
bushels an acre are produced.
Rice was introduced into Virginia by Sir William Berkeley in 1647, who,
from half a bushel of imported seed, raised sixteen bushels of grain. South
Carolina, the great rice State of this country, got its seed by Early cuiti-
accident from a sailing-vessel from Madagascar in 1694. In vatiooof
1718 the Company of the West introduced it into Louisiana. """
Threshing-machines to separate the grain from tlie straw were brought hither
from Scotland in 181 1: they were operated by wind-power, and cleaned five
himdred bushels a day. Later, Cal-
vin Emmons of New York invented
a machine with toothed beaters,
which cleaned from seven hundred
and fifty to eight hundred bushels
a day. This process leaves the grain
with a thin hull on ; and in this
condition it is calletl " paddy," or
" rough rice." Our export is chiefly
in that form. To complete the work
of cleaning, the rice goes tbrough
another mill, between stones and
under jjoiuiders like those of a
(juartz-mill. Formerly rice was
cleaned by hand in pitch-pine
mortars holding a bushel, by means
of an iron-shod pesde. Nearly every
large plantation has one of the new
mills for cleaning.
The climax of our rice-culture
was reached in the year 7850, when
we raised 215,313,497 pounds, of which South Carolina is credited with 159,-
930,613 pounds, Ceorgia with 38,950,691, North Carolina with statittieaot
5,465,868, Louisiana with 4,425,349, and the other Southern production.
States together with less than 7,000,000. The returns of i860, showing the
KK IMin.I.KH.
112
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
crop of the previous year, gave a total of onljt 187,167,032 pounds, of which
South Carolina produced 119,100,528, Georgia 52,507,652, North Carolina
7,593,976, Louisiana 6,331,257, and the other States together less than 2,000,-
000. In South Carolina all but 2,765,729 pounds were raised in Georgetown,
Colleton, Charleston, and Beaufort Counties, the first-named yielding nearly
half of the whole. Nine-tenths of Georgia's yield that year was confined to
Chatham, Camden, Mcintosh, and Glynn Counties, the first-named producing
full half of the whole. In 1870 the total crop of the country was scarcely a
third of what it was twenty years before. It was returned at 73,635,001
pounds, of which quantity South Carolina produced 32,304,825, — less than
half, instead of three-quarters of the whole, as in 1850, — Georgia 22,277,380,
Louisiana 15,854,012, North Carolina but 2,059,281, and the other States
less than 1,000,000 pounds.
The effect of the war was to nearly annihilate this industry, labor being
Effect of war demoralized, the dams, gates, and mills getting sadly out of repair,
upon this and the rice-fields growing up with weeds. Since the war the
in uitry. recuperation has been slow, but sure ; the negroes coming to take
a proprietary interest in the culture, and Louisiana doing much to extend and
develop this branch of agriculture.
Prior to the war we exported from a third to a half of our crop, the aver-
age for 1850-60 being 60,000,000 pounds a year, valued at nearly |2,ooo,ooo.
Export! and During and since the war we imported to nearly the same extent,
imports. u^til about 1 8 70, when the increased home-production cut down
the imports very perceptibly.
Before concluding this chapter, a word or two is needed in respect to
the cultivation of that luscious fruit, the orange. In Florida Nature pro-
duces this fruit in greatest perfection, and within a few years the
cultivation of oranges there has rapidly developed. It is said
that almost everybody in the St. John's River country is engaged in trying
to raise the golden fruit. Very few groves are in bearing ; indeed, it has
been asserted, upon good authority, that between Jacksonville and Enterprise,
a distance of two hundred miles, there are only about two hundred acres of
producing trees : but the large profits realized from the old groves has in-
duced the settlers to stake every thing upon the venture of rearing orchards
of their own. Nine men out of ten are nursing young orchards, and waiting
impatiently for them to yield some return for the money and time expended.
It takes from six to ten years to bring an orange-tree to bearing. The
cost of making a grove is very heavy. In the first place, the land, if on the
river, is held at fancy prices. Comparatively little of it is adapted for orange-
culture, and a good site commands from a hundred dollars to two hundred
dollars an acre in its wild state. To clear off the heavy growth of timber, and
get the stumps out, costs from fifty dollars to a hundred dollars an acre more.
Then the young trees for planting are worth from thirty-five cents to a
Orangea.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
113
dollar apiece, and at least fifty dollars an acre must be spent before the grove
is planted. Afterward it requires a yearly expenditure of about fifty cents a
tree, or fifty dollars an acre, to keep the growing orchard in good condition ;
for the orange-tree is like a tender child, and requires constant petting, nurs-
ing, and doctoring to make it thrive. By the time the settler has paid for nis
land, started a grove of five acres, and built himself a house, he has spent six
thousand or seven thousand dollars at least. The interest on his money, the
constant expense for the care of his trees, and the support of his family, will
bring his first investment up to a large figure by the time he begins to sell
oranges. Still, if he has the money and the patience to remain, and the frost
does not kill his trees, he will, in the end, realize a handsome competency. A
grove of trees in full bearing is an independent fortune. An old tree produces
from a thousand to two thousand oranges a year, when there is no failure of
the crop ; and the fruit sells from a cent and a half to three cents apiece at the
grove. The prospect of getting twenty dollars a year from a tree is very fasci-
nating. Counting a hundred trees to the acre, a very small amount of land
can at this rate be made the source of a fortune. There are other sides to
this picture not so pleasant to contemplate ; yet let these not be seen while
tlic reader longs for the sweet groves and the still more delicate and healthful
fruit.
XI4
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER X.
NEAT-CATTLE.
THE histor)' of ncat-cattlc raising in this countr)' naturally divides itself
into the two epochs wiien we bred only native < attle, and when we
began the improvement of our stock by the importation of foreign breeds.
In England, the country which has given more attention than any other to
Native the improvement of this class of live-stock, comparatively little
cattle. scientific breeding to develop special characteristics was practised
until a hundred and fifty years ago ; and none worth mentioning was under-
taken in the United States until after the Revolution. The cattle which
are commonly termed " native cattle " in this country are the product of an
indiscriminate mixture of several varieties of foreign cattle, — two or three not
very distinct British breeds, Swedish, Dutch, French, and Spanish; and so
thoroughly have these original importations been crossed and intermingled, so
poorly pronounced were the characteristics of the parent stock, and so modi-
fied were such characteristics, not only by cross-breeding, but also by the
hardships of the climate and their owners' neglect in the early colonial days,
that our native cattle have come to be a distinct breed by themselves.
The first cattle in Massachusetts were the heifers and a bull iirought thither
in 1624 by Gov. F^dward W'inslow. Twelve more cows were brought to Cape
„, Ann in 1626, thirty more in 1620, and a hundred in i6?o. These
tationito last wcrc kept at Salem, antl were for the "governor and com-
pany of Massachusetts Hay." The stock bred from the impor-
tation of 1624 was divided u]) among the colonists three years
later. The breed of these cattle is not known ; but they are spoken of as
black, white, and brindle. Several importations of cattle were made by Capt.
John Mason into New Hampshire in 1631-33 ; and, as he carried on consid-
erable trade with Denmark, his cattle were mostly Danish. They were large,
well adapted for working in the yoke, and of a uniformly yellow color. Some
of the breed were kept pure until 1820; and, though they were crossed more
or less with other stock, they gave a prevailing cast to most early New-
England cattle. Connecticut obtained her first cattle from Massachusetts,
tliough perhaps a few from New York, and a few by direct importation.
New
England
OF THE UNITED STATES.
"5
hither
Cape
These
coiii-
impor-
years
of as
Capt.
;onsid-
; large,
Some
1 more
New-
lusetts,
The first cattle brought to New York were imported by I'ieter Evertsen
Iluist, vmder the auspices of the Dutch West-India Company, in 1625.
'I'iiese came from the Island of Texel, off Holland, and were _ , ,
l)lack-and-white Dutch cattle. The Swedes, settling in Delaware, portationa
brouL'ht cattle from their mother-country : and the Dutch in New *f ^T^„,
° •' York, Vlr-
Jersey got their stock from New York, where, in 1627, a milch ginia, and
( o\v was worth thirty pounds, and a pair of working-oxen forty °*''"'
colonldf
pounds. William Penn encouraged the importation and breeding
of ( attle on liis purchase at an early date. Virginia had cattle of her own
in 16 10, brought from the West Indies, where their killing was legally prohib-
ited, by Sir Ralph Lane. The next year a hundred head were imported
from Devonshire and Hertfordshire, luig. In 1620 there were five hundred
licad in Virginia, and most of them were bigger than the ])arent stock.
Maryland probably obtained most of her cattle from Virginia at first. The
first importations into South Carolina were from iMigland in 1670; but Ceor-
gia, a much younger colony, had none until 1732.
Colunil)us had brouglit cattle to the West Indies in 1493, which, with later
importations, were of Spanisii breeds. These were largely introduced into
Mexico, and form the basis of our present Texan stock. From importa-
thcse, doul)tless, were derived the cattle which the Indians on Red tioniby
River are known to have had in 1690. The Portuguese landed °'"'"''ua.
tattle on the Island of Newfoundland in 1553 ; but no trace exists of them
now. The French brought Norman
< attic into /Xcadia in 1604, and into
C!anada in 1608. These were small,
^'cntle stock ; and several animals of
this breed were introduced into the
" .\merican bottom " in Illinois in
16S2, where they increased rajjidly.
Cattle at first multiplied very fast
in this country. Gov. Hutchinson of
Massachuietts says, that, in 1632, no
farmer was satisfied to do without a
cow ; and there was in New P^ngland
not only a domestic but an ex])ort
ilrmand for the West Rapjj
indies, which led to increase of
1. reeding for sale. But """'
the market was soon overstocked,
and the price of cattle went down
from fifteen and twenty pounds to
five pounds ; and milk was a penny a quart. Virginia is known to have had a
somewhat similar experience ; for in 1639 she had 30,000 head of neat-cattle,
FODDER-CUTTER.
ii6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Poor care
taken ol
them in the
beginning.
and only 30,000 ten years later. Maryland liad so many, notwithstanding a
loss of 25,000 by pestilence, in 1O94 and 1695, that there was left a great |)lenty.
Just before the Revolution, the cattle of the Carolinas and (ieurgia, rather
small and neglected, were so plenty, that they were driven up to Pennsyl-
vania to fatten for the butchers, and sold theic for one and two guineas ajjiece.
During the first twenty-five or fifty years of our colonial history, very little
shelter or care was taken of the cattle in the winter time. The cows were
not milked, there being a common belief that it would kill them
at that season. No stables were built for them, especially in the
Middle and South .Atlantic States ; and they wandered at large.
No special fodder was given them, either ; and they were obliged
to pick up what they could on the roadsides anil in the fieUls. Many a farmer
lost twenty or thirty herd from neglect every spring ; and it is a mutter of
record that ten thousand head of cattle diel in South Carolina, in the year
1 73 1, simply from hunger and cold. From this same cause, pestilence, or
the gradual decline of breeding, a scarcity was again noticeable in New Jersey
and New Kngland along toward 1 700.
The principal value attached to cattle for a long period of our colonial
uistory was for their hides. The several assemblies enacted laws to encourage
Hid th '''*^ tanning of leather, to prohibit its importation, and even regulate
principal the shoemaking business. Farmers u.sed to take their hides to a
currier, have them tanned and returned, an<l then let itinerant
shoemakers work them up into foot-gear for the family. Besides,
there were tanners and shoemakers who did «n indepentlent business. (Jxen
were very extensively used, too, in hauling logs, ploughing, carting stones and
farm-produce, and in other ways. Cattle were used almost exclusively for
farm-la or in the colonial days, so scarce and costly were horses ; and even
in the present generation, in New England, working-oxen are very numerous.
As the settlements grew in size, and cities began to develop, there sprang up
a demand for cattle for beef. In 1651 the town of Fairfield,
Conn., butchered 100 cattle. In New York, in 1678, 400 a year
was the average number slaughtered ; and in 1694 it was 4,000.
In 1680 beef brought about twopence and a half a pound. The domestic
dairy, ' jo, was an important institution. The farmers all made a little butter
and cheese for home use, and took a little to the cities to exchange for other
merchandise. Butter was quoted at sixpence a pound in Connecticut in
1680. Quite a little cheese-business was built up too. There is a record
of 13,000 pounds of cheese having been sold from one farm in Rhode Island
s ientific '" '75° ' ^"*^ ^"^ another farm seventy-three cows are rejjortcd to
breeding of have yielded 10,000 pounds of butter in five months, or about
one pound apiece per day.
During the last half of the last century, and early in this, the
business of breeding cattle on scientific principles developed very rapidly
value o(
early ttock
Railing
cattle for
beef.
cattle in
England.
in England
since been
implies, the
s(|iiare-conK
a hide colo
they are ch
<|iialities. 'I
red, shai)ely
t'> fatten wc
cliiefly knowr
others. The
in color, ver
adajjted to a
the richness
name in the I:
like the Alder
and piebald, :
cers. The Fn
or less of a re
of Spain, are r
have not been
I'robably t
ported and br
numerous in t
more common
horns importer
1 793. and to \
took some of
in the blue-gra:
Lexington, Ky
breed; and C;
From these pui
and the two w
in this century
stock-raising A
tucky's examp
sional importat
formed in the
was %,2oo, all
were brought t(
sold. Prices r:*
animal would
amount dividec
Hill:
OF THE UNITED STATES,
U|
Durham.
Alderney.
Jertey.
Ayrihire.
in England. Among the most prominent breeds that were then and have
.since been known there was the Durham, or sliort-horn. As the name
inijjlies, the horns are short ; while the body looks very nearly
siiuare-cornered from the side, if one omits legs and head ; and
a hitle colored a dark-red piebald. They run heavily to b(.cf, for which
they are chiefly prized ; though special families have shown good dairy
(jualities. They need pretty good pasturage, however. The Devons arc
red, shapely, with medium-sized horns, a soft mellow hide, a tendency
to fatten well, and a marked adaptation to work. The (".alloways are
( liicfly known by their lack of horns, and are not so highly prized as some
others. The Alderneys are light-red or yellow mixed with white
in <'olor, very dainty and graceful in shape, lightly built, well
adapted to a thin pasturage, poor beef-producers and workers, but noted for
tlie richness of their milk. The Jerseys, from the island of that
name in the British Channel, are small, and of Norman extraction
like the Alderneys, they are greatly prized by dairymen. The Ayrshires, roan
and piebald, are also highly esteemed as milk and butter produ-
cers. The French, Hungarian, Swiss, and Italian cattle have more
or less of a reputation on the Continent, but, like the Andalusian fighting-bulls
of Spain, are not so valuable for industrial purposes as the PLnglish stock, and
have not been imported at all by American stock-raisers.
I'robably the short-horns, or Durhams, have been more extensively im-
ported and bred with native stock than any other foreign breed ; but, while
numerous in the Eastern and Middle Atlantic States, they are far _ .
' ■' Durham!
more common in the Ohio Valley. Almost the first pure short- moitexten>
horns imported were those brought to Virginia by a Mr. Miller in "'veiy im-
1 793, and to Maryland by Mr. Gough the same year. Mr. Patton
took some of these cattle to Kentucky in 1797, and they were widely known
in the blue-grass region as "Patton stock." In 181 7 Col. Lewis Sanders of
Lexington, Ky., imported three bulls and three heifers of the short-horn
breed ; and Capt. Smith soon had another bull and heifer of the same sort.
From these pure stock was derived, and crosses made with the Patton stock ;
and the two were the parentage of the choicest Kentucky breeds. Very early
in this century that section of ihe country gave great attention to
stock-raising for the Eastern market, and Ohio followed Ken-
tucky's example in improving her stock. Individuals made occa-
sional importations prior to 1834, in which year a company was
formed in the Scioto Valley for this especial purpose. The .imount subscribed
was ;^9,2oo, all of which was invested abroad in pure short-horns. The cattle
were brought to the company's farm, and used at first for breeding, and then
sold. Prices ran everywhere from %2'^Q to ^2,500 ; and very often the same
animal would be sold again in a short time at a decided advance. The
amount divided by the company three years after organization was 1^25,760.
Attention
paid to sub-
ject in Ken>
tucky.
^^y
ii8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
■
ii
III
This plan was imitated afterwards in Kentucky and other sections of the conn-
try. Short-horns were Ijroii^ht into Westchester County, New York, as early
as 1793 and 1796. The breed was not kept pure long, tliouglitheir descend-
ants are recognizable to-day. Other importations were made into New York
in 1815, 1.S16, and 1822, and still others more recently. In 1824 Mr. Powell
of I'hikidelphia commenced importing short-horns, and continued to breed and
sell them extensively for many years. In 1818 a short-horn bull, "Ctelebs,"
and a heifer, " Flora," were introduced into Massachusetts by Mr. Coolidge,
and sold to Col. S;xmiiel Jatpies of Sor.ierville in 1820.
Selecting particularly fme native cows, Col. Jaques effected a cross with
this bull, and developed a breed long kept pure, and called " Cream- Pots."
Col. jaquet'i 'I'hey gave extraordinarily rich milk. Col. Jatjues thus describes
experiment!. .,„ experiment made with the milk of one of his cows by the fore-
man of his stock-(;irm : ".After milking he took two quarts of her milk out
of the pail, strained it into a pan, and allowed it to stand twenty-four hours.
Having then skimmed the cream into a bowl, he churned it with a spoon ; and
in one minute, by the clock, he formed the butter. It was then pressed and
worked in the usual way, and amounted to half a pound of pure butter. After
this, the following practice was pursued for eight or ten weeks in succession :
At each of four successive milkings two quarts of the strippings were strained
into a pan, and then churned. The average time of churning did not exceed
ten minutes : in some instances the buttc" was formed in five minutes. After
being properly worked over it was wei^' t*''. and it never fell short of two
pounds."
Stephen Williams of Northborough, Mass., imported a fine
short-horn bull in 18 18, which became the sire of much grade
stock. Other short-horns were taken into that State in 1820.
The breed like luxuriant pasturage, and have never proved very
popular in New Kngland.
t « n Since 1840 short-horns have been imported in even greater
of ihort- numbers than ever before, and so numerously that specific men-
tion is unnecessary.
In 181 7 the Hon. Henry Clay of Kentucky attempted to
introduce the Hereford stock into that State. They yield less beef, but require
Henry '^^^ pasturage than short-horns, and are poorly adapted to the
Clay's im- dairy. The enterprise never succeeded very well, and the stock
portat one. ^^^ ^^^ ]fjQ^\. pure very long. Admiral Coffin presented a Here-
ford bull to the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture in 1824.
The animal was kept at Northampton, and left a numerous progeny. Five
bulls and seventeen cows and heifers were imported by Messrs. Corning &
Lotham of Albany in 1840. Other importations were added to this herd
later. Animals of this breed have been introduced elsewhere j but they have
never attained any marked prominence or popularity.
■ m' ■' • - . ■
Stephen
WiUiami't
importa-
tioni.
horn* since
1B40.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
1x9
The Devons have hecn brought here and bred more numerously. The
impression that the native Ncw-Kiiyland stock is of Devon extraction seems to
he due to the f^ict that it is mostly red, and not to the possession importation
of real Devon traits. Ihe Massachusetts Society for Promoting "' D'vom.
Ajjriiiilture has imported some North Devons within the past thirty years; but
wliilc iiandsome animals, good gra/icrs, and fine working-cattle, they have not
-.hown the dairy (lualilies <lesired in New I'lngland. Mr. Patterson of Haiti-
more, before the middle of this century, had begun breeding Devons expressly
for milk, and greatly improved his stock in this regard. The Devons are said
to he the favorite improved stock in the South : but as tiie farmers of that
sec tion give little attention to beef-raising, the dairy, or even soiling, cattle-
breeding has attracted less attention there than elsewhere ; though the exten-
sive breeding of native cattle in Texas forms an important exception to the
general rule.
.Alderneys, A)Tshires, and Jerseys have long Veen bred in the old country,
with a view to developing their milk-produc ing ([ualities. They excel rather
in richness than in (pianlity of milk, for which reason they are prized more by
the butter-makers than by the cheese-manufacturers : although the _ „ ,
' ' ° Qualitlei o(
Ayrshires are good milkers. .'V letter from Richard Mavis to the several
secretary of the l'hiladeli)hia Society for the Promotion of Agri- •"**••» "'
cult'ire, dated January, 1817, mentions a pure .Mderney recently
imported and owned by him, which so excelled in the richness of its milk,
even upon poor feed, that he deemed it worth being published. This cow
gave eight pounds of butter a week for a long period. Alderneys are great
favorites with small flirmers, and gentlemen living in small cities and keejjing
cows. ,\yrshires have been introduced into New Kngland and New York
since 1830, and rather more extensively since 1850. So, too, with the Jer-
seys. Mr. John P. Gushing of Massachusetts imported an Ayrshire which gave
3,864 (|uarts of milk in a year, or an average of nearly eleven quarts a day for
the whole twelve months. The Ayrshire generally makes a better return in
milk for her feed than any other breed. The first Ayrshire imported by the
Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture yielded sixteen pounds of
butter a week, on grass-feed, for several successive weeks. Grade Ayrshires
are almost as valuable as. the pure-blooded animals, and are consequently
much sought after. Jerseys have been imported by the Massachusetts Society
for Promoting Agriculture since 1850, and by individuals in New England,
New York, and Maryland. In 1853 there were but seventy-five pure-bred
animals in Massachusetts ; but since then they have rapidly multiplied in that
section, in the New- York dairy-regions, and elsewhere.
There have also been some slight importations of Galloways and Holsteins.
There has been rather more uniformity in the increase of the number
of cattle in this country during the past century than in some other kinds of
live-stock. The most marked development of interest of which we have
^1
Ul
\'h'^
f'C"
n
?'^1js
'■
1 20
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
I
y
data was be^een 1850 and i860. We have no record of the number of
Uniformity "^^'^'^ '" 1840, unfortunately; and it was a little prior to that
of increase time that the great impulse in the beef-raising business began to
hi United jjg f^j^ ']'j^g special start taken by the dairy-interest was not
until later. In another chapter we consider the history of the
clieese and butter business by itself. ;
/■ (!
The beef-producing industry is one of the largest and oldest-established
branches of American agriculture. Beef is the great staple among fresh meats
for the bettei
of the extens
great impetus
improvement!
latter influenc
has increased
j)ast few years
It is almo!
lies of owners
peddling busi
familiar. The
a great dema
cities are pro
fed on swill ai
made to the n
pains are takei
into town by r
trains having L
all directions, i
the cans next (
carried on.
Before the
to the more \
quicker metho(
use was matle
rcciuisition by t
lakes to New
was unattendet
Ohio basin an
weight and qu,
west of the M
there is reason
great extension
Herewith \\
States for a few
Milch cows
Oxen and other c;
4i\
OF THE UNITED STATES.
121
for the better class of people. As we have already remarked, the opening up
of the extensive Ohio and Mississippi Valleys to emigration gave Beef-produ-
great impetus to stock-raising in those sections : so, too, did the cing indu*-
improvements in our grasses and in the breeding of cattle ; which *'*''
latter influence, together with the growing custom of fattening cattle on corn,
has increased the weight and value of our beeves very decidedly within the
])ast few years.
It is almost impossible to estimate the value of milk consumed in the fami-
lies of owners of catde ; nor is it necessary to describe the milk- conaump-
peddling business of the smaller towns, with which everyone is tionofmiik.
familiar. The consumption of this fluid in the larger cities necessarily creates
a great demand, which must be supplied from the adjacent country. Such
cities are provided with stables, where the cattle, in immense numbers, are
fed on swill and distillery refuse. Of late years so great objection has been
made to the milk produced, on account of its unwholesomeness, that greater
pains are taken to obtain milk from the rural regions. This is now brought
into town by railroad ; the large cans which are placed on the morning milk-
trains having been picked up along a route of fifty and a hundred miles, from
all directions, in accordance with a preconcerted plan. The city agents return
the cans next day to the owners ; and thus a regular and extensive business is
carried on.
Before the great railroad era of the West, the cattle were brought eastward,
to the more populous sections of the country, in large droves. After the
quicker methods of transportation for other freights were provided, Raiiroadt
use was made of them for cattle. The railroads were put into and driving
reciuisition by the drovers all the way from Texas and the upper '^"" '"
lakes to New York and Boston. The immense increase in stock in Texas
was unattended with imjirovement in (juality ; but the cattle of the
Ohio basin and other Western sections showed marked gain in
weight and quality. In view of the vast pasturage to be found
west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, in the buflalo ranges,
there is reason to believe that our cattle-interest is yet capable of
great extension as ihe market therefor is opened.
Herewith we give a statement of the number of cattle in the United
States for a few years past : —
Improve-
ment of neat-
catUe in
Texas and
other Statea.
1850.
isej.
1870.
1876.
Milch cows ....
Oxcii and other cattle
6.385,094
I ',393.289
8,585.735
17,034,284
8,935.332
14,885,276
11,260,800
17,956,100
Total.
17,778.383
25,6.!C,c>t9
23,820,608
30,216,900
\
ll
\ ,
11
!i
li
132
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
From this it will be seen, that, between i860 and 1870, there was a slight
falling-off in the total number, although the dairj'-interest held its own. The
Increase in ^^'^'^ ^^ chiefly in the States where the civil war raged. Mean-
number in time, in the other sections, there was a slight increase in the aver-
recent years, ^g^ weight. Since 1870 there has been a marked increase in
numbers, the proportion bf.ing rather higher in milch cows than in other
cattle. At the present time. New York has the largest number of cows, —
1,526,200;' Pennsylvania comes next, with 845,300; Illinois, 724,900; Ohio,
700,000; Iowa, 665,300; and Texas just above, and Wisconsin just below,
500,000. Of other cattle, Texas has altogether the most, — 3,390,500 ; Illinois
ranks second, with 1,287,000 ; California, which has rather dropped the dairy-
interest she took up twenty years ago, and gone to beef-raising, comes next,
with 1,053,500; Iowa has 958,800; Missouri, 846,300; Ohio, 775,000;
Indiana, 764,000; Pennsylvania, 701,000; and New York, 663,200. Kansas
is the only other having over 500,000.
As they stand, our cows are worth ^27.32 apiece on the average, or ^[307,-
Vaiueof 743.211 in all ; the other neat-cattle are reckoned at %\i.\o each,
neat-cattle, qj. $307,105,386 : making a total capital, invested in this class of
live-stock, of $6 14,848,59 7.'
As will be seen from our chapt-/ on the dairy-interest, our products in
that department amount annually to $211,000,000. It is estimated that the
average number of beeves killed between 1870 and 1875 in this country was
at least 5,000,000 annually. Butchers estimate that beeves average 1,000
Value of dai- pounds live Weight, and that >i\\Qfivc <iuarterF (the hide' and tallow
ry products, count for a quarter) weigh three-fifths of that, or 600 pounds.
This, at an average of seven cents for beef, hide, and t How, makes a yield of
^210,000,000. Mr. A. A. Kennard of Baltimore, of the statistical committee
of the National Dairy Association, estimates the fresh-milk product of the
country to be worth $250,000,000. If to these we add, at a venture, $79-
000,000 for the condensed milk, fertilizers, and lampblack made from the
blood and offal, the glue and bone material derived from the refuse, we shall
have a total income from our neat-cattle of $740,000,000.
A very interesting phase of our cattle-raising industry is the new export-
trade begun in fresh beef. Europe, crowded with population largely engaged
Export of in manufacturing, naturally calls on us for agricultural food-
''**'• products. We have sent her cereals, fruit<5. dairy-products, and
smoked and cured meats, for many years. In 1875 the experiment of ship-
• Figures of 1876.
' Thete are the figures of the commissioner of agriculture in his report for the year ending June 30, 1876.
Mr, A, A. Kennard of Baltimore estimated the milch cows of the country to be worth $480,000,000 in March,
1878; and a like increase in the estimates for other cattle would make the total value of all neat-cattle in the
United Stales little if any short of $1,000,000,000,
' The extent of our trade in hides we coiuider under the head of Leather, in the department of manufac-
turers.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
123
l)ing fresh beef in refrigerators was tried ; and so marked was the success
attending it, that a rapid building-up of this particular branch of business has
ensued.
The attempt was first made to satisfy the demands of growers and shippers
for an enlarged market and higher prices for fresh beef. Yankee History of
ingenuity and t!ie Yankee spirit of adventure soon found a way to the business,
meet this demand.
On the nth of February, 1875, John J. Hate of New York shipped twelve
{[ u a r t e r s of beef,
twelve sheep, and six
iiogs, to Liverpool by
the steamer "Baltic."
The meat was kept
rool and fresh by fun-
blowers operated by
hand. It arrived in
good condition ; and
the attempt was re-
newed in June and
August on a larger
scale, the fans being
operated by steam.
Taking the business
off Mr. Hate's hands,
Mr. Timothy C. East-
man undertook the
enterprise systemati-
cally in October of
that year, when he
exported forty - five
cattle and fifty sheep.
In December he
doubled the number of beeves, and since then has steadily increased the
(juantity, and made weekly shipments.
Mr. Eastman ships to Queenstown, Glasgow, and Liverpool, where arrange-
ments have been made for sending it to his markets in Dublin, London, Man-
chester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Dundee, and Edinburgh.
He keeps the meat fresh by a process invented and patented by Mode of ship-
Mr. Bate. Special refrigerators are constructed between the pingbeef.
decks of the steamships of the Williams and (luion, White-Star, and Anchor
Lines ; and a fan-blower run by steam keeps the inside air in constant
circulation around the meat. The quarters are neatly wrapped in can-
vas, and kept in " chilling-houses," or large refrigerators, before shipment j
CHICAGO STOCK-VAKIl?;.
Si'^ '■'
ja||^««illiMMk
124
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
eign mar
kets.
and, when put aboard the vessels, the temperature is kept down to thirty-
eight degrees, or six degrees above freezing. The cold to which the meat
is subjected at first closes the pores, or sears it, so that it is not as susceptible
to heat and taint as freshly-killed meat. Not a single quarter of the many
Mr. Eastman has shipped has arrived tainted. It also looks as fresh and bright
as newly-killed beef, nor does it lose any of its flavor.
(]illett & Sherman, another large New-York shipping-firm, prepare their
beef on the New-Jersey side of the river, and use a diflerent process. They
send by the Cunard, Inman, and National Lines. Samuels & Company and
Daniel To(Tcy & Company are also shipping from New York on a smaller
scale. Philadelpiua and Portland are following New York's example.
This beef sells in foreign markets at sevenpence and eightpence a pound ;
which is twopence, threepence, and fourpence below the price of
ized in for- home-raised beef in England. Its introduction, therefore, caused
a profound sensation ; and the British butchers combined to stop
the importation, but without success. The Queen, the Prince of
Wales, the Lord-Mayor of London, the Governor of the Bank of England,
and the leading press, have tried the American oeef, and declare it fully equal
to that raised at home.
An idea of the sudden growth of this business may be derived from the
Amount and ^^'^^> *'^^* '" October, 1875, the shipments of fresh beef amounted
value of to 36,000 pounds; the next October they aggregated 2,719,685
.hipments. po^^ds . ^hile for the month of March, 1877, they were 6,707,855
pounds. For the year ending Dec. 31, 1877, they were 55,362,793 pounds,
valued at $5,244,668.'
Following up their success in this line, stock-dealers have also undertaken
the shipment of live cattle to Europe ; and it is thought the experiment will
Export of prove a success. Prior to the v. inter of 1877 beef-cattle had not
live-stock. \)Q^f^xi shipped to foreign countries from the United States on
account of the expense, the risk incurred, and the monopoly of the Eastern
markets by European stock-raisers. Canada, however, has been exporting live-
stock to the mother-country for some time, and with such success, that New-
York and Philadelphia merchants are now trying the experiment. The ship-
ment of live-stock across the ocean has made necessary the construction of
apartments on vessels c}uite different from any thing heretofore in use. Porta-
ble stalls, in which the cattle are fastened, have been specially made, so
arranged as to give room for eating and drinking, and to be movable, with the
cattle in them, to different parts of the vessel. The stock is thus brought
upon deck for several hours each day, and given the benefit of the fresh sea-
air. The new arrangement is strictly an American invention, and its friends
I If to these figures one adds $3,847,447, the value of salted beef, $4,S37>4Ss for butter, $i3,ss9,V78 for
cheese, $133,343 for condensed milk, $1,848,555 for hides, $6,513,569 for tallow, and $19,356 for glue, he will
(nd that our bovine product exports amount to about $35,000,000 annually. - - ^ — . ,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
"5
are confident that its introduction will open Europe and every part of the
globe as a market for the stock-raisers of America.
While science has thus triumphed in transporting fresh meats for a long
distance, it has also won another victory in preserving them for a very long
period, and in so compact a form as to be easily transported all over the world,
tliii;; economizing vastly the sources of supply ; inasmuch as thou- compressed
sands of cattle were formerly slaughtered in South America, Aus- ">"ts.
tralia, and Texas, for their horns, hides, and tallow, while their flesh was lost,
because no way was known of preserving it. This problem of keeping
meat for a long time is an old one among scientists, and Professor Liebig's
"extract of beef" has been followed by numerous imitations. The chief
objection to Liebig's '"extract of beef" and its imitations has been, that it
could be used only in liquid form. It is only recently that the preservation
of solid meats has been possible. A New- York company has a uniijue process
lor this purpose. The beef, or other meat, is first dried by a patent blowing
and steam-evaporating process, after the removal of all bone, and fatty or
gristly substances. It is then packed in extremely thin slices, which will retain
tlu-ir good (jualities for an unlimited period in any climate. In fiict, nothing
remains in the meats that can decay, h. cjuarter of a pound of it is equal to
a pound of solid meat.
I'he manufacture of compressed cooked meats is a new industry in this
country. It began two years ago, and has now assumed almost gigantic pro-
{jortions. England has received cooked meats from .\ustralia for twenty years ;
but the process there differs greatly from the American method, m^f^^ ^f
'I'he American meats, however, bring better prices in P^ngland manuUc-
to-day, and bid fair to outstrip all foreign articles. .About 750,000 '"'"'
cans per month are produced by the two .American houses, and from 3,000 to
4,000 cattle per weelc are slaughtered in Chicago for this purpose. For the
( anning of corned-beef and beef-tongues only the best materials are selected,
tough and stringy parts being discarded. The Western States naturally lead
tlie way in this industry, as they are nearer the main sources of supply and the
fertile grazing-lands of the North-West. The live animals are brought to
Cliicago, and, after inspection, are slaughtered in the abattoirs of the company.
The carcasses are cut into the recpiired weight, and the bone, sinew, and
gristle eliminated. After another inspection, the meats are ready for the curing
])rocess. The best portions of the meat are exposed to the action of steam
in imiTiense wooden vats. Metal vats would be very undesirable, on account
of the liability to mineral poisoning. The beef is then packed in strong tin
(ans of various sizes, containing two, four, six, and fourteen pounds each.
They are hermetically sealed, and the contents will keep pure and fresh in any
climate for many years. They have none of that musty flavor which was for-
merly inseparable from canned meats, and retain their flavor a long time after
being removed from their metallic envelops. The Australian method of can-
126
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
ning differs from the American in this, that the former cooks the meat whole
in cans, while the latter cooks it in small pieces in wooden vats, as already
described. The Australian cans often present a peculiar appearance after
the cooling process, as the sides are sometimes contracted, and look as if they
had ueen subjected to pressure. The extent of the American industry is also
si own in the number of employees, the salaries, &c., of a Chicago firm. In
one establishment 7,000 men and 150 girls are employed, and the pay-roll is
$30,000 a month. The floor of the packing-house covers four acres. The
refrigerator will accommodate 3,330,000 pounds. Five boilers, with a capacity
of 80,000 pounds, are used for rendering callow from marrow, and five for
furnishing steam for cooking and the elevators.
Cooked meats by the Australian method have been known in America for
twenty years ; but the process is very imperfect. Owing to its inferiority,
the sales of those meats have been poor. The demand for compressed cooked
Export of meats, on the contraiy, has been so great, that there is a prospec-
compressed tive business with governments in supplying them with this article,
meats. j^ j^ hoped that something may be accomplisiicd in the way of
supplying the European belligerents. Large invoices are now sent to London,
Liverpool, Glasgow, Iklfast, \:c. Clermany and France do not buy them as
readily yet as Great Britain ; but the promise is good of a large trade eventu-
ally in those countries. "The London Grocer" stated recently, that, during
one week, 11,270 cases of packed meat were received at Liverpool from
America. F2ach case contained twelve cans, making a total of 135,240 cans.
This, however, is an average estimate, as one house in this country has fre-
quently sent out 20,000 cases per week.
^-»f .;-<•;■ .,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
127
CHAPTER XI.
BUTTER AND CHEESE.
THE history of American dairying was a comparatively quiet and unevent-
ful one until the middle of the present century, and progress was com-
paratively slow in its development until about that time. As we have already
remarked in discussing neat-cattle, our stock was of poor quality 8,^^
iliiring the last century, and its improvement not fairly inaugurated resiinbe-
until 1825-50. The earlier efforts at improvement, too, were *'""'"«•
direct'^d rather to the perfection of our beef than to increase the quantity and
(juality of the milk. The importations of foreign breeds were mostly of short-
horns until 1850. A little before t'l.it time the importation of Ayrshires,
jerseys, and Alderneys, was undertak .. During the next decade the dairy-
interest was confined mostly to New England and the Middle States, with a
little activity in the North-West. Not until the conception of the modern
cheese-factory system, and the demonstration of its marked success, did the
West give much attention to the subject.
Cheese is altogether the older of the two sister-products of the dairy ; and
its first manufacture, more or less crude, began away back in the obscure past.
It was a recognized article of food with the Greeks and early
Romans, to whom butter was known only as an ointment for the
toilet, not as an article of diet. Even yet, in many parts of Europe, butter is
sold by apothecaries as a vegetable oil for medicinal preparations, though not
used exclusively for such purposes by any means. Unsalted butter, too, is
used to a great extent by Europeans. The practice of salting it — doubtless
intended originally for preservintr it, but afterwards resorted to for the taste —
seems to be more of an English and American custom. Partly from the
nature of the two preparations, ami jiartly because of the greater attention
given to cheese-making, this article is found in far greater variety in Europe
tlian is butter ; and many of the delicate and peculiar varieties of foreign
cheese have been unequalled by any American product for flavor, whereas
no butter in the world surpasses that of our dairies.
Until about 1830 cheese was made in this country by the farmers exclu-
Cheese.
128
INDUSTRIAL li STOR'^
cheeie-
making.
sively, and generally in their own farmhouses, in small quantities. The
Early hiito- cheeses were taken to the neighboring village or town, and cx-
ry of cheeie- changed for groceries or dry-goods, without any thought of tiie
mak ng. trade with large cities, or the export business. If, in the course
of the season, the housewife made more than a dozen cheeses of thirty or
forty pounds each, she thouglu she was doing unusually well. However, the
Firtt expor- demand for this product continually increased among the workinf;-
tation. classes at home and abroad ; and our export trade, chiefly witli
England, began as early as 1 790.
Along toward 1830 the i)rofits to be realized from cheese-making, whicli
Proereiiin "^^^ more remunerative than any other branch of agriculture
in the Middle and Kastern States, began to be realized. In
Herkimer County, New York, a change began to take place in
the methods of manufacture which had been formerly in use. The herds had
been milked in the open
yards, the curds were worked
in tubs, the cheeses squeezed
in rude log-presses, and laid
away to cure in a corner of
the cellar or of some " spare
room." Hut now more sys-
tem was employed ; and
apartments, antl even sepa-
rate buildings, were con-
structed on the farm express-
ly for this work. \ contribu-
tor to " Harpers' Magazine "
says of this stage of the in-
dustry's development, —
"The face of the county
CHURN ~ " (Herkimer) became dotted
with dairy-houses as with
corn-cribo. These were, for the most part, simple, unpretentious one-story
Herkimer Structures, distinguished from the other out-buildings by closely-
County. battened cracks and protruding stovepipe. The apparatus was
simple and rude, and the system of unnfacture a family's secret, imparted
with vvise looks and an oracular phras( , Skill was vested in intuition : it was
the maiden's dower, the matron's pride. ... It was during this period of severe
application and large rewards that Herkimer County achieved that reputation
for fancy cheese which is still her traditional right."
Cheese prod- •^" '^^* °f ^^ distribution of the cheese-production at the
uct prior to end of twenty years *f this experience may be gathered from the
' ^' following statement v.f the cheese production, in pounds, from
the census of 1850 : —
OF THE UNITED STATES.
129
New York .
• 49.741.413
Ohio ....
20,S|(;,S42
Vermont .
8,720,834
Massachusetts
7,088,142
Connecticut .
S.3f'3.277
New Ilanipsliirc
3,19c, 563
Pennsylvania .
2,503,034
Maine
1.434.454
Illinois .
1,278,225
Michigan
1,011,492
Other .States .
3,306,917
Total
• '05.S35.f<93
Y\\ tKi< it will \\it* t
P(>n
tlint
M..V
ir Vo
rlr ni:i(li>
ni'iirlv li:ilf nf tlif t'l
juodiK t ; anil that, except Ohio, the New-Kngland States were the only others
tli.it yielded any considerable (juantity. The only other State besides the above-
11. lined which made over half a million pounds was Indiana, which is credited
with 624,564 pounds.
m
II
SHORT-HORN BULL.
It was just at this time that the factory system was invented, which,
being widely imitated, gave so great a stimulus to the business. Factory sys-
It may be remarked in this connection, that not only in this coun- *^™ ^eviied.
try, but also in Europe, was the " American system " adopted. The cheese
factory is the gift of the New- York dairymen to the world.
f
[\
lit
wm.'
Jeiae Wil
liamt.
130 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
There lived in Oneida County, New York, near Rome, a gentleman named
Jesse Williams, who had achieved a great reputation for his cheeses ; and at that
time reputation was money, for it brought higher prices for dairy
products. In 185 1 one of his sons was married, and went to live at
an adjacent farm. For the sale of his son's cheese product, Mr. Williams con-
tracted with the marketmcn at the prices he obtaincil for his own. IJut the
«|uestion arose, how he should insure its (juality. At first he thought of going
to his son's house every day to superintend the " make ; " but this was imprac-
ticable. Accordingly, he proposed that the milk be brought to him. It is
always the case, in enlarging a manufacturing business, that the cost of produc-
tion is proportionately lessened ; antl, if the price of tlie goods be maintained,
the profits are augmented. A few of Mr. Williams's neighbors brought milk to
his establishment for three years, and realized these advantages ; and then tiic
value of the system began to be appreciated, and similar factories were buiil
elsewhere. But up to i860 there were not more than twenty of dicm in
operation.
The influence of the fixctory system was not j)erce[)tibly felt in i860; for
the total product of that year was a trifle less than that of 1850. Only a slight
Firsteffectof ^'^'fti'iS ''^ 'ts tlistribution was discernible. New York siiowed the
factory sys- most trifling falling-off in her production : so, too, did the New-
**""■ England Slates. While there was a corresponding increase in tlu-
Ohio basin and the North- West, Wisconsin and California showed a marked
development, but one of promise rather than attainment.
During the next decade there was a tremendous springing-up of factories.
Knowledge of the system had then been well disseminated. linterprising
Rapidin- farmers in every dairy district organized for tl)e purpose of build
crease of fac- ing a factory. The economy of the plan was apparent. They
*°' "'■ would bring their milk in large cans every morning, or else put
them where the factory team could pick them up on its rounds. Contracts
were made for so many pounds of cheese for so much milk, and an allowance
Mode of ^^ ^° many cents per pound for the season's " make." A strict
operating account of each day's milk-deliveries was kept, and suitable tests
* ""■ and regulations resorted to in order to prevent watering, or other-
wise impairing the (juality of the milk. The prosperity of one factory beini,'
noticed, often a rival establishment would be erected in the same neighborhood.
By 1866 New- York State had more than 500 factories, and in 1870 they num-
bered 1,313 in the whole country. While the total product had increased, in
round numbers, from 105,000,000 to 163,000,000 pounds, all but 53,000,000
of it was made in factories, and the rest on farms as of old. As will be seen
from a comparison of the following table with the last, the increase in the
aggregate was confined almost to the increase in New- York State ; and the
slight gains in the West were made at the expense of New England mostly,
Vermont holding her own better than her sister States.
New Vork
Ohio
\criii()nt .
niinois
Mass.nchusett!! .
Ciliforni,!
Wisconsin
J'ciiiisylv.ini;i .
.Micliijr.in .
<-'onnccticut
low.i
Maine
Nfw Hampshire
Indiana .
Othf States and
Total
In 1877 the
000 pounds, or
'lilt her extensio
our export dem
iiually is now ab
Although re
exported from ti
been a constant
'•Europe continua
jToducing more
Our cheese goes
with bread and
In 1790 we
amount was abno
*vas only about i
1,000,000, e.xcep
'lie export was i,
kinier-county pro
tlie figures increa
the export of 18.
years the average
L>een as follows :
OF THE UNITED SiATES.
131
New York . . .
Ohio ....
Vermont ....
Illinois ....
Massachusetts .
(aliforni.!
Wisconsin
I'cnnsylvania .
Michigan.
Connecticut
Iowa ....
Maine ....
New Hampshire
Iiuiiana ....
Othe- States and Territories
Total
NO. FAC-
TOKIKS.
818
'95
28
69
23
54
27
30
7
14
'7
I. '9
rnt'NDS FACTORV
MAUE.
POIINDS FAKM-
MAUU.
78,006,048
I5.'>^4.390
2,984,179
4.07 2.30 '
1,885,436
1,696,783
1,647,467
1,650,997
27,400
356,906
-'J-:5«'
107,680
893.^7-:
109,435,229
22,769,964
8,169,486
4,830,700
1,661,703
2.245.873
3.395-074
1,591,798
1,145,209
670,804
2,031,194
1,087,741
1,152,590
849, 1 1 8
283,807
1,557,090
53.492.153
TOTAL PRODUCT.
100,776,013
24.i53.S76
7,814,879
5,734,004
4.'3'.309
3.395.074
3,288,581
2,792,676
2,321,801
2,058,594
1,344,647
1,152,590
872,368
391.487
2,450,362
162,927,382
In 1877 the total cheese prochict of the eoiintry was estimated at 300,000,-
000 pounds, or nearly twice that of 1870. 'I'he increase is largely due to the
further extension t)f the factory system, though, in a measure, to Cheeieprod-
uur export dem.ind. The total value of our cheese product an- "•=* '" ''77-
uually is now about $36,000,000.
Although reliable data are not accessible, it is i)robable that cheese was
cxjwrted from this country pre\ ions to the Revolution. Since then there has
been a constant though varying export trade in this commodity. Export of
luirope continually seeks food sujjplies here ; and, with facilities for "=*^""'
producing more than we need at home, we are easily enabled to sell abroad.
Our cheese goes almost altogether to (Ireat Britain, whose working-men use it,
with bread and beer, as one great staple of •'leir diet.
In 1790 we exported 144,734 pounds of cheese. Five years later the
amount was abnormally large, — 2)343.093 ; for the average from 1795 to 1805
was only about 1,400,000; and thereafter the figures did not reach sta,isticg
1,000,000, except in 1819, 1825, i83i,and 1833, until 1841, when relating to
tlio export was 1,748,471 pounds. This was at the time the Her- ""P""*'
kimer-county product was becoming so famous. During the next eight years
tlie figures increased very rapidly ; and in 1849 they were 17,433,682, — tenfold
the export of 184 1. A slight subsidence ensued in the trade, and for eleven
years the average export was about 8,360,000 pounds. Since then they have
been as follows : —
■'iri!
!
I
13a INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
POUNDt.
1861 32,361,438
"863 34,052,678
"863 42,045,054
1864 47.7S'..129
1865 53,089,468
1866 36,41 1,(;85
"867 52.35=.i27
1868 5i,o<)7,203
1869 J9,<Jtx),307
1870 57.-96.j27
1S71 63,698,867
1872 66,204,025
1873 80,366,540
1874 90,611,077
1875 101,010,853
1S76 97,676,264
1877 112,430,384
Our i)rincipal rivals in tiic European market now are Canada and Aus-
tralia. Yet wc arc able to dispose of more than a third of our procUn t
yearly at good figures, and have little occasion to worry about compe-
tition.
Hut little attempt has been made in this coimtry to manufacture the more
delicate and richer cheeses for which the Old World is so famous ; instead,
Quality of there is a great temptation to rob the cheese of i)art of its ri( hness
cheese. fg^ butter. Probablv there is more skim-milk cheese made here
tiian cheese from the unskimmed. Within a few years, attempts have been
made, though with slight succ ess, to introduce into the skim-milk the clean fat
from which an imitation of butter is made ; namely, oleo-margarine. The
object is to restore an animal oil to replace that of the cream. It is found,
however, that the skim-milk does not take up the oleo-margarine readily, and
very little such cheese is made or marketed.
The history of American butter-making is rather less eventful than that of
cheese-making. In (piantity, we produce, perhaps, three times as much butter
American ^'^ cheese, although provision-dealers pretend to say that the cen-
sus returns of butter making fall short of the true yield. Butter is
consumed in much larger quantities, but probably by a smaller
number of people in the country, than cheese. Its use is by no means uni-
versal.
Among the several reasons why this particular dairy-interest has had so
equable and quiet a growth in this country, the most conspicuous
provement are the want of any marked improvement in the apparatus for
making butter, the less attention given to the foreign market, and
the greater difficulties of insuring excellence in the quality than
in the manufacture of cheese.
butter-mak
ing.
in mode of
malcinK.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
•33
From pre- Revolutionary times until to-day the churn principally used in the
United States has been the dash-chum, oii^inally small, and operated l)y hand,
afterwards nm by ilog-power treadmill, and, in regular <:reameries
of the modern day, by steam, yet substantially the same in i)rin- tngnota
ciple. American butter, in lots, has proved as choice as any made •='•""=" ""♦"
' ' ' • / rtctntly.
in any other quarter of the globe. Hut makers have not studied
uniformity in ([uality, so that our exports could have a fixed standing. This
variability is strongly complained of by foreign produce-buyers ; and, by not
remedying the evil, American dairymen have faileil to make as much as they
might of the foreign market. Finally, butter-making, which involves a num-
ber of fine points, has never been reduced to a science until comparatively a
few years ago.
In the first place, it was not until 1830 or 1840 that cattle were imported
or bred with a special view to dairy-purposes to any great extent. Since then
there has been much done in this direction. Probably it has not ,
' Improve-
been fairly realized, until a la* r date, that the character of the mentinani-
fodder which cattle receive makes a difference with the flavor and •"•'»'"
IK liness of their milk, as does also their health. It is a matter of butter, and
« oinparatively recent discovery that the milk of different cows »"<«•• <>'
varies not only in richness, but in (juickness with which its butter them,
iomes in churning, and that great care should be exercised in
mixing milk, lest the fullest product be not obtained. The importance of
ventilation in apartments where milk is set, and of keeping the contents of the
churn at just the right temperature, have not been understood until cjuite
recently. Still, now that the factory system — originally devised for cheese-
making, and employed to a far less extent for butter — has become fairly
established, w^: may look to see a more wide-spread application of scientific
principles to the industry.
In the earlier part of the present century butter and cheese making were
principally conducted in the New- England and Middle States, although the
South and West engaged in it a little. Ohio was among the
earliest to attain prominence in the latter section. At first the ^y ?he Eait
Western breeders aimed solely at beef. Toward the middle of and We«i in
this century they gave more attention to dairy products, to the *|"« '"••"»•
good quality of which the nutritious and delicious grasses of that
section were peculiarly adapted. Consequently there has been a marked
<ievelopment in the business of making butter in the West and North- West
for twenty or thirty years past ; while, with the exception of New York, Peni\-
sylvania, and Vermont, there has been no particular gain in the East. Indeed,
New England has lost ground, on the whole, as have Kentucky and Tennessee.
The distribution and movement of the industry will appear from the following
table: —
1
134
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
1?
11
STATES.
1850.
i860.
1870.
New York .
79,766,094
103,097,280
107,147,526
Pennsylvania
39,878,418
58.653.5"
60,834,644
Ohio .
34.449.379
48,543,162
50,266,372
Illinois .
12,526,543
28,052,551
36,083,405
Iowa
2,171,188
11,953,666
27,512,179
Michigan
7.065,878
15,503,482
24,400,185
Indiana .
12,881,535
18,306,651
22,915.385
Wisconsin
3.633.750
13,611,328
22,473.036
Vermont
12,137,980
15.900.359
17,844,396
Missouri
7.834,359
12,704,837
14.455.825
The Virg-ivj-,
11,089,359
13,404,722
12,023,744
Kentucky
9.947.523
11,716,609
11,879,978
Maine .
9,243,811
11,687,781
1, 336,482
Tennessee
8,139,585
10,017,787
9.571.069
Minnesota
1,100
2,957.673
9,522,010
New Jersey .
9,487,210
10,714,447
0,266,023
California
70s
3.095.035
7.969.744
Connecticut .
6,498,119
7,620,912
6,716,007
Massachusetts
8,071,370
8,297.936
6,559,161
Other States .
38,531,280
53,761,623
45.9'3.5i2
Total
313.345.306
459.681,372
514,092,683
It is believed, that, within the past few years, our annual product of butter
has been raised to 900,000,000 pounds, but not by any sudden leap. It is
Value of believed, rather, that the figures of 1870 should be larger than in
product. jj^ig table. The estimated value of the total product annually is
now about $175,000,000.
Butter varies greatly in quality, according to the season and locality in
which it is made ; and, as some of the poor winter butter is often adulterated
Quality of with lard, the inferior grades generally called cooking-butter are
butter. sometimes little better than soap-grease. The choicer makes of
grass-butter, on the other hand, are rather rare, and much sought after. Some
dairying States that produce small ijuantities have excelled in quality. New-
England butter has always had a high rank, especially that made in Vermont.
In New- York State, Orange County long held the palm ; but the other large
producing counties — St. Lawrence, Delaware, Jefferson, Chatauqua, Chenango,
and Otsego — have also good reputation 1. Pennsylvania butter, especially that
made near Philadelphia, has generally stood high. Even after the Western
States became large producers, their product did not bring as good a price ;
but of late yeau^ the quality has very decidedly improved.
Our butter exports have not amounted to much until within
a few years. In 1872 they amounted to but 7,746,261 pounds: in 1877 they
Export.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
135
Origin of it.
aggregated 23,150,614, and were worth $4,527,452. This, added to the value
ot the cheese export, makes $18,057,430.
Within the past five years the manufacture of an imitation of butter, called
oko-margarine, has attained sufficient prominence to deserve mention in this
connection. We have already spoken of the attempts to replace oieo-marKa-
the natural oil of cream with other animal fat in making cheese ''""•
from skim-milk. That practice is resorted to only to a limited extent, and
in such cases the suct-fat introduced constitutes only a small proportion of
the article produced. The substitution, however, is complete in the manu-
facture of artificial butter, inasmuch as this substance is all fat, and not
( ascine. Moreover, the business is earned on to a much greater extent than
the production of olco-margarine cheese.
The itlea seems to have originated in England over thirty years ago. In
1846 one William Palmer took out a patent for "treating fat or fatty matters
tVom beef, mutton, veal, and lamb : " but the product obtained
was quite unlike butter in color and taste ; it looked more like
lard. The first patent taken out in this country was issued in 1871 to H. W.
Ihadley, and the second to one Peyrouso in the following November. These
lioiii employed beef-suet chiefly, anil were intended rather for cooking than
tor use on the table. The next improvement was that embraced by the Paraf
[latent, in .\pril, 1873.
riic product of this process is called oleo-margarine, from the supposition
tliat its two elements are oleine and margarine. The so-called margarine,
liowever, is resolvable into stearine and palmitine ; and, besides constituent*
tliese, the new i)roduct contains butyrine, one of the oils of true of oieo-mar-
Initter, in a small degree. The manufacture is conducted *'""'•
secretly, but is said to be exceedingly cleanly. Its prominent features are
the extraction of clear fat from clean beef-suet, and churning it with milk.
No coloring-matter is used, inasmuch as the substance is already orange-
hued. It is, of course, salted like ortlinary butter. In appearance it differs
from real butter only in being less waxy, and in taste chiefly in the absence
of flavor. Indeed, the resemblance is so strong, that only experts can dis-
tinguish between the two compounds.
There are two kinds of olco-margarine. The first may be called the
"original and genuine." In making it the oil is adulterated with just enough
cream to allow of its being churned, the proportion of cream to oil being
about one to twenty. Tiie "original and genuine " is made in two kinds of
large factories operating under the Mege patent. Butter-dealers oieo-marg«-
( iaim to l)e able to distinguisji i\m article from dairy butter quite ' "*"
readily, lacking as it does the " texture ' of the latter. The second kind is
that in which the oil has been largely adulterated with cream, — perhaps with
fifty or sixty per cent of cream. This kind is made by country dairymen,
and, it is believed, in considerable (juantities ; and to detect its composition
baffles the skill of any except the most experienced dealer.
H
136
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in Philadel
phia.
A Philadelphia correspondent of one of the New- York newspapers '
describes seeing half a ton of " ole " in the Quaker City, fresh from New York,
„, . and labelled "PhiladaBest l^rint." He say. it looked exactly
r int appear- ^ ^
•nee of "ole" like the best butter coming to that market; but it was made of
any thing except pure cream. It tasted a little like butter ; but
when one tliinks of fat and stearine and suet, and a shade of
tallow, what would be his thoughts when spreading it on a piece of bread?
It is prepared in long flat rolls of a pound each, a shape so well known
by the lovers of butter made in the counties of Pennsylvania. The Produce
Exchange are frightened about this new-comer, and have taken up arms
against it. While they fight, an agent has been appointed, and it will be
sold in spite of all opposition. What the proportions of grease exactly are
the correspondent did not know : but there is at least a candle of tallow in
every pound ; so that, when one eats his penny-dip, he may expect a double
portion of the Quaker's " light within." The New- York stockholders in the
new company say they can, with their present facilities, turn out seventy thou-
sand pounds per day. It is intended for the European market ; but the
first batch turned up there, perhaps for the sake of getting references. In
appearance it cannot be distinguished from the very highest-priced butter ;
and, thouf.h this is sold for about ten cents per pound less than the best and
genuine, it certainly cannot cost more than twelve cents per pound.
The success of this latest experiment has led to the manufacture of oleo-
margarine in New- York City on .t large scale, and the institution of lesser
Success of factories under the same patent in other cities. Inasmuch as the
the industry, article can be produced so much more cheaply than butter, it
proves a formidable rival to the real dairy product ; and the dairymen have
secured the enactment of laws in New York and Connecticut, as they doubt-
less will in other States before long, requiring oleo-m irgarine to be sold as
such, and not as butter. Upon the first announcement of this industry, popu
lar prejudice rose high against it ; but the new compound is already manufac-
tured and consumed to a very great extent, — probably not short of two million
pounds annually.
' Journal of Commerce.
OF THE UNITED STATE!*.
m
CHAFFER XII.
THE HORSE.
NOWHERE in the world is the horse prized so highly as in Arabia, ar»d
nothing expresses an Arabian's admiration for the animal more clearly
tlian the story told by an Arab concerning his origin. When Abd-el-Kader
was questioned on this point by the French Government, he Hcneof
replied, " When (lod wished to create the horse, he said to the Arabian
^uiith wind, ' I wish to form a creature out of thee : be thou con- °''''*"'
(Icnsed.* Afterward came the angel Gabriel, and took a handful of that matter,
and presented it to God, whd formed of it a light-brown or sorrel horse, saying,
' I have called thee Horse. I have created thee an Arab, and I have given
thee the color rouenenita (red mixed with black). I have bound fortune
upon the mane which falls over thine eyes. Thou shalt be the lord of all
other animals. Men shall follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Good for
the pursuit as for flight. Thou shalt fly without wings. Riches shall repose
in thy loins, and wealth shall be made by thine intercession.' "
Fossil remains prove the existence of the horse in the New as well as in
the Old World before the flood. H<? traversed our soil as the con- oeoiogicBi
temporary of the mastodon. While his race here became ex- ■«' "' hor»o.
tinct, and he was unrepresented in the Western Continent at the time of its dis-
covery by Columbus, in the Old World he was fortunately preserved.
When Columbus made his second jou'ney to the New World, in 1493, ^^
took horses along with him ; but Cabega de Vaca first introduced them into
the United States in 1527. Forty-two were imported; but all perished soon
after their arrival in Florida. The wild horses found on the plains importation
of Texas r»nd the Western prairies sprang from a Spanish ancestry, of horsei by
and probably descended from those brought over by De Soto, ** """ "*'
which were abandoned when that ill-starred expedition came to an end. In
1 604 a French lawyer, M. Lescarbot, brought over horses to Acadia ; and
from these the French, who extended their settlements into Canada in 1608,
took the horses which probably laid the foundation of what are now known as
Canadian ponies, having, no doubt, lost much of their original size in conse*
m
m
\u\yi>; •■
i, . i'-^
»38
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
%
^i>i
■•if«
i^ i I: I
W\
que.ice of the severity of the climate and scanty forage. Though degenerated
in size, they still show traces of Norman blood, from which they probably
sprang.
Many improvements have occurred in tiie horse since his re-appearance in
this country. The changes wrought, especially during the last fifty years, have
been marvellous ; yet may they not be regarded as indications only of otlur
Improve- ^"*^ ^^''^ niorc important improvements, when a still higher degree
mentsinthe of knowledge is actiuircd respecting the rearing and training of
""'■ them? It is a striking proof of what may happen to animals under
domestication ; and, however great or small may be the (luantity of truth con-
tained in Darwin's famous lAw concerning the origin of animals, no one will
deny the magnitude of the ciianges wrought in the horse in respect to his si/c,
speed, strength, and other ([ualities, since special attention was paid to these
matters, nor (juestion the agency by which these results have been produced.
Great attention has been given to this subject during the last fifty years, which
we shall now proceed brietly to sketch.
Tin; IKOrilNcMIOKSE.
The trotting-horse is very largely the product of .American thought and
cultivation. Trotting, in most cases, is an ac(iuiivd gait ; nor has much atten-
tion been paid to it until within sixty-five years. The ancestry of the trotting
hor.'>, however, goes farther bac k. Messenger, tVom wlii( h many
of the fast horses in this country have descended, was imported
into Philadelphia from IJigland in .May, lySS. Messenger was thorougli-brcd.
and, i)rior to his importation, ran races on the luiglisii turf wiiti moderate
.success; and without doubt it was the intention of those who bnjught hrm to
this country to make him the sire of horsds that should gallop rather thati
trot. His father, Mambrino, evincecl a natural dis])osition to trot ; and this
trait was inherited by many of his jjrogeny. Messenger was trained for the
running turf in ICngland ; and in 17S8 the running horse was jwpular in
certain sections of .America, and hence the inference is clear that he was
imported. His color was gray, and he was fifteen hands aid three inches
high, and the colts which were sired by him showed fine form. In Pennsyl-
vania, however, — into which State he was first imported, — the legislature
passed a law prohibiting racing ; and so the progeny of this famous stallion
was trained for the road instead of the track. In the autunm of 1793 Mes
senger left Pennsylvania for New York, where he remained until iSoS, when
he died of the colic at Oyster Hay, L.I. .As he had long been famous and
])opular, he was buried with milit.ary honors, a volley of musketry being fired
over his grave.
As the trotting-horse was not fashionable at that period, the record is not
veiy perfect concerning the descendants of this famous horse. " Many of the
Messenger.
H
i^
ImkL
^^KiHlil^
;j^'"
(^^■^•^^^urr \
OF THE UNITED STATES.
»39
i
ihil
UVKii
m
•l
*l!iHI
■ 'SjlKfll
i. 'A
i4J
i
i.ll.i
lIlNI'.sliK.A ll.MC-F.
14°
INDUSTRIAL UISIORY
earlier horses which won (hstinclioii on the track — such as Top-Gallant,
Early trot- I'aul I'ry, and \\'halcl)()ne — are known to have ilescended from him.
ting-horses. Alxlallah, the son of Mamhrino, and the grandson of Messenger,
proved to be one of the liest trotling-sires that the country has produced.
The horse, however, was not much ajjpreciated in his time. His best daugh-
ter, probably, was Lady Hlanche, a mare that ''luired celebrity on the road
and turf, and which lived to a green old age, and literally died in the harness.
It is claimed, that, witii proper care, she would have trotted very fast. Thirty
and forty years ago the art of training and driving had not been reduced to a
science as now. Abdallah's best son was the horse now so widely known as
Rysdyk's Hambletonian. Through sire and dam, Hambletonian has four
direct courses of Messenger blood. .As he is a leading progenitor, perhaps
a tabulated pedigree will interest the reader. Tiiis one pedigree will illustrate
the manner in which the record of eijuine genealogy is kept."
Rysdyk's
Hambletonian
L Mcssent;cr.
Maniliiino \ i S,uii.rl<rnut.
fAbdallah^ M)ani; I Wliiiiigig.
.\nia/onia.
\ Dai
Mr. ndl-fdundci.
r Miss Slanicrkin.
pi.
Charles Kent Marc ] I
( < )nc i;yc ]
ll.inihlctonian.
' i Messenger,
f Dam l)y Messenger ;
( I )ani hy Messenger.'
By many it is claimed thai H.imbletonian owes his success as a trotting-
sire from his strong infusion of Messenger blood. He was foaled .May 5,
Hambieto- 1S49. on the farm of Jonas .Seeley. jun., near Chester, Orange
"'ai' County, N.Y. When five weeks old, Mr. William Rysdyk pur-
<hased him with his dam for a hundred and twenty-five dollars. Mr. Rysdyk
was a poor man tiien. The horse ])roved a mine of wealth. Of late years
the extravagant jjrice of five hundred dollars the season has been ])ai(l for his
ser\ices ; and at this figure his list has always been more than full. His colts
have usually commanded large pric es ; and by him was sired the celebrated
Dexter, wiiose record is world-wide.
In New I'-ngland the Morgan horse has a fine reputation, and his history
is worth giving to our readers. During the last century a good many English
or thorough-bred horses were brought from Virginia into Connecti-
cut, and were ke])t in the vicinity of Hartford : among them were
Highlander, King William, and another, called Heautiful Hoy, or True Hriton.
He was probably thorough-bred, and was stolen, so it is said, from (len.
I)e Lancey at King's IJridge. I''or several years he was kept at Springfield,
Mass., and became the sire of Justin Morgan, which was foaled in West Sjjring-
field in i 793, and which, as another writer has truthfully said, " has had a post-
Morgan.
' H.iriK:rs' M.ig.izinc, vul. xKJi. p. 603.
OF 77/ fi UX/TED STATES.
141
m
\m
if
f i
I4»
/\D US TKIA I. HIS TONY
Hii history.
Description.
Vk.
humous fame surpassed by that of no other animal that over stood in New
t^ngland."
When two years old, he was taken to Randolph, Vt. Like most of the
stock horses of his time, especially in the more remote sections, he had to
work hard in clearing up new land ; and in this laborious kind of
work he exhibited tiie most wonderful strength and willingness at
a pull, and the most remarkable patience t a dead lift, — a characteristic, one
would suppose, strongly in contrast with his nervv 's playfulness at the end of
a halter or under the saddle. He would " out-draw, out-walk, out-trot, and
out-run" any and every horse that was ever matched against him ; and that,
too, notwithstanding the f;ict that many of them were much larger and heavier
animals. Strength and speed, as compared with the horses of his time, and
endurance, were characteristics in which he especially excelled. He survived
the hai^.iiips to which he was almost constantly subjected for twenty-nine
yearr, anil then received a kick from hjrses in the same yard which resulted
in his death in the year 182 1,
He impressed his fine (pialities upon his offspring to an unusual degree, as
they still appear untpiestionably in his descendants. He is described as a
small liorse, only about fourteen hands high, and his weight, by
estimation, about nine huntlred and fifty pounds. He was a beau-
tiful dark bay, with scarcely a white hair on his body. His legs were black.
His mane and tail were black, coarse, and tliick, with long, straight hair free
from curls. He is descriljcd as having a good head of medium size, lean and
long, with a straight face, broad and good forehead, and fine, small ears sit
wide apart. He had a very short back, and wide and muscular loins, but
rather a long body, round, and close ribbed up. He was compact, or, as
many would say, he was very snug'y built ; with a deep, wide chest, and pro-
jecting breast-bone ; short, close-jointed legs, wide and thin, but remarkably
muscular, and with some long hair about and above the fetlocks, — a pecul-
iarity whic:h he imparted to many of his offspring.
The old Justin Morgan was said to have been a very fast walker ; but in
trotting he had a short, nervous step, a low smooth gait, scjuare and fine. IK
His speed, was not remarkably fnst as a trotter, though his speed was never
style, &c. developed as it has been with the greatest assiduity in many of iiis
descendants. In travelling he raised his feet but slightly, — only enough to
clear the inequalities of the ground ; but, notwithstanding this, he had tlu'
reputation of being very sure-footed. His style of movement was lofty, bold,
and energetic, fiill of life and spirit ; but he was managed with great ease, and
it was said that a lady could drive him with ,)erfect safety. He was mucli
admired as a parade horse.
Could run Though not what would now be called a very fast trotter, the
"""• old Justin Morgan could run at short distances with any other
horse of his time not thorough-bred ; and many an eighty rods accomi)lishe(l
OF THE UNITED STATES.
M3
.'I'
- •
.>'.'<! i';
5
my.
144
INDUSTRIAL H/HTORY
BUck Hawk.
Uctcription.
b>' hint wt)n nis keeper th" .Uakes, payable at the tavern where the scratch was
made in tne uirr across the road .■"•. the point from which to start. Eadi
horse nad to " cunic «ip to the scratch," and, when the hat fell, to be off as
fast 3 his legs could cdr«y him. In all such trials, the " littlf horse " was
always sure to win. It is from him that Bulrush Morgan and the Morrill
horses have descended.
Another family of horses, tOv/ well kn</»vn to be wholly omitted from this
description, is the Black Ha.vk. The first one bearii.g that name was foaled
near Portsmou.h, N.H., 1833. At the age of fo» r years he was
sold ^s a roadster for the s>um of $150. In 1842 he won a match
of a thousand (' liars, trotting five miltj over the Cambridge track in sixteen
minutos. In the year 1844 Mr. Hill bou'^ht and kept him as a stallion at
Bridport, Vt., till the time of hi" death in 1856. His skeleton is preserved in
the ofncc of the secretary of the State Board jf Agriculture, at the State House
in Boston.
Black Hawk was not quite fifteen hands high, and weighed about a thou-
sand pounds. He was remarkably symn etrijal and muscular, graced with a
beautiful head, neck, and limbs, and A'hen in action, whether in
harnjss or out, of a spirited, nervous, and elegant bearing, which
could not fail to command universal adminition wherever he appeared. He
could easily trot his mile in two minutes and forty seconds, even without much
training ; and he combined with great speed the perfection of form, the intel-
ligence, courage, and e- durance sufficient to make him a complete model of
a roadster. He possessed the power of transmitting his characteristics to iiis
very numerous oflsprirg in a degree surpassed by nc other horse in the country.
In the carriage or under the saddle, in the cpiiet of a country road or on tlie
parade-ground, under whatever circumstances the descendants of Black
Hawk appear, the eye accustomed to observe the characteristics of the horse
could hardly fnil to detect the relationship. The Black Hawks are much
sought after as light carriage and saddle horses.
As an evidence of their qualities, as well as the celebrity they have obtained
in other parts of the country, it may be stated, that during the fair at St. Louis,
_ , . , , in 1 8^0, five out of six of the best Gtallions exhibited in the class
Celebrity of •''"
Black of roadsters were Black Hawks , and the prizes, of one thousand
dollars that year and of fifteen hundred dollars at the fair there
in i860, were awarded for the best stallions in this class to sons
of old Black Hawk. At the various fairs held in New England — at Springfielil,
Boston, and elsewhere — the Black Hawks have been very largely represented,
and have generally carried off a full proportion of the prizes offered. More
than one hundred horses of this stock were entered at the Springfield Horse
Show in i860, and nearly half of all successful competitors were Black Hawks.
^!any sons of the old horse are now standing in various parts of New England
as stock-getters ; and, judging from the reports of State fairs in other parts of
Hawk** de-
■cendants.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
145
cratch was
irt. Eacli
be off as
lorae " was
he Morrill
I from this
was foalcil
;ars he was
on a match
k in sixteen
, stallion at
preserved in
State House
out a thou-
aced with a
, whether in
aring, which
peared. He
nthout mu< h
m, the intcl-
te model of
ristics to his
the country,
id or on the
Is of Black
|of the horse
,s are mucli
jave obtained
at St. Louis,
in the class
)ne thousand
^he fair there
:lass to sons
[t Springfield,
represented,
Ifered. More
[gfield Horse
Mack Hawks,
[ew England
ther parts of
A
the country, it is safe to affirm that they are exerting a widely-c x^ended influence
on the stock of the United States.
We must now turn our attention to the turf. The first public race ever
trotted in America was in 1818, — a match against time, for a thousand dollars.
Puring a jockey-club dinner held in that year in New York, it wn:i pint public
asserted that no horse could be found able to trot a mile in three '•"•
minutes. Two of the members, however, — Major William Jones of Long
Island, and Col. Bond of Maryland, — agreed to produce siich a horse. They
were as good as their word ; and, when the horse had accom[)lished the feat,
his tame was established. He went by the name of " Boston Blue."
Within ten years after this race, trotting-courses and horse-clubs were formed
in the principal cities of our country ; and among the hcrses which competed
at that early day were Top-Clallant, Screw-Driver, Betsey Baker,
W halebone, Paul Pry, Lady Washington, and Sally Miller. The trotting
first of these perhaps the most easily won distinction at the Hunt- =<»"•"•'«•
ctubi.
ing-park Course in Philadelphia. While being employed as a cart-
horse his merits were recognized, and his trotting-speed was developed. Screw-
Driver won as fine a reputation ; for when he died, in October, 1828, a Phila-
delphia newspaper announced that " the emperor of horses is no more." At
that time, a horse which could trot a mile in two minutes and thirty seconds
was regarded as a marvel. In 1836 two remarkable animals made their appear-
ance on the turf, — Dutchman and Awful. The former was a coarse brown
lioise of great endurance. At one time he was employed in tramping clay in
a Pennsylvania brickyard. Awful was just the opposite of Dutchman in
ajipearance. He was a tall, dashing, blood-looking bay, with high, sprawling
action. He was a bad-tempered animal, and did not live up to his early
promise. Both Dutchman and Awful figure prominently in trotting histor)'.
Dutchman's greatest performance was trotting three miles on the Beacon Course,
under saddle, in seven minutes thirty-two seconds and a half. It was a match
against time, and the horse was ridden by Hiram Woodruff. This was in
.\ugiist, 1839.
Lady Suffolk comes next :n the list of famous horses. Hamilton Busby
thus describes her career: "She made her first public appearance in 1838,
trotting three heats, and winning eleven dollars. Verily, hard LadySuf-
work and poor pay I Lady Suffolk was a beautiful gray, with an '»"'•
Arab neck, and standing- fifteen hands and a half. She remained on the turf
neatly sixteen years, during which time she trotted in 161 races, winning 88
and 1^35,011, and losing 73. Her speed was shown and her powers tested in
ten different States of the Union. Her best mile-heat race — 2.26^, 2.27, 2.27
— was made under saddle, July 12, 1843, on the Beacon Course, New Jersey.
Her fastest mile (2.26) was done at Boston, under saddle. I^dy Suffolk was
withdrawn from the turf in 1853 ; and she died at Bridport, Vt., March 17,
1855, aged twenty-two years. Her skin was prepared and mounted by a taxi-
146
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\A\
Taeony.
dermist, and it now does duty as an advertisement in a Broadway harness-store.
Those who knew the handsome gray mare in her prime claim that her speed
was never (!eveloped. Among Lady Suffolk's competitors on the turf were
Washington, Confidence, Kipton, Cayuga Chief, Independence, Beppo, Oneida
Chief, Lady Moscow, Americas, aud other horses dear to the memory of the
sportsman whose hair is now silvered, and who loves to dwell upon the scencn
of the " olden time."
In October, 1848, occurred the famous twenty-mile race by Tnistee, the
son of a thorough-bred imported horse bearing a similar name. His driver
weighed a hundred and forty-five pounds, and his sulky a hundred
and fifty pounds ; and the twenty miles were trotted in fifty-nine
minutes thirty- five seconds and a half. It was a race which thoroughly tested
the endurance of the horse, and was denounced at the time as cruel ; but it
is affirmed that Trustee was not injured in the least by the performance.
In 185 1 appeared a new horse (Taeony, from Maine), which won many
victories, scoring twelve the second year of his public ai)pearance ; at whi« h
time Flora Temple began her wonderful career ; also PUhan Allen,
the worthy descendant of Morgan. The following season was
rendered exciting by a series of races between Flora Temple and Taeony, in
Flora which the former beat the latter seven limes at different dis-
Tempic. tances. Concerning her breeding nothing is known. While younj;,
she changed hands several times ; and, when first put in the harness, she did
work in a livery-stable in I^aton, N.Y. In June, 1850, she was broight with
a drove of cattle to Dutchess County, where she was purchased by Mr. Velie
for $175. Shortly after this she was sold to Mr, George !•".. I'errin of New-
York City, who used her as a road-mare. In 1850 she trotted a match race ;
but she did not make her regular appearance on the course until two years
later. She made her last turf-performance Sept. 5, 1861, on the Fashion
Course, Long Island. During the eleven years in which she was prominently
before the public she trotted a hundred and eleven races, ninety-three of
which she won. Her winnings netted $1 13,000. Prominent among her com-
petitors were Princess, Ethan Allen, George M. Patchcn, lancet, Taeony, and
Highland Maid. Her best wagon-time, 2.24^, was made Sept. 2, 1856, on
the Union Course, Long Island. Her fastest mile in harness, which for a
long while stood at the head of the record, was done at Kalamazoo, Mich..
Oct. 15, 1859. Flora Temple's turf-career was marvellous. She was a mare
of obscure breeding, small in stature, being fourteen hands two inches high ;
and yet she rose to supremacy, and reigned for a number of years queen of
the course.
It would be impossible for us in our short space to recount the glories of
all the famous trotters in the United States, or even to mention
Bthan Allen. , . „ . , , ,
their names. Besides, as we approach nearer to the present time,
there is less need of presenting such a history, as many are familiar with it.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
^
D«at«r.
Who has not heard of the exploits of Ethan Allen, which trotted with a run*
ning mate against Dexter, ori the Fashion Course, three heats, of
one mile each, in the astonishing time of a. 15, a. 16, a. 19? We
must stop, however, to say a word concerning one of the most noted descend-
ants of Ethan Allen. This is Pocahontas, whose mother also bore the same
name, and whose career will be given presently. Pocahontas is
the pet of Robert Bonner's stable, and cost him 135,000. She is
said to be " one of the best road-mares in the world." Then there is I^dy
'I'liorne, bred in the lovely blue-grass regions of Kentucky, sired by Mam-
brino Chief. Her winnings, from the beginning of her career in 1859 to 1870,
amounted to 161,125. Her last race was at Prospect Park, L.I., July 22, 1870,
in which she trotted three heats, of one mile each, in the wonderful time
uf 2.19^, a. 20^, a.i9h Of Dexter and Goldsmith Maid their record is too
familiar to require repetition.
THE PACtNG-HORSE.
During the latter part of the last century a class of horses became widely
known in the more thickly-settled portions of New England, especially in
Rhode Island, as the " Narragansett pacers." They were very popular in the
earlier part of the last century, and continued to be the favorite Narragan-
horses for light travel under the saddle for many years. Upon •'" ?■«•"•
good authority it may be affirmed that they probably were the easiest, fleetest,
most sure-footed, and toughest saddle-horses ever known in this country, if
not in this world. They could not trot. The pace was their natural gait, the
only one in which they excelled ; and for this they were especially esteemed.
The origin of this famous breed, which was kept distinct for many years,
was probably a stallion imported from Andalusia, in Spain ; though there are
several theories, founded on tradition, in regard to him. But, from origin of
whatever source he came, there is no doubt as to his laying the ••'•""•
foundation of a class of horses exceedingly well adapted to the wants of the
times, — one that served the purposes for which it was raised more completely
than any other at that time, or ever since, known in New England. Many of
the Narragansett pacers could go a mile easily in less than three minutes, or
carry a rider forty or fifty miles a day, and follow it up for days in succession,
without apparent fatigue. It is said that their gait was far easier and more
agreeable than that of the rocker or pacer of the present day, with whom the
pace is an accident, or the result of training, rather than the natural gait.
The Narragansett pacers became so popular, that they were largely exported
to the West Indies, and the business of breeding them for that market became
very profitable. At length, however, the demand there became so Their popu-
great, that an agent was sent to buy up all the best he could find in ••^♦y-
the locality where they were bred in the highest purity and perfection ; and he
143
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Ki 11
was so faithful to his trust as to allow few very superior animals to escape him.
This circumstance, together with the improvement of the roads, and the fact
that the genuine Narragansett pacer was comparatively useless as a draught-
horse, anH really good only under the saddle, led to a decline in the interest
in breeding this class of horses, especially during and after the war of the
Revolution, when larg i numbers of horses were wanted for teaming aiid trans-
portation. The pace;, as a breed, was wholly neglected, till, in the year 1800,
it was said there was only one animal of the real Narragansett stock to be
found in Rhode Island.
In 1854, however, the pacer found a splendid representative in Pocahontas,
Pocahontas the mother of another mare bearing the same name, which we
• pacer. j^ave previously described. Notwithstanding her dam was a natu-
ral trotter, she performed very striking feats as a pacer, her best time being
made in 1855, when she paced one nile, to wagon, in;:. 17^.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
t49
CHAPTER XIII.
SHEEP.
Merinoes.
SHEEP are among ^he very oldest domestic animals known, though they
are foimd wild in nearly every mountainous country of the world. By
some authorities they are thought to be related to the goat, but Early history
are far more timid than that animal, from which they differ, also, in •*' *''" «""'•
other respects. They are intimately associated with ancient religious rites, and
were the symbol of gentleness and innocence. The great wealtli of the
Israelites and other pastoral nations was in sheep, which were originally raised
for their milk and skins, as well as for sacrifice ; but they have been prized in
modern times for their wool, flesh, and fat, in which regards the improvements
of breeding have been very marked for the past century and a half.
The best breed of these animals for fine wool is the merino, which origi-
nated in Spain, and is supposed to have descended from the stock of the
patriarchs. They are devoid of wool on the head and necks, and
are less fleshy and symmetrical tiian the choice English breeds.
From the Spanish merinoes are derived the famous Saxon, Silesian, and Flem-
ish breeds. The widely-known establishment for raising sheep, owned by
Louis XVI. of France, at Rambouillet, was devoted to the propagation of
merinoes principally. The prevailing breed in the United States is a more or
less pure merino. The Asiatic and African varieties of this animal are of little
value. Probably Great Britain gives more attention to the raising _.
of sheep for wool and mutton than any other civilized country, breeding in
Her breeds are mostly producers of coarse wools, notably the
Leicester or Dishley, the Cheviot, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Dorset
varieties. The South- Downs have a shorter, finer fleece, and yield good
mutton.
Sheep were first introduced into this country at Jamestown, o(*^hee"i'nto
Va., in 1609. In forty years they had increased in numbers the United
nearly to 3,000. The first importation to Massachusetts was S'""-
in 1633 ; and for a time they were kept on the islands in Boston Bay, to
protect them from wolves and bears. In 1652 Charlestown had as many
Great
Britain.
ISO
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
n
as 400 sheep ; and Lynn had several flocks, which were watched and kept l)y
a common shepherd. Sheep were introduced into the New Netherlands in
1625, and again in 1630 ; but such were the depredations of wild beasts, that
in 1643 there were not more than sixteen in that colony. The Swedes of New-
Jersey were encouraged to breed sheep, and raise wool to send home, but in
1663 had no more than eighty sheep.
LEICBSTER RAH.
The sheep in this country, in those days, were raw-boned, coarse-woolled
animals ; but inasmuch as the mother-country discouraged the exportation of
_ , them hither, and as the colonists felt the need of producing their
Early meas- ' ' °
ure» for en- own woollcn clothing, the colonial governments, by addresses to
"""^'"^ the people, bounties for killing wolves, and by other measures,
encouraged the importation and raising of sheep. Massachusetts,
in 1645, ordered the appointment of agents in every town to ascertain wiio
would buy sheep, and to urge the people to write their friends across the At-
lantic to br'iig sheep with them on emigrating. In 1648 it was ordered that
sheep be pastured on the common j and later the selectmen of every town
were authorized to superintend the putting of rams to the flocks. In 1654
the Assembly of Massachusetts prohibited the exportation of sheep, and in
w
1675 of wool
Virginia enacted similar laws.
'ft
i
•,
'w'*!^:" T
OF THE UNITED STATES.
151
Gradually, but slowly, sheep multiplied in numbers. A report on American
industries, made to the British House of Commons in 1731-32 by the Board of
Trade, shows, that, at that time, nearly all American farmers had .j,,,,„,
;i few sheep, whose wool was spun at home for domestic use. British farm-
'I'liere was no export, however. (Ireat jealousy was felt by the "•'ow"''''
. . , , , , , . , , . , , . Americant.
lintish, lest we should compete with them m wool-production ;
and obstacles were put in the way of our obtaining sheep. Jared Eliot, writ-
ing in 1747, says, "A better breed of sheep is what we want. The English
breed of Cotswold sheep cannot be obtained, or at least with great difficulty ;
lor wool and live animals are contraband goods, which all strangers are pro-
hibited from carrying out on pain of having the right hand cut off."
:!'
SOUTH-DOWN KAM.
On tlic brcaking-out of the Revolution, the colonists immediately recog-
nized the importance of ])rescrving their siieep for propagation, '''he Colo-
nial Congress of 1775 voted to discourage killing, and encourage Mea»ure»to
the breeding, of sheep. The Pennsylvania Assembly did likewise, foster theep-
..., . • • <- 1. 1 1 1 Ml 1 1 • , raising dur-
ihe Association of Butchers vote<l not to kill sheep, and in 1776 jng Ameri-
it is said twenty thousand less sheep were slaughtered than in can Revoiu-
1774. During the siege of Boston, however, in 1 775-76, large
supplies of live-stock, including sheep, were sent froiu all j)arts of the colonies
•Hi
I
»52
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
for the soldiers' food. There must have been more than a million of these
animi.ls in the country at that time.
Little was done in the way of importing choice breeds of sheep into this
country until the close of the last century and the early part of this. Men-
tion is made by Custis of two Leicester ewes on the estate of Washington,
First impor- from which, by a Persian ram, were derived the famous Arlington
tations. long-wooUcd shcep. Kentucky gave preference to this and other
English breeds, which were imported into and still survive in small numbers
in the Middle States and those of tlie Ohio Valley. 'I'iie merino sheep had a
greater rage, and now constitute a larger proportion of our stock.
ANGORA GOAT.
In 1 793 William Foster of Boston biought home from Cadiz, Spain, where
he had been staying several years, tliree full-blooded merino-sheep, two ewes,
William ^"'^ ^ "^MVt. He was seventy-five days on the passage ; and the
Foater'i animals were taken sick, and nearly perished . but a French shep-
°' *' herd on board the vessel cured them by i'ljtc tions. Mr. Foster
says, " Being about to leave tliis country for Fran v , shortly after my arrival
in Boston I presented these sheep to .Andrew Cragic of Cambridge, who, no!
year. In 1808,
Jarvis, our consu
Jiome in Wethers
Just prior to
• Choice animiils ha\
-r^' TP^
OF THE UNITED STATES.
IS3
South-Caro-
lina Society.
knowing their value at that time, ' simply ate them,' as he told me years after
when I met him at an auction buying a merino ram for a thousand do/ars." *
As early as 1785 the newly-organized Society for the Promotion of Agri-
( ulture, in South Carolina, offered a medal to the first person who p^. ^.^^
sliould keep a flock of merino-sheep in that State ; but there offered by
.seems to be no record of the prize being taken.
Four young merino-rams were sent to this country from Paris
ill 1801 ; but not more than one survived, and that went to Rosendale Farm,
Kingston, N.Y. French mcrinoes were also imported by William
lanitor of Hartford in 1846. The Hon. David Humphreys, !i37rom
American minister at Madrid, brought home to his farm in Derby, France and
(onn., ninety-one Spanish merinoes in 1802. Seth Adams of °**'"'<=°""-
' •' ' tries.
Zanesville, O., imported two Spanish ewes in 1801 ; and Chan-
<:cllor Livingston of New York sent home two pairs from abroad the samt
tit J
' ■■■ %
m
SOUTH-DOWN EWES.
year. In 1808, and later, his sheep attained a wide reputation. William
Jarvis, our consul at Lisbon, Portugal, sent a number of Spanish sheep to his
home in Wethersfield, Vt., in 1809 -11.
Just prior to the war of 181 2-14, sheep-raising took a great start in this
* Choice animals have sold as high as ten thousand and fourteen thousand dollars apiece in this couctry.
!, i
i* s-l
I
m
m
1:
4 1^' ■'' '
m
:"''Yt''-r,
»54
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
m:.
country, as 4id also woollen manufactures. After the war there was a brief
Sheep- set-back, in consequence of competition witli the English markets,
raiting prior In 1 824 a protective tariff was laid on foreign wools, and sheep-
to i8n. raising in America quickly revived. The importation of the
Saxon, the, Merino, Leicester, South-Down, Cheviot, and Cotswold breeds,
Effect of t«r- soon followed, and the business rapidly developed. The Saxon
iff of 1824, sheep were highly prized for their fine wool, but proved unhardy,
and yielded light fleeces ; and most breeders in New England, after a thor-
ough trial, voted them unremuuerative.
Sheep are subject to many maladies, such as foot-rot, scab, sore throat,
and grubs in the Iicad ; and they suffer to a great extent from the depredations
Diseases of of dogs. The commissioner of agriculture, in his report for
•heep. 1866, says that returns from one-fourth of the counties in the
country for that year showed that about a hundred and thirty thousand sliecp
had succumbed to this single destroying influence ; and he estimated thtj
number for the whole country to be half a million annually.
thaer's electoral-escurial ram op 1845.
Ipa-f
Sheep-rais-
ing increas-
ing in the
West.
raising.
Owing to these causes to a slight extent, but more particulady
to the better pasturage afforded in the West, there has been for
nearly forty years a westward movement m the centre of sheep-
Prior to 1840, when there were about eighteen million sheep in this
■j|- i; 4 «• '
OF THE UNITED STATES.
'55
country, the greater number were owned in the Atlantic States, from Virginia
northward, arfl in the Ohio bashi. Since then the business of raising sheep
for any thing . jore than the butcher's demand has sensibly declined in the
East ; and the pastures of the Western States are our great wool-producing
region. The general tendency of the movement in sheep-culture will appear
from the following table, showing the distribution in the principal wool-growing
States for thirty years past. It may be remarked, however, that some of the
Southern States, notably Virginia, suffered from the war severely ; and that the
resources of California, now the great wool State of the country, were not
developed until some time after the acquisition of that State from Mexico.
STATES.
1850.
i860.
1,088,003
1870.
1875.
California
■7.328
2.768,187
7,290,000
Ohio
3.942,929
3.546.767
4.928,63s
3,900,000
Texas .
■00,530
753.363
7^4.35'
2,826,700
Michigan
746.43s
■.271.743
1,985,906
2,100,000
New York
3.453.24«
2,617,855
2,181,578
1,897,700
I'cnnsylvania
1,822,357
1,631,540
1,794,301
1,607,600
Iowa
149,960
259,941
855.493
1,680,500
Wisconsin
124,896
332,954
1,069,282
1,151,100
Illinois .
894,643
769,138
1,568,286
1,258,500
Indiana .
1,122,493
999.«7S
i,6i2,()8o
1,175,000
Virginia .
1,310,004
1,043,269
922,472 1
1,011,500
Kentucky
1,102,091
938,990
936,765
690,400
Tennessee
811,591
773.3'7
826,783
345,100
Vermont
1,014,122
752.201
580,347
475.700"
New Mexico
377.27'
830,116
619,438
800,000*
Other States
4.733.929
5,862,903
5. ■■3.447
7,594,400
Total
21,723,220
22,471,275
28,477.95^
35,804,200
m
\k.
Statistics.
The average value of American sheep in 1876 was two dollars and twenty-
seven cents, and the aggregate value was estimated at $80,892,683, While
some few coarse-woolled fleeces, especially in England, have been
known to weigh twelve or fifteen pounds, the avei \ge fleece in
this country, in 1850, weighed 2.42 pounds. Improvement in stock, or else
giving greater attention to weight than to fineness of wool in sheep-raising,
increased the average in i860 to nearly three pounds, and in 1870 to nearly
four. Besides the wool from our 36,000,000 live sheep, enough more from
the slaughtered animals is obtained to make our annual wool product about
185,000,000 pounds. This, at thirty-five cents a pound, would amount to
164,750,000. Nearly 10,000,000 sheep are butchered annually, yielding the
• The two Virginiat,
* Estimated.
156
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
farmers a revenue of not far from 125,000,000. Our wool product does not
yet meet the demand of home manufactures ; and we are obliged to import
over 50,000,000 pounds of raw wool annually, and, in addition to our home
manufactures, import nearly $50,000,000 worth of woollen goods, although the
average Kradv " deceasing.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
»57
; does not
to import
our home
though the
CHAPTER XIV.
SWINE.
THE hog-raising and pork-producing industry of the Unitcu S. '♦•'■ is one
of the most important of our agricultural interests, /^t ho.iie, pork
forms a larger proportion of our food than any other art- ■>{ -"rovision,
brcadstuffs excepted ; while it is also the article of most extenh . e importance
export [r uie line of food, except wheat. This grows out of two "' hog-crop.
facts, — the hog is altogether the most prolific breeder of our domestic-food
animals, matures soonest, and is the most cheaply fattened ; and we have
peculiar facilities for raising the food which produces altogether the best pork ;
namely, Indian-corn.
Swine were introduced into Hispaniola by Columbus in 1493, and De
Soto brought them from the West Indies to Florida in 1538. The Portuguese
had left swine ashore in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as early introduction
as 1553. At Jamestown, Va., we hear of them first in 1609 ; but <>' »wine.
they multiplied so fast, that the people were obliged to build palisades to keep
tliem out of the town. Plymouth Colony imported swine in 1624, and New
Netherlands (now New York) the following year. In the early days the hogs
were allowed to run almost wild in the fields and woods, feeding upon beech
and hickory nuts, acorns, roots, and other such vegetation. The Indians, in
those days, fed extensively on hogs that had grown wild. This wandering, free
life tended to make the early stock of this country, especially in the South
and West, lean, large-boned, fierce, and swift-footed, — a sort of degeneration
toward the wild-boar life from which swine were taken for domestication.
Among the choicer breeds that have been known to stock-raisers for the
past century are the Chinese, which are small, have slender bones, fatten
easily, but are too fat themselves, and are therefore crossed with chineie
otlicr species; the Neapolitan, descended from the best Italian '"««''•
breeds of two thousand years ; the Berkshire, which yield much lean meat,
are prized for hams and bacon, and, crossed with the Chinese,
make splendid hogs ; the short-bodied Essex, which have taken
more prizes in England at stock exhibitions than any other porcine breed ;
i\
i.hw 'hf
158
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
'\\
M*-^
Suffolk.
■wine-
braeding.
the Middlesex, long-bodied, heavy growers, often reaching eight or nine hun-
dred pounds in eighteen months ; and the SufTolk, very symmetri-
cal in shape, small and compact, light feeders, and with great
tendency to fat. All of these varieties have been popular in this country;
and our best swine are mostly from this parentage, more or less crossed.
Little attention was given to swine-breeding, with a view to improving our
stock in this country, until after the Revolution. Interest was first excited in
im rove- ^^'^ subject .by the presentation to Gen. Washington of a pair of
mentt in hogs by the Duke of Bedford. They were of a new breed of his
own raising, and called "Wobums" after Woburn Abbey. Parkin-
son, the Englishman to whom they were intrusted for conveyance,
was dishonest enough to sell them on his arrival in this country. They appear
to have been a cross between the Chinese and the large English native stock,
and were fine animals. The breed soon became common in Virginia and the
neighboring States ; but of late years it has quite run out. A breed known as
the " Byfield," originated from Chinese and English stock by Gorham Parsons
of Byfield, Mass., afterwards had a great popularity, and became great favor-
ites in Ohio. Later the other breeds above mentioned weie imported into
this country, and widely disseminated. Comparatively little improvement was
effected, therefore, in American stock, until about fifty years ago.
The value of the pig for utilizing domestic table-refuse, and the facility
with which he fattened on such food, and at almost no expense, led to his very
Increase of general keeping by all farmers, and many towns-people and small
hog-raiting, tenants. The cheapness of bacon created a great demand for it
in the old slave States likewise, and the business of furnishing wholesale sup-
plies to that market naturally grew with the development of that section of the
country. Inasmuch as the Southern planters gave themselves almost exclu-
sively to cotton, tobacco, and sugar culture, and did not raise food for their
families and help, the labor and profit of providing for them naturally fell to
another section of the country ; and the remarkable facilities enjoyed by the
West for hog-raising gave those States almost a monopoly of the valuable
Southern market, a conquest which they followed up by extensions of their
trade in other directions.
The one great cause to which the development of the pork-industry in the
West is due is the remarkable production of corn in that quarter, and the dis-
= . .i < covery that corn-fed pork is sweeter than mast-fed or swill-fed
Relation of '' '
corn product pork. There have been times when corn was so plenty in the
to hog-rai»- \q^^<^ that it was used for fuel, and when, for lack of transporta-
ing.
tion, it was sold for six cents a bushel, and that only twenty-five
miles from the Ohio River in Illinois. The farmers soon found, that, with
such abundant food, it was cheaper to pen their hogs, instead of letting them
run loose, and to fatten them quickly for market. Thus hog-raising rapidly
increased between fifty and twenty-five years ago in Kentucky and the three
OF THE UNITED STATES.
'59
States next north of the Ohio River. Thence it spread westward across the
Mississippi. The rapid and extensive construction of railroads in those States,
about the middle of the present century, of course afforded an outlet for the
grain ; but it did likewise for the pork, live and packed ; and so the business
staiil there. Of the seven or eight million hogs killed every year in this coun-
try, about five or six million are killed in the West, and are mostly packed :
those killed in the East are mostly for immediate consumption. The pork-
packing business of the West is chiefly confined to six cities, which rank in the
order named ; Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and
Louisville. Inasmuch as Chicago's grain-business is her chief industry, and
pork-packing is Cincinnati's leading interest, the latter city is generally reck-
oned the great pork-producing centre of the United States : indeed, it was so
for a long time. The great bulk of the business is done in the winter-time ;
the season opening about Nov. i, and closing early in March.
The following interesting description of the Cincinnati slaughter-houses,
from the pen of Charles Cist, first appeared in one of the newspapers published
in that city : —
" The slaughter-houses are in the outskirts of the city, fifty by a hundred
and thirty feet each in extent, the frames boarded up with mova- oetcription
ble lattice-work at the sides, ordinarily kept open to admit the o( tiaughtar-
air, but shut during intense cold, so that the hogs may not be ""**'
frozen so stiff as not to be cut up to advantage, tlach establishment employs
as many as one hundred hands, selected for their strength and activity.
" The hogs, being confined in adjoining pens, are driven, about twenty at
a time, up an inclined bridge opening into a square room at the top, just
large enough to hold them. As soon as the door is closed a man pro<.„, „(
enters from an inside door, and with a hammer weighing about »i»ughter.
two pounds, fixed to a long handle, knocks each hog down by a "*'
single blow between the eyes. In the mean time a second apartment is being
filled with as many more. A couple of men seize the stunned hogs, and drag
them through the inside door to the bleeding-platform. Here each gets a
cut in the throat with a sharp-pointed knife, and the blood falls through the
lattice floor.
" After bleeding a minute or two, they are slid off this platform into a
scalding-vat, — about twenty feet long, six feet wide, and three feet deep, —
kept full of water heated by steam, the temperature being easily regulated. As
the hogs are slid into one end of this vat, they are pushed along slowly by
men standing on each side with small poles, turning them over so as to get a
uniform scalding, and moving them onward ; so that each will reach the other
end of the vat in about two minutes from the time it entered. Ten hogs are
usually passing through this scalding process at the same time, being con-
stantly received at one end, and taken out at the other, where there is a con-
trivance for lifting them out of the water, two at the same time, by one man
i
■1
M
%
i6o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
operating a lever, which raises them to the scraping-table, five feet wide and
twenty-five feet long, with eight or nine men on each side, and usually as
( ; many hogs on it at the same time ; each pair of men performing a separate
part of the work of removing the hair and bristles, 'i'he first two take off
only those bristles which are worth saving for the brush-makers, taking only a
double handful from the back of each hog, which are deposited in a box or
barrel close at hand. The hog slides on to tlie next two, who, with scrajjcrs,
remove the hair from one side, then turn it over to the next two, who scrape
the other side ; the next scrape head and legs ; the next shave one side with
sharp knives; the next shave the other; the next do the same to head and
legs. To each pair of men are given twelve seconds to do their part of the
work, or five hogs a minute, for three or four hours at a time.
" When the hog arrives at the end of this table, all shaved smooth, another
pair of men put in a gambrel-stick, and swing the hog off on a wheel, whic h
is about ten feet in diameter, revolving on a perpendicular shaft extending
from the floor to the ceiling, the height of the wheel being about six feet from
the floor. Around its outer edge are i)laced eight large hooks, about four feet
apart, on which the hogs are hung to be dressed.
" As soon as the hog is swung from the table to one of these hooks, the
wheel turns one-eighth of its circuit, and brings the next hook to the table, and
carries the hog a distance of four feet, where a couple of men dash it with
clean cold water, and scrape it down with knives, to remove any loose hair or
dirt that it may have brought along off the table. Then it moves again, and
carries the hog four feet farther, where another man cuts it open in a single
second, and removes the larger intestines, or such as have no fat on them worth
saving, and throws them out an open doorway at his side. Another move of
four feet carries it to another man, who lifts out the rest of the intestines, — the
heart, liver, &c., — and throws them on a table behind him, where four or five
men are engaged in separating the fat and other valuable parts. Another
move, and a man dashes a bucket of clean water inside, and washes off all the
filth and blood. This completes the cleaning ; and each man has to do his
part of the work in just twelve seconds, as there are only five hogs hanging on
the wheel at the same time ; and this number are removed, and as many more
added, every minute. The number of men, not counting the drivers out-
side, is fifty ; so that each man, in effect, kills and dresses a hog every ten
minutes of working-time, or forty in a day.
" At the last move of the wheel a strong fellow shoulders the hog ; and
anothev removes the gambrel-stick, and backs it off to the other part of the
house, where it is hung up for twenty-four hours to cool, on hooks, in rows on
each side of the beams, just over a man's head, where there are space and
hooks for two thousand hogs, or a full day's work at killing. The next day
they are taken off by teams to the packing-houses."
The proUucts of pork are the hams and shoulders ; sides for bacon, or pack-
OF TtlE UNI TED STATES.
l6l
ing in barrels ; rumps and jowls, which go to the barrel with sides ; and lard,
sdinc of which is (onverted into oil for lubricating and illiiminating Productior
]iur|)oscs, and for adulterating sperm and olive oils in the market, p*'"*-
Stcarine, from which candles arc made, is a product of lard. Some of the
coarser grease from the ofTal is used for making soap. The refuse is employed as
.T fertilizer. The bristles go to make brushes, the hoofs for glue, and the blood
is manufactured into the chemical called " Prussian blue." llesides these
iiuluslries depeiuli.nt upon hog-raising, there is an immense cooperage business
ntcessary to sujjply the recpiisite kegs and barrels.
The number of hogs in the country has not materially varied for the past
few years. The census of 1850 gave the number as 30,354,213 ; that of i860,
•T' 33-5".867; that of 1870, as 25,134,569. The Agricultural g^^ ,^„^^
bureau says, that in January, 1876, it was 25,726,800 : at the same
(late in 1877 it was 28,077,100.
The report of the New-York Produce Kxchangc gives a table Diitribution
which shows the distribution of swine in ,the country as follows : — **' iwine.
tTATBS.
New England ....
Middle .States ....
Western (east of the Mississippi)
Western (west of the Mississippi)
r.iciric
.Southern
Total
1875.
279.700
1 ,643,400
7,372.600
5,833,000
544,Soo
10,035,300
1S76.
306,000
1,679,300
7,948,600
6,649 500
606,400
10345.900
25,726,800 I 28,035,700
>n, or pack-
Cincinnati was a great pork-packing centre as early as 1835, and long
held pre-eminence in that business. During the war there was an extra
demand for pork for army use ; and the number of hogs slaughtered tempo-
rarily increased, but fell off again. For the twelve years immediately after,
there was a steaa increase again in the whole West, as will be seen from the
following statemcni ; —
>865-66 . 1.785.955
1866-67 2,490,791
1867-68 2,781,084
1868-69 2.499.873
•869-70 2,635,312
1870-71 3.695,251
'87«-73 4.83>.55*
•872-73 S.4'0,394
1873-74 • • 5,466,200
1874-75 5.566,226
1875-76 4.880,135
1876-77 S.072,339
•
m|
m
m^.
M^^PI
ppgr^
w'
.-■if.
i
f:
1 iii-
ppHii^
li'kK"
1
m'
IC2
/iVZ? f/5 rAVy4 /. ///S TO A' Y
In the season of 1876-77 there were slaughtered 1,618,084 hogs in Chicago,
523,576 in Cincinnati, 414,747 in St. Louis, 294,198 in Indianapohs, 225. 59S
Number in Milwaukee, 214,862 in Louisville, 1,781,274 at all other kss
slaughtered, important points South and West, and 2,336,835 in the Middle and
ICastern States; in all, 7,409,174. These cost the packers, first-hand, al)out
fifteen dollars apiece ; which makes the total yield worth to the producers iint
far from $1 10,000,000, less expense of transportation. Killed, dressed, smoked,
tried, or packed, one-cjuarter was added to the market value of the product.
Tiie marked dcNclopment of tiie Western pork raising and packing businLss
Export- is largely due to the steady increase of our export-traile in Img
trade. products for tlie past few years. During the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1876, we exported, —
I^.icon and h.ims
Harrcllcd pork .
Lard . . .
Total
327,730,172
54,105,118
168,405,839
*39/'64,456
5,744,0:2
22,429,485
550.33 '.'29 ! )?67 ,837,96 3
This was ten and a half per rent of our total exports ; and it ranks next
after cotton, petroleum, and wiieat. The great hulk of the lard and bacon gn
to lingland and Ireland, wliich take a small proportion cf tlie barrelled i)ork.
Germany, France, and Belgium are our next best foreign customers.
;'
OF THE UNITED STATES.
163
W.
1 64
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
iffiH
CHAPTER XV.
HORTICULTURE, NURSERIES, AND FRUIT-RAISING.
THAT branch of the agricultural industry which most closely approaches
to fine art is horticulture ; under which term we include ordinary market-
Horticulture gardening, landscape-gardening, flower and fruit culture. Fruits
• recent and flowers are mostly luxuries, rather than necessities, and in the
pursuit. g^j.jy ^^yg ^^ ^yj. j^jgtQry ^gjg scarcely thought of by the mass of
colonists. Only a few gentlemen of social position, culture, and wealth, gave
attention thereto ; and fruits and flowers were introduced more for the gratifi-
cation of individual taste and pride than for the general good. Like tlie
development of the taste and pursuit of literature and painting, horticulture is.
one of those civilized avocations to which the human mind turns only after
the necessities of life are well provided for : consequently horticulture is of
comparatively recent birth and development in this country.
To market-gardening it is unnecessary to give especial attention here. The
raising of a few kitchen vegetables for domestic use began on a limited scale
Market- in early colonial days ; and, with the growth of our large cities^
gardenitiK. since th*" Revolution, the business of purveying to the needs of
the people has gradually grown up to be a respectable-sized trade all over tlie
country, in many cases the cultivation of plants for seed being a branch of the
business.
Landscape-gardening, or the improvement of lands by trees, flowers,
shrubbery, paths, and architecture, has beer, practised to a marked degree for
Landscape- about a century only in England and other foreign countries,
eardening. Little attention, therefore, was given to it here until after the
Revolution. Taste was then manifested in the laying out of the grounds of a
few prominent gentlemen in and about our large cities. Downing speaks
particularly of the elepant arrangement and excellent keeping of the celebrated
seats of the Hamilton family, near Philadelphia, which was famed for its beauty,
in 1805; Judge Peters, near Philadelphia, a little later; Chancellor Living-
ston, at Clermf^nt, on the Hudson ; the Hon. Theodore L. Lyman, nine miles
out of Boston j Beaverwyck, a little north of Albany, the home of William P.
THE UNITED STATES.
165
Van Rensselaer, and the manor-house of the " patroon " of that name in the
suburbs of that city ; the cottage-residences of William H. Aspinwall on Staten
Island, Daniel Wadsworth of Hartford, and James Hillhouse of New Haven ;
Col. S. G. Perkins at Brookline, near Boston ; and J. P. Cushing's place, in
the same vicinage.
m
HEDGE-TRIMMER.
Downing.
In 1824 M. Andr^ Parmentier of Enghien, Holland, came to this country,
and started horticultural nurseries near Brooklyn, N.Y., and laid out HorUcuitu-
his grounds with especial regard to illustrating the principles of raiiitera-
landscape-gardening. About that time Bernard McMahon of *""*
Philadelphia wrote a book called "The American (iardener's Calendar."
About 1840 Andrew J. Downing, a man whose writings have given
a wonderful impetus to horticulture in this country, published a
work on " Landscape-Gardening," which also gave to the art a great impetus.
Within the next few years much attention was given to the subject by all
persons building large manor-houses, and laying out large estates all over the
country, but especially in the neighborhood of large cities. 'I'he Growth of
grounds adjoining colleges .nd public buildings began to be laid interest in
out with greater taste, those at the Smithsonian Institute in Wash- * "" J"*^**
ington having been designed by Downing. Agricultural societies began to give
.1 little more encouragement to ornamental tree-i)lanting and flower-culture,
'i'lie nurseries springing up here and there furnished young shade-trees as well
as fruit-trees. Young towns studied the art of making their .streets graceful,
with trees on either side, and flower-patches near their town-halls or county
< ourt-houses.
Then the idea of adorning public cemeteries by the arts of tree-planting,
winding and straight paths, adaptation of shrubbery, flowers, and walks to the
1 66
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
l«i|
Public parks.
undulations and other characteristics of the ground's surface, and so on, took
Public possession of a few cultured minds, and spread rapidly. The first
cemeteries, prominent city of the dead so laid out was Laurel Hill, near Phila-
delphia, the enterprise being successful largely through the taste and perievir-
ance of John Jay Smith of that city. Other burial-places about that tiniij —
the middle of the present century- -became famous from an application of
the same idea. Almost every one has heard of Mount Auburn, near Boston ;
Greenwood, just out of Brooklyn, N.Y. ; Spring Grove, Cincinnati ; and the
beautiful cemeteries near Baltimore and New Haven. Within the past frenty-
five years the newly-laid-out cemeteries of the country have ncis'.y all been
greatly beautified.
Still another manifestation of the same taste and culture is the laying out
of parks in and about our cities, which shall be more than the old " common '
of a New-P2ngland town. Ff^rhaps the most important work of this
sort undertaken in -\\\t country is Central Park, in thi; upper i)art
of New-York City. It is half a mile wide, and two miles aaJ a hi' long, and
includes what was originally very wild and beautiful scenery. T'.e land was
appropiiatt,:d to this use by
the New-i'n'h; legislature in
1857, larg.l; rough the in-
flu.' \'\: jf Downi' ;g's writings.
The next year, in pursuance
of plan-i submitted by Fred-
erick \.o\s Olmstead and Cal-
vert Vau>, the improvement
of this froe pari: was begun,
and has been continued at
enormous expense even until
the present time. By a ju-
dicious preservation, altera-
tion, or utilization of the
characteristic features of the
land, and by extensive and
costly work, an arrangement
of lakes, lawns, flower-beds,
groves, rocks, glens, caverns,
footpaths, driveways, terraces,
bridges, chSlets, and other ar-
chitectural devices, has been
jierfected, which makes tiie
pLici. OIM* of the most delightful public resorts in the world. Llewellyn Park,
near OrangC; N.J., laid out by Bauman, a famous Philadelphia botanic gar-
dener, Faim.ount Park near Philadelphia, and I'rospect Park near Brooklyn,
SNUWUALU
OF THE UNITED STATES.
167
are among the more recent and more famous of such institutions in this
country.
Of all departments of horticulture or gardening, the propagation and cul-
tivation of flowers most closely approaches a fine art. Only in a limited sense
is it an industry. Those who engage in it professionally are few Cultivation
111 number : the great mass of devotees to this pursuit, mostly "' Howen.
iatlics, are incited thereto by the same aesthetic instinct which leads them to"
ijiudy and practise music. That delightful writer, Ruskin, has said, " Flowers
seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. Children love them ;
([iiiet, tender, contented, ordinary people love them as they grow ; luxurious
and disorderly people rejoice in them gathered. They are *he cottager's
treasure, and in the crowded town mark, as with a little broken fragment of
rainbow, the windows of the workers in whose heart rests the covenant of
peace." Truly the production and care of flowers is the poetry of agriculture.
It has been noticed in connection with the development of certain arts
(architecture, for instance) that the tendency in their earlier stages is toward
massive proportion and general effect, and aftenvards to refine- Architecture
ment of organization, and beauty of detail. Something of the andfloricui-
same characteristics is to be found in the history of floriculture. *"""
At first, flowers were thought of and used chiefly as elements of landscapis-
gardening ; afterwards prized for themselves, improved and cared for accord-
ingly.
Prior to and during the Revolution it may be said, that virtually no atten-
tion was given lo flowers in this coimtry. Now and then persons had a
solitary rose-bush, or, to gratify some odd fancy, grew some curi-
ous plant, such as cotton was then, upon their grounds. Toward
the close of the last century and the beginning of this, flowering-
planls, generally shrubs, were grown as borders to paths on the
beautified suburban estates of a few wealthy gentlemen ; then n
beds, either made in the turf or in clean soil, with box-tree horde
rated by paths, began to appear.
The iivitation of these means of beautifying a home came to he practised
in time by persons of lesser means, and on a small scale ; ' it was not
until a quarter of this century had passed away that the little ( nicstic flower-
bed came to be at all common.
It was not uniil about this period, therefore, that professional gardeners
gave much attention to importing, propagating, and selling to the general
pul)lic, flowering-plants, seeds, and bulbs. At first this business saieoi
was conducted by persons engaged in growing vegetables and ?'■"*•• *<=•
fruits for the market in the vicinity of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia ;
but in a short time the increased patronage warranted the stimni,!^ of inde-
pendent nurseries and flower-gardens. The rapid development of popular
taste and interest since about 1825, and the growing demand for flowers in
No attention
to subject
' ire the
olution.
r flower-
and sepa-
.Vv*V..:,
■\%
z68
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
i- 'i:^':i^rv,
the larger cities for festal occasions, funerals, and sentimental remembrances,
led to the extension of the professional florist's trade all over the country ; so
that now scarcely a city or town of fifteen thousand inhabitants is without an
establishment of this sort.
When the gentlemen of the earlier days began to • introduce the choicer
and more tender plants to their estates, the greenhouse, for shelter and for
Oreen- forcing plants, was here and there erected, the idea being taken
houiet. ffQnj the foreign forcing-houses for fruits. Of necessity, the pro-
fessional florist requires a greenhouse at the very outset of his business. Be-
tween 1825 and 1850, when landscape-gardening and domestic architecture
took such a stride in this country, the erection of conservatories as ornaments
to a lawn, as well as permanent shelters for choice plants, came into vogue,
both as independent edifices, and as additions to the proprietor's mansion.
It was during this period, too, that a literature devoted to flower-culture
began to make its appearance. In 1832 Robert Buist of Philadelphia, pro-
Literature prietor of the Roseland Nurseries, published a book on this sub-
&u the tub- ject, which was among the earliest and best publications of the
'**' sort. It reached several editions. During the next decade A. J.
Downing adapted to American use Mrs. Loudon's " Ladies' Companion to the
Flower-Garden ; " and, still later, Hen-
ry Carey Baird got out an American
edition of " Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen
Gardening," written by Dr. Niell, sec-
retary of the Royal Caledonian Horti-
cultural Society. These and other
American works were widely dissemi-
nated. Agricultural and horticultural
journals gave more attention to flow-
ers, and the ordinary newspapers re-
published extracts bearing upon flori-
culture. Within a few years leading
florists have got into the way of pub-
lishing descriptive catalogues of their
seeds, bulbs, and plants, together with
valuable hints and suggestions con-
cerning their cultivation, for gratuitous
distribution, like the almanacs of
pptent-medicine makers.
During all this time there has been a (}uict. steady improvement — though
not very great or startling in the aggregate — m the nwthods of prcpagation
and care of flowers. There has been a oerceptibie improvement
m the charac ter of varieties, and a niuh«j>hcation of spe<!es by
hybridization and other scientific processes and, m addition to the increase
SPIII«A LANCROI.ATA.
Progreas.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
169
Pomology.
in numbers and beauty brought about by the efforts of American florists,
there has been an extensive importation of foreign flower plants and seeds.
The tendency to greater discrimination and taste in the selection of species
and varieties has been very marked within the past twenty years.
Perhaps the most recent development in this uneventful though interest-
ing history is the popular devotion to window-gardening by people in
moderate and humble circumstances, — a natural outgrowth of a maturing
and refining taste, and an instinct to keep one's flowers thrifty the year round.
.Scarcely a home is now to be found in the country, where some attempt is
not made in this direction ; if not with bay-windows filled with jars, flower-
stands, and costly jardiniferes of rustic-work, shells, or quaint and lovely tiles,
<ombined, perhaps, with bird-cages and aquariumsj at least a simple hang-
ing-basket or undecoraled window-box.
As will appear presently, from our consideration of the history of individual
fruits, the first of these luxuries wc ha<l in tliis country was the product of
trees or seed or vines brought here by individual enterprise and
for individual use. Half a century ago, organized n>''-°ments
were set afoot for 'ruit-culture. The ideas of fort ji fruit raisers and
breeders began to attract attention. Nurseries were started to attempt the
improvement of stock and the dissemination of choice varieties. Individual
cultivators awoke enough public enthusiasm to lead to the organization of
pomological societies. The first of these was formed in 1829, and in 1848
a national pomological society was organized. The .Agricultural Bureau at
Washington soon after began devoting attention to fruits, imparting a vast
deal of information with regard to all kinds and varieties, the projjer modes
of culture, and the soils and climates to which each was best adapted.
Downing's book on "Fruits and Fruit-Trees of .■\merica," and horticultural
writings, did a great deal to disseminate information, arouse interest, and
stimulate culture.
Among the first nurseries we hear of in this country was that of Gov.
Endicott of Salem, Mass., who in 1640 had (]uite a grove of young seedling
apple-trees; but until 1835 there were scarcely more than two Early nurse-
or three institutions for supplying the public generally. Among "■'"•
the earliest mentioned are those of James Bloodgood on Long Island, and
William Reid on Murray Hill, a part of New-York City, now covered with
residences. These were weli saown between 1830 and 1835. Since that
time nurseries have rapidly increased in numbers in the Central and Western
States, but notably m Central and Western New York. Probably one-tenth
oi -Jie fruit-trees sold come from Monroe County in that State, the county-
s"ai l)eing Rochester. The enviroraa of Cieneva and Syracuse and Long
Island are also great producers of young fruit and shatle trees, shrubbery,
and berry-plants. ITiere are now something over a thousand nurseries in this
country, from which are sokl five hundred thousand dollars' worth of trees
annually.
: '51
lyo
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
The grape is one of the oldest known fniits of the world, though it has
had comparatively little prominence in this country until within a generation.
There are many varieties native that have proved valuable and
popular besides the many choice imported varieties. The Isabcll.i
and Catawba both originated in North Carolina ; the Muscatel, long known
as the " Cape," and incorrectly imagined to be an importation from Soiitli
Africa, was indigenous to Pennsylvania ; the Scuppcrnong, at one time thouglu
to promise well for wine-making, is a Carolina grape ; the Sweetwater, wiii< li
with the Catawba is widely cultivated in California for wine, and also in the
Eastern States, is a native. Texas products a grape widely known as tlie
Mustang ; and there are other varieties almost too numerous to mention.
Long after the Revolution, grapes were raised in this country, principally
to be eaten fresh, as a dessert fniit. Hardy varieties were grown principally,
Recent cui- though a few choice foreign kinds were raised under glass. Alxint
tureofgrape. jg^^Q Qp igjo thc growing interest in fruit-culture led to a larger
cultivation of hothouse grapes by fanciers and wealthy gentlemen. Downing
mentions, that, at about this time, thousands of bushels of grapes were raised
near New York and Philadelphia for the market, and that large quantities of
the fniit were packed in cotton for preservation during the winter.
But it is for wine-making purposes that the grape is to be principally
regarded. The Gothic seamen who touched our shores before Columbus's
W!ne-mak- day called America " Wineland the Good," because of its grapes
'"«■ and their dreams of its possibilities. Very early in our colonial
h story, high expectations were entertained by emigrants of the wine-making
possibilities of this country j and numerous experiments were made in that
direction. Vines were imported to Virginia in 1610, and wine thus produced
was sent to England in 161 2. Gov. VVinthroj) gave attention to the subject
in Massachusetts before 1630, at which time he owned a tine vineyard ; and
in 1634 Governor's Island, in Boston harbor, was rented on condition that the
lessee should plant a vineyarfl or orchard, and pay a hogshead of wine yearly,
— a condition that i)robabIy was not fulfilkd. .Attempts were made to intro
duce wine-grapes into the New Netherlands in 1642 ; but the frost killed them.
Grape-culture was especially contemplated by the grantees of the Carolinas ;
but it took a poor hold at first. Delaware gave some little attention to wine-
making in early days, and in 1753 a wealthy citizen offered a prize of forty
shillings for the best arti( le produ<eil. Maryland in 1715 protected her homo
industry by imposing a tax on imported wine. But all these movements
proved virtual failures, except in North Carolina, where, in 1750, wine-making
was quite a prosperous though small iuflustry.
We hear little further until 1845, when Downing mentions that the attempts
Switiadven- of Swiss adventurers at Vevay, Ind., to raise grapes and make
tureri. ^yj^j^, q^ ^ large scale, had failed ; and that Mr. N. Longworth of
Cincinnati, after experimenting for thirty years with foreign vines from the
OF THE UNITED STATES.
171
cold Jcra-mountain sides and warm Madeira, had decided that the native
gnipc was our great American reliance. In 1849 300 acres of vineyards were
to be found within twelve miles of Cincinnati, which yielded over vineyard*
50,000 gallons of wine that year. We also hear of some small ne«r Cincin-
\ ineyards in Missouri, at this time, that yielded 250 gallons to the "** '
a>TC ; and in 1858 an instance is mentioned, as rare, of 400 gallons being
jiroduccd in Alabama from an acre.
Other instances are mentioned, which show, that, by about 1850, grape-
f ulture for wine had taken a new start in this country, especially in the Central
and Western States. The census shows the total product of wine win*
for the country that year to have been 221,249 gallon , of which P'o^uct.
California yielded 58,055 ; Ohio, 48,207 ; Pennsylvania, 25,590 ; Indiana,
14,055 ; North Carolina, 11,058 ; Missouri, 10,563 ; and New York, 9,172.
During the next decade wine-making rapidly increased. The art seemed
to have been mastered at last : American champagne, sherry, claret, and port,
had achieved a new and enviable reputation. The Department of winemmk-
Agriculture year after year aflbrded valuable information concern- ing between
ing grape-culture, avoiding blights and pests, and methods of wine- ' *°"^'
making ; and California, already known to be a perfect Kden for fruits of all
kinds, multiplied her vineyards, and yielded so abundantly, that a thousand
gallons an acre was frecpiently obtained. The vine flourished in all parts of
that State : but the principal vineyards wore in three coiinties ; namely, Los
Angeles, San Bernardino, and S;m Diego. In i860 the wine-product of the
(ountry had increased eigiitfold from that of ten years before, being returned
at 1,627,192 gallons, of which Ohio produced fully one-third, or 568,617
gallons; California, 246,518; Kentucky, 179,948; Indiana, 102,895; and
New York, North Carolina, Illinois, and Connecticut, not far from 50,000
each.
In the next decade California took the lead again, her wines receiving high
conmiendation at the Paris Kxposition of 1867, her fame becoming world-
wide, and the development of her product being nearly eightfold, wine-mak-
Missouri's progress, too, was starding, her yield in 1870 being ing since
twelve times what it had been in i860. The last national census
returned 3,092,330 gallons, of which California is credited with nearly two-
thirds, or 1,814,656 gallons; Missouri, 326,173; Ohio, 212,912; Illinois,
111,882; Pennsylvania, 97,165 ; and New York, 82,607. North Carolina had
scarcely advanced, while Indiana had fallen off to only a quarter of her yield
in i860.
Without doubt the wine-product of this country now amounts to over five
million gallons annually; and there is every likelihood that we Present wine
shall not only fully supply our demands for domestic consumption product o(
before very long, but shall soon be exporting wine to foreign coun- * * =<»"ntfy-
tries. This is now one of the most promising of American agricultural
industries.
173
INDUSTKIAL HISTORY
Passing now to the fruits grown in our country, the apple ranks first among
them, because it is the most common of all in this country, and the most use-
Early hii- ' fill. It is not the oldest in development and culture, however : the
toryofappie. grape, the fig, and the pomegranate flourished in Palestine long
before the apple was mentioned in Scripture. And even then, as also in the
Greek (iibles which tell of the golden apples of the gardens of Hesperides and
of the apple of discord, it is probable that the word "api)le" was used in a
generic sense, meaning fruit rather than this particular variety. In the early
days of Rome the apple was well known ; and Pliny states, that, in his day, no
less than twenty-nine varieties were cultivated in various parts of Italy. At
the present time there are about two inmdred distinct varieties of this delicious
fruit recognized, of which, however, about thirty constitute the staple product
of the United States.
The parent stock of all our apples is the wild crab of Europe. Doubtless
the first great step taken in its culture and its utilization was the invention of
grafting by the Romans. It will be remembered, that, after the establishment
of the Roman empire ujjon the wreck of the republic by Augustus Caisar,
the poet Virgil was employed by the emperor to write a series of poetical
treatises on agriculture, intended to educate the nation in the foremost of all
the arts of peace. In the course of his suggestions, that never-to-be-forgotten
writer says, —
" Graft the tender shoot :
Thy children's children shall enjoy the fruit."
In the luxurious days of later Rome, fruit-culture was extensively indulged
in by wealthy gentlemen ; and nearly every person of means had a walled fruit-
Progrestin garden immediately connected with his dwelling-house. In the
middle ages, too, the monks of Europe, from Southern Italy to
the Highlands of Scotland, gave great attention to fruit-culture;
the practice of pruning, setting large flat stones underneath the young trees,
and some other devices, coming into more or less permanent use. Yet the
fact that a generation of time, or more, must elapse before the setting out of a
young orchard yielded its full reward, discouraged even those who grew apples
for luxury, much more the poor nistic who lived from hand to mouth. The
modern inventions of budding and dwarfing have enabled the horticulturist to
get a quicker return for his labor, and they have therefore given a remarkable
stimulus to apple-culture.
The first record we have of the cultivated apple in England was the announce-
ment that pippin-seed, brought from France in 1524, was planted in Sussex.
Early cuiti- ^ ^"'^'^ \i^'^t, the golden pippin was developed from this stock, and
vation of ap- soon became famous in England. The early colonists found it
almost impracticable to bring young trees or even scions to America ,
and, as we had no native apples, they were compelled to rely pretty
much on seeds for our first stock. Naturally enough, therefore, the introduction
culture of
apple.
pie in New
Engiand.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
173
of the fruit was rare and slow. Nevertheless, it is asserted, that, so early as
1639, "ten fair pippins" were brought tc Boston from trees that had been
j)l;inted on Governor's
Inland, in the adjacent
iiarbor. The following
year Gov. Endicott had a
nursery of young fruit-
trccb in what is now Dan-
vers, Mass., and sold five
hundred young apple-trees
for two hundred and fifty
acres of land.
For more than a cen-
tury and a half, however,
a|)|)lcs were cultivated al-
most exclusively for cider,
the trees for fruit to be
eaten being as rare for a
long time as orange and
other tropical plants are
now in the North. Indeed,
not until 1830 did the United-States Government begin to collect statistics of
our orchard products. Probably the applc-trces of this country, cultivation
in the first quarter of the present century, were mostly con- of apple* for
fnied to New England and Long Island. New Jersey hail a few, * ""
and so had Eastern and South-eastern New York. Western New York, Ohio,
and Michigan had not yet felt the impetus soon to be given to this branch of
horticulture.
Sieveral influences, however, began to stimulate apple-culture thirty and
forty years ago very perceptibly. One was the attention given thereto by the
Federal Government, which had established a Hurcau of Agricul- Effort! of
ture in the Patent Office. The report of the commissioner for the Downing
year 1849 indicates that a wide-spread interest was being felt *" *■' *'*
throughout the land, especially in New England. Horticultural societies began
to be formed, and the general agricultural societies offered more premiums for
choice apples. The first horticultural society in this country was founded in
1829, and the American Pomological Society was established in 1848. Nurse-
ries came to be more numerous ; Rochester, N.Y., beginning to show great
I)rominence in this sphere, as also Onondaga County in that State. Books
and periodicals devoted more attention to the subject. Andrew Jackson
Downing, long the editor of the monthly " Horticulturist," and author of
" Fruits and Fmit-Trees of America," undoubtedly did much to stimulate
enthusiasm on the subject. Attention was given especially to winter apples.
I : :t|
^,
>
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
//
^*^<^\,
1.0
I.I
12.8
^ 1^
■■■
■ 2.2
1^
-
|L25
||..4
III —
* 6" -
►
I.'
Photographic
Sciences
Cbrporalion
as WIST MAIN STRIET
WnSTIR.N.Y. 14SM
(716)I72-4S03
4^%
w
i\
\
6^
■,i
fl
TTI'T
1
ill,;
.9r-
»74
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
about this time, and some slight experiments in connection with trans-Atlantic
steam navigation suggested to far-sighted men the possibility of our doing
quite an export business in apples. Even then the American apple was begin-
ning to assert its superiority over the English; and in the winter of 1858-59
no less than a hundred and twenty thousand barrels of apples, mostly Bald-
wins, were exported from Boston alone. Scientific discovery regarding the
culture of the apple seemed, moreover, to take a stride about thirty or forty
years ago. Growers began to recognize that varieties which thrived well on
the granite-bedded soil of New England did not do so well in the soft loam
of New Jersey and the Western States, and that the limestone ledges of Cen-
tral and Western New York called for still different varieties. Adaptability to
place and climate was more carefully studied. Moreover, it began to be
imderstood how to improve varieties. Seeds from good fruit had almost inva-
riably yielded poor fruit when the new trees got to bearing ; and this j)oor
return, after many years' waiting, was eminently discouraging. But growers
not only found that by crossing old varieties, as the Netherlanders did, could
be produced new ones even superior to the parent stock, but also that by
taking seed from young seedlings, and replanting, permanent varieties could
be established in four generations. These trees too, as also the dwarfed
trees, could be made to yield early in life ; and thus labor and money returned
interest upon investment far (|uicker than of yore.
These various influences, with the consecjuent popularity of our fruit
abroad and the establishment of fruit-stores and apple-stands in our cities,
have of late years rapidly developed our apple-culture, and given our country
pre-eminence in the whole world for the superiority of this fruit.
It does not come within the scope of this work to give in detail the ilis-
tribution of the varieties of apples in this country. It may not be out of
place, however, to say, that the Rhode- Island greening, the Rox-
bury russet, the Baldwin, the gillyflower, and the Hubbardston
nonesuch, are the best-known winter apples, and the early harvest, sweet-
bough, the Porter, and the Coggswell pearmain, among fall apples, in New
England. New Jersey is noted for its sound, tart Swaar ; New York for the
NRvtown pippin, king, greening, russet, Spitzenberg, and seek-no-farther ; and
Michigan for her seek-no-farthers, Northern spys, pippins, and pound sweet-
ings. It is generally admitted, that, for flavor, the fruit of New York is the
richest ; but the light soils of Michigan and Ohio yield the largest specimens.
Owing to the backward state of apple-culture, little had been done in the
South previous to the war ; although it is well established, that, were adaptation
of varieties to soil ar^d climate studied more, the Gulf States might produce
apples abundantly. Since the dapression of the war, little activity has been
manifested in that section. California is almost the only State west of the
Upper-Mississippi and Lower-Missouri Valleys that has gone much into fruit-
culture as yet; and, in that unusually fertile soil and balmy climate, the
apple, like all other ftuits of the temperate zone, flourishes exuberantly.
Varieties.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
175
According to the census of 1870 our orchard products that year amounted
in value to $47,335,189, or two and a half times what they did in i860, and
six times those of 1850; and, inasmuch as our agricultural and Quantity
iiorticultural industries have developed more than any other since "°^ raised.
then, it would be safe to reckon the same products for 1877 — though an
(ilf-year in some localities — at not far from $60,000,000. Now, as berries
and grai)es are not included in this estimate, and as pears, peaches, plums,
( lierries, and oranges are our only other leading orchard products, it would
be reasonable to say that the total annual apple-crop of the country to-day is
worth $40,000,000.
The name of the quince clearly indicates tiiat it grew naturally in the
Island of Crete, though it probably did not originate tiiere. It has been found
growing wild along the Danube and in France. It was also known
at an early day in England and Portugal. When first known, it
was more nearly shaped like a pear tiian now : indeed, it is distantly related
to both pear and ai)ple. The
ancients were wont to regard
it as a symbol of love and
liappiness ; and in the rab-
binical writings it is referred
to as the forbidden fruit. The
fruit has never had a very ex-
tensive culture in this country,
although highly prized for jel-
lies and preserves ; but the
stock has been quite gener-
ally used for grafting dwarf
trees, especially pears.
Probably no fruit has been
so greatly improved by the
horticulturist, nor been the
subject of so much study
and experiment, as the pear.
Though not a native of this
country, it was
, ' . , Pear.
early cultivated
here, not only for the fresh fruit, but also for its juice, which is called " perry,"
and was often more highly esteemed than cider. There were no less than 442
varieties of this fruit, according to the catalogue of the London Horticultural
Society, in 1842 ; but, during the fifty or si^cty years prior to that date, much
liad been done to improve and develop the fruit, and form new varieties.
Probably more attention was givcu to this matter by Van Mons, the Belgian
fruit-culturist, in the early part of this century, than has been given it by any
IIYUKANOKA OIASKA.
i
11
176
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Seckel.
Other one man ; and he did much to start new kinds of pears himself, and to
stimulate others to do so, by hybridizing, and experiments with seedlings.
Thus it will be readily seen that but few pears raised in this country prior
to the Revolution were particularly choice. There was one tree, however,
stuyvesant planted in New- York City, in the dooryard of Peter Stuyvesant,
pear-tree. when govemor of the old Dutch Colony of New Netherlands,
more than two centuries ago, which remained growing, or at least alive, until
about 1875 J when, having died, and become not only unsightly, but an ob-
stacle to building, it was cut down, the wood being preserved as relics of an
interesting historic age. The fruit was a bon-chr^tien, and of good quality ;
and grafts were obtained for much other stock.
Even more valuable than the fruit of this tree was that of the famous
Seckel pear-tree. The late Bishop White of Pennsylvania narrates, that, when
he was a boy, — about 1 760, — there was a German cattle-dealer
who used to sell to Philadelphians some small but particularly
delicious pears ; but from what source he obtained them he wo'>ld not tell.
Not long after, the tract of land belonging to the Holland Land Company, on
the Delaware River, just south of Philadelphia, was sold in parcels ; and
" Dutch Jacob," as he was called, bought a section on which stood the tree
from which he had procured this fruit. Soon after, the farm was sold to a Mr.
Seckel ; and ultimately the property became part of Stejjhen Cirard's estate.
The tree itself lived until quite recently. From that tree have come the
Seckel pears so widely known and prized. DoubUess the tree was a seedling
raised by early German settlers ; but, while the Seckel somewhat resembles
certain known German varieties, it is distinct from them, and is a strictly
American fruit.
A less generally known but excellent pear, the Petre so called, was a
seedling raised by John Bartram, a well-known Philadelphia horti-
culturist, in 1735, fro*" 'h^ '^^^^ of ^ butter pear obtained from
Lord Petre of England.
•Another tree famous for productiveness, and size of its fruit than for the
qi^ity of it, was planted by Mrs. Ochiltree, ten miles north of Vincennes, in
dXitree Illinois, somewhere about 1800. It bore no less than 184 bush-
PMT-trea. g|g Qf fjujt j^ 1834, and 140 bushels in 1840 ; at which latter time
its trunk was ten feet in circumference, — a remarkable growth for a pear-
tree.
Among other American seedling pears, the Bloodgood, an early, high-
flavored fall fruit, raised by James Bloodgood, on Long Island, about 1820 or
1830; the Dearborn, originated by the Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn of Boston in
1818 ; and the Buffam pear of Rhode Island, — are the most prominent.
Van Mons produced many kinds of the beurrd or butter pears. The
Beurrd Anjou was introduced to this country about 1840 by Mr. Wilder, presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The Bartlett, identical with
Pctra.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
«n
the Williams bon-chr^tien of England, was introduced to this country by Enoch
Bartlett of Dorchester, Mass. This has proved one of the most B«rtiett and
popular of dessert pears in the United States. The doyenne — other varie-
known as the vlrgaloo (or bungalow) in New York, butter pear ***''
in Pennsylvania, and St. Michel's near Boston — is an old French variety, and
was brought here quite early in the century. Within the past twenty-five
years the importations have been almost innumerable, the beurr^s, Duchesse
D'Angouleme, Flemish beauty, and Vicar of Winkfield, being most prominent.
The culture of pears, to be successful, requires careful adaptation to soil
and climate. These points, as well as the improvement of varieties, have
been closely studied by the nurserymen and horticultural societies ; culture of
and since 1830 or 1840 the fruit has been very widely grown. '•"•
California has been particularly productive of choice pears, and at certain
seasons the Eastern markets depend almost entirely on that section for their
supplies.
Besides being sold from the street-stands in cities, to be eaten out of hand
and for dessert, large quantities of pears are dried or canned for the market.
'I'lie business is regarded as highly profitable, many trees yielding
fifty or sixty dollars' worth of fruit a year, and one tree in New
York having a record of an aggregate product worth 153,750.
In quantity, and perhaps in value, the fruit-crop which ranks next to the
appie in this country is the peach. It is also one of our oldest fruits. Peaches
originated in Persia, and grow wild in Asiatic Turkey. They have
been long and widely cultivated in Europe in sheltered spots, and
their improvement has received considerable attention ; not, however, so much
as tlie pear, than which the peach has much fewer varieties.
It is impossible to say when the peach was first brought to this country ;
but it was pretty generally known in all the Atlantic colonies before the Revo-
lution. Northern winters, however, have been rather too much for History of
it ; and the principal peach-orchards of the country are now con- *•" pe*eh.
fined to New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. It is generally
conceded that American peaches, on the whole, are rather better than Eng)||h
ones.
There were several varieties known in this country previous to the Revo-
lution, and there is a record of the yellow clingstone having been taken to
New York bom South Carolina before the war for independence, varietie*
Most of our best-known varieties have been developed since. The before and
large white clingstone, long popular in New England, was raised in p"",„'l? „
1805 by David Williamson of New York. The Morris red and
Morris white varieties were produced by Robert Morris of Philadelphia nearly
a century ago. William Crawford of New Jersey originated the yellow-pulped
peach that bears his name, about 1820. Two kinds of nectarine, raised from
peach-stones by H. Bloomfield of Harvard, Mass., in 1810, and by T. Lewis
Peach.
< M,
.78
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Peach-
culture at
cloM of last
Century.
of Boston about 1815, were cultivated and disseminated by Col. S. G. Perkins
of Brookline. This gentleman sent specimens of the former to London in
1 8a I, which attracted great attention. The peach is really the choicest dessert
fruit known. In the early part of the century it was very extensively dried for
pies and sauce.
Downing says that peach-culture in this country reached a climax about the
year 1800. At that period the insidious disease called the "yellows " began
to destroy the trees gradually. It first manifested fiself in Pennsyl-
vania. The fruit was carried north, and widely scattered. It was
then customary for seedsmen to plant the stones of peaches indis-
criminately, and without regard to the quality or health of the trees
from which they came. Thus by degrees the malady became constitutional in
the young peach-orchards of the North-
ern and Eastern States. The difPculty
and its cause were not understood ; and
the evil operated slowly for twenty or
thirty years, all remedies having been
tried in vain. This difficulty, and the
severity of the Northern winters, had
pretty much exterminated the New-
England and many of the New- York
peach -orchards by 1850; since which
time little effort has been made to re-
store them.
In the region above referred to,
now forming the chief centre of pro
duction, there has been a marked dc ■
Marked velopment of peach-culture
development within twenty years, largely
tur^e'witiiin ^uc to the development of
twenty the Canning industry, and
yean. ^^ greatly improved and
special facilities for transportation by
rail and steamer for this class of freight.
From that comparatively limited region
peaches are now sent all over the
country in immense quantities at a
trifling cost, and in a good state of
preservation ; and in the height of the
season the carrying trade forms a big item in the business of certain freight-
lines.
Plums are a much less prominent crop in this country. The fhiit is
derived from the bullace, which, in turn, is the offspring of the wild sloe, and
ROSE-COLORED WIQBLIA.
M
OF THE UNITED STATES.
179
S. G. Perkins
London in
oicest dessert
vely dried for
T\ax about the
;llows " began
elf in Pennsyl-
tered. It was
peaches indis-
1th of the trees
)nstitutional in
Is of the North-
The difficulty
iderstood ; and
^ for twenty or
es having been
ficulty, and the
rn winters, had
ated the New-
the New- York
b ; since which
sen made to re-
,ve referred to,
centre of pro
n a marked di
of peach-culture
ity years, largely
development ot
g industry, and
r improved and
ansportation by
5 class of freight.
y limited region
t all over the
quantities at a
good state of
le height of the
certain freight-
The fruit is
le wild sloe, and
it
is said to have originated in the Caucasus, near the Volga River. It has
spread all over Europe from Norway south, and extended even into Barbary.
iMiglish catalogues enumerated no less than two hundred and seventy-four
varieties a few years since.
Plums were known and grown slightly in this country before the Revolu-
tion, though not much is heard of them until the dawn of the present century.
The venerable Chancellor Livingston was the first to bring to this
country the greengage, which was known in France as the Reine
Clauile, having been named after the wife of Francis I. From that stock a
seedling was developed by Judge Buel of Albany, which was called the
" Jefferson." It is one of the most beautiful, delicious, and widely-known
l)lums in this country. Its birth was probably not far from
contemporaneous with that of the Washington plum, another
spontaneous American product, derived from the greengage. Concerning
the Washington plum, it is recorded that the parent-tree grew on Delancey's
farm, on the east side of what is now the Bowery, in New- York City. A sucker
from it was bought from a market-woman by Mr. Bolmar, a Chatham-street
merchant, in 1818; and from this came the new variety. The Washington
plum was soon introduced into Europe, where it has never been equalled.
The Lawrence favorite and Columbia plums were also seedlings of green-
gage extraction, raised by L. U. Lawrence of Hudson, N.Y. Other less
important varieties have been developed in this country; and numerous
foreign varieties, including the common blue plum, the damson, and the
apricot, have been imported. We have also, in this country, several wild
native varieties. Among them are the Chickasaw, peculiar to Mississippi, a
wild yellow and red plum to be found along river-sides from Canada to
deorgia and Texas, and a beach-plum that grows on sandy coasts from
Massachusetts to New Jersey, and occasionally farther south.
Plums have never been cultivated extensively for the market in this
country, but generally by farmers and city residents for domestic cuitiv«ion
use, and by fruit-fanciers as a special luxury. The common "«"•»«<••
varieties are often pitted and dried, and the choicer ones pickled and pie-
served. The fruit is also used fresh for dessert to some extent.
The cherry is a fruit of Asiatic origin, and was introduced into Italy from
Pontus during the Mithridatic war, 70 B.C. Thence it spread all
over Europe. Within the past century or two its varieties have
multiplied and improved remarkably. There are now over three hundred
varieties cultivated.
The blackheart variety was early introduced to this country, and seedlings
were raised from it without number. The Black Tartarian, one of its Russian
descendants, was brought here in 1825, and has proved a great
favorite. The early whiteheart was brought here from France
by R. Arden, who lived on the Hudson, opposite West Point. It has been
'It'-^r.
I So
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Strawberry.
widely cultivated. The bigarreau cherry was brought to the United States by
Other varia- William Prince of Long Island in 1800. Chancellor Livingstuii
*'••• introduced a white bigarreau, and about 1825 Andrew Parmeniicr
of Brooklyn brought the Napoleon bigarreau from Holland. Daniel Blood-
good of Flushing, L.I., M. P. Wilder of Boston, A. J. Downing of Newburyh,
N.Y., and Robert Manning of Salem, Mass., brought several new varieties
here between 1830 and 1850. The mayduke, supposed to be the niedoc of
France, was among the earliest, most valuable, and most widely-diffused
varieties in this country, and many new varieties have been deduced from it.
The morello, or Kentish sour red cherry, used chiefly for pies, was raiscil
chiefly in New York along the Hudson, and in New Jersey. The fruit has
never been cultivated largely for the market, but chiefly for local and family
consumption. Besides being eaten fresh, the cherry is canned, dried, made
into pies, and macerated with brandy or rum for medicinal purposes. Tiie
wood is also highly prized by cabinet-makers.
Strawberries tpke their ramc trom the old custom of putting straw under-
neath the plants to keep the fruit from touching the ground. The Romans
called them " fragraria," on account of their delicious fragrance.
They grow wild almost the world over. Little attention was
given to their improvement in foreign countries until this centurj', and not
much was done by American horticulturists until about 1830. Hovey'.s
seedling, produced by a famous Boston seedsman in 1834, was among the
very first and most popular of choice American varieties. In 1837 Alex-
ander Ross of Hudson, N.Y , developed an improved variety from the Keen
(English) strawberry. Thereafter varieties and plants rapidly multiplied, and
the culture of this delicious fruit rapidly increased. Within the past ten or
fifteen years strawberries have been grown in small garden-plats rather less
than formerly, inasmuch as the immense quantities raised by market-
gardeners in the Central States, especially on Long Island and in New
Jersey and Delaware, and the improved facilities for transportation, have
cheapened and made very plenty this delicious early summer fruit in all
parts of the country.
Raspberries (which are said to have originated on Mount Ida, in the Island
of Crete) and blackberries grow wild all over the northern and eastern part
of this country. Most of our cultivated berries were introduced
from Europe. They have not been very extensively grown in the
United States, however, the market being supplied quite as much by the wild
fruit as by the improved. Horticulturists have given these berries compara-
tively little attention.
Oranges grow to a very limited extent in this country, and chiefly in
Florida. The fruit is essentially a tropical one, and has been
known there from time immemorial. The principal planting and
conduct of orange-groves for mercantile purposes is of recent date, undet
Raspberry.
Orangea.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
I8l
Figi, fte.
the auspices of Northerners who went to Florida after the war. Labor and
society are as yet so demoralized, that the industry is still in its infancy,
Morida oranges are large and sweet, and are highly and justly prized ; and
there would seem to be a deal of wealth in store for those who shall systemati-
cally supply Northern markets therewith.
Some idea of the growth of the fruit-producing business in this country
within the past few years may be formed from the census returns of orchard
products, which exclude grapes and wine and the various kinds of berries.
In 1850 the total value was stated at 17,773,186 ; ten years later, $19,991,885 ;
and ten years still later, 147,335,189. This is a more marked increase than
in our sugar, tobacco, cotton, or cereals ; and these simple figures contain a
significant summary of horticultural history.
Besides the fruits named in this chapter, there have been attempts to
domesticate others, mostly belonging to warmer climates, — such as the pome-
granate, date-palm, fig, olive, lemon, mulberry, almond, and other
nut-trees. But such attempts have met with but little success.
The mulberry, however,
be it remarked, was grown
chiefly for the silk indus-
try, which proved so sig-
nal a failure. Currants
and other small fruits
have too little a history
to entitle them to specific
mention.
It may be remarked
in this connection, that,
besides fruit-trees, such
economic plants as tea
and coffee have been
introduced by the horti-
cultural branch of the
Agricultural Bureau at
Washington, Tea and cor-
but not with "« ?'■"*••
much success. The pres-
ent commissioner. Gen.
Leduc, is putting forth
more vigorous efforts
than did any of his predecessors to render tea-culture not only possible, but
also a profitable industry.
COFPBB-HIILLBII.
BOOK II.
MANUFACTURES.
I, »
V '^
CHAPTER I.
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.
EARLY HISTORY.
NATURE has fitted the United States to become the centrt oT & great
iron industry by the lavish endowment of her territory witK all the
materials required in the production and manufacture of that
valuable metal.
Buperierlty
Iron, coal, and limestone are found in every part *•' United
of our domain ; and, in the region lying east of the Rocky Moun
other coun-
tains, the country is so full of them as to present the appearance »'•«• •" ''eh-
geologically of a gigantic basin filled to the rim with mineral variety of
treasures. It is said, by those who have examined the mineral «ron ores,
resources of other countries, that, were the coal of the rest of the world
deposited within the iron rim of this great basin, it would not occupy one-
quarter of the area of our own coal-fields. What is true of coal is true of
iron, which, by the help of coal, will be utilized still more extensively in the
Tuture of the world for the purposes of man. The deposits of the ore in this
country exist in such enormous quantity as fairly to stagger the imagination.
The ores are more accessible than in EIngland, which now supplies half the
iron consumed by the world ; and they exist in close proximity to the coal and
lim eston e used in extracting the metallic iron from them. T;.eir abundance
insures to the United States the ability to supply, not only its own people, but
the world at large, with all the iron that could be consumed for centuries to
come, if it were necessary to do so. There appears to be no other country so
fortunately endowed with respect to iron and coal. England, now
the resource of Europe and Asia, and once of America, supplies
at present half the iron and coal of the world ; but her mines are deep and
difficult, and costly to work, while in the United States they lie upon the top
of the ground, or near it. Sweden, with an inexhaustible supply of the richest
and best ore, has no coal. Russia, Austria, Italy, Algiers, and some of the
German States, have ore, but no coal. France is deficient in coal, and only
maintains her iron manufacture by importing both coal and iron. Prussia has
185
England.
?
/2_
^>
t86
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
?""^J
r
a sufficient supply of both materials for her own needs, but has little surplus.
' Brazil has iron, but very little coal, and can only manufacture her ore by burning
her forests in her furnaces, and cannot, therefore, long maintain a competition
with a country whose very foundations are planted on beds of coal, if, indeed,
she can ever seriously enter into one. Spain has iron and coal ; but they are
widely separated, and little has been done to utilize either. The United States,
on the other hand, not only enjoys incalculable supplies of the best ores, and
of coal and limestoj e, but in some States — as in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Aiabama,
and Kentucky — is able to point to all these materials so close together, that
they exist within a radius of a mile and a half of the furnace, all lying on or
- near the surface of the ground. The mineral deposits of the United States will
lie more fully described in the book on " Mines and Mining ; " and it need only
be said here, that in a country filled with such exhausfless stores of coal and of
iron ores of every variety, so convenient of access, nothing except the grossest
apathy and ignorance on the part of the people could possibly prevent it, in
. time, from becoming a leading source of the world's supply of iron and iron
manufactures ; and that as our people are not ignorant and apathetic, but are
eager, intelligent, and enterprising, the destiny of the country as the seat of a
great iron manufacture is assured. Indeed, the industry has already reached
magnificent proportions, and not only has now the capacity to produce enough
to supply the wants of our own inhabitants, but, within the last two or three
years, has begun to furnish a surplus for export. In the world at
large the United States now stands second on the list of iron-
producing countries, as will appear from the following table of the product of
pig-metal, compiled by the American Iron and Steel Association for 1877 from
the latest accessible statistics : —
Statiitics.
COUNTRIES.
YEAR.
IRON, TONS.
Great Britain
1875
6,365,462
United States .
1876
1,868,960
Germany
1874
1,660,208
France .
1876
I.449.S37
Belgium .
187s
541,805
Austria .
187s
4SS.227
Russia .
1874
S'4.497
Sweden .
1875
350.525
Luxemburg .
1874
246,054
Italy
1872
26,000
Spain
1872
73.000
Norway .
1870
3.975
Mexico .
1876
7.500
Canada .
.
1876
7.500
Japan .
1874
5,000
4
CF THE UNITED STATES.
187
-j^3^ -- ^ --- ^-^ -.^-^ -iW^^
-—!&-_---: - - . ^T-l iTT^^ttMMJife 1 lii
HMp'^J'fflj. ,,j .. -, jy a;^^^- ^L"-'^
. ^f nil^Bf^^^^Bri - 't ^ ^ '11^
^^^^^^^^^^^p^^^^^^-^|!^M|3^^P%^^^
Pi '^pt «-
L ^TllS
fc^a^'
l^^^^^
IRON, TONS.
.^:m n
--^Ni^.-^ ^^y^^
IRON AND STBBL MANUFACTUIUI.
■■■^fifVT'^
i88
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
COUNTKIBS.
Switzerland .
Turkey .
Australasia
All other countries ,
Total
IRON, TONS.
7,500
40,000
10,000
50,000
13,682,750
production
cf iron.
! f
/ The first discovery of jron in this country was in the South. Ore was
-^^ found by Raleigh in Carolina ; and, on his return to England, that eminent man
Diicover reported that this metal formed one of the resources of the beau-
and early tiful region referred to. It did not prove a special attraction to
emigration at the time ; for iron was not among the things in
which the territory of England was deficient, and the world was
not then using a hundredth part of the metal which it consumes now, and
there was no great demand for it. The steam-engine had not been invented,
and very little machinery was in use. Even after the practical settlement of
the country by the English race had begun, in 1607, in Virginia, it was a great
many years before iron was thought to be of sufficient account to expend any
time on its manufacture. Tobacco was a much more profitable product, and
for fifteen years was about the only product of the colony ; the men sent over
by the London Company to introduce industry themselves turning agriculturiats,
and raising that valuable plant. That minerals abounded in Virginia was, how-
ever, noted at a very early day. Tr^ ifiro "imp na re " was sent to England by
the Jamestown Colony, and found to yield an excellent quality of metal. Atten-
tion was called to the matter repeatedly. Finally the London Company deter-
mined to make use of the ore ; and about 1620 they sent to Virginia, as appears
from "A Declaration of the State of Virginia," "out of Sussex, about forty, all
famed to iron workes." These people established in Virginia a forge, or, more
Z^ p roperly, what is now called a " bloomary ." Reference is made to it by Bev-
Manufacture ^""'X' '" ^'^ " History of Virginia," as the " iron work at Falling
of iron in Creek, in Jamestown River, where they made proof of good iron
Virginia. ^^^^ ^^^ brought the whole work so near a perfection, that they
writ word to the company in London .hat they did not doubt but to finish the
work, and have plentiful provision of iron for them, by the next Easter ; " namely,
y jl-in the spring of 1621 . Thus iron was actually manufactured from the ore in
I ^Virginia as early as 1620. The fuel used wa s charcoal . In 1621, three of the
master- workmen having died, the company sent over Mr. John Berkeley, with
his son Maurice and twenty experienced workmen, to carry on the works.
Ovl the 22d of May, 1622, the works were destroyed by the Indians, and
the whole company massacred, ivith the exception of a boy and a girl, who
OF THE UNITED STATES.
t8<^
IRON, TONS.
south. Ore was
escaped by hiding. Thr ee hundred and forty-seven of the other settlers were
killed besides. This bloody event put an end to the making of iron in Virginia
for nearly a hundred years. The business was not resumed until 1712 , although
the rocks of this ancient and well-settled State were known to be full of valuable
deposits, and the attention of capitalists in London was from time to time
called to the fact.
It is one of the most remarkable coincidences in the history of the iron
manufacture, that a mob in civiUzed England destroyed a blast-furnace,
erected there by Dud Dudley for the smelting of iron by means Dudley's
of coal fuel, almost at the same time that the savages of the woods experiments.
burned the little pioneer factory in Virginia. Experiments had been making
in England for many years to utilize coal in producing iron. The forests of
the kingdom were being destroyed Rapidly by the insatiable demands of the
forges and blast-furnaces, which then could only be worked with charcoal fuel.
In 1619 Dud Dudley had succeeded in making iron with coal by means of
his skill in the use of bellows and i n coking coa l. Iron-masters tried to obtain / ^
his secret, and working-men were incited to jealousy of him. He built five
separate works, was tricked out of three, and lost one by a flood ; and one
was destroyed by a mob. Dudley kept his secret, and it died with him ; and
the manufacture of iron with the aid of hard coal was postponed First use of
for over a hundred years. It was not until nhmit 1 735 th.if Dgrhy, "ke.
having discovered the process, put it into use, and began making iron with
coke regularly . That process and the new blowing-engines then quadrupled
the product of iron in England in fifty years.
The next attempt at making iron in the colonies was in the North. It was
part of the object of colonizing Massa chusetts to produce iro n. In the journal
of the Court of Assistants at London for the meeting on March 2, „
1628, it is recorded that "also for Mr. Malbon it was propounded, of iron in
he having skill in iron-works, and willing to put in twenty-five '^'^^ ^"*'
pounds in stock, it should be accounted as fifty pouiids, and his
charges to be borne out and home from New England ; and upon his return,
and report what may be done about iron-works, consideration to be had of
proceeding therein accordingly, and further recompense if there be cause to
entertain him." Three days after, the court made arrangements with Thomas
Graves of Gravesend, Kent, "a man experienced in iron-workes," to go out to
New England at the expense of the company, and serve the company for six
or eiglit months, provision being made for his staying three years if dcsiral)lo.
Tiic result of the expedition of these two men is not known. It could not
have been very satisfactory ; for no furnace-fires appear to have been estab-
lished in consequence of it. The Court of Assistants in I^ondon got no
iron from this preliminary attempt. Fifteen years later the subject of iron-
making was agitated again, and in 1637 the General Court of Massachusetts
t90
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
hi
in' I ■• '\ '
si. n
i l! j. < t
lijHr
' ii^^fl
i"iui
granted to Abraham Shaw one -half the benefit of any
coles or yron
the countrye's
yL
Bog-iron ore.
/^
yy
Winthrop.
Stone w""* shall bee found in any comon ground w'** is in
disposing."
The first iron made in the colony, however, was not from stony ores, but
was taken from the bottom of the peat-bogs and ponds near the coast. '1 liese
bogs are found all along the eastern coast of the country as far
south as Maryland. Water filtering through the neighboring liills
brings down into the ponds large quantities of sesquioxide of iron in solution, and
deposits the same at the bottom of the pond, along with vegetable mould, in soft,
spongy masses which go by the name of ' 'bog-iron or e." The ore, once taken
out, is renewed again by gradual deposit. After the Falling-Creek experiment,
the iron-works of the country were suppUed for a long period principally with
bog - ore. The large furnaces of the present day could not be supplied with it,
because it does not exist in sufficient ciuantity ; but, for the uses of the early
colonists, it supplied pretty nearly every want. The iron cast from it is brittle,
but very fluid when melted, taking every minute mark of the mould ; and is,
therefore, still made to the present day in North-west New Jersey and in Mary-
,andjor^tove-castings.
In 1643 specimens of the bog-ores from the ponds near Lynn were sent
to England for trial, and found to be so good, that a '• Company of Undertak-
ers for the Iron -Works " was immediately formed, with a thousand
pounds capital, by John Winthrop, jun., and others. Winthrop
came to New England in ±6^ , with a corps of workmen, to begin the regular
manufacture of iron. The company built their furnace on the banks of the
S augus Riv er, within the present limits of Lynn, at a spot which they called
H ammersmit h, after the place in England from which some of the workmen
had come. The General Court of Massachusetts greatly favored this work hy
grants of three square miles of land wherever the company put up works,
and by special privileges and charters. Subscriptions toward the stock were
encouraged among the inhabitants. The work was very successful ; and on
Oct. 14, 1645, the General Court granted to the company a charter "on the
condition that the inhabitants of this jurisdiction be furnished with barr-iron of
all sorts for their use, not exceeding twenty pounds per tunne." In 1648 the
Furnace at furnace at Lynn was turning out eight tons of iron a week, and
Lynn. appears to have been kept busy for a long time casti ng canno n,
shot, pots, and other holjowrware, for which the bog-iron is so well adapted.
The first article cast was an ir on p ot ; and this historic and intrinsic treasure
was handed down for generations in the family of the man who bought it,
who happened to be Thomas Hudso n, of the same family as the Dutch
explorer, Thomas having been the original owner of the lands on the Saugus
upon which the foundery stood.
The company built another forge about 1648, in the town of Braintree;
OF THE UNITED STATES.
(91
Connecticut.
of Braintree
and in 165 a a forge was established at Raynham (now Taunton) by the
two Leonard brothers, Henry and James, from whom have since Braintree
descended so many of the well-known iron -masters of the «ndT«un.
ton.
country.
John VVinthrop, jun., went to New London in Connecticut in 1645, *'*d
in 1 65 1 obtained a grant of privileges from the Assembly to Kirjtjron-
enable him to make iron there. He did not, however, carry out works in
his intention of establishing the business then ; and the first iron
works in this colony were erected at New Haven, where they were established
by Capt. Thomas Clarke i n 165 6.
Rhode Island made iron at Pawtucket and elsewhere as early as 1675.
There were several fur naces and fo rges in the State, all of them Rhode
ninning with bog-ore taken from the ponds on the border of Bris- '■'•'«*•
to! County, Massachusetts. The works at Pawtucket were started by Joseph
Jenks, jun., from Lynn. The Indians interfered with their infant enterprises
a great deal ; and the iron industry has not, even to this day, reached any
si)ecial development in the State. The energies of the people were directed
at a very early period to cotton spmning and weaving, and that has since
engrossed them almost entirely. Yet Rhode-Island hills contain unlimited
quantities of the most important iron ores.
Iron ore had been discovered in New Jersey by the Dutch ; and a com-
pany of people from Connecticut began the production of metal
from it as early as 1664 in Shrews bury, Monmouth County.
Henry Leonard went to Shrewsbury about that year from Lynn, and is said to
have set up one of the first furnaces of the provinces. Sev eral bloomary-fir es
were started in Sussex and Morris Counties in 1685 by immigrants from Eng-
land and the northern provinces of this country. The ore was brought to
the forges many miles in leathern bags on pack-horses.
There is some dispute as to whether the pioneer works in New England, at
Lynn, were of the character of a blast-furnace or a bloomary-fire ; but there is y<^
no doubt at all, that, during the first fifty years of practical iron- BU«t-fur. / ^
making in this country, the furnaces were, in general, what are called nacea and L/^
" b loomari es." The blast-furnaces were exceedingly rare. They '''°'"■^«••
were in use in England, but not here, except at Lynn (where Mr. Swank believes
there was one as early as 1644), and at Shrewsbury, N.J., where one was set up
about 1680. These bloo maries were simply an impr ovement upon the prim i-
tive mode of making iig p direct from the ore, m use m India trom the most
ancient times, and still employed by the natives of Asia and g^^.,
Africa. The_ oripinal bloomary was merely a hole in the ground, eest of maii'
in which charcoal was burned by the aid of a bellows made
from a goatjjkin, iron ore being added to the fire in small quan-
tities. It is the peculiar property of iron, and the ore quality above all others,
which has made it of such extraordinary utility to man, that its particles agglu-
New Jersey.
ing iron
deacribad.
w^f
^3
M$»
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
*>ll
! '
tinatt*^ ^^ ^ white-h eat. In those primitive fires it was found, that, the stone
being burned out of the ore, and the iron heated almost to incandescence, the
metal gathered together, and settled at the bottom in a glowing and more or
i^^ess compact lump, o r bloom , and might be got out and worked by breaking
away the clay.
This method of making iron served the world for centuries. It was finally
improved i n^ Cit^ilnni.! , in Sp ain, and made much more effective; and the
iron-making works there perfected took the name of Catalan bloomari cs. oi
in Spain. forges, from the province in which they were first set up. The
original form, used in the Pyre nees since 12 0.^. was a furnace two feet high,
with a hearth, or crucible, to receive the heated lump of metal, eleven inches
/ 2. jigep. The blast was fed to the fire through two openings, called tuygres^
about el even inches from the bo ttom. In five hours a hundred and forty pounds
of iron could be made. In time the furnace became enlarged, and the hearth
was made twent y inches de ep : one tuyere was discontinued, and the produc-
tion was increased to th ree hundr ed pounds of metal in five hgu fs. The pro-
\ Process cess was as follows : In the fire-clay hearth a bottom of slag and
\ ''escribed. charcoal was I laid, and glazed over at a high heat : the heartli was
j then half filled with charcoal. On the side opposite to the tuyire coarse ore
I was heaped up to the top of the hearth, and the rest of the space was filled
^^ — with charcoal. Then the blast was started at a low pressure of about three-
quarters of a pound. In six hours the pressure was raised to a pound and a
half, and the wliole of the fire heaped over with fine charcoal and ore, except
over the coarse ore. The gas and flame from the fire, meeting with difficulty
in escaping through the fine charcoal, were forced principally to find an outlet
through the interstices of the coarse ore, and they gradually reduced it. The
melted slag, settling down below the tityire, was tappedof Tevery hour. At the
end of the operation, or in about six hours,1Ke BToom was pried out of the
fire, and put under a fourteen-hundred-pound hapimer for manufacture. The
heat could be so increased as to melt tl;ie iron, and run it, off to make castings.
I n the Catalan process, thre e tons o f ore, and two and three-quarters or three
tons of charcoal, were consumed to make a ton of iron ; the process being very
wasteful, but the metal extremely pure and go od.
The principal tr ouble with the Catalan forg e was, that the fire had to be
re-made after each he at. This objection led to an improvement upon it,
Defect of invented by the Germ ans in Alsace. These people went back to
Catalan the old plan of throwing into the fire alternate layers of fine ore
*"'*■ and charcoal, usi ng larger fires , and making the b last continuo us.
By this means they were able either to run off the melted metal, or pry
out the heated bloom, without re-making the fire. The principle and form
of both-iloomaries were substantially the same, and the product equally
good. • < ■
This was the general style of forge which found its way into America in the
;iM! . i ,it:
OF THE UNITED STATES.
«93
infancy of the iron-manufacture, and by which the manufacture was estab-
lished. Professor T. Sterry Hunt says of it in a recent paper, — t. sterry
" T his furnac e had the great advantage, that its construction Hunt.
required but little skill and outlay. A small waterfall for the blast and ham-
mer, a rude hearth with a chimney, and a supply of charcoal and ore, enabled
tlie iron-worker to obtain, as occasion requirecj, a few hundred pounds of
iron in a day's time in a condition fitted for the use of the blacksmith ; after
which his primitive forge remained idle until there was a further demand. To
this tiny siirh fnrr^ar.es are found in the mo untains of N ort h Car olina, and
furnish the bar-iron required for the wants of the rural population. . . . Still
more worthy of note is it, that this pri mitive bloomary-furnac e, discarded in
Kurope, has been impr oved by Amer ican ingenuity, — enlarged, fitted with a
hot blast, wat er, tuyhe s, and o ther modern a^jiliances, — so that, in the hands
of skilled workmen in Northern New York, it affords for certain ores an eco-
nomical mode of making a sup erior malleable iro n. A large part of this y ^
product is consumed at Pittsburgh for the manufacture of cutlery-steel of
excellent quality."
Pennsylvania, so marvellously stored with the materials for iron-making, did
not begin the manufacture u ntil 1717^ ^ — the year before William Penn's death.
I'enn came to the province which was named after him in 1682. Pennsyi-
He was familiar with the iron-business, and he accordingly soon vania.
hail furnaces in New Jersey at various places in Sussex. He discovered in
time that his own province was rich in minerals ; but it appears that the indus-
try was not developed there until the year before his tleath. The record of the
event is found in a letter of Jonathan Dickinson, written in 171 7, in which he
sa\s, " This last summer, one Th omas Rutt er, a smith who lived not far from
(Jerniantown, hath removed farther up in the country, and of his own strength
has set up o n making iro n. Such it proves to be as is highly set by all the
smiths here, who say that the best of Swede's iron doth_jftQLiLxceed Jt ; and we
have heard of others that are going on with the iron-works." A beginning
once made, the inilustry developed with great rapidity. I n 1728 f our furnaces
were in full blast ; one being at Colebrookdale on the Maxatawny Creek, and
one being in the present county of Lancaster. By the time of the Revolution
many others !iad been built in Eastern and North-eastern Pennsylvania.
Tiiese we re regular blast-furnaces run with charcoal fuel.
Virginia resumed the manufacture of iron ab out i7n; . Col. Alexander
Spottswood opened some mines in Spottsylvania County, on the Rappahan nock,
and put up a blast-furnace there about that year. The owner told _
' "^ — —■ — « •' Resumption •
Col. Byrd in 1 7^2 that he was the first in America who had erected of iron-
a reg ular furnac e, and that " they ran nltn^ri'tlier i^nn hl^r^i-nnri^^c manufacture
in New J Kngland and Pennsy lvania till his example had made them
attempt greater workes." ^^fhis is believed, by Mr. Swank and others, to be a
mistake, because there was a furnace at Lynn, and another at Shrewsbury, long
vil
'"'m.T'
194
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
'J7
New York.
before Col. Spottswood developed his large and flourishing works. The erec-
tion of the Rappahannock furnace was, however, an important event in llie
history of the iron-trade. It certainly led to the building of larger works in
the North than had been put up previous to that time. Col. Spottswood li:i(i
fyurjurnaces in 1732 ; the largest being at Fredericksburg, thirteen miles from
tlie mine. .An idea of the sort of work the furnaces ran on at that day mav
bo gathered from the journal of Col. Byrd, who says, that at the furnace at
Massapony, on the Rappahannock, there were cast " backs for chimneys, and-
irons, fenders, plates for hearths, pots, skillets, mortars, rollers for gardeners.
boxes for cart-wheels, &c., which, one with another, could be delivered at
people's doors for twenty shilliiigs_a^n."
By 1 735 all the large coast provinces were busily manuflxcturing pig and
bar iron an d castin gs, except New York. New York came lagging in the rear
~ of the train, and did not make iron until ab out 1 740. The bej,'in-
ning of the industry appears to have been due to the develojjnient
of the famous brown hematite dep osits in Salis bury, Conn., in 1732. No iron
of any consequence had been found within the limits of the province itself;
and the city of New York had been, up to that time, supplied with iron from
the adjoining provinces. In 1740 Philip Livingston built the first i ron- w orks
of the province on .Xncram Creek in Columbia County, obtaining his ore from
Sal isbury in Conne cticut, twelve miles away, 'f he worts consisted only of a
bloo mary-fo rge. In 1751 a blast-furnace was built in Orang e Comity to work
up the ores of Sterling Mountain. The celebrated mines in tlie northern i»art
of the State were not opened until 1800. The oldest forge in the Champlain
region is said to have been built no earlier tha n_i{^Qi.
The iron-manufacture began in New Ha mpshire about 17S 0. where several
bloomar ies were built to make use of the bop-ores . A good deal of irpn was
made during the Revolution ; but, after that, the business died out. There is
to-day only o ne furnace in New Hamphire ; namely, the one belonging to tlie
rolling- mill at Nas hua.
Vermont entered upon the industry at the same time as her
sister-province, making use of the magnetic an d hematite ores in
tiie northern and western parts of the State. Alai^ne had a fe w oJoomary-for ^^es
in York County during the Revolution, the war giving an energetic
development to this business in every part of the country. North
North Carolina exported a little iron as earl y as 1128. and during the
Carolina. Revolution had a great many bloomar ies and forge s in operation.
In South Carolina the fi rst forg e was erected_i n..i77,^ , in the north-western
South part of the State : it was burned by the Tories during the war.
In Kentucky the first works were b uilt in 17 01 by government
troops, on Slate ('reek in Bath County. In Tjnnessee a bloom-
ary was established at Emeryville as early as-i 790 ; and in"T)oth
that State and Kentuclcy aTarge number of works sprang up immediately after,
Vermont.
Carolina.
Kentucky.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
»9S
and were operated for many years, until the cheaper iron of the Nokth
made the business unprofitable. Georgia made no iron prior to the Ameri-
can Revolution.
FORTY YEARS OF REPRESSION AND STRUGGLE.
Thus, by the middle of the eighteenth century, the manufacture of iron had
taken a very favorable start. The furnaces and forges were small, and mainly
devoted to supplying the blacksmiths of the vicinity surrounding ^^^^
them with bar-iron, and to casting the articles of hollow-ware, and enacted to
furniture for fireplaces. They furnished a quantity of crude iron f'J"** '"*"'
for export, however, because the skill and capital to manufacture
this material into cudery, tools, machinery, and goods of the higher types, did
not at first exist in this country, and the production was somewhat in excess
of the demands of the blacksmiths. Along towards the middle of the
eighteenth century, steel furnac es, r olling and slitting mil ls, a nd plating forges ,
began to be erected in the various colonies, the industry keeping steady pace
with the growing wealth and development of the several sections. The fur-
ther building of the classes of factories just named was, however, stopped in
1750 by a law which cljrectly forbade it as a common nu isance. This was one
of the early steps of the in tolerance of the 'y^pthfr-^ """*rY ^'i^'^*' led to the
ultim ate revolt and j nf)..p).p>iAn/^<. p|f \\it. f Qlgni^^t A peculiar fe eling existed i n
Enf:l and toward the coloni es. The people here were Englishmen, were proud
of the fiict, and were unflaggingly loyal to the government under the protection
of whose banners they were trying to subdue the wilderness, and build up a
group of flourishing and civilized communities. As Knglishmen they were
protected by the arms of P^ngland against all foreign invasions of their rights
and territor)', and their loyalty was rewarded by the recognition of their able
men with commissions in the king's civil and military service and otherwise.
Hut they had the misfortune to live and be born out of the realm itself, and
on that account they never enjoyed the full respect and sympathy of the
people of England and of the crown. All the legislation had in respect to
them was inspired, therefore, with something less than a spirit of full fraternity,
and often with a positive determination to make them si mply subserve th e
jnirposes of the.4ieQcle_athome, regar dless of their ow n welfare and i^ros-
perity. The legislation in respect to the industrial development of the colo-
nies was dictated by mercenary considerations exclusively. Growth here was
retarded in every possible manner. Bounties for the export of agricultural
l)roducts were given to induce the colonists to confine their attention exclu-
sively to agriculture, and to depend entirely upon the mother-country for
articles of manufacture. Parliament desired our people, living as they did
under the shadow of gigantic forests, to export even their timber to Eng-
196
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
1
1
t
M
•
1
1
i
land, and obtain from that country, in return, our wooden-wares, chairs,
tables, carriages, and wootlcn
bowls. The development of
the local industries of Kng.
land, arid the promotion of
the carrying-trade to the colo-
nies so as to insure to Kngland
a great deal of shipping, were ^
aimed at steadily. Tlie growth
of industry here was looked
upon with impatience ; and
when it was seen that the colo-
nists refused to be depentlent
forever, and that they were
showing great vigor and enter-
prise in putting up their own
factories and forges, Parlia-
ment interposed with a regu-
lation of the sort above re-
ferred to.
The law of 1750 restricted ^,
the iron-making of the colonies
to the production of pig and
bar iron and to castings. Nails
were made in a small way by
the people, in their chimney-
corners, eveninL's ;
Law of 1750. "
and the blacksmiths
still worked away at wrought-
iron implements and utensils:
but general growth was stopped.
A large part of the iron made
was exported to F2ngland, the
colonists getting it back again
in the cutlery, steel, and other
goods they were not permitted
to make themselves. The fol-
lowing table, which we copy
from Scrivenor's " History of
the Iron Trade," will show tlie
yintity exported to England, down to the time of the Revolution, in
♦ens : —
OF THE UNITED STATES.
»97
n-wares, chairs,
I, and wooden
evelopment of
stries of Kng-
promotion of
de to the colo-
isure to Knglaiid
f shipping, were
ly. The growth
ere was looked
inpatience ; and
en that the colo-
be dependent
that they were
vigor and enter-
ig up their own
forges, Parlia-
ed with a regu-
sort above re-
>f 1750 restricted W.
jg of the colonies
:tion of pig and
9 castings. Nails
1 a small way by
n their chimney-
)rners, evenings ;
id the blacksmiths,
iway at wrought-
ints and utensils:
•owth was stopped.
of the iron made
to F^ngland, the
ing it back again
steel, and other
-^ere not permitted
mselves. The fol-
which we copy
lor's "History of
de," will show the
he Revolution, in
1718 .
17^-20
1730 •
1730-3'
"73'-3»
1732-33
•733
1733-34
■734
•734-3S
1735
>739
1740
1741
1742
'743
•744
'745
1746
1747
1748
1750
'75'
1752
'753
1754
'755
1761
1762
'763
1764
176s
1766
1767
1768
1769
'770
'77'
1772
'773
1774
'775
1776
'.132
'.72s
2,250
2.332
2,404
2,197
2,561
2,4 '7
2.27 s
3.457
2,075
2.98s
1,861
2,274
1,861
2,156
2.'SS
2,924
3.210
2,980
2.737
3.244
3.44'
2,766
8,500
2.SS4
3.264
2.887
3.3 '3
2.9S3
3.401
4.232
S.303
3.724
2.937
3.4SI
2,996
3.6
BAK-mON.
55
• • •
S
%
57
4
196
82
4
S
5
81
247
270
389
39
122
3'o
1,059
1,078
'.257
'.32s
1,989
1.779
1,716
2,222
96s
837
639
916
28
In the same period, there were some slight shipments to Scotland in
addition to these.
'TT7T
198
INDUSTRIAL tllSTOKY
l.i:
Condition of
lron-manu>
(acturt at
outbreak of
Revolution.
When the colonies bej^an their daring experiment of a fight for politic al
indepentlence, they were poorly provided with the means for carrying on a
war. Not to mention their lack of factories for clothing, of ships, of |)iililic
funds, and private capital, and of a dense population from whi( h
to recruit an army, the poverty of their resources for making can-
non, chains, rifles, swords, and shot, was so great as of itself alone
to place them at an enormous disadvantage in the conflict with
Kngland. 'I'hey had few or no works for the production of these
necessaries of war, and neither sufficient ready capital to build all the ('ountry
needed, nor the skill to produce at once an article of good workmansliip.
The casting of a ten-pounder cannon was so serious a piece of business with
them at that day, that few cared to undertake it. The absolute cutting-off ol
the supplies from Kngland, upon which the colonies had formerly depended,
however, j)Iaced them under the necessity of enlarging their iron-manufactur-
ing facilities at once. The people not l)eing able to do this to the extent
required both by the local wants and the demands of the government, ilie
Policy of Continental Congress took part in the work ; and the troops
Continental and the public fur 's were employed to establislijurnaces anil
ongreM. fa ctories of iron and steel in various parts of the country. Works
were established by Congress in the Housatonic Valle^n .Con necticut, in
the Highlands of Jhe Hudson, in Northern New Jersey, Kentucky, and wher-
ever the ores were rich~ahd the forest dense, and charcoaT therefore abun-
dant. It is said that the first trials of anthracite for manufacturing purposes
were made by Congress at its armory at Carlisle, Pen n., in 1775 , established
in consequence of the Revolutionary war. The combined resources of Con-
gress and people were only barely suflicient at first to su|)ply the country with
the iron it needed. It took some time to train workmen, and the Tories
freciuentl^intgiiered with proceedings by burning th e iron-work s! Towarcl
the close of the Revolution the industry gained a good start ; and, had the
tr eaty of peace in 1783 been followed up by a policy favorable to native
manufactures, its rise would have been thenceforward rapid.
But the Continental Congress had no power to initiate a policy of the
proper sort ; and a period of six years followed, during which the country was
flooded with cheap manufactures from England ; and a large number of tiie
native American furnaces and factories, finding no demand for
their iron, ceased to exist. By the previous repression of our
industries, England had been enabled to enlarge and develop her own ; and
the skill of her workmen, and the large capital of the masters, made it imjios-
sible for America to compete with her, even in supplying her own needs. The
few iron furnaces and founderies which managed to keep alive during the
interregnum from 1783 to 1789 scarcely did more than provide for theii
respective neighborhoods. .......
1783 to 1789.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
IM
THE EFFECT OP TARIFFS.
In 1789 the first Congress met under the new Constitution, equipped by
tlif people with power to legislate for the commonweal on a variety of im-
]H.rtant subjects, which, before that, the (leneral (Jovernment had been unable
tu tDUch. It was a convention of the best men of the Revolu- Early tariff
tionary struggle. The first law passed was one in relation to offi- ''^••
( ial oaths ; the second, an act for the jjrotection of American industries and
lor revenue. By this law a duty was levied upon all importations of iron ; a
moderate one, — only five per cent on the home value of iron, and fifty cents
\Kx hundred-weight on steel, — but enough to prove a temptation to many
luriiace-men to kindle anew the fires in their deserted stacks, and collect their
scattered workmen, and resume the industry (so valuable to the country)
wiiich the heavy importations from England had obliged them to abandon.
I'he duty, not proving large enough, was increased by different Congresses,
until in 181 2 it reached thirty-two percent and a half on iron (thirty-seven
per cent if brought in foreign vessels), and two dollars per hundred-weight
on steel. .After the war of 1812 it was reduced somewhat. Under the pro-
tection of this tariff, iron-making was resumed in all the States in which it
had previously been carried on. In States and localities where i„„e„eo(
no start had yet been made it was begun. Pittsburgh, now the manufac-
most important iron centre of the country, had yet had no *"'*'
blooinary nor foundery ; and Ohio, with its rich stores of coal and ore, and
l)iisy farming-population, had seen no piece of iron laid on a village anvil
except that which had been toilsomely brought by wagon from the distant
Kast. Hut in '^Pj ^h** ■roP-'"^'u strv was injtiiited a^ Pitts))iirgh by the
building of a foundery, and in Ohio by the erection of a small charcoal-
furnace in Poland Townsh ip, Ma honing Cou nty. Hloom aries, fu rnaces, roll-
ing-mills, and steel- works sprang into being throughout the Union everywhere.
The mines of the West and South were opened as the wave of population
flowed into the regions surrounding them, and in the older communities in
the rear of them branches of the manufacture which had never been attempted
on this continent were successfully tried and established. Production began
to keep pace with consumption, and a small quantity of crude iron was
even supplied for exportation.
Were it expedient to do so, the history of iron-making from 1 789 down to
1878 might be divided into eras coinciding with the changes in the principle
on which the tariff has been framed. There have been several charactarof
important changes. The tariff was protective until 1816. In varioua
1816 the duties were lowered in defp ypnri; to th <? wish es of th e leKi'i^'ve
iree-traders. In 1824 t he protective tariff w:^ ag ain enacted, and,
l)eing strengthened in 1828, lasted until 1834. Then a compromise tariff was
adopted, by which the duties were gradually lowered. In 1842, again, there
t'l
200
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
was a tariff for protection ; but in 1846 free-trade gained the ascendency once
more, and until i^fii the rp wn^ little or no prote ction. In 1861 the present
protective tariff was adopted. These changes brought about periods of alter-
nate depression and prosperity in the iron-industry. There has been sucli
an abundance of land in the country, and the agricultural life, with its owner-
ship of a bit of land, has had such fascinations in theory, if not in fact, to tlie
mass of the people, that wages have always been necessarily high here ; and
the iron-masters have not been able to produce either crude or manufactured
iron for American consumption in competition with Englishmen, without thu
protection of an efficient duty. Whenever the t ariff has been lowered, thert--
fore, the__fires have gone out in scores o f furnace-stacks and rolling-mills
throughout the country, and workmg-men have been thrown out of employment,
Several times, as in 1820, the business has been in a state of ruin. Whenever
protection has been again extended, the smoke has again floated from the
chimneys of the iron-works, and the business has become prosperous. The
influence of the tariff has been so great, that mention of it cannot be o mitted.
It is preferable, however, to divide the history of iron-making into periods,
simply with reference to the progress of invention, and not with reference to
tariff changes. Still it may not be uninterestmg to the reader to glance over
the following table of the changes in the duties, and compare it with the
succeeding table of production of iron in the United States : —
RATES OF DUTY FROM 1 789 TO 1 876.
1789
1790
1792
1794
1804
1812
tSi6
1818
1824
1828
1830
.832
•833
to
1842
1842
1843
5 per cent.
5 per cent.
10 per cent.
15 per cent.
17I per cent.
32-J per cent.
20 per cent.
50 cents per cwt.
50 cents per cwt.
62I cents per cwt.
62 J cents per cwt.
50 cents per cwt.
( gradual fall to
r!
20 per cent
ff) per ton.
I9 per ton.
5 to 7i per cent.
S to 7i per cent.
10 per cent.
I cent a pound,
2 cents a pound.
45 cts. to $2.50 per cwt,
75 cts. to $2.50 per cwt,
90 cts. to ty^^ per cwt.
$1.12 to $3.92 per cwt.
jSi,i2 to j^3.92 per cwt.
Si. 12 to 11(3.92 per cwt.
( gradual fall to 20 per 1
( cent. . >
$17 to $56 per ton.
%i'] to S56 per ton.
KAILROAD-BARS.
$37 per ton.
25 per cent.
free.
free.
free.
1^25 per ton.
50 cents per cwt.
75 cents per cwt.
$1 per cwt.
Ji per cwt.
%2 per cwt.
%\ per cwt.
%i per cwt.
$1 per cwt.
$1.50 per cwt.
$1.50 per cwt.
$1.50 per cwt.
$1.50 per cwt.
($1.50 to $2.50 per
I cwt.
($1.50 to 12.50 per
{ cwt.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
aax
PIG-IRON.
BAR-IRON.
RAILROAD-BARS,
STEEL.
1846 .
30 per cent.
30 per cent.
30 per cent.
30 per cent.
IS57 .
24 per cent.
34 per cent.
24 per cent.
24 per :ent.
1861 .
$6 per ton.
$1 s to $20 per ton.
$12 per ton.
( $1.50 to ^2 per
( cwt. and upwards.
/ under 1 1 cts. a
IS6: .
$6 per ton.
$ij to JS2S per ton.
$13.50 per ton.
) lb., i| to 2\ cts. ;
( over, 25 per cent
under 1 1 cts. a lb..
1864 .
$9 per ton.
1S22 -0 to|39.2o per ton.
$13.44 per ton.
2] to 3 cts. J over,
3^ cts. and 10 p.
. c ad valorem,
under 1 1 cts. a lb.,
1865 .
I9 per ton.
$22.40 to $39.20 per ton.
$15.68 perton.
1 -'
2^ to 3 cts. ; over,
3i cts. and 10 p.
c. ad valorem,
under 1 1 cts. a lb..
1870 .
I7 per ton.
$22.40 to $39.20 per ton.
$1 5.68 per ton.
2jto3cts. ; over,
3^ cts. and 10 p.
. c. ad valorem.
1872 .
1^6.30 per ton.
$20.16 to $35.28 perton.
$14.11 perton.
( 10 p. c. less than
( in 1864.
187s .
$7 per ton.
$22.40 to $32.20 per ton.
$15.68 per ton.
same as in 1864.
Down to 1816 a discrimination was regularly made in favor of the
American carrying-trade by levying ten per cent more of duty if the iron were
brought in foreign vessels. The figures above given represent the duty on
imports in American vessels.
The best statistics as to the production of iron in the United States are
those compiled by the American Iron and Steel Association, of which Mr.
James M. Swank is the author. They are as follows : — .^
PRODUCTION OF PIG-IRON IN GROSS TONS.
1810 54,000
1820 20,000
1828 ^ 130,000
1829 142,000
1830 165,000
1831 191,000
1832 200,000
1840 315,000
1842 215,000
1846 765,000
1847 800,000
202
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
1848 800,000
1849 .... 650,000
1850 564,755
1852 500,000
1854 736.218
1855 784,178
1856 883,137
1857 798,157
1858 705,094
1859 840,627
i860 9'9,770
1861 731,544
1862 787,662
1863 947,604
1864 >,>3S.996
1865 93',S82
1866 1.350.343
1867 1,461,626
1868 . . ; 1,603,000
1869 1,916,641
1870 1,865,000
1871 i,9ii,6oS
1872 2,854,558
1873 2,868,278
1874 • . . 2,689,413
1875 2,266,581
"876 2,093,236
it"*
THE ERA OF ANTHRACITE FUEL AND THE HOT BLAST.
Down to i8j8_the only fuel used to any extent in the manufacture of
iron from the or e was charc oal. There were a few coke— furnaces in the
country ; but the vast majority of the iron-masters used charcoa'
bloomaries and furnaces. The furnaces were small (the stacks
Introduction
of anthra-
cite.
seldom over twenty feet high), and producing from two to fo ur
tons of ir on a day . From a hundre d to a hundred and fi ft y bushels of c har-
coal and tw o tons of ore w ere consu med to the t on of iro n produced, the
(juantity of coal varying according to the hardness of the wood from which
the coal had been made, and the skill and expeHence of the foreman. The
profits of the business depended largely on the judgment and success of the
Process de- foreman in the use of charcoal. The blast was of cold air. sup-
scribed, plied by two pairs of jargt bjsUojys worked by water-power, and
blown into the furnace^ sometimes through hollow green logs placed back
from the ttiyire opening, so as to be safe from burning. The quality of iron
made by these old-fashioned furnaces was exceedingly good. The metal
was pure, and of great tenacity and durability or wearing surface, and was
of the greatest value for the purposes of steel. Even at the present time,
invention has been unable to produce iron of superior quality to that made
OF THE UNITED STATES.
303
in the ch arcoal bloomaries and fum? ces ; and the highest-priced bars at /
present are still tho se thus pro duced. The quantity which could be made
in the old-fashioned furnace was, however, small ; and, as the forests in the
mining-regions were consumed, the cost of production even of that small
([uantity increased.
Experiments were made for the production of iro n with anthra cite co al.
1 he country was richly stored with supplies of this valuable fuel ; and its
usefulness for the generation of steam, and for the warming of Early ex-
houses, had been demonstrated at a very early day. Could it be pediments.
Inirned in the blast-furnaces, a saving of labor and expense, and an increase
of production, would certainly follow. One experiment was made as early as
18 1 5 at Harford Furnace i n Mary land, the anthracite being mixed with one-
^HarcoaT In 1826 anthracite was tried in a furnace near Mauch
success. In 1827 similar experiments, with similar results,
The experiments were abandoned
l!>
half
Chunk ivithout
were made at a furnace at KingstoUj Mass
in a good deal of despair.
In 1828 James B. Neilson of Scotland brought out an invention which
made it possible to work with anthracite, and immediately revolutionized the
iron-making of the world. This was the use of th e hot-air blas t Neiison's / ^
in smelting iron. The previous failures with anthracite had been '"v-intion.
due to the employment of tlie cold blast. Mr. Neilson applied the hot llast
to coke and charcoal furn. es. Its first utility was considered to be the saving
of fuel effected by it. On tlie Clyde a ton of iron had required the combus-
tion of eight tons and a half of c oal coke d. With the hot blast this was
reduced to two tons and a half at once. It was an American who conceived
the idea of burning anthracite direct by means of the hot blast. In 1833
Dr, Geissenheimer of New York obtaiufid. a. patent for smelting iron wjth
anthracit e and the hot-air blast. His own experiments were unfortunately
unsuccessful: but in 1837 some gentlemen from Reading succeeded with the
new idea in an old uirnace near Mauch Chunk, using eighty per cent of
anthracite ; doing so well, in fact, that they at once built a new furnace to
larry on the business regularly. They had good luck ; and so had the owner
of an anthracite furnace built in 1837 at I'ott sville, Pen n., and blown in in
1839. This furnace was blown by steam-power, and produced forty tons a
week of good foundery-iron. ,'\ premium of five thousand dollars was given
to Mr. William Lyman, its owner, by Nicholas Biddie and others, as the first
person who had made pig-iron with anthracite continuously for a hundred
days in the United States.
This was the beginning of the anthracite iron-business of the country.
Thereafter, almost all the new works put up in tlie iron-regions increase in
were built expressly to burn anthracite as fiiel. The fiirnaces production.
which still continued to burn charcoal were principally in the North ; the
coa! measures of that region not having been developed, and the forests sup-
V
m^^n
i-,1l"
mam
m
I m
m
I: Ml
M
im
|;
ao4
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
A'
plying, practically, inexhaustible quantities of the old style of fuel. The his-
tory of the blast-furnace since that date has been one principally of growth
in size : year by year the stacks grew larger and taller, until, from twenty feet
in height and ten in diameter, they have now risen even to ninety feet in
height and twenty-five in diameter. In 1855 the yearly production of anthra-
cite pig-iron overtook that of charcoal iron, and the latter variety has been
steadily falling to the rear ever since. In 1869 the production of charcoal
\ iron was again passed by that made with bitu minous coa! and coke . In 1872
tlie product was as follows: Anthracite iron, 1,369,812 net tons; bituminous
coal and coke-iron, 984,159 tons; charcoal made, 500,587 tons. The metal
made by the hard-coal and hot-blast processes is inferior to that made by the
old style of furnace ; but it fulfils the demand of the times for cheap and
.^bundant iron.
\M Blast-furnaces are always located in the vicinity of the supplies of fuel,
either in the coal-mining regions, or along the lines of coal transportation.
It is cheaper to bring the ore to the coal than the fuel to the ore, — a foot
which is strikingly illustrated by the experience of Michigan, which, with
incalculable treasures of ore of the finest qualities, is obliged to send away tlie
principal part of her ore to Ohio and other States having mineral coal, to Ix"
made into pig-iron there. Indiana and Illinois, both great iron-making States,
are so solely on account of their coal. Their iron ores are scanty, and of
bad quality. Blast-furnaces are possible even in the cities of New York,
Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and in other cities reached by the railroads of
a great coal State.
The blast-furnaces of the United States have reached a size and perfection
excelled nowhere in the world. There have been great intelligence, and
Blast- alacrity of invention, on the part of those engaged in the iron-
furnaces, trade in this country ; and, in respect to mechanical appliances,
the American furnaces ha\'e been placed fully on a par with, if not above,
the same class of works in other parts of the earth.
"j^f The blast-furnace is a structure of stone and brick work, from forty to
seventy-five and even ninety feet high, enclosing a chimney-like cavity, in
Description which the orcs, fluxes, and fuel are placed to be sme ' d. Usually
of blast- the stack is composed of a lining of fire-brick of the most refrac-
urnaces. ^^^^ character, backed with a less refractory quality, and that with
common red brick and stone. Most Western furnaces, and many of the new
ones in the East, are, however, substantially an iron cylinder lined with fire-
brick. The Philadelphia Furnace, — finished at Philadelphia in 1873, with all
the latest improvements, — sixty feet high, is of sixteen-inch fire-blocks, adapted
in shape to the contour of the interior, backed by a nine-inch course of
ordinary fire-brick. Then a four-inch air-space, filled with loam, is backed with
a nine-inch course of red brick. A three-inch air-space, filled with sand, then
occurs, and a four-inch course of red brick ; and the whole is cased v.'ith
OF THE UNITED STATES.
2QS
2o6
INDUSTRIAL IllSTOKY
%M
boiler-iron a quarter of an inch thick, extending to the top of the stack. The
crucible, or hearth, is composed of sixteen-inch fire-blocks. This is a good
type of construction. Back of the courses above described common masonry
of considerable thickness is generally built to support the stack, if an iron
casing is not used. The interior cavity of the furnace is round horizontally,
but perpendicularly is very much of the shape of the chimney of an ordinary
kerosene lamp. At the open top, in a seventy-five foot stack, it is ten feet
in diameter. It gradually grows larger going down for a distance of about
forty feet, where it reaches a width of about eighteen feet : it remains of this
diameter for ten feet more, and then contracts rapidly in the next seventeen
feet to eight feet diameter. This sloping portion of the furnace is called the
— " boshes ; " and it is the part of it which supports the heav) weight of the ores
and fuel, filling the stack to its mouth above. At the bottom of all is the
hearth, or crucible, where the melted iron and slag collect. This is from
five to eight feet in diameter, and about the same in height. The extreme
width of the foundation upon which this mass of masonry rests is from thirty
to forty-five feet. In the most modern stacks the masonry is not solid down
to this foundation ; but that part of it above the l^eartii rests on an iron ental)-
lature, sustained by iron columns planted upon the foundation of the stack.
T'he tiiyires for the blast are from three to seven in number, and are cut into
the hearth about four feet from the bottom. The air is blown into the furnace
at a pressure of from three to four pounds, iind heated to a temperature ot"
from six hundred to nine hundred degrees. In order that the tuyires shall not
be melted, a current of cold water is kept playing upon them constantly. Up
towards the top of the stack a number of openings permit the refiise gases
from the burning coal below to be drawn ofT by means of the draught of a tall
chimney, instead of escaping through the mouth of the stack itself. These
gases are made, by flues, to play around the cold-air pipes and the boiler
which drives the blowing-engines ; and by their combustion they heat the air
for the blast, and maintain a high pressure of steam. The quantity of air
blown into the furnace under pressure to produce the intense heat needed to
reduce the iron ore amounts to fifteen tons or more an hour, and is always of
much greater weight than the materials in the stack itself.
Formerly the furnaces were built against a hillside or a high bank, like a
lime-kiln, for convenience in dumping the ores and fuel into the top of the
stack. The more modern plan is to construct an elevator l)y the side of
tlie fiirnace, with a platform on top about the throat of it, from which the
materials are dumped into the stack from a barrow, or thrown iii by hand.
1^ A furnace being ready for blowing in, the fire is kindled in the hearth ; and,
when well under way, a (}uantity of ore, coal, and limestone, to dissolve the
impurities of the ore, are thrown from the top. With good ores and hard coal
the proportion of the different materials to the ton of iron made is about as
follows : iron ore, 2,100 pounds; coal, 1,700 pounds ; limestone, 400 pounds.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
ao7
The blast is now turned on at two-pounds pressure. If all goes on well, in
twenty-four hours the pressure is increased from four to six pounds. The
workmen keep sharp watch of the tuyhes to see that they are bright and clean,
and of the gaseous products of combustion to see that the furnace is working
freely and well. Every four hours, ordinarily, the hearth is tapped near the top
to draw off the melted slag. There is a litde hole made for the purpose,
which k- kept plugged with clay between times. This process produces an
exceedingly brilliant display. The slag spouts from the litUe opening made
for it with a glare which pains the eye with its intensity. It runs down a rough
trougli scraped out of the ground, and out through the open door of the shop
into the outer air to cool. As the slag gets low in the hearth, the blast escapes
with it, carrying a fiery spray from the opening like a piece of fireworks, within
tlie reach of which no man can stand and live. At the proper moment the
li!;ist is turned off. The men run up and plug the opening with clay, and
the blast is turned on again into the furnace. The melted iron in the hearth
is drawn off once in eight hours from a little hole at the bottom of the
hearth, which, as previously explained, is usually kept plugged with clay.
Tlie metal remains liquid in the hearth, from the fact, that, unlike water, \\\Q^-^d
hottest metal sinks to the bottom, and thus it is possible to let fifteen or ^•^^
twenty tons of it accumulate without any danger of its chilling. The process
of drawing off" the iron is even more beautiful than that of taking away the
slag. The metal flows out in a bright stream, throwing off dazzling scintilla-
tions, as it comes in contact with the oxygen of tiie air, far surpassing in vigor
and beauty any thing produced by the art of man in any other way. The
metal flows along the floor of the shop in, channels, and runs into the rough
moulds, where it hardens into the rough pigs of commerce. Tiiese are tested,
when cold, by breaking with a sledge-hammer, to ascertain their iiuality, and
arc then stacked up for transportation to market.
The introduction of the hot-air blast and the emi)loyment of anthracite as
fuel, followed, five or six years afterwards, with the application of bituminous
coal to smelting-puri)oses, was a timely event for the United
States. The country was about entering upon an era of railroad n^g^°o|"new
and steamboat b.iilding made necessary by the diffusion of our methods of
jiopulation over the vast area of virgin territory protected by our P'° ""^'"^
flag. An extraordinary demand for iron was developing ; and
national development would have been seriously retarded if we had been
obliged to depend on foreign lands for our supplies of the metal. The hot-
air blast and the use of coal as fuel came along, therefore, (ill in good time for
America. The reduction in the expense of smelting which they effected, and
tlio dtjuiand for metal, gave an extraordinary impulse to the industry. In the
period from 1848 to i860 , furnaces, rolling-mills, and iron and steel works,
steadily multiplied in all parts of the country. It is an interesting fact, that, in
tiiat period, iron-making was actively prosecuted in many States in which,
» 1 ?
'Ut;
208
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
since railroad-building has stopped, it has in part or entirely disappeared. In
Tennessee there were in 1855, during that era of activity, seventy-five bloonia-
ries and forges, seventy-one furnaces, and four rolling-mills ; but at the present
time there are only eighteen charcoal and four bituminous coal furnaces, a
score of bloomaries, and the four rolling-mills referred to. Arkansas niaile ,
iron in 1857, but makes none now. In 1857 North Carolina had fifty blooma-
ries and forges, two rolling-mills, and six furnaces, in operation. Then, are
not now in that ancient State a dozen active forges and bloomaries. There
are no rolling-mills nor steel-works, and only one active furnace. South Caro-
lina made iron extensively before the war ; but her fires have all gone out, and
her furnace- stacks were in 1876 all deserted.
A fresh development was given to the blast-furnace business by the war and
the tariff of 186 1. A new era of railroad-building set in; and such was the
Effect of demand for iron, and so high were the prices, and so large the prof-
'*'"■ its, that some of the most brilliant fortunes of the present age were
made in the manufacture of the metal. In 1874, 735 furnaces were in operation
in the United States, besides a number of bloomaries, distributed as follows : —
ANTHRACITB
CHARCOAL
UlT. AND COKB
FUKNACES.
FURNACKS.
FURNACKS.
TOTAL.
Maine
I
I
New Hampshire
I
,
I
Vermont
s
s
Massachusetts
5
6
Connecticut
9
9
New York .
45
22
67
New Jersey .
16
..
16
Pennsylvania
152
44
73
269
Maryland .
6
"4
8
28
Virginia
Zl
34
West Virginia
3
S
8
Georgia
«3
2
'5
Alabama
20
20
North Carolina
10
2
13
Tennessee .
24
3
27
Kentucky . .
23
S
28
Ohio ....
40
62
102
Indiana .
7
7
Illinois
* • .
4
. .
S
9
Michigan .
* .
30
3
34
Missouri
.
. . .
12
9
21
Wisconsin •
,
3
II
, ,
14
Minnesota .
•
I
. ,
I
Texas .
•
...
I
••
I
Total
229
322
184
73S .
OF THE UN/ TED STATES.
309
In 1877 the number reported was 714, of which 236 were in blast, and 478
out of blast. The productive capacity of the 7 1 4 enumerated is about 4,500,000
tons a year, or twice the present consumption of the country. The statittici (or
only new furnaces at present building in the country are in Ohio '"^y-
and some of the Southern States, notably Georgia, where iron can be made at i
an expense of thirteen or fifteen dollars a ton against an average of twenty 1^^
dollars a ton in the Northern States, except in Ohio, where it is fifteen dollars r
a tun.
THE GROWTH OF ROLLING-MILLS.
Another department of the iron-industry rose into great prominence with
the war and the tariff of 1861, accompanied as those events were by the acci-
dental circumstances of a new anil unprecedented mania for rail- rj-jj jevei-
road-building, for supplying cities and villages with iron, water, and opment o(
l^as pipes, anil roads and canals with iron bridges, and the use of '■°'""*-'""'»'
iron in architecture. This was the rolling-mill business, which had never fairly
recovered from the deadly blows of the policy of repression inaugurated by
Kngland in 1 750.
Previous to i860 rolled iron of all kinds had been largely imported : railroad
bars Iiud been almost exclusively so. After 1 860 the mills and works necessary
for the production of all this material were erected on American soil, the few
old ones already in the business being enlarged to meet the demands of the
times. Machinery of a magnitude and power hitherto unknown in America
was built, and put into the mills for rolling and forging plates, shafts, rails, &c. ;
and magnificent establishments grew up in different States of the North, like
the Cambria Iron-Works at Johnstown, Penn., employing seven thousand of our
countrymen, and spending ten million dollars a year for wages and materials.
In the perfection of the different i)rocesses of the rolling-mill a field was
afforiled for the free play of the peculiar geiiius of the American people. Up
to within a very few years, the Americans have been deficient in m^pXty of
the patient analysis of the chemical composition and qualities of
the ores and mineral treasures found embedded in their soil, com-
pared with the rest qf the world ; but they have been untiring and exceedingly
successful in mechanical invet.tion. In the production of skilful machines to
jicrform special tasks, and save a former great expenditure of human toil, they
are perfectly at home ; and this trait of our countrymen has been illustrated in
the development of the different rolling-mills of the United States. The pud-
dhng-furnaces for converting pig and scrap iron into wrought iron, by exposing
them in an open-hearth furnace to the action of a current of flame which burns
out its carbon ; the iiuge seventy- five-ton hammers and squeezers for forging JJ J'
the blooms from the furnace into bars for re-working and rolling ; the rolls and
otiier appliances, many of them invented abroad, — have all felt the magic touch
of American inventive genius, and been greatly developed and improved ;
American
genius.
i
; I,
.^!'.i:
9IO
IXD US TRIA I. HIS TOR Y
while many now appliances have been introduced of purely American ori-in,
wiiich have exlraonlinarily simplified and cheapened the prcresses of ininu-
fucture. It would reipiire a volume to describe all the improvements intm-
duced into the rolling-mills of the United States; but one of them niaj Ik-
mentioned as ilhistratin^' the ^'eneral character of a lar^'e number of them. Ai
the Sable lron-\\'()rks at rittsburL;h. iVnn.. Mr. Zug. the sc.iljr partner of tlu-
Zug's im firm, has set up a mechanism of his own invention to dispone of
provcments. j],^, j)uddl(.'d)ars as tlu'V leave the rolls. .\s the red-hot bar comes
iVoni ihe rolls it is diMliar,uvd ujion a line of rollers, over wliidi it runs in a
scale, on whi( h it is detained lon,^; enouL;h to be weij,'hed. It is then jiushed
alonj; the rollers to a i,'reat pair of shears, where it is ( ut into lengths, the jiicds
falling into an iron basket (xcupying a pit of water. 'J'his basket, suspeinKd
from a beam overhead, is raised to such a height, that it runs by its own wnju
to the other kixmX, wliere it comes in (ontact with an ol)ject which unlatches the
bottom of the basket ; an<l the iron falls to the ground, p'ady for jiiling lor
the various furnaces. I'lie striking of the object which opens the bottom of thi.'
iron basket reverses its (lire( tion, and sends it back on the now falling beaiii to
the pit. with the bottom again secure for reloading. With this mechanism tin.'
])iiddle-iron is dragged from the rolls, weighed, cut. and laid asiile by one hkim,
who handles t! product of sixteen furnaces.
Statistics of In 1873 the rolling-mills of the United States numbered ,^10,
numbers. ^.S folloWS : —
M.iiiic 1
Vermont r
Massacluisetts i\
Rhode Island 4
Connecticut 5
New Yolk . -M
New Jersey IJ
Pennsylvania ilS
Delaware 10
Maryland S
Virginia 3
West Virginia 7
Ohio ............ .)ij
Kentucky ............ 10
Tennessee . .......... 5
Indiana 9
Illinois iS
Michij;an )
Missouri ............ 6
Wisconsin . . I
(Georgia 3
Alabama 2
California I
Total 310
'iti?
01 JJ/h UNITED aj'ATKa.
I I
,;^*»'.Y»w^ M
111,1) IlillN-F IKNAi i: UN TIM. IHNKMMI.H.
i
' .'
CAMBRIA IRON-WORKS, lOHNSTOWN, VENN.
•It
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
t
The total of rolled iron capacity was 2,833,000 tons. In 1876 the num.
ber of mills was 338. 'I'he capacity was something over 3,000,000 tons ; Imt
the actual nroiluction was 1,021,7^0 net tons, worth about jtino..
Production. ^ < <• / <
000,000. The product was in sheet-iron, boiler-iron, plates for
iron ships, bars, rods, hoops, rails, bridge-iron, &c.
INI'LUKNCE OF PARIS EXPOSITION ON AMERICAN IRON-MANUFACTUUIC.
Ikfore passing on to sjieak of the steel-works of the United States, aHusioii
may be made to an event occurring in 1867, which had an important influence
PariiExpo- on the whole iron-industry of this country: that was the Paris
■ition. Exposition. The war was over in America, 'I'he people were
settling down to the developments of the arts which promote peace, and make
a nation united and great. New life was felt throbbing in every department of
industry. A keen interest was felt here in the Kxposition of 1867; and Mr.
Abrani S. Hewitt was sent over there in an official cai)acity to study wiiai
foreigners had to teach us with reference to the iron-industry, and otlar
experts were sent to investigate and report upon other Hiings. What Mr.
Hewitt and the iron-manufacturers who visited that great fair learned about
the foreign iron-business was new and interestini;, and it has since proved of
inc alculable value to America. It taught us many important lessons, ami
proved a fresh incentive to effort.
The principal fad which arrested attention was the marked superiority of
Europeans in jjroducing difficult shapes of rolled iron v-thout weld or joint,
_ , ,. and their willingness to handle iron and stee. ...-all piiriuJSL's in
Superiority "^ ' '
ofEuropemnt larger masses than in America. The Icadi.ig European nations
In rolling present at the fair exhibited a vast variety of articles rolled from a
heavy Iron. '
single piece, which could not have been thus made in .Aiucrica
then, — such as deeply-dished boiler-heads, steam-domes, tube-sheets, and
culinary vessels of every form ; and many other things made purely as fours de
force, to show what could be done, — such as cocked hats, a series of s(iuarc
domes raised from a flat plate, &:c. They displayed beams a hundred feet long,
weighing fifteen hundred ])ounds, ami others of the same length, woigiiin},'
two tons and a quarter. A single plate, thirty feet long, two feet six indus
broad, six inches thick, and weighing eleven tons, was shown from I'.nj;
land. Krupp showed a single steel ingot of forty tons; when in 1851 an
English ingot weighing two tons and a quarter had been deemed an astoni^li-
ing achievement. Knipp also had on exhibition a fifty-ton steel cannon
mounted on a fifteen-ton carriage, and a twenty-five-ton turn-table throwing a
solid shot of twelve hundred and twelve pounds and a shell of ten luiiidrcd
and eighty pounds. These achievements have all been surpassed since then,
many of them in America ; but, to the dazzled eyes of the American iron-
manufacturers, they were in 1867 a revelation of marvels as interesting as a
tale of Arabian enchantment.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
a«3
Mr. Hewitt and others spent much time while in Kurope during that exhi-
l)itioii in studying these j)roducts of Kuropcan art, and in visiting ,„y„„„.
the steel-works and rolling-mills of the great centres of the trade, tiomot A. 8.
ami then came back to America with a volume of new ideas, "•**'" "^
otntrt*
wind) they have since utilized here to the extraordinary benefit of
ihcmsclves and the country.
THK MANUKACrUKK OF STKKL. *
The most valuable property of iron, next to that of agglutination at a white- ^
heat, and possibly exceeding that, is the (quality of forming steel. C'asl-iron is j ^
not pure metallic iron : it contains from three to five per cent of superiority
carbon (often five i)er cent and nine tenths) chemically combined. "' •***'
By ilcpriving the metal of all except about one-half per cent of its carbon, the
wrmi uht iron of commerce is obtain ed. By restoring to it from three-fourths
to one per cent and a half of the carbon, or by reducing the carl on of cast-
iron to that minimum, a new (piality of iron is obtained, which we call steel, —
a product of the highest value, exceeding all others in elasticity, tenacity, and
hanhiess, ac(|uiring a special tetnper by rapid cooling, white, fine-grained, and^
capable of taking a higii polish. It is the true metal for arms.
•Xnciently the Hindoos made steel in small (piantities by taking their
charcoal-made wrought iron, cut into small pieces, and putting about a pound
of it a time into a crucible, with ten times the ([uantity of wood s,eei.m«k-
chopped fine. They put the crucible tightly plugged into a fiir- ingbythe
naie, and heated it intensely for two or three hours. At the end '" °''*'
of the operation the steel was found fiised into a cake in the bottom of the
crucible. From the steel thus made were fashioned the famous cimeters and
blades of the lOast, of such exquisite edge and temper as to cut a gauze veil
floating in the air without disturbing its movement.
It was many ages before steel was made in Western Kurope. When the
manufacture of it began there, a new process was invented. Steel was made
-^ l)y cciiientation. The process, in use to the present day, consisted Blistered ^ ^
of packing wrought-iron bars in charcoal in crucibles, and heating "*"'•
them from six to ten days, according to the hardness of the product required.
The product thus formed was calletl " bl istered steel ." because the bars, when
withdrawn, were found covered with blisters. Cast-steel was formed by break- Jj '
ing these bars, and fusing them ; and shear-steel by tempering the cast-steel,
breaking the pieces, welding them at a good heat, and then hammenng them
until a more uniform and tenacious texture was produced.
The business of steel-making was established in America as Early tteei-
cady as the Revolution ; but it did not thrive until within the last united
thirty years. There was every temptation to make the metal, statei.
because it was worth in bars from two hundred and fifty to three hundred
,.aU' \
* ''
d\
3hj
fc
ai4
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
dollars a ton as against an average of from twenty to forty dollars a ton for
pig-iron, and from eighty to a hundred dollars for good bar-iron. Ameriran
iron, too, was exceedingly pure and tenacious, and well fitted for steel-
making. But the business had been from antiquity shrouded in the deep-
est mystery by makers, and it was long before the American Congress fjave
sufficient protection to those who wished to venture in the business lioic
to encourage them to embark their capital in it. When the business was
undertaken, a great deal of money was lost in it, and many attempts were
abandoned in despair. To the energy of a few men, princii)ally at Pittsburgh,
Penn., and the skill of a few native chemists, is due the fact that the business
. was finally mastered and established. American steel, and the saws, cutlery,
tools, and machines made from it, have since become flimous the world over.
As the art is practised in the United States, steel is made by three general
processes ; ami the product is called respectively pot or crucible st eel. Sic-
n>e«<i-Martin steel , and J3essemer steel : in the first class, cementation is
Three modes ''"'g'-'ly employed. There are also two American methods used,
of making the invention of Professor A. K. ICaton of New York. One, dis-
""'■ covered in 1 85 1, consists in melting malleable iron in crucihlos
wiih a carbonaceous salt, such as ferro-cyanide of potassium, using it alone or
with a little charcoal. 'I"he cr.rl)onization is rapidly effected ; and the steel,
when fused, is cast into moulds. The other jjrocess, discovered in 1856, con-
sists in decarbonizing cast-iron by heating it intensely in thin plates in a bath
of melted carbonate of soda. The plates are then melted and cast. The
principal drawback to the former of these two processes is, that the crucibles
cannot long withstand the intense heat to which they are subjected ; and the
principal objection to all crucible processes is, that the capacity of produ( tion
is limited by the necessarily small size of the pots. A good article is pro-
duced, however ; and the business is actively prosecuted at thirty cast-stoel
establishments in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connectii ut,
nine of them l)eing at Pittsburgh. The product of the works is in tool,
■? '. spring, machine, hammered, and ingot steel : it now amounts to 39,000 tons
a year, worth 512,000,000. There are a large number of works in dinerent
parts of the country for making bars by cementation, their product in 1S76
being 10,306 tons. '
\Vhen Mr. Hewitt was at the Paris Exposition in 1867, two methods for
making steel on a large scale were beginning to attract great attention. 'Die
Method Bessemer process was then the sensation of the hour, and enor-
considered mous provision was l)eing made in Europe for manufacture by
means of it. He studied the process carefully, and reported
upon it. The other method was that which is called the Siemens-
Martin. Mr. Hewitt himself introduced that system to America, upon his
return, at his works at Trenton, N.J.
An Englishmen has the reputation of inventing the Bessemer process ; b'lt
at Paris Ex-
position.
H2
/
OF THE UNITED STATES.
"5
tlio first person to suggest it, and make an experiment with it, was, according
tu Mr. Swank, an American. As early as 1851, William Kelly, an Bessemer
iron-master at Eddyville, Ky., suggested the possibility of making P'oce"-
.steel on a large scale by blowing air into and through melted cast-iron, thus
burning out its carbon until it was converted into steel. He made a few trials,
anil ol)tained a patent in 1851. Henry Bessemer secured his first patent for
the process in England in 1855. Neither of the two men was able to attain
sui cess, however, by the methods he originally adopted ; and it was not until
some changes and improvements Iiail been crtected that either accomplished
anv thing. Tiie process, as employed in this country, is carried on under a
conil)ination of the Bessemer and Kelly patents.
The plant re(iuired for the conversion of pig-metal into Bessemer steel is
exi)ensive ; and there are now only eleven establishments for it in the United
States, — five in Pennsylvania, three in Illinois, and one each in vaiueof
New York, Ohio, and Missouri. One of these, in Illinois, is the product.
largest in the world. The product, however, is large, amounting now to 540,-
000 tons a year, worth $65,000,000.
The cast-iron is melted, and then drawn out, in five-ton charges, into great
l/ear-sliai)e(l converters made of iron lined with refractory fire-clay. The con-
verters are hung on trunnions, and are tipped down to receive the process "■*"
eiiarge. The melted iron lies in the belly of the swelling side of described.
the converter until the reciuisitc amount is obtained , then the converter is
swmig into an uprigiit position, and at the same moment a blast of air is
turned on, the air finiling its wa)- into the converter through a number of small
holes at the bottom, imilemeath the melted iron. The process now becomes
one of the most spectacular in the iron-industry. The air, rushing through
the liijuid iron, pours out of the mouth of the converter in a tremendous flame.
At lirst the silicon is seized upon by the oxygen of the air, the result being
slag ; and, while it is burning, the flame is comi)aratively dull. But immedi-
ately the carbon begins to burn, and the fl^me then increases in volume anil
brilliancy. T"he surging, splashing ma.jS grows hotter ami whiter, and appears
to expand and boil. A thick, white, roaring blaze pours from the mouth of
the converter, and its iron fotmdations tremble under the violent ebullition.
There are few such exhibitions of chemical power 10 be seen in the industrial
arts. As the decarbonization goes on, the flame grows thinner and smaller ;
and, when it is complete, the light dies out of it. Bessemer originally intended
to stop the process at the point where just enough carbon had been left in the
metal to make steel, using the spectroscope for the purpose. This was found
impracticable ; and the plan now is, to continue the blast until all the carbon
is burned out: the right moment is indicated to the eye by the name. The
n)nverter is then tipped over, and a small charge of melted spiegeleisen, rich
in carbon, is poured in. It diffuses itself instantly through the melted mass
in Uie converter. A flaming re-action takes place ; and then the converter is
/£>
w
^Ji
t Ui^J
^JBE
i;i
216
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
m
If
emptied with a ladle, which is, in turn, swung over the ingot moulds. A fire-
clay plug is removed by a lever, and the steel runs out pure, white, and shin-
ing. The whole operation is brief, and the men remain silent and attentive
until it is completed.
The use of ferro-manganese for conversion in this process has latterly been
introduced, and is increasing. Four-fifths of the Bessemer steel now made
Use of ferro- in this country is rolled into railroad iron : it is a leading indus
manganese, t^y^ ^nd has placed the steel-rail business here ahead of the iron-
rail manufacture. The other fifth of the product is devoted chiefly to the
purposes of machinery.
/ / The Siemens-Martin process is not yet extensively used. It affords a
valuable product ; but the system last described is at present the favorite. The
Siemens- Sicniens-Martin plan is simply that of the carbonization of wrougln
Martin iron iu an open hearth or reverberatory furnace, by mixing it witli
process. cast-iruH and iron ore. The flame from the furnace is made to
pass over a hearth on which the metal is placed, and effects the required
- chemical transformation. The metal is sometimes supplied with ferro-inan-
ganese in the process of conversion into steel. The product of open-hearlh
steel, which was only 3,000 tons in 1872, amounted in 1876 *i 21,490 tons.
Since the first crude experiment at iron-making in the forests of Virginia,
two hundred and fifty years have flown by on the wings of time ; yet it has
not been until within the past five years that the United States
have bcL-n able to produce iron and steel enough to supply lier
own wants, either in war or peace. The railroads of the countr)
have been prih^Ipally built with rails imported from the contineii
Our factories and shops have been equipped with foreign-made
Tools, telegraph-wire, chains, and manufactured articles in
general, as well as meta! in pigs and ingots, have been brought here from
abroad in enormous cjuantities from the earliest day. In 1873 the amount
imported was valued at fifty-eight million dollars. Thanks to the natural
resources of our country anc' the enterprise of our countrymen, and the
influences which have aided them, the United States have now an iron and
steel producing capacity fiilly equal to her wants, and indeed in excess of it.
The importation has been cut down to the insignificant sum of about seven
million dollars for the year ending June 30, 1877; and an exportation has
liegun not only to the less advanced nations of the world, but also to civilizx'd
^IP Europe. The United States are at last truly independent of the world for her
iron and steel.
Wonderful
extension of
steel-indus-
try.
of Europe,
machinery.
i: i:- ill
lili
OF THE UNITED STATES.
217
CHAPTER II.
IRON AND STEEL MANUFACTURES.
IT was one peculiarity of the times in that age of the world when America
was first settled, that gq]d and silvgr were the most highly prized of metals ;
and the abundance of them in any country was regarded as the utility of
test, not only of its wealth, but of its civilization. Times have "°"-
changed since then ; and a celebrated wTiter has pointed out, that, in this
latter age of the world, the civilization of a race of men is more clearly
indicated by the iron it employs and consumes than by any other power it
possesses. Iron has always brought superiority to the race using it in the
largest degree for .veapons and implements ; but in modem times the fact
has become more conspicuous. It is marvellous to look back along the
history of the conquests and wars of the past, and to compare the condition
of mankind at the present day with what it was two hundred years ago, and
study the important part played by iron. Eminence and progress appear to
have been immediately due far more to the generous use of this valuable
metal than to the intelligence of the human race and the power of numbers.
Steam could never have been made the obedient vassal of man, except for
this tenacious metal to confine and direct its forces. Famines were never
obviated until husbandry was made successful by iron implements, and iron
railways were laid to insure the free distribution of crops ; and the fami ■\es
of the present age occur only in those regions into which the railway and the
liberal use of this noble metal have not penetrated. The people would still
be living in hovels, except for iron to fashion the wood of the forests, and
t)ind the framework of our homes. With a metal no more serviceable than
t ojjper, the world would never have risen to the heights of comfort, intelligence,
and civilization, it has now attained ; the brilliant conquests of the material
universe which have characterized the present century could never have taken
place.
The variety of uses to which iron is now put is remarkable, and there seems
to be no limit yet to its employment. Machinery has been invented which
will fashion it for any end, in masses of any size, from the hair-spring of a
2l8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
^ r
V'-
w;itch to tliose niagiiificent products of constructive art, the locomotive ami
tlic iron slcaniship. Its use is now as boundless as man's desires, and alnio i
Variety of as wiile as its own diffusion tlirougiiout nature. Iron is found in
uses. every rex k : it blooms in tiie rose and in tlie maiilen's dicek, ami
tlie spectroscope detects it in tlie light of the sun and stars. It may be said
fainy to pervade nature, and now also to i)ervade every department of hunuin
activity. It plays some jKirl in tlie simjjlest occupations of every-day life : it
mints the coin of the people ; it steers our shi[)s ; drawn out into a wiiv, it
sounds the deepest oceans, and carries our messages from continent to ((iini-
nent ; it lights our battles, and wins our daily bread, and larves our gravestoiKs
when we are gone ; it made England mistress of the seas and of comnierd- ;
and it is one of the most efficient causes of the remarkable advance of ilie
United States during the present century, whi( h is the conmient of the schoLirs
and i)ublic men of the world.
In the ai)plication of iron to the uses of humanity, no people have excelled
our own countrymen in ingenuity and enterprise. 'The purpose ol this chapter
is to describe the growth of some of the principal iron and steel industries
which they ha\e established.
^/v-
NAILS.
facture of
naili.
Nail-making is purely an .'\merican art ; for, although nails were invented
before the white man first cast anchor off these shores, the process of making
Nail-making 'hem which has superseded all others was the ])roduct of the Yaii-
an American kee's braiii, and the modern system was employed here long Ijefore
it found its way into luirope.
Iron nails were sparingly used in anticjuity, but they were to some extent in
the middle ages ; and their use became general three or four hundred years
Early manu- '^S"» wheii England devloped her iron-industries. ICngland was the
great nail-making country of Europe. So large a part of her ]i()|ni-
lation was employed in the art, that, in iater times, sixty thousand
l)ersons were employed in nail-making at liirmingham alone. .All the nails were
made by hand. The iron was drawn out into rods, the end was heated and
formed by hammer on an anvil into a nail, when the rod was re-heated and again
hammered. The business, not being so laborious as the majority of those in
which men were engaged, was turned ov(;r largely to women and children ; ami.
not being very remunerative to the workers themselves, the social condition nf
the nail-makers of England was one of the dark pictures of her industries. ' '
the last century, several attempts were made to save a part of the Ial)or expem
in nail-making by the use of machinery. William Finch of Wimboorne, Slal-
fordshire, brought out one patent for the use of tilt-hammers, which, by rajiid
striking, enabled several nails to be made from the rod in one heat. Thomas
Clifford invented another plan in 1790, which aimed at squeezing a bar of imn
TT
into nails by ft
tluir faces. T
however, until
laliorioiis work,
i'lie first re<
in ( 1 ingress in^
son had inserti
in ihe bill. Mr
a tax on the iiu]
til i( great <|uani
reimsylvania, ai
.America. Fish(
and accommoda
it sells for, e.xcej
:!■>. if not thus t
hei (line usual foi
|ie(.|ile to erect
111 iheir chimney-
in the winter ev
little other work
Kreat (|uantities
made, even 1
Tiiese j)eople t;
lion of the m<
return him nails
seipience of thi>,
"f liarter, the m
prodigiously greai
■iilvantages are ik
ill tlie hands of t
Massachusetts,
can be i)rosecute(
manner by every
I'he duty wa
creased.
liut, even at t
tlie minds of our
to make nails, an(
'Ircd patents whic
nail-making, twen
In 1.S10 the .secre
" Twenty yean
<'iitting slices out
OF T]IE I'NlThl) SIATES.
219
!■ Ifi---
iiiio nails by feeding it in hctwrcn two heavy rollers with proper moulds on
tin ir faces. 'I'he greater part of the nails used continued to he made i)y hand,
hiiwcver, until Anieri< an genius released the women and children from su( h
laliniious work.
riie first record we have of nail-making in this country is found in a debate \^,^
111 Congress i " 1 y.S^i- when the first tariff bill was imder discussion. Mr. MacH- /^\
sdii had inserted a duty of one cent a pound on nails ami spikes pirc,t naii-
in llie bill. Mr. Lee tiioiight this was objectionable, as it might jje making in
a t, IX on the improvement of estates. Mr (lu'jdhue assured him "'«'■"-''•
th.il great (|uantities of nails were being manufactured in Massa( husetts and
I'rnnsylvania, and in a little lime enough would l>e made to sujiply all North
Aim ri<a. h'isher Ames said this on the subject : " It is a useful Fisher
and accommodating niaiuifac ture, which yields a clear gain of all Ames.
it sells for, except the cost of the material. The labor emi)loyed on it is such
a--, if not thus employed, would, in many instances, be thrown away. It has
liii oine usual for the <x)unlrv-
|n(i]ile to erect small forges
111 their chimney-corners ; and
ill the winter evenings, when
little other work can be done,
i^rtit (juantities of nails are
made, even by children.
Tliese peoi)le t.ike the rod-
iKiii of the men hant, and
ri.tiirn him nails ; and, in con-
sei|uence of this easy mode
of barter, the manufa( ture is
|iniiligiously great. J'>ut these
advantages are not exclusively
ill the hands of the peojile of
Massachusetts. The business
ran be prosecuted in a similar
manner by every State exerting similar industry."
The duty was allowed to remain in the bill, and afterwards was in-
creased.
]iut, even at the time that Fisher Ames described the chimney-corner forges,
the minds of our countrymen were busy with the idea of jjerfecting a machine
to make nails, and save all this labor by hand. Of the three hun- pa,ent«for
ilre<l ])atents which have up to 1878 been granted for machines for naii-
iiail making, twenty-three were issued before the present century. '"■''''"*•■
In iSio the secretary of the treasury reported : —
" Twenty years ago. some men now unknown, then in obscurity, began by
rutting slices out of old hoops, and, by a common vice griping ihese pieces.
FAIKVIEW NAI1.-WOKKS.
/.//^
:C'? j:' i
illilHli
220
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Cut nails.
headed them with several strokes of the hammer, By progressive improve-
ments slitting-mills were built, and the shears and heading-tools were perfected ;
yet much labor and expense were requisite to make nails. In a little time,
Jacob Perkins, Jonathan Ellis, and a few others, put into execution the thought
of cutting and of heading nails by water ; but, being more intent upon their
machinery than upon their pecuniary affairs, they were unable to prosecute the
business. At different times other men have spent fortunes in improvements ;
and it may be said with truth, that more than a million of dollars have been
expended. But at length these joint efforts are crowned with complete suc-
cess ; and we are now able to manufacture, at about one-third of the expense
that wrought nails can be manufactured for, nails which are superior to them
for at least three-fourths of the purposes to which nails are applied, and for most
of those purposes they are full as good."
Jeremiah Jeremiah Wilkinson of Rhode Island is said to have been the
Wilkinson. ^^3,^ ^yi^Q headed nails in a vice.
When the manufacture of cut nail.> was first unrlertriken, wrought nails cost
twenty-five cents a pound, and were largely imported. This made their use
for fences and houses expensive ; and their cost, the abundance
of timber in this country, and the desire of every man to have his
own house and barn, proved powerful incentives to inventors to undertake the
manufacture of them by machinery. The new machines did so well, that in
^'j^ 1 8 10 one was perfected which was able to make a hundred nails a minute ; and
in 1828 the production was so brisk, that the price was reduced to eight cents
a pound. It is now about two cents and a half a pound. In 1833 the duty on
nails was five cents a pound : but the rapidity of manufacture here had brought
prices down to five cents a pound, which was the same as the duty ; and in
/V'1842 the price was two cents below the duty.
The American nail-machine is a somewhat complicated afTair in detail,
but simple in theory. The iron is rolled out into bars wide enough to make
Description three 0" four strips, each one of which is as wide as the length of
of machine, jj^g j^ail it is intended to make. The cutting of the bar into strips
is done by the slitting-mill, and is done while the bar is hot, and thus more
easily cut. The strips are then taken to the nail-machines, of which there are
froiTi forty to a hundred in a factory ; in the Wheeling Nail- Works there being
one hundred and six, and one hundred and ten in the Belmont Works, also at
Wheeling. Each machine works upon one strip or nail-rod at a tinie, clipping
Ou a piece from the end presented to it, and then another, as the strip is
turned over and the end again presented. The strip must be turned over each
time a nail is clipped off, because the nail is cut tapering. Each bit as it is
cut nff is grasped by a powerful vice, which holds it, while an object called the
" header " presses up the large end into a head : the nail then drops among
its companions below. The process is a rapid one, and a good machine will
make from half a ton to a ton and a half a day.
Ua.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
221
The variety of styles of nail made by marhinery now is very large, and
it may almost be said that wrought nails are so made now : for manufac-
tuiors have within twenty years begun to anneal cut nails, giving variout Ly^
them a m alleable quality ; and these have driveii the old style of kinds of '/
wrought nail out of use. The styles now made are cut, wrought, "" * "'"''''■
horseshoe, barbed, composition, button, railroad, carpet, coffin, sheathing,
galvanized, harness, leatiier-work, picture, siding, slating, trunk, upholstery,
weather-tiling, and screw nails, spikes, brads, and tacks being included in
the above. The machine for making railroad-spikes was the invention of Mr.
Henry Burden of Troy (who also invented the horseshoe-machine), and has
proved both profitable to the inventor and his sons, and useful to the country.
The yearly product of nails and spikes in the United States now amounts
to over 4,900,000 kegs of one hundred pounds each. The magnificent
factories employed in their manuflicture — ecjuipjicd with blast-
•"urnaccs and puddling-ovens, and giving work often to several
hundred men — excite the liveliest feelings of admiration when a comparison
is made between them and the little chimney-corner forge of the olden times.
Production.
CUTLERY.
Edge-tools were made in the United States as earl' ? the Revolutionary
war ; it being at that time an absolute necessity for the people to provide
themselves with such implements liy their own efforts. They g^^, „,,„„-
were of a very clumsy character, however, and not very durable. («cture of
How slow the progress was may be seen from the absurd daggers ' e*-*"" »•
and swords which are preserved to us from the war of 181 2, which were almost
as heavy as axes, and which often resembleil iron clubs with edges more
than specimens of cutlery. Tiic swortls too, while frequently possessing the
power of being bent double like Damascus blades, seldom possessed that of
resuming their original shape upon the i)ressure being removed. For two
hundred years after the first settlement of ' .e country the inhabitants were
really dependent upon Europe for their cutlery. Our forests were felled prin-
cipally with English axes, the crops cut with English scythes and sickles,
the building-arts carried on with chisels and tools from Sheffield, and even
the loaf of bread upon the table sliced with an English knife. The (luantity
and variety of edge-tools madt; in the New World were extremely small.
About forty-five years ago the attention of New- I^nglanders was di-
rected to the manufacture, both by the great success of England, — which
had made herself the chief source of supply of cutlery for the p
world, — and by the growing demand in .America. Steel was against
imported from Sheffield, and various mechanics began to fashion *'"="=■"
. . , tools.
It into the articles retpiirea by the wants of our population. The
greatest obstacle to the success of these pioneers of the art was the prejudice
222
IND US TRIA L f/fS TOR Y
in America against tlie products of American sliops. Our working-mon wi ru
intelligent, and knew the value of a good tool, and preferred to get a good
tool, even if the cost of it was high. It took many years to convince tlum
that the Americans couUl make an article as true and serviceable as that wlii', h
was produced at Sheffield. It was really not imtil the generation of men tlun
living had passed off the stage that this prejudice was conejuered. The feelini,'
of tliat day is well illustrated by an incident which Mr. (Ireeleyonce related
in regard to some Connecticut fish-hooks. A manufacturer of that State tried
to introduce some hooks of his own make to the New-York market, ami sent
samples of them to the dealers tiiere for trial. 'I'hey were returned with thf
KNIFE AND FllRK.
discouraging statement that they were far inferior to British hooks. Tlu'
manufacturer tried several times to get his hooks accepted ; and finally he
took some I^nglish cards, removed the hooks, put American hooks on tlic
cards, and sent them to a merchant for comjiarison along with another lot of
the same hooks mounted on American cards. .Again word came back tiiat
the hooks on the British cards were in every way superior to those on the
American cards. And the worst of it was, that, when the little device of the
manufacturer was explained to the merchant, the latter was still unconvinced
that the Connecticut article could at all compare with the imported. 'I'his
was exactly the case with early American edge-tools. The public knew the
merit of the imported ware, and distrusted the home-m: 'e.
American cutlery obtained a place at length, howt 'er ; and of late tlie
industry has had a rapid growth. The early i)rejudice, doubtless, was tiie
Rapid cause of this, in part ; for it led to the use of none except the best
growth of metal, and made manufacturers pay the utmost attention to tlie
excellence of the form and finish of their goods. American cut-
lery is now finding its way all over the world ; and 'Sheffield is fairly staggered
at the appearance of American knives, shears, scytties, and planes, in the ware-
houses of every large English city. Sheffield is losing its trade in consequence.
Canadian cutlery shares the same reputation as American.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
333
Steel is the material used for all cutting-edges. The property of steel
whi( li gives it value for this purpose is that of being hardened and tempered.
It is heated to redness, and then suddenly cooletl. If the heat Edgr-toou
is high, the steel is soft, but tenacious. If the heat is low, the steel made of
is hard, but brittle. This is taken advantage of in the making of **""''
(liillrcnt classes of tools. Tluis 430 degrees give a pale yellow-color, suit-
able for lancets, which re<iuire a fine edge, and need litde strength ; at 450
<lcj;rees the color is a pale straw-color, good for razors, pocket- Coior of steel
knives, and chisels ; at 490 degrees a brown-yellow temper is according to
n.uhed, suitable for cold-chisels; at 510 degrees a brown with *""'""'•
]iuriile si ots, fitted for axes and planes; at 550 degrees a bright blue, indicat-
iiii; a temper for swords and watch-springs ; at 560 degrees a full blue, suit-
aMo for fine saws ; at 590 degrees a dark blue, the temper for large saws ; at
()\<-) degrees the color is dark, with a tinge of green, and the metal is too soft
ijr instruments.
A weapon may be made with more tiian one \ uner in it. A .
' ■' _ ' A tool may
sword, for instance, is best with a blue tcmjier at the point (giving have more
it the greatest elasticity), a violet in the middle, a vellow along the *''"" """
111,' temper in it.
edge (for keenness), and a green near the handle (for toughness).
It is not usual, nor is it necessary, to fashion cutlery entirely of steel.
Simple articles, like table-knives, chisels, planes, scythes, spades, &c., have
Incn made by welding a thin strip of steel for the edge upon a ■^^^■^^ p,r„y
Iku k piece of iron. Blistered steel is melted into cast steel for »teei, and
the purpose, and hammered into bars. In shears, only the edge p"'^'*' ''""•
was formerly of steel : now the blades are of steel, and the handles of iron.
In table-knives the blade is of steel, and the shank of iron. Formerly this
class of articles was made entirely by hanil ; but American ingenuity has per-
fected a machine to do a great part of the work, and the best blades are
fomied by it entirely. The machine has been adopted in Europe. The
blades of pen-knives are hammered out from the best cast steel, the smithing
being well done, for the sake of condensing the metal. A temporary shank
ii drawn out to hold the blade while it is being ground and sharpened. A
number of blades are tempered at once by being placed over a tire on a flat
plate together, with their backs downward. When they have acquired a brown
or purple color, they are suddenly plunged into cold water. Scythes are drawn
out under a trip-hammer from a bit of iron of the reiiuisite s'ze, upon which a
piece of steel has been welded for the edge. Tiie workman sits
on a stool by the side of his hammer, with the fire in which the
metal is heating within easy reach. He takes the piece from the fire with a
pair of tongs, lays it on tlie anvil under the hammer, and draws it out into
a rough blade with marvellors speed and dexterity. It is given the right curva-
tion while hot, and the back is folded in other machines made for the purpose,
it is then tempered, and taken to the grinding-room to be finished, first on
Scythes.
Wh: '
<t
224
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
heavy wet grindstones, and then on emery-wheels. The Ameriran scythe has
become cx'lebrated for its superior strengtli and hghtness. Compared with
the heavy implements of native make found on the continent of Kurope, it is
the aristocrat of the harvest-field. It outlasts the European, and recpiires only
half tiie strength to use it. Razors, bowie-knives, and hunting-knives are made
from the best cast steel by hammering and careful grinding and polishing.
Edge and finish are given to c\itlery in the grinding-rooms. In s( yihc-
factorios the operation is extraordinarily noisy, the din of a dozen blades
Edge and Strongly pressed upon the heavy grindstones being almost intulcra-
finish given bic. 'I'lie finer work is generally done on emery-stones, 'rhe
by grin ing. ^,^.^-14],,,^ \^ ^j unhealthy one for the workmen, on account ul the
fine dust which floats in the air, and reaches the lungs of the grinders. The
evil is mitigated to some extent by a flue, suitably placed to remove the metallic
ilust from the revolving stones, into which there is a powerful suction of air;
but it does not entirely obviate it.
Thi- various world's fairs have given the cutlery of the United States
importance, and have, among other things, performed the great service of
Effect of teaching our own countrymen its value, 'i'he manufacturers do not
world's fairs, now hesitate to use American steel for all their work. Some of
them make the steel themselves, and so are sure of its (juality ; as in the ( ase
of Mr. Disbton of Philadelphia, — a man who began business as a medianic
Henry by wheeling his first load of materials himself, and who now has a
Di»»ton. trade amounting to $1,500,000 yearly. Cutlery has hitherto lictn
imported to the extent of several millions a year. In 1872 the importation was
$10,500,000. So rapid has been the progress of American workshops durini,'
tiie last few years, that the importation has been cut down to $900,000 a year ;
and a i)romising export has begun, now amounting to $700,000 a year. V.vq-
pean manufacturers visiting this country candidly confess that they are amazed
at what they see in this industry.
CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
The word " clock " brings up a medley of recollections as diverse and as
interesting as the contents of a bazaar, — the belfries of France, ks cloches, from
Early clock- which the word itself is derived ; the little old mathematician in a
making. black gown in the little old shop in London, lost in abstruse calcu-
lations as to the speed of a pendulum, while his apprentices at the door of tlic
shop arc calling to the passers-by, " What d'ye lack, sirs? what d'ye lack? " tlic
stately old Dutch time-piece, ticking solemnly in its place in the quiet old
colonial farm-house ; the bustling Yankee, driving from village to village with
a wagon-load of wooden-wheeled time-keepers, and i)ed(lling them away for
provisions and calicoes, and whatever other articles of value our great-grand-
fathers had a surplus of, and were willing to part with in trade ; and the
anticiit State of
nearly all in us
States have been
of Yankee notic
original Miother J
IIIIMI.
ihc sun was
(lur lorefathers, ju
lotlKiii the signal-!
of tho Weather \\\
am! they were rei
ill ri,i;ard to what
tlk- sky as to the
coining changes
loni; as the p()|)ula
rovod in tlij fort
(hiclly in the fie
wiiv unnecessary ;
HJicn i)coi)le gatl
and found that ii
|nir>iiits of the sho
.md tiie studio, the
trade of the flight
Mnnnents to recc
iioiir> became usefi
UM'd the sun-dial.
water-glass, and tlu
Allied the (Jreat c
wliii h would Inirii
I'inally a machine n
»eij,'hts was eini)l(
■iii'i Italy invented.
Northern luirope
'iiid solemn style
''"-•y init on the
staircases and in t
'ithedrals. The p(
•li'iiight of for the
i'Lrping at I'aris in
•T London in 16.
'li" ks were clumsy
^iliiiirs. Each was
and l)ased upon a fi
T fTi >■
Ot THE UNITED STATES.
aa5
ancient State of ConnccticMt. ;hc birthplace of the wooden clock, where
nearly all in use in the l-'nited
Si.Uis iiave been made, — the land
of Yankee notions, and of the
(iri^iiial Brother Jonathan and Har-
iiiiin.
The sun was the time-piece of
iiur forefathers, just as the sky was
to tiKIll the signal-station Necessity of
of the Weather Hureau ; time-pie«s-
,111(1 they were remarkably knowing
ill n.,i;ard to what could be read in
the sky as to the time of day and
coining changes of the air. As
long as the population of the wt)rld
niwd in tlvj forests, and labored
(iiiclly in the fields, time-keepers
were unnecessary ; and it was only
whiii peojile gathered in cities,
anil found that in the engrossing
|iiirMiits of the shop, the laboratory,
,iiiil the studio, they could not keep
trai k of the flight of time, that in-
-tniincnts to record the passing
hours became useful. 'I'lie ancients
tbc'il the sun-dial, the ( lepsydra, or
water-glass, and the hour-glass ; and
Alfred the (Ireat emjfloyeil landles
wlii( li would burn an hour apiece.
Finally a machine run by Different
weights was employed ; kinds of
and Italy invented, and "'°"='"'-
Northern ICurope perfected, the tall
and solemn style of clock which
tiiey put on the landings of the
staircases and in the towers of the
(athedrals. The pendulum was first
thought of for the purposes of time-
keeping at Paris in 1639, and utilized
at London in 1641. 'These old
liocks were clumsy and ill-regulate<l
;ifl"airs. Each was made by itself,
aiul based upon a fresh set of abstruse and interminable calculations as to the
Ri;i;i^i.ATi'R.
A
mi
M
! !•<
^1 .i
Fl
fli
m\
III
■ 1
is
H ^H
'
. >
HvhB
UB^^B
)
{«>
E^B^
HI'
Ml)
ti
Bi
336
/A'/? f '.V 7A7--/ A ///.V 7VA' V
length of pendulmn and speed of wliecls, and rciniircd almost as many spLi ial
<)l)servations of its motion by the maker, l)efore it would go right, as is ex-
pended at the Naval ()l)servatory at Washington upon a special star before
its position in tliL-
heavens is fmally .iiid
anthoritativch |iut
down upon liie < lu .. ;
and some of these stars
are observed ^cvcnil
iumdred times. TIr'
early (locks in Aniorita
were all imported from
I'.iigland and tlic Nith-
criands, and were < ONt-
Iv pieces of furniture.
Shortly after tlir
i\e volul ion, ( bx k
ui.iking was begun in
tiiis coimtry at Plym-
outh, Conn., by Kli
Terry, one of tlic nM
tyi)e of Yankees, who
fashioned the wocilni
Clock-mak- ^^''^'^-''^ "'■
ing began in liis ( !(]( ks
Connecticut. ' . , .1
Wltll llu'
aid of a jack-knife, and
started out with a horse
ALVAN CLAKK, MAKBK OF ASTRONOMICAL INSTKl'MKNTS. twlce a JX'ar tO lUlldlc
them. The wheels were
marked out on thin pieces of wood with scjuare and comi)ass, ami siia|)cd
and toothed with saw and knife. Mr. Terry began in 1793, and prospered
so, that in 1800 he was able to employ two young men to assist liim.
Twice a year he started out towards the Hudson River and the north country.
whither population was tending at that period, to sell his clocks ; and he
disposed of them readily at twenty-five dollars apiece. In 1S07 a slock
comiiany was formed at Waterbury to aid Mr. Terry ; and he then went into
business on a large scale, buying an old mill, introducing machinery, and lay-
ing out the works for five hundred (locks at once, — something which it is said
had never before been done. In 18 10 Mr. Terry sold out to Thomas iS:
Hoodley ; but he himself continued to make clocks. Others had by this time
become established in clock-making ; and com])etition was so sharj), that the
price of clocks dropped from twenty-five dollars to ten dollars, and finally to
five dollars. 'I'he
ijine t(j grief, am
|iilkir scroll top ta
>iy!c tli.iii its |)rc(!e
and netted Mr. Tei
The next stej) i
of .Mr. Terry, and ;
durac leristic of th(
xliool. .Mr. Jerom
a tirciilar-saw in gel
dockri rapidly ami c
Tile' clocks ran for o
'•' ^^^7 Mr. Jeron
'li'ik with metal w
"lii'le business. Mi
""■ked. Steel h.as
" >lieets, and machii
iin wheels recpiired
' '" "lit the works for
and Ihe cost of the i
^'^ the wheels of eac
"I' one could be intci
'^Wf
OF T//K VMTliJ) SIAI'ES.
337
m
five dollars. The public was greatly benefited by this ; but the '"'".ifacturers
I, line to grief, and many of tlain failetl. In 1S14 Mr. Terry invented the
pillar s( roll top case dock, \vhi< h, being of a little different and more tasty
,ivlc tli.ui its prcilecessors, was popular for a while. It sold for filteen dollars,
,in(| lu lied Mr. Terry a fortune.
Till' next step in advance was taken by (Miauncey Jerome, an apprentice
,if Mr. I'erry, and a very ingenious fellow, who, with the passion for whittling
(Iwraiteristic of the Yankee, h.id begun to make wooden clocks before he left
.ihoiil. Mr. Jerome, when fairly est.iblished in business. emi)loyetl chauncey
,1 (iri 111. ir-saw in gelling out his wood, and was able to jjroduce Jefo"""-
clocks rapidly and cheaply, lie had a great sale all over the I 'niled States.
^'lic. ^
A\
m ■ \
y-
\
Smil/S WMIMMANS 11 (KK.
Tho dorks ran for one day, and are said to have been good time keepers.
Ill iS;,7 Mr. Jerome proved his ingenuity by bringing out the one-day
'lo(k with metal wheels, — an event which completely revolutionized the
whole business. He employed brass at first, because it could be easily
« irkttl. Steel has been introduced only recently. The brass was obtained
:n wheels, and machines were invented to stamp from the sheets the eight or
kii wheels re(piired by each clock in a single operation. Three men could
nit out the works for five hundred clocks in a single day with these machines,
and ihe cost of the movements was soon reduced to about fifty cents apiece.
A'i the wheels of each clock were exactly those of any other clock, the parts
ol one could be interchanged at will with another, or taken from store ; which
\ I
i:
^■ij;!'(,.ff !
338
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
1 49
was foiiml of vast utility. Wooden f locks were now promptly thrown over-
board by all makers. They had been subject to disarrangement by moist
weather, and could not be sent beyond seas to foreign countries with which
the Unitctl States were engaged in commerce. The metal clocks defied
moisture, and could be sent anywhere ; and the manufacture of them received
an enormous expansion. They were sent all over the world, and were found
by travellers ticking away on every coast and
continent, and in nearly every language under
the sun. Machinery was also invented to
make the frames of the clocks, and stamp out
the dials and hands. Mr. Jerome's business
increased from the few hundred a year of his
early days to four hundred and forty-four
thousand a year in 1853, and the original
cost of clocks was brought down to a dollar
and twenty-five cents apiece.
A good story is told of a shi|)nient of
wooden clocks to F^ngland in 1841 hy Mr.
Jerome, which may be jjlaced with the other
Shipment of ^^o^'X o'" ^hc shipment of a cargo
clocks to of warming-pans to the West
"^ "" ■ Indies by an enterprising \'ankee,
n.nd their sale there as sugar-scoops. The
law of England permitted the customs-otiiiers
to seize upon goods imported to the kingdom
if they considered them to be undervalued,
paying the importer the amount of his valuation, with ten per cent added.
Mr. Jerome's first cargo was entered in F^ngland at regular prices ; hut the
officer thought the valuation so low, that he seized the clocks, and paid Mr.
Jerome his price and ten per cent advance. Not particularly afflicted tlurehy,
Mr. Jerome sent over another cargo, which he sold to the customs-otVu er in
the same way. He then sent a third cargo ; but tlie second one had been an
eye-opener, and Mr. Jerome was permitted to import liis goods himself.
The brass clocks had a great sale, and there were in 1854 thirty establish-
ments in Connecticut making them. Harnum owned one of them, and used
History of ^'^ ^^''' ^ '''^''S'-' P'T"' "^'^ '^'^ clocks in the old-fashioned way. In
several clock 1855 he s()l(l his factory to the Jerome C'om])any ; and, owing to
companies, ^j.^^, \7a^Q (lebts of the former, the Jerome Company broke down.
The iNew-Haven Clock Company was formed to succeed it. The largest
concerns in Connecticut are now the New-Haven, the Ansonia, and the
Waterbury Companies, and Seth Thomas iV Companv.
Steel clocks. „„ , , , , r ■ , ,-' , 1
Ihe use of steel works and of springs, and of fourteen and
thirty day clocks, is now increasing, and the style of time-keeper is con-
LOllSVII.I.E CLOCK.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
229
stantly clianging and improving. Calendar clocks, to indicate ihe day and
the miiiith; astronomical clocks, electric, burglar-alarms, peep-of-day, watch-
man's detector, and tower clocks ; clocks to run a hundred years without
wimiiiiL; ; illuminated clocks with phantasmagoria ; clocks which calendar
consist only of a plate-glass dial and a jxiir of hands, the works <:'o<:'«s-
being concealed in the hands, and working them simi)ly by shifting a weight ;
and other styles, — are now made in great numbers. The latest is a nutmeg
clu(k, wliich will run in any position, — standing up, or lying Nutmeg
down. — winding up without a key, and good to travel wit'^ on '='<"=''s.
the ( ars, which will keep good time under the most discouraging circumstances.
In watch-making .\mcrica made no venture until 1850. Labor was too
liiyii and too impatient here to attempt this art in competition with the Swiss
and I'lench. Mechanical talent in this field was exclusively em- ^^^^^
ploved in repairing and regulating watches which were imported, making not
In 184S, Aaron L. Dennison, a watch-repairer, and Edward How- begun until
ard. a clock-maker, both of Hoston, consulted about the idea of
makiiii,^ watches by machinery. They studied the matter for two years ; and
Mr. 1 )ennison, the author of the project, travelled througii Switzerland, care-
i;llv informing himself in regard to the methods and weak points of the
iiidibtiy as practised there. F^xperiments were made at Roxbury, and in. 1850
lii;' two men went regularly into the business. After the first thousand watches
were made, the Hoston Watch Company was formed, with its factory at Rox-
liny. In the ])cginning tlie company made only the rough skele- Bogmn
I'a movements, cutting tliem out by machinery, and finishing them Watch Com-
largely by hand, and importing the jewels, trains, &C., from Swit- P""^'
/irkmd. \. larger factory was built at Waltham, Mass., in 1854; but the
(iiitkiy toi machinery and experiments proved too heavy for the company, and
it tliileil. Mr. Robbins bouglit the factory for seventy-five thousand dollars,
anil started the .American W'atc h Company, with a capital of two hundred
tliousand doiiars, whicii has since made the \\'altham watches so famous.
.Mr. Howard went back to Roxbury, ami resumed the manufac- Mr. How-
ture of watches there. Little by lilUc the manufacturers imijroved-""*-
tluir machinery, until at length they have ceased to import any of the parts
oi tlie watcii, and tiiey make every thing under their own roof. prSgress in
Tiie minute rubies, saijphiies, and chrysolites, as small as grains watch-
01 sand, are drilled with microscopic exactness by the diamond's '""'""b-
point, and oi)ened out witii diamond-dust on a hair-like iron wire, the sizes of
the jewels being graduated by a scale which indicates differences of a ten-
thousandth part of an inc h. Screws so minute that it takes two .hundred
thuusaiid to weigh a ])oun(l arc cut from a steel wire, tlircnded, and headed
«itli surprising si)ecd ami accuracy. The wheels an I pinions arc cut and
bored with the most minute exactness, and so completely alike, that the watch
may he assembled from wheels antl parts taken at random from the respective
heajjs.
w
■■ir
it
'
230
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
The late war gave a great impetus to watch-making. The United States
put a million of men under arms, and every one wanted a watch. The Ameri-
Effectofwar can Company at Waltham increased its plant in 1865, its capital
upon this being $750,000 ; and new companies were formed in various parts
n ustry. ^^ ^|^^^ country. The American Company has since then doubled
its capital. To-day there are eleven factories making watches, the principal
ones being the American Company at Waltham, which produces about four
History of hundred and twenty-five movements a day, and the Elgin National
Watch Company at Elgin, 111., which makes three hundred a day.
The Empire City Watch Company at Jersey City, N.J., and Rob-
bins, Clark, & Biddle of Philadelphia, are also prominent makers.
other com-
panies.
Ill.l.lN WATCH CdMlANY.
American watches, though discredited at first, have, of late years, produced
a decided sensation in the world of industry. From the time when all the
parts of the watch began to be made by the factories here, the companies
have been turning out a better ordinary time-keeper than the Swiss watdi.
Swiss watches held their own for a while, on account of their cheapness, in
1872 tWee hundred and sixty-six thousand of them were sent to the United
States. In 1876 the Elgin Company announced a reduction of the i)riccs of
their watches from forty to fifty per cent. Seven movements with visible
pallets were sold at four dollais. That was a terrible blow to the imported
time-piece ; but a still more staggering one was inflicted by the Waltham con-
Swiss cern, which immediately announced a large reduction of prices
watch. below those of their rivals. The Swiss watch could not stand that,
and the imiiortation of them in 1876 was only seventy-five thousand. The
Americans, on the other hand, are now beginning to export ; and they send
from twenty thousand to thirty thousand to England alone, and are meiiaLJug
the Swiss make in all the njarkets of the world.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
%
IRON PIPES AND TUBES.
'I'liis important industry took its rise in the United States about 1835,
and was essentially the outgrowth of the business of supplying cities and
villages with water and gas. Many of the companies which now manufacture
pipes were founded long before 1835, — as, for instance, the Bridgewater Iron
Company in Massachusetts, which was started in 18 10 by I^zell Rise of pipe.
iS: rerkins ; the great Pascal Iron- Works in Philadelphia, founded '""Ju'tfy-
in I Si I by Stephen P. Morris ; and the Camden Iron- Works, in the city of that
name in New Jersey, which began in 1824: but these works were originally
devoted to the product of other varieties of iron-ware, stoves, &c., and took
lip jiipe-making because of the new demand which sprang up about 1835.
The number of pipe and tube establishments, which is seventy-seven, does not
represent the magnitude of the industry, for some of the largest Magnitude
works in the United States arc devoted to this specialty, and three of the busi-
of tlicm claim to be the largest of their class in the world : "'**'
namely, the Pascal Iron-Works at Philadelphia, covering twelve acres of
ground, and employing two thousand hands ; the National Pipe and Tube
Works at Pittsburgh, with a production of sixty thousand tons Principal
of gas and water pipe annually ; and the Reading 'I'ube- Works works.
at Reading, Penn.. emi)loying twenty-five hundred men. The factories are
distributed as follows : —
Massachusetts, eight ; New Ham[)shire, two ; Rhode Island, two ; Con-
nc( ticut, one ; New York, twenty-one ; New Jersey, five ; Pennsylvania,
twenty-six ; Ohio, seven ; Kentucky, two ; Michigan, one ; Missouri, one j
\Vi^c()nsin, one.
'['lie following is the character of the product of these works : cast-iron
gas :id water mains, wrought-iron steam, gas, and water pipes and fittings,
lap and butt welded boiler-tubes, artesian-well pipe, oil-well tubing, Product oi
coil-pijx-. galvanized pipe, tuyere coils, lamp-posts, vulcanized works.
riibher-cuated tube, greeniiouse-pipe, drain-pipe, railway water columns,
fittings, and tools. At the flictory of Dennis Long & Coinpa.iy in Louisville — ■
one of the largest for cast-iron pipe in the country, which is equipped with
three founderies — a large number of old cannon have been converted since
the war into the innocent uses of gas antl water supply.
Ihe making of cast-iron pipe is so simple as to need no description.
Wrought-iron pipe-making is (luite a different afiiiir. In practice the
operation is rapid and simple. The iron-plate heated to redness, and pardy
bent by apparatus made for the purpose, is draggetl from the
furnace, and the end presented to a ponderous matdiine. It goes making
through the machine like a flash of lightning, emitting a series of wrought-
000 jjp^ pipe.
sharp reports like a volley of musketry ; and as it is projected
straight and glowing from the jaws that held it, the edges perfectly welded, it
lk'
SstV^i
I
■
232
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Strongly resejnbles a thunderbolt forged by Vulcan himself. The workmen
have little to do except to take the plates from the furnace at the rij^ht
moment, and feed them to the welding-machine. But the machine itself is
not ;, simple, and is tiie product of a great deal of study and experiment.
Two forms of weld are given, — the butt-weld, in which the edges of the licatcd
plate are forced into contact under great pressure, and thus united ; and the
lap-weld, in whicii the edges of the plate are made to lap, and are tiien jicr-
fectly united by pressure. The former weld is suitable for gas and other pipes
which are subjected to no special strain : the latter is essential for boiler and
steam tubes, &C. The butt-weld is produced by first bending the i)lates until
their edges nearly touch, and then, after heating, running tiiem through a set
of iron jaws by means of cii)])aratus suited to tiie purpose. The opening in
the jaws gradually contracts from a si^e adapted to the partially-bent plate, or
" skelp," to a jjerfect cir( le the size of the finished tube ; and as the plate goes
through this smaller ai)erture, a great pressure being exerted on all sides of the
tube at once, the edges come into forcible contact, and unite perfecdy. The
lap-welding process is similar in principle, but varies in detail. The edges of
the plate are first shaved or "scarfed" by machinery, so that, when they lap,
they will not form a double thickness of metal. It is recpiisite how in welding
t*^ nnply pressure to the inside as well as the outside of the tube, in order that
the edges shall not curl under : this is accomplished by means of a mandrel
of slightly conical form, which is -arried at the end of an iron rod omewhat
smaller than the diameter of the tube to ,be welded. As the heated i)late i^
forced into the jaws of the machine, the mandrel enters the tube ; and thus a
powerful pressure is exerted both within and without, and the weld becomes
jierfectly homogeneous. The mandrel is destroyed by the tremendous opera-
tion to which it has been subjected, and a new one is ])ut on for the next tube.
It is this process which creates the sound of musket-firing. The reader can
imagine tiie interesting nature of it in a factory where eighteen or twenty
furnaces are going at once.
The i)anic of 1S73 put an end temporarily to the improvement of real estate
and the enlargement of cities. Most of the pipe and tube companies have
Effeet of accordingly shortened their production. Some of them stopped
panic of 1873. ^ork. In an ordiiiary year the seventy-seven factories will con-
sume about three hundred and fifty thousand tons of pig-iron, and manufac-
ture a product worth o\er twelve millicMi dollars. The Pascal Works, whi( h
adds the manufacture of gas-generating machinery and boilers for ranges to its
uther business, has a yearly product of nearly five million dollars.
LOCOMOTIVES.
It is a trait of our countrymen that they have never been able to export in
large quantities their raw materials and crude fabrications (cotton alone ex-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
233
ceptcd), for the reason that the smaller wages and cheaper capital of Europe
have prevented Americans from entering into competition. But, American
when it comes to the exportation of objects requiring for their locomotive.
production a constructive ability and a mechanical skill of the very highest
orikr, our countrymen have shown themselves able to compete us superior-
witli and surpass the world. The fact is exhibited in the history of '*y-
till' locomotive in .America. Pig and bar iron and steel have been among the
nu)~i insignificant of our exports. Manufacturers abroad have heard that the
iron of the Continent rivals in (juality the famous ores of Sweden. Yet what
tliev know about it is from books and travellers : they ha\ e scarce ever seen
MOUBRN LOCOMOTIVE.
any of it ; for it docs not enter into foreign rommcire. But that splendid
creation, the American locomotive, into whicii this same iron is f;\shioned, is
now known all over the globe, anil is freely emj)loycd in most of the civilized
(ountries, as being the strongest, swiftest, and most enduring of these willing
servants of man. In the calendar year of 1876 less than a tliousand tons of
raw iron and steel were exported from the United Slates. But we have
recently seen a single steamship loading at Philadelphia with thirty loco-
motives, — containing nearly a thousand tons of finished iron, and Export of
worth six Imnilred thousand dollars, — for transportation to Russia ti^*""-
alone, on an order from the Imperial (lovernment. The American locomotive
is used and admired in .Austria, Italy, (Ireece, Russia, Kgypt, Soutii .America,
and .Australia, and even in (Jermany, the land where a single great master-
workman — J\ru])p, the captain of modern industry, as Mr. Hewitt calls him
— ?m]iloys ten thousand men largely in the production of this class of works.
I'he orders sent to .America increase as time goes on ; and the new railways of
the future, especially on the southern half of this continent, will be largely
operated by the engines made by the workmen of the United States, — the
smartest, liveliest, most mtelligent mechanics under the sun.
X.
%
234
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
'Mfftl
|7
s¥°"-
As will be related in the chapter on Railroads in another part of tliis
book, the locomotive is an afterthought of the men who attempted to build
carriages to run on the ordinary wagon-roads by steam-power. The first su^'-
pr. Robi- gestion was made by Dr. Robison, then a student in the Univer-
sity at Glasgow, in 1759. Watt afterwards took uj. be idea, but
accomplished nothing with it, because he was an opponent of the high-pressure
|] system, and the low-pressure engines were too heavy to be successful in loco-
Richard Ire- motion. Richard Irevittrick saw the trouble, and in 1802 took out
vittrick. ^ patent for a steam road-carriage on the high-pressure principle,
which attracted some attention. In 1804 he built the first railway locomotive, i
which he worked at Merthyr-Tydvil, in South Wales, on a tram-road. In tiie
next twenty-five years a number of patents for locomotives were taken out in
England. Capitalists were slow to place confidence in the new idea, however ;
for they feared, that, with a heavy train of cars, the wheels of the engine would
^ Early diffi- slip round on the rails, and the train would not start. Adhesion to
1^X7 =""'"• the rails by cogs or otherwise was thought necessary. This was
^4/ shown to be unnecessary in 1829 by experiments made upon the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, — the pioneer line in England, which was opened for
travel that year. The directors had offered a premium of five hundred pounds
for the best locomotive-engine, not to exceed six tons in weight, which should
draw three times its own weight at a speed of ten miles an hour, and cost not
over five iiundred and fifty pounds. Five engines were entered for the coui-
petition. — " Th e R,o cket." "Novelty," "Perseverance," "Sans Pareii," and
"Cyclopbde ; " and " Th e Rocket " demo nstrated its capacity to make twenty-
four miles an h our, drawing a train three times its own weight. A few
attempts to introclilce the cogged wheel and rail were made even after that :
but they attracted little attention, and amounted to nothing. An era of
locomotive-building now began.
The first engines used in the United States were imported from England
for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, the Mohawk and Hudson Rail-
First eneinea way, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. The pioneer was an
absurd little affair called " The Lion ." which in j 828 was placed on
the Delaware and Hudson Company's road, on the banks of the
Lackawaxen, and started on its first trip by Mr. Horatio Allen. Compared
with the engines of to-day, it might better have been called " The Chipmuk ; "
still it was rather an impressive affair then. There was some apprehension as
to how the little monster would perform, and many diought that the trestle-
work bridge across the creek would not sustain its weight. Mr. Allen found
no one willing to make the first trip across the bridge : so he went out alone
with the engine himself, in the presence of a great crowd of spectators, his
own hair standing on end, however, as he rounded some of the curves, and
flew over the bridge. The results of the trial were satisfactory. " The Lion "
neither blew up, nor ran away, nor leaped into the creek, nor broke do\Mi
1\
used in Unit
ed States
OF THE UNITED STATES.
235
in United
States.
the bridge. It clung to the track, made very fair time, and was entirely
tractable.
Several other engines were bought abroad about this time for the purposes
of experiment and study ; but the purchases continued for only a few years,
and were very liinited in extent. The inventi\e genius of the Numerous
United States was aroused, and a number of mechanics in diflorent American
parts of the country determined to attempt the building of engines '"^'"* °""-
here. The Patent Office was overwhelmed with applications for a patent for
this and that device, and form of construction ; and in a very few years the
demands of the railroads of the United States were fully met by the American
shops.
The fir st Inrnmn^ive made in the United States was the idea of Mr. K. L.
Miller of Charleston, S. C, who came North in 1830 to arrange for the
building of the machine for a railroad in which he was interested,
. ^ ^.. , , . , ■ ^ E. L. Miller.
running out of Charleston across the country, toward the city of
Hamburg. Mr. Samuel Hall of the West-Point Foundery, New York, under-
took to make the engine under his direction. It was comj^leted in 1830, sent
South, and operated the same year on the railroad out of Charles- p.^^^ j^^^_
ton, of which eight miles had been built. Mr. H. Allen had been motive made
secured as chief engineer, and the locomotive was first exhibited to
the people of the South by him. It was appropriately called "The
liest Friend." That particular engine did what a man's best friend never does,
— promised much and performed little, and finally left the railroad entirely in
tlie lurch by blowing up in a very short time after it was put into the service.
Yet no better title was ever given to a locomotive in America ; for this princely
invention has been indeed to the people of the United States since that early
(lay their "best friend."
A stimulus was given to the mechanical and inventive genius of the coun-
try in 1 83 1 by an advertisement issued by the Ualtimore and Ohio Railroad
Company, which had, since May, 1830, been operating twelve stimulus
miles of road west from Baltimore by horse-power. The com- B'ven by
pany offered rewarils of four thousand and thirty-five hundred
dollars respectively for the locomotives, which, upon trial, should
prove to be the first and second best in complying with the
published requirements of the company. Three locomotives were l)uilt in
answer to this liberal offer ; and the prize was awarded to " The York," an
engine l)uilt at the city of that name in Pennsylvania by 'Davis &
(Jurtner, which was found to be able to draw fifteen tons at the
rate of fifteen miles an hour. Being employed on the road to Ellicott Mills,
a distance of twelve miles, it generally made the trip with four cars in an
hour. On a straight track it attained a velocity equal to thirty miles an hour.
The success of "The York" was a great encouragement to American
builders ; and rhapsodies of the most inflated description over the " march
Baltimore
and Ohio
Railroad
Company.
'The York.'
.■i,/
236
/JVD rs TRIA L ins TON Y
n
of steam " filled the newspapers of tliat day, elicited by the performances of
"The York." The lialtiniore and Ohio Company held out every inductnieiil
to mechanics from that time forward to imi)ri)ve upon "The York," and buiM
a class of engines of great atlhesion to the track, and of better working-power.
L In 1S31 "The De Witt Clinton " was built at the West-Hoint Foundery for
"DeWitt the Mohawk anil Hudson Road. It weighed fi ur tons, ran on
Clinton." f^J^,I. wheel;-, and made forty miles an hour without a load.
In 1832 a locomotive was made by Matthias W. lialdwin of I'liiladtlpliia
for the little six- mile railroad running out from that city to (Jermantown, \\\v
Matthias w. cars of which were at that time being drawn by horses. Like all
Baldwin. ^f qjj^ successful engiue-builders. Mr. Baldwin rose from the
shop. He began life as a jeweller, learning his trade in 'die store of KletcluT
tv (lardiner, and afterwards i...ving a little shop of his own. The demand for
his jewelry not being very satisfactory, he went into a maclvne-shop in jiartner-
ship with David Mason. .\ stationary steam-engine specially adajited to tlie
needs of the shoj) having become desirable, Mr. lialdwin designed one himself.
He was thus interested in steam-engineering ; and he found it easy to go one
step farther, and attemj)t a locomotive, when the era of railway-building began
in the I'nited States. His ])rimitive locomotive, bui't for the C'lermantowr.
"Old Iron- Road, was named "( )ld Ironsides," and was tried on the line in
sides." November, 1S32. It weighed five tons, and ran on four wheels,
the forward pair being forty-five in( hes in diameter and the driving-wheels
fifty-four inches, and the wnole four having wooden spokes. The cylinders
were nine inches and a half in diameter, with eighteen inches stroke, 'i'he
boiler had seventy-two c:opper flues. The smoke-stack was an absurdly tall
affair, rising a great distance above the machine. — a f.ict, however, which did
not prevent the sparks from burning the clothes of the engineer and the pas-
sengers. There was n'> cabin for the engineer; and, it being inconvenient for
that functionary to carry an umbrella when it rained, tlie engine was housed in
wet weather, and the cars drawn by horses. It cost thirty-five hundred dollars.
Mr. Baldwin got five hundred dollars less for it than he exjjccted ; and, havinu
many other discouragements with it, he vowed thai he would never ouild
another locomotive. But he did, for all tn.at ; and, his later attempts being
extremely successful, the works founded by him are the foremost in the countr)
"E. L. Mil- to-day. In 1.S34 he built a six- wheeled engine for Mr. Miller, for
'"•" the South-Carolina Road, called "The V.. L. Miller," with wheels
of solid bell-metal, the jjurpose of which ws to gain a better adhesion to the
rails. It is hardly necessary to say that the experiment with that nieial was not
repeated. The wheels wore out very (juickly, and had to be thrown aside. In
June, 1834, Mr. Baldwin completed a successfiil locomotive, called "The Lan-
caster," for the States Road, which ran out from Philadelphia to Columbia, and
connected there with the canal to the western part of the State. 'J"he engine
weighetl eight tons and a half, and was found to be able to haul nineteen
^:' ^
OF T/IK UNITED STATES.
237
loatled cars at twice
the speed attained
wilii horses. 'I'he
Si.itr aiitliorities were
^ivatly pleased witli
iw perfurmaiK'es, and
(k( idcd to con\ert
ihcir railroad at onee
tVuin a liorse line to a
steam line. Mr. Bald-
win gained a great
(leal of credit from
'•The Lancaster;"
and, receiving several
oiders, he thencefor-
ward devoted himself
to the industry, and >.
founded the works 5
uiii( ii have sin( e at- r
tained to such magni- 3
liule of operation and 3
world-wide reputa- \
tion. Mr. Baldwin \
combined tiie best "^
(lualities of the .Ameri- r
*''» •»^'- Baldwin's I
chanic:, — improve- £
inventive """"• *
geniiis of a high order
and unflagging perse-
verance, ([ualities not
always imited in the
same man. He was
always impr-'ving his
locomotives, and
many of the most im-
l)ortant inventions of
the art were his own.
In 1835 he bought
one device from I',. L.
.Miller, which after-
wards he threw over-
board. This was a
ft]
m
I
I
238
/.Vn us TR lA r riL-:TORV
i
plan for br^.ging part of the weib^hl of the tender upon ihe rear of the
engine, th'is Increasing the pressure upon the driving-wheels, and conse-
qi'ontly the adhesion of the engine. Mr. Ilaldwin adopted this device, and
paid a hundred dollars per engine for it, and in 1839 Ljught the patent Ibr
nine thous.ind dollars. H( afterwards perfected plans of his own for accom-
pliohing the same jDject of greater adhesion in a better way. 'Ihe Baldwin
engines gradually mproved in size and style from year to year. Cabins woru
built upon them for the engineers and firemen. Tiie old style of a single pair
of drivers was changed to two pairs, and in 1855 to three pairs; ten-wheeled /
engines weighing twenty seven tons beir,^ built in that year for several of the
leading roads. In 1S66 "The Consolidation," weighing f)rty-five tops, with
twelve wheels, and carrying all except fiv tons of its wi^nt upon the driver^,
was Iniilt, being the parent of a class of engines of enormous jjowcr of that
name. Head-lights, variable cut-.^ffs, and other features of the modern lo-
comotive, were siiccefisi\cly introduced l)y Mr. Baldwin ; and the works called
by his name are now producing tyjjcs of engines which are not sur^jassed at
the present day.
After the origihal onerinients, shops for engine-building were opened in
\arious parts of the country. In 1833 Long iS: Norris of I'hiladelphia buiii
Recent rapid ''^" engine of Siich unusual tractive power, that it commanded
growth of attention in England, and led to the first expo'tation of Ameriian
ustry. loromotives. Several were orderc from the naker for employ-
ment on the line between Birmingham and (lloucester. In 1835 engines
were built at Lowell, Ma.-.s. In 1837 a firm at I'aterson, N.J., — Rogers, Keuh-
um, & (jrosvenor, — began the business, and founded the works which are now
known as the Rogers Locomotive Works. Mr. Rogers was (in 1849) the first
to employ the link motion in locomotive praciice in this country ; and he liad
to encounter the hearty opposition Oi Mr. Baldwin and others for several
years before the utility of the idea was conceded. Mr. Baldwin, after a lorn,'
fight against the innovation, yielded to it in 1854, and put it upon his engines,
'The Rogers Woiks are also to l)e credited with the fiill-stroke pump, and the
effectual jacketing of the boiler_to prevent radiation. In 1847 the Taunton
Locclmonve' factory was established by Wr\V. Fairbanks, a boiler-maker of
Pro\idence, R.I. Shops were also started about that time at Boston, Law-
ren<e, Manc'iester, and elsewhere ; but most of these soon ceased to do busi-
ness, the shops in the Middle States possessing superior advantages for the
manufacture. Tiie Messrs. Winans at Baltimore jierfected many valuable
ideas in locomotive-building, and were the inventors of the camel-back
engine, which has obtained some celebrity.
Of late years, the larger railroads of the country have begun to construct
Locomotives Jocomotivcs in their own shops. One effect of this has been to
built in rail- concentrate the production by private companies into fewer hands,
road shops. ^^^ ^^ manufacture is now principally confined to Paterson and
Philadelphia.
o/- r://-: united states.
239
I'hc principal improvements of the last twenty years have been due to the
ncccsjiity of fitting smoke-stacks with an apparatus to catch the ,„_,py,. < J^ ;
sparlis ; to the substitution of coal for fuel in place of wood, ca us- menu of |«lt ^ •
iiig uiany changes in construction, and the building of a larger *^*"*y
and more powerful type of engine ; and the larger use of steel for
tiros, boilers, and working-parts of the machinery.
The weight of the locomotive now in use on Ameiican roads varies from
thirty to forty-five tons, tw o-thirds of the weight l)cing on the drivers. Few
of the fatter class are useil ; but the I )anforth Works at I'aterson weight,
have made a few of that weight since 1873 for the Haltimore and speed, econ-
Ohio Road. The average cost of locomotive s is »weive thousan d "'"*''
dollars : those of the largest type cost twenty tiiousand. On the New- York
Central, the Union Pacific, and other roads where the grades are not severe,
a speed of sixty miles is fre ]uently attained in travel ; but the great additional
(onuimption reouired by that rate of speed, and the greater liability to acci-
dent, makes if undesirable for the orilinary traffic of the roads. 'I'he usual
speed of American railway-express travel i s thirty miles an hour . The iverage
( ost per mile run is jine t cen cents : viz., for repairs, three cents and seven-
teiitlis ; fuel, five cents and six-tenths ; stores, five-tenths of a cent ; miscella-
neiius, two cents and five-tenths ; attendance, six cents and five-tenths. If
the engine is driven at greater tiian average speed, tiie cost may be nearly
ddubled, as the fuel consumed will vary from sixteen tn 'j ij^ t}.- prtin^fk pi-r
mile with the speed. More oil will be rociuired, and the machines will wear
f,i-.ter. The maximum load of a ten-wlieeled cunsolidation engine on a level
liivision with which the men may expect to ma ke time is ninety cars, although
tlie engines of the Pennsylvania Road l\ave frcfiuently hauled over one
Jiundred. An ordinary freight-train woukl consist of about forty cars.
A special class of locomotives has come into existence of late, growing out
of the needs of the population of large cities for rapid transit between their
home's and the scenes of their daily occupations. In New- York Dummy-
City, the bulk '' the business of that great commercial emporium, «"«'"«••
and of the n.. ufacturing which is done there, is transacted within a space of
tlirce miles fr 1 the lower end of the island upon which the city stands. The
population > the other hand, is scattered -along for a distance of six miles
beyond the bu less part of the island, and -ndeed much farther: and a large
share of the men who find employment in its stores, banks, and factories,
raliier than live so far away from their work, now reside across the several
rivers, in New Jersey and Connecticut, and on Long and Staten Islands ;
l)ecause, though sometimes a greater number of miles away, they are nearer in
point of time, because they have access to the city by steam-cars and steam-
ferries. The inhabitants of the island have hitherto depended principally on
horse-cars and stages j and it frequently takes an hour to go from one's home
to his office, and vice 7>ersa. The same thing is true in principle of all the
/ \A
:1-*- •'
^T,'T,
'
l^ii
l-'vi
140
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
other large cities of the country. Hy the natural expansion of the town, the
population are compelled to reside at great ilistances from their places of
employment.
The horse-car nmning on a railway laid through the centre of the sirtet
8ubser\'es the purpose of expeditious transportation in cities of moderate si/e •
AppiicaUon ^'"^ '" '* ''"'^''■' fade-ceutre of, say, five hundred thousand souls, it
of itt.in 10 does not : and the people of such a town will, in the course of the
w7yl'"' ^'^"'^''' '^^''^" '" ''^'-' ''KKregate from five thousand to eight thousand
years of time simply in getting about from home to business, and
vice versa, by this slow mode of locomotion ; which might be saved and util-
ized, were travel on the street-railways et1e( ted by steam. In a larger rity
more time is lost. Tlie growth of cities, therefore, has made necessary the
application of steam to the purposes of local travel.
Sl)ecial difticulties are encountered, however, in using steam on citv rail-
roads. Sparks from the engine are likely to endanger the safety of property.
'I'he puffing and liie steam frigliten the carriage and dray horses of the street.
The liability of collisions ami accidents is increased by the more rajiid style
Difficuitiei °^ travelling. The problem is one which has taxed the inventive
to be over- genius of the country; but it is one which inventors have not
come. hesitated to try to solve. Newton used to say that he tlelighted
to encoimter an obstacle, as it was always a proof to him that he was on the
brink of an important iliscovery. It has been so with reference to steam on
American street-railways. The special difliculties of the case only rendered
the inventors doubly zealous, and have only led to a greater triumph. The
problem has at length been successfully solved, and nothing now prevents the
population of every large city from travelling from home to business by steam
but the lack of enterprise and public sjnrit among them.
The street-railway locomotives are of two sorts. The first is the duniniy-
engine : it can be fitted to the ordinary street-car, and is so employed with
Kinds of great success in the city of I'hiladelphia, which is the pioneer in
•treet-raii- its practical use. The engine is a small one of the vertical
way-iocomo- j^.p^. ^,^^1 Qccuijies a cabin at the front-end of the car. It
burns coal, and consumes its own smoke, and runs as cjaietly as
the ordinary horse-car. \'ery little steam escapes from it, and that little
creates no alarm among the carriage and dray horses, which the car passes at
a speed of ten miles an hour on the street. There is no doubt but this
style of street-motor will eventually supersede horse-power. The existing
horse-railway companies resist its introduction only because they would lose
so mu< h capital by a cdiange.
Elevated "^^' "dier sort of street-engine is applied to travel on tiie
iron railway, elevated iron railways which have been building in the city of
engines. j^t^^^ y^^^ during the last five years. These are genuine loco-
motives, drawing a car or train of cars after them as on the great railways
OF TIIK UNITED STATES.
241
riiiiiiiiiK through the open country from city to city. They are small, weighing J '
jroiii live to ten tons only, consiuning their own smoke, and making little noise ^
IrmiU's that produced by rattling over the rails. 'I'hey travel at great speed,
ami ri'duce the hour's travel on the plodding horse-car to fifteen minutes and
less. Their special peculiarity is, that the boiler and machinery hang low
liitvvi.cn the wheels, so as to render them steadier ui)on the rails, and effectu-
allv lo obviate the clanger of being upset. Travel behind one of these l)eauti-
fiil iiigines on the elevated railw.iys, in a car fitted up as luxuriously as those
oil the great railways of out-of-town travel, is as far in advance of transporta-
tum in the noisy, Imnbering arks which the tired horses of the roadway lines
.>iill drag after them, as the American mechanic is in the scale of civilization
lic\nud the I'atagonian savage.
Al the beginning of this < hapter allusion was made to the brilliant general-
iz.ili()n of a recent writer, that the consumption of iron by a race of men now
iiK'.isures their position in the scale of civilization. The facts in _
■ Coniump-
r^yiid to the locomotive throw a ray of light on the reason why. tion of iron •
Tlic reason is this, — that the use of iron shows the extent to which B'^Beo'":'*-
lliiation.
.1 country employs time and labor saving inventions. M.ichinery
3.w\ ingenious tools relieve mankind from drudgery, and give the mind a
<h.in( e to |)lay ; and every new invention which throws a fresh burden upon
tiic inusc les of steel and the moving-jjower of steam, and takes it off from the
human race, gives a fresh impetus to the intelligence, the spirit, and the refine-
iiKnt of the people. Ought not the marvellous progress of the United States
in every thing whi( h distinguishes the age from the gloom and ignorance and
poverty of the middle ages to be .attributed in large part to the time and labor
saved by the locomotive? and ought we not to regard the ingenious men by
whose toil and energy this wonderful device has been perfected as benefactors
ol'tlie race, — not second even to those who. at the cost of life and treasure,
won for us the inestimable blessings of liberty and free government?
I'here are now eighteen locomotive-works in the United States, which have
the capacity to produce twenty-six hundred locomotives a year; Number of
although the (piantity annually made is less than half this number, estabush-
<;enerally this has been a very prosperous business ; and it is to be *"'""•
hoped, that, ere long, these various establishments will be reai)ing the reward
to which they are entitled because of their industry and genius.
I
SE\VIN(.-MACHINK.S.
In ancient times there was great simplicity of dress, because the process of
Aveaving cloth was slow and difificult, and there was great economy simplicity of
of material in jieople's attire. The wealthy in that age were dis- ancient
tin!,niished from others more by the magnificence of the cloth they '*""
wore than by any special elaboration in the fashion with which their garments
'■. I ; ' i < i' 1
242
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Greater elab-
oration of
dress re-
quires more
sewing.
were made. There was little sewing then, and the avocation had not yet
called into being that special class of sewing-women which came upon ilic
scene in a later age. Along in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries cum-
merce brought great wealth to Italy, jnd with it a new luxury of attire. The
dress of both sexes not only became richer, but more elaborate. The Ital-
ians became the most handsomely-dressed people in the world ; and the city of
Milan came in time to dictate the fashions, not only to Italy, but to
the north and east of Europe, and even to give its name to the
new art of millinery, which thereupon took its rise, and dealt with
the decoration of dress. With the new luxury of attire came a
great increase in the amount of sewing ; anil when, two or three
centuries later, the steam-engine was set to work in Europe to drive the
loom, and the manufacture of cloth began to be carried on at an enormo\isIv
increased scale and diminislied cost, and peopie began to wear twi'o and
three times as many yards of cloth as before, sewing was again doubled and
tripled, and then gave employment to a special class of thousands of voiiien
Increase of ^"^ S'^ls in all large cities. As sewing was easier work than nail-
sewing- making, and was held to be (whether rightfully or not) more
women. respectable work than household service, the ranks of the i"wiiig-
women soon became overcrowtled, the pay became scanty, a'nl the wirkers
encountered great poverty and suffering in trying to earn their living. The
hnes —
" O Industry, how rich thy gifts I
Health, ])lcntv, .ind content
Are blcsings ..11 by thee bestowed " —
became a bitter mockery to these struggling women ; and Tom Hood wTote
one of the most touching poems of modern times to commemorate their
privations.
The sewing-macliine, by which the condition of those who live by the
needle has been materially improved, and sewing made an agreeable task, is
often claimed to be a purely American invention. The 'iniled
Sewing- ' ■'
machine an States has won laurels enough, however, in promoting the welfare
of mankind, to be generous in its claims about the sewing-machine.
This invention is not American in the sense that the nail-macliinc,
the electric-telegraph, the iron-clad gunboat, and many kindred discoveries,
are. The idea was originally the thought of an Englishman, Charles \'. W'ei-
senthal, who in 1755 obtained a patent for a crude device to facilitate tiie
process of embroidering ; and a great many experiments were made in the
kingdom of England toward perfecting the contrivance before Aineri<ans
directed their attention to the subject. To America belongs simply the honor
of producing the first machines which were ever used practically in the sewing
of cloth and leather.
Weisenthal's invention, which proposed to use a needle pointed at both
American
invention.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
243
had not yet
ame upon the
centuries com-
Df attire. The
itc. The Ital-
and the city of
to Italy, hut to
;s name to the
and dealt with
f attire taine ii
:n, two or llirce
:; to drive the
an enormously
wear twi'-e and
in doubled and
ands of vomen
work than nail-
■ or not) more
J of the S'.'wing-
hhI the wcrkcrs
leir living. The
om Hood wrote
nniemorate their
who live by Uio
igreeable task, is
)n. T'hc 'fnlted
oting the welfare
sewing-machine,
the nail-mailiine,
Ired discoveries,
Charles 1'. ^Vei-
to facilitate the
ere made in the
fore American;;
simply the honor
dly in the sewing
; pointed at both
le
ends, with an eye in the middle, to go backward and forward through the
cjoti), was never utilized. In 1790 Thomas Saint obtained a sainfs in-
patent for a machine " for quilting, stitching, and sewing, making mention.
shoes and other articles, by means of tools and machines." His machine was
niostlv of wood, with an overhanging arm, or carrier, into which was inserted
a vertical reciprocating needle, and an awl to go before it and punch the holes.
On tiie top of the arm was a spool for giving out the thread continuously.
I'he stitch was the same as Weisenthal's, and was called the tambour or chain
stitch. A loop was formed by thrusting the needle through the cloth or
leather. A second thrust carried the bight of thread through this loop, making
a second loop, through which, in turn, the needle was thrust to form a third, the
first loop being drawn up taut during the third thrust. This variety of stitch
is still in use to-day. Saint's idea appears to have been to lighten the labor of
heavy sewing : he docs not seem to have thought of the plan of superseding
the hand needle for general work. In 1804 John Duncan in-
Duncan.
vented a machine to make the tambour-stitch, hooked needles
heing used below the cloth to catch the loop. In 1807 James Winter patented
a device for sewing leatiier gloves ; the leather being held fast by iron jaws, so
that the hands of the operator were free. About the same time a contrivance
was brought out for sewing with needlefuls of thread, the cloth being crimped
for tiie operation, and the needle thrust through the crimps horizontally.
riicse machines met with little attention, and less favor. Working-men in
that age stood in dread of labor-saving inventions, and strenuously
foiiglit against their introduction with all the resources at their ^^^^ ^
command.
The first American machine was the invention of the Rev. John Adams
Dodge of Monkton, Vt., who took an ingenious mechanic by the name of
John Knowles into his confidence, and with his help built a invention
practical and efficient machine for sewing the back-stitch. The "»' D<"ige.
needle was the same as Weisenthal's, being pointed at both ends, having the
eye in the middle, and going entirely through the cloth in both directions. It
sowed a perfect seam straight forward ; but woidd not allow the cloth to be
turned, on accoimt of the peculiarities of the feeding-mechanism. The
nia( hine did good work, and might have been perfected, had it not been that
Mr. Knowles was overwhelmed with ministerial work (having three churches on
his hands at times), and had not the journe)men tailors opposed it bitterly as a
violation of their rights. It was never patented, and was soon abandoned. A
machine was patented in the United States in 1826 by Mr. Lye; Lye.
hut its character is not now known, the records of the Patent Office Thimonnier.
bearing on the subject having been burnt. The next machine was a French-
man's. It was brought out in France in 1830 by Barthdiemy Thimonnier, and
was used to a certain extent in tiie manufacture of army clothing. Its peculi-
arities were the overhanging arm, continuous thread, flat cloth-plate, and
I''
I
244
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
treadle and cord. The inventor had hard hick. He made eighty machines
for sale ; but, even in enlightened France, working-men were hostile to the new
idea, and the stock of machines was destroyed by a mob. Nothing daunted
Thimonnier made another lot, this time chiefly of metal ; but again they were
destroyed by a mob. The inventor patented his machine in the United States
in 1850, but could not recover from his reverses, and died in poverty.
The wits of American inventors were now fairly at work, and fresh attempts
were made to solve the delicate and intricate problem of a machine which
would relieve woman of the fatigue and wear of all general and
continuous sewing. In 1832 Walter Hunt of New York, a skilful
mechanic, made a machine which did so well, that, in the following year or
two, he sold a number of them to different people. He was the first who used
two threads. The upper one was carried by a curved needle, with the eye in
the point ; and the lower one by a shuttle. The machine maiie the lock-stiti h,
in which the threads are made to interlock as nearly as may be in the centre
of the stuff. He lost an opportunity to make a fortune by neglecting to take
out a patent. In 1834 G. A. Arrowsmith bought two or three of the macliines,
and the right to patent, but did noti)erfect his patent ; and in 1852, when Hunt
bought back the right, the Department at Washington told him that his ne,L,'lei;t
had made the invention public property, and they could do nothing for him.
A patent had previously been given to J. J. (Ireenough, who in 1842 had
perfected a machine for doing leather and other heavy work. It was like Wei-
senthal's and Dodge's in ha* ing a needle pointed at both ends to go throuf,'h
and through the fabric. Like Dodge, he never made more than one machine.
In 1843 patents were issued to H. W. IJean of New- York City for a running
stitch, and to (leorge R. Corlies for a machine similar to Greenough's, with two
reciprocating needles, — one to punch the holes, and the other to sew.
While these experiments were making, Elias Howe, jun., of Cambridge,
Ma,ss., was at work independently upon the problem. After two or three years
of study, he believed that he had mastered it ; and in 1846 he got
a patent for a machine, which, while covering very much the same
ground that other men had taken possession of before him, was still so novel
in its combinations and forms as to be treated at Washington as a now inven-
tion. He used a curved, eye-pointed needle ; a shuttle below the doth.
driven by two vibrating mallets ; a peculiar baster-plate to hold the cloth, and
feed it forward, the plate being pushed back when it had reached its forward
limit, the cloth again fastened to jjoints upon it, and the plate again fed tor
ward ; and a device to giv_ tension to the upper thread. It was the parent ot
our modern machines, but was not itself a great success. Howe made a few
specimen machines : but tiiey would not sell at first ; and, when they did. the
people who bought them could not make them work. The tension was not
right ; and the thread formed large loops in one part of the seam, and was too
tight in another, 'i'he vertical susjiension of the cloth from the baster-plate
OF Tim UNITED STATES.
345
was inconvenient, and the stoppages for re-adjustment of the cloth tiresome.
Howe was a mechanic of small means, and could not himself raise the capital
to manufacture. He tried, therefore, to interest capitalists in the invention.
Hut c apital is timid while inventions are still in the preliminary stage of experi-
ment ; and, though Howe even went to luigland to look for the money which
he rould not raise here, he did not succeed in inspiring confidence in his
nia( bine. It is said, that, in order to get back to America, he was forced to
pawn his baggage to pay for his wife's passage, and to work on the ship for
his own. He was a man of remarkable perseverance, however, and did not
al)anii()n his pet idea of supplying the United States with sewing-machines.
Howe did not have the inveuvive genius to remedy the defects of his
madiinos himself. The theory of it was right; but he could not Defects of
embody it in the proper mechanical forms to insure its prosperous Howe's
\vorl<ing. He was indebted to other men for the devices which """ '"*"
maili' it a blessing to the country.
The tension of tlie thread w"t regulated by a patent brought out by John
ilradshaw of Lowell, Mass., in 1848. J. B. Johnson and Charles Morey
attempted to imi)rove the feeding-device by the invention of a
o > Bachelder.
(ire ular bastcr-plate in 1849; but John Hachelder of Boston did
better than that the same year with an automatic arrangement ; and J. S.
Con int of Dracut, Mass., invented still another feeding-device. Blodgett and
Lerow of Boston, also in 1849, obtained a patent to make the lock-stitch by a
method different from Howe's, but the same in priw^.ple, using a shuttle which
described a circle, instead of moving l)aik and forth. That was a prolific year
in sewing-machine inventions. Applications for patents for improvements and
new rlevices began to pour into tlie Department at Washington from all parts
of New England and the Ivist. Some of the devices were never used ; but
now and then one would be brougiu out which was of material service. In
iS;i) Allen B. \\ iison of Pittsfield, Mass., received a patent for a
r , „ , • 1 • . , • r Wilson.
" two-inolion feed, which was atterwards converted into a " four-
motion feed ; " and also for a vibrating shuttle which was better than Howe's,
liecause it made a stilt h at every movement, which Howe's did not. This
ile\ ice was abandoned in 1851 for a rotating hook, which completely super-
seded ilio shuttle in his machine.
Mr. Isaac M. Singer of New York came into the field in 1850. He had
been interested in lilodgett and Lerow's machine ; and he now offered to build
one Ibr forty dollars which would work perfectly, and sew a good
seam. His offer was accepted, and he made the machine in
twelve days. It had a rigid overhanging arm, vertical needle, shuttle, and
duul)le-acting treadle, and is saiil to have been the first machine satisfactory to
manufacturers. The manufacture of this machine immediately began. It
bore a close resemblance to the Howe machine, but did what Howe's had
never done, — it worked we'l. Being the first in the market, and very popular,
it look the lead in sales, and kept it until 1854.
»' :
246
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Orover.
of Howe's
patent
A new Style of machine was patented in 1851 by William O. Grovcr of
Boston, in company with Mr. Baker, for making a double louj) by
means of the use of a circular rotary needle. It used no shuttle,
worked well, and became very popular from 1854 to 1S58, taking the lead in
the market during that period.
There were now three companies busily engaged in manufacturing sewing-
machines for die general market, — Singer iS: ("ompany, (Jrover & Baker, r ml
Utility of Wheeler & Wilson. Tlie utility of the new invention had been
sewing- rccognized even by journeymen tailors, and the machine was the
mac ine. sensation of the day. Weary women hailed its advent as a bless-
ing, and the sewing-machine became the most charming of gifts. The three
companies above named pressed their sales with great energy, and bee anie
extremely prosperous. But these companies were all infringing u|)on tlie |iaient
Infringement of Mr. Howe. It is true that they had first made ills idea useful to
mankinil ; but the patent laws of the United States ha\e lieen
wisely framed to protect intellectual property, and jirevent wialtliy
men and corpoiations from taking advantage of the poverty of the inventive
geniuses who fill our workshops, but who do not alwa\s possess the means to
secure to themselves immediately tlie j)rolils of their own talents. Mr. Howe
sued the several companies, and spent a great deal of money in enforcing his
claims against them. Having won a test suit in the courts, tlie comimnics
compromised with him, and entered into a compact, Oct. 10, 1S56, whidi is
known as the '• Albany agreement." By tiie terms of this compact, it w.ns
stipulated that each of the three companies should i)ay Mr. Howe five dollars
for each machine made (lie had previously claimed twenty-five dollars), and
that licensees might be permitted to manufacture the several machines in order
to assist in supplying the country with them speedily, and that fifteen dollars
should be exacted from the licensees for each machine. I'rom this latter roy-
alty a ten-thousand-dollar fund for the ))urpose of enforcing the patents in the
courts should be accumulated, and the surplus receipts be divided among the
four contracting parties, Mr. Howe getting the largest sh.are. Under this ai;ree-
Wheeierand ment operations were resumed, the Wheeler and Wilson machine
Wilson. taking the lead in the sales from 1858 to 186S, and tiie Singer
machine thereafter. The first agreement lasted until i860, uj) to which time
over 130,000 machines had been sold under it, — 55,000 by V.}ieeleriS: Wilson,
40,000 by Singer iV Company, and 35,000 by (Irov.'jr iV Baker. The agreement
was honorably executed : so Howe had no more reason for comi)laining of
these com])anies. Mr. Howe securing an extension of his patent in 1860 for
seven years, the Albany agreement was renewed for seven years ; but it w.as
stipulated that Mr. Howe should receive only one dollar for every machine,
and that licensees should pay seven dollars. Mr. Howe's inconit under tiiis
arrangement was very large, amounting in one year (1866) to $ifvOOo; but
the ex])cnses of his law.suits consumed his estate, and he died in corn[!.irative
poverty.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
247
Tlie number of applications for patents only seemed to increase as time
rollcil on, and up to the present time more than twelve hundred Number of
have been filed in the Patent Oftice at Washington. They have Patents-
avx'iaged about fifty a year since 1S57.
In 1857 the Weeil machine was invented.
The same year James E. A. (iibbs of Millpoint, Va., devised an entirely
new machine, whose object was to reduce the cost of these inventions by
simiilifying the meciianism. Mr.
(;il)lis had never seen a sewing-
machine, but iiad heard of llicm
through the newspai)ers. On read-
ing,' about the use of two threads, it
o(( Hired to him, that, if sewing
(uuKl be effected by a single
thread, much of the iron-work of
the macliine could be dispensed
with. He set his wits to work,
and in the year named brougiif
out iiis i)atent for a twisted loop-
stittli, made with a single thread
liy means of a rotating hook un-
derneath the cloth. It was a step
ill advance, and its value was
pronipUy recognized. In 1859
James and Charles H. Willcox of Philadelphia obtained control of the patent,
and began the manufacture of the Willcox and (libbs machine, other
This is one of the most silent, swift, and easily run of machines, '"ventors.
and has had a large and general sale.
Since the date of that patent there have appeared — in 1858 the Empire,
sin e joined with the Remington ; the Slote, or Elliptic, since bought by
Wlieeler & Wilson; two Iluwe machines (Elias and Amasa B.) ; between
i860 and 1864 the- American Button-Hole, the /ICtna, and the Domestic;
the Beckwith in iiS65 ; and the Victor anil the Remington, both recent ma-
thines.
A notable event occurred on the 8th of May, 1877, in the history of the
sewing-machine manufacture. At noon of that day the last important patents
held l)y the manufacturer of sewing-machines expired, leaving the Expiration
market open for all who wish to compete. The leading makers °' patent*'
ininiediately j^ut down their prices from forty to fifty per cent, while others ex-
jirossed the intention of speedily following suit ; sixty-dollar machines being
fixed at thirty dollars, and seventy-dollar machines at forty dollars. A. B.
Wilson's invention, used in the four-action, rough-surface feeder, was the
most important of the expiring patents ; the others being the vibratory needle
SINCEH SEWING-MACHINE.
'r
f::i
fU.'" ^
Jto..^fcjv,. \
248
indu^ikjaj. history
and reciprocating shuttle, and the rotating hook. There are, perhaps, ;i
thousand patents in force, and now held by the various manufacturers; Imt
the above were the last of the "foundation patents," — the patents needful in
making a first-class machine. The Singer, Wheeler & Wilson, drover &
Baker, and Howe companies, are said to have hold the monopoly of the
Wilson invention ever since 1850, pooling the enormous profits of its luaini-
facture.
America, if not the birthplace of the sewing-. nachine, is, at any rate, now
the workshop of its largest manufacture. No oth^.r country in the world lias
Magnitude SO many and such large establishments devoted to this special iii-
of industry, dustry. There are now twenty-five factories engaged in making
sewing-machines, two of them having branches in Europe ; namely, the
Singer and the Howe. The Singer factory at Elizabethport, N. J., is probably
the largest of its class in the world. The immense sales of the Singer
machine caused the company to outgrow its very spacious quarters in New-
York City ; and it accordingly took its flight beyond the borders of the city.
SINGF.K SKWING-.MAClllNE COMI'ANY.
and erected the magnificent row of brick buildings by the side of the railroad-
track running out of New York to Philadelphia, which are the wonder of
every traveller who sees them. The Wheeler iV Wilson and the Howe estah-
lishments at Bridgeport, Conn., are now both great concerns also. The \ i^cir
which has been manifested upon this continent in the development of this
important industry is not confined to the United States alone. Canada, too.
has shown true Northern fire and intelligence in taking up this business. At
the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, in iS 76, Canada was represented
there by eleven different manufacturers and some valuable machines, making
a better display than any nation except the United States. The ( on( erns
exhibiting were Thomas Piper of Hamilton, Mr. Raymond of (Juelph, the
m
OF THE JNITED STATES.
249
Gardner Sewing- Machine Compnn} of Hamilton, Wilkie ft Osborne of
('iiil1|»Ii, W'anzer & Company and I'le Canada Sewing-Machine Company of
Hamilton, James Aurthors of Toronto, (^. St. Aniand of (Quebec, J. 1). Law-
lor of Montreal, O. Morrill & Company of Rock Island, and the \Villianis
Maiiutactiiring Company of Montreal.
There is no record of the number of sewing-machines made and sold
prior to the Albany agreement of 1.S56. Since that date the record has been
preserved. The sales under the compact ai Albany, from 1856 j^y^^er f
to 1 1^69, amounted to 1,500,000 machines, divided about as fol- machines
lows : Wiiceler & Wilson, 450,000 ; Singer, 350,000 ; Grover & manufac-
liaker, 235,000; Howe, 140,000; Willcox & Gibbs, 105,000;
Wtrd, 70,000; Florence, 60,000; all others, 100,000. From 1869 to 1878
the sales have amounted to 4,800,000, making 6,300.000 machines sold by
the niap.ufacturer'i of the United States, — a product worth $360,000,000 at a
reasoi'.able estimate. Since 1869 the manufacture, year by year, has been as
1 )llo\vs : —
1S69 322,769
1870 464,254
1.S71 606,094
!872 «5'.236
>S73 667,506
1874 • 528,918
1875 528,755
1876 525,000
1877 400,000 (estimated.)
Utility.
The success which has attended the introduction of the sewing-machine
has been due to the thorough, rapid, and easy manner in which it
has iiccn made to perform its work. The machine has been im-
jiroved in a thousand ways itself; and various attachments have been invented
to l)c operated with it, by means of which a variety of special variety of
things, such as basting, folding the cloth for hemming, button- work done.
holiiit,', <!v:c., are now Dcrfonned in addition to the regular work of sewing
seams of every character, and degree of strength. Sewing is per- Economy in
lormeil five times as fast as by hand, and the labor materially their u.;.
ii},'htened. Nothing except the best metal is put into the working parts of the
ma( hines, so that they have great endurance and longevity ; ami the best
talents of the cabinet-maker have been employed in fitting the machines with
a (.asiiig of handsome woods, for the purpose of making them beautifiil
objects of furniture, as well as blessings to the household. Competition be-
tween the different companies has also promoted the sale of the machines
greatly. It has both reduced the cost of the completed machine, and
ameliorated the terms upon which the companies have been willing to deal
4 I ; ''
iJQI
I
1
1
1
1
1
Til
11
1
1
**'
85°
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
with their customers. The large: t numlier of those who l)uy tiicsc niachiiKs
are peoi'l'j without capital, who arc not always able to pay cash for their ]>iir-
chases. In order to effect sales, and to accommodate their custonicrh, ihu
Modes of com])anies have ado ;ted vhat is called " the instalment jjlan," l)y
•eiiinBthem. nieans of . 'cli ' ustomer takes a machine, and pays fur it in
instalments from week ■ . or month to month, often ..irning with the
machine itself the monc) ti' tkf: ■. the cost of its purciiase.
In additijn to all thi> Ims
i)ecn the fa.t of persistent ad-
vertising of the different ma-
ciiines. 'Die se\ving-nia( liinc
companies have been the lie^t
advertisers in the
Advertising.
country, excelling
even the piano and stove
makers in the imflaggin.:,' zeal
with whieli their inventions
have been brougiil lieloie tlie
public eye. 'Die newspapeis,
tiie old board fences, the direi -
tories, the fiagstafls, 'the loiks
of tlie field, the trees, .aid
every other contrivance ui)()n
which a description of the
merits of a sewing-macliine i an
be printed, pasted, or iiung,
have been pressed into the
service, and emblazoned by the manufacturers. 'Die county, state, and
meciianic:d fairs in all parts of the country, and the World's Kxpositions
here and in Europe, have been steadily fretiuented by the companies ; and
their strifes and comi)etitive displays have now, for twenty years, t'ornied the
steady reliance of managers for one of the attractions of these ba/aars of
agriculture and industry. Some of the companies are able to show almost a
basketful of bronze, silver, and goiil medals won at the different fairs of tliis
and other countries.
The world's fairs have been an important means of bringing the machines
to the attention of people abroad. The fruit of tiie displays at those fairs is
World's seen in the large export trade enjoyed by the companies. The
'""■"• number of machines sent out annually now amoimts to from
40,000 to 55,000, the custom-house valuation ranging from $1,600,000 to
^2,400,000 annually. They go to England, France, and Germany principally.
England distributes them to all the world. Many machines now go direct to
South America and Australia.
WARUWEUl. .SliWlNG-MACHINE.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
FIRE-ARMS.
«5>
It is one of the peculiar phenomena of American life that the manufacture
of weapons siioiild reach such a remarkable proficiency in a country wliich
nbluii-i war and armies ; wiiich is impatient if tlie government keeps Progress in
mori' than twenty thousand men under arms in times of peace ; fife-a^ms.
which once let the standing army run down to eighty-six men ; whicli never
kiicvi's there is going to be a war, and never prepares for one until it comes ;
mill whose ordinary current expenditures for all military purposes do not
exixi-d thirty-five million dollars in any one year. It woukl be natural to look
lor the highest development in this line in Kurope. Several countries there
spLinl a hundred million dollars annually for army purposes. The best mechani-
cal laKnt ill the army and in the private workshops is kept constantly employed
devising new and destructive weapons. 'The rewards to the successful private
inventor are great ; for he is certain of recognition from the government, and a
l.rm- t)rd(;r for arms. In .America, however, the whole business of war is sc
I'orcii^n to the ])urposes „. our i)eople and the genius of our institutions, that
hale national encouragement is given to inventors. Congress begrudges tiie
siiialicMt api)ropriation for military experiments ; and inventors must look to
Ijirupc and .\sia, and the world at large generally, for the markets for the sales
of tlic arms they make, if they bring out any worthy of particular notice.
In sjiite of this lack of home-encouragement to the manullxcturers of fire-arms,
.American weapons for the infantry service are the best that are made to-day.
Tlic needle-gun of Prussia won a world-wide fame at Sadowa ; but the Ameri-
can Remington is as much its superior as a Colt's revolver to a muzzle-loading
hor^c-pistol. 'ihe chassepot of France has proved a weapon of deadly efti-
cioiK y in recent European wars ; but the American Sjjcncer rifle, witii its
manazine of cartridges in the stock, firing fifty balls a minute, would enable two
companies of .American marksmen to annihilate a regiment armed with the
chassepot in less than three minutes' fire at easy range. American small-arms
have long been celebrated ; and there has not been an important war in
Kurope, from the Crimea to tiie last bloody struggle between Russia and
Turkey, in whicii they have not i)layctl a considerable part. .And then, in the
line of heavy orilnance, tlie .Americans have not been a whit behind the rest
of the world in a thorough ccmpreliension of the principles which should
govern the manufacture and use of ordnance. We have not needed, and
consecjuently have not made, such tremendous guns as Germany and England
have produced ; but American inventors and artillerists have given to the
wodd some of the most valuable ideas in ordnance, which have been utilized
by military nations.
The first use of fire-arms was at the batde of Crdcy in 1346, First use of
where the French were routed in tremendous confusion by means <*«■«-«""»■
of the astonishment created by the English cannon. The cannon did little
/6
!■:
ill
M
252 hXDUSTR/Al. Ill STORY
of any consequence, cxrci)t to roar; but it brought a new element into the
din of battle, and struck consternation into the ranks of the gallant kni'lits '^
of France. 'I'hese early guns were made of wooden staves^boundwiih wire
and iron hoops, and using a stone or a leaden bullet, ^nctures of tliein may
be seen in Froissart's " Chronicles of the Middle Ages," in which arc pre-
served some rare old woodcuts of the olden time, representing battles in whidj
wootien cannon bore a part. It is one of the thousand illustrations \vhi( h^ '
every art supplies of the fact tiiat progress moves in every age with slcnv ;ni(| '
measured pace from the old to the new, passing only from the crude to iln.-
better by fme shades of variation, that the first iron cannon was made \i|i()n
identically the same principles as the wooden ones. They were compo^^e(l ot'
iron bars laid together like the staves of a barrel, and bound about with iruii
wire and hoops. They were afterwards welded together; and then, tlv i^un
being composed of a solid piece of iron, the idea seems to have occurred to \
military men for the first time to cast their cannon complete in one operation. |
m
?j
%ii'\f^
M O
CANNON. 1390.
It was the explosion of one of these early wrought-iron cannon which caused
the death of James II. of Scotland in 1460. The fact is interesting, because it
has a parallel in the history of the United States. The idea of making wrou^iit- /
iron gups was never abandoned ; and in 1-845 Commodore Stockton of the j
United States navy caused a gun of that material to be made under his
supervision, hoping to produce one which would excel any cannon whicii iiad
yet lieen made. The piece weighed seven tons, antl carried a ball wei,i;iiiii,L;
two hundred and fifty pounds. It was a great gun for those days. It was
called "The Peacemaker." After it had been fired three times, a brilliant
company of people in official life at Washington were invited down to the war-
ship " Princeton," lying in the Potomac River, to witness the firing of the gmi.
Secretary Upshur, who feared the effects of the discharge of such a tremendous
OF THE UNITED STATES.
253
\\ \
niece, got behind the mast for safety. The gtin blew up at the first discharge,
killinu Mr- Upsiuir, Secretary (lihiier, Commodorn Kennan, Mr. Maxey, and \
Mr, (lanlner, ami injuring Col. IJenton and several otliers. In spite of this I
uiitdward event, military men are still experimenting with wrought-iron guns; \
ami the conijiarative merits of cast and wrought iron may still be said to be
an unsettled iiuestion.
The first use of small-arms was at Arras in 14 14, when the Burgundians A^/^
(Icliiuicd their town, in part, with the aid of heavy guns, which they pointed r^
over tiie walls. The guns were provided with hooks near the pint use of
inu//lts, to catch on the wall, and prevent recoil ; and were there- »»"■"•»"»'•.
lore 1 ailed anjuebuses, or hook-guns. These weapons were used in the field
somewhat after that, but not with great success at first, because they were too
Ikmw. It took three men to serve them, and they could only be fired by
re^iiiij; then) on trijKMls. Furthermore, they could not be fired rapidly, and
were at the mercy of the archers. An luiglish archer of that day would
discharge ts.'elve arrows a minute, piercing two inches of oak at a distance
of two hundred and forty yards, and allowing only on^ arrow to miss tiie
mark. It has taken four hundred years for mankind to perfect a fire-arm
whii ii would allow of ecpial practical rapidity and accuracy of fire with that,
and it was not until the United States produced the Spencer rifle that a more
rai)iil effective discharge of missiles on the field of battle was attaine d. Fire-
arms ilid not come into general use in war until after the battle of I'avia, in/»^^
15J5. On that occasion Charles V. employed a large number of muskets
(M) called from the name of the person who first attached the ramrod an9
liarrel to the wooden stock). His bullets ])ierced the best armir of the
kiiii,'lits of France, which the arquebuse had not done ; and Francis I. sent
olf iiis famous message, " .All lost, save honor." That battle revolutionized
the art of war. The use of the lance, the bow and arrow, and of heavy
armor, was discontinued after that in lOurope by successive decrees ; and in
a iuindred years the ancient trappings of chivalry had passed off the stage
forever.
Ihe flint-lock musket was invented in France in 167 1 : it was called the ^,0-
fusil, from the steel which struck down sparks into the priming-pan. The
Knglish adopted this weapon in 1686. It weighed nine pounds runt-iock
anil a half, and was fired from the shoulder. The bullet, which ">"»''«»•
weighed three ounces in the arquebuse, was diminished now to an ounce.
In the days of the early settlement of the United States the weapon in
u>e in this country was the rifle. It had been invented for a long period,
iiaving made its appearance in the target-matches at Leipsic as
eady as 1498 ; but it had never been used in the armies, owing to
Rifle.
the length of time it took to load it. The rifle was the sportsmen's arm, and
was their familiar weapon for three hundred years. America first brought
the rifle into military use. The early colonists were all armed with the rifle.
It'rr^
^
354
INDUSTRIAL ///STORY
Colonliti.
They were dependent, to a certain extent, upon their fire-arms for their sub-
sistence. Ik'lore the land was brought under cultivation, their tablis were
supplied chielly from the woods, whi( h swarmed witii game of all tlcscriiitimis'
and, after the soil had been subdued and tilled, they still continued u> lumt
both for pleasure and the benefit of their tables, and also from the absohiti' ne-
cessity of diminishing the nimiber of squirrels, deer, raccoons, and bears, which
depredateil upon their corn and wheat and other crops. Organized hiiiiting.
expeditions, called " drives," to kill off all tlie game in some special tract of
country, and to meet the armies of squirrels which migrated from plai c to
place, were of constant occurrence. Now, powder and shot were cosily
articles in those days, and the colonists coulil not afford to throw them aw.iy :
they conse(iuently preferred the best and most accurate weapon, on tlijs
account alone, if on no other ; and the rifle, accordingly, was their familiar
and favorite fire-arm. They became as accustomed to it as to the axe. When
inilcpendence was declared, the colonists were illy proviiled with
military weapons ; but they had their rifles, and they used them
in the battles of the Revolution with a deadly effect which has become
historic. Some of the fields of that war were won by the use of the rill'.-
alone. The slaughter inflictetl upon the soldiers of King (leorge in the
Revolution was doubtless principally due to the marksmanship of the .American
pioneers, and not so much to the weapon ; but the weapon got the credit
of it chiefly ; and England, in 1 794, adopted it as a part of her national
armament.
In that respect Kngland went a step farther than the United States. The
rifle was not the official arm here : the government preferred the smooth hore
Napcieon '"'' ^'^'-' ^''"ly- Napolcon scoutcd the rifle, because he coiilil not
icouted the obtain a rapid fire with it. 'I'he same idea prevailed here ; and,
*' '' while the rifle remained the weapon of the people, it was not at
once adopted by the government. The objection was this, — that, in order to
make the bullet fit the rifling of the gun, it had to be forced into the gun under
pressure, and time and labor were consumed in ramming the ball home. In
HaU'iinven- 1813 Hall proposed a new idea. He suggested that the rifle be
*'"'"• loaded at the breech ; so that the ball and powder, united in one
cartridge, might be inserted without delay and trouble, and the jiiece loaded
and fired as rapidly as the muzzle-loading smooth bore, and all the advantaj^es
of the two styles of weapons be thus secured. Hall also proposed to nianufar-
ture the locks and other pieces of the guns by machinery, so as to make the
parts of the different guns interchangeable. He was employed at the govern-
ment armory at Harper's Ferry to introduce the latter idea, an<l experiment
with the former. The " interchangeable " system of manufacture promised a
reduction of expenses, and that was accordingly pressed first ; and it was
V soon introduced to all the a.mories of the United States. In 1827 a hundred
of Hall's guns, which had been sent to Springfield in 1824, were brought back
Oh THE UNITED STATES.
255
(() Ilirper's Ferry, and placed with a hundred giins of current make. The
wliiiK' two hundred were taken apart, the pieces tlioroiiglily uiin^'Icd, and the
mills tiien remounted from pieces picked up at random, i'he wiiole two
hundred fitted perfectly. I'his method of manufacture reduced tlie cost onc-
h.ilt'. It attracted attention aljroad, and Knj^lanil afterward obtained machine-
ry 111 tlie United States to introduce the system to iier fat tory at Knfield,
I'ridi- to 1853, every gun made in luiglanil was manufactured by . )l^ )lC^
hiiivi. America had thus already ^;ivcn two ideas to the world, —
the \.ilue of the ride, and a new system of manufacture. The latter was of
jmiiu'iliate benefit. If war and armies were inevitable, and the people had to
pay lor them, the cost of weapons might at any rate be reiluced ; and Yankee
invention showed one imjjortant way to do it.
The percussion-cap was proposed by Shaw of Bordentown in 1S17.
Hall's idea of a breech-loading rifle did not .".'.tract much attention first
in tlie Ihiited St.ates. Ploughshares and railroads were of more importance
iicre than m.nchincs to kill off regiments of men in the shortest Experimentt
possilile sp.ace of time. France and (Jermany began to experi- o* Fri.nco
mcnt with breech-loaders ; but this insouciant, good-natured „,ny ^'^^
R'lniiilic at that time h.nd other things to attend to, and paid so breech-ioad-
little attention to arms, th.at, when it went to war with Mexico in *"'
1S47, it absolutely h.id to send out troops armed chiefly with ancient flint- ^^-
ioek smooth bores. A few rifles, and a few of Hall's breech-loading car-
bines, were put into the hands of the mounted men ; but the army carried
flint-locks, with a few percussion smooth bores of recent m.ikc only.
The principal weapon of a new type brought out in the Mexican war was
,1 imrcly American invention, which h.is not yet been mentioned ; namely, the
rejieater. Samuel C^olt, a seaman, while on a voy.ige to Calcutta ./'^^
in 1829, devised a six-barrelled revolver to be used with percus- ^^
sion-cips. In 1835 he improved upon this, and perfected a six-barrelled l^-^"'
rotating breech, the bullets all nLiking their exit therefrom through a single
lon^' l)arrel, as in the modern revolver. There is proof that the idea of a gun
whicii should have a chambered breech, so as to admit of discharge several
times without reloading, was th ght of in antitjuity ; but such a piece w.as
impossible until after the invenlioi, of the American percussion-cap, .and the
idea was never utilized until Samuel Colt m.ifle his model on board ship on
the long voyage to Calcutta. Patents were issued in I'2ngland, France, and the ^-
I'nited States ; and the manufLicture of revolvers was carried on a short time
.ifter 1835 at Paterson, N.J. The first use of the new we.ipon w.is in 1S37, i —
when Lieut.-Col. Harney employed a number of Colt's carbines in fighting
Indians, to the great astonishment of the latter, who did not understand how
.1 soldier could fire six times without reloading. A thousand of them were
used in the Mexican war. Colt's idea was a valuable one ; but he secured no
important sale of his weapons in this country until the discovery of gold in
!?
1
I
• 1
256
IND L 'S J 'KJA L HIS TOR Y
f
CCFT of Colt
revolvers.
'^) * i '
m "%
California and Australia. 'I'lie rush to those regions, and the necessity of
Great sue- 0"'"^ '"^'^ ^'''^ "'-'^^ country armed, created an extraordinary
demand for ('olt's revolvers. Colt was overwhelmed with uhIlts,
and soon decided to build an immense factory at Hartford, Conn.,
to supply the demand for his weapons. He put up buildings which cost a
million dollars, and in 1858
was turning out sixtv thou-
sand weapons a year. The
World's Fair at London, in
1851, first introduced tiic re-
volving fire-arm to the special
notice of Europe. Colt inadf
a large display of wea])ons
there, and no feature of tlie
fair excited such lively interest
among military men. I he
I )uke of Wellington was
(onstandy in the .American
department, examining tlie
: weapons ; and Colt was in-
2" vited to read\T pai)er Ijcforc
g the Institute of Civil Mnj,'!-
; neers on the subject of his
-;" arms. The revolvers and
S carbines were subjected to
'■ all sorts of tests, and endured
j them all successfully. The
!'l''<\jri|/. jpSSM^lP^^H^^^M^^R result was, that they secured
a large sale in l^urope. 'i'hey
were used in the Crimea, and
byCiaribaldi in Italy; and. in
fact, the i)istols found theii
way into every army in tiial
])art of the world. Colt used
the interchangeable system of
manufacture, and never put
any thing except the iiest
cast steel into the barrels and
working-parts of his arms.
His success was enormous.
The unusual demand for
portable fire-arms caused by tlie settlement of the 'I'erritories was sujiplo
niented by large orders from the Sautliern States, where the revolver became
[lit
OF THE UNITED STATES.
257
a popular weapon. The large sales brought other manufacturers upon the
scene ; and the Allen, Derringer, Volcano, Pettinger, Whitney, ^^^ ^^ ^^
Smitli and Wesson, Lovell, R'J^rtus, and other revolvers, were voiversin
introduced to the public, one after the other, and have all had a Southern
large distribution. They are made of a wide variety of i)atterns,
from tiic iieavy navy revolver, firing a half-ounce bullet, to the diminutive
vcsl-i)ocket piece, with scarce
|)0\viT enough to penetrate a
man's clothing. Suiletl to all
tastes, and a convenient
means of jjrotcction to trav-
ellers or to residents in large
cities from the lawless (-lasses,
they arc purcliased in large
numbers annually by people
in all ranks of life. Of late
a passion has been manifest-
ed among young men and
hoys to own one of tliese
weapons, wliicli. though ab-
surd in the extreme, has ex-
erted n material effect u])on
the sales of the manufactur-
ers of arms.
Hall's breech - loading
weajions never came into
general use. His idea was
valuable ; but he could not
give it practical form, Prus-
sia preceded the Ignited
States, therefore, in getting a breech-loader into tlie hands
of its army. Dreyse had perfected a breech- pruggi^n in-
loading gun in 1836, in which a long slug-like ventions and
Inillet was discharged through a rincd barrel "?"""«"«»•
by means of a cartridge done up in ])aper, and containing
a fulminate at its base ; the fulminate being exploded by
the shock of a blunt needle entering through a small hole
in the breech- plate. In 1841 Prussia put sixty thousand
ol these rifles with cast-steel barrels into tiic hands of her army, one hun-
dred men in each battalion being ec]uij)pod with them. In 1848 they
were distributed to the whole army. The king called them in his decree
"a sjiecial dispensation of Providencv lor the strengthening of our nati(uial
resources," and expressed the hope " that the system may be kei)t secret until
P
'.rh.fr
»■
1 !:
y
258
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the great part which it is destined to play in history may couple it witli the
glory of Prussian arms and the extension of empire." The defeat of the
Austrians at Sadowa in 1866 gave the needle-gini a great celcbritv
Needle-gun. i • i i n i ,- t **
and induced all the governments of the world to change tlieir
muzzle-loaders and smooth bores for a more modern style of weapon. A
better gun than the ZUndnadelgewehr of Prussia had, however, l^en imontcd
in the United States in 1852 by Sharp of Philadelphia. The breech-pin in
Sharp's this weapon was jnilled down below the barrel by using the trigger-
weapon. ' guard as a lever, leaving the barrel open .it the breech. The hall-
cartridge being inserted, the breech-jMn was thrown back to its place by dosing
the trigger-guard to its i)lace. The sharp upper edge of the breech-pin cut
off the pa])er end of the cartridge, thus leaving tlie powder in the now closed
barrel exposed to the fire from the percussion-cap. 'I'he cap used was not the
SlIAKl'S HIFI.E (.O.Ml'ANV, BKIIX.I I'UKT, CONN.
ordinary thimble cap, but was the Maynanl prinuT. in whii h twenty or thirtv
caps were arranged along a small strij) of paper or leather. The strip was
coiled up like a watch-spring in the lo( k ; and, each time tf.e piece was cocked,
a cap came forward and rested upon the nipple, thus simplifying and shorten-
ing the whole ojjeration. The Sharp's rifle was an cxceeilingiy powerful :nid
efficient weapon : it speedily became a favorite with sportsmen, es]ie( ially
upon the plains, where it freijuently brought down an antelope at the distance
of a mile. Mr. Sharp hns iu.;! givat success with his rifle. The I'nited State^
and iMiglish (lovernments ordered a large nunibei for the use of their armies,
and the weapon received the approval of military men in se-.eral
Successof it. ..,,,. . , I ■' I ,- , ,-
of the leading nations. .'\ large estalMisnment for the manulai lure
w.is erected at Bridgeport, Conn., and is still one of the leading Aiiicriian I u-
tories in this department of industry. Its rifles and pistols appcBlr rcgulariy at
OF THE UNITED STATES. 259
all the world's fairs, and occupy an important place in all competitions. The
rifle has been improved of late by the use of the metallic rim fire cartridge,
thus dispensing with the use of percussion-caps, and still further simplifying
the weapon. The rifle is good for twelve effective shots in fifty seconds.
The muzzle-loading rifle was adopted by the United States in 1855. It
was called the " Spri ngfield mu sket." from the armory at which it was brought
out. It was ten pounds in weight, iiad a caliber of .58 of an inch, Springfield
and ( arried a ball weighing five hundred grains. It was almost as '""s'tet.
efficient a piece as the Prussian needle-gun, from the fact that the ball used was
tiie hollow -base Minic bulle t, which could be loaded at the muzzle almost as
rapidly as the needle-gun at the breech ; and it had a range of tw o thousand
vards, tiie smooth bores iloing execution at no greater distance than twelv e
hundred. Tills was the musket with which the Northern army were chiefly
sui)i)lietl during the war oi 1861. That war, however, gave an immense
impetus to the invention and improvement of fire-arms in America. A great
nianv new ideas were brought forward in breech-loaders and repeating-rifles.
The government encouraged invention by large orders to private factories, and
sui)i)lie(l its troops as fast as it could with such of the more modern styles of
giuis as were apinoved by proper military authority. The end of the war found
tlie niuzzle-loadgf virtually superseded forever. Since then, nothing Muzzle load-
exce|)t breech-roaders hue been issued either to the army or the ersgoneby.
militia. Tiie part borne by different styles of weapons in the war may be
seen from the following statement, prepared by the ordnance tlepartment of
the army : —
limooth bores 463,381
JIuz/.le-loading rifles, United-States pattern .... 1,615,346
Plii/zlc-loacling rifles, foreifjn 1,055,862
I ilios, brceth-loacling and repeating 32,048
li.cech-ioaiiing carbines 398,251
Revolvers 376.751
i'istols, muzzle-loading -I.951
I'Ik total was 3,966,590, of which 1,158,907 were lost and used up in the war.
So much was invention stimulated 'ly the war, that, at the com-
petition of 1869, a board of army-officers ''xamined thirty-four invention
different varieties of breech-loading muskets, eight of carbines, «timuiated
Mv\ eight of pistols, »'y *"•
The new inventions were all the product of private factories. These estab-
liViiments, scattered about the country, but principally located in
New I'lngland and New York, where mechanical ingenuity had JJo^',he'"'
received its higlicst development, were many of them of prior product of
origin, and had been engaged in making sporting-rifles, shot-guns, p"^'"^"
and ])istols. When the war broke out, they simply Uu-ned their
attention to military weapons. Others of the number came into being with
L
m •
■ II, 'if, I
m :■(
',- ■ht.jiU- 1,
TTT'^f;
•': ' jit. « ','■'
260
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the war. They have all continued to manufacture both military and s])onin!'
arms since the restoration of peace, and find a large sale in supplyini; the
new armament of the militia of the several States and the armies of other
parts of the world. They take part in all the rifle-competitions in Europe.
and crowd every world's fair. Prior to 1861 the reputation of the United
States for small-arms was sustained principally by Colt, Sharp, and i;ii
Whitney. At the World's Fair of 1873, where the leading American !lic-
tories were all represented, nineteen concerns were represented, all of tiiem
furnishing highly creditable productions.
The first of the new class of rifles to come into notice was the SiiuiKcr.
This remarkable weapon is a strong and serviceable piece, loading at tlie
Spencer breech, and holding a magazine of seven cartridges in the stock,
rifle. which are thrown forward, one nt a time, by a coiled spring,
when tlie breech is opened to receive a new charge. Tiio lireechpin is
moved down below the barrel by the guard-lever, the empty copper slu !! - 1
the cartridge last fired being thrown out by a litUe catch in the ojVKaion,
and a new cartridge then thrown forward into place from tlie magazine. A
fair marksman can discharge the seven shots witn accuracy in twelve seconds
and then refill the magazine from his cartridge-box in about half the ti' ic i.
wotdd take to ram and cap a muzzle-loading musket. The gnp can le used
as a single-loader by a very simple arran" nent, which prevents a. cartridge
from coming up from the magazine. S ! t: soldier thus can load frosn his
cartridge-box, and keep the magazine in re;.;rv • ;";it ,' .'-ritical moment, i'he
Spencer is a needle-gun, the firinj. j 'n lx'ir,.i; in the !,ri;erhl)lock, and bting
struck by a hammer, as in tiie ordinary rifle. l! pciiormances at Vienna, at
the comi)etition of 1866, excited wonder The magazine principle has been
applied to other Americuin guns, prominently to the Winchester.
in which the magazine occupies the jjlace of the ramrod. l)el()w
the l)arrel, and, being a very long one, enal)les the marksman to fire twenty
shots without reloading. The Winchester rifle is admired in Kurope, and has
been sold in immense quantity to the Turkish Government. It was largely
used in the late war with Russia.
The Snider rifle is better known abroad than in America ; but it is one of
the recent American inventions, and loads at the breech upon an entirely
navel ^,-inciple. The breech-plate is fixed in the gun solidly; but between it
an.l the clKi.:v,)er there is a space tlie length of the cartridge, into which a
solid bolt is fitted to close the chamber, and transmit the recoil to the hreeeh-
j)!.:re. Th's bolt swing"? upwr d, and over to the right, upon a hinge, wlicii
•' gnn 'n l)2ing lo .ded, s^) as to leave an open space in rear of the chamlier
lof lakiu;/ out the old c.irtridge, and putting in the new. This style of brcoc li-
i lai'.- ■ ns b'^en very wel! liked in Europe. Dahlgren gave it great praise.
Engb^^rl ipyjlieri it to her Enfield, Whitworth, Lancaster, and other rifles;
arid 'iC 1/ 'tch and other governments have used large (juantities of arms
Winchester.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
261
Remington.
with the Snider breech. The Snider- F^nfield has had astonishing success at
the Wimbledon matches in England. England converted several hundred
thousand of her Enfields to the Snider system. The peculiar snider-
])rinci|)ie on which this gon is made is now a favorite with Ameri- Enfieids.
(an makers of breech-loading shot-guns. It is one of the two leading meth-
ods in use for that class of fire-arms ; the other being the system of unhook-
iii!,' tlic rear of the barrel, and letting the barrel swing vertically on a pivot,
so as to bring the chambers up to view above the breech-plate, and then, after
loading, bringing the barrels to their place again, and locking them with a
spriii!,' catch.
Various other .'\merican rifles have at different times occupied attention
at ilie competitive trials in Europe, including the Berdan, I'eabody, Ham-
mond, Maynard, Joslyn, Sharp, and Remington, but none, per-
ha|)s, to so great an extent as the Remington. This gun is the
|iro(iuct of a factory at Ilion, N.Y., which was founded in 1825 by Eliphalet
Remington, a young mechanic who had been making gun-barrels in Herki-
mer County, New York, with some success for several years, and who, in
1S25, moved to Ilion, and started a gun-factory. This establishment grew by
successive enlargements until it represents to-day an investment of at least
three million dollars in machinery, buildings, and stock. Mr. Remington took
his two sons into i)artnership, and has devoted his factory to the manufacture
hotli of arms and various other inventions, a sewing-machine and a mowing-
maciune being among them. The breech-loading rifle invented at this factory
has tiie simplest, strongest, and best mechanism at the breech ever yet dis-
covered. When the hammer is cocked, the breech-pin swings upon a heavy
pivot down into the lock, opening the breech for the cartridge, and jjul'.ing
out the old shell. The breech-plate is then swung up by the thumb to its
place, and the trigger pulled. Though the breech-})late is entirely unsupported
wlien the hammer is set free, yet the heavy shank of the hammt r j)resents a
solid shoulder to the plate in its descent ; and, before the hammtr reaches the
liring-pin, the plate is lock 'd firmly in its place. Tlie shock of the recoil is
transmitted to the shoulder presented iiy the hanuner, and is sustained by the
heavy pivot on which the hammer works bac^ and forth. Nothing so simple
ami scientific has ever been invented. This gun is in every way the superior
of the Prussian needle-gun. The latter is easily disabled by moisture and
dust ; whereas the Remington will work perfectly while entirely coated with
rust (breech-plate and all), and covered with dust. One of the guns at Vienna
in 1 806, chosen at random, was tested by firing two thousand rounds. It was
left out on the ground over night ; water was poured into it, and it was left
wet ; the wiiole breet h was covered with road-dust, and then roughly shaken
out ; and the gun was fired from beginning to end of the trial without clean-
ing. It went through the whole test perfectly, the only trouble occurring
at any time being caused by sand which had got between the spring and the
J'
w.i
ra^iv,.
iafr
III'
■
262
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
hammer, making it difficult to get the hammer at full cock. Those few grains
of sand were taken out, and the gim was put to work again without further
cleaning of the breech. The average speed of the gun was thirteen rounds
a minute. The gun has excited the greatest admiration throughout the world
since that time. It has been adopted by the United States, England, Sjiain,
Denmark, Sweden, and other governments, and is probably the most effec-
tive single-loading arm of the present day. It is the principal style of ritlL-
which is being put into tiie hands of the militia of the several States of tjijs
republic. Its accuracy is so great, that it has enabled American riflemen t(j
Great sue- ^'" ^^ great matches of DoUymount in 1876, and Creedmoor
cesBof this in 1 877, against the best shots of (Ireat Britain. Fulton prefers
weapon. ^^^ muzzle-loading Remington, and with it made a score of 171
out of a possible 180 at the 800, 900, and 1,000 yard ranges at Creedmoor
in 1874 ; which is the highest ever known.
The Peabod} rifle, with a breech-plate dropping below the barrel, o])erate(l
by the guard-lever, is also a good gun. A i)art of the Turkish troops were
armed with it in the late war.
The barrels of American small-arms are genert'y made of wrought iron,
chosen with reference to its toughness and tenacity ; tliough of late years
makers have begun to use steel to a greater or less extent in combination with
iron. At one time bars made from old horseshoe nails were largely used, and
the "stub and twist" barrels were < onsidered the toughest and best in the
market ; but they have been superseded by later ideas in laminated iron and
steel. For revolvers, cast-steel alone is used for the chambers and barrels. In
gun-making, the bars which are to compose the barrels are heated to a white-
heat, their edges fi^st having been bevelled, and are then bent by machinery
into a barrel, the ed{.":s being carefully welded either by machinery or by
hand. The barrels are then straiglitened by machinery. Sometimes the bar
is the length of the barrel which it is to make ; hut often it is only one-third
the length, and is drawn out in welding. The locks, springs, sights, and other
small mtial parts of the gun, are stamped, bored, and shaped by madiinery.
There are often eighty different jjieces in the construction of the piece, besides
the stock and barrel. The production of all of these by machines s])e( ially
adapted to the purpose has brought about an immense reduction in the (ost
of manufacture, and has added materially to the resources of the rei)ul)lir
by insuring a speedy supply of weapons whenever wanted. This system of
forging small-a'ms with swages and die:i, and of finishing them with null
ing machines, was first brought to success a the governnifm armories of
the United States ; but it has since iound its way into all the urivat •
factories.
In the manufacture <i\ cannon the United States has not n 1 u-
pied so distinguished a position as in referent e lo small-arm but
its artillery has always been of a good quality. The cannon made <lunnu tiif
Revolution were
ships. A numb
parts of the coui
land, whence th
the country. Tl
but were mostly
majority of facto
The factories wt
during the Revol
ronsidering the s
tion, plain and ui
the splendidly-dc
The gun present
Virginia, and nov
iiisly. " Ultima I
perfection of the
mcnt touched an
well as in |)eace.
bound with hoopi
In the war of
of native manuf;
out ships to cruis
for long and effi(
founderies were s
(ai)al)le of borinj
a year. (>ne at
of Lake Erie am
No long gur
country : the she
itzer. In 1814 e
ed a long gun
became a favorit
duced to the fo
imjiortant resourc
to Irance, and
The principle of
nations.
.'Uthough the
lions or a navy
;'a\e slight encoi
iiad i)een broug
1S61, which were
use. One was t
OF THE UNITED STATES.
263
Revolution were all of a small size, adapted for field-service and for use on
ships. A number of fountleries were employed in casting them in different
parts of the country, but ])rincipaily in New Knglanil, Pennsylvania, and Mary-
land, whence the guns were distributed to the different parts of cannon o(
the country. They ranged in size from four to thirty-two pounders. Revolution.
liut were mostly of the smaller sizes. A few of then\ were cast hollow ; but the
majority of factories cast them solid, and bored out the caliber by machinery.
The factories were prolific ; and Washington had all the artillery he wanted
durini; the Revolution, — more, at times, than he could profitably use, in fact,
ronsiiiering the scarcity of powder. The guns were of very simple construc-
tion, jilain and unornamentcd, and in this respect bore a marked contrast to
the splendidly-decorated pieces employed by our French allies in that war.
The gun presented by Lafayette, and long owned by a well-known family of
Virginia, and now in the Metropolitan Museum at New York, inscribed humor-
msly, " Ultima Ratio Regum," and otheruisc, is a .striking illustration of the
perfection of the arts in France at that day, and the manner in which refi"x
ment touched and glorified every thing used by the French people in w»ir a;
well as in peace. One gun used in the Revolution was of wrought-iron staves
bound with hoops ; but it attracted little attention.
In the war of 181 2 the United States began to use a better style of cannon
of native manufacture. The government jjermitted its private citizens to fit
out ships to cruise against Phigland's conmierce, and th.erc was a great demand
for long and efficient guns of all calibers for use on shijiboard. Some large
founderies were started during this war. At Richmond three wen: estalflished,
capable of boring the heaviest ordnance, and of making three hundred pieces
a year. One at Pittsburgh, Joseph McClurg's, made the cannon for the battles
of Lake Erie and New Orleans.
No long guns for shells had been used until the war of 1812 in any
country : the shell had only been discharged from the mortar and the how-
itzer. In 1814 Col. IJomford of the Ordnance Department invent- „,
* First manu-
ed a long gun for shells, which he called " the Columbiad." It f«ctv«re of
became a favorite gun with military men at once. It was intro- e""«'<"
shells.
duced to the fortifications and ships of the United States as an
important resource for attack and defence ; antl (rtjn. Paixhans carried the idea
to [■ ranee, and brought out the gim there uncu-r his own name.
The principle Kii a long gun for shells wai adopted by ail military
nations.
.•\;though the Ussied States were at pearar. and cared nothing for fortifica-
tions or a navy except to insure protection to commerce, arul consequently
f;ave slight encouragement to the invention of new implemcDts of war, two guns
had been brought out by federal officers, previous to the war of
186 1, which were decided improvements on all the cannon then in
uic. One was the gun, invented by Capt. Dahlgren of the navy, for nine and
Paixhans.
Dahlgren.
\
ii'i
'%^
.2
264
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
eleven inch shells. It was cast solid, and bored out by machinery, and in
shape was very much like a champagne-bottle, having a great weight and
thickness of metal around the chamber of the gun, and then rapidly taptrini'
away forward of the trunnions, exactly after the fashion of a champagne In Jiilc.
The eleven-inch guns of this pattern are a hundred and seven inches luiii in
th" bore. They were great flivorites during the late war, and were extensively
enij>ioyed in the operations along the coast anil on the Western rivers. I'iitcen
and twenty inch guns have latterly been made of Dahlgren's pattern, l)ut are
cast hollow, and cooled from the interior. The idea of casting a gun IkjIIow,
and cooling it by a current of water made to flow into and out of the bore, so
as to gain density nf metal on the interior, is the invention of Capt. Rodman
of the Ordnance Department. The pieces of heavy American ord-
Rodman. , . , . ,, , , ,
nance made m this manner are called " Rodman guns." i'lie gun
differs little from Dahlgren's in shape ; but it is generally considered mure beau-
tiful on account of its more flowing lines. For the same size of ijore it is of
smaller size and weight, owing to the strength gained by the peculiar uiutiuHl
of cooling. The largest cannon ever made in any country, prior to 1861, was
■ a Rodman gun cast at the Fort-Pitt Foundery in Pittsburgh, and placed in ihc
works at Fortress Monroe. It w as a sixteen-inch gun, with a bore fifteen feet
jJeep, and weighed 45^999 jiooiaila. This style of gun has been greatly admired
in Europe. A twenty-ton Rodman, fifteen-inch bore, with a shot of four inin-
dred and fil'v pounds, was tried in ICngland shortly after our late war, ami
produced an ur.wonted sensation there. England had long been exi)eriment-
ing in the direction of seven and nine inch rifled cannon ; but the .Xmerican
fifteen-inch smooth bore did what the best English guns did not, and it i)ro-
duced such a terrible effect on the eight-inch Wamis target, that Kngiish
military men candidly confessed that the American gun could certainly hull
their best ships. The twenty-ton Rodman was compared at the exhibition of
[■ 1867 at Paris with the forty-ton French smooth bore. That was the largest
gun F"rance had ever made : its bore was sixteen inches and a half, and it
carried a shot of six hundred and fifty jjounds. The comparison made was
favorable to the Rodman gun. Making all allowances for differences in bore,
&c., it was held that the Rodman gun would do the same work, with twenty
thousand jrounds less of metal consumed in the construction of the gun.
Rodmans have been made since the war for sea coast defence, and for iron-
r j — clads of twenty-inch caliber. They weigh fifty-eight tons, and throw a shot
i^
weighing 1,060 pounds. The first twenty-inch gun was made in 1863.
The war gave an impetus to invention in the way of cannon as
it did to the manufai ture of small-arms. A vast munber of guns
were recjuired for the different purposes of the war. The most
extensive set of fortifications known in history was thnnvn uj)
around the city of Washington, and eight hundred and seven guns
and ninety-eight mortars were reqi; d for its defence. There were employed
War gave
impetus to
improve-
ment of
cannon.
in the war, on th
dred siege-^uns.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
J65
Parrott.
in the war, on the part of the North, fifteen hundred field-guns and twelve hun-
dred siege-guns. The government, being without the means to produce these
rcailily, depended largely upon private makers ; and iron founders and in-
ventors, in turn, stood ready to supply the government with a large number of
new Ktins, which were conceived by them with the first alarm of war. Three
of these new guns proved of service, and became i)rominent. One was the
i'arrott, a cast-iron rifled gun, long, ami almost straight, but
rccnt'orced at the breech by heavy coils of wrought iron wound
arounil the piece. The first one was cast in 1861 at the West- Point Koundery.
During the war they were made of ail sizes, from the three-inch ten-poundoi for
t'leki-service to a ten-inch gun with a three-hundred-pound shot for ship-siege
and ( oast-service. Another of the new guns was tiie Wiard, made
wiard.
at Trenton, N.J., of cast-steel. This metal, us is well known, is the
favorite with the Germans, who employ it in small-arms as well as in artillery.
Mr. Wiard made guns of this material for the first time in this country, and
sjcured large orders from the government. He fitted out the Burnside expe-
dition with very nearly its entire armament. The third gun referred to above
was the Galling Battery, an automatic machine-gun. with six steel barrels.
Cartridges are i^^K to the battery from a hopjjer, and are discharged l)y turning
a crank. An incessant and steady fire <'an be kept up with this battery, and
about a hundred cartridge s, containing a.iluiuaand riiissjjes, disch^rgej) per V
minute. Its performance is equal to that of fifty good riflemen armed with
hreedi-loaders. A hundred batteries of this gun were ordered by the govern-
ment from the Colt's Fire-.Arms (/oini)any. One of them, sent to i'aris in 1 S67,
was the sensation at the Workl's I'air. It has a large sale abroad since that
time.
The best material for large guns is iron ; though whether in the form of
last-steel, cast-iron, or wrougiit-iion, or a combination of these several varieties,
h not yet decided. Germany prefers cast-steel for breech-loaders : Best material
all her guns are made on that metal. Krupp, the principal maker, 'or guns-
has turned out several liiousand su( li field-guns, and two thousand of the six,
seven, eight, nine, eleven, twelve, and fourteen incli guns. The latter are-fifty-
ton guns, costing a hundred and teji thousand dollars each. Two only have
been made. England employs cast-steel with wrought-iron re-enforcement at
the l)reech, wrought-iron tubes with wrought-iron coils, and cast-iron ; and is
going back to muzzle-loaders. France uses iron lubes, with steel rings at the
ureech. The whole question of material may be said to be open at present,
and can only be solved by years of further experiment. Possibly it may never
l)e solved : that depends largely on the amount of war in the future of the
world. For field-guns the best material is bronze : it is expensive ; but it is
1 l)eautiful metal, and very tenacious.
I
%t
«
366
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
IRON-WORKING MACHINERY.
There are those who consider tlie goUlen age of the world to lie in tlic
future. They do not look for it in the simjjle times of the past, in the days
Ooiden a e °*^ ^^^ shepherd's pipe, the stage-coach, the sun-dial, ami liic
hand-loom ; for, with all their romance, those were ill-rcgulatcd
times in many respects, tyrannical, disobedient to law, and ignorant, with
poverty and deprivation among liic jno-
pie. 'I'hey believe that the better times
lie in the future, — in an age when man
shall have been released from the greater
part of the depressing muscular toil now
imposed upon him ; when there is a more
general diffusion of education, comfort,
and content among the peoi)le ; wlieii the
higher faculties and (|ualities tome more
generally into play in even tiie humlilest
occupations, and toil itself becomes a
])leasure.
If ever there dawns for man a golden
age of this description, (and who will
deny its probability?) the change will
come about, in i)art, through the larger
employment of machinery, whereby man,
Employ- instead of struggling with the
ment of forces of Nature as of old,
machinery, ^.j^^,, ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ,^j^ ^^^^.^^
use, and compel them to labor for him,
and shall thus throw off a part of his
burden of physical toil, and gain oppor-
tunity for cherishing and employing the
mind. The present century is already
distinguished by the extent to whidi it
has utilized machinery in all the indus-
trial arts. It is already called the age
of machinery ; and orators and writers have more than once called atten-
tion to the additional comfort, luxury, and content it has brought to the
people. There seems no limit, however, to the extent to which machinery can
be employed. A thousand new uses are found for it every year, and its
ameliorating influences are capable of being extended almost indefinitely in
all departments of labor.
Development has been the most remarkable in the field of machinery for
the working of iron, and especially in the United States, where the progress
BREAST DRILL.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
2(fJ
has I'ocn the most sweeping and electrifying. 'I'he high cost of labor hore,
and die desirability of rendering this country independent of the Old World
for its supplies of iron-manufactures, gave a powerful stimulus to
American invention in this field of effort ; and, from the days of ^'^* °,^ mm-
the niil-Miaking machine to the present, it has been busily em- chinery for
liloyud in devising means for the fashioning of iron-manufactures l^pn"*'"'
liy mac hinery, and dispensing with the old processes of doing
ilu' work by hand. The success has been wontlerful. Our factories and shops
arc lilli'd iu)\v with machinery, rather than with toiling human beings ; and nine-
tenths i)f all the old operations which recjuircd any particular expenditure of
liiiman toil are now jjcrformed by machinery, and better and faster jjerformed
also. Tiie difference between an .American and a foreign factory in this
aspcc t may be seen by comparing the Baldwin Locomotive Works with its
three thousand men and the great locomotive works at Berlin with its ten
thousand men, the latter turning out less work in the year than the former.
The (lilTercnce is caused by the machinery of tlio Baldwin Works, 'i'he same
(omiiarison could be made between an American and a British iron ship-yard.
i'lic general application of machinery to the working of iron has called
into existence a special class of establishments devoted to the
making of iron-working tools and machinery, adding a re-
ciifori ement of about fifteen hundred shops to jrgj.,o,jg, ,„,
the thousands of those devoted to the manu- making iron-
facture of iron and steel for the ordinary pur- ^"''•'"k
|K)ses of life. These fifteen hundred shops em-
ploy about a hundred thousand men. Many of them are,
in part, founderies, and carry on the manufacture of general
inadiinery ; but they all make iron-working tools and ma-
( hines as a regular feature of their business.
In general, iron-working machinery may be classified
iiniler the following heads, — turning-lathes, borers, drills,
planes, shears, rolls, hammers, dies, punches for making
lioles, screw and bolt cutters, riveting and welding machines,
cranes, grooving, slotting, and milling machines, and polish-
ers. I'he variety of forms under each of the above heads
is infinite. Obviously, the metal parts which go to make up
a watch, and those which enter into a locomotive, a steam-
engine, or an iron ship, must differ in extraordinary re-
spects ; and these differences in the size, purpose, and strength of the thou-
sand objects into which iron and steel are fashioned, and the complexity
of the i)arts which sometimes go to make up single inventions, give rise to an
extraordinary variety of iron-working machines. Some of these machines
attract attention from their size and power ; as, for instance, the planers, which
have been made large enough to plane a horizontal iron plate forty-two feet
HAND DRILL.
^.
.«:^
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
1.1
ttilM 12.5
itt 3ii 12.2
11.25 i 1.4
■ L8
RRMH
^
/:
^
I^iotQgiBphic
ScMices
Carporation
23 WKT MAM STRIIT
WIISTIi.N.Y. 14SM
(716)l7a-4S03
*^%
^^>
'^'
^
i
'f:«rT'T'''
268
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Planers.
long by twenty-five wide, the plate being carried slowly backward and fonvard
under a sharp chisel which cuts only one narrow paring at a time from its
rough surface. Planers have been made to smooth vertical sur-
faces twelve feet long and eight feet high. Lathes are made to
turn a piece of work eight feet and a half in diameter, and boring-machines
to smooth the interiors of steam cylinders of the same size. Drills are made
to bore a hole twenty-two inches in diameter through solid iron. At the iron
ship-yards, shears are used to cut up solid iron plates two inches tliick.
Steam hammers are used which strike a fifty-ton blow, which could easily be
increased to seventy-five tons ; while the hammers are so tractable, that they
can be used to crack walnuts. Crai es easily handle whole boilers and pieces
of machinery weighing twenty-five tons. Rolling-mills are made of such
power, that at Chester, Penn., iron plates are made six inches thick for the
armor of men-of-war. Squeezers are often employed in our rolling-mills
capable of taking a thousand-pound bloom from the puddling-furnace, and
squeezing it into a compact pig of wrought iron in less than a minute. The
power and size of this variety of machinery appear to be limited only by the
demands of the country for its employment.
Other machines are noteworthy for their special adaptation to the perform-
ance of some process and for their labor-saving qualities. Such are the small
Trip- trip-hammers, striking from forty to a hundred blows a minute, for
hammers. drawing out the tines of a pitchfork from the little chunk of
metal two inches long from which the fork is made. Such are also the
Invention* countless inventions for stamping, twisting, boring, and shaping of
for borinK, the whcels, springs, and pieces of metal which enter into watches,
twisting, Ac. j^jg_arms, tools, and small machines of all kinds. Others are the
grooving and mortising machines, those for turning the rims of pulleys, for
cutting the teeth of wheels, for paring and bevelling the edges of boiler-plates,
for planing the edges of locomotive
frames, for bending carriage-springs, for
cutting the threads of screws and bolts,
&c. The system prevalent in the best
American shops leads to the multiplica-
tion of this class of machines year by
yeir. Invention is encouraged ; and the workman is given a part of the
benefit of his invention, if he will suggest a machine which will save manual
labor, and facilitate the operations of the shop.
Still another class of machines is remarkable chiefly for accuracy of
M hiner operation : these are the ones used in all fine machine-work.
for making Before the general application of machinery to iron-working,
inaccuracies of a hundredth part of an inch might be detected
by a '. .ry experienced workman, but no smaller defects than that.
Fine machine-work was almost impossible, because mechanism which was
minute
things.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
2 69
below a certain size was sure to be full of inaccuracies, and work badly. All
machinery was clumsy. American ingenuity first insured absolute accuracy by
the general use of machinery in the making of the small parts of complicated
mechanism, and thus made fine and delicate mechanism possible by supplying
tiie means to detect and measure differences of a ten-thousandth of an inch.
Tiie steam-riveting machine
is one of the new inventions.
It weighs eighteen tons, and con-
tains one forging ot steam rivet-
five tons. It rivets J^e-machine.
the bolt with a single blow, and
does its work so silently and rap-
idly as to obviate the fearful din
of boiler-shops in general, and
greatly reduce the cost of opera-
tion.
Another late invention, and
one which carriage-spring makers
have been studying Machine for
for twenty years how bending and
to construct, is a ma- ^'n^P'rinK
chine for bending and
tempering springs at one opera-
tion. It weighs less than a ton,
and is a simple, straightforward
device for performing a process
until now always done by hand.
Special machines are now made for most of the operations of locomotive
and iron ship and engine building, for car-shops, rolling-mills, cloth and gun
shops, the sewing-machine, tool, and other factories, in large
numbers. A great many of these machines are sent abroad,
where they give emphatic pleasure, and receive a great deal of
praise on account of the originaUty of idea, and high constructive
ability displayed in their manufacture.
It has been pointed out that the construction of iron-working machinery
and of machinists' tools underlies all other branches of manufac- utmty ^f
ture. Take any finished product, whatever it may be, and trace »uch initru-
backward the means by which it has been produced. We shall ""'"*••
inevitably reach at length the hammer and the cutting-tool of the lathp,
plane, or borer. Upon the efficiency and accuracy of iron-working tools and
m.achiius, therefore, depends a great deal more of human progress and comfort
than one would imagine upon a superficial examination of what it is that pro-
mot'is these things.
MILLER S-FALLS VICE.
Machines for
making part*
of locomo-
tives, iron
ships, &c.
tio
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
AXES AND SAWS.
;f -t-i
Wood-axe
and cross-
cut saw.
The broad-axe and the cross-cut saw are the typical agencies for the
working of wood. The former lays low the great tree in the
backwoods : the latter cuts it up into logs which can be rafted
down stream to market. All the tools which touch it after that
from the saw-mill to the last operation in the shop of the carpenter and joiner,
are only modifications of the parent cutting and sawing edges.
No implement has had such universal use as the axe : it was foremost in
war and in peace from the beginning of history until gunpowder was invented.
Universal Gunpowder swept the blood-stained battle-axe from the stage of
use of axe. civilized warfare, and the implement became then devoted onlv
to the purposes of peace ; but its use has only increased as time has rolled on.
The axe is the indispensable adjunct of pioneer life in the woods : it deared
the fields and built the houses of our forefathers. Wherever ])opulation
crowds the plains, and the waste timber-lands must be reclaimed to make
room for man, the broad-axe is found SAinging in thousands of hands for the
cQjiversion of the wiklerness to a i)lace fit for the abode of humanity. I.ven
in the United States, where there is plenty of room in the open country and
to spare, the axe is still vigorously wiekled by thirty thousand lumbermen,
who are Kent into the woods every year to get out the timber for which ship-
ping, buiUling, and manufacture has created such an extraordinary demand.
The axe plays a ])art on every farm. It lays low an oak or a big maple wlien-
ever the farmer wants money, and it gathers the winter's stock of fire-wood
when the labors of the harvest are over. It enters into the economy of the
household under every roof in the whole wide land.
Until within fifty years, the axes used in America were imported. .\ few
rude blades were forged at the blacksmith-shops by village greens ;
ported until but the busiuess was of so little account, that it was not thought
within fifty worthy of protection by Congress. During the Revolution and
the war of 1812, when the United States were cut off from their
principal source of supply for manufactures of iron and steel, axes were hugely
made by the American blacksmiths ; but the return of peace brought fresh
importations, which checked the industry again. No tax was levied by Con-
gress on an article of such extended use in the United States, and so indis-
pensable to the development of the country. The first axe-slio]) in
the country was started by Samuel W. and I). C. Collins of Hart-
ford, Conn., in 1826. They thought that there was a field for the manufacture
of axes here ; and they put up a little stone trip-hammer shop, with a capacity
of eight axes a day, and began drawing patterns, and forging and tempering
blades. In 1828 Congress levied a duty of thirty-five per cent on axes to
assist the dawning industry. The Collinses moved to Collinsville, Conn., and
opened a large factory, which after some years passed into the hands of a com-
Collins.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
271
WORKS OK nOi:GLASS AXK tOMI'ANV, EAST IX)I (iLAPS, MASS.
pany, called Collins & Company. The business has since grown to gigantic
proportions and world-wide celebrity. After the Collinses' shops were opened
others were started, the principal ones of which are now the
Douglati.
Douglass Axe Company of East Douglass, Mass., and the con-
cern at Cohoes, N.Y. A number of small factories are scattered through the
country : two of them are in New-
ark, N.J. The Collins Factory is
the largest in the world : it em-
ploys from four himdred and fifty
to five lumdred and fifty men, pro-
duces two thousand axes, sledge-
hammers, and cast-steel tools a
day, and consumes in the course
of the year eighteen hundred
tons of iron, three hundred and
fifty of cast-steel, and seven thou-
saml of coal.
The process of axe-making is
lull of interest ; indeed, is exciting
during some stages of the manu-
facture. The first operation con-
>ists in clipping from long, flat
bars a lialf-foot of American iron, which is cpuckly transformed into the poll
of an axe, which is merely the head and eye, and about half the process of
blade ; the balance, or cutting part of the blade, being composed Me-making.
of nearly a pound of the best Jessop steel, so inlaid with the iron that tlie
tool may endure years of grinding, and still retain its fine steel edge. Other
kinds in the market can boast of a greater spread of steel surface ; but they
are entirely innocent of that sort of " northern iron," as the Prophet Jeremiah'
terms it, in the centre of the tool, which will enable it to stand the hard usage
in store for it. The real difference between the two metals is finely brought
out in the polishing process, in which no amount of furbishing can, leave that
fine surface on the iron which the steel readily takes, and which forms a per-
fect mirror in the finished implement.
Passing over a variety of intermediate handlings, in which the essential
objects obtained are complete welding of the two metals and perfect symmetry
in the several patterns made (all of which are accomplished amid the distrac-
tions of an army of large and small trip-hammers, whose din at times is well-
nigh deafening to an outsider), we reach the tempering- room, where a score or
so of men are occupied in bringing the steel to the proper degree of hardness,
-a point requiring the utmost nicety of attention. Small furnaces are kept
Iniriiing on the iron tables of the workmen (or watchmen, rather ; for about all
the)' do is to keep a keen eye on the c;olor assumed by the iron) ; and, the
' ' ; I •. , 1 . ' .
nil I
I
272
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
instant the right hue is developed, the axe goes into a salt-water bath, which
fixes the carbonized state of the iron forever, unless again put through the
fiery torture.
The next stage in the progress of the axe toward completion brings us to
the grinding and polishing departments. Some idea of the relative importance
of this branch of the manufacture may be had from the fact that it costs one
hundred dollars' worth of grindstones daily to bring the axe to the ma'-kctable
stage, to say nothing of the immense expenditure of emery in polishing after-
ward. Huge stones from Nova Scotia and the West lie about the shop-yards
full seven feet in diameter many of them ; and in no longer than three weeks'
time they are used up. Many of the men ride on " horses " while grinding,
thus enabling them to bring their whole bodily avoirdupois to aid the pro-
cess of abrasion ; while the fine dust flies in clouds from the stones in cverv
direction, notwithstandiiig the stones are all the time completely deluged with
water.
The men in this section are, from their peculiarly hazardous work, ruled out
of all the life-insurance companies ; since the constant inhalation of the grit
and bits of steel thrown off in the process induces the " grinders' consump-
tion," as it is rightly termed, from which a premature death is rarely averted,
It is said that Americans will not work in these rooms, which are filled i,y
French Canadians, who stop a few years, and then go home to linger a wiiile
and die.
But sometimes the peril to life is of another kind altogether, arising from
the rapidity with which the stones must be made to revolve. A flaw in the
scone, or possibly a loosening in the clamp holding it upon the shaft, sends the
flying fragments furiously hither and thither, — perhaps through the grinder's
body, or throws him through the roof. It is but justice to add, however, that
such casualties happen only at rare intervals.
There yet remains the bevelling of the poll of the axe near the eye, which
the trade insist upon in their orders, and which was formerly done by the slow
process of grinding out on the stones. This is done by an iron wheel thirty
inches in diameter, its periphery being an inch tire of softest iron. Revolving
with great velocity, it does the bevelling almost instantly, literally melting that
portion of the axe away.
The American broad-axe is a handsome blade. It has a thick, flat, hroad
iron head, with a cast-steel blade shghtly flaring as it approaches the edge, and
American a crescent-shaped edge. The eye, or hole for the wooden handle,
broad-axe. gQgg straight through the head. In this the axe differs from the
less convenient Spanish implement, in which the handle is fitted into a loop ai
the back of the blade, on the principle of a plantation hoe. Nearly all the
processes of manufacture are carried on by machiner)'. The head is cut from
a bar of iron, the eye punched out, and the head flattened and pressed into
shape while hot, by machines made for the purpose. The edge of the
OF THE UNITED STATED.
^n
head is grooved, and a narrow piece of cast-steel welded to it at a
heat, lilt: St'-"'-"' is drawn out to form the
tion, the steel being thoroughly
)lade in the welding
white-
opera-
WORKS OP DOL'GLASS AXE COMPANV.
sniitln-'d to condense the metal,
and render it tough. The axe
is tempered very hard ; and the
hardness is then drawn down to
what is called a blue temper,
when it is ground, polished, the
head painted red or black, antl
the axe sent to the packing-
room. In old times the axe
was not sharpened at the fac-
tory : every purchaser ga\e it
an edge on his own grind-
stone at home. Dif- Different
erent styles of axes kinds of
are made for differ-
ent purposes and different tastes.
Some are made for the foreign
market exclusively. American heavy edge-tools have a great reputation
abroad, and they form a prominent feature in the shipment of hardware to
Ijigiand, Germany, Australia, Cuba, and South .America. Among the varieties
made are hatchets, axes for turpentine-making, ad/cs, machetes, cleavers,
broad square, and crescent blades, ivc.
The consumption of axes is enormous. From thirty thousand to forty
t.hoiisand men go out annually in the United States and Canada to cut lumber,
the area cut off every season amounting to between three hundred and fifty
and four hundred and fifty square miles. .\n axe seldom lasts a month. A
handle lasts only three weeks. The axes are ground every day, consumption
and the blade soon becomes so worn4hat it is thrown away. The *•' ■""•
old axes are not utilized afterward. But,. besides the lumbermen of America,
the United States now supply, in part, the pioneers of the vast forests of
Soutli .\merica, where the harder woods — the mahogany, rosewood, and other
cabinet timber — create a still more prodigious consumption of blades. Ther?
is, besides, a constant demand for general purposes all through the populatiop
of the countries, which the American makers supply.
The style of axe preferred varies in different parts of America. The lum-
bermen are the true connoisseurs of blades. A Maine backwoodsman selects
a long, narrow head, the blade in crescent shape, the heaviest part of the axe
being in the head above the eye. New- York cutters choose a broad, crescent
blade, the head rather short, the weight evenly balanced about the eye.
A Western lumberman selects a, long blade, the corners only rounded
?■•/ -7''?,
«74
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
off, the eye holding the weight of the axe. The Canadian chopper pre-
fers a broad, scpiare blade, with the weight largely in the blade, the handle
being short and tliick.
The difference in taste
in regartl to the slia])e
of the axe extends also
to the manner in wiiich
the cutter flings iiiniself
at a tree. An expert in
the woods can tell the
state or the nationality
of a man by glancing at
his axe, and seeing him
strike one blow. The
swinging, graceful cut of
the Down-easter, flung at
the tree from over the
left shoulder, with both
hands at the extreme
end of the handle, is
the mode! blow. It is
claimed that a Yankee
cutter will do one-fifth
more work in the same
length of time than
either the direct-hitting
^^^^m n "^j^^^S^H^^^^^ Westerner, or the Ca-
^^K^f^tBfk ^^ ^^^^P^^^^^^^Hi^^^H nuck (who strikes
w^lBB^ W^^^^ ^■•♦^^Jjg^^^^B from over the head),
and with less fatigue.
The saw followed the
early settlers cf .\nierica
into the forest almost from the start. It was the hand or cross-cut s.a\v at first,
Saw and — a long, Straight piece of flat steel toothed, fitted with a handle at
■awmin. e^j.]^ ejj(]^ jj^fj ^vorked back and forth by two persons, — or else
a shorter, stiffer saw, designed to be used by one person by means of a handle
at one end. But sawmills were in use extremely early. The first of which
there is any record was put up at New York in^ids^, and, in the ahsemc
of water-power, was driven by th vanes of a windmill. One was also l)uilt
Bariy eitab- ' "'^ Governor's Island in the harbor, and in 1639 was loaned for
lUhment of a Consideration of five hundred merchantable boards yearly, lialf
""■ oak, half pine. Another sawmill was in operation as eady as
1634, at the Falls of the Piscataqua at Berwick, Me., l)y English settlers.
LESTER SAW.
\
X.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
'75
Another was built at Scituate, Mass., in 1656", under a stipulation by the
authorities that the owners should saw for the public before sawing for them-
selvi and should have one half the lumber for sawing the other half. Others
were l)iiilt on the Delaware, by the Dutch and Swedes, before Penn arrived.
Amcric a was a hundred years in advance of Kngland in the employment of
the sawmill. The liberal Dutchmen employed it in Holland, and introduced it
loth to Kngland and America ; but there was so much opposition in England,
that Parliament prohibited its use, and as late as 1760 a sawmill was de-
stroyed by a mob. In America sawmills were a great boon, and were gladly
welcomed. They soon came jnto general use throughout the colonies.
I'hey followed the pioneer everywhere, and formed, with the gristmill, the
nucleus of every settlement and neighborhood. The saw in these mills was
a straight blade until about 1 790, when circular plates were invented.
Tlie saws of early times were all imported, large and small. There was
both a lack of capital and skill for making them here. The oldest instance
of an attempt to make saws in the United States is the case of Fir»ti«w»
Wilham Rowland of Philadelphia in 1802. Other attempts were wereim-
made : they all failed. About forty years ago the manufacture was ''**'*' '
finally established by an English mechanic named Henry Disston, who had
scr\c(l an apprenticeship in a shop in Philadelphia, and finally became foreman
of it. He was ingenious, and resolved to try to make saws. His Henry
early efforts were on a small scale. The plate steel had to be im- d'»»»<>"-
ported from England, and was expensive ; and there was a prejudice against
American work of this description. Disston managed to get his saws at length
into the hands of rxierchants, and built up a considerable business. All his
steel was imported, the precious scraps of it being saved, and sent back to
Kngland to be rolled into plates again. In 1S61 Mr. Disston resolved to cut
loose from iMiglish steel, if possible, and make his plates himself. The tariff
of that year gave him protection, and he fitted up his shop for the experiment.
He succeeded, and soon became an independent manufacturer. The estab-
liiihment he built up is now the jirincipai factory of its class in America. Other
s.w-factories have b^en started, however, and the industry is a large and
rapidly-growing one. All sorts of saws are now made. They range in size
and power, from the delicate watch-maker's and dentist's tool to Kind* of
the heavy circular plates for wind and steam sawmills, and the ■■**••
still larger ones for working the gigantic trees of the Pacific coast. Chain
saws for surgeons are also made. At the factory of R. Hoe & Company, in
New V'ork, circular saws ^k produced eighty inches in diameter, and cross-
cuts more than ten feet long. American saws are now regularly exported.
Shetitield makers have lost several important markets on account of them
within the last five years.
Saws are made from ingots of steel, hammered to condense and toughen
Oie metal, and then rolled out into plates. The sheets are slit up into the
2'jO
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
proper sizes and shapes for the difTcrcnt saws. The cutting edges being
Procettof ground true, tlie teeth arc punciied out by a fly-press : the rouirli
making. cilges are then filed down, and the teeth siiarpened. 'i'iie blades
heated to redness, are plunged into a trough of oil, mixed with tallow, beeswax
and rosin, to iiarden them ; and then the hardness is drawn down to the rielu
point by wiping off only a part of the composition from the blade, and setting'
fire to the residue. This is called " i)lazing off: " it softens the blade to tlic
right point, leaving it elastic, and the teeth hard. The saw is then well smithed
on an anvil of jjolished steel to give tmiforin density to the plate ; and tln'
blade is then ground away back of the teeth upon grindstones, this thinning,' of
the plate being one of the means resorted to to prevent the saw, in operation
from being clogged with sawdust. The teeth of the saw are generally pointed
forward. In the cross-cut, which is designed to cut both ways, no piteli is
given to them cither way. In the circular saw a tooth has been introduced
by Mr. Disston, pointing about straight forward, the imder part l)eing wuil tut
away, its outline strongly resembling that of a fish-hook. Its advantaj;es are
facility of sharpening, and long wear, without diminishing the diameter ol the
saw. In all small saws a set is given to the teeth ; that is, they are bent out-
wards to right and left alternately. This causes the teeth to make a cut wider
than the blade, and so gives the latter free play.
\\\ : = ^i ill
loned firC'
place.
STOVES.
The old-fashioned fireplace will never cease to be loved for the beautiful
atmosphere it imparts to a room, and the snug and cheerful effect of an open
Old fa»h. wood-fire. When stoves were first introduced, a feeling of un-
utterable repugnance was felt by all classes toward adopting them ;
and they were used for a generation chiefly in schoolhouses, court-
rooms, bar-rooms, shops, and other public and rough places. For the home,
nothing except the fireplace would do. 'ITie open fire was the true centre of
the home-life, and it seemed perfectly impossible to everybody to bring up a
family around a stove. It was once thought that the fireplace was an insuffi-
cient means of warming a house, and the impression had its influence in secur-
ing the introduction of stoves. But it is now understood that the trouble in old
times, which made it possible to see one'i breath upon the air sitting by the
fireplace, and find apples frozen upon the lable in the centre of the room when
the family were roasting in the blaze of the log-fire, was not due to the ineffi-
ciency of the fireplace, but to the bad constructiojk of houses, which allowed
the cold air to penetrate to the interior in gales. With better built houses the
huge fireplace of colonial times became too large and too hot, and had to be
reduced in size. The convenience of the stove for cooking had more influ
ence on its eventual popularity than all other causes combined. Food was
better cooked in the old-fashioned fireplace, but not so iconveniently : in fact,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
'4^^
the operation was a very slow and laborious one until the cooking-stove was
invented.
One of the first attempts at a stove or closed fireplace was made by Cardi-
nal I'olignac in France al)out 1709. The cardinal's little treatise on the sub-
ject shows I)y its title why Kuropcans could be easily interested Poiignac'*
in every new style of heating-apparatus. It was called " La Mt'- •*'*^*'
c:ini(|ue du Feu, ou I'Art d'cn augmenter les Effets, et d'en diminuer la
Ik'peiise." Wood was becoming scarce in Europe, and fuel dear. Holland
imented the plain box-stove, with a single door in front to intro- other Euro-
(liire tlio fuel, a single hole in top, and a small smoke-pipe, peaninven-
liodi the Holland and the I'olignac stoves saved fuel; but the *""*■
people (lid not take to them for the same reasons that retarded their intro-
(lurtion in America. Franklin paid a great deal of attention to stoves. That
philosopher made some very valuable
suggestions. In 1745 he invented a
fireplace, capable of being closed
completely, in which the current of
flame and air from the fire passed
throii^ii air-boxes in the sides ; by
which means nearly all the heat was
saved, and radiated into the room.
Tile stove had a damper, and would
have t)een air-tight, except that cast-
ings could not be made at that time
to fit close enough to be air-tight.
In 1 77 1 Franklin invented a stove
for bituminous coal, with a down-
ward draught, and consuming its own
smoke. Count Rumforcl, an .American, devised many improve-
ments from 1785 to 1795. He invented cooking-ranges, lined
with fire-brick and soapstone, with ventilating-ovens, which were used in New
York in 1798, and in Boston in 1800. The stoves made in Vermont and
other places at that day were mainly of the Rumford patterns. Stoves made
very little headway in popular estimation, however, for a long period.
Up to 1835 stoves were made at the bog-iron and other blast-furnaces, the
plates for them being cast directly from the iron in the smelting- g
furnaces. The principal makers were in Salisbury and Canaan, facturein
Conn., Rutland County, >% Cold Spring, N.Y., and in Pennsyl- s",*,","""*
vania and New Jersey. The first furnace to cast stoves from
pig-iron was built at New York in 1835 by Jordan L. Mott, who had been
making self-feeding soft-coal stoves since 1827, and anthracite- First ca«t-
coal stoves since 1833. In 1835 Mott bought some immense '«■»«» •tove«.
refuse-heaps in the Schuylkill coal-yards, and screened them for nut and
STOVB.
Rumford.
I I
HB
INDUSTRIAL II I STONY
pea coal for his stoves, and sold it in New York to tlio owners of his stoves.
Mott's success was so great, that, bctbre the end of 1X^5, other stove I'utdrii's
• were started in New York and in Albany; Joel Kathlioiu: Imy.
ing an old furnace in the latter place for the piirpo-ii', anil
thus beginning the stove-business as a regular industry in that < iiy. Hie
manufacture began in I'rovident e, K.I., at nearly the saun time.
It was about this time that Dr. Kliphalet Nott of Union ('()ll(■Jr^.
began experimenting with stoves. The talented president of ilu' rollejri;
was a great me<:hanical genius ; and, like Franklin, he spent years ol l.ilior,
and thousands of dollars, in perfecting the base-burner anil other Minis.
The stove-trade is under a great weight of obligation to the old iloiior,
who never himself reaped the harvest of what he had so laboriously ami
wisely sown. Others made fortunes from his ideas.
The opening of the Krie, the (hamplain, and other canals and routes of
transportation, gave an immense impulse to the stove-business by cheapening
the transjjortation both of the stoves and also that of coal. 'I'he jjatterns of
stoves, too, were improving very fast, and the convenience of cookiiig-siovcs
was beginning to be understood. The manufai ture of ( ooking-stoves esjn'-
Cookine- cially increased with great rai)idity. The early patterns in Alluny
•tove made were the ten-plate oval stines. with the oven above the fire, ami
In Albany. ^ single hole in the top. 'Ihe saddle-bag pattern came next, the
oven being in the middle, over the fire, and the stove-collar and pijjc over it;
while on either side were oval projections, a boiler- hole in each, level with the
stove-top. The next pattern was the horse-block stove, the rear i)art being
a step higher than the front. A rotary stove was also made, with a movable
top to bring any particular vessel directly over the fire. Then ( anie the
parent of the modern cooking-stove, the Buck, for wood and
coal, with the fire above the oven, which carried the flame around,
behind, and below the oven, the opening into the stove-i)ipe being about on
a level with the oven-floor. There have been several hundred modifications
6f this pattern of cooking-stove. In heating-stoves there have l)een many
changes and improvements, the base-burning and self-feeding principle being
applied to the greater number, but many popular heaters being the ordinary
coal-burner, with the draught through the whole mass of coal. In all, tliere
Number of ^^^^ \^tVi nearly a thousand patents issued in this country for
patents stoves J and the manufacture has now become so skilful, and the
Btued. stoves so tight, their conveniences for cooking so perfect, and the
blaze of the fires of the parlor-stoves, shining ouPthrough mica windows, so
chejsrful, that the fireplace has been practically superseded even in country
houses, and the stove is in universal use.
Magnitude There are now about 220 firms and companies engaged in
of induitry. ^his industry in the country. They consume from 250,000 to
340,000 tons of pig-metal yearly, and employ about 28,000 men, producing
The Buck.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
279
from J, 1 00,000 to 3,686,000 stoves a year, worth about 150,000,000. The
stovi's made vary in size, frum tlic minute gas and ]>etruleum burnin^j aflairs
(with wliirli experiment is now making), ail tlie way tiiruugli tlie Jung list
ol l.ir.iic and siuail cooking-stoves, — with two, four, six, and eight holes
for licitics, and with (ixed iM)ilers and double ovens, — to the large ranges,
capalilc of cooking for the thousand guests of a large hotel, and the furnaces
for the basements of builtlings, capable of heating structures of every size,
irom a dwelling to a court-house. The largest fimis are in Albany, Troy,
I'hil.ulclphia, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Chicago, St.
Louis, Milwaukee, Boston, Norwich, I'rovidencc, Portland, Manchester, and
Wheeling. I'erhaps no persons have displayed greater energy in pushing the
inaniii.icture and sale of their wares than the stove-makers. Of the superior-
lu (if each new invention as it ai)peared the public has been (piickly and
thuroughly informeil through the meilium of the press and in other ways. The
nroduction in 1876 was distributed throughout the different States as fol-
lows : —
STATC.
Maine
New ILimpshirc .
ViTiniint ....
Massachusetts
Rhode IsKind
Connecticut . ...
New York ....
.Vcw Jersey ....
Pennsylvania
Maryland ....
Virginia ....
West Virginia
Georgia ....
Michigan ....
Ohio
Kentucky ....
Missouri ....
Illinois ....
Indiana ....
Wisconsin ....
Iowa
Kansas . . . , *
California ....
Total .
HO. or FACTORIIS,
NO. OF STOVES.
3
7.200
S
9,6c»
2
2,880
12
139.200
6
81,600
3
20,080
45
765,600
2
14,400
29
500,640
2
24,000
1
14,400
7
67,200
I
4,800
2
48,000
42
453.600
6
88,800
7
182,400
10
120,000
7
64,800
S
48,000
I
14.400
I
7,200
I
7,200
200
2,686,000
**»t**rTf^|
'$•
>»8o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Like the sewing-machine-makers, the stove-makers are indebted for part
of their popularity and large sales to the county fairs of the coun-
try, where they have had numerous and sharp competitions, which
advertised them extensively.
K
SAFES.
The subject of strong-boxes to secure val::able articles and money against
fire and theft attracted very little attention in this country until after the rise
The strong, of the commercial cities upon the coast. The strong-box, prc-
^°*- vious to 1820, was nothing more than a heavy oaken clicst. Its
contents were protected from robbery merely by a stout lock and the bhinder-
buss of its owner. Its only security against fire was the address ami the
strong muscles of the occupants of the building where a fire broke out. In
Europe, where wealth abounded, and the industrial arts had been devcloiK'd.
the people were scarcely any better off for strong-boxes. A few iron colTerj
with complicated locks were in use ; but the great majority of those who iiad
occasion to stow away valuables at all depended upon wooden chests and
their own personal vigilance for their protection. These chests were often-
times gilded over every inch of the visible surface, and decorated with paint-
ings, being very showy and costly articles of furniture. They were no
OF THE UNITED STATES.
281
indebted for part
fairs of the coun-
)mpetitions, which
ind money against
until after tlic rise
iC strong-box, prc-
oaken clicst. Its
: and tlic blundcr-
I address and the
re broke out. In
I been developed.
\ few iron colTcrj
of those who had
ooden chests and
bests were often-
orated with paint-
They were no
protection against fire ; and in this respect the world was no better off than
in the clays of King Priam of Troy, whose treasure, carried in a wooden box
witii 1 copper key, was left on the walls of Troy at the fall of the city, and
was dug from the calcined ruins by Dr. Schliemann in 1873, its contents half
melted and distorted by fire.
The earliest safes used in this country .vere imported from France about
1820 by Joseph Bouchaud, a merchant o. New York engaged in Earliest
very extensive commercial transactions. They were called fire- '"'"■
proof, iiiey were simply boxes of hard wood plated on the outside with
thick iron, and on the inside with sheet iron. Bands of iron two
• , , < • , r 1 , 1 Bouchaud.
inches wide covered the outside of the chests, crossing each
other at right angles, and being secured in place by heavy wrought-iron nails,
which penetrated through band, pla*e, and box, and were secured on the
inside by clinching. These boxes were bought by merchants and bankers in
large numbers for several years. James Conner, a type-founder of New- York
City, invented a better safe than this for his own use about this time, but does
not appear to have realized the value of the invention. Gypsum, or plaster
of Paris, had long been used in France for building fire-proof houses. Con-
ner was familiar with the qualities of this substance, plaster of Paris having
been at that day extensively used in making the moulds for casting stereotype-
plates ; and he applied it to the protection of an iron chest he had in his
office, and which he continued to use thereafter for many years. Had
Conner been visited with the calamity of a fire, he would have become
aware of the properties of his safe. As it was, its value was not made known
to the world : and the first manufacturer of safes of whom there is any ac-
coinit, Jesse Deland of New York, began making fire-proof strong-boxes, in
1826, of the Paris pattern ; that is, of wood plated with iron.
He patented one improvement upon this style of box, however, —
the coating of the wood with a mixture of clay, lime, plumbago, and mica,
to make it incombustible ; and he 'also thought of saturating the wood with
potasli, lye, and alum, for the same purpose. In 1833 Charles
J. (laylor patented the idea of using a lining of asbestos between
the iron plating and the wooden box. His asbestos fire-proof safes had a
large sale ; and one of them, preserving its contents in a fire at Thomaston,
Me., was dubbed a salamaniicr by some admiring individual ; and the name
has often been applied to safes since that date. Deland and Gaylor both
sold large numbers of their strong-boxes ; but there were only sixty of the
latter in use when the great fire of 1835 ^odk. place in New-York City, and
very few of them proved serviceable in the intense heat of that great confla-
gration. Something more efficient than that pattern was needed,
and inventors and chemists began to think of the matter, John
Scott invented another asbestos safe, and in 1837 Benjamin Sherwood got a
patent for one with charcoal and plasler-of- Paris filling.
Deland.
Gaylor.
Sherwood.
m
f- '
i'V
1
I;
Wm i||!j?
^i^
It
1- 1^ ■*
rin
282
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Herring.
It soon became evident that substances like fire-clay, asbestos, mica, iS:c
which were absolutely indestructible themselves, were not, after all, the li^lu
material for fire-proof safes. ' a hot fire they became heated to ludiiLss
and even to a wiiiie-heat thenisiives, and accordingly destroyed the liooks
jiapers, bank-notes, and other contents of the safes. Tiie need of the hour
was for somethinL' which siiould not conduct heat. In iSi^
Fitzgerald. . ■ , ,. , ^^
Daniel l"it/i;eraid invented the safe with outer and inner hoses
of iron, the space between being either vacant, or filled with plaster of i'aiis
mixed with water, and ])oured in. The jjlaster. setting haril, and lakin- ihe
water into combination, formed an excellent protecting material. When
subjected to heat, it gave out its water as steam, which is itself a vahialile
non-conductor ; and the contents of the safes were protecteil in a manner
previously unknown. Fitzgerald had a contest over his invention with Mr.
Conner, who now came forwartl to claim the merit of originating that hi\le of
safe. The courts confirmed the patent to Mr. Fitzgerakl, however, mi the
ground of equity and sound public policy, Mr. Conner not having made
l)ublic his idea, and thus secured the right to it. Knos \\'il(ler heromiiii,'
associated with Fitzgerald, the safes were introduced to the market a.-, the
"Wilder Patent Salamander Fire-Proof Safes." The patent was transferred
to ]}. G. Wilder in 1.S44. Mr. Silas C. Herring had jjetome
interested in this i)atent in 1S41, and had obtained the right to
make them ; which he still retained after 1844. Herring began in a small way
in the cellar of a Water-street store in New Vork, but soon became the prin-
cipal nianutacturer of safes in the I'niled States. Tiie business becoming
profitable, Roberts & Rich began the manufacture of chests with the jilaster-
of-I'aris filling also. This led to lawsuits and a compromise, by which both
firms were to carry on the manufacture. In 1S54 Herring & Company virtu-
ally abandoned the Wilder patent for one of their own. 'I'hey had advertised
for a better filling than plaster, and j)romised a thousand tlollars' reward lor
the discovery. Mr. Spear, a chemist of Philadelphia, found that chalk treated
with sulphuric acid, washed and dried, and then rammed into a safe in a fine
powder, had superior (pialities to plaster of Paris. It gave up its water of
combination more slowly and in less <iuantity, protecting the safe better, and
obviating a dangerous tendency of die Wilder idling, in fires, to fill the ^aie
with steam, and obliterate the precious writing in books and papers, ami also,
when in ordi ary use, to rust the safe by slow evaporation from day to day.
Herring & Company devoted themselves to utilizing this new
idea; and 15. C. Wilder, Roberts & Rich, and their suci essors.
manufacturetl under the old jjatent. Herring t(Jok a first premiuin at the
World's Fair in London. It is claimed by the firm, that, since their humlJe
beginning in 1841, they have matle and sold four million safes.
There have been a great many improvements in the salamander ciualities of
safes Since i860. The patents have been very numerous. Roberts & Rich,
Wilder.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
283
ami tlicir successors. Rich & Roff, Roff & Stearns, and Stearns & Marvin, con-
tiniKtl to experiment witii the Wilder patent ; but an improvement other
ii|)(in liie iiytirated plaster which they used was at len,^tli effected, '"ventors.
whcnliv the safes were filled with calcined plaster, rammed in dry, with small
liinips of alum scattered through the mass. Alum contains fifty ])er cent of
HMiir in ( ()ml)ination, whicii is given off only at a heat of 212° Fahrenheit.
Tin- tondemv to rust the safe has been obviate<l by this arrangement, and the
Marvin True-Slandartl safe is now made upon this principle.
IIF.RRING SAFK.
Among recent inventions are the following : the use of common salt for
filling, a cement filling witli small water-vessels stopped with glue or mucilage,
clay or concrete simply as non-conductors, air-spaces containing More recent
vessels of water to give off steam during a fire, the use of non- improve-
conducting material between the plates of the door and the door- """""•
casing, and a wall made in layers, thus. — a wooden inner casing, a layer of
felt, a metallic lining, a layer of cement, a water-chamber, a layer of cement,
and an external metallic casing. The safes made within the last ten years
have been extremely serviceable. In recent great fires in Boston, Chicago,
ami New York, they have repeatedly lirought their contents through unscathed,
though hidden in the burning ruins of buildings for two or three days. The
384
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
industry has now become very large. Factories have been started in Chicago
Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and elsewhere. Safes are manufactured at
an average cost of three hundred dollars, and, having been thus popularized
are purchased in immense numbers. None have ever been imported, cxceiit
the few strong-boxes brought from France about 1820: on the contrary.
MBRRING BURGLAR-PROOF SAFE.
many are now being exported, especially to South America, France, and
Germany.
To be fire-proof is not the only quality of a good safe, nor the only thing
which renders it in such universal demand. No one wants a safe now
Durgiar- uulcss it is at the same time burglar-proof. The first decided step
proof locki. jn ^hg direction of a box which would defy the adroit thief,
whose resources of drills, files, saws, gunpowder, sledge-hammers, wedges,
blow-pipes for softening steel, &c., are so varied, was taken by Mr. Lillie of
OF THE UNITED STATES.
285
Troy, N.Y., who was Herring's early competitor. Mr. Lillie employed thick
slabs of chilled cast-iron, pouring cast-iron over wroiight-iron Liiue's
ribs in their construction. Safes of this style were largely used invention.
by banks both for their large vaults and the inner strong-box, which constituted
only a single featine of the furniture of its interior. Lillie's chilled iron is still
larmly used ; but it has been penetrated with the drill, and blown up with
powder. Herring & Company, within the last fifteen years, have adopted
the plan of using an external casing of boiler-plate, and an inner casing of
steel, filling the intermediate space with Franklinite, the hardest of all known
ores. This safe has defied the drili-and-file burglars who once penetrated to
bank-safes by digging under the vault in secret, and operating at leisure on the
floor, or by working in from an adjoining building. They have been thrown
into despair by the use of Franklinite, and are driven to operate solely on the
lock anil the doors of the safe and vault. The doors and locks having now
liLcn made so tight that gunpowder cannot be blown into the crevices and
exploded, a safe completely burglar and fire proof seems to have been secured.
Joseph L, Hall of Cincinnati, who established the business of safe-making in
that city in 1848, also brought out a good safe. The company which manu-
factures them employs walls of alternate plates of iron, welded iron and steel,
and carbonized, decarbonized, and crystal steel, the whole united by bolts from
the inside. What new resources the burglars may bring to bear against the
strong-box can only be learned by time ; but, for the present, the race of
malignants appears to be completely defeated.
As the subject of locks will be treated elsewhere, nothing further need be
said about them.
IRON BRIDGES. . "'
The construction of this class of engineering works of iron and steel is
one of the new industries of the United States. It has come into being
within the last thirty years, and has attained its importance
within the last fifteen. It is now one of the ten or twelve princi- making a
pal iron and steel consuming industries of the country. Before "«"""-
the stoppage of railroad-building in 1873 by the panic of that
year, 150,000 tons of pig-metal were absorbed annually in the iron-bridge
factories.
With rare exceptions, all the early long bridges of the country were of
wood. The shcjrt bridges were generally of wood ; but here and there, on
well -traversed rural roads or city streets, bridges were occasionally wood
built of stone, with massive arches and rising roadway. In 18 10 bridges.
there were eight bridges in the country built on the suspension principle, the
plank roadway in each being supported by two heavy chains hung across the
stream, passing over tall stone towers on the shore, and anchoring themselves
in a mass of masonry back of the towers. The first of these bridges was built
286
IND US TRIAL HIS TOR Y
in 1 80 1 over Jacob's Creek. A patent for these was obtained by janies
Kinlay in 1808. 'I'iie cliief of tiie eigiit referred to were over tlie Falls of d^.
S( hiiylkill, with 306 feet span ; over the Potomac, at C'limberland, Md., with
130 feet span ; over the Brandywine, at Wilmington, with 145 feet span ; imd
over the Potomac, near Washington. The suspension principle was first
applied to bridges in the United States. The English engineers did not take
up the idea until 1814. Wood, however, was the pojMilar material for briilgos.
It was easily worked, did not cost much, and was sufficiently ser%iccal)k' for
the travel of that age. Even wooden bridges were not built where they i ould
be avoided, because few localities were rich enough to bear the expense of
them. Streams, lakes, and bays were forded or ferried, whenever possil)le.
The inscription on a crumbling gravestone in an ancient graveyard at Water-
town, Mass., " He built the famous bridge over the Charles River in thi-, town "
(a little wooden affair, only thirty feet long), shows how rare the briiii;e-
builders were in early times, and how much of an incident it was to tlirow a
roadway over a stream.
The toll-bridges built along from 1810 to 1840 by the private companies
chartered for the purpose by the legislatures, were, almost without
exception, of wood.
With the era of railroad and canal building, bridge-building received an
impetus, and became a special art. Highways hatl to be carried across canals,
and railways across ravines ; and the country became stocked
with bridges. These, again, were generally of wood ; and a gnat
deal of ingenuity was expended in the invention of wooden
framework which would have the requisite stiffness and strength
for sjianning 200 and 250 feet chasms, and at the same time
consume the smallest amount of material in the structure. Howe, Purr, Long,
and McCallum became known as inventors of successful trusses for tiic pur-
poses of the railroads and canals, and their patterns were extensively utilized
in bridges. The wooden bridges were heavy, clumsy, and imornamental, and,
Defects of ""*'' ^'^^' companies knew how to protect them from the wcatlicr
wood and from fire, short-lived. It may be said, however, that they
bridges. vvcrc always favorites with the railroad comi)anies and munit ipal
corporations, because of their comparative cheapness, and they are still, and
are being largely used to-day. Notable bridges of wood have been built, even
of late years, since the passion has been for a different material. The bridge
at 15ellows Falls, and the Susquehanna Bridge, put up by, the I'hiladcliihin,
Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad Compaiiy at a cost of $2,000,000, with
2^0 feet spans, are among the number.
When sub- '' ' . , . , i i r
ject first en- About 1 845 attention in this country was drawn to the value ol
gaged atten- jron for bridge-building. The American idea of chain-bridges had
been adopted abroad, and the use of wire was substituted in
them for that of iron chains, Wrought-iron beams were being largely used
Toll-bridges.
Railroads
and canals
gave great
impetus to
this indus-
try.
m
OF THE UNITED STATES.
387
in the construction of
houses and stores. Iron
roils were being freely
intioihiced into wooden
trus>t's and into roofs.
The additional lightness
and strength of structure
pained by the use of
iron caused engineers to
study the capacities of
this metal as the sole
material for trusses and
framework. Early exper-
Kxi)eriments iments.
in Kurope to determine
the tensile strength of
materials gave an im-
petus to the growing
tendency. The conse-
quence was, that a num-
ber of iron-makers in
different parts of the
country made a few
short iron-truss bridges
of angle and plate iron
ami stout bars, and put
them up for railroad
companies over short
s])ans as experiments.
Tlrere was considerable
popular doubt as to the
behavior of iron frame-
work in the cold of
winter and extreme heat
of smumer ; anil confi-
dence, always a jilant of
slow growth, w^s not
conceded to the new
structures until after
years of trial. About
tile time of the war they
be_i,'an to come into gen-
eral use on railroads and canals.
i'
Jiilfi
t4
p
1
W'
■' ♦';■
m
2S8
/A7J I 'S TKIA I. HIS rOK Y
A new era of suspension-bridges began al)out tlic same time as interest
awoke in iron-truss bridges. 'Die needs of tiie railway system of tiic 1 .:^lrrn
Suspension- States reijuired the crossing of tiie eliasm of tlie Niagara Ki\i.;at
bridges. some jjoint near tlie I-'alls. John A. Roebling, an .Amcri( an tiirj.
neer, proposed a suspension-bridge of wire below the Falls. So nun li ahility
was manifested in his plans, that he obtained the contract to build tiu' l.iiil.r(,
against the competition of all the noted builders of Imi'IukI
Roebling. . ' ■•",->''inii,
including Sir James l-'airbarn. The structure was erected alidut
tiie year 1.S46 with 82 1 feet span, the material being sui)plied by the l'ii(iiii\.
ville Uridge Works of Pennsylvania. Roebling afterward jnit uj) tlie Cim inn.ui
and Covington llridge, with 1,057 fei't span. It was completed in iSdi.
Niagara River was afterwards spanned by another suspension-bridge, called the
" Clifton," 1,268 feet long from tower to tower. It was a less important sinic-
ture than tlie former, however, as it was designed only for wagon-travel. I'cw
suspension-bridges have been put up besides these. The preference is fur the
other style of structure.
Uj) to 1862 all the iron-truss bridges built were of short span. 'Ijie
St-huylkill Bridge, with spans of 192 feet, and the Cireen River and the Monon-
gahela. with sjians of 200 feet (the latter built by.Mbert l-ink), were the longest
in the United States. In 1862 the Steubenville Bridge was designed by J. II,
First long Linville, containing one span 320 feet long. This was the jiioneer
spans. Qf long-span structures. The Monongahela Bridge at l'ilts!)urgli,
with spans of 260 feet, was undertaken the same )ear. These structures were
closely studied by engineers in all the States. Each one was an experiment,
recpiiring special tests of material, special rolling-mills to get out the angle ;uh1
T iron, sjiecial patterns of plates and beams, and sejjarate appliances for erec-
tion. They were all truss bridges, the plates and beams being fasteiieil
together by riveting, and the bars and rods being fitted to their jjlaces to br-K e
the structure by nuts and screws. After the completion and success of tlK>e
works the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad orilered two long-span bridges for tluir
road, one of which was built at I'arkersburgh, with two spans of 34S feet, luiir
of 200 feet, and several shorter ones. The other was erected at Bellaire, ;ii x
cost of Si, 000,000. It had one span of 348 feet, one of 250, four of 200 ftet,
and a number of 107 feet spans, the approach consisting of forty three stone
arches of twenty-eight feet four inches each. Nothing has seemed impossible
since the construction of these works. A general introduction of large iron
bridges has taken place accordingly in all parts of the country, but especially
in the West. The wooden structures li.ave been taken away as they have lie-
_ , ., , come worn out or shattered by freshets, and have been replaced
Exploits of / ' I
the West in with thc lighter and more substantial bridges of iron. New roads
bridge- \iX),\Q bccn generally built with iron viadticts only.
The West has been thc theatre of thc greatest exploits in
bridge-building up to the i)resent time, because of- thc greater necessity for tho
OF THE UXfTF.n STATES.
289
creation of via d nets
a(•r()^- j,'reat streams. In
,867 .1 tranie-bridgc was
bcyiiii .icross the Ohio
RiviT.it Louisville, which
took three years to coni-
[liitr, having spans of
400 li-i't ; anil the New-
|ioit and Cincinnati
liriil^i' was erected
alidiii tiie same time.
with a ,t;reat span of 420
kct, which remains to
the present time the
ari,'ist truss in the
rnittd States. A very
intcn-ting structure was
built at St. Joseph, Mo.,
in i>'<72-73, across the
Missouri River. The
(urri.'nl of the river is
of iVij^litful velocity and
torcc at this point, ami
till' work of constructing
tiic piers was a great
engineering task. I n
order to prepare the
rivir to receive the •
l)riilj,'c it was necessary
to (onfinc the current
to a specific channel,
so tliat it might not af-
terward wear away the
aliutnients. This was
successfully done b y
Col. K. I), Mason, the
engineer in charge ; a
sand l)ar more than a
mile long and half a mile
»idc, containing 8,000,-
000 cubic yards of earth,
being removed in the
operation. The bridge is
'j345 fi-"<-'t long from bank to bank, and cost
■»r''y^yr'||y|
390
IND US TRIA I. ins TOti Y
/ 1, 000.000. Another great bridge was thrown across the Missouri at St. Charles
for the St. Louis, Kansas-City, and Northern Short-Line Railroad, by a .oin.
pany which leases it to the road at a perpetual rental of $170,000 a viar
The work is a mile and a (juarter long, cost $2,250,000, and is tin.' inusi
structure of its class in the country. The approaches to the bridge hroiicr
are over iron trestles, of which there are forty each side of the stream ; anil
the stream is crossed by seven trusses, two of 305 feet s'pan, two of ^of),',, two
of 317^. and one of 321)}. In this structure are employed the two stvlos of
bridge used upon railroads and highways. The central three spans aro
" through " spans, technically so called, because they have the track on a nvel
with the lower chords : the others are " deck " spans, having the trai k on a
level with the upper chords. The ([uantity of iron useil was 7,690,000 pounds,
and every bar and ])late was tested uj) to 20,000 jjounds to the sipiare in( h.
The greatest bridge of all in the West crosses the greatest river of the n pul)-
lic at St. Ix)uis, and is adapted both to railway and ordinary travel. It is (oni-
St. LouU posed of three spans, ^ — two 502 feet in length, and one of 520 feet.
Bridge. — which are «Tossed by steel tubular an lies, supporting a (IouIjIc
roadway, one for railway and the other for wagon and foot travel. l'.a( h an h
is composed of cast-steel tubes twelve feet in length, tliere being four sits of
tubes in each arch, — two above to form the upper i hord, and two hilow to
form the lower chord, the chords being united vertii ally by /ig/ag bracing, and
laterally by huge iron rods. The structure is really a double briilge, or two
bridges side by side. Each span is accordingly crossed by two arches. Work
was begun upon this great viaduct in .August, 1867, under the sujjcr-
vision of Capt. James 15. I"]ads, its originator and engineer ; and
the superstructure was completed in April, 1874, at a total cost of $12,000,000.
The materials used in construction were supplied under contract by the Key
stone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Every beam, tube. liar.
Construction and bolt was fitted to its place with microscopic exactitude before
ofthebridge. jj jgfj j^j. ^orks for tlic scenc of the bridge. The piers of this
work were built by the process employed at St. Joseph, Mo., and aflerwards
on the P'ast River at New- York City. It is called the pleuro-pneuniatic It
was necessary to excavate the bed of the river down to the solid rock, a
distance of 119 feet below ordinary high-water line. In order to accomplish
this, huge caissons of wood and iron were built, eighty-two feet long, sixty
wide, and twenty-eight feet high when launched, open below like diving-bells.
The masonry of the pier was built upon the caisson, so as to be constantly
above the surface of the water as the caisson slowly settled down into the
water to the mud, and then into the excavation made for it by the workmen
in the open air-chamber below. The pressure of air in this chamber was fifty-
two feet to the scpiare inch. It was very trying to the workmen ; but this plan
of building a pier in deep water proved very efficient and successful. lOads's
sand-pump, invented to assist in excavating the bed of the river, has since
Eadi.
iMiIy surpassc
OF niK UNITED STATES.
391
|)cc()iiii.- famous. This bridge has thu longest existing spans of its class in tho
III the Ivist there have been no great bridges, except the International at
Niagara Falls, until recently. A suspension-bridge, however, is now building
ai Ncw-York City, over the East River, to Mrooklyn, which not Bait-riv«r
only surpasses any work of its class in the country, but* in the Bridge.
world. Tiie great stone towers for this work are 260 feet high, and the bridge-
w,u will l)t.' suspended in the air at a distance of 130 feet from the water, —
a iKi^lit sufficient to allow vessels of all sizes to pass without striking a spar,
c\(i|it in the case of a few of the great siiiling-ships in the California and
( hin.i trades, and these will seldom have occasion to pass tliis point. 'The
iliM.mi c from tower to tower is 1,620 feet, and to the New- York and Brooklyn
anilii'i igcs from the towers 1,337 ''"'' '^.?7 '"-'^'^ respectively. From end to en<l
tlu' liiiiige will be over a mile in length. It will weigh 3,600 tons, and hold
..)i«) tons of freight. This great l)ridgc was begun in 1870, and at this time
halt of the supporting cables are laid. It will retiiiire a year to lay the other
hall, tlie cables being strung antl built ui) wire by wire. The total cost will be
,< 1 3,000,000. The bridge w;is begun by John A. Roebling, its i)rojector, and
sine e his death is being carried on by his son, (,'ol. W. A. Roebling.
Aniorit an construe live talent has found a problem worthy of its lowers
in gr.ippling with the subjet t of crossing the great streams of the republic.
Kvcrv venture so far h;is been attendeil with » reditable success. The engi-
neers iiave had a great advantage in the fact that American iron is of superior
tiiiai ity, which enables them to impart greater lightness to the cables and
trusses of bridges, without loss of strength, with, in fiict, a gain of strength,
jincc the weiglit of the structure is diminished. Kvery difficulty so far has
licLii solveil by the ready inv tion of engineers and the intelligence and
tare of the workmen. It is im[)ossible to tell what gigantic work may not yet
\k attempted. The Newport Bridge at (.'incinnati, with its jjcerless truss of
4:0 feet, was once considered the acme of effort ; but the steel arches at St.
i,iniis have passed it ; and a corner-stone has been laid for a " deck " bridge
at I'utighkeepsie, N.Y., designed by Linville, like the one at Newixjrt, standing
11)0 icet above the water, with five sj)ans of 525 feet each. But who shall siiy
liiat American builders will stop even with 525-feei trussts? or who can safely
pri'dic t that the Brooklyn Bridge is the limit of ix)ssibility in the direction
of suspension-bridges ?
Iron bridges of small size for general purposes are now largely manufac-
tured as a regular industry in all parts of the country, except the South.
There are no factories at present south of Mason and Dixon's
Iron-bridffe '
Line. That there will be in a very few years there can be little buiidins •
doubt, owing to the needs of the Southern States, and their abvm- «■««"•" •«>-
ilant cos', iron, and water-power. American bridges find the "* ^'
railways, of course, their principal consumers; but the purely agricultural
i\
i'th
•fl-
it:
■A '■; ; i','J
5()2
/,\7'r.V7A'/.// ///.v /v '/,')■
inn lar^c' Imurs,
and many l)riil;;(.-s
ari' liciiiK i'xi"Mi(i|
to Canad;! .iml
Soiitli Aiiwrna,
Tlu' <()m|panii.N m-
KaKi'd ill iIk' iii.iii-
iiliK lure are at prus-
rut (inly t\Mi,;y-
tliii'i' ill mimln.r;
tlic business ri'inir-
ing large caiiitil, a
vast anuiiiiit ui'
Iieavy and i \|n'n-
sive niacliiiKTv, ami
the best enyiiuxiiiif,'
talent.
esting to
'Ik' old |)i
till' i\|ie (orni
,1 frame ami \\
inked by palti
rolln- over it.
(i| wood or iroi
hr(iii:;lil the typ
iiu'Mi upon this,
liii' plate, or pi,
'ii.nlr to run tile
'" ink it a;.,Min ni
■nil by an elb(
-'.raij^htening of
liiwii the platen
«.is t.'ic one use
'in printers. I!
HTiiKiiis and pan
u.is >u( h a prodij
'lays, and all line
presses of this ^,
(•>/■ 77/ f< UXITEP STATES.
293
I Ik- oM i)rcHs used l)y ilit- (ir>.t printers was merely a lalik, upoii whic h
thi> ivpe iDriniMK llie page to l»e priiilid was laid, lieiny Ixjiiiid tonitlier l)y
,1 tr.iiiR' ami wedges into what is calleil a "form." 'I'lie tvi)e wa>.
, , . , , , ,, D«»cTlptlon
iiikid by iiattmy it with an mkmg-hall, or riiiiiimK an inking oi om preii.
uilli r over it. The paper was laid on Ity hand, and a tiat pl.iie ■'"'modeoi
I ' I I . I • , worklnif It.
,il w.Kid or iron was hroajjlit down on it l>y inrninj; a s< rew, wiiu h
l,riiii:,hl the tvpe tmiler pressure. '!"he ICarl of .Sianliope invented an improve-
iiRiit upon this, by whii li a lever was used in « onneclion with the screw, .iiid
niiTKNii'm.'.s HKsr I'mxir.
liii- |i!,ite. or platen, was brought down more (luickly ; .md a carriaye was
■luiir to run the form out from under the platen after tlie impression, so as
ii Milk it again more easily. 'I'he serew was afterwards superseded by a lever
iiid liy an elbow joint of iron, the
-!r.iij4iuening of the joint bringing
iiiuii the platen. This sort of |)rcss
A,b tlie one used by the early Ameri-
Mii jirinters. Hooks, newspajjers. the
-iriiiuns and jiamphlets of which there
«.l^ >ii(h a i)rodigious number in early
iliys, and all fine work, were punted on
passes of this general description. 'I'he pattern has not gone out of use
'"il
%
A
tr ;■-,•■■'<
I'l
■ 1
..i'/
.ii,U. L,^,,j
294
IND US TRIA L HIS TOK V
OF THE UNITED STATES.
295
Hoe.
even yet. It is a convenient style of machine for printing posters, placards,
fe., in small offices.
The first step in advance was in 1 790, when the idea of a cylinder press
was broached. The original style of machine never came into First cyiin-
use : but the idea was a good one, and it became tb'. I'leme of ^"^ p''*'-
numerous inventors. A Saxon by the name of rrcderick Konig built the
first ivlinder press to run by steam in 1814 for " The London
Times."' This style of press was introduced into the United States
in 1830 by Robert Hoe, and Serono Newton his partner, who built the first
press in use in the country. Mr. Hoe
imi.rovcd this [)ress immensely ; and
iiis SO'- Ricliard M. Hoe, has added
to ' capacities still more. The
prin'iple of the original cylinder
press was to cause the table bearing
the I'orni to move horizontally back
and forth under a large cylinder.
This cylinder was supplied with
paper, a sheet at a time, tlie paper
being held to the surface of the
cylinder with tapes strung taut over
it. .\s the form went under the
cylinder, tlie paper, moving at the
same rate of speed, was brought
into contact with it with pressure,
and an impression taken. The form
flew l)ack under the cylinder again,
when a depressed part of the surface of the latter was presented to it, to
advance again for another impression. This was called technically the single-
cylinder press. A number of American inventors improved the machine as
well as Hoe, — Campbell, Babcock, and others among the number, — and
it iias been made capable of printing from two thousand to three thousand
newspapers an hour.
In 1830 and 1836 Isaac Adams of Boston patented the press which has
always been called by his name, and which has not yet been superseded in
value for book-work and fine printing. In tiiis machine the table
holding the form rises and falls vertically through the action of
a powerful toggle-joint below it, making a (piiet ami strong impression on the
paper.
The cylinder press was improved by Richard M. Hoe in 1847 Hoe's im-
in a new and extraordinary way. The type was locked up in a provement*
fonn called a " turtle," from its resemblance to the back of that '" '"♦'•
amphibian. The turtle was curved, and was made so that the form could be
FRANKLIN PRESS.
V
.'
;:ji;?:
JQ
396 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
fitted to the surface of a large cyliniler, and made to revolve at any rate
of speed without flyi'.ig off, or parting witii its type. Hoe enormou^lv in-
creased the capacity ot ilu-
cylinder press by tlij^ i„.
vention. The paper \va>
Ijresenled to the form ,is
tiie latter rcvolveil u])on tic
big cylinder by a uiuuIict
of small cylinders, eat h u-
tended by a separate work-
man. The feediiu
:y!m-
STANSnrRV HAND-PRESS.
ders have been as iiigli as
eight, ten, and twelve in
number. The monster 1 ioe
press lately removed Iroin
the press-room of ■• Hie
Tribune " office at Nov
York, to make way lur a
more modern machine, wa->
of the ten-cylinder pattern.
The twelve-cylinder ]lre^^
would print about four hun-
dred papers a minute, or
twenty-four thousand an
hour. The adoi)tion ot the
Hoe press by "The London
Times" showed its value.
The next and last step forward has been the ]5crfection of the wcl)-])ress.
This is an .American invention, and is to be credited to William \. liiillock
of Philadelphia, who got a patent for it in 186 1, and pateiUed it
in jMigland in 1862. The idea has been taken up abroail by
Walter of '"'Hie London 'J'imes " and others; but the American inventors still
retain the lead in the construction of the machine. Hoe & Company and
Camjibell have both ]ierfected wcl.i-])resses of their own, which are in some
respects better than JJullock's. The princijjle upon which these presses are
Hoe and Bui- ■-^^<^'-' '^^ ^o f<^*-'<l the pajjcr to the press from a huge roll, or weh,
lock presses upon which there is wound up from three to five miles of iiajier.
described. Lightning-like shears in the press cut off the sheets from the
roll, either before they are printed, as in the lUilIock press, or afterwards, as in
the others. The forms are stereotyped, and mounted on two large rollers ;
those for one side of the newspaper on one roller, and those for the other side
of the sheet on the other. The pa])er goes to one roller, and receives the
impression of one set of forms, and then goes to the other, and is printed on
^rnp^TTi
OF THE UNJTJ-.n STATES.
397
ihc oilier side, and
passes on to tlie fly,
to la: delivered to
the men who carry
ihc ji.ipers to the
ful(iin.:;-room. The
iloe presses have a
cipiKity of 18,000
impressions with
iiildcr M\ liour, and
:5,ooo without this
.uta( hinent. Tiie
C.implieli ])ress has
acajKiriiy of 35,000,
Imt is generally op-
cratcil with a fokl-
ini;-niarhine, which
R'dmes its work
Id 10,000 an hour.
Tiie advantage of
this • le of press is
111)1 much in the \
luiniivT of impres- "
Minis per hour as in ^
the saving of tiie
original cost of the
m.KJiine, and e.\-
|nnsos of operation.
A well- press is well
»L'i\(.(l by two or
iliiee men, while the
• 'M style of Hoe
pros of the same
lapacity would re-
'I'lire ten or twelve
men.
The United States
i^ i;reatly interested
111 the progress of
ilie printing-press,
liccause the news-
[laper and the book
have now become
\\i \\\.
m
.j^
\
■
u
298
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
essentials in the life of every intelligent person, and the cheapening of tiic pro-
cesses of making them is of vital importance to the welfare and progress of
our beloved ((nin-
try and its inlial)-
itants. When this
Importance < 'l^Mp-
of printing- e 11 i n y
press. "
can hi.'
done by the cmjiio) ■
ment of macliiiurv,
instead of by iIk
cheapenini; of the
wages of labor, the
progress made is
wholesome and sat-
isfiictory.
WIKK.
The mannfai turc
of wire is a vltv
ancient art ; hut
the metal originally
used was almost ex-
clusively cither gold
or silver, and malle-
ability was taken ad-
vantage of in the
production of the wire rather than ductility. The metal was hammered out
into thin sheets, and then cut into narrow slips, or slivers, which were after-
Ancient wards rounded by hammering. Thf> fabled net of Vulcan wa^
wire-nnak- made of sucli wire. Fabrics were also wo\cn of it ; and a golden
"** garment weighing thirty ..x povnds, made from wire of this son.
was found in the tomb of the wife of the Kmperor Monorius when opened
at Rome in 1544. An allusion is made in the Book of Exodus to the fact
that "they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wire," for deco
rating the rich garments of the priests. " The beautifully-twined tassels ot
solid gold " of the ^Cgis, referred to in the " Iliad ;" the zone which Juno |)ul
on to cajitivate Jupiter, —
" .Ml around
A huiulred ta.sscls hung, rare works of art.
All gold, each one a hundred o.xcn's price ; "
and the wonderful head-dress of a profusion 01 gold chains found by Schlie-
tnann at Troy, — were all made of hammered wire.
NEWSIAIKH 1 KDOr-IRESS.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
299
It was not until some time after 1300 that wire-drawing became an art.
A race of wire-drawers, who made iron wire by hand, and afterwards by water-
nowcr, ilien sprang up in (Germany, and became famous in l']urope. Nurem-
lier" was the great centre of the industry. It was introduced ^ire-
tlaiKc into ICngland about the middle of the fifteenth century, drawing in
111 the original machine processes the wire was stretched out from "^'""
>lcmler iron bars by pincers driven by water-power, which came forward and
(aimht the wire and retired, and then, letting go, came forward again and took
aiiotluT hold, to retire again. England afterwards ai)])licd steam-power to the
(Irawinu-process, and then made use of the drawing-jilate. She became in
tunc the i>rincii)al wire-making nation, from the fact that her policy was
steadiiv directed to the breaking-down of the Dutch and (Jcrman industries,
and to tlie development of her own. In the jiresent century she has furnished
wire to all the world, and especially to the United States and the other coun-
rics of the AmericiiU continent. Her manufacturers bid eagerly for contracts
lor >ui)|ilies for telegraph companies and suspension-bridges on this continent,
and have been in the past very successful in securing contracts against all
(.ompctitors.
This industry was introduced into the United States early in the present cen-
tiirv. It gained very little headway until a very recent date. 'I'liere was litde
demand for iron wire at first ; and when the telegraph was invented vvire-mak-
hv an American, and a new and extraordinary demand for wire ing in United
was thus cre.ited, foreign competition was too powerful. Factories '"*"=*•
were, iiowever, started in iJoston, Worcester, Providence, New York, and other
( itics ; and the industry has now become a considerable one, and successfully
competes for most of the large American contracts. It is singular, however,
that, while there has been immense progress in this country in every other
in(hl^tr\•, in this one very few new ideas have been evolved. Up to 1874
there had been only five patents issued concerning wire out of the 146,119
recorded up to that date. In 1874, however, twelve patents were issued.
The uses of wire are v^'ss constantly increasing. It would seem as if there
weic nothing like wire fof a thousand i)urposes for which hemp, and iron
chains and bars, cobwebs, and other things, have been employed, uses made
Wire lias now for forty years been twisted into cables for support- °' "'""■
iiiL,' l)ridges, hoisting elevators in mines and buildings, securing anchors,
ri_;'giiig, and guns, and threading the oceans anil seas for telegraph communica-
tion. For cal)les and ropes it is far lighter than hempen cordage, and more
easily handled. ICight-inch hawsers of steel wire have recently been made in
iaii^iaiul to take the place of the enormous twenty-five-inch hawsers used on
iron elads. The steel hawser weighs only one-third as much as the one of
hemp, and is handled by twelve men ; whereas the other takes forty-eight.
Wire is the universal material for telegraph and telephone lines. It is drawn
for all kinds of pins and needles, for the wire cards used in spinning, for the
■■'4f
300
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
strings of pianos, and for fences, and is woven by machinery for a great \ arictv
of jjurposes. Recent deep-sea soundings iiave been made wi'.ii piaiio-wirL'
which have been a hundreil times more satisfactory than any ever beruix' made
with cords and rope. (Jold anil silver wire for chains, and filigicL-worls
and lace, are extensively used in the decorative arts ; and platinum wire Is
Wire for drawn out as fine as a cobweb for the purposes of the ( rosscd
telescopes. j^^irs in the telescope. 'J"he finest wire made is for the telescope.
An ingot of platinum is surrounded with silver, and tlie compouiKJ wire
drawn down to the finest point. The silver is then ilissolvcd with nitric ai id,
leaving the microscoi)ic thread of platinum behind. Wire thus made has beep
as fine as Tg,',iTir of an inch.
WASI1I>1:RN U MOEN WIRE-WOHKS, WOULKSTER, MASS.
The process of wire-drawing is sim])le. I'or ordinary commercial wire, iron
rods of tough quality are bent into coils, and put into large tumbling l)Oxcs or
Processor rotating cylinders, with water and gravel to remove the scale. Tliey
wire-draw- are hcated and re-rolieil until they are reduced to a coarse wire of
'"'■ about an eighth of an inch in diameter. 'I'iiey are then passc<l
cold through the draw plate. This is a piece of hardened steel jjierccd with a
large number of tapering holes, the smallest j^art. of eacli hole being on the
side from which the wire emerges. The end of the wire, being carried tlirough
the largest hole, is attached to a reel, and the rod drawn througli with power at
the rate of from sixty to two himdred feet a minute, stretching it, and rcdiK iiig
its size. It is then i)assed through a smaller hole, and the process is repealed
until the requisite size of wire is obtained. The wire is often passed through
ten, fifteen, thirty, and even more holes, to get it down to the requisite fineness.
The continued drawing rendering the wire brittle, it is necessary to anneal it
several times during the process of reduction to make it soft. It is heated
OF THE UNITED STATES.
"tf^
301
to redness in coils, and allowed to cool gradually in kilns. Twenty-four hours
jj tlio usual length of time for cooling for the smaller wires. 1 ne scale is
ri'imncd after each annealing by pickling in dilute oil of vitriol.
C Mst-steel wire is made from rods hammered to a (|uarter-inch diameter
|)V the tilt-iiamnier. It makes the toughest wire known ; and it will stand a
strain of about 200,000 pounds to the stjuare inch against 100,000 cast-sieei
noiiml;;, which is the strain the best iron wire will endure to the ^"*-
s(jiinrc inch. Spurious gold wire is made by heating copper wire to redness,
ami exposing it to the fumes of zinc, which converts the exterior of the wire
into lirass. American inventors have brought out a wire with a steel core and
(dlHier exterior, which is claimed to have advantages for telegraphy. In 1858
Henry Waterman invented a plan for tempering flat steel wire for crinolines
(made by drawing, and rolling afterwards), vvl-.ich reduced the cost of temper-
ing from three dollars to three cents a poimd. Previously the wire had been
voiind into great volute coils, interlaced with iron wire, and in this form
exposed to the baths, &c., of the tempering process. Waterman drew the wire
tlirougii the heating-furnace directly into the hardening bath by machinery.
His process is applied to all temperefl-steel wire now.
Wire-drawing has not received the conspicuous development in the United
States to which it is entitled, both because of foreign competition and of the
limited uses of wire. Present indications point to an enlargement oeveiop-
of tiie industry on account of the growing applications of wire, ment of in-
ane! liie probability of finding a large market for the American "* '^'
article in South America and .\ustralia. If ("hina and Japan would introduce
tlie telegraph generally, a great impetus would be given to the factories of this
coinUry.
WATER-WHF.KLS.
The rugged ranges of mountains and hills, and the generally broken quality
of tiic surface of the country of all the States lying along the .Atlantic coast
ot" tills country, have been to our people a boon of decided value.
Causes which lie ■?() far away behind the setting of the stage upon ^,tgj.
which the incitlents of history take place as to be invisible to the power in
l)hysical eye, and almost to the mind, often exercise the most ^^
powerful of influencer. upon all that occurs. A large part of the
wonderful progress of the American people in industry and civilization is due
to the rugged nature of the territory in which the first colonies of the republic
were planted. The speculative philosopher can see in the peculiarities of
tliat territory the germs even of American independence and the free institu-
tions which the people set up here after independence had been secured ; for,
on a comparison of the different races and countries of history, it is found,
that, in general, the mountains and hills have always been the seat of the
greatest human liberty antl progress, whereas the plains have been the basis
''"^llij
"ll'rf'n
1; ^lM*'-L
lit ^ : V, ; i '
't:-'1t!iJ
309.
Av/? d '^ rA'//i /. ///5 roA' y
and New
England.
Water-
power in
the West.
of whatever indolence and slavery the world has seen. .A real connec tit)n ( an
be traced between the free and aggressive spirit of the early colonists of the
North and the character of the region they inhabited, lint the hills sww of
more immediate value in the influence they exerted upon material pn)L,ross.
'I'hey filled the States they permeated with an unparalleled liixuriaiK c of
water-power, which was of incalculable value in enabling the jieople to inaivi-
facture, and to build mills and factories and shops of all kinds, and tiiiis make
for themselves those implements and goods which are to every great natinn
an important source of its culture anil power.
At New-Vork City, and along the flat seacoast of the coiintr\-, wiiulmills
were employed by the early inhabitants to grind their grain, and saw their
E ri mill 'i""''^"'' '< '"^"^l tliose (juaint relics of a bygone age are still in use-
in New York among the peoi)le on the New-Kngland coast and the omlying
islands of that region. They have no waterfalls, because tlie
country is too flat. In the interior there has been from the
beginning, in all the arable States except Illinois, an almost inexhaustible
supply of water-power ; and all the heavy machinery of the interior was pro-
pelled by it for two hundred years. This water-power has l)een
eagerly taken up, and it has given rise to a myriad of llourisiiiiin
cities and villages in different parts of the country. It has been
improved by the building of costly dams to regulate the flow of water so tliat
it might not run to waste, and the construction of great storage reservoirs to
hoard the accumulations of the wet seasons. A few streams like the Merrimack,
the Quinebaug, the Willimantic, the (lenesee, and the Owasco, have l)e( oine
the seat of extraordinary aggregations of capital and labor. Yet so abundant
is the republic's endowment of this cheap and serviceable power, that i)rol)ably
not one-half of that which is available in the ountry is yet harnessed for the
service of man. It is only in the East that it is well taken up.
Up to within forty years, all the wheels used in the United States for utiliz-
ing the power of mill-streams were of wood. They were huge, heavy, clumsy
Wood structures, twenty, thirty, and forty feet in diameter, — pictur'-'sque
wheels. enough when taken together with the red mills by the side of
which they hung, and the sparkling waterfalls whii:h they took their powei
from, but still liable to get out of order, to be choked with ice in the winter,
and to waste almost as much power as they saved. They were of four (lasses.
— the undershot, the overshot, the breast-wheel, and the suspended or tide
wheel. The former were very little used, because they utilized only fioui
twenty-five to thirty-three per cent of the force of the stream. They were hung
near the fall ; and the water, issuing from the bottom of the dam with ijreat
velocity through a floodgate, acted against the floats, or paddles, of the bij-
wheel. They were a very crude type of motive-power. The breast-wheel was
the undershot, placed in actual contact with the fall, so that about one-iiuarter
of the circumference was acted upon directly by the water of the fall. Tiie
- «ri
OF THE UNITED STATES.
303
water acted upon this class of wheels both by gravity and momentum. About
sixty-l'ivc per cent of the i)ower of the water was saveil in a wheel from sixteen
to twciity-five feet in diameter. 'I'he suspended wheel is hung in the current
of tliL' stream, and is simply an undershot, intended to take advantage of the
ilow ol the tide back antl forth. The overshot was the most powiyful of the
i,mr I lasses of wooilen wheels. This type is still largely used. The wheel is
>ul)liliL(l with buckets on the circumference instead of paddles, and receives
It, water tlirough a pipe or raceway from above. It may be used with any size
,,1 fall from ten to fifty feet high ; and it is said that one is in use in the Isle of
Man \viii<h has the enormous diameter of seventy-two feet and a half, and a
lircailtli of six. The disadvantage of the wheel is, that it is always heavily
loadiii with water, which causes it to bear heavily upon its axle. It is also
\ slow moving wheel, and this makes it necessary to multiply gearing in the
mill in order to impart speed to the machinery.
Ni) s])ccial ingenuity was recpiired to make these old wooden wheels. Any
t.iri)ci)ter coulil buiUl them. Very few patents were issued in regartl to them.
About forty years ago there came a demand for an improved water-wheel.
In densely-populated regions, where mill-streams were crowded with factories.
It bei amc important to make every gallon of water which passed over a dam
ito its share of work, antl tlo as much work as possible. Attention was turned
Id a wheel invented in France by Benoit Fourneyron in 1834, who received
six thousand francs from the Society for the Kncouragement of the Arts at
i'lris as a reward for his valuable device. This was the original turbine-wheel^
or. if not absolutely the first and the parent of its class, the first Original
which was ever in practical use. It was a horizontal wheel placed 'urbine.
at the bottom of the fall, and supplied with water from a perpendicular pipe.
I'he water descended upon a solid circular plate, which was stationary ; the
upper surface of it being grooved from the centre to the circumference, the
L,'roovus not being straight, like the spokes of a wagon-wheel, but curved, like
a >i( kle ; so that the water, as it reached the rim of the circular plate, shot out
of the grooves at a tangent in twenty or more spouts all round the wheel.
Hie buckets or floats of the wheel were outside the circular disk, and received
the sj. )uting water with great violence, and were thus forced to revolve rapidly
irounil the disk, the water flowing outward into the river-bed from the buckets.
The lloats, being attached to an annular disk, turned the perpendicular shaft,
and transmitted the power to the mill above. Attention was turned to the
new idea in the United States about 1843. Public discussion took place ; and
in 1844 Mr. U. A. Boyden of Boston invented a turbine which
Boyden.
WIS an improvement upon Fourneyron's, and which, with later
improvements of its own, has come into extensive use in this country. The
lirst one in practical use was put into a cotton-mill in Lowell. It saved
uvciity-eight per cent of the power of the water. Boyden has made others
since which have saved eighty-two per cent. F'rom 1843 to the present.
304
tXn I 'S TRIA I. Ills TOK Y
'4^
invention has been active, and more than a tliousand patents have been issued
at Washington tor new forms of viicels, and nrw atta< hments to them \
variety of exceedingly effectivo wjicels
have been imHhued, and the iron tur-
bine lias now ahnost conipletily super-
seded the great wooden wheel u\ our
forefathers. Al)out twenty-fui' larj^c ainl
flourishing factories of tiiein iwivc ^-rowii
up in New Hngland. New York, I'enn-
sylvania, Maryland, and tlie West.
The power of the turbine is derivcil
from tlie weight of the <()lunin of water
How the 'lowing into the wheel, and
power o( the the speed of the (urrent.
turbine i, j,- ^,000 pounds of wattr
determined. ' '^'
flow through it in a second,
anil the height of the fall is fifieen feet,
the power expended is 120,000 pdunds
a second. If the wheel transinils eij^hty
per cent of this to the machinery of
the mill, it is an efficient wheel.
After a few years of exjierinient
with the Hoyden turbine, it was fuund
that a smaller percentage of the power of the water was saved when the gate
of liie wheel was opened only half way, because of the eddies and commo-
tion of the water in the wheel itself; and some Dayton (().) manufu turers
undertook to effect an improvement u[)on the style of wheel, by wiiic h the
Dayton water should flow through solid, and should escape more re.idily,
wheel. ti^us leaving less dead weight of water for the wheel to carry. They
brought out the inward-flow wheel, and gave a new turn to invention. The
Swain turbine, inward-flow, was after\vards brought out at Chelmsford. M.nss,.
which, with the gate wide open, would save eighty-four per cent of tlie energy
of the fall, eighty-three per cent with a three-cpiarters gate, seventy-seven
per cent with a half gate, and sixty-three per cent with ?. quarter gate. T. H.
Risdon of Mount Holly, N.J., however, has since then constructed an out-
ward-flow wheel which saves eighty-eight per cent with a full gate.
and seventy-five per cent with a half gate. Another form of wheel
has been invented, called the parallel-flow, in which the water goes straight
through the tt<r!)ine, emerging at the bottom. It has not yet obtained the
favor which has been accorded to the others. Steady progress is hcing
made by all inventors as the science of the flow of water is better under-
stood, and the wheels are now rapidly approaching a stage when almost the
entire energy of falls will be utilized.
It KhINb-WIIElEL,
Risdon.
or ■////■: rxiiF.n staii-.s.
305
'lurluiR's arc now iiuuli' in a ,i;r(.'al varii'ty of sizes and patterns. Since
the iiiinitiiii lion of tiu' Holly system ol waterworks into cities, which (hs-
iriltiiti-^ water to the (lweliin{,'s, stores, ami I'ai tories of a place, Variety of
iilir ,1 pressure of from sixty to two iiundred pounds, lanall turbines.
IP
n.
|i,utirn^ of turbines have lieen made id lie attached to the Holly waterpi|)es,
,ii,;l drive l.ithes and other ii;;ht machnnrv. I lu'y are madi. as small as
ihrce I.'.' hes in diameter. I'nrbines six ini lies in diameter, and o( ( iii)yinj( no
iiioro ^YM^^' in the room than an or(hnary j,'asineter, are made to run printing-
nasM- lor daily newspapers. I'Vom this size they are manufactured ali the
„,iv ii|i to six and sesen feet in diameter, .n'veral eighly-four-iiK h wheels are
n nv III ii^e, one of them Iteinj; untler a ninety-loot fall, and transmitting; six-
hundred horse power to the maeliinerv of the mill. The turl)ine
. Their merit.
h.i> tlu' j,'rial merit ol economy of space, unilorm and steady
.Klion, j,'reat veUx ity. — thus oliviatinj,' the use of the old-time api)liances put
ii|i)n the sedate, leisurely-moving oversiiot wheels to increase the speed in
tiu' niili, — and absolute protection from frost, as they are always submerged
imier the water. Litt'-rly the wheels have been supplied with a regulator,
\\\vA\ opens and doses the gate automatic ally, so as to meet the reciuirements
,ii the mill. .Any one who stands in the engine-room of a great factor)'
(Irnen by steam-power will notice from the motion of the engine whenever
.iiiv heavy ])iere of machinery in the mill ai)ove is put into operation, or the
nvrrse. The engine labors under the new strain, or suddenly cpiic kens when
till' strain is removed. The governor, sensitive to the slightest change of
-ir.iiii on the engine, opens or closes the steam-pipe instantly, and maintains
.1 ri'milar and uniform motion. 'I'he regulator of the turbine is the same in
jrim iple : it is the governor of the water-power.
Tlie progress of tiie L'nited States and Canada in invention in this depart-
nunt of effort was well shown at the World's I-'air of 1.S76. where Exhibitionof
,1 ^]ll^■ndid show of turbines was made by .\merican and ("ana- turbines at
tii.m makers. These wheels are now !)eing sought for by manu- '"*=""'■•
i>, iiireri aliroad.
I.fXKS.
Ill tlie days of the earlier sinii)licity of the repnlilic the latch was an ample
:.;>tL'ning for all the ordinary jjiirposes of life. .\ grand iml)lic nior.ility and
.iianius good feeling between man and 111,111 iirexailed at that , ...
" '^ ' In primitive
ink', which is fascinating now to look iiack iiiioii. and which it perioaiocks
lallv fascinating to find the traces of to-daN' in the rural and
needed.
- Lited communities of dilTereiU parts of the c ountry. Tlie door
»as seldom liarred, and then only at night. The treasures of the household
u' .■ kept in unprotec ted dr.iwiTs and closets. People rested secure in the
iiijoynient of the privacy of their homes and the possession of their articles
')! value, not so much bv reason of bars and bolts as bv reason of the virtue
T-^>
m
306
Lvnrs TKiA I. HIS iok y
and Hc'lf-rcstraint to which people were so rigidly hred in those days, and to
the absence of a vicious (lass in the conmuinily. With ininiigiatii)a, the
inircase of wealth, ami the (lisa])i)earance of native Americans in tlic ranks
of household servants, there lanie a different state of things ; antl pcoiile
found themselves under the nee e^iity of sec nring their houses carefully against
BURGI.AR-I'IIOOF LOCK.
the intrusion of nnauthorizcd persons, and their valuables within the liniise-
hold against even their own domestics. The change has been very great. .\
hundred years ago the bolt on the outer door, and the Kx k upon llu- oni'
box of private papers and valu.ables in the house or u])()n the strong-iiov ;il
the store, were almost the only barriers erected against i)lunder and curiosity.
Number of To-day, in the large cities, the whole building is placed under loi k
locks used and key, even to the jiantry ; and, instead of the two locks of the
nowa ays. Ql^]^.,^ time, a city residence, with its furniture, will now be fitted
with from one to three hundred, and a public building with two or three
thousand.
The earlier
ticiii. They coi
.mil bv a wingei
the litiit b.ukw.i
r;i.shiiiiiing till' w
lock M) that on!;
Siimc (if the Ik
of llir present c
Imt they were a
picked with a I
chiefly in apjieai
In England,
to [lay more attc
'" 177S, whrch ai
fact, lies at the fo
the doors of safei
latches, which fe
lifted before the
OF THE rX/TED STATES.
307
Tic carliiT ln< ks of the rountry were of tlie simplest form of construc-
tion. I'licy coMsisti'd simply of a liolt operatid hy a sprinj; within the lock,
anil liv a \viii/,'cd kry inserted tiiroii^h a kL-yhijif, which, hcinn t;irne<l, moved
ihi' JMilt liaikward and tiirward. Intricacy was given to the lock simply by
fashiiiiiin},' tlie winj; of tin' key into some curious shape, and then making the
locik Ml lliat only a key of that jiartic niar pattern would turn around within it.
Somi' (if the heavy locks put ujion safes and strong-boxes in the early part
(if llir present < entury were so made as to shoot six or eight bolts at once ;
Imt they were all of the simple plan above described, and could be easily
pirkiii with a bit of crooked wire in five minutes. 'I'hey were formidable
chic'lly in appearance.
'
In England, where the greater accumulation of wealth compelled people
to pay more attention to lock-making, an idea was brought out by Mr. Barron
in 177S, whi'ch added greatly to the security of locks, and which, in Barron'*
fact, lies at the foundation of all our modem devices for fastening 'nvention.
the doors of safes and treasure-magazines. Barron employed two tumblers, or
latches, which fell down into the bolt and caught it, and which had to be
lifted before tlie bolt covild be moved. In i ySvS Joseph Bramah of England
\mM^.L
T m
iW
1 i ' '-
h iH
-'1 '•'■ i
• ■
i
i':;:
lit!
«i
■■' '
i ^
Wf^' ■'
1 5 ^ !
K|f .,
til
HfU: ;i
1 P^
lilibi:
^BBHi$^'^' «f-v
nil
If
[■■5
i
30S
/,V/) C '.V 77v'/. / /, ///.S /V > A' ) •
Newall.
invented a lock with several sliders and two liarrels. the inner one -ilioiiiinj"
the bolt, liraniah deelare<l that it was not within the raivc df
Bramah. '""
art to ])iek his loek. and the ( ontrivanee did defy the luiivlars
and locksmiths for over iialt" a cenlnry.
Many years after tlie war of 1S12 attention liegan to he |)aid lo Idck-
making in this conntry. The tnnihler was adojjted, and many minor iinpnni'-
ments effected. How to make a lock whicii nobody could ])ick was a prolikni
that well suited the genius of the Yankee, and ai)|)licatit)ns for patents for onr
device and anofhL"/ began to ])oiir into the city of Washington. 'I'he first real siii
was created in 1S41 by Dr. Andrews of I'ertii .Amboy. N.|., who
drews's brought out a j)ermutation-lo( k, in whi( h a number of rinj^s were
improve- attached to the key, and sus( entible of an endless variety of (oni-
ment.
binations. When the bolt is turned, the lock cannot lie moved
except with exactly the same combinations on the key. The lock had tumblers
and a detector, — a device which prevented the tumblers from freeing the holt
if lifted too high. This invention excited great admiration ; but it was picked
by Newall of New York, who, in turn, brought otit one of iiis own
in 184,^, with two sets of tumblers, thus increasing the coni|)li(:ation.
It was thought that the acme of jjerfection had been reached, and N'ewall
confidently offered live hundred dollars to any one who would ])iek it. His
contrivance succumbed, however, to Mr. Pettitt and to William Hall of Hoston.
who picked it by the smoke-process, — a device of the burglars. \ smoky flame
was blown into the keyhole, leaving a fine de])osit of lamp-black on the
tumblers. The key being introduced removed the lamp-black from the parts
it touched. By means of a reflector a strong light was thrown into the lock,
and the key-marks revealed, and the proper shape of the false key thus indi-
cated. Newall's lock was then improved by devices for keeping the mei hanism
concealed from view. H. C. Jones of Newark used com entrii
rings and a curtain for this jjurpose, and Pyes used eccentric rinj,'s
and a curtain. .\. C. Hobbs, an exjjcrt American locksmith, adopted the
improved device, calling it the I'arantoptic, and got a gold medil
for it at London in 1851. The American lo( k-makers made ;i
distinguished sensation at that World's I\iir. Hol)bs declared that he iduld
pick all the locks in England in a few minute^, including the famous llramah.
, ,.. , His challenge was accepted, and he was given a ( 'liul)l) io( k. ;in
Iiobbs s '^ '
experiments old ]wtent, and the original lock which first used a detec tor, In
ex])eriment upon. A convict lock-maker had once been olfend
his liberty and a hundred jwunds to i)ick this lock, and had fnled
after three months of trial. H(d)bs opened it in a few minutes. Tiie fairness
of the experiment being called in (juestion, he renewed the attempt in a p.iv.ite
house in the presence of a number of genUemen. and succeeded in twenty-livf
minutes. He then went at the Ikamali. The manufnc turer of it had for years
exhibited a lock, with an offer of two hundred guineas to any one who should
Jones.
Pyes.
in picking
loclcs.
OF THE UNITE J) STATES.
309
Yale.
pick it. The Bramah t.oublcd him ; but, after working at it from July 24 to
\iicr. jj, lie sui'iecdcd in unlocking it at last. Hob! )s tlien offered the same
reward to wlioevcr should i)i('k the I'arantoptic. Several of tiie best of the
Kiylish locksmiths accepted, and worked on tiie lock for thirty days, and failed.
ihi' Auierican invention won a conceded supremacy, and the fiooie over it
was immense. The Hank of ICngland procured one, and the pattern came
into .uoneral use in banks and stores in the United States.
Iacii the Parantoptie, however, gave way to American ingenuity in 1855.
Linus N'alo, jun., who had picked a very successful lock invented by his father
atta( ked tiie I'arantoptic, and won a victory by the impression
pniicss. He had declared for several years, that as k)ng as the
ktv is of a winged form, and rubs an impression on tumblers, it can be picked;
and tiiis event pro\ed it. To obviate tiiis weakness of locks, he had invented
in 185 1 one of his own contrivance, which he called "the magic lock," It is
jciievcd that tiiis one has never yet l)een jiicked. The key and its bits, though
apparently of one piece, are sejiarable. On the key being introduced to the
lo(k. the l)its are taken off by a pin. The key being turned puts in motion a
set of wiieels, which carry off tiie bits to a remote part of the lock, out of the
reach of picking-tools, wiiere they operate upon the tumblers ; afterwards
returning to the handle of the key, and joining it again.
Tliese i)rilliaiit devices — with others on the Mall rotary combination prin-
ciple, which dispense with a key, and o])en the lock by turning a knob one
w.iy, and then the other, certain distances, according to a set of Hairs inven-
nnmbers one has in mind — have made safes and banks almost *'°"-
al)solutely secure against robbery. 'I'he burglars are for a time at their wits'
cnil. The larger proptjrtion of the locks made for ordinary use are not, how-
ever, of these elaborate patterns. They are merely strong, serviceable, hand-
somely-made locks of the tumbler and sjjring patterns, for doors, trunks, chests,
Inireaus, iVc., operated eitiier witli a Hat or a winged brass key, which may be
carried in the pocket. The parts of the locks are made by machinery upon
tiie American system, excejit tiie jiarts which are cast ; and these latter have
already won a rejiiitation for their accuracy and general sujieriority. The lock
factories of the country are situated in New England, New \'ork, and the
.Midille States, principally : they employ an extremely intelligent class of men,
and form a large and important industry. The American lock in its various
tonus is in world-wide use. It is one of the varieties of builders' hardware for
whii li there is just at this time, in foreign countries which have been supplied
with hardwire from England, a very warm admiration.
I'lIMl'S.
The pump is a machine which has attained such importance, that a special
annex was devoted to its exhibition at the World's Fair of 1876 at I'hiladel-
3IO
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
phia. It is a very ancient macliine (dating back to the second rciuurv
Importance before Christ at least), is now made in a wide variety of lurnis
of industry, ^^^j j^ Qf incalculable utility. It was not in very general use
among the colonists of America, because of the cost of punij) logs or iul)cs
through wiiich the water hatl to Ijc liiicil by
tlie piston of the pump. The well w;i^ fur-
Wood nished witii buckets, operated hv
pumps. ,„eans of the long wcll-swcei), or
by a counterpoise of some other sort, which
nnule it easy to lift tiie brimming luickct
from the ilepths of the well. Willi ma< liiucry
for boring pmnp-logs, and with thi
uiipor-
tation of lead pipe, pmnps came \\\v^ use.
They were at first, and indeed mitil witliin
thirty or forty years, always of wood, tiie valves
alone being of iron and leatiier. About furly
years ago manufacturers began to make i ast-
iron pmnps, and these have virtually super-
seded ail others for domestic uses. The
wooden pump survives only on farms ami as
=; the town-pimip on village greens. Sweet and
temler memories cluster around the well-
sweep and tiie okl wooden pump, and the
ruMp. gradual disapj)earauce of both before the hus-
tling and unsenti nental civilization of the
present times causes a feeling of positive regret.
The highest type of pump up to the date of the introduction of the
machine into the water-works, systems of cities was the fue-engine. We
had no great mines in this country wliose treasures were deluced
Fire-engine. • , n i r ■ i .
With floods of water as in the silver mountains of Peru, and
machines of great power to keep the mines dry were unnecessary ; so that
for a long period the fire-engine was the jieer of pumps, and a very old-
fogy sort of a peer it was too. The i)ump was mounted upon a huge
water-tight wagon-box, into which the water was poured by the l)U(ket
First ma- Companies, which stood in line, and i)assed the buckets along
chines: how from the nearest well. The i)iimp was operated by hand-levers,
constructed, j.^^^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^ twenty men being able to catch hold of the
levers. The old machines were clumsy and absurd devices. After the
great fire in New York in 1835 more attention was given to them, and
they were then greatly imjiroved. They were fitted with suction-pipes, which,
while en route to and from fires, were carried in the position in which
a squirrel carries his tail, and which afterwards were made to be detached,
and put on at will. The brakes were lengthened, and large brass receivers
OF THE UNITED STATES.
3"
were [mt upon the pumps. Some very effective types of fire-engines
were jiroduced l)y this means. The best of cast-iron and cast-steel was
put into the working-parts of the machine, and. they were made to work
smootiilv. antl to enthire a long perioil of hard usage. The machine con-
tained either two double-acting or four single-acting force-pumps. They
^^"■^c mostly made in the
Ivistcrii States ; and the
larger part of the thirty-
five hundred fire-engines in
use throughout the United
States .ire still of this 'lass
of h;uul-l)ower machines.
Thev are able to throw
.111 inch-stream of water
aveuty-five feet high ; but
it is very exhausting work
for the men who operate
the ! 'Hikes. Simiiltaneous-
Iv with the improvement of
the hand lire-engine, atten-
tion began to be i)aid to
the sul)je(l of steam fire-
engines. ( )ne of tile latter
cbss li.id been made in
England as early as 1829;
bnt it was excessively clum-
sy; and, after a few were
made, they attracted no
more attention for twenty
years. I5ut in the United
States the idea was taken up
ami utilized. Mr. Hodges
built a steam
Hodges.
fire-engine in
184 1 for the insurance companies of New-Vork City, and employed ii to good
effect on several occasions of fire. It was too heavy, however, for rapid trans-
portation from one jiart of the city to another in emergencies. Cincinnati was
the first city to make the steam fire-engine a success. A, Ii. Latta Extent cf
built one of these engines for the city in 1853, and two more the modern im-
year following. They were designed to be locomotives, and go by P'""*"""*"*
their own steam, but were dreadfully heavy, weighing about twelve tons each.
These three engines were successfully used as part of the fire-apparatus of
Cincinnati ; but the attempt to prope' them from one place to another with
I'lM lll.l.VtTINC. ri'MP, SHIl' OK HKI .
*t f »
312
/X/) I \S TRIA I. Ills /■( Vv" ) ■
their own iiowcr was afterwards abandoned. In iS5(; a niachinc was imjii j,^
New York, weighing only live tiiousand i)oiin<is, to i)e drawn by haml. \\\x<i
then came to be tiie standard weight of this class of engines, and 1 -n-u
many patterns of tliem have since then been invented and i)erfe(ted. iJu^ion
I'iiihuleipiiia. Chicago, and t)llier large cities, made experiments witii ihis < lass
of lire-apparatus ; and the result has been tluit all large communities have
now adopted them ])eruianently, anil discarded their old handiiKu hincs.
New- York City has thirty-live of the new class. Those at present in u.se are
IIVDKAll.lL HAM.
drawn by two horses each, and will throw a five-eighths inch jet over a hini
dred feet high, sometimes a hundred and thirty feet. They are supjiliicj
either with piston pumps or rotary pumjis ; the lattei being a new idea in tlii:^
class of machines, introduced about fifty years igo. and within the last
twenty has become exceedingly ])opular. An lated controversy Ikis
raged between the rival makers of steam fire-engines as to the resi)e( tive
merits of the rotary and the piston princijjles. A contintious flow, houcscr,.
is maintained with both. In the best types of engines now made .steam is
A ,1,'riMt manv t
or hiu;h lands.
ill all the wate
ii>iiiiiiunities at
thf water, resc
li'.iilt SI) massr
O/- THE IWn-ED STATES.
313
rai-iti in ll\c inimiUs. 'I'Iil' inimipal factories arc those of the Anioskcag
(oinpany, Silsby iV ('oinpaiiy of Seiiuca Kails, N,\'., the I'aterson Company
,il' r.ilv'ison, N.J., and 1'.. A. Straw of Manchester, N.ll ; bnt there are half
,i(lii/cn other manufacturers.
\\ illiin ilie last forty years a change has taken i)la(e with regard to i)umps
in (ImiK'stic use, and the hre-engine is no longer the peer of punijis. Waler-
wdik^ liave l)ecn extensively introduced to cities and villages ; and
. Pumps for
this lias led to a double result : first the almost total abolition ot supplying
the coinnion iron pum]) from households in those cities and vil- cities with
lanes, and the constru'tion of a new class of massive machines of
ciuirniDus jiower to take their place, by forcing the water through pipes and
maiiix under pressure, to the different houses and buildings of the community.
STEAM-rUMP.
A .trreat many towns have been alile to build reservoirs on the adjacent hills
or hiuh lands, at such a height above the i)lace as to insure a heavv jiressure
ill all the water-pipes of the place by the operation of gravity, llul not all
communities arc so happily situated ; and, in order to secure a distribution of
the water, resort is had to ])owerful forcing-engines. These machines are
Imilt so massively that they frequently constitute tlie heaviest machinery in
t^m
314
//V^D US TRIA L HIS TOR Y
%
operation in a c
cithtT I listen or
are direct actin,
rotary piimj), ai
Tiie turbine mc
re(iuire(l to incri
pimil) is cmijloj
Willi a heavy fl;
l)iinii)s arc of c
nicety, TIic wo
engineers have \
built on tlie H(
eight i)umi)s in
continuous ilow (
0." the city, lre(iu
Heavy puniii
mines of the 1'
construction.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
315
operation in a city, and are one of the local wonders of the place. They are
either i>iston or rotary pumps. 'I'he rotary pumps, if driven by water-power,
are ilircct acting ; that is, the shaft of the turbine rises into the box of the
rotary pump, and forms the axle of the pump, or else gears into the axle.
The turbine moves naturally with such velocity, that no special gearing is
reiiuircd to increase the speed of the pump. If steam is used, or if a piston-
pump is employed with water-power, tlie machine-room is generally supplied
with a heavy fly-wheel, which maintains an ecpiable motion. The piston-
piinips are of cast-iron, with steel pistons and iron valves, fitted with great
nicety. The workmanship upon them is of such superior order, that foreign
engineers have given it hearty commendation. In some of the water- works
built on the Holly i)rinciple gangs of piston-pumps are used, there being
eigiit pumps in the set. The eight pistons rise one after the other ; and a
continuous (low of the water is thus obtained, and the pulsations in the pipes
0." tlie city, frecpiently heard, are obviated.
Heavy pumps have also of late been used to keep the goUl anil silver
mines of the Territories free of water. There is nothing peculiar in their
construction.
'W-
iii
W.4
3' 6
JNDUST '/AL ///sroA'y
CHAFrr.R III.
MANUFACTURES OF GOLD, SILVKK, AND OTHER MEIAI.S.
r
"N the republic of industry, iron is the president of metals; but it by no
means fulfils all the purposes in the arts for wiiich a metal is desiralik'. It
is durable, and enormously stronL' ; but it is corrosible even liv
Iron ; its un- j n > j
fitness for water, and is, therefore, unfit for dishes and utensils, extcjil for
many pur- coarsc uscs, and then only to a limited extent. It is not a lumd-
poses.
some metal, being utterly without rich color and decorative elTuct ;
and cannot, therefore, be used for ornament and for fine statuary. It lacks
delicacy of texture, and cannot be readily and elegantly wrought ; and can play
no part in the manufacture of delicate ware for the gratification of luxurious
tastes, even had it the beauty and value which would incline one to devote it
to such purposes. It is too abundant to be precious ; and cannot, therefore, he
used as a medium of exchange. To sui)ply the defects of iron for luxurious
and many common uses, a bounteous Providence has stored the rock,s prodi-
gally with a variety of other metals of great l)eauty and value, which experience
and scientific research have enabled man to abstract from their mineral sur-
roundings, and apply to a thousand important uses. Gold, silver, and copper
— all noble metals — were the first of them which were utilized by man, and,
indeed, the first which were utilized at all ; and so true is this last remark, that
/ V^ 0°'*^!' silver, and copper were not only the primary metals employed in the
arts by the ancient peoples of luirope and .Asia, but were the first which the
savages of America also took from the rocks, and worked up into tools and
^/ ornaments. The reason of this early ])opularity of gold, silver, and coppir, is
tloubtless to be found in the fart that they were beautiful metals, attractive to the
"^J e\e, and so soft as to be easilj worked. Iron, zinc, and lead were discoven.Ml
and emploved nexi, and, after iron, platinum, last of all. Copper
Extensive ' • ' ' ' ' ' '
use of copper was the great resource of anti(|uity for all objects of metallic nianu-
by ancient facturc. 'I'hey hardened \t with zinc and tin, converting it into
nations. •' •, i
brass and bronze, and making of it arms, tools, armor, utensils, and
many ornaments. They nut it into their gold and silver to give them hardness
and durability, and used i great deal of it pure. Silver and gold gradually
oi- THE iw //■/■:/) swiv/ws.
3»7
snpiTMi It'll it tor ..'lof,'.!!!! ])iir|)()si's, linwcvcr, on account of their ^'rcatcr splen-
dor .iml in<(irrosil)ility, and tu this day are tlie matchless metals lor tai)le-\vare,
(iriKiim Ills, and diidratio.is. 'I'hey are ( harminj( metals to work, and olijects
iiiadi' ol them (an lie covered with a jjrolnsion of luxuriant sharp-cut orna-
iiuiil uliich is absolutely unattainable in any other mini'ral substance. 'I'heir
^lanih lenders tluan additionally \aluable, and, with their other (|ualities,
mark-, iluui out as the true nu'tals for a medium of exchange in trade. C'op-
jur. Ill i\\ ever, still maintains its n ynk next to iroi^ fur pu rposes of utility, and
iH\t U) ^old and silver for beauty. 'I'in, zin<', and ]>latintun have jirojierties
Ml' luautv and incorrosibilily such as iron does not ])ossess, and the fust two
Wire greatly valued in anti(iuity for their ability to make beautiful alloys with
i(i|i|ier. I'hey are still extensively em])loyed for the same jjurposes. and also
for iitlu IS which modern invention has <liscovered that they alone are good
tor. A variety of other metals have been found in the earth, — l ead, a ntimony,
aluininuui, iri£lh]m, mercury, nickel, manganese, i\;c., — ea( h with sjjecial and
valiialile (lualities, which " ivo given it a distinct n'l/r to ])lay in the arts, which
iron nor any other sul nee can perform ecjually well. 'I'he culture and
(DMvenience of mankind i.ave been promoted innnensely by the discovery of
this wide range of diverse metallic substances. Kach one of the seven jirinci-
pal nu'tals has done its distinct share in lifting man from barbarism to civilii^a-
lion. Collectively they have in every age sup])lied the princijial motive for
exploration, concjuest, and colonization, and each one has exerted is influence
on passing events ; and it is not too much to say, tiiat, had any one of them
bctn lacking from the resources of Nature, the whole WTstory of the world
would lia\e been totally different from what it has been. Witli reference to
till' Inited States, it may be said that Nature has blessed our territorv with
ample stores of all the principal metals e xcept ti n, and with a large su])ply of
many of the rarer kinds. As the race which took possession of the coimtry,
and settled and developed it, was an educated one. and full of the s])irit of
moilern enterprise and industry, it was natural to expect a development of the
manufacture of the metals sooner or later in the country. The expectation
lias already been realized. The facts in regard to iron have already been set
I'ortli : those in regard to gold, silver, cojjper. and the rarer kinds, will now be
related.
COINAOR.
The most important employment of gold and silver is as a medium of
exchange in trade, '''his was not the iirimarv use. (iold and „ ,
'^ * ^ Employ-
silver first subserved only the vanity, and love of magnificence, ment of gold
on the part of kings and conspicuous people, and the jinpular a»d silver as
taste for the decoration of teini)les and statues. Articles made
of the two metals were, indeed, bartered for other goods ; but the notion of
measuring the value of all articles by a weight of jmre gold or of pure siher
>
ys"
>>
JF^
lilt;.: •>■
AH- - '
318
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
was invented only after trade liad been carried on by barter for centuries. A
common meilium of value at k'ngth became necessary, and n nhinj; answered
the purpose so well as these beautiful and universally-admired metals, In the
days of chivalry it was not an uncommon practice to wear heavy < liams of
gold or silver about the neck and
pay the score at the wayside tavern
by breaking off a link or two of the
precious metal. But a more a(( urate
mode of payment was desirable, and
the more popular custom of striking
coins of gold anil silver of f^-iven
,N...,rs. weights and purity to pass from hand
to hand in trade gradually superseded
all others. In the gold-mining regions of the United States, since 1S48,
another mode of employing gold as a medium of exchange was resorted to
more or less before local facilities for coining were created, and banks were
established to issue paper money. This was to carry about little bags of
gold-dust, and pay all debts and scores by weighing out a proper amount of
the metal. The metliod is still in use in remote districts to a limited extent,
and is the same in jirinciplc as payment in minted coin ; that is to say, by
specific weight and purity of metal. <
When this country was first settled, trade was carried on by the inhabitants
after the jirimitive i)hin of barter. Tobacco was an almost universal medium
of exclfange in Virginia and other Southern colonies ; and cattle,
skins, wheat, and other produce, were used in the Northern colonies
even to pay taxes, (lold and silver were extremely rare. What little tlicre
was in the country was brought at first from England and Holland by the
colonists, or received from those two countries in exchange for the products
of their labor. It was too valuable to circulate much, and its owners generally
preferred to hoard it. Houses and ships were built, and real estate bougiit, by
Fint uie of barter. After a few years, a sujjply of silver coin was obtained by
•iiver. trade with Cuba and the Spanish settlements in the other West
Indies. This was an illegal trade, because Kngland and Spain both required
their respective colonies to deal only with the mother-country ; but it was
winked at by both countries on account of its obvious advantages to both the
English and the Spanish colonies. The latter obtained fish, flour, and other
food whicii they could not raise themselves ; and the former secured silver coin
wherewith to pay England for the manufactures they were forced to buy of
her. The exports of produce from the English colonies never paid for the
imports of manufactures, and the balance in trade had to be paid for with
coin. The colonies, having no money of their ovyn, were flooded with foreign
coins, principally silver, but partly of gold also, the larger part of the currency
being Spanish. English shillings and sixpences, and the Spanish dollar with
Barter.
OF TIFF. UNITED STATES.
3»9
at Philadel-
phia.
its fr.K tioiis, were the principal money. Gold-pieces, such as guineas, doub-
looib, joes, pistoles, &c., wc.e also in circulation, but were too greatly prized
for 'I inversion into jewelry to play a very important part in trade. The Span-
ish (iiillar liecanie the accepted unit of the cin ulation.
Tlic colonies always wanted a coinage of their own, and some rough
pieces were struck at various times. Massachusetts established a mint for
the imiduction of silver shillings, sixpences, ami threepences, pine-tree
whii li were made of twopence to the shilling less value than tiie "'"■««•
Kngli^ii coin, so as to insure their remaining at home. The larger coin was
the famous pine-tree shilling. Virginia and the Carolinas also coined pennies.
'Hum' ventures were regardetl with great disfavor in Kngland as an infringe-
mi'iit itii the i)rerogativcs of royalty, anil they became short-lived experiments
in (diiseciuence.
Nothing more was done about a mint until 1782, when Robert Morris —
the licst financier of his day, and who iiad more than once helped Washington
throiij^li a crisis by iiis advances of hanl money to the national treasury — was
askctl to report a system of coinage. Mr. Morris coinj)lied, and £ ^ u„ v
his rejiort formed the theme of debate for a number of years, mentofmint
The foundation of the currency had been for years tiie Spanish
dollar, and ( ontracts for hard money were always jiayable in that
coin. In order to determine the exact value of the coin, so that no injustice
mij,'ht he done by replacing it with .American pieces, careful assays were made
by Hamilton, and 37 1| grains of pure silver were fixed upon as the standard
value of the Si)anish dollar. The ecpiivalcnt of this in gold was fixed at
twenty-seven grains. Several plans of coinage were suggested ; jefferton-a
and finally one proposed by Jefferson was adopted, and enacted •y»»e'".
April 2, 1792. It conformed to the decimal notation, and included a golden
eajjie of 270 grains (fineness 916JI), a half-eagle of gold, a (juarter-eagle, and
a (lollar. a silver dollar of 416 grains (fineness 892^), a half-dollar, quarter-
dollar, dime, and half-dime, anil a copper cent of .j64 grains. A mint was
established at Philadelphia, some very noble ilevices adopted for the coins,
and the striking of metal money began. This first gave the Americans a
money of their own, and the Span'.h and other foreign pieces gradually
(ii.saii|)eared from the purses and li.oney-boxes of the people. They were
mostly sent into the mint, and recoined. It took some time, however, to
elTcct the change, because the facilities of rapid and safe transportation of
money from one point of the country to another had not yet been created ;
and, the circulation of foreign coins being permitted, merchants and bankers
preferred to let matters take their own course without forcing them.
Two varieties of the coins authorized by the act of 1792 were worth too
much to circulate. Owing to a rise in the value of copper, it was found that
the cent had been made too heavy, and was worth more than the hundredth
part of the dollar. The weight was accordingly changed, Jan. 14, 1793, to
'•rr-rrr
!. .;•!'
^ik,.
m
*
't I
l-iij 'j
•V'l
330
/.\7>r.S/A'/.l/. ///.V7V'/>'J'
20S grains. AyrarDrlwo lalrr il w.i-. iciliu id to 16S grains, and rv
In.lllln
DiHUulty
wi
il that standard imlil tlisioiitiniHil in 1X57. Tin.' ;;<)
th coinaue its multiples wiTi- also too licavy. !>y an iTror in llif (.il(iil
o( 1703.
t\V(.iity-st.\i.'n j,'raiiis \ww (.Tionronsly fixed upon as the e
)!' the silver dollar; and gold, though (oiniil to a limited extent, never
iiiiiii,
■i|Ml\ llrlil
I llllr
into use imdir the l.uv oi itc).'. |
metal eurrencv of tiie United States wa^
le
re.ison was. tiiat the e,i;;le. uliili u.nih
more than ten dollars in siher. (uulil
only rii( ,,ite as ten dollars; wluiv-
as for I xportation it would hriuj; its
true value as 270 grains of IiuIIkhi df
a ( ertain purity. I'he gold t nin. ;u
eorilingly. was all sent aliroad tn p.w
for foreign jxirehases ; and the (iiil\
s siher and lopjier imtil .liter 1X^4,
.Aliout that time there w.is a
finore in the I nited Slates, caused hv
the discovery of tliat jjrecious nu'tal in (is.'orgia and in the moimtains of tl
Creation of C'arolinas.
Ihc
vielil o
f gold t
Vom liie mines which were o|jeui.u
gold-pieces. ^y_^^ never extravagantly large; Imt it was sufficient to cause tiie
public men of the I'nited St.ites to resolve to restore gold to the ( in ulation
of the country. A careful study of the relative v.ilues c'" gold and siher u.is
made, and a mtio of values agreed \\\
)on.
In order, however, to make ih
go!
(1 dollar cumulate, its wi
'uht
was n(
)t oiiK reduced to tlu' proper point |(
make it worth exa< tlv the same as the silver dollar, liut it w.is hrou^ht
list
tritl
e lu'low it.
•Jhi
l.iw o
• J
une
2S. 1S34, w
as then eiiai ted. creat
ing a
eagle of 25S grains {S9().225 fine, changed in 1X37 to 900 fine) and a jiali
and a (piarter eagle of relative weight, 'i'he gold dollar of 25. S grains was
authori/ed March 3, 1.S49. 'I'lie mint went actively to work (oiniiig gold:
and a few years later, after the discovery of gold in California. Inane ii estah-
lishments at San Francisco, New Orleans, and (arson (.'ity. were opened to
aid it to dispose of the vast ipiantities of metal which wore brought to it for
conversion into current money. I'he law of 1S34 produced an unexpeiUi!
result. In lessening the weight of the gold coins, Congress had aimed only
at preventing their exportation. lUit now the silver dollar, being worth iiioiv
Withdrawal
of silver.
than a irold dollar as bullion or for exi)ortati(
l>orted
disapp
or me
the
)n. w,
raiin
ex-
ited
up. and. in an exceedingly short tune
11)
totaliv
)cared Irom the < irculatioi
'11
le silver c
loll
:ir w.i^
redu
c ed lo .)!
grains (900 fine) in 18,^7 ; but th.it did not arrest tiie c hange wliich was goiiit;
on. Silver began to grow extremelv sc
irce,
'I'here was hardlv sma
11 ch
.lUiiC
enough to transac-t the business of the i)eople. The dollars and halfiioll.irs
were at four ])er cent ])remium for export, and the stock in the country u.is
growing lieautifully less day by clay. The people could not go back to barter
for the j)ur|ioses of trade : and. in order to supply the dem.and for small
or THE UNITED STATES.
.S2'
chaiiK' • ''"^' >T>cr(liants licfjan to issue ;i sort of fractiotiiil paper currency,
which was extensively used in large cities. In order to afford the people the
nec(k'<l ri'litf, Congress enacted a Ia\.. IVl). 21, 1X5.?. ciianging the weight of
the hairdi)llar to 192 grains (900 fine), and the smaller coins relati\ely. 'I'hat
);;ni' iIk' ])eople a subsidiary coinage for small business-transactions; but it
I'mislu'il the silver era of American money at a blow. All the old silver dis-
,i|i|if,iri(l like a flash into melting-pots and bullionofticcs ; and gold became
iiK' ^t.md.ird money, with silver for small change.
All nulal money, e.\( ept copper, bron/.e, and nickel cents, two-cent and
livi-( lilt pieces (the bronze and nickel jjieces authorized in 1862, 1865, and
1860). went out of circulation in the United States shortly after _.„
Itflect of
the outbreak of the war of kS6i. The government, and banks war upon
North antl South, issued so much paper monev, that its value fell """•'"=
. , , . ■• .,'.,. , currency.
IhIdw that of com, and com disappeared. It is only in 1.S78 that
the \.iliK' of paper has approached so closely to that of coin, that coin is again
n (in Illation.
.Sime the establishment of the mint in 1792, and its branches in later
years, the following values of money have been struck under the laws of the
Inited States up to June 30, 1877 : —
I )i)iil)le-caRlcs $809, 5(^8,440
I'^aHlcs 56,707, 220
ILilfcaglcs 69,412,815
• Jii.iilcr-c.in'ics 26,705,750
'rhrcc-dolLir-picccs 1,300,052
C'lold (loll.irs '9i.V)5i438
Silver cloll.-irs 8,045,cSj8
Trade (loll.ir.s 24,581,350
I'alf-doll.ir.s 118,869,540
Quartcr-<lollars 34,774,121
Twenty-cent-i)icccs ::7(),8s8
Dimes 16,141,786
Half-dimes .... 4,1(^.6,946
Three-ccnt-pieces 1,281,850
Nickel fivc-ccnt-picces 5>77.1>090
Nickel threc-ccnt-picces 855,090
llronzc twoccnt-pieces 912,020
Copper cents Si304.S77
Half-cents 39i926
Total gold I983.' 59.695
Total silver 208,872,289
Tot.il minor coins 13,884,703
Grand total f 1,204,916,687
While the government exercises the sole right of coining the precious
""Wn^'
'MM
|ty. ! •:■,
jaa
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
metals for the purposes of a medium of exchange, and of regulating the
Mintin not fi"^"*'''^ of the pieces, it does not carry on the process of minting
carried on for profit. Coining was formerly a source of enormous gain to
for making a royalty in Europe, when the people were systematically dctrauiled
by the issue of pieces worth far less than their nominal value, in
order that the king might make the difference. In the United States the
mint has always been merely a factory where the people can bring their gold
and silver and other metal, and, by paying a small charge for the expenses of
the operation, have the metal converted into pieces of a given weight and fme-
ne-.s. The stamp of the government is merely the certificate of its weight
a.id fineness. Coining has never been carried on by the people, except under
the stress of a great necessity, and then only to a limited extent. During the
war a vast number of copper tokens, which passed curre as a cent, were
coined for business-men ; and, during the early days of gold-mining in tiie
West, private firms established private mints at Denver, Col., and in San i'ran-
cisco. The coins they struck were merely tokens ; and, though tiiey were
largely twenty-dollar-pieces, they were always worth more than their tai e as
bullion. The miners resorted to these mints merely as a resource for having
their gold-dust converted into convenient form for shipment to the States.
The process of coining is /ery sinii)lc, and is substantially the same,
whether the pieces struck are of gold, silver, copper, or nickel, dold and
Process of silver are brought to the mint in many difierent forms, — in the
coining. form of goUl-dust, amalgamated cakes from the retorts of tlie
stamp-mills laminated bars, assayed bars, plate, jewelry, and foreign coin. The
metal is sent first to be assayed, where the pure gold and silver are first
extracted, and then severally alloyed in the proportion of nine per cent of
pure metal to one of alloy. The metal comes to the mint proper in flat l)ars.
It is weighed, tested to ascertain its fineness, and is ])assed over tu the
manufacturing department. The bars are then annealed, and rolled at a red-
heat into long, thin strips. They are again annealed, and drawn out between
steel plates of the hardest steel to the proper timkness for coining. From
the strips thus obtained a machine punches out round planks, or plane hets,
of the proper size for coining. The punch cuts out a hundred and sixty a
minute. Tiie blanks are collected, and the perforated strip sent back to be
melted and re-rolled. The blanks are then cleaned, and a few pieces from each
lot weighed in delicate balances to ascertain if they are of the proper standard.
In old times, when coins were struck by hand on an anvil, pieces differed
materially in weight ; and the merchant balanced each one on his finger, and
estimated its value, before he took it. The use of machinery has obviated tlie
ancient wide differences in weight ; yet it is impossible to prevent a shade of
variation, and the mint does not attempt to give each piece a mathematically
exact value. What is called a "working tolerance" of weight is allowed. This
legal deviation is as follows : —
\
OF THE UNITED STATES.
3«3
THB PIECE.
Doiiblc-cagle
Kiigle .
llalf-caglo .
Qiiaitti-eagle
Three-dollar coin
Dollar.
Silver dollar
Trade dollar
ll.ilf-d(.llar .
Uiiartcr-dollar .
i'wenly rents
Uime .
ITS WRIGHT
IN GRAINS.
S«6
258
129
64.5
77-4
25.8
412.5
420
192.9
96-45
77.16
38.58
WORKING TOLBKANCB
IN GKAINS.
i
i
k
k
I*
>i
>i
•i
I'icccs whidi fall helow the standard by more than the above variation are
railed "condemned ligiits," and are sent back for re-melting. The "heavies"
arc rodiiccd to the proper point by filing. The others are called " standards."
UliLii those of the right weight are si^rted out, they are milled in a machine
Hhicli raises the edge so as to protect the device of the completed coin from
wear. The blanks are then cleaned, polished by agitation, and sent to the
roining-press. 'I'he press is a simple but very massive machine. When
ilouhlc-eagles are coined, it is made capable of administering to the golden
'ilanks a grim thrust of seventy-five tons. The blanks are put into a tube,
and slip down one by one upon the bed of the press. They rest upon a die
lontaiiiing the device of one side of the coin, while a die containing the other
(oniL's down upon them. The impression of both sides, and the fluting of the
edge to save it from filing, are given all at once
Steel fingers pick up the stamped coin, and re-
move it. The ordinary speed of coinage is from
sixty to eighty per minute. A pair of dies lasts
about two weeks.
The operations of the mint are not confined
entirely to the coining of American
numey. A great many commemo- °,''"j^t°"'
raiive and other medals ortlered by aoieiy con-
Congress are stnick from time to """"tocoin-
ins money.
lime, and there has been some work
l"r foreign governments performed. At Phila-
ilillihia 12,000,000 nickel pieces were struck in 1876 for Venezuela. The
est.il)lishment at Philadelphia ,s the principal one in the country, and has a
(apacity of about 25,000 pieces an hour. The branch at New Orleans hts
nRST UNITED-STATES DOLLAR.
wm..
■f !M ■'
-mm
m
I 3
324
l\DUSTRrAL HISTORY
been idle for sevsral years, owing to the war and the falHng-off in coinage
during the era of paper money. It was usefully 'employed in previous times
in converting the Mexican dollars to our own coinage. The I'acific-coast
mints have nui princi])aliy upon trade dollars for export to China, Ia])an
and India, that coin having been authorized in February, 1873, siinjilv for
export purposes. The piece is not for circulation in the United States
and was made heavy in order that it should certainly go abroad. It has
been very successful in taking the jilacc of tlie Spanisii and Mexican dollars
in Asiatic countries. The new labors imposed upon the mints by the law
I'lllLAUKLPIIU MINT.
of 1878, remonetizing silver, will tax all the establishments in the United
States heavily, and compel the one at New Orleans to be re-opened, and a new
one to be Inult.
It has already been stated, on the basis of a report by Dr. Lindcman,
Totii coin- director of the mint, that the total coinage of the United States iij)
•*'• to June 30, 1877, was 551,204,916,987. How much of this coin
age remains in existence, and how much of what remains in existence is still
in the United States, available for circulation, is not certainly known. If the
flow of specie into the country and out of it, for the purposes of trade, were
OF THE UNITED STATES.
3'5
to be alone regarded, it would appear that there was none of it scarcely left in
the Kmd of its origin. The movement of specie since 1820 has been as
follows : —
From 1S20 to 1830
" 1S30 to 1840
" 1840 to 1850
" 1S50 to i860
" 1S60 to 1870
" 1S70 to 1877
Total .
{69,143,780
107,469,296
*^6.83S.992
71,187,934
188,450,442
162,561,195
$685,648,639
>7 '.538.456
56,839,893
65,010,921
495,111,813
659,865,683
534,360,182
$1,882,726,948
'Fills would seem to show that the whole coinage of the United States had
been substantially exported ; but forttmately a large
part of the export, perhaps $500,000,- Extent of ex-
000, was in bullion, and conseciuently pofto' "int.
the drain upon the coinage was lessened by that
amount. Those who have studied the subject
closely believe that about $300,000,000 of the
gold and silver of the United States has escaped
the nulliiig-pot, and is still extant, and held in the
country, and therefore available for circulation.
The rest is believed to have been recoinetl in
Kuropc, or consumed in the arts.
THE WASHINGTON HALF-DOLLAR.
JEWELRV.
The most ancient use of gold and silver was probably for personal adorn-
ment. The rarity and beauty of the two metals caused them to be jjrized for
this purpose from tlie very beginning. At first the kings monopo- g^^j
li/.ed gold and silver to themselves for table-ware, jewels, and the gold and sii-
gildiiiL' of their arms and i)alaces : but the rich discoveries in Africa ^" '"^ '"■"■"
■^ " ' ' ment.
and Spain caused them to come into more popular use, and
wealtiiy people employed them for all the purposes named, and also for money.
The Orientals were pa.ssionately fond of decoration. They loved rich colors
and gold and silver ornaments in profusion ; and doubtless John was in ecstasy
over the sight, when, looking up from his rocky Patmos, he beheld the New
Jerusalem with its jasper walls, its streets of gold, and gates of shadowy pearl.
Color and ornament were becoming to those dusky-hued people ; and they
could wear a luxuriance of both which the cooler taste of the North would
*:: i.:Ul
mm
i'6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
j^ffiH
Hii
1
Hli
1
^m.
not approve, and which, in the United States of to-day, would be regarded as
highly objectionable. The manufacture of jewelry was, therefore, one nf the
earliest arts. The Egyptians and Phoenicians became celebrated in it. I'he
treasure of the kings consisted of gold and silver dishes and jewelry, with
arms made of the baser metals ; and these things constituted the most l^.ighly
prized gifts. Rebekah was wooed with ear-rings and bracelets of gohl ; Isaac
probably not having heard the line from the old poem, " Win men witli thy
sword-arm, and maids with thy tongue," or at any rate trusting (and success-
fully too) to the influence of splendid jewelry to create a favorable first im-
pression. Juno, when she wanted to beg a favor of Jove, began by putting on
a dazzling array of golden tassels and jewels. Jewelry was greatly valued even
among the more spiritueUe peoples of the north of Kurope ; but its use. which
was ascribed chiefly to the gods and to kings, was, until modern times, more
limited. In the days of early superstition it was imagined that the jewels of
the gods were fashioned in the bowels of the earth by the dwarfs ; and
Oehlenschlager wrote a i)retty poem entitled "The Dwarfs," in which he
described their marvellous manufacture : —
" He crept on his belly as supple as eel
,-' . The tracks in the hard granite through,
Till he came where the dwarfs stood hammering steel
■' By the light of a furnace blue.
I trow 'twas a goodly sight to e, —
•■ The dwarfs, with their aprons on,
■" A hammering and smelting so busily
Pure goUl from the rough brown stone.
«
Rock-crystals from sand and hard flint they made.
Which, tinged with the rosebud's dye,
They cast into rubies and carbuncles red,
, And hid them in cracks hard by.
They took them fresh violets, all dripping with dew,
Dwarf women had plucked them the nion
And stained with their juice the clear sapphires blue
King Dan in his crown since hath worn.
Then for emeralds they searched out the brightest green
" !:•: Which the young spring meadow wears,
And dropped round pearls, without flaw or stain,
From widows' and maidens' tears.
Then they took them t'-e skin of a large wild boar, —
■^^ The largest that they rould find ;
'■' ' ■ - And the bellows they blew till the furnace 'gan roar,
.i^.j"V%; . And the fire flamed on high for the wind.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
They took them pure gold from their secret store, —
The piece 'twas but small in size ;
But, ere 't had been long in the furnace roar,
'Twas a jewel beyond all prize.
A broad red ring all of wroughten gold,
As a snake with its tail in its head ;
And a garland of gems did the rim infold,
Together with rare art laid.
Twas solid and heavy, and wrought with care }
Thrice it passed through the white flame's glow:
A ring to produce, fit for Odin to wear,
No labor they spared, I trow."
m.
In the United States the use of jewelry was at first discouraged, partly
because of the poverty of the original colonists, but, in the North, more on
account of the ascendency of Puritan and ascetic ideas. Most of
tiie colonists in New York, Virginia, and the other middle and ry*|n°united
southern provinces, brought with them a few articles of ornamental statei was
work in gold and silver ; but they bought little or none when they [°u'J'"jj *'
got here until after the Revolutionary war. Only a few families
thought fit to make purchases of this description. The gold beads and the
few other ornaments in the family were handed down from one generation
cf women to anothe"* as precious heirlooms. With the rise of prosperity after
the Revolution a moderate amount of luxury began to prevail, and ascetic
ideas to lose their influence. A demand for jewelry sprang up. (luineas and
doubloons and Spanish dollars began to be converted by the gold- oppoied to
smiths of the times into rings, seals, watch-chains, and pins. Public republican
sentiment was still opposed to much ostentation. Republican '""'' ' **''
simplicity of dress and manner was preferred. Still the taste for ornament
rapidly grew, and somewhere about 1 790 the trade in jewelry became so large
xs to tempt a native workman to begin the manufacture of it in this country.
Epaphras Hinsdale of Newark, N.J., is believed to have been the first regular
manufacturer of American jewelry. He was a mechanic of great ingenuity ;
and somewhere from 1 790 to 1 795 he devoted himself to the pi^,^ manu-
proiluction of the brooches, seals, and other simple gold and silver facturer of
ornaments, worn at that day. iiinsdale died about 1810 ; but one J'^'''^-
of his men, by the name of Taylor, followed him in the business, and put
fresh vigor and capital into it. Both of these men used gold sixteen carats
fine, and their work was ail solid. Every piece was made by hand by ham-
mering, filing, welding, and soldering.
About 1 800 the manufacture of jewelry was begim in New England, the
very seat of the ancient abhorrence of ornament, by two or three firms at Provi-
HI ■
11
3a8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
facture at
Providence.
Filled work.
dence, R.I. The fact illustrates the great revolution which had taken place
Early manu- '" ^^^ world of ideas sincc the days of " The Mayflower " and
Miles Standish. Providence immediately became the chief centre
of the industry in this country. By i8io its firms were employing
a hundred men in the business, and nroducing jewelry to the yearly value of a
hundred thousand dollars.
In i8i2 George F. Downing was making watch-seals at Newark, N.J.
He carried on the business for many years. In 1821 he removed to the grow-
ing city of New York, and diversified his manufacture greatly. The only other
concern in New- York City at that time is believed to have been that of La
Guerre, a Frenchman who had a jewelry-shop in which he employed French
workmen. La Guerre had started about 181 2. The work of these two makers
was of solid gold and silver, and all produced by hand.
Yankee ingenuity had devised a thoroughly different mode of manufacture,
however, and New England was filling the country with a less expensive kind
of jewelry. Almost from the very first the Providence makers
employed machinery, and began to produce what is called filled
work. The ornament was stamped by a die from a ribbon of gold or silver,
the gold being about eighteen carats fine ; that is to say, containing eighteen
pennyweights of pure gold to six pennyweights of alloy. The softness and
tenacity of the metals permitted them to be stamped into the most elaborate
forms. The hollow jewel was then filled with pewter or lead, and fitted with
a back of gold of inferior quality. Ornaments in a thousand patterns were
thus produced, which were to all appearance of solid gold, but which could be
made and sold for a small fraction of the expense of solid gold jewels. In
the manufacture of this work a great deal of gold plate was used, made by
putting a thin sheet of gold upon one of copper, and rolling them out in
the rolling-mill, the two sheets being first united by fusing. Filled jewelry
found a wide market from the very first. The universal Yankee peddler sold
Rapid in- immense quantities of it, and the manufacture of it increased
crease of year by year. Other cities began the business ; but so rapidly
ui ness. did the demand increase, that from 1830 to 1837 it was beyond
the power of American factories to respond to it. The discovery of gold and
silver in California and in the West gave a new impulse to jewelry manufacture,
especially of the more solid kinds. Factories of it started up everywhere. In
i860 there were 463 establishments making jewelry in the United States,
employing 5,947 workmen, and struggling to keep pace with the growth of
population and luxury, — a task which they found to be one of considerable
difficulty.
The war of 186 1, which impoverished the South, and led to a decrease in
the amount of jewelry worn in that part of the republic, gave an enormous
stimulus to it in the North. Speculation was rife in every part of that section.
The issues of paper money stimulated business. Everybody was making and
OF THE UNITED STATES.
329
spending money, and all classes of the people indulged in expenditures for
objects of luxury and ornament to an extent never before known. The rich
bought diamonds set in solid gold, solid gold and silver bracelets,
rings with emeralds and other precious stones, gold pins and but- inju"'" "
tons, and all the varieties of ornaments which the jeweller's art has during the
protluced ; while the poor bought pins, er-i-rings, bracelets, finger- ^ ^
rings, and necklaces of the cheaper stylts of filled work. From
i860 to 1870 the factories increased from 463 to 681 in number, and the yearly
production from $10,415,000 in value to $22,104,000. In 1870, 10,091 people
were employed in the business. The growth of those ten years of inflation
and speculation has not been maintained, however. The panic of Effect of
1873 struck a heavy blow at jewelry-making. It was one of the p«n'cof 1873.
first industries to suffer, and production has fallen off materially : a revival is
only beginning to take place. The manufacture of solid work has suffered the
least from the period of retrenchment and economy, because the rich, who are
ihe buyers of the work, were the least affected by the times. The chief centres
of the jewelry-trade now are Providence, R.I., which has about seventy-five
establishments ; Philadelphia, with fifty-five factories ; New York, with two
hundred ; Bristol County, Mass., with thirty-five ; and Springfield, Mass.,
Boston, Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Newark, N. J. The filled work
is mostly made in New England and New Jersey. The principal New- York
factories, such as Tiffany & Company, produce nothing except solid jewelry
made by hand, each piece being unique, and seldom copied.
A great many alloys of gold are used in the making of ornaments. Silver
is used pure, being alloyed only to give it hardness. Gold is fused with copper^
to give it a red color, and with silver to give it a silvery lustre. .
It is seldom used purer than twenty-two carats, nor inferior to gold used in
fourteen carats, because it would tarnish and stain below that purity. '"»'''"«
icwclrv
It is given either a polished, dead, or frosted surface, and is often
elaborately ornamented by soldering gold wire upon it to form a pattern, or by
chasing with a tool. In large factories a corps of designers is kept steadily
employed in producing new patterns in pins, bracelets, rings, &c., ideas being
bon-Qwed from every source, ancient and modern. Chinese, Japanese, and
anticiiie types are now the rage. New- York City makers are boiTowing liberally
from the patterns in the Cesnola collection of anticpiities at the Metropolitan
Museum. In the hand-labor shops it often takes two and three weeks to make
a single piece of jewelry, and set it with stones : in the machine-shops
thousands of pieces are completed in a single day.
Platinum is now used to some extent by the goldsmiths of the United
States for the more expensive kinds of ornaments. The metal very much
resembles silver, and is readily worked. It has the desirable
quality of resisting chemical action, and does not tarnish as easily
.is silver. It is the best material, therefore, for such costly ornaments as
phnnes set with diamonds, to be worn in the hair.
Platinum.
j-'r
wr
ri: *'
m
330
/ATD {/S TRIA L HIS TOR Y
Tortoise-shell and jet jewelry is also largely made. These varieties are
Tortoiie- not only cheaper than the others, hut they are also very pretty
aheii. and enable thousands to gratify their love of decoration who are
debarred from buying gold and silver anil precious stones.
The diamonds and other gems which are set in the more costly articles
of jewelry are nearly all imported. The rocks of the I'nited
States supply only the agate, garnet, opal, and a few of the
cheaper varieties of gems.
Diamondi.
%.
GOLD AND SILVER LEAF.
A large amount of gold, and some silver, is consumed annually, in the form
of gold and silver leaf, in the decoration of the covers of books, in tiie gilding
of piclure-franies, furniture, &c., and by dentists. The (luantitv
Oilding. , 1 1 • 1 .
IS almost if not quite as large as that employed either in (oinage
or in jewelry ; and it is an actual consumption, because it docs not pay to
attempt to save the leaf after the articles to which it is applied are worn out,
any more than it pays to collect the worn-out ends of lead-pencils, or the
stumps of cigars. It must be said, however, that the use of the metal in the
leaf replaces, to a certain extent, the employment of solitl metal. The lavish
use of gold and silver leaf took its rise in modern times in Italy and l-rance.
The passion for it in France outran all bounds, either of good taste, or pru-
dence in expenditure. The rise of luxury in England creating a similar rage
for gilding, the drain ujJon the world's supply of gold became very large. In
the time of James I, the loss became so serious, that a special act was passed,
restricting the use of gold-leaf, and permitting it to be emjiloyed only for
specified objects, the decoration of military trappings being the print ipal one.
After the discovery of gold and silver in .'\merica there was no need of
further economy, — at least not on account of any supposed danger of using
up the world's supply of the metals, — and gilding and silvering rapidly he-
came universal. In this country the taste for that style of decoration has lat-
terly outgrown the ability of people to afford it to the extent which is desired ;
and a number of cheap bronze and other imitation gold and silver leaves
and powders have been invented for the lettering of large signs, the illumina-
tion of paper-hangings, &c., so as to put gilding and silvering within the
reach of the masses for common purposes, (lenuine gold and silver hoi.!
their own, however, for the better sort of decoration. Their use in( reases
year by year. I^atterly the use of silver-leaf has been almost superseded in
the arts by the process of silvering called electro-plating, which is elsewhere
described ; but a small amount is still consumed.
Gold-beating is one of the most ancient of arts. The process is very
simple, and differs from the practice of the olden time principally in the use
of the rolling-mill for part of the work. Instead of hammering out the leaf
OF THE UNiTRD STATES.
33»
(lircctlv from the ingot, the ingot is now rolled until it is reduced to the thick-
ness 111 giir part "f •'!" '"^h l)cfore it goes under the hammer. ooM-beMini
An ounce of gold will make a strip ten feet long and an inch and "n ancient
half wide when rolled to the thickness of gjjy part of an inch. "*'
lor lii-.uing. the delicate strip is cut up into pieces an inch square. Each
niece is laid upon a leaf of fine vellum four inches square, and a hundred
and litty of these leaves piled up one above the other, with a few extra
pieces of vellum at each end. This pile is called a " kutch." It is put into
a ])ar( luncnt case, so that the four sides are protected ; and a workman rains
p j\\ it a shower of blows from a sixteen-pound hammer, turning the pack
over end for end occasionally, bending it between the hands so as to make
ihc >;i'l(l leaves spread readily, and interchanging the different jjarts of the
|)ack. riie hammer has a convex face. In about twenty minutes the little
s(|iiarcs are spread to the full size of the vellum. They are then taken out, cut
into (luartcrs, and again jiacked and beaten. They are once again taken out,
liiartered, and beaten until the original inch-scjuart pieces have been beaten
out to 192 times their original size, and the thickness reduced to about
Ti;ij\j!HT P'lrt of an inch. They are often beaten again. The ordinary com-
mercial gold-leaf is usually beaten out to ofjo'sofr P^rt of an inch ; but the
FreiK li have reduced it to gHo'odiT P'li't of an inch, spreading out an ounce
of gold to cover a surface of 160 scpiare feet. Imitation gold-leaf is made
hv gilding brass, and rolling and beating it out in the usual way. Silver-leaf,
which is very beautiful, cannot l)e reduced to quite the thinness of gold, but
i> hammered out to Tuo'ijon part of an inch ; which is thin enough for this less
(ostlv metal.
Various attempts have been made to substitute a machine for Attempti to
hanmuring gold and silver leaf in i)lace of the hand-process. »"^"**"*»
New lingland brought out several devices for the puqjose, and of m«nu-
txhibited them at the world's fairs. They have not proved '•'*"•■"•
popular, and have virtually been abandoned.
Ciold-leaf is put up for the market in little books of smooth paper, contain-
ing twenty-five leaves each, which are kejjt from sticking to the How gold
pajier by preparing the latter with chalk or red ochre.
arc sold in jjackages of a dozen.
.SILVER TAHLF.-WARE.
There was very little silver-ware to be seen upon the tables of the early
ioionists of the United States. Such a luxury was beyond the means of all
ixccpt a very few, and was, besides, inappropriate to the era of log- coioniiti
I aliins and leather gamients. A few families in New York, Mary- h»d but tittle
land, and Virginia, had silver plate ; but they were chiefly the ■"^*''-**'"'-
families of rich planters, old Dutch patroons, and royalist governors. A large
rhe books »"niputup
for market.
i.
:S' i
332
//V/? [rs TKiA r. ma tor y
part of the pupnlatun wcri' nnahlf to altbnl even < hina, wliich \v,i, ixiicn-
sive thr;) ; ami pewter plati-s .1 <1 dislies wrn- olu-ii tlio soli' liirnilun' of thi-
table ill country houses. A pn-al ileal of even the small amount (if ],|^t^.
hoardeil by old families disappeared after 1792. It was sent, to tiie iniiii, uid
coine«'.
After the peace of 1S15 there came an era of prosperity and ;pc( nl.iiidn,
during which there sp an^ up a dem.uid for olijec ts of luxury and value, (dn.
importa- siderable importations of silver plate look pla( e in <diiMi|iiin(c,
tioni alter The jilate was generally solid, and always costly. Siiufl' Khm's and
'*''■ ,:andlesticks and other objects weie sometimes imported, which
were made if the baser metals, and covered with gold or silver leaf by ini( hani-
cal processes ; but usually the ware \.as solid and substantial, and worth its
Expensive- ^^''lole Weight as bullion. 'I'he expense of solid plate made its
ne»» of solid purchase by tlv majority of the peoi»le very limited ; and, iiidccil,
"'"'• the austere ideas of the days of colonization were stili Miffii iintly
universal to make jiulilic cntiment unlavorable to the use of niu< h sii\tr \i|Hin
the table. Martin Van liuren was ikfeated for re-election as President ol ilio
United States in part because he added to tiv usi- of silver table-ware the other
SHUONS, «1C., l.M CASU.
aristocratic extravagance of golden teaspoons. 'I'he spirit of the times was nn*
partial to ostentation of that sort ; and though silver was admired, yet not one
family in a thousand placetl an article made of it upon their tables (cx< ept.
perhaps, a candlestick) from one end of the year to the other. Hlock-tiii was
u»e of block- "•^'-''^ *" some extent, and after 1840 britannia-ware came into favor ;
tin and bri- !)ut the masses clung to i)ewter and blue crockery. Silver was so
tannia-ware. j^jgj.,]y valued as coin, that it seemed a sinful waste of money to
put it into a dish for the table. The esteem in which silver vyas held at that
'r^-^m.
or Till. CM 1 1:1) ^JAT&S,
333
m
.-^JL" . I
"Tt'TTl
334
JND US TRIA I. HIS TOR Y
w£n.
(lay, ami the economiral ideas whii h prevailed, are illustrated by the iiK idcnt
of a New-lOiigland whaliiiK-taptain givinj,' his daujjhter a wedding-dowry of her
own weight in silver dollars, which was regarded at the time as an ad of im-
cxampled munificence ; though in these days, if a prosperous father ^.ivf his
daughter no more than that at her wedding, he would he regarded as a cur-
mudgeon very much in need of the prayers of the faithful.
m1':riui;n cutlkky cumtany, mkkidkn, conn.
'The origin of tiie manufacture of silver-ware in tiie I'niled States is (|uitr
within the memory of old silversmiths who are still in the business : it (lali>
„ . , . from the year 1842. I'rior to that year, there were no rtrulai
Origin of •' ^ ' '^
manufacture factories of platc in the coimtry. The few silversmiths who iiad
of tiiver- opened shops in the commeK ial and other cities for the repair uf
ware. ' '
watches and imported plate made cups, snuff-boxes, watch-chniiis,
and other small articles, in a desultory way ; but there was no regular nianu
fiicture. The few expert workmen of those days had little capital of iluir
own. They had only their tools and their skill ; and the usiual thing for tlKiii
to do was to go to the jeweller and silver-merchants, and obtain from tlicm
orders to make special pieces of plate. The merchant supplied the ingot, or
sheet of silver, and the workman hammered it out, anil wrought it into the
object desired, bringing back to the merchant the finished work and the surplus
scraps of metal, both of which were carefully weighed to see that the workman
had not abstracted a part of the raw material. In 1842 a number of the
silversmiths of New- York City and other places got together to consult abuul
the interests of their trade. Mr. Clay was agitating at that time
for a protective tariff, and the silversmiths regarded the hour as
auspicious for an effort to obtain some recognition of their art from the gov-
Tariff.
OF THE UNITKD STATES.
335
itniiHiit i)f the country. A dclegatiun was accordingly sent to Washington ti>
sec Ml. I lay- Mr- ^-'ay asked tiie men what the prosperity of their business
rc(|iiiri<l. MvX promised to do what he could for them. It wa.s a very ea.sy
iiutur Id obtain recognition in tiie bill which was being drawn up, silver-ware
liiiiig ■'O fxchisively an article of luxury ; and accordingly, when the act passed
III Aiinii^t "f th'i' y^'ar. a duty of thirty per cent was levietl by it upon all
importatiDns of gold and silver wares, whether solitl or plated. This protec-
tion is said by old silversmiths to have given the industry in this country its
first (Ici idcd imi)ctus. Nearly all the shops enlarged their business immedi-
ately after the law was passed.
Aluuit this time the art of electroplating came into use ; and this gave a
siill itiori' remarkable impulse to the industry in the I'liited Stales by cheapen-
in,' tin- < ust of silver table-ware, and vastly extending its sale. Eiectro-pi«t-
K.iriy in the century it had been discovered that »:opper or gold '"«•
hdil in solution might be made to settle upon the faces of objects suspended
i,> the solution, and to form upon them a thick film, by passing a current of
ihtrii ily through the bath to the objci t to be gilded or (oppcrcd. It was
loiiml that the film of metal, once formed, might be taken off, and used as a
mould to i)roduce an exact cojjy of the original object upon whi< h it had
liccn (Icjiosited. It was then foimd that metallic objec ts might be gilded by
this iiriiccss, and made to apiicar like solid gold. The invention was at
tiht regarded as a curiosity. It was not until about 1840 that its Regarded ■»
valiK' for the gilding and silvering of articles of common use was •<:"'io«i«y-
rdi/fd. Ximierous experiments were then made with the invention l;oth in
the IJiited States and Ihirope. Professor Silliman suggested that prussiatc
1)1 potash would hold silver in solution without oxidizing the baser metals.
ihis was a step in advance. Subset |uently it was found that the solution of
ivinido of potassium wouU! do the work better, and silver-plating then became
jiLutiialjle and popular. The idea was taken up by New-Kngland manufac-
turers, and several very important factories of plated ware and cutlery were
started to manufacture for the American market. It was found that the most
iLiborate dinner and tea sets could be produceil by the new process, coated
with the i)iirest silver to any thickness, for about one-fourth the expense of
soliil ware ; and Yankee push and enterprise soon found a way to create a
ikmand for it in every part of the country. The public taste had begun to
irivc elegant table-sets, and the low cost of the new class of goods secured
lor tliem a ready recognition and great favor. Iron forks and knives were
virtually banished from the tables of all people of taste, and from hotels and
>leaml)oats ; and plated ware and dinner and tea sets made their dumber o(
appearance everywhere. The industry, being protected by a liberal m«nu(«c.
tariff, has grown up rapidly, and is now firmly established : 260
cst;il)lishments are employed in it, giving work to 5,200 hands, and producing
a yearly value of !j? 1 2,000,000 worth of ware. . . ....,, ...
m^
\.
'mk
%h
. lis " , >! 4
f 1 '•' -
fsi
336
INDUSTRIAL II I STORY
The earlier silversmiths of the United States made their dinner and tea
How earlier ^^*^' P'^nd^-ljowis, goblets, &c., by hammering the various disiies
silversmiths froHi flat shccts of solid mctal, shaping them upon iron forms
called "stakes." The process of building up all round and oval
dishes is still the same in princijile, only that the hammer is no
longer usfd, and the iron stake is thrown aside for a block of wood. Sup-
pose the dish be a sugar-bowl. A perfectly round disk is cut from a flat sheet
made their
wares
CAKE-nASKBT.
of solid silver, weighed, and turned over to a workman, lo whom it is charged
on the books. The workman has a block, made in pieces like a hat-block,
IRodern SO that, if a certain key be removed, it will fall apart. The block
process. jg p^^ together and keyed, and put into a lathe touching the flat
disk of silver. The block and the silver disk are then made to revolve at great
speed. A smooth steel tool is pressed against the disk ; and the malleable
metal is made to bend down upon the block litUe by little, and gradually en-
close it, forming the body of a perfectly symmetrical and smooth sugar-bowl,
without joint or flaw. The top and bottom are properly trimmed with a sharp
tool, and the bowl taken from the lathe. It would be impossible now to get
OF THE UNITED STATES.
337
:ir dinner and tea
the various dishes
1 upon iron forms
,11 round and oval
the hammer is no
:k of wood. Sup-
it from a flat sheet
whom it is charged
es like a hat-block,
apart. The block
ic touching the flat
; to revolve at great
anil the malleal)le
, and gradually en-
smooth sugar-bowl,
immed with a sharp
possible now to get
the wooden block out of the silver howl, were it not that the lilock is made
in pietcs. The workman loosens the key which binds the block together,
and hiiakes the pieces out of the narrow mouth of the sugar-bowl. The
bottom of the sugar-bowl is shaped upon an appropriate block by the same
process, wiiich is called "sjiinning up." The handles are cast, and the
different i)arts fastened together by soldering under a blow-pi])e. This is in
princ ijilc the manner in whi( h all nmnd and oval dishes, presentation-pieces,
i;oI)Iels, iS-'c, are made from solid silver. For convenience the bodies are
sometimes ma-le in several i)arts, so as to permit the insertion at different
places of a flat strip of ilecorated metal which has been rolled in a machine,
anil thev are then siibseciuently assembleil by the silversmiths proper, and
united by soklering. 'I'he soldering is so perfectly done, that the finished
article is in ("act one piece of solid work, — as much so as though it had been
cast. All scraps are carefully collectetl and weighed, and credited to the
wiirkman to whom they were previously charged. Large objects like punch-
lidwis, and all others of irregular shape, are hammered out by hand from flat
>hcets of metal, and put together by soldering. I'ro-
ic( tini; ornaments, like monograms, flowers, handles. iVc,
are frecpientiy cast solid, and put u[)on the piece in the
iwial way ; but by far the greater i>art of the- decoration
is done by chasing and engraving. The pattern is drawn
in black and white upon sheets of paper. The workman
^'oes all over the inside of the goblet, teapot, or other
piece, whatever it may be, with a delicate hammer, and
beats down the metal, so as to raise the large leaves,
flowers, scrolls, \-c., of the pattern, into relief on the
outside of the piece. The dish is then filled with melted
pitch and rosin, which is allowed to solidify and form a
backing, in order that it may not lose its symmetrical
shape in the subseipient processes. The workman next
goes carefiilly over the whole of the surface outside which
IS to he decorated, and fashions it by indenting and beating down the metal
with little ciiisels and a hammer, so as to iv'ave a clear, sharp-cut pattern
raised in high relief upon the beaten-down l)ackground. The pitch is then
removed by melting ; and the dish goes on to be smoothed, burnished, frosted,
satin-finished, or gilded, as the case may be, for the store. The ornamenta-
tiun of flat surfaces is sometimes done by etching. Spoons and forks are
made by rolling in a machine, the pattern of the fork or spoon being engraved
on the surface of the rollers. The edges of surj)his metal are removed by
clipping and filing, and the article receives its final shape under a die. The
liandles of nut-picks and knives, when hollow, are stamped in a die, in halves,
and united by soldering. In the solid-silver shops great care is exercised to
prevent waste of metal. The waste in polishing, clipping, filing, &c., is
1'E1TKK-1H)X.
mm
i^'^'lrM
1" I "
338
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
enormous, amounting in Tiffany's from four hundrec' \o six hundred (iiinces
a wccii in the process of poHshing with leather and cotton alone. All tin>
refuse of the shops, the grease, the dirt of the floor, the water in wliich the
silver is washed, &c., is carefidly saved, and sent to the furnace for the ex-
traction of the metal. With all the jirecautions that intelligence can suggest
it is still found that five per cent of the metal weighed out to the workmen
is never recovered.
VK(;RTAI1M;-I>l'ill.
In the factories of plated ware a large part of the work is done by stamps,
dies, and presses ; and more of the ware is cast than in the solid-silver shops.
'The metal formini' the basis of the pieces is usunllv C'lcrniaii silver
Stamping. /• • 1 1 1 • \ 1 ■ • 1
(an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc), l)rittania, white-metaj, ami
aluminum. Brass and copper are sometimes used for very cheap work. The
Use of brass Original mcthod of plating the ware with silver was to dissolve the
and copper, nictal in iiltrlc acid, and precipitate it as a cyanide l)V(vani(le
of ])otassium. Tiie i)recipitate, being wasiied, was dissolved in a sdiiitinii ol'
Process of cyauidc of potassium. The object to be silvered was then ( dh-
piating. nected with the negative pole of a powerful battery, dijiped in nitric
acid, and then suspended in the solution of silver. After a few moments it
was taken out and well brushed, and then replaced in the solution. The silver
begins to make its appearance on the surface of the object, and in a few hours
has covered every part of it with a uniform dead-white coating of pure metal.
The process may be stopped when the plating has reached the thickness of
tissue-paper, or it may be continued until the piece is double or trijjle plated.
The stronger the current of electricity, the harder will be the plating. ^\ iien
tai^en from the solution, the piece is washed, and then burnished and finished
in the ordinary manner. Latterly, plating is carried on by a variation of this
process. The silver is not dissolved and held in suspension, but is put into the
bath of cyanide of potassium in the form of a plate attached to the positive
OF THE UNITED STATES.
339
pole of tlic battery. The electrical current decomposes the silver, and the dish
attache 1 to the negative pole then becomes covered with the dissolved metal
as bflore.
llk'i tro-gilding is not extensively practised in the manufacture of table-
ware, !h ing resorted to more commonly in the production of cheap jewelry.
It is aNtonishing how far a small (juantity of gold may be made to Electro-
,T„ in hiding the cheap materials of which cheap ornaments — pencil- Eiiding.
cases, thimbles, &c. — are made, 'I'he "magnificent" gold ear-rings and other
things olfcred as prizes in the lotteries are frequently manufactured, at a cost of
not mudi more than ten dollars
a bushel, from cofjpcr or some
such iiKitcrial, and gilded at an
ixpense of about fifteen cents a
piece. Heavy gold jjlating is,
hdwever, sometimes done upon
cheap watch-cases, and also upon
solid-silver ware. The inside of
saltcelia..., soup-tureens, soup-
ladies, spoons, (S:c., is frecjucntly
gilded ; and, in the case of some
verv splendid sets of table-ware,
the uhole stirf;ice ot tlie s|)oons
istiiicklv coated with tlie ])re('ious
metal. I'lie use of solid -gold
Laliie-ware is at present linined
in tliis country to bells and salt-
cillars. Its cost bears the same
relation to silver as that of silver
does to jiewter. But the rich
color (if pure gold is very much
admired, and gilding is tiierefore demanded to a certain extent. The process
is substantially the same as the original method of plating with silver.
Within the last ten years the United States have made a great advance in
tile heauty and originality of styles of silver-ware. Some factories make a hun-
dred patterns of tea-sets. The Gorham Company makes nearly imp,oye.
three hundred varieties of spoons. The New- York-City factories menta of last
produce designs which are not surpassed anywhere in Europe. *""!"'"•
Ihis result is, in part, due to the education of com|)etent designers by the
Cooper Institute and other schools of design in the country. It is also attribu-
lahle. ill ])art, to the constant jjurchase of books of patterns in China, Japan,
iiid all other parts of the world where decoration is made an art, and to the
diligent study of the treasures of antitiuity which have been exhumed by the
scholars of the Old World. The growth of wealth and taste in the United
States has also proved a great stimulus.
FRUlT-DISII.
f ■
<
p-'f'^'f
1
f.-
ji
340
/JVD O'S TKIA L HIS TOR Y
I.KAVV-IJISH.
The taste for solid silver is increasing. There already begins to be visible
in the centres of wealth and fashion a little of that [)ritle in the family plate
Cultivation '"'^^ emulation with others, wiiich letl the Romans to vie witli otliors
of taste (or in the massiveness of their silver dishes. Before the (i\il \var
there were in Rome 150 silver dishes that weighed over 100 puunds
each ; and I'liny tells of one of 500 pounds, with eight plates of 250 iionnds
each. The Ro-
mans were n,oss in
their taslt-s ; ami
the more intel-
lectual Anuricaii
does not incline
in the ciircction of
ponderous dishes
which would (rush
the table under
tiieir weiglit : but
he loves orna-
ment, and the ri-
valry here is Ibr
the most profusely and richly decorated ware. 'The most splendid set ever
made in the United States was that ordered by Mr. Mac key, one of the owners
of the Bonanza silver-mines, in 1877, which comprised several hundred jiieces
of elaborately made solid-silver ware, including an enormous punch-bowl and
a huge candelabnnn. The set kept
several hundred workmen busy for
months in its manufacture. Some of
the spoons and dishes were heavily
gilded. The whole cost exceeded
;fioo,ooo. Private dinner-parties
have been given in New-Vork City
within the last five years by princely
merchants, in which $75,000 wort'.i
of silver and valuable china .nnd
crystal ware were used to spreail
the table, and increase the magnifi-
cence of the occasion ; but ih*
Mackey silver is the first grand set
of great price ever made in the
United States. Part of it goes to furnish the owner's private residence in
("alifornia, and the rest of it to his houses in l\iris and London.
VVitliin the last few years a special vailety of silver-ware has been created
to answer tl-ie .demand for prizes for riiie matches, yacht-races, trotting and
GVP,
more of it mad
OF rriF. UNITED STATES.
341
l),ill fdiitcsts. &c. The pieces are often in the form of goblets and vases,
fnllowini: the ancient i^ija of 3 rr ,al gift, which was generally ,'.
.... 1 . . r 1 • .- . 7 . . ,- Silver priies.
valiuil'li-' c\\\t. Whether ad.iiited for drinking or the holiling of
niasso of (lowers, or whether statuesciue and purely ornamental, they are
fasliiomd very much on the principle of a trophy. They exhibit the symbols
of vai hting, hunting, and athletic sports, and assemble into one piece every
thing which is characteristic of the contest for which they are the victor's
reward. American silversmiths display great ingenuity in this style of -vork.
COI'I'KK AM) li'-ASS UTENSILS.
Cojiper was the first metal wrought into arms and implements in the terri-
t(iry wliii ii is now the United States, if the testimony of the relics of the days
of tin- Indian occupation, and of the records of the C'atholic Eari> ise of
missionaries, docs not deceive us. The red metal which underlies <=opP"-
the State of Mi( higan in such |)riceless deposits early caught the eye of the
savage warriors who threaded the forests of the North in the pursuit of game
and I'uih their '-amiJ-fires on every hill. The stone-hammers of this early
rare <»f men had been employed upon the metal ; and the Jesuit fathers, who
nianhid with die cross of their religion in advance of the soldiers who bore
the iilii-s of I'Vanc e, found great quantities of it worn as ornaments and shaped
mtd tools and weapons by tiie red heathen whose conversion to Christianity
ihi'v sought. Had the white man, who succeeded to the occupancy of the soil,
also inherited the civilization of the red man, it is probable that he, too, would
have ex])ciHled his art first upon the working of red copper, before attempting
to utilize the less attrai tive and more refractory metal which now claims his
more diligent attention ; but the white man brought to .America the science and
arts of an older ami higher civilization, and copjier claimed his attention less
at the niitset than the ilenser metal. 'I'hat has not. however, ])revented coi)per
from assuming the imi^ortant rank in the arts of the country to which its
(juaHtics entitle it. Its manufacture is one of the great industries of the United
States. y
("ojjper was first worked in the United States by the white man, not under ^
the Catholic cross of France in the North-West, but under the austerei aus[)ices
Working of
of I'rotcstantism in New England. The first mines were o])ened
in Connecticut ; and the State employed its convicts for a period copper-mines
of sixty years, ending about 1830, in getting out the metal in the >" Connecti-
town of Simsbury. The ingots of metal were sold to the mint
and to the smiths ; but at first by far the larger part was exported to Furope to
be manufactured. After 181 2, when a duty of thirty-five per cent was levied
upon manufactures of copper, there was less of the metal exported, and
more of it made up into jilate and utensils for use on this side of the water.
The industry developed the fastest in the Eastern and Middle States. In
1 :i ifl ,'' vmhv.
342
Ih'DUSTRIAL HISTORY
<'*^^
JO^
1870 there /'ere 391 copper and brass factories in operation, cmiiloving
Develop. 5'^"" hands, and producing a vahie of ^15,000,000 in linishLd
mentof yoods annually; there being of these factories twenty niiu' in
nduBtry. Connecticut, forty-four in Massachusetts, eighty-five in N\u \<)rk
eighty-one in Pennsylvania, and twenty-one in New Jersey. .Vnsoma and
VV'aterbury, Conn., became the principal centres of the nianulac turc.
Pure co ppei" is one of the softest of the metals, and is easily rolled into
plates for use. It is in the form of plates principally that it is empioyud in ilic
arts. Its most important use is in the sheathing of the lidiioni
Importance * c:» m
of copper as of woodcn ships to protect them from accumulations di' liainadcs
sheathing jj,^j shell-fish and the ravages of the bores. The navitratdis of
lor ships.
the early centuries had great trouble with their ships on account of
the fouling of the bottoms. It was finally suggested that the protei tion of the
part of the ship below the load-line with sheet-lead wo. .Id prevent incrustations,
and that material was used for a while. In 1761 "The Alarm," a frii;ate in
the royal navy, was sheeted with copper, which was found to answer the
purpose very much better. After a series of years, it wa* found that i)iire
copper, while protecting the ship, was itself rapidly eaten av'y Ijy tlic < 1u'im( al
action of salt water, which made its renewal necessary. This was exijensive,
and shipping-men cast about tor some improsenient of the j)roccss of sliealh-
ing. A curious experiment was tried in res])onse to a suggestion by Sir Hum-
phry Davy. This was to place strips of iron under the sheets of cop])er. wiii(h
would be corroded by the galvanic action rather than the copper. The inven-
tion worked beautifiiUy : the cop])er was ])reserved, and money saved, lint,
<|uite unexpectedly, it was then foim<l that the copper, no longer dissolving in
the sea, became covered with barnacles as badly as the wooden bottoms had
been before. So the ship-builders went back to pure copper. After a while,
however, an alloy of copjjcr was invente<l by mixing with it forty per i ent of
zinc, which answered the purjioses of sheathing admirably. This alloy was a
_ , si)ecieiiLof brass. It was called " yellow metal." and still retains
Process of ' -"-^ •'
making the name, and is now universally u'^-'l for the coi)j)ering of wooden
vessels. The metal is very s'jfc, anfl is rolled cold. It is worked
down very gradually and carefiiUy from the ingot, bcinj; annealed
after each rolling, and cleared of oxide by pickling in a bath of diluted
sulphuric acid. Owing to the high price of labor in this country, sheathiui,'
lias been more expensively made in the United States than abroad until
within a very few years. Of late the price has been so reduced, that the
former large importations of it have greatly fallen off, and the sheathing
used by .American ship-builders is virtually all American-made. The bolts
and nails by which copjjcr sheathing is fastened to the ship are cast solid
Sheet-copper is a very popular material for boilers and cooking-utensils in
domestic use. The metal resists the action of the fire Ijctter than tin and
sheet-iron : it is, therefore, applied to the construction of many forms of
sheet-
copper.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
343
nianiil.i' '•"■'"K apparatus which come into contact with fire; such as retorts
ami I'll't-';*. vacuum-pans, condensers, and boilers in distilleries, uggofjop.
sucarn lineries, and other lactones. The smaller utensils are perforcook-
Ibriiv.il froi., the sheet-metal by hammering, and by the process "'-"*«"»*'••
olsi)i;ining up, described under the head of " Silver Table-ware." The copper
bccoiiKs very dense and brittle in the smithing ])rocess, and has to be annealed
constantly as the work goes on. In boiltr-making the plates are either united
livlapl'td joints, soldering, or riveting, and sometimes by more than one of
tlit'sc methods.
CopptJL Jg 'yore' extensively used in the for m of brass than in its pure
state. By admixture with a certain i)roportion of zinc it gains beauty and
(iuraliility, and is generally ]ireferred in that form. The best pro- useofcop.
jHirtiiiii t>f the metals is two of copi jcr to one of zinc, which per in mak-
makcs wiiat is called eight-ounce brass ; that is, eight oiihces of '"* *"""■
zinc to sixteen of copper in the poimd. Sixteen-ounce brass, the two metals
licinj: eiiual, is a beautiful golden alloy, called " prince's metal." Other com-
liiiiations are made to produce pinchbeck, Manheim gold, and other alloys
Miitalile for cheap jewelry, and ware for gilding and silvering. Urass is as
agreeable a metal to work as i)ure silver. In thin plates it can be
stamped and embossed in any form. It spins up beautifully in a
lathe. It can be drawn out into delicate wire ; and is so malleable, that it can
k' iieatcn out almost like gold-leaf itself for the purposes of cheap gilding.
The metal is susceptible of a high polish. It does not rust by Advantages
exposure, and has a great deal of the beauty of gold. It is the °' '"^"**-
universal material of which chandeliers and gas-fixtures are made ; being
su>eei)tible of rich coloring, bronzing, and silvering by chemical Things made
])ru(i'sses, and of shaping into the most elaborate forms by °f brass.
stanijiing and embossing. Hrass was at one time the exclusive material out of
which the works of docks were made. Steel works are now beginning to be
Sheet-brass.
used to a verv large extent ; but brass holds its own for all cheap c-locks, and
indeed is popular in every grade of time-piece 'p to the great machines put
in the towers of our city halls and churches. Its beaut)', and freedom from
rust, insure its ])oi)ularity. Brass is also extensively consimied in the manu-
facture of ])ins. It is drawn out into wire. It is clipped bv machinery
into pieces of the right length, which are jjointed, headed, and.
after being tinned l)y agitation and boiling in a solution of tin,
are stuck into papers for the market, all by machines especially invented for
the purpose. The machine for putting them up in papers is an American idea,
^TT'TT
:., t ;
,1
344
IXI)L\STh'/Al. ///STORY
and saves thousands of dollars of expL'tiso annually. A {i^reat deal of l)rass is
also consumed in the inaniitacture of buttons. Uiir forefathers were foiul of
brass buttons, and wore them regularly upon the ubiquitous l)lue dress coat.
Brass Hrass buttons are still a regular part of the uniform of ti\e irmv
buttons. .,,,,1 ,,.^yy of ti^L- I'nited States. They are struck from siiects of
Qat me*-' and stamped with the national coat of arms, and with proper \v\WX'
'•■_'., iiow that they are for gov en aent use. Hacks and eyes of (helper
i.vnal ur, Ven fastened on by solder! . The ornamental work of machinery
ai'.! i.i'i^....- e(iuii)ments, the pegs i -on which pictures are hung, andirons
penii, candle i " s, and a hundreil ol ects in daily use, are made of this hcauti-
ful and serviceable alloy.
KSIKKUKOOK I'F.N-MANLKAtTORV, CAMOBN, N.J.
BRONZK WARK AM) STATUAKV.
f Jr- Bronze is the most beautiful of the alloys of co])per. It has been in use
from antiquity. Much of what was called brass among the ancients was in
Ancient use reality bronze. It was sujiposed that the ancients had learned the
of bronze. r^^^ ^f hardening pure cojjper so as to make the metal servi( cahle
for axes and daggers : it is now believed that this hardened copper was
only bronze also. The art of hardening copi^er is said to be los t : the fact
is, chemical analysis had resurrected the art. The copper l)atfle-axes found
by Dr. Schliemann at Troy have been drilled, and the drillings analyzed.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
345
Peducting the sand, the following was the result in the case of the three
wii|Hii\s tested: (i) copper 95S, and tin 38; (2) copper 906, and tin 8;
(!) copper 923, anil tin 74. This slight addition of tin made the metal a soft
broiuc which, being compacted by good smithing, produced a weapon with
a hard ctlge. It is probable that the ancients did not clearly understand that
i\w. \w\ tin were distinct nielals ; for they used the terms "brass" and
'•|)ron/.e" interchangeably. The brazen axes which slew Agamemnon, gave
rise to so many glowing epics anil dramas among the (Irecian poets, and
gave Sliakspeare his suggestion for his tragedy of " Hamlet," were properly
true jjroiue. 'I'he statue in the harbor at Rhodes, under whose legs passed
for years the incoming and outgoing boats of that busy isl.T 'lipping-port,
was also of bronze.
Ikonze has always been devoted to great uses. First \ i^as metal of
war: ihen, when iron began to be wrought into blades aii ariiior, bronze
bceainc the favorite material for heroic statues. It was . jspv. . ut important
it was beautiful, and more enduring than marble ; and th.' sc\ ptoi uses of
foiiiul great satisfaction, when his conception had beer ib'^Hied '°"*'-
in ' . 1 rumbling clay model, in seeing it reproduced i .11 diately and easily
in tliis noble metal, iusteail of being obliged to await the slow process of
ciittini; the statue from marble, and to run all the attendant risks. After the
invention of gunpowder, bronze again became a fixvorite metal in war.
Naijoloon employed it in the cannon with which he sul)dued the whole of
Kiirope. Its strength was rnly about half that of wrought iron ; but its
beauty pleased the cultivated French, who loved to lavish upon every thing
whiih belonged to them — their gims, as well as upon their dress, their build-
ings, and all articles of construction — their national fondness for color and
for decoration, and the resources of a lively imagination. The metal resisted
wear extremely well, and bronze guns were the rage. The F^uropeans also
emi>loyed bronze for commemorative monuments, arches, and statues. The
Japanese and Chinese have used bronze from very distant centuries ; but their
fondness for it had little to do with its use in Europe.
The first experiments in modern times to ascertain the mingling propor-
tions of copper and tin were in 1770 at Turin. There the proportion of
twelve or ffiurtrrn pirtj. nf tin to n"f' '"inilr' ^'' of ropp'^r w.m fi ve^i,! upon as
the best. The French made many experiments a few years later. Composition
They decided tipon eleven parts of tin as the maximum, and eight °' bronze.
as the minimum, to one hunilred parts of copper. The French learned to
mix in a small percentage of lead and zinc also. At p'-esent, one to ten is
the standard proportion. Manufacturers vary from this s'andard freely, how-
ever, to produce special effects. For a hard bronze, they mix the metals in
the proportion of seven to one. For machinery bearings and medals, eight
to one is the rule ; for statues, four to one ; for flexible tenacious bolts and
nails, twenty to one ; and for speculum metal, two to one. In whatever pro-
I>1
i^M A
fell
^1
ft
J?
Durability.
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
portion the compound is made, bronze is the most ihirable of metals, cx( cpt
gold and platinum. It ac(niircs a fine rich color by exposure, whitii is
callcil " i)atina ; " but it docs not rust. I'lxposcd to the wcailiLT,
it lasts forever. It lias tiie jicculiar ])roperty of bccouuny mul.
leable by temi)ering ; and it can l)c given a black, red, brown, green, or silvery
patina by oxidation or sulphurization.
Up to the i)resent decade the use of bron/e in the United Slates has hoen
confined to the manufacture of bells, cannon, and statuary. Williiu tln' hist
twenty years the country has crossed the thrcshokl of a genenii manul'.u turo
of the metal. The last two decades will always be taken as the real bcymiiing
of the prcHluction of general bron/.e-ware in the United States. Hiilurto
bron/e has been, as of old, tiie heroic metal. It has been sacred to arms
and statuary, bells being the only form in which it was utilized for any dn-
' mestic purposes. Now it comes more prominently into popularity in tiic
domestic arts. It retains its rank as the uiiapi)roai liable material for grrat
statues ; but it is losing ground for use in cannon, in whic h form it has liccn
extremely popular in tlie last two wars ; and it is now being made up iiuu
a thousand objects for the decoration and glorification of homes and cities.
Since the war of i86i the government has distributeil to the different ( ities
and villages of the country a large number of bronze cannon to be incited
up into statues, in honor of the victories and heroes of the war, to graic
public scpiares and parks ; antl factories for manufacturing bronze objects for
common use have started up all over the industrial portions of the land.
In the Revolutionary war the peaceful old statue of King George, in Ni.nv-
York City, was tumbletl down, ami converted to warlike uses by being united
up into good republican bullets. At the present time a change is goiui; on
which might be com])ared to the overthrow of the brazen arms and statue
of Mars, and the melting up the warlike material into objects of beauty and
peaceful luxury.
The bronze-manufacturers of the United States, previous to 1861, were lew,
and far between. The establishments of the Messrs. .Ames at Chicopee, .Mass..
and of the .Meneelys at Troy, N.V., were the princijjal ones in the country ; and
there were only a few others sprinkled about here and there in the Ivist-
^ em States. These factories made bells in times of peace, and cast cannon in
times of war. The so-called brass guns used in the Mexican war, in the
In eof struggle of 1861-65. anil in the army on the plains in figlitini,'
bronze- Indians, were made of bronze. They were cast solid, and bored,
and were nearly as strong as iron. They were known as Xajx)-
leons in the army, to distinguish them f^om iron and steel guns.
The expense of bronze limited its manufacture to these two articles and to the
occasional statues which public gratitude or jirivate liberality caused to be set
up in some opulent city. The beauty of bronze caused it, however, to be
prized in the arts. For many years manufacturers tried to discover a method
manufac-
tories.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
347
lor liiniizing other substances, so that the growing refinement of the public
Wsti might be gratified by the purchase of objects whicii slioukl have the
appiaiiiHe of l)ron/.e witiiotit its cost. Various washes, powders, and alloys
were Nniught out one alter the other. A compound of tin. rcgulus of anti-
iiioin . ind lead, was once employed as an imitafion bronze. The manufacturers
oi iiiuntains, vases for the decoration of grounds, doorstep-statuary, and other
iiict.il work, gave that alloy u|) for zinc c(jvered with copper by the eleitric.^
|in)(i>s. 'I'hey then discovered the solution of ( hloride of l)latin^m. which
will nive almost any color to co])per, brass, iron, or new bronze, (heap sub-
btituus for bronze, and powders and washes, are still largely used : they can
lit' Miti in ( lianckliers, (heap statuary, and coarse decorative metal-work. Hut
tluri has been a decided in( rease in the employment of real bronze since
iSdi. No one wants an imitation, if he can afford the real thing.
.\iiKri( ans, particularly, have a hatred for shams, whether it be in f"'"' ,
' •' Increase in
tJK' iinifessions of their pul)lic men, or in so simple a mailer as the use of real
U\A> of Washington which adorn their mantle-pieces. Besides 1*86°"" "'""
thh. ilure has been a growth of the sense of color in this country.
A rii li dark wall-pajier i;> wanted now where a whitewashed wall answered
bcl'oiv. The oUl-time white piasler-of-l'aris statuette no longer pleases; but it
must lie colored to resemble
bron/e, or must be of that
opiiknt metal itself. ''"'-^2
tii.in,L;e in taste and the growth
of pnisperity have prei)ared
tlic way for a sale of real
bronze objects. 'I'he result is
alriMily seen in the factories.
(\)iinriis wiiit h formerly pro-
ciiu i.il house-harilware of iron,
siicii as locks, hinges, latches,
metal ornaments, t*v:c., have
chaiij^ed over to bronze. All
liandsome houses are now fur-
nished, to a large extent, witii
bronze metal-work and fasten-
ing's, as far as the tloors and
windows are concerned, the
lit;ht-colored bronzes being
l)rcfcircd for the i)urpose.
Public buildings and stores
hav(j also adopted this style of work. The whole world is vistonished and
dilighted with the l^eauty of American bronze hardware, which displays great
taste, and originality of pattern. The manufacturers of clocks, inkstands,
I.A!<T MOMENTS UKIIINU TIIK SCENES.
'^"''^^W^l
^v
P I; Uii
flH »i
,8)
348
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
%
(•ij{ar-hol(lcrs. thermometers, and Yankee notions in general, are also now
flooding,' tlie country witli, and sending ahroail to a certain extent, haniUunK-
wares of this popular material. For this class of objects the darker liroiucs
are used ; many of the cheaper pieces, however, being simply of in)n, hut
japanned to reseml)le bronze. Purely ornamental bron/e-work, sik h as
statues, vases, jxjts, trays, iVc, are not yet made in America. W; arc
behind the rest of the world in that ros])ect. Yankee genius loves to ino-
(luce the useful, giving it a beautiful fi)rm : but there is not yet a disiini tivv.-
development of that in<lepen(lent passion for the purely beautiful whicii leads
a i)eople to go largely into the manufacture of exclusively ornamental ohjoc ts.
That will come in time ; in fact, is already coming : but the progress in bron/cs
is not yet sufticient to be dwelt upon. Mron/e i)usts of eminent men, and
statues for parks and jjublic places, are, however, now very commonly niadi'.
I'here is a genuine passion for bron/e for that department of art. Tlu'
richness, dignity, and strength of the alloy are asserting themselves, and
the manufac turers are reaping a rich harvest therefrom.
American development in bronze-work will doubtless come during the next
twenty years more largely from studying the ideas of the Japanese than from
analvzing those of the Kuroi)eans. The laiJanese have unietlv
Advantage - n i j \ 1 '.'
of studying Spent an immense amount of thought, experiment, and patient
Japanese manual labor, upon ornamental bronze-work since the sixth ( entuiv,
productions.
and have attained an excellence in the art enjoyed by no other
nation, although they have made the least bustle about it of any nation. Their
alloys are very numerous and very rich. They call them by the color \vlii( h
predominates in them when they are finished. 'I'heir "green copper" is (om-
poseil of copi)er.ind lead, or co|)per, tin, and lead. " lllack copper" is prodiw ed
by uniting the three metals dil'ferently. The " purple copper " is copper and
lead again. One beautiful alloy is matle of four parts of copper, and six of
silver; and the fiimous and peculiar dark-blue Shakudo is made ly adding
to copper from two to five per cent of gold. The metal can be made of any
hue anrl richness. .American workmen are now studying Jajjanese dcsit,'ns :
when they come to study the raw material, good results may be expected to
follow.
The principal factories of bronze statues in the United States now are that
of Robert Wood & Company, Philadeljihia, and that of the Ames ('oin])any
at Chicopee, Mass. The statues made at these shops are either of life or
Principal heroic size. There are no colossal works by them yet. Tlio
bronze-man- Uiiitcil States have liO colossal statues. One is proposed of a liglit-
ufacturers. ],Q,,„g j,-, Ne^y-York harbor, to be presented by the French, and to
be called " Liberty enlightening the World." It will be two hundred and
twenty-five feet high with its pedestal, if ever erected, and will cost one
million francs ; but it will not be sent here until the United States build a
pedestal for it to stand on, and at present nothing is being done about it.
Ill other wore!
OF THE UNITED STATES.
34 y
nr.LLs.
LIKBRrY-UKU..
Tlu' story of the bell should always he written by a poet : indeed, the bell
lib liiiii a favorite theme with tin.' jioets of all ages and countries since its
iiiviniKMi and introdtKtioii to the towers of castles, churches, and poetic hii-
urt'it hiiildings. No sound speaks to men with siuh " a various tory of beiu.
Iant;u.ige " as the clan^' of a j^reat lail. It always annonnc es soniellMMj,'. Once
tlie hells of a tower were rung to scatter the storms, it being believed that the
iioly sOiWvl would have a siibjtij^'ating efiecl upon the
ik'iiKiUs ; but that custom has passed away, and
MOW llie bell s])eaks only to tell something impoilaut
to tiu' people living within the sound of its voice.
It sii;ii.ili/.es the sweetest and most tender in( ideiUs
III liii . It attends us to the grave. It alarms a com-
nuiniiv to meet a danger. There is always some-
thiiiL; of melan( holy in the voice of a great bell, even
oil llu' most joyful occasions, and the sotmd is alwavs
full of sympathy. \ great bell without that trace of
iml, 111! holy is worthless. In l'',iiro])e it has always
jiuii the ( ustom to inscribe upon the bell a legend
of Mime sort ; and. from imong the many in Latin,
the following may be taken to show with how many voices the same iron
tongue can speak to the jjcople of a town : —
" Kuiu'r.i ])l.in);o ; fulj^ura frinno ; s;il)l).itn |).iiipn ;
Kxi'ito Icntos I (lissipo vciitos ; pato cruciitos."
In other words, —
" 1 mourn the deaths ; I t)rc;ik the lightnings ; I mark the salibalhs;
1 arouse the shjw ; I scatter the winds ; I appease the cruel."
Aiul this : —
*' I.audo Deum verum ; pleticm voco ; cnngrcgo clcrum ;
Defiinctos ploro; pcstem fugo j fcstani que honoro."
That is to say, —
" I praise the true God ; I call the people ; I convoke the clergy ;
I mourn the dead ; I frighten the plague j I honor the feast."
Schiller. Tennyson, T'dgar A. Poe, and nearly all the great national poets,
have given us a song of the bell. " The Hells of Shandon " shows how ui^i-
vcrsal is the love of this powerful mover of the sentiments and feelii j:s.
The early bells of the United States were all imported from Enc;lrind, whence
•nlone, for a long period, were to be obtained the supplies of tin which enter
into their composition. Not many were wanted: yet the early Early beiit
settlers of America were a very religious peo])le, and the wliit; imported.
spires of their churches dotted the dark brown and green of every landscape ;
,n
350
INDUSTRIAL II /STORY
..I'f*!'!
and it was desired to hang a l.cll in as many of ih: .^pircs as possible. So there
was sonietiiini; of a di mand for bells, anil the ships from England broui^ht all
that were ordered. (Jccasionally one was hung in a state-house also. Anions
this class was the famous bell imported in 1752 for Independence Hall at
Philadelpiiia ; which, being cracked on trial by a too energetic stroke of the
clapper, was recast under the direction of Mr. Isaac Morris of Philadelphia.
The new bell was inscribed from Lev. x\v. 10, "Proclaim liberty throughout
the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; " also, " By order of the Asscinhly
of the Province of Penn. for the State House in Phil. ;" and, " Pass & Stow,
Phil., MDCC'LII." After the tariff of 184::, which gave those who (hose to
take up bell-founding as a regular business the protection of a duty of ihiity-
five per cent, a number of small factories were started, some of which at'tcr-
w.ards attained celebrity ; among them being that of the Meneely lirothirs at
Troy, N.Y., the one at Boston, and that of the Eevin Brothers Manufacturing
Company of Kast Hampton, Conn.
'I'lic hells whi( h ha\e been made in the United States have been, so far. of
moderate size, with few exceptions. The
conditions of society here have not hicii
BeUs mr.de f^vorable to tile production of
in United moustcr tocsius as in some
'**^^' other countries. Royalty and
priestcraft have resorted to colossal IjcILs in
all ages to impress the common pcojilc with
the jiower of their rulers ; and Europe is
filled with monster castings of this descrip-
tion, the fifty-seven-ton affair at Mos( ow
being the largest; while imperial China ami
Japan, with kindred aims, have hung tre-
mendous fifteen-foot bells in nearly all tJic
great cities of their respective empires. In
the United States, where the democratic
spirit prevails, where pomp and circum-
stance are not employed to strengthen the authority of ('hurch and State, and
all things are gaugeil by a common rule of beauty and utility, bells have I'ound
• their use, and have only been made large enough to subserve the wants and
pleasures of the j)eople. The largest bell ever made in the country was ( ast
at Boston fc-r the City Hall at New York. It weighed twenty-three thonsaml
pounds, was eight feet across at the mouth, six feet high, and six
inches and a half thick where the clajjper struck it. A few four
and five ton bells have also been cast ; but the majority of those made average
a thousand i)oun(ls' weight only for churches and city halls, and four hundred
pounds' weight for fiictories.
The tone of a bell is entirely within the control of the manufacturer. Its
JAPA.NIiSE BELL.
Size of bells.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
35 1
softness and sweetness can be varied by using different proportions of copper
aiul lin. 'Tid putting in a little lead or silver. Its pitch is varied l)y .^^^^ ^f
the si/e and diameter. Kor instance, the bells ringing the first, beu, how
third, lifth, and oightii of the scale are cast relative, with diame- ■*»*='""""'*•
ters of thirty, twenty-four, twenty, and fifteen, and weights of eighty, forty-one,
twenty-four, and ten. 'I'he ease of graduating tlie tone has led to the adoption
of chimes of bells ; and churches in all the large cities of the country, and in
some of the smaller ones, have within the last twenty years purchased them.
CHUKCH-UELL.
and the communities have been filled with the music of " sweet chimes of
magic bells." The most ancient chime in the country is that in a picturesque
ruin in the southern part of California. It is a relic of the Spani.-ih occupation.
The Jesuit missionaries from Mexico built a number of massive mission-houses
in that part of the country, and hung in them bells Imiught from Europe. One
of these structures, being erected in a region occasionally shaken by earth-
quakes, was made with a dome ten feet thick, in order that it might resist any
possible shock ; and the bells wore hung in the arches of a low buttressed wall,
V .P:
WA
U'i.t
352
/A'D rs TKIA I. HIS TOR Y
separate from the main building. In irony at the calculations of man, an carth-
quaice crushed the massive central ImiUling, ami has left the bells hanuin" in
their arched colonnade to the present day. 'i'he most interesting chime in the
country is that at Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y. There are ten IjcUs
the largest weigiiing 4.VSS9 pounds, anil the smallest 230. They reprcsciii the
notes of 1), (i, A, 1>, C, 1), l^, F, K sharp, and (1. The largest of liiesi hcUs
bears various legenils, as follows : " The gift of Mary, wife of Andrew 1 ). W hite
First President of Cornell University, '.;'')0 ; " " (ilory to Clod in tlio highest
and on eartli jjeace, good will toward men ; " " To tell of Thy loving kindness
early in the morning, and of 'I'iiy tnnii in tiie night-season." Also the follow-
ing, written for the i)urpi)se by James Russell Lowell : —
Fri
f'N
" I call, as fly the irrcvticiblc lioiirs,
Futile as air, or strong as fate, to make
Your lives of sand or granite : awful powers.
Even as men choose, they cither give or take,"
Upon the nine other bells are couplets from Tennyson's " In Memoriam,"
beginning with the smallest, as folk)ws : —
" King out the old, ring in the new ;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind;
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly-dying rausc.
And ancient forms of party strife ;
King in the nolikr modes of life.
With sweeter maimers, purer laws.
Ring out false pride in |)hue and blood;
King in the lonnnon love of good.
Ring out tilt slander and the spite ;
Ring ill the love of truth and riglit.
Ring out the narrowing lusi of gold ;
Ring out the thousand wars of (jld.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease ;
Ring in the thousand years of )« ace.
Ring in the valiant man and free.
The larger heart, the kindlier hand ;
Ring out the darkness of the land j ■
King in the Christ that is to be."
01- THK IN I TED STATES.
353
On this last bell is also the inscription, " This chime the gift of Miss Jennie
McGraw to the Cornell University, 1868."
I'lIIMR OF liEM.S.
Aincriran manufacturers arc not very confident of the value of silver in
bells, ;iii(i tiiey generally prefer clear mixtures of copper and tin. The pro-
portion is, for musical bells, six of copper to one of tin ; horse- silver in / ^
bells, Hipper four, tin one ; and large bells, three to one. Cattle- *"'"^- *^
bdls arc made of iron and copper. They are not intended to do any thing
exccjit make a noise. Steel bells have been experimented with Composition
sonu' in J'Jigland ; but they are harsh in sound, and not popular. °' ''*"*•
A tV« fire-alarm bells have been used in the United States, cotisisting of a
hiavy liar of steel, coiled spirally, and mounted upon a sounding- Fire-aiarm
board. 'I'hey have been abolished, however, by the new system '''"*•
of fire-alarm, which jjrovides, not for ringing a great tocsin to agitate the town,
but tor ringing a gong in every engine-house by means of the telegraph, and
thus {,'i\ ing the alarm only to those who need to know about the existence of a
firi'. Table-bells are now made of silver^gold, and Cerman sijyer. Those in
the form of a little gong, mounted upon a little slender rod, which, in turn, is
iiupporteil upon a small jjcdestal, are the most popular. Bronze Bronze
gongs are made of all sizes, from the terrific monsters shaped like i^^i*-
a warrior's shield, which the waiters bang at the railroad eating-houses, to the
liny bell like bronzes in alarm-clocks and oftice-anntinciators. The casting of
bells is so simple a process, that it need not be described. The gong — that
X
'^mm
354
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
M ■!
\A -'M
tMi
«t'
■■,'x
is, the gong of the Chinese sort — is made by forging under a heavy hammer
Number o( There are now about thirty-five estabUshments in the I'nited
beu-manu- States engaged in tiie production of bells : a portion ot thtir
actones. product is sold abroad. The imports of bells have stopped.
It is not probable that great bells will ever form a special feature of
American life. The tendency of things is not in that direction. Circat bolls
Future of are only valuable to alarm a town and the inhabitants of tlic sur-
beiu in U.S. rounding country. In the days of the hand fire-engine, ii was
important that every able-bodied man, in a city where there was any sijccial
Value of accumulation of wealth, should be warned v, henever any of tl,e
great bells, buildings of the place caught fire, so that he might lend his efforts
to stay the conflagration. Steam fire-engines, public water-works, and the
telegraph alarm-bell, have superseded the need both o*" a call to the population
of the place and the use of great bells. During the lute war, heavy l)c!ls
were useful to call in the people of the rural towns to hci. the news of some
great victory or great defeat ; but cannon-fiiing answc :eu very well in the
absence of bells then, and probably will in the future.
LEADMANtJFACTURES,
/ / Lead, though the humblest of the metals, hr.s. piaye . irs part royally in the
drama of human life. When gunpowder \v;,i inven ea, lead was the one
material of which n^'ssiles could be mado. Uj exisis^ice dictated the form of
weapons, and change'l the art of war; and not only that, but il decided the
fate of all rude natirjiis, aud changed the history of the world. When
chemistry b'-^ught it'' r';sourrc- ) bear upon the m(>tal, lead beca>ne useful to
man in beautifying hi.. *!v, 'Jinyj with color; and, when machinery was applied
toward fashioning it, it was found serviceable for a variety of objects for which
no other metal has been able to do equally well.
Lead was found scattered along the co.ist of North America, hero and
there, by the earlier settlers, as will be more fully described elsewhere ; and its
B ri u f '"^nuf^cturc for common purposes began long before the Revo-
lution. It was chiefly employed for bullets. The metal was
obtained at the store, and the huntsman cast his own bnllcts by
hand. In the government armories, balls were made for the use
of the army ; but there was little general manufacture of lead for the market,
for that or any other purpose, until after 'he Revolution. .After the peace of
1783 the uses of lead increased. It was found that oil-paint had a tendency
to preserve wooden dwellings from <leray. Very few dwellings had been
painted before the war. Paint was costly, it being all imported ; and it w.:s
regarded as a worldly and sinful luxury in most of the colonies, especially in
New England. When it was found that paint not only beautified, but was of
positive utility, a perfect epidemic, of coloring houses, barns, and other wooden
lead was
chiefly for
bullets.
^'■i.^-
OF rilE UNITED STATES.
35S
buildings, set in, and the home iiianufacture of it began, A factory to
make lead-paint was started in Philadelphia before 1800: by 1820 uiedtor
there were several in New- York City, and still others west of the p*'"'
Alleghanies and elsewhere in operation. Other factories in Brooklyn, Albany,
Hostoii, Buffalo, and the West, soon followed. Then the manufacture of small
shot had been invented. In 1782 a plnniber living in Bristol, by the name of
Walts, dreamed that he was caught out in a rain-storm, which turned to lead
;is it fell. This suggested the idea of shot-making. He went up into a
thun li and poured out some melted lead, which fell into water below, and
liciainc shot. 'I he idea was taken up quite generally. In 1807 Early shot-
I'aiil Heck built a large shot-tov/er on the Schuylkill, a hundred making,
and seventy feet high, which he thought would supply the whole United
States. He could not supply the United States, however ; and several other
fa( tories were built in the country in succeeding years. Four were built at
New-Vork City, with a capacity of over three thousand tons per annum ; and
seven were built at St. Louis. Virginia, Baltimore, and otiier localities, were
c{liiil)ped with shot-towers also ; and they ha\e, in fact, sprung up all over the
country. The census of 1870 showed seven of them in active operntioD,
prodiK ing about five thousand tons of shot annually. Besides these rists of
lead, various others were introduced at different periods ; and the United Sitatcs
lia\e embarked in the manufacture of lead therefor in a greater or less degree.
Print ipal among these uses of lead is its application, either in the form of
the pure metal or an alloy, to pipe-making, and the manufacture of type,
emery-wheels, solder, table-ware, sheet-metal, the keys of musical instruments.
Babbitt metal for the bearings of machinery, &c.
Lead derives a great part of its importance from its useful alloys. In
combination with antimony it makes a metal good 'or type -0 bearings of
machinery, and ornamental metal-work, being white. id,
capable of a polish, and producing a sharper casting. Tb iloy
melts more readily than lead, and is harder. With tw«. \ per
It is harder in the fc^ ^oTan alloy, and
of solder, by mix-
i metal with which
ire, at 635° : but in
^
u^'
The use of
lead fts an
•ll"y. ^ ,
cent of tin, lead produces pewter.
mo'e fusible ; a fact which is turned to use in the makin
ing ecjual parts of tin and lead, and in the production
naturalists can take delicate castings^ Lead melts, whei ^
the form of an alloy co.iiposed of lead i, lji5muilL.2, tin i, it fuses at 201°; ,
which is considerably less than that of boiling water. When, therefore, it is
desired to form a mould of some delicate tissue or subst.ir;re which would be ,
destroyed by boiling water, this useful alloy is available for tlie purpose.
I'crhaps type-founding, next after that of bullet-making, is the most
ancient industry in which the peojjle engaged in produi ng useml articles
from lead. Type was cast in this country as early as 735. Type-
The i.iioneer in the art was Christopher Saws (or Sowes), who '"■'''''«•
began printing at Gerrnantown, Fenn., and cast the type required in his
'>.
.," - '}•.■: »;.
I
''^^::$^
iW.
'WSBimmmf
■^rn
'WW^^
mm
;<!,(> ,*'»
356
/AV; US TKIA L HIS TON Y
business, executing therewith, in 1743, the second IJible printed in Anu lii a
it l)eing in tiie dernian language. Type was cast by several printers siihse
quentlo him, including I'ranklin
among others. In 1 796 I'.inney
and Ronaldson of i;(linlnirj^li
established type-foundinj; as a
regular business at I'liilailtliihia,
having a ])retty hard time dt" it
for a few years, but finally oh-
taining State aid, couiimTin.; all
difliculties, and building; \\y a
business which was the onum of
the i)resent great establishnu'iu of
Mackellar, Smiths. <S: Jordan. He-
tore the close of the century i \nvifi
Bruce, also of lulinburgh, st.irted
the business at New^ork Citv.
Mr. Druce w.is an ingenious man,
and invented improvements in the
methods of type-founding whidi
developed the business. The oii
ginal method was to cast each
letter by hand, one at a lime. A
copi)er mould was maile for the
type, the letter being stani|ic(l
into the lower end of the mould,
or matrix, with a steel die, and the
matrix capable of being opened
to take out the letter. The ma-
trix was ]tut uito a little wooden or iron box having a h<)])])er to admit the
melted metal. The workman, holding this in his left hand, dipped enough
metal for a letter from the melting-pot with a small iron ladle. He por.red it
in, and gave the matrix a sharp jerk upwards as high as his head to settle tlic
metal into the finest lines of the type and to condense it. He then ])ressed
a spring, opened the matrix, shook out the type, closed the box, and went
on as before. The average rate of casting was 400 letters an hour. Mr.
David J5nice invented an improvement in 181 1 by which 500 typt could be
cast in an hour. In 1812 a duty of thirty per cent was laid upon foreign
type, in place of the previous fifteen per cent. This was a great help t(.
American makers. Ikjdi at Philadelphia and New York the Dusmess mioii
became importan' In 1813 David and George Bruc began the first stereo
typing establishment in the United States. In 1831 Mr. David Bnice. jun..
patented the )nly successlu! tyi'C-castuig machine which has ever been
<«ilJ
PRrMKK S SIAM).
r)/' rilF. UNITED STATES.
357
mn*!c
It was the product of years of experiment and study. It has
rjiitiuU superseded the little hand-moulds, and has gone into general use
in Anit-rican factories and in many luiropean. In this machine the type-
iiiet.il is kept in a melted condition
i!i :i
AlllSKl nm IVl'l'..
small iron reservoir by means of
1 ";•-• iet. From the reservoir it is
|niin|",(i, under great pressure, through
a sli.il nip[)le, into the matrix of the
\s\K. which ])re,;ents itself to tl>e ni])
iilr; sinuiltancously with tlie downward
..iroke (if the piston. The quantity
,)f nu;t;i!l pumped from the reservoir
ill cK h case is just enou;.rh to make
,inv Irtlcr. .\ blast of cold air i)lays
u'lDii tlie mould, die iiielal hardens
instantly, the mould recedes, the tyjie
i:, caM out into a hopper, the mouUi
lioses again. ; ml moves forward to
rc|icai tile process. The speed of
lasliiig wa-> imreased about three
tinier by this machine, and the pro-
portion of imi)erfert type materially
iliiiiinislied. ISy an imj)rovenH nl in-
vented by J. A. T. Overend of 'im
Francisco, in 1875, the s[)ced of the machine was increased to a hundred
types a minute. .Xfter coming from the mould, type has to be smoothed l)y
rubbing on a stone slab ; and the jet-end must !)c cut off, so that all the
types shall be exactly the
same length, In type-found-
ing, certain letters of the
alpha]>et are given greater
prominence than others.
This is due to the fre-
((uency with which the dif-
^ ferent letters occur in the
IP Knglish language. The pro-
portion in which they are
cast, and in which they <h » iir
in print, is about as follows :
e, 1.500 : t, 900 ; a. 850 ;
n. ,^40 ; c, m, 300 ; f 250 ;
<!, 50 ; j. X. 40 ; 7.. 20 ; fi.
Mil 111... MACIIINK
n, 0. s. i, 800 ; I1, ^140 ; r, 620 ;
w, y, 200 ; g, p. I 70 ; 1), i6q ;
d. 440 , 1. 400
k, 80;
I JO
% *4''
-^.:f
50 , ff. 40 ; fl.
ifi. ffl," 15 ; a;. 10 ; ut. 5. In capital letter^ the ..ifferences
^Ui.
358
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
W
y^
>y
LEACXUTTKK.
are not so great ; but I, T, A, and E lead in importance, Tiie best type-
metal is coiniJosed of fifty parts of lead, and about twenty-two jjarts of
antimony for hardness, twenty-two of
tin for toughness, and four of (oppcr
for tenacity. 'I'he copper is kit out,
however, very often. It is replaced by
copper-focing, i)ut on by the electro
process invented by Dr. L. V. Newton
of New- York City. A metal very much like that used for type is enijiloved
in stereotyping. It will be referred to under the head of " Stereotyping."
The manufacture of lead-paint was begun in America by John I l.irrison
of Philadelphia, a young man who believed that a large numl)er of clieniir;il
Manufacture products which wcrc being |)rocurcd from abroad might l)e in;ule
ofieadpaint. jjy Q,,r own people. Having finisheil a thorough ediKation in
chemistry by a course under the celebrated j()sej)h Priestley of iMi.i^iand,
Harrison started a factory of sulphuric acid and white-leiu l in Philadelphia
in 1798, and prospered from the very first. The house of John T. Lewis \
Hrothers, founded in 1807, afterwards went into the same business. Ihe
manufacture soon extended all over the country. It became parti( ulaiiy
successful in Hrooklyn, N.Y., owing to the growth of the connnunities in that
imuK'diate vicinity. .'\t the present time there are 145 factories engaged in
the production of paints, the manufacture of lead pigments being a part nt
their business. They enii)loy 3,000 hands, and produce about »^ 17,000,000
worth of goods annually in fair years. Of the total number, thirty-four are
in Pennsylvania, sixteen in Massachusetts, eleven in New York, fourteen in
Ohio, ten in Missouri, and lour in Illinois. , i
The i)rincipal |)igments made from lead are minium, or red-lead (which is
easily ])roduce(i by exposing litiiarge at a continued low redhcat to the a( tion
2^ of the air), white-lead, a (arl)onale of the metal, chrome-red. and ( lirome-
yellow. Tiieyare all beautifid, brilliant, and valuable pigm ents. Oxide ol /iiK
now contests with white-lead the favor of builders ; but the importan( c of the
j)igment is scarcely affected by the comi)elition.
White-lead was originally made in Holland; and invention has thus tar
failed to supersede the " Dutch process " of its manufacture. Some variati(in>
in the details have been made in America ; but the process is
essentially the same in principle as that invented by the ])eoi)Ie
who taught Ncjrthern Europe the arts of industry. To prei)are the ])igment,
the purest metallic lead is obtained. Originally it was subjected to the chenii-
Mode of '''*' o[)cration in the form of loose rolls of sheet-load. The
manufactur- American method is to cast the lead into circidar gratings lookinj;
'"'■ very nnich like shoe-buckles. In whichever shape prepared, the
lead is put into earthen jars, with a litde vinegar at the bottom, the lead being
supported by earthen ledges from coming into contact with the vinegar.
White-lead.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
359
Sometimes the pots have openings in the sides to permit a free circulation of
the vapors set free in the process. An immense collection of the jars, tens of
thousands in number, are, then packetl in alternate layers, with layers of some
fcrnuiiting material which will give out carbonic-acid gas. Originally stable-
manure was employed. At present spent tan-bark is preferred. The layers
of jars and bark arc carried up sometimes twenty feet high, the bark being
kept out of the jars by sheets of lead and by boards. A large building being
filled in this way is then closed. The fermentation sets free a large (juantity
nl larlionic acitl. Basic acetate is first formed on the surface of the lead in
the i>ots, which is decomposed by the carbonic-acid gas, forming carbonate
and tree acetic acid. 'I'hc latter again acts on the lead. Very little vinegar
IS roijuired ; and the process goes on continuously, assisted by the heat of the
IcniK Illation, until, at the cud of ten or twclsc weeks, fermentation stops.
The proix'ss is then at an end. The slack is then taken to pieces. The lead
IS foiiiul in its original form, though increased in bulk and weight, and con-
verted into a very white antl soft carbonate. If the conversion has not been
th(iriMi,i;lily done, a can of metallic or blue lead will be found in the interior
of some of the pieces. The pieces of lead arc now thrown into large tanks
filled with water, in which they rest upon shelves of (ojijier full of holes.
riiev are beaten to separate and pidverize the ( arbonate. the water preventing
ihe line dust from poisoning the air and injuring the uorkmen. Grinding,
and wasiiing in water, then ft)llow, until the carbonate is rediu ed to an im-
lial|)alile powder. It is then dried in steam pans (jr upon tile tables, ami put
iij) for the market. The carbonate obtained in this way is superior to that
olitaiiied in any other ; but a very fair cduunercial article is made by boiling
solutions of nitrate or acetate with litharge, and precipitating the solution with
carbonic acid. White-lead is not alone employed as the best white paint ; but
it constitutes the body of almost all other paints, it being colured by intermix-
tare witii other pigments.
Chrome-yellow is obtained by precipitating a solution of nitrate of lead
with ( hromate of potash, and washing and drying the product. The red, a
hri^jht powder, is obtained from the yellow by boiling it with lime chrome-
or some other alkali ; also by digesting levigated litharge, by boil- yellow.
inf; with neutral yellow chromate of potash, iVc, A green lead is also made.
Considering how far a pound of oil-paint goes in coloring a house or a
fence, the consumption of pig-lead in paint-making must be regarded as
enormous. It now amounts in the United States, yearly, to about Aduitera-
50.000 tons. Notwithstanding the cheapness uf lead-paint, it is •'°"-
laijjely adulterated for the market by small dealers with whiting. The powder
is absolutely white, and does not discolor ; but it does not make so brilliant
a paint.
When the use of paint began to become general in this country, the
favorite colors were white for houses, churches, and wooden stojes, — the color
^
'TITT,,
< ' I M.
■»(
300
INDUSTRIAL JIISTORY
;-lf^
!
'
V
contbriuing to the simplicity of that age, — green for window-blinds, \\\\y\ xtt
for barns. Rcil barns are still common on the farms of the country ; althmii'h
drab and brown paints have come into jjopularity within the last twenty years
and threaten soon to supersede both red and white for wooden builcliii ■, of
all kinds.
Shot-making is the simplest of mechanical processes. The only jilad' in
the process where any special judgment is retiuired is in the preparation of
Modern pro- 'h*-' I>ig->»<-'tal. Most manufacturers regard the presence of aivnic
cess of shot- in the metal as absolutely necessary. Very cheap lead is usiii in
""" ' *' shot-making, and the presence of one or two per cent of arsinu
gives it fluidity. .\ i)ot of lead is melted. ICither white arsenic or urpinK'nt
(the sulphuret) is put into the centre of the mass, and a cover ])ut upon ilu;
pot, and sealed down. A chemical combination takes place in a few honrs ;
and the pot is then opened, and the metal tested by i)ouring a little of it
through a strainer at a moderate height into water. The globules of lead are
round, if the mixture has been maile in the right jiroportion ; they are kiis-
shaped, if there is too much arsenic ; and irregular in shape, if too little. If
the metal is all right, it is cast into i)igs for use. It is converted into shot by
fusing it at a low height, and letting it drain through colanilers at the lop of
a tower. The drops harden on the way ilown, and fall into water. The
imperfect shot are separated from the others by letting them roll down in-
clined planes. The good ones go down with speed, and shoot off into proper
receptacles : the irregular ones go down more slowly, and drop off upon the
floor. They are sorted into sizes by being shaken in sieves. The height of a
shot-tower is from 150 to 250 feet. One in Baltimore is 256 feet high, ami is
probably the tallest in the world. .\n American method, patented by I )aviil
Smith of New York in 1848, aimed to dispense with these tall towers, which
stand up above the other buildings, like ancient obelisks, in every city where
they are erected. A shorter tower is used, and a powerful current of cold air
is blown up through the falling shot by means of machinery.
About the last of the great manufactures of lead to be introduced in this
country was that of sheet-lead and lead pipe : it is now, however, the principal
Sheet-lead consumer of the metal. There are about twenty-five factories en-
and lead gaged in making lead pipe and sheet-lead, having an annual prod-
'"'"■ uct of {5 1 5,000,000 worth of goods. They are located princii)ally
in the Middle States. Sheet-lead is easily made by rolling. It is generally
cast into plates six inches thick for the purpose, and is gradually worked down
between two heavy iron rollers. Lead pipe was formerly made by hand ;
sheet-lead was turned up into a pipe, and the edges soldered. Large pipes are
still made in this way. All attempts to cast lead pipe have proved to be too
cumbersome and slow. The method in use is that suggested in 1797 i)y
Bramah, the inventor of the celebrated English lock of that name, and patented
by him. The process was introduced into the United States in 1 840 by Tatham
OF THE UNITED STATES,
3<^'
fc Hrotliers, who patented an imjjrovemcnt upon it in the genuine Yankee way.
It (onsibts in pouring lead into a cylindrical cavity in a block of cast-iron,
ivhii h is kept at a heat suliticient to UK-.t leatl, and then forcing the lead out
again, under a pressure of two hundred or three hundred tons, with an hydraulic
,ili|)ar.uui, througli an annular space the size of the pipe ie(iuired. The steel
rod, or core, which forms the bore of the pipe, is fasten'.'d to the piston, and
Masses ihrougli the cavity containing the lead, and out through the hole in tiie
tii|i ol' the chamber. It rises slowly with the piston, which crowds the melted
mdai out of the chamber through the annular opening above formed by the
(lie and the core. The pipe, as it cools, and rises slowly above the top of the
machine, is coiletl around a large drum above. In one process tlie piston rists
jnio till' chamber of mehed metal : in the other the piston descends, the die
liciiig in tlie i)iston, and the core projecting upwaril through it from the bottom
of the ( liamber. An old method of making lead pipe was to cast a heavy
lylindcr of lead with a bore of the exact si/e recpiired, and then gradually to
work tliis down under rollers, using a mandrel to keep the bore open. It is
not yet entirely obsolete.
Lead pipe is very convenient for domestic purposes, because it can be
readily bent to any angle re(iuired. If the water within it freezes, and bursts
the jiipe, the latter can be easily repaired. The only tlrawback to utility of
lead |)i|ies is, that the water they distribute through the houses '*■'* p'p'-
of our cities often corrodes the lead, and becomes thus impregnated with
poison. The evil is obviated by keeping the pi])es always full of water, and
Idtini,' tlie water which has stood in them any length of time flow out before
(Irawini; water for cooking or drinking.
For ornamental purposes, lead is alloyed with seventy-five per cent of
antimony. It makes a hard, white alloy, capable of taking a high polish. It
is the material generally used in the keys of flutes.
STEREOTYPING.
There are serious objections to printing newspapers and books from type.
A form of type is always liable to be " knocked into pie," as it is called in a
printinj^-office. If the edition of the book or the newspaper is large, it cannot
lie jirinled expeditiously upon one press. It is necessary to set several at work
upon exactly the same job. Not only would it be expensive to keep type
enough on hand to " set up " some pages more than once, but it would be still
more so to set them up. A better way is to cast the page of type Economy of
in type-metal. IJy making a mould of the page, as many plates »tereotyp-
tan be cast from it as may be desired, and thus several presses "*'
can be employed at once. The plates have, in addition, this advantage : they
can he stored up in the lumber-room, and kept for years, if necessary ; so
'hat, if a new edition of the almanac, pamphlet, or book, is desired, it can be
printeil without encountering the cost of comi)osition.
I
u
l?i
^.,
A^„
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
^.<,
1.0 I^KA 1^
■tt I2ii 12.2
mil
I.I
S 114 —
« u& 122.
T^
%*"
/
w
Fhob
Sdmoes
CarparatJon
^
IF
V
\
\
V
tt WHT MAM STRUT
WIMTn,N.V. MSM
(7l«)tn-4S03
4^
"'^Jf^
6^
I
\
\
.1
'I
III
362
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
No books or papers were printed, in the early days of America, in sufficient
numbers to justify a resort to the process of stereotyping. After the war of
First stereo- ^^^^ printing increased, and the need of stereotyping was felt.
typing: estab- David and George Bruce added to their printing-business in New-
lithment. YqxY City a stereotyping estabhshment in 1813. It was the first in
the country. Since that time, scarce any large book-printing or newspaper
establishment has failed to add a stereotype-room to the resources of tiie
business.
HARPER S I'RINTING-HOUSE.
The method adopted by Mr. Bruce was to oil the surface of the page of
type to be copied, and pour upon it plaster of Paris in a liquid form. This
Bruce's substance, when wet, hardens in a few minutes, and makes an
method. excellent mould. The moulds, having set, were taken off, dried
in a furnace, put in a casting-box, and dipped into melted stereotype -metal.
The metal, having cooled, *as taken from the mould. It was carefully ex-
amined for defective letters, and corrected by chiselling out the bad letters,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
iH
papers is
done.
and inserting type. It was then planed on the back, and nailed to a wooden
block for the press. This method lias been practised in the United States
down to the present day. It is, however, rapidly going out of use. It long
ago disappeared from the large daily newspaper-offices, and has been icplaced
in most of the large publication-houses by another system. ,
In the great newspaper-offices the new method is called the " papier-
raaciic " process. A few hours before the pages come down from
the t)i)c-room the stereotypers begin to prepare heavy sheets of ,t°^otypin»
paper, in order to make the mould from 'hem. A sheet of thin of news-
tissue-paper is spread out on a smooth iron table. It is brushed
with some sort of sizing. Another sheet of tissue-paper is laid
upon it, and brushed smoothly down. This, again, is sized, and another sheet
laid on. A dozen sheets of tissue-paper are thus put together, forming a
moist sheet of thick, heavy paper of extremely fine texture. When the
forms come down, one of these thick sheets is laid upon the page, and ham-
mered down with a heavy, long-handled brush, the stiff hrirs of which drive
the paper into the finest lines of the type. A great deal of the lappr is
beaten down between the type. The heavy indentations in the pan^^r are
then smoothly smeared with wet marble-dust, and another of the thi- . sheets
laid on, and cemented to the first one by hammering with the brush. The
form is then slid off upon an iron steam table, and put under a press, where it
quickly dries. The sheet of paper, or papier-mach^, is then taken off. It
makes a perfect mould, and can be used for the casting of a dozen plates if
desired ; and indeed it sometimes is desired, the casting of each requiring only
two or three minutes, The papier-mach(^ matrix has another advantage. It
can be put into a flat iron box for the casting of a perfectly flat plate, or into a
semicircular one, or one describing any segment of a circle, for the j. "oduction
of a curved plate. It is this style of mould which has made possible the use of
stereotype-plates upon a cylinder, and, per consequence, the invention of the
perfecting web-press. It takes about twenty-five minutes to cast three plates
of the page, counting from the moment the original page of type is received in
the stereotype-room. By the plaster-of-Paris process it would take several
hours, and the plates would be imperfect then ; whereas by the other process
they arc absolutely correct. This system was the invention of several men,
l)ut was first made practical by Charles Crashe. It was brought out in 1 86 1 .
Printers pooh-poohed at it at first, and " The New- York Herald " refused to.
adopt it ; but Mr. Thomas N. Kooker, the old foreman of Horace Greeley in
"The Tribune " office, saw its advantages, and tried it in his office. It worked
well, and was instantly -adopted. All the large newspapers of the country
have since taken up and now employ this process, if they do any stereotyping
at all.
The other new system referred to is also an American idea. It originated
with Joseph A. Adams, a wood-engraver of New- York City, who repro-
3*4
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\
duced an engraving by means of it about 1839, and, about 1843, employed it
in producing various large borders and engravings for Harper's illustrated
books. It has been greatly improved in various details by Wilcox, Kilmer
Adams'* Lovejoy, Gay, Knight, and others. The plan is to oil tiie page
proeeit. of jypg go jh^t the mould will not adhere, or to cover it with
finely-powdered graphite. A thick sheet of the best pure yellow beeswax
cast in a shallow box, is brought down upon the page under heavy hy-
drostatic pressure. An exact impression is thus obtained even of the finest
engraving. Finely pulverized graphite is then dusted upon the wax, coating
it uniformly in every line and depression, the excess being blown awav.
A new way of applying the graphite, invented by Silas P. Knight, is to
pour a torrent of water, into which the graphite has been stirred, upon the
mould. The wax matrix is then attached to the negative wire of a battery,
and placed in a solution of sulphate of copper. The graphite serves as a
conducting medium, and a film of copper begins to form immediately upon
the face of the wax matrix. The mould is generally left in the solution
over night. In the morning the copper is vrtick enough to be removed.
A little quicker plan than this has been invented by Knight. He takes
the wax mould dusted with graphite, and powders it with iron-filings. He
then pours on a solutiqn of sulphate of copper. The acid leaves the copper,
and forms sulphate of iron ; while the copper is deposited in a f Im. This is
afterwards thickened by the electrotype process. The copper plate, when
finally obtained, whatever the details of the process, is removed from the wax,
tinned upon the back, and then laid face downwards, when stereotype-metal
is bound on it, giving it the thickness of a regular stereotype-plate. It is then
trimmed, planed, and fitted to the press in the usual way. Or only a thin back
of stereotype-metal is given to it, and it is mounted upon a wooden block.
This plan of making the plates is more leisurely than the other, is a more
agreeable method for the workmen, and is adapted to the finer work of books
and engravings. The number of impressions which can be taken from electro-
type-plates is about three hundred thousand.
If printing was the " art preservative " when in its crude infancy, \vhat
is it now, when the pages of a book can be cheaply cast in metal, and stored
away, for centuries if need be, and then brought out to reproduce the thoughts
of a generation of thinkers for the benefit of other ages?
TIN-WARE.
Tin is one of the most expensive of common metals, and most serviceable.
While the average price of commercial iron is only twenty dollars a ton, tin
Utility o( costs about three hundred dollars a ton. The metal is as liand-
tin-ware. some as silver, and possesses the properties of incorrosibility, and
of remarkable adhesion to iron ; which makes it remarkably useful in the arts.
€F THE UNITED STATES.
365
and woiikl alone have given it great value, even did it not ally so satisfactorily
with lead and copper. Tin was once used in solid form for dishes for the
table and for cooking-utensils, on account of its beauty and incorrosibility. In
that form it was expensive. When it was fount^ how readily sheet-iron could
be plated with it, and thus, for all practical purposes, a sheet of metal obtained
answering all the retjuirements of pure tin, but at one-tenth the cost, tin-ware
came into general use. The restless mind of the New-England Yankee,
which ever ran in the direction of improving the utensils of every-day life,
seized upon the idea of producing dishes and house-ware from tin plates,
and hii' ingenuity and enterprise have made the United States the largest
consumer of tin-ware upon the face of the earth. In introducing the ware to
the [jublic, the Yankees resorted to that important agency in trade, the roving
peddler, who, with a wagon loaded with plates, milk-pans, tea-kettles, dippers,
cups, pails, &c., threaded every highway and lane in the country, and brought
his travelling store and its tempting display of ware before the eyes of every
housewife in the land. Tin-ware recommended itself not only on account of
its beauty, but its lightness and general convenience. The milk-pan was,
before its advent, a heavy earthen article ; the milk and water pail a heavy
bucket of wood, roinantic enough for its association, but dreadfully tiresome
to milkmaids, farmers' boys, and whoever had to carry it to and from the
pasture and the well. The dipper was a heavy pewter scoop. All the ware of
the household and the cans and pots of the store were clumsy and fatiguing
contrivances. Tin-ware brought ease of handling, security against breakage,
and beauty. To be loved, it needed only to be seen ; and the untiring peddler
who went through the land like the missionary of a new gospel of comfort
created a veritable revolution by means of it. Forty years ago the peddler
wxs the busiest and one of the most prosperous of our countrymen. Since he
took to selling tin-ware, however, tin-shops have been opened in every com-
munity ; and each city and village now depends for its supply upon its local
makers. Farming-towns are still supplied to a great extent by the peddler.
The growth of the manufacture of tin-ware is surprising. Formerly confined
to the sterile soil of New England, it has extended all over the republic, and
no corner of the remotest region is too far in the backwoods not to have been
invaded by it. The number of shops where tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware
are made was 6,646 in 1870 ; the number of hands employed was 25,283 ;
and the value of the goods produced, $40,636,000. Over 3,400 of the shops
were in the Eastern and Middle States. The tin-ware made is not entirely
for culinary and pantry use, though it is principally so. A great deal of it
consists of gutters for roofs, flues for the distribution of hot air from fur-
naces, &c.
Besides the use of tin for the plating of sheet-iron, the metal, is also
employed in coating a wide variety of other small iron articles to protect
them from rust. Stirrups, bits, &c., are among the number.
366
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
TOYS.
Tin toys.
Plate tin is now extensively consumed in the manufacture of tovs for
children. It is lighter than wood or papier-machd, is cheap, and can In- easily
fashioned by the use of dies and stamps. The business is of
recent development. The largest house in the business is that of
Leo Schlesinger & Co., New York. It is an interesting fact that playlliings
have become so necessary a part of Amer;:in life, that the trade in tiicm has
suffered the least of all by the hard times. Playthings are a luxury ; but, even
if there is retrenchment in the family, the children have to be amused just
as much as ever, and playthings are bought for them in scarcely diminished
numbers. Besides, there is a growing demand for American toys aliroad.
Their ingenuity is unequalled. A great (juantity of them now go to I'.urope
and South America. In the manufacture of toys, the principal expense is
the preparation of the dies. These are subjected to iong and rough work,
and consequently must be made of the hardest steel. They must be made
with great nicety too, so that the different parts of a toy will fit. Some of
the plainer toys require only one or two dies : others require four, six, and
even nine. From four to ten weeks are necessary for the making of tlie dies
for a single toy. In working up the tin into a toy, presses are used. In
making a plain and unpretentious horse for every-day use, a sheet of tin is
cut into the proper shape, placed in a press, and rounded out in such a
manner as to form one side of the proposed animal. The two sides are next
passed through a couple of cutting-machines for the purpose of trimming off
the superfluous metal, and are then sent to another part of the building, fitted
together in a mould, soldered, and sent to the floor above, where the completed
animal assumes a coat of paint, and is turned out for use as a black, white,
sorrel, or bay, at the discretion of the painter. The manufacture of a horse
is a comparatively simple operation ; but in making a yellow lamb, standing
on a smooth tin platform, with a painted bell about his neck, the animal jKxsses
through fifteen pairs of hands before appearing in a finished state. S. group
representing a boy leading his horse to a manger is of still more elaborate
construction, and goes through at least thirty-five operations before being
packed for removal. Of all toy animals the horse is the most popular, and he
consequently appears in nearly every variety of shape and size. The largest
and handsomest is the " Dexter," whose graceful form is made of zinc instead
of tin. 180,000 " Dexters " are lK)rn and arrive at maturity in one factory in
New York every year, and nearly 6,000,000 horses of a smaller breed were
turned out during the past twelve months. One of the simplest playthings made
is the putty-blower, well known to every school-teacher in the country, .'\bout
2,880,000 of these infernal machines were put upon the market by this one
firm during the year 1876. The effects of the falling off in the number of
emigrants to this country during the past few years do not seem to have
OF THE UNITED STATES.
m
reached toy-land as yet ; for last winter nearly 10,000 emigrant-wagons, pro-
vided with one horse and two wheels each, were made and sold by one firm.
One of the best selling tin toys manufactured is the hose-carriage, of which
seventv-three different sizes and shapes are made. Fifty kinds of express-
wagons, fifty-nine kinds of steam-cars, and twenty-five kinds of horse-cars, are
manutactured. The newest plaything in the market is the livery-stab'e ; and
the swinging cradle immediately preceded it, with an American eagle at either
end, instead of the guardian angel of tradition and song. One of the most
important departments in the toy establishments is presided over by young
men whose inventive minds are constantly engaged in producing new toys, and
"improvising amendments " upon those already in vogue. All the paints used
in toy-making are mixed by the operatives themselves before using, and in the
process of painting alone all the larger toys pass through half a dozen or half
a score of hands and brushes. It is estimated that the annual production of
a single manufactory will often aggregate between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000
toys.
Tin plates are prepared simply by dipping the sheets of brightened iron
into a bath of melted tin.
Zinc-paint.
APPLICATIONS OF ZINC.
Zinc is good for a great many things besides the making of brass. It is an
important rival of lead in the manufacture of house-paint. It is a popular
material for putting under stoves to prevent coals and ashes from importance
dropping upon the carpet. It is often made into hot-air flues for »' *'"«•
furnaces in the warming of dwellings. It is also now largely used in architect-
ure for ornamental and fire-protection purposes.
The manufacture of white o xide of^ zinc for the purposes of paint is a
French invention. The process of making the oxide directly fi-om the ore,
instead of from the pig-metal, is purely an American idea. It
grew out of the experiments of Mr. Richard Jones of Philadelphia
about 1849, and was first put into practice by the New- Jersey Zinc Company
of New- York City, which was incorporated in 1849, *nd set about the manu-
facturing of oxide from the ore at Newark, N.J. The company Develop-
was very successful, and has developed its business, until it has forty ment of
furnaces engaged in the production of zinc-paint. It was followed ° "*''''■
in the business, about 1853, by the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Company at
Bethlehem, Penn. ; and a third company was established in 1855, called the
I'assaic, which put up its works at Communipaw, on New- York harbor. The
zinc-paint soon recommended itself, from the fact that it was not pr(^?,, of
poisonous ; and the manufacture of it has become enormous. The manufactur-
process of manufacture has one spectacular feature. The ore is '"'"
ground up fine, mixed with coal-dust, and charged into a blazing furnace in
f>
2i-
^t
368
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the proportion of six hundred pounds of ore to three hundred pounds of coal
The heat sublimes the zinc. The vapors rise up through a pipe at the top of
the stack. The pipe ends just above the stack, under an inverted funnel
which covers it like a hood. A strong current of air is drawn up throuj^h this
funnel by fiowing apparatus ; and the vapors of the stack are thus carried up
through the funnel, mingled with atmospheric air which enters at the open
base. A very vivid combustion of the zinc takes place within the hood, iii^,
metal unites with the oxygen of the air with a pale blue flame, and riislK;, up
into a huge pipe above in the form of oxide of zinc. The current of floatin;j
particles and gases is now carried a long distance through pipes into a tower
where it is partly cooled by dripping water, and thence into another, where the
air is strained, as it were, by huge flannel bags stretched horizontally across tiie
building. The oxide collects upon the bags, and is from time to time siiaken
off" into cotton flues, or teats, which coniluct it into receptacles below. It is put
into bags and pressed to get out the air, and then ground with blanched linseed-
oil for market. It is claimed that zinc-paint thus prepared has greater purit\,
durability, and brilliancy than lead-paint. It makes a valuable pigment, c er-
tainly ; but its most valuable (juality is the fact that it is not poisonous, and
that, therefore, the workmen may handle it without sufiering from the disease
known as painter's colic.
A recent application of zinc is to the construction of the cornices of build-
ings. On the business-streets of a city, where the walls of the buildings are
Zinc of stone or brick, and the roofs sheeted with tin or a gravelly
cornicet. composition designed to protect it from fire, it has freciuently been
fouiid that the buildings often take fire and burn down, when there is a fire
across the street, because the cornices are inflammable. The wooden corniee
is, therefore, an element of danger to a store. Within the Ixst twenty years
American builders have been experimenting with cornices made of metal, and
they find zinc well adapted to the object. It can be easily stamped or beaten
into any pattern desired ; resists fire ; and is, when painted, indestructible by
the elements. It is so cheap, too, that it has brought handsome cornices
within the means of all ; and the invention has really been the means of
improving the architectural appearance of our former exceedingly plain
business-streets, as well as their security.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
%H
hundred pounds of coal,
.igh a pipe at the ici]) of
ndcr an inverted funnel,
is drawn up through liiis
tack are thus carried uj)
diich enters at the open
:e within the hood. The
blue flame, and ru-,he> up
The current of tloatini;
irough pipes into a tower,
:e into another, where the
ed horizontally across liie
rom time to time siiaken
:eptacles below. It is put
nd with blanched linseed-
epared has greater inint\,
a valuable pigment, ( er-
it is not poisonous, and
uffering from the disease
1 of the cornices of l^uikl-
walls of the buihlings are
d with tin or a gravelly
ire, it has frequently l)een
>wn, when there is a fire
The wooden cornice
lin the last twenty years
lices made of metal, and
easily stamped or beaten
lainted, indestructible by
ught handsome cornices
ally been the means of
)rmer exceedingly plain
how flrtt
obtained.
CHAPTER IV. r
f.
THE MANUFACTURE OF WOOL
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WOOLLEN-MANUFACTURE.
ONE of the very first cares of the early colonists of America was to obtain
an ample supply of materials for clothing. This for many years they
boM{;ht from the Dutch ships which came across the sea to trade, j^,,^^, ,„
and from the English at home, paying for their cloth with tar, cioth'.ng.
boards, tobacco, hides, and other rude products of the farm and
forest. In 1660 a law was passed in England prohibiting the
Dutcii from trading in the colonies, and requiring the colonies to trade only
with England direct. This cut off all access to a market in which goods
might be bought cheaper than in England, and led the colonists to ihink of
manufacturing their goods as far as possible for themselves.
Nevertheless, the manufacture of woollen came into existence as a public
industry very slowly. It was not the desire of the home government that the
colonies should manufacture for themselves. It was the constant study of the
men who directed the government to find ways in which the colonies might be
made useful to the capitalists, traders, and factory-owners of England. Mac-
pherson gave expression to the sentiment prevailing in England ide««o(
when he said, " The original intent of planting those colonies ; viz., Engiuh on
to be a benefit to their mother-country, to which they owed their **" *" '***'
being and protection." The way in which it was sought to make them a
" benefit " was to compel them to sell to England all they had to sell, and buy
from her all they had to buy. The first Lord Sheffield expressly said that
" the only use " of the colonies was a monopoly of their trade, and the
carriage of their produce. Lord Chatham declared that " the British colonists
of North America had no right to manufacture even a nail or a horseshoe."
A law of Virginia, passed in 1684, to encourage textile manufactures in that
province, was promptly annulled by England. In 1731 the England'!
carriage of woollen goods and hats from one colony to another poWey-
was forbidden by law. The exportation of woollen was also forbidden. The
^•1 i.'l'
>h'ife
[f,
370
/AU L'S I A lAL Ills / U.V K
Jiill
object of England's policy was to keep the Americans, a race of farmer.-, and
foresters, raising tobacco, sugar, indigo, lu'mp, iS:c,, and getting tar, piicji
rosin, and limber from tiu' forrsls, \\iii( ii tlioy slioiild sell lo tiie inoliicr-coun-
try ; and to make them depenil upon liritish factories absolutely Ibr tikir
clothing, tools, rurnitinv,
carriages, and ail oiIrt
manulaclures. 'I'liis pulicy
meant mischief. It « mil,!
not go on forever. NO
nation can imiduce at;ri-
cultur.il products entm^Ji
so as lo have a suflii iont
surplus to pay fur tlu' ni.iii-
ulactures it consunies. I'hi.'
' colonies could nol. 'I'lu'v
nc\er exported enoiij^li to
England to pay for wiiat
ihey l)ought of her ; ;uiil
never could have paid tor
what tiiey bougiil at all,
except that they sold large
quantities of iJrovisions to
the West Inilies and otlicr
countries in exchange for
money, in spite of the laws which forbade it. Tiie colonies got poorer and
poorer under this policy. In 1760 they bought ^2,500,000 worth of goods
from Kngland, and sold to her only ^"750,000 worth ; and in 1771 thi'y
bought about ^4,100,000 worth, and sold only ;^i, 350,000 worth of goods.
They were nearly luineil by it.
This interference with the freedom of the colonists to trade and manufac-
ture led to two results. First tiiey took to wearing leather garments, because
Effect of ''^'-"y ^""1^' rarely afford the imported woollens. The men wore,
Engiiih for a long period, waistcoats and breeches of Indian-dressed skins,
*"* '^^' — a custom which survived until the Revolution, and made its last
appearance historically in the uniforms of the Continental regiments. 'I'lie
women wore leather jerkins and petticoats very largi.-ly ; and in some of the
colonies the clothing of the bed was almost entirely of leather. The sheets
alone were of linen. A second result was, tiiat industry not permittetl to
flourish in the open air did so in the shade. Tiie women learned to weave
and spin ; and a large cpiantity of woollen, hemp, and linen cloth and other
goods, was made in the privacy of the household throughout the whole coun-
try. Nearly every fiimily wove a part or the whole of its own clothing and
blankets ; and many which had skill in the art had many pieces over and
1776.
Oh THE UNITE I) STATES.
37»
above their own wants to sell the merchant. 'I'lic law rould not reach their
priuiU' factories. In 1750 a factory of woollen hatij in Massachusetts was
(Ictl.intl a nuisance, and supitressed. Parliament could cluh down the ripen-
in,!,' liiiit which hung in i)lain sight on the branches ; hut the million buds form-
iim 111 secret under tlie hark, w]ii( h a favoring time would eveiUuaiiy bring out
DOUBl.K-ACTlN(i <.1(1.
intii bloom, were beyond its reach. In 1765 a society was formed in New
\ork to encourage the home-manufacture of woollens. The enthusiastic mem-
lier.-, signed a pledge not to buy imported cloth, and not to eat the meat of
slice]) or lamb. 'i"he great want of the country was a supply of wool ; and the
killing of mutton was discouraged by this society and by public sentin>ent, in
' *<»s'
•'"U, %
■1 *. . i. 1
M -*■ h--'
il
I il
I-
37a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
order not to diminish the sources of the supply. Homespun cloth lici ame
the rage. The Federal troops were dressed in it ; and Washington, wlien
inaugurated as l*resident, wore a brown suit of it.
The manufacture as carried on at that time was of the simplest descrip-
tion. The wool, being washed, was combed as nearly straight as possililo by
simplicity of ^^" lards, with leather backs and wire teeth, held in the liaiuls of
••riy ma«u- the operator. 'I'he wool was detached from the cards in a lonjj
'"""• soft roll, which was then made into yarn ujwn the simple spimiinjr.
wheel of those days. A large, light wheel, kept constantly in motion l)y iln;
hand of the goodwife, and afterwards by her foot by means of a tK.ulIc,
caused a single spindle to revolve with great velocity ; and this spindle na\ c to
the yarn its twist, the dexterous fingers of the operator regulating the supply
of wool and the consequent size of the yarn. The cards were made by iiaiul.
Many people are still living who either made those old hand-cards for spinning,
or who spun the yam and wove the cloth of the whole family, year in ami year
out. The cioth, after being woven on the simple, slow moving hand-loom of
the colonial days, was sent out to be fulled. Every village and country had
its fuller and dyer, and this individual was the only one in the industry wlio
carried on his business publicly and for a number of customers. Dyeing; was
not well practised then, and colors were seldom fixed so that they would nol
run. Bright colors were liked by gentlemen for coats in that age, — l)rif,'hl
blue, scarlet, claret-color, &c. But, while a great deal of cloth was made of
those hues, it always behooved the wearer of the coat to keep out of the rain.
The Continental troops often presented a forlorn appearance from the faded
aspect of their uniforms, which was forlomer even than that of the weather-
beaten regiments of the war of 1861, because the Continentals made some
pretence of style, while the regiments of 1861-65 did not.
In 1 791 Alexander Hamilton made his celebrated report on manufactures,
Hamiiton't in which is found one of the few records of the state of the
report. woollen industry at that time. His references to wool are the
following : —
" To all the arguments which are brought to evince the impracticability of
success in manufacturing-establishments in the United States, it might have
been a sufficient answer to have referred to the experience of what has been
ab-eady done. It is certain that several important branches have grown up
and flourished with a rapidity which surprises, affording an enconraf;ing
assurance of success in future attempts. Of these it may not be improper to
enumerate the most considerable.
"VIII.
silk shoes.
Hats of fur and wool, and mixtures of both, women's stuff, and
OF THE UNITED STATES.
373
" Besides manufactories of these articles, which arc carried on as regular
trades, and have attained to a considerable degree of maturity, there is a vast
sniu: of household manufacturing, which contributes more largely to the
<{ii|i|ilv of the community than could be imagined, without having made it an
ol)ji-' t of ^articular incjuiry. Great (juantities of coarse cloths, coatings, serges
and tlannels, linsey-woolseys, . . . and various mixtures of wool and cotton,
and of cotton and flax, are made in the househoUl way, anil in many instances
to 111 extent not only sutVicient for the supply of the fai lilies in which they
arc made, but for sale, and even, in some cases, for exportation.
women's stuff, and
'• In a country the climate of which partakes of so considerable a [)ropor-
tioii o{ winter as that of a great part of the United States, the woollen branch
cannot be regarded as inferior to any which relates to the clothing of the inhab-
itants. Household manufactures of this material arc carried on in different
parts of the United States to a very interesting extent. Hut there is only one
lirani h, whi( h, as a regular business, can be said to have acquired maturity :
this is the making of hats. Hats of wool, and of wool mixed with fur, are made
in large quantities in tlifferent States ; and nothing seems wanting, but an ade-
(liiatf suj)ply of materials, to render the manufacture commensurate with the
(Icmaiul. A promising essay toward the fabrication of cloths, cassimeres, and
other woollen-goods, is likewise going on at Hartford in Connecticut. Speci-
imiis of the different kinds which are made, in the possession of the secretary,
evini c that these fabrics have attained a very considerable degree of perfection.
Tiicir (lu.iiity certainly surpasses any thing that could have been looked for in
so short a time and under so great disadvantages, and conspires, with the scanti-
ness of the means which have been at the command of the directors, to form
the culogiiun of that public s|)irit, perseverance, and judgment which have been
able to accomplish so much. To cherish and bring to maturity this precious
einl)ryo must engage the most ardent wishes and proportionable regret, as far
as the means of doing it may appear difficult and uncertain. Measures which
should tend to promote an abundant supply of wool of good quality would
probably afford the most efficacious aid that present circumstances iiermit. To
encourage the raising and improving the breeo of sheep at home would cer-
tainly be the most desirable expedient for that purpose."
Farther on Mr. Hamilton alludes to the fabrication of carpets and carpet-
in};, " toward which some beginnings have been made." He also remarks, " It
is doubtful if American wool is fit for fine cloths," — a statement which sounds
strangely, seeing that all our fine cloths are now made from American wools,
and the coarser fabrics from those which are imported.
The woollen-manufacture did not change its character as a private occupa-
tion immediately after the Revolutionary war, as might have been supposed,
even though emancipated from the chains imposed upon it by English policy.
New ways are slowly learned, and there was a lack of capital in the country to
ir'-, It!,,.
r« *k
m
)"Pr
374
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
bniW factories. Iksides, after the treaty of peace, a flood of nianufariinvd
goods of all kinds was again poured into the country from England, against
Tariffs of which there was no power in Congress to offer the shield of a pro.
1804 and i8w. tective tariff. When Congress was equipped with the power, it was
thought best, at first, not to exercis(^ it in respect to woollens. Wool was
admitted free of duty; but no protective duty was levied on cloths until 1804,
when fifteen per cent was levied. In 1S12 this was increased to thirty per
cent. Under these two laws the dormant buds awoke and .he nianufac tui\-
biof ned into being.
rhere had been no factories, except fulling-mills, until 1 791, when •• ilic
promising es: ly " was made at Hartford. In i 794 a successful factory was
Rise of opened in Byfield Parish in Newbury, Mass., where tiie work was
factories. douc by machinery. The same year the first carding-niac hinr in
the country was set up at I'ittsfield, Mass., one of the early centres of the wool-
len-industry, where also the first broad loom in the country was atterwanls
set in motion. In iSoi, 1S04, and iiSo5, other carding-machines were startLij.
Gray mi.xed broadcloth of good quality was made at I'ittsfield as early as 1804.
Madison wore a suit of black broadcloth of American make at his inauguration
in 1809, — an act which well became that eminent statesman, who, thoiigli a
free-trader in principle, openly advocated the policy of i)rolcction to home
manufactures as essential to the strength and prosperity of the republic, and
who had presented to Congress the original tariff bill which it had adojitcd.
In 1S09 a woollen-mill was put u]) in Northern New York, at Oriskany, in Onei-
da County ; and others followed it within a {c\\ years in that region. In 1.S12 a
large mill, for those days, was started at Middletown, Conn., for the niakini; ol'
fine cloths and cassimercs. Kvery day thirty or forty yards of broadcloth were
made, which would sell from nine lo ten dollars a yard by the jiiece. Small
factories for coarse cloths were now getting into operation in all dirci tions
throughout the country, but especially in Massav luisetts, New Hanipsliire. u'd
Connecticut, which were both wool-growing and extremely enterprising .States.
Blankets were being made in Connecticut in considerable quantities. .S\i|ier-
fine cloths were making at Northampton and elsewhere, which were ])atriotii .illv
claimed to be superior to the imported goods. The wool-s\ii)ply was not yet
sufiicient for the needs of tlie country. I!ut a merino-fever was raging : wn'il
rose to a dollar and a half and two dollars a pound ; heavy importations of
sheep were taking place, and farmers giving a degree of attention to breedni;;,
incited thereto by the high prices, which i)romised ere long to give the nianu-
fiicturers an am])le supply of excellent and cheap home-grown fleece. The
war of I S 1 2 gave a fresh impulse to manufacturing; and, during those three
years in which it was in progress, it was im])ossible to fake up a ncws))ai)er
without seeing in it some notice of a new woollen-fiictory wliich had l)ren
started, or some new style of American-made woollen-goods which manufac-
turers were essaying to make.
OF THE UXITED STATES.
375
Ihe census of iSio reported that the manufacture of wool was at that
time still mostly in families. The production was roughly valued at $25,608,-
lAVKV HKOAU lOO.M,
"f^S. Althout^h the spinniiiLtjcmiy, tlic power-loom, tlie nap-cutter, and
various ingenious machines, were now in practical use in factories, Household
this liousehold manufacture appears to have been a thing the manufac-
pcoplu wore slov/ to give up. It was a valuable source of income *"'""
to [n'oplc of moderate means. Women could then do but few things to
376
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
make their time a source of revenue, besides spinning and weaving ; and the
generation of men and women of 1810 did not relinquish the household
manufacture until they had passed off t scene of earthly toil and struL;"le.
This household employment was also priced by public men, for the sake of
its influences upon the character of our people. Henry Clay, speaking of the
lives of farmers and mechanics, said they tended to " beget a peculiarly la^cr
disinterested love of truth, and exempted them in a good degree from ijiosc
sudden impulses to which those who move in the more excitable walks oi life
are more frequently liable, and which, though sometimes leading to great
actions, are oftener the prolific source of error." And it was upon iH:o|)le
working among the pure associations of family life that these induLiKcs
exerted their most powerful eftect. In the fall of 18 14 thirty bales of woollens
were sent from Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to Albany, in one shipment ;
and one economist of those days, speaking through the columns of a lialti-
more newspaper, said of it, —
" These cloths, it adds much to our pleasure to learn, were mostly manu-
factured in private families, — the plan that of all others we wish may he
pursued, as it brings the 7vhoU labor of the people into active and healthful
employment, and is without the many objections to which large establishments
are liable. It is astonishing to be informed of the extent to which this inilu^try
is applied. Many of the most elegant belles that trip our streets are covered
with superb shawls, and otherwise protected from the cold, by the labor of
their own hands, — hands that heretofore chiefly held a romance, or touched a
piano. These household manufactures are a sort of clear gain to our country,
and we particularly exult at the progress they make."
Alas for the simplicity of the times of our bright-eyed, dear old grand-
mothers ! How many of their daughters who now trip the streets are " covered
with si'perb shawls, and otherwise protected from the cold, by the labor of
their own hands " ? It is to be feared that too many of them have resumed
the romance and the piano.
So long did the home-manufacture retain its charm, even after factories
were established, that work of the early factories simply wove the yarn that had
been spun at the houses in the country round ; and, when the maidens and
spinsters in the household gave up the spinning-wheel and hand-loom, they
simply did it to go to the factory, and resume work there.
After 18 1 6 card! ig-niills, fulling-mills, and woollen-factories increased
rapidly in every part of the country. In 1832 the protection to woollen-
manufactures, which had been lowered slightly after the war, was
increased to fifty per cent, and a few years of great prosperity were
enjoyed by the trade. Under the descending tariff of 1836, which
brought the duties down to twenty-nine per cent in 1842, an era
of depression occurred; but in 1842 protection was again decreed by a duty
of forty per cent, which changed the face of things. New vigor was imparted
Rapid in-
crease of
mills after
1816.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
377
to wool-growing and wool-manufacturing, and preparations were made for the
erection of woollen-factories in great numbers, especially in New York and
Pennsylvania. Every village with a mill-stream aspired to have its woollen-
mill, particularly if situated in a pastoral region. Public meetings were held in
all such places to raise subscriptions to the stock of the mills ; corner-stones
were laid with impressive public ceremonies, and odes written, beginning,
" Hail, Enterprise ! whose rising sun
This day beams forth its light; "
and public dinners were given in commemoration of the new era in village
affairs, at which extraordinary toasts to " Liberty," " Public Spirit," " Our Own
Village," " Our Guests from the Neighboring Towns," &c., were drunk enthusi-
astically. It was a period of great excitement, adventure, and public satis-
faction. .American invention took tire sympathetically during this period, and
was stimulated to improve upon the looms and other apparatus then in use,
and a great many valuable ideas were patented during that period. l}y 1850
the number of factories had increased from about twenty-five in 1810 to 1,559,
employing 39,252 hands, and producing ^43, 207, 545 worth of goods. The
growth of production year by year had been as follows : —
In foiindcries ....
( In factories, the family manu- )
I factures not being reported, )
In fr.Llories
In factories
In factories
$25,608,788
14,528,166
20,696,999
43.207.545
1850.
The development of 1850 was chiefly in the Middle States. One-ha'.i of
the woollen-mills in the country were in the three States of Pennsylvania, New
York, and Ohio. More than one- third of the whole number were
in New England. A beginning had been made in the prairie
States of the West, and Virginia was employing no less than a hundred and
twenty-one factories in the art. In the great mountainous and volcanic regions
of the Far West, which, according to Judge Kelley, are destined to be the
greatest wool-producing country of the world, there was as yet no trace of the
woollen-industry. California had neither mills nor sheep. There was not a
mill west of the Missouri River, and not one in the States of New Jersey,
South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, and
Minnesota. In spite of the unequal distribution of the industry, the develop-
ment was very satisfactory. It kept pace with population, and it stimulated
population ; for it enhanced the profits of agriculture by creating a large home-
market for wool, and it brought into the country a large body of emigrants to
work in the factories and settle on the public lands.
378
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\t
Struggles of
woollen-
manufac-
turers.
The woollen-manufacture of the United States has had the misfortune to
be constantly subjected to alternate chills and fever, owing to causes entirely
beyond the control of the mill-owners. It was now to encounter
one of its periodic chills. The duties were lowered a trifle after
1846, and in 1857 they had been reduced about one-half what
they were in 1842. This brought upon the factories again
the almost undiminished force of foreign competition. Their pliglit was
aggravated by the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania mills enlarging; iluir
capacity to a great extent, and by the erection of a hundred and thirty-eight
new mills, many of them of unusual capacity, in different parts of the coun-
try; also by the panic of 1857, which brought about hard times. Tiie total
production of the country had slightly increased by i860; but four hundred
and forty-seven factories which were running in 1850, and a number of otiiers
built during the interim, had closed their doors, discharged their operatives,
and ceased to do business. Tiicy were mostly small concerns, built to make
local markets for the wools of their several counties ; but a large amount of
the earnings of the people was invested in tiiem, and the disaster was a serious
one. Many of the mills were sold out by the sheriff, to the great loss of the
original owners. Of the mills wjiich cloo^d, sixty-five were in Connecticut, a
hunilred and nine in New York, a hundred and ten in Pennsylvania, and
seventy-six in Virginia. It was a blue time for the woollen-industry.
CRClMnoN I.OOM-W()RKS, WORCESTER, MASS.
ITie most encouraging feature of this era was the fact, that, though nearly
every woollen-mill in the country was in straits, the quantity of woo) actually
Encourage- consumcd was fully maintained ; and the farmers of the coimtry.
ments. finding the market for their fleeces unfailing, were encouraged to
go on and enlarge their Hocks and production. This was a remarkable era of
merino-breeding, particularly in the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and
Kentucky. The flocks of that region multiplied extremely fast from 1S50 to
i860; and so much attention was paid to the care of the sheep, that the wool
OF THE UNITED STATES.
379
produced was of the most admirable quality. It found such a ready sale in
the general market, that wool-growing in New England received a check on
account of it. The flocks of New England actually decreased from 1850 to
i860. Mr. John L. Hayes, one of the high authorities on this subject,
attributes the excellent quality of the wools which have resulted from the
breeiling of this particular era to the rural and economical habits of the
American people in large part. He says, " There are certain qualities com-
mon to tlie varying breeds which are due to the influence of our climate and
soil, but especially to the system of keeping consequent upon the thrifty
habits of our people ; and the most influential feature in their keeping is the
fact that our sheep arc uniformly and liberally fed, and hence produce a
uniform, sound, and healthy fibre." Tiie finest wool at the Exhibition of
1851 in London was from the State of Tennessee. Alexander Hamilton was
"cioulitful if American wool was fit for fine cloths." The quality of fleece
bred in the years from 1S50 to i860 was fit for the finest cloths; and from
that era to this the fine cloths of the United States have been almost exclu-
sively niailc of American wools, while it is into the coarser fabrics that the
imported wools have principally gone.
A new era in the woollen-industry dawned with the Morrill tariff of 1861,
and the war which broke out in our territory before the end of the year.
The Morrill tariff was not a war measure, although it became a Morriii tariff
law in the very midst of the excitement which preceded the war. °' '**'•
It was introduced into Congress March 12, 1S60; and was enacted March 2,
1S61. It gave to woollen-goods a protection ranging from thirty to forty per
cent; which was a great advance from the low standard of 1S57. Once a
law, it was powerfully supplemented in its operation by the war. The two
causes combined were followed by extraordinary results.
'I'lie United States have never yet gone into a war with factories enough to
supply regiments in the field with clothing and the people at home too.
The country has been obliged either to resort to leather, as in the Revolution,
or buy cloth abroad, as in 1S12, 1S45, and 1S61-65. It has even been the
fact, that all the flags of the United States have hail to be purchased outside of
our own country. In an address delivered at Philadelphia in 1865 it was
stated tiiat "all our flags arc grown, spun, woven, and dyed in England ; and
on tl-.e last Fourth of July the jiroud .American ensigns which floated over
every national ship, post, and fort, and every ])atriotic home, flaunted forth
upon the breeze the industrial ilependence of America upon England." ^\■hen
the hostilities of 1861 broke out, therefore, and it became necessary to clothe
scvcr.1l hundred thousand men for the field and a larger number for the local
defence of the several States, the woollen-cloth for the purpose could not be
found in the United States. Not only was tlie country absolutely short of a
supply of common woollen-cloth North and South too, but there was another
fact in the situation. It had not yet entered upon the manufacture of the
38o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
more elegant classes of goods. Before 1861 the flictories had "attempted
scarcely any thing beyond common goods of the coarser kinds." Duiing the
gloomy days of the war, an association of i)atriotic ladies at \Vashin"ton
pledged liiemselves to wear notiiing except of American fabrication ; ;iinl tliey
found, much to their chagrin, tiiat the variety of worsted dress-gt)oils niaiiutac-
tared here was of an extremely limited character, and the goods were of a
common class at tliat. This scarcity of cloth and of elegant goods, the in-
creased consumption, and the protection of a timely tariff, matle an iiuuKdiate
and lively market for American woollens. The manufacturers were not slow
to take advantage of it.
During one period of the war, a large number of the cotton-mills of the
country were obliged to suspend operations for the want of the raw material.
,., „ There was so little cotton to be had, that the material r()^e iri)in
Woollen- '"'"
manufac- eiglity-eigiit dollars a bale to nine hundred and a th.ousaiid dollars.
tures during j^-^ ^,„^. ^^j„i^j nianufacture cotton at that price. Mill-owners
the civil war.
closed their doors. .At one time it is said that there was not a
single cotton-spindle in operation in the whole of Lowell. The woollen manu-
facturers, on the contrary, fountl themselves stimulated into wonderful aetivity.
The government was calling continually for enormous (luantities of goods. .\
fresh demand for .American goods sprang up among the people, and the
several States came into the market to buy uniforms for their re-organi/ed regi-
ments of militia. The mills which were in operation at the beginning of the
war soon found themselves overwhelmed with orders for their gootls. and a
large number of them were engageil to run exclusively upon goods for the
armies in the field. Under the influence of this new state of things, a great
many of the woollen-factories which had been shut up during the previous hard
times were re-opened and set at work. Hundreds of new factories were huilt
in the great wool-growing region of the West : new mills were ereited in nearlv
every one of the Southern States for the production of warm fabric s for .irniy
and people. In aildition to all this, another thing took place. The (otton-
mill owners of the North, seeing such a demand for woollens from both the
government and the i)eople generally, and not caring to keep their own
machinery idle, resolved to turn a portion of their establishments to the iiianu
facture of woollens. They bought expensive machinery, and put it into
operation. Operatives were plenty, in consequence of the closing of the
cotton-mills ; and there was no difficulty in manning every spinning-jack and
loom with competent hands. Every machine was run so as to produce the
greatest amount of goods, and in many cases the mills were run night and
day. It was an era of great prosperity. The woollen-machinery of the
country was more than doubleil during the war.
After the war there was a falling-off in the woollen-machinery of the coun-
try, owing to the restoration of the cotton-supply and the conversion of mills
from the woollen to the cotton manufacture. But the South, being bare of
OF TflE UNITED STATES.
381
goods, became a large buyer from the North at this time ; and this served
to stiiinilate toward the building of more new mills, and to prevent a decline in
the in;iiuiliitturing capacity of the country. As the abnormal con- ^
sumption of woollen-goods by the government ceased as suddenly manufactur.
almost as the demand for them from this quarter arose, the wants '"' •'"''* *'"
of the South prevented the tide from turning against the manufac-
turers ; and so they continued to reap a golden harvest. The state of things in
1 II M\ ■\ Al II' II 1
1870 as compared with 1850 and i860 will show the extraordinary influence
of the tariff and the war, and the subsequent demand from the South, in
putting this important industry once more upon its feet. The figures are
taiitn from the census rejjorts : they refer only to the manufacture of woollen-
clotiis, and cloths of mixed wool, cotton, and silk, the carpet and worsted
factories not being included.
38a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
=3
1850.
i860.
1870.
Alabama
....
6
'4
Arkansas
....
• ■ • •
13
California
....
I
5
Connecticut .
'49
84
108
Delaware
9
4
11
District of Columbi
a
I
• • . .
Florida .
• • • •
....
I
Georgia .
3
II
46
Illinois .
16
21
109
Indiana .
Zl
79
'75
Iowa . .
I
13
«S
Kansas .
....
• • • •
9
Kentucky
25
37
'=5
Louisiana
« • • ■
I
2
Maine . .
36
26
107
Maryland
38
27
3<
Massachusetts
119
«34
I8s
Michigan
'S
16
S4
Minnesota
....
....
10
Mississippi
....
4
II
Missouri .
I
II
156
New Hampshire
61
5'
77
New Jersey
41
35
29
New Mexico .
• • • •
• • • •
New York
249
140
252
North Carolina
I
7
y-
Ohio
130
"5
"'3
Oregon .
....
I
9
Pennsylvania .
380
270
457
Rhode Island .
45
57
65
South Carolina
• • • •
I
'5
Tennessee
4
I
1 48
Texas
1
3
20
Utah . .
• • • •
• • • •
'5
Vermont .
72
46
65
Virginia .
121
45
68
West Virginia .
....
....
74
Wisconsin
9
>5
64
Total
I.5S9
1,260
2,891
The following table shows the production in all the States at three difTerent
periods. This includes a space of thirty years, during which time a remark-
able change occurred in the ratio of production in several of the States.
Massachusetts had the lead in the beginning, and has kept it ever since ; but
the production of Pennsylvania, which was $5,321,860 in 1850, had increased
to $27,580,586 twenty years later, thus placing her second in the list, the rank
which for many years was occupied by New York.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
383
i860.
>870.
6
14
• • • ■
'3
I
5
84
108
4
It
....
....
II
I
46
21
109
79
•75
13
H
• • • •
9
37
•=5
I
2
26
107
27
31
•34
iSs
16
54
• • • ■
10
4
II
II
•S<i
S'
77
3S
29
140
252
7
52
"S
223
I
9
270
457
57
65
I
•5
I
148
2
20
....
'5
46
65
45
68
• • • •
74
'5
64
1,260
2,891
tes at three different
lich time a rcniark-
I'eral of the States.
it ever since ; but
850, had increased
in the list, the rank
AI.ib.iiii'T •
Arkansas
Cilifimiia
CimiR'ilicut
DcKiw.ire
District of Columbia
Florida .
Ccoi'nia .
Illinuis .
Iiuliana .
Iciwa
K.iii'-as .
Kinliaky
Louisiana
M.iinc
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri .
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New Yorlv
Norili Carolina
Ohio
Oregon .
I'ennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah .
Vermont .
Virginia .
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Total
1850.
^6,465,2 1 6
25I,OCXD
2,400
88,750
206,572
205,582
13,000
318,819
753.300
295,140
» 2.770, 5''S
90,242
56,000
2.127.745
1,164,446
7,030,604
23.750
1,111,027
5,321,860
2,381,825
6,310
15,000
1,579,161
841,013
87,992
*43.207,54S
i860.
5191,474
150,000
6,840,220
'53.035
464,420
187,613
649.77'
127,640
845,226
45,200
1,717,007
605,992
'9.655.787
139,246
158,507
'43.025
2,601,653
1,085,104
5,870,117
291,000
825,000
85,000
8,191,675
6,915,205
80,000
8,100
38.796
2,938,626
7 '7.827
172,720
$61,894,986
1S70.
589,998
78,690
1,102,754
17,371,048
576,067
500
47 '.523
2,849,249
4.329.7"
1,647,606
'53. '5°
'.312,458
30,795
6,398,881
427,596
39,502,542
1,204,868
219,862
'47.32J
1,256,213
8,766,104
1,903,825
21,000
14.394.786
298,368
3,287,699
505.857
27,580,586
12,558,117
34.559
696,844
152,968
199,600
3,619,459
488,352
475.763
1,250,467
*' 55.405,358
In i860 the number of worsted-establishments in the country was three :
in 1870 it was 102. The carpet-factories had not changed : there were 213 in
i860, and 215 in 1870. These figures show amazing progress, wonderful
The States of the South (excluding Virginia), which had only P'ogress.
tliirty-two factories of woollen goods in 1850, and eighty-one in i860, contained
-ty.ry^r-K^fm-
V. "^ '1 • ,
384
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
730 factories in 1870, mostly small concerns, to be sure, and producing a
coarse class of fabrics, but still busy factories, and affording a large local
market for the fleeces from the plantations and farms. There win; a,,.
woollen-factories in the West as compared with 258 in i860. In Ohio, ^^.^v
York, and Pennsylvania, 932 woollen-factories had been put into operation as
against 525 in i860; while twenty-nine had been built west of liic Rocky
Mountains. In i860 Massachusetts had two worsted-factories, and Rhode
Island had one. There were no others in the United States. In 1.S70 inere
were 102, eighty-seven of them being in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Pennsylvania.
There had been equally interesting progress in the fabrics produced. P.ifore
i860, the cloths, carpets, and woollen-goods of the country generally were of
the coarse or common makes. Scarcely any thing had been attempted in the
line of fine goods. After i860 the factories began to make fine goods of
every description. Particularly was this the case after 1864, in whi( h year a
more (iivorable adjustment of the tariff was made. It was, in fact, under the
act of 1864 that the distinctively fine goods were chiefly undertaken. New
machinery was bought, and old machinery was adapted to new uses. Coarse
arti(des were still made ; but the mills now began to produce fine sliawis,
worsteil dress-goods, fine cassimeres, broadcloth, hosiery, alpaca fabric s,
mohair-poplins, mohair-lustres, chinchilla cloakings, astrachans, embroidered
table-covers, druggets, Axminster carpets, and almost every other variety of
elegant wool-fabric. Kntire success was attained with every class of goods;
unless, perhaps, the finest broadcloth be alone excepted. If the manufac-
turers lacked a machine proper for the new purposes to which they were
adapting their mills, they invented it. They frequented the world's fairs, and
studied styles and processes. They acted on the old principle, wl\i<h is
expressed in a homely but forcible way in the motto at the head of the cards of
a bill-poster at Atlanta, Ga., for 1878 : —
" It is not birth, nor rank, nor state,
It's get up and get, that makes man great."
The manufacturers, during this period of ten years, displayed unexampled
energy, and for the first time in the history of their trade they were able to
furnish almost the whole of the immense supply both of coarse and fine
goods required by this market. This market too, be it known, had increased
threefold in power to consume from i860 to 1870. The new styles of goods
were distinguished by greater softness and strength, owing to the qualities of
American wool. The staple goods, such as cassimeres, ingrain carpets, iSjc,
displayed better style, improved finish, and softer and more agreeable colors.
The delaines became so perfect, that a celebrated importer at New \'ork,
who, when called as a witness in a trial at court, had asserted his iiidd-
libility in detecting the differences in fabrics, was astounded to discovel
OF THE UNITED STATES.
38s
that lie had sworn to the identity of foreign woven and American printed
(ItlaiiiL-s.
Siiue 1870 depression has again chilled the hearts of the owners of the
ttoolUn-mills. This is, in part, owing to the panic of 1873, and the hard times,
ind utrciK hment of personal expenses, which have reigned ever ^ ||^^_
'jjiii I'. It has l)eeii, in part, (hie to the immense (|iiantity of manufac-
ivoollt'iis which the government had on hand in 1S66, when it dis-
turei ilnee
1870.
[uukIciI its volunteer army of a million of nien, and sent them to
their homes. The government had more cloth than ( ould he consumed by
ihe regular army in several generations. As these goods were liable to be
(.aki) by mollis, the authorities resolved to sell them. The auctions each year
depressed the price of coarse cloths, and curtailed the sales of the millii. For
SATINKILOUM.
several years, the Iiorse-car drivers, truckmen, teamsters, and farmers wore the
sky-lilue uniform overcoats, or clothing made of that blue cloth dyed black,
bought from the government. In consecjuence of the panic and the depres-
sion, the woollen-mills have lost a great deal of money. Many of them have
passed into other hands at a loss. It is a fact which may be mentioned here,
that nearly every woollen-mill of any consequence in the I'nited States has,
by rciison of these regularly-recurring periods of depression, passed out of
386
l^rnUSTRIAl. niSTOKY
the Dwnership of the original projectors nt a |)ri(e considoraljly lower dun lu
original cost. Owing to the hard times, liic production of the mills iiiis Ihtii
lessened, so as to lighten the burden resting upon them as nuu h as P(km1i|i
I'ndcr the influences of tlecreased proihu tion and a lower rate of w.ij;i^, iln,.
interest is now already reviving. Importations have l)een cut down from S^o,-
000,000 in 1M72 to ;S26,ooo,ooo in 1S77. Foreign fabrics are being ^ti idjly
driven out ; and this great market, wherein 45,000,000 of people l>iiy < l(,i|,,
provisions, and ail the necessaries and comforts of life, with lis wdihIhihI
power of recuperation, is fast bringing l)ack hope and energy to llie luMris of
the native manufacturers. The industry has a great future before 11, and
cannot long remain under the clouds that now surround it.
SFINNINC. AND WKAVINd.
The wire-toothed cards for combing out the wool were made by hand in
the <lays of our foref.ithers. and were worked by hanil. Oliver l''.van< ol
Bvana'i im- M^^ry'**"''' ""^ "^ ''^'-' active-minded inventors of tlie kevolutinii-
proved m«- ary era, invented a machine to prick the leather, cut, beml, .ind
' ""^' set the teeth in cards, but did not have the good fortune to sir it
go into practical _«cration. Subsetiuently, machinery for cutting the tcrtli,
which were to beset in the leather sheets by hand, was employed at WOniMcr
and elsewhere in New Kngland. The teeth, put up in bags, were given out to
families living in the country round about. The setting of the teetli w.is ,1
fireside occupation ; and the business employed large numbers of tiie m-ntk'
girls of that day, who afterwards became the mothers of rich and inlluituiil
families of to-day. In 1796 .Amos Whittemorc took out a patent ii.r ,1
machine to make the cards , and this invention was soon followed by a ni.i
chine to do the carding, and the two new processes soon superseded tlu' old
ones.
('arding is the first process of spinning. The wool is laid upon a ftcd
apron, and is drawn down therefrom to a large, slowly-revolving drum, who^c
whole surface is covered with wire card. The wool is taktn up
by the teeth of the card, and combeil out between the large (Iniin
and two smaller ones revolving in contact with it, but in the o])posite dirci •
tion. The wool is then (letac:heil from the main drum by the action of tin;
dofTer, — a sort of comb moving with a (juick, hoe-like motion ; and it Aowm
from the carding-machine in a broad, thin, gau/y fleece, through a smooth steel
funnel, in which it contracts into a ribbon, or sliver, into a large tin can.
Ix)ng wools which are used for worsted-goods are made into a sliver on tin'
same principle, although the combing-machine varies from the one destribed
in a few details. The slivers are now carried to the breaking-machine. Two
or three (or more) cans are placed by the machine ; and the ends of the slivers
they contain are laid together, and passed through between two rollers, wliidi
Carding.
01- THE UMTF.!) STATh.S.
3R7
lei/c .itul <lr;i\v tlu'm forward, and pass llu'in on lo another sit «)f rollers, which
move tliroc times as last as the first. As a eonse(|iien< e of this procesH,
the iriiited slivers (low from the machine, ami are ( oiled in another larfje tin
,;in, Ml a fresh sliver of tiiree times the length of the ori^^inal slivers, liiree
of tlu' new cans are carried to another frame, and the slivers passed ihrongh
(ri">ii sets of rollers ; and ti\i> process is repeated sometimes until one of the
slivi r, from the c ardinj,'machine is drawn out to fifteen hundred times its
iirit;ni.il length, although, l>y reason ol h.ivuiK lieeii incorporated with so many
,)l" ii> ( ompanions, it ha.s been rediu ed in hulk only to ahout one-fourth its
(irijjiiial size. This freijuent dniwing straightens the fibres of the wool, and
livs iluin parallel to one another. The idea is the invention of Ri( hard .\rk-
\vri^;lit of Kngland, who made a fortune from it. and added as uuk h to the
|irii(lui tive power of Kngland as though liie < ountry had doubled its jiopula-
tmn .\fter the drawing is completed, two slivers are united, and |)asscd
iliriMinii the roving frame, where they are drawn out so fine that they have to
lic itti^teil in the fr.iine slightly to lioM together. The roving is now wound
upuii bobbins, and carried to the spinning mac hinery.
CAROINC-MACHINR. CLBVBLANIl MACHINE-WORKS.
Spinning.
Tile original spinning-jenny of Margreaves of Kngland, invented in 1767,
had eight spindles only ; the spinning-jack of to-day has often as many as
fniin two l-.undred and forty to tiireo hundred. They are m6unted
uiutii a long frame, bearing the same rel.ition to the machine as
the front boanl of a bureau-drawer to the bureau, which, like the drawer of
a gigantic bureau, can be pulled out a distance of ten or more feet from the
mac hinc in the spinning ])rocess. It runs out on wheels which support its
weight. The bobbins containing the rovings are placed in a long row in the
spinning-frame, and the ends of the soft yarn are carried through three sets of
<:'
.»*••■'.*& Hji,..
388
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
rollers to tlie spindles on the frame. The second set of rollers moves twii e as
fast as the first ; and the third, five or six times as fast as the second. ISv this
means it is still further attemiated. The twist is given to it by tlie ^iniiillt's
which revolve witii great velocity as the long frame is slowly i)nlie(l oui lioin
the machine as far as it will go. As the frame is run back again to it^ phuc
the twisted yarn is wound up on the spindles automatically, and the iikk hine
started again, and the process repeated. The twist given to yarn is from livc
to ten turns in an inch. The yarn is now wounil off on reels in iuuik^ five
AMI STAND.
hundred .md sixty yards long. The nunil)er of hanks to a jiound indicate the
size of the yarn ; as No. i. No. 2. and so on.
For weaving, the yarns wliii li are 10 comiiose tiie warp of tlie cloth or
carpet are woiuid off from the reels uimn a long roller in a broad baml ot
j)arallel threads the width of the intended piece of stuff The
rollers are placed in the loom. .\ forest of wires, or stout flinail--.
cro.sses the loom from one side to the other, each one carrying an eye alioiit
Weaving.
OF TIIF. UNITED STATES.
3«9
the middle of its length. The yarns of the warp are passed through the eyes
of the liarness, as it is called, and thcnco on to the roller at the front of the
loom. Tlie office of the harness is to raise one set of the threads of the warp,
and depress another set, so as to leave an opening through which the shuttle
can he thrown, carrying the thread of the woof, and, wiien the shuttle has
passed through, to depress the upper set and raise the lower set, thi.s locking
the woof in its place, ami opening the warp anew for another throw of the
[^^.-fM^..
tii!
if
iM.
SIllCAlilNU-.M.UIIIM:.
shuttle. This is the principle upon which all Ioduis arc made ; but great inge-
nuity lias been dis])layed in the management of ihc i)rinciple. so as to produce
net only plain goods by means of the loom, but gootls of all sorts of colored
patterns, .uid varieties of surface. Threads of different colors are introduced
tor different i)arts of the warp ; and a large variety of colors, sometimes eight
or ten, are introduced by multiplying the number of shiittles and the apparatus
for throwing them. The figures in weaving arc produced by the fancy loom,
!i
rjffvff
'it
390
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
SO called, the invention of Mr. William Cronipton, a native of England, l)\it
living, at the time the loom was projected, in this country. His ijaliiu was
taken out in 1837. The looms wore I'lrst used, it is believed, in the Middlesex
Mills of Lawrence, Mass., in 1840. It is upon this loom that the famv (assi-
meres and other figured cloth-fabrics are now woven.
m
^HAWI.-I.OOM.
After weaving, the cloth is fulleil by washing and pounding in a tank,
where it is subjected to the action of heavy iron mallets. It is
reduced greatly from its original dimensions, both in length and
width, by this process. It is then dried upon the tenter-frame upon which it
Fulllnf.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
39 J
is stretched. Fulling and dyeing complete the cloth, and it then needs only
10 be (inished to be ready for the market. Made to pass over rollers, it is first
s(rat( hed by a revolving drum upon which are mounted the heads of the
teasol-i)lant, or by wire teasels ; and it is then shorn by a cutting-machine with
spiral blades on a cylinder acting against a straight steel blade, which cuts the
nap perfectly to an even length. This helicoidal shearing-machine is an
American invention, dating back to iSi2.
In the mechanical department of the industry the American mind has been
extremely prolific. There is not a machine in the whole fixctory, from the
picker and the card to nap-cutter, which has not been altered, j„ g.
Miiijroved, and made to do better and fasicr work than tiie ments of
aehines employed upon other continents. Some of the machines
American
inventors.
m:
are purely of American invention. The wonilerful Pigelow auto-
inati( loom, by which figures of any description can be woven into carpets, is
the (onception of I'^astiis li. Higelow of Massachusetts, who took out his
patent in 1845, and achieved what luirope had given up as hopeless. English
machinery was largely importeti at on;> time, especially during the war : but the
Kilbotirn self-operate<l jack, a home-invention, has superseded many of tlie
very best English mi'les ; aiv\ the Sawyer spindle, the outgrowth of a drought
at Lowell, which made it necessary to lighten tlie machireiy, has brought
aliout a revolutiini in worsted spinning, being lighter, more etticient, and
running witli ea> u\) to eight tliousaiui revolutions, being at twenty-five per
lent higiier speeu, with tliirty-three per cent less power, tiian the common
spindle.
Tlie machinery fur a ten-set woollen-mill, all of American make, will cost
about $70,000. It will require a hundred-horse-power to drive cost of
it, and 155 hands to teiul it. In staple fancy cassimeres its '■<=t<"y'
production will be from 1,150 to 1,200 yards a day.
a tank,
ts. It is
igth and
whicli it
HATS.
One of the most interesting uses of wool arises from a peculiarity of its
stnu ture. The fibres of wool are not smooth like silk and flax, but they are
rouL^liiy barbed with minute imbrications like the blades of some useofwooi
grasses, or the branches of a feather, wiiicii can be felt by pulling in making
a lock of wool through the fingers. Some wools are less roughly ''"*''
liarl)ed than others, and some fleeces which go by the name of wool — as, for
instance, that of the Angora goat — do not jwssess the quality in any apprecia-
lilo degree. Hut real wool has a serrated fibre. This peculiarity renders the
shortest kinds of wool available for spinning, because, no matter what the
length of the fibre may be, the barbs of the wool interlock when the fibre is
twisted, and they convert the fibre into a practical yarn. This peculiarity has
also given rise to a class of fabrics which are not spun at all. By rubbing a
\'(i4l
39»
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Hat-making
one of the
earliest
colonial
industries.
lot of wool together in hot water, the interlocking of the fibres takes i)la( e in
a marked manner ; and the result is the felting of the wool, or a shrinking into
a close, compact, thick fabric, which is serviceable for a wide variety of uur-
poses. The most popular use of fabric thus made is for the manufaciurc of
hats. The idea, however, is app'ied to the making of piano-covers, druggets
beaver-cloths, and other heavy coatings ; the wool when made into these goods
being delivered from the carding-niachine in a broad, thin web, whicli is
doubled and crossed, and otherwise thickened, and then subjected to steam-
ing and gentle hammering. Some felt seamless clothing has also been
made.
Hat-making was one of the very earliest of colonial industries, '!he
wintry storms and general cool climate of North America rc(iuired tliat the
covering of the head should be warm ; and so, while the Si)aniards
of the West Indies were uaying and weaving for themselves broad-
brimmed hats of straw, tlie Americans went into the making of
head-wear of thick wool. The industry began in New Kngland :
it afterwards extended to the other colonies. In Virginia, in 1662,
the colonial authorities offered a premium of ten pounds of tobacco (the
currency of those days) for every good iiat of wool and fur made in the
province. Hats were made in ahiiost all the colonies; and in 1731 a spedal
committee of Parliament reported that the enterprising Yankees were making
10,000 hats yearly, and were actually exporting them, with other things, to the
continent of Europe and to the West Indies, — a piece of uni)araileied
impudence on the part of that underbred people, and ([uile in defiance of
the welfare of the people of Kngland and the navigation laws. So Parlia-
ment, in 1732, forbade the Americans to export hats or felts, 'ilie manu-
facture continued, however, and, indeed, the export too ; and in 1791
Alexander Hamilton reported the business to be in a thrifty condition. It
has been in that condition ever since. It has had a steady development, and
has increased in value of total product from ^4,323,000 in 1810, until it has
reached the large aggregate of about ^30,000,000 at the i)resent time. The
numl)er of establishments making hats is now about 490, employing 16,500
hands.
The hats of the Colonial and Revolutionaiy era v. ere broad-brimmed
affairs, originally with high crowns, but afterward with low crowns i)arel\
Style of rising above the top of the head. In the Revolution it was the
early hats, fashion to catch up the brim on one side of the head with a
cockade and feather, also to catch it up in two or three places, producing
the regular military cocked hat and the hat of private gentlemen. Tiif
cocked hat went out of fashion after the Revolution, and gave ])lare to tlie
soft felt of various forms, and the tall, stiff stove-pijje which still remain^
the dress-hat of gentlemen. The white, bell-crowned, shaggy hat of the days
succeeding the Revolution has gone into history as the symbolic hat of lirothu
OF THE UNITED STATES.
393
loiiatlian. When Kossuth visited the country in 1851 and 1852, the style
of hat lie wore — a large, soft felt — became the rage for a while, and was
worn for a few years with a feather. At present all sorts of soft and stiff
felt hats are worn, varying in their outlines, size, and width of brim, from
vear to year, in response to the American taste for something new every
siRcossive .season.
Ill liat-iiiaking, the fur of raccoons, beavers, and rabbits, is often mixed
with the wool in small proportions. The right mixture being obtained, it was
first felted by a process called " bowing." The bunch of fleece was Process of
tiathered in front of the operator, and then violently agitated, and hat-making.
tosseil into the air, by twanging the string of a stiff bow, and applying the
strini; to the wool. The (lying fibres would fall upon the table in a thin, even
wel). This was pressed under a cloth, and another layer put on, until the
fabrii was thick enough for use. It was then put between two cloths, im-
mersed in hot water, and worked into a cone, which was shaped upon
a h.it block, and allowed to dry in proper form, when it was napped and
finished for the store. This was the original process. One ir.an could make
from four to si.\ hat-bodies in a day. This process was (piite sufficient for the
Icisuivly days of the eighteenth century ; but, in the more bustling times which
succeeded them, it became necessary to increase the speed of manufacture,
and machines were introduced to form the bodies. The wool was carded in
the usual manner, and passed in a thin web from the machine to two revolving
cones, placed base to base, over which the web wound in a zigzag iiKinner.
When the web was thick enough upon the cone, it was cut off, the two cones
cut apart, and the woolly caps removed ; when the process went on again as
iiefore, the removal of tiie cones being effected with great rai)idity. The
cones thus formed were treated in the usual manner. Another machine was
also made to produce felted hats both of wool and of fur. The fibres were
m.i(lc to fly into tiie air ; and the draught of air passing through a perforated
lone of copper or one of wire caused ti.em to setUe down upon the cone
L-veiily, in thickness sufficient for a body. These machines cheapened the
cost of hats materially, ami enabled the manufacturers to make them as light
•IS one ounce if they chose ; whereas, before, a perfect hat-body could not have
been made to weigh less than three or four ounces. The stiff, tall silk hat,
which weighs about six ounces, is still made chiefly by hand. Its texture is
mIIc plush. It was once made of beaver-fur, and was called a beaver in con-
sequence. The stiff hat made of brown or light-gray wool is called a cassi-
mere.
I'or summer wear, hats are now made largely of woven straw. Large,
broad-brimmed affairs of cork are made for seaside and country wear, being
light and airy, and protecting the head from heat, and the face from the fierce
ravs of the sun. .
P ^ 1
■'f'r'-.T'-fftiWf
■!, if!..
'"■ .^,fp*'^'
394
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CARPETS.
The progress of a hundred years in (:aq)ets was well shown at the Kxhihi-
tion in Philadelphia in 1876. No objects in the fair attracted more attention
than the brilliant display of rich, soft American carpets ; the opulent Axminster
Improve- '^'^^ ^ofin in the Old World only for the feet of emperors and
ment in noblemen, showing its radiant face from the midst of tlic tliron"
carpets. along with the more humble but still agreeable ingrains, three
plies, Brussels, and tapestry carpets. In 1776 the only carpet miule in the
United States was the unpretentious rag-carpet, woven with a stout yarn wari),
and a woof composed of strips cut from the cast-off clodiing of the people.
From the hand-made rag-cari)et of the farmhouse, to the aristocratic .Axmin-
ster, woven in intricate and showy patterns ni)on a powerful automatic loum
one of the highest i)roducts of civilized art, is a hundred years.
The first regular carpet used in this country is said to have l)een im])orte(l
by Kidd the pirate. A few carpets were imported, just before the Revolution,
Whoim- ^"coxw (Jreat Britain ; but they were too expensive for most peojjle.
ported the In 17QI the first cari)et-factory was built in the city ol" I'hila-
first carpet, ^j^^ipi^j^ j^y WjHiam Peter Sprague. It was followed not lont;
after by others in the same city ; and Philadelphia soon became the ]jrineipai
seat of the carpet-industrv of the United States. It has nlwavs
Carpet in- ' - -'■
dustry in remained so, and to-day manufactures about one-half of all the
Phiiadei- carijcts jjroduced in the United States. Its fiictories are verv
phia.
numerous, and of enormous size. The city has a very extensive
hand-loom house-carpet industry also. Up to 1S45 carpets were woven, en-
Bigeiow's tirely by hand. In that year Mr. !<>. B. Bigelow patented a power-
invention, loom which woulil make figures that would matcii, and would
weave so rapidly as to increase the production from eight yartls a day (tlie
average of hand-labor) to twenty-seven yards a day for two-ply carpet. The
same machine was found applicable to the weaving of the heavy Brussels
carpet also. It was employed on that class of goods, increasing the produc-
tion from four to twenty yards a day. This invention diffused new life into
the carpet-business of the country. The cost of carpets was so reduced by it
as to bring the goods within the reach of all. The heavy purchases which were
made by the people had the legitimate effect of leading to the construe tion
of a large number of new factories and the enlargement of old ones. America
is a country of homes. In spite of the emigration of population from one
State to another, the American, wherever found, makes his house a home, and
brings into it the charms and gentleness and grace of family-life. In tlie
comfort of a home the carpet plays an exceedingly important part. It is
absohitely essential to the quiet and happiness of the home. As soon as its
value was discovered, it found its way into every dwelling, from farmhouse to
brown-stone front ; and the demand for carpets has therefore been regular,
OF THE UNITED STATES. 395
large, and unfailing. The value of the carpet is so great, both on account of
its beauty and its capacity for deadening the sound of the ibotfall, that it has
within the last twenty years also invaded schoolhouses, churches, counting-
rooms, railroad-cars, court-houses, and public buildings of the people. Its
use is now universal.
i'lie growth of the manufacture after 1850 is indicated by the indication*
following statement of the value of products : — °' growth.
1850 )J3,40i,234
i860 7.857.636
1870 2J,76'.S73
1876 36,ot»,ooo
The mills were distributed in 1870 as follows : —
Connecticut 3
District of Columbia i
M.irylancl i
Massachusetts 6
Xew Hampshire 3
New Jersey 2
New York 13
Pennsylvania 184
Wisconsin 2
Total 215
The Axminster carpets, which are laid down only in the most luxurious
houses, and cost eight dollars a yard, were first inanufactured at Philadelphia
in 1S68. They had been imported into tiie city of New York Manufac-
froin France under the name of "moquette." They were all tureof
handmade. The Philadelphians undertook their manufacture caliTetsin
with ])ower-looms, and succeeded so well, that the thick, velvety PhiiaUei-
prodiict, when placed side by side with the French, could only ^ '"'
be distinguished from it by its own superior texture and cheaper price. The
French ma cers were obliged to lower their prices one dollar and two dollars a
jard to maintain themselves.
Carpets are now imported only to a limited extent. We can now make all
ihe ingrain, two-ply, three-ply, jute, and hemp carpets that are used in this
I uuniry. We have the capacity to produce nearly all the Brussels, importations
tapestry, and Axminster carpets also. The importation is there- "'■'"•y °ver.
lore limited to Turkish and Persian rugs, and a few of the more elegant and
costly styles of velvety and fashionable French and English carpets, which
fashion desires because they are foreign-made, and because it despises that
wliicii the multitude can have, no matter how beautiful and comfortable the
fabric.
I '.i
396
^vii
B^'^^if
m ■ ■'
II
'1
i
INDUSTRIAL IH STORY
SHODDV,
One of the curiosities of the wooUen-mamifacture is described by the name
above given, of which the country has heard so much since the outbreak of
the war of 1861, and whicii has come into common use to designate a class
of vulgar people who became suddenly rich by the war, and went ahmit the
world aping the manners of the aristocracy, without possessing the rcfnicment.
breeding, and true gentleness which distinguisli aristocrats from tiic nst of
mankind more than their money. 'I'licre is no need to tell any man who
shouldered a musket for the Union in any of the earlier volunteer rc^Mnients
of New- York State as to what shoddy is : he knows already. Four or five of
those early regiments, composed of the best young men of the best faniilics
of the State, marched to the front clad in rougii, shaggy uniforms of grav,
which disintegrated by the mere motion of the body, filling the uiiden luihes
and shoes f\ill of short, gritty wool, and wiiich in two weeks' time were in
rags, breaking the hearts of the men by tlie shabby si)ectacle they iire>ente(l
among the splendidly-dressed regiments of the other Middle States and of
New England. Those uniforms were made of siioddy. Tiiey were a (ll^^ra(e
to the contractors who put them ujwn the men, and an insult to the men.
Uniforms were too often made of this sort of cloth.
.Mthough the term " siioddy " lias become one of o])prol)riuni from this
incident of the war, the thing itself subserves a useful purpose at times in the
Importance manufacture of woollen-goods. It has already been noted that
of shoddy. (1.,^. wool-supplv of the I'nitcd States has never been eiiual to the
demand. Carpet and other coarse wools have to be imported, because the
country does not raise all the wool it consumes, even at this late day. Tiie
scarcity of home-grown wool, and its high price, have led manulacturers to
study the ([uestion of introducing other materials into their "'oolien-doths, for
the purpose of cheapening them, and of obtaining an abundant su])ply of raw
material. The manufacturers have tried cotton, silk, and tlax. and still ihc
them in their goods. Whenever one of these three materials rises in ywt
they resort to the others, using always the cheajier in the greatest (niantity.
They obtained another idea on the subject of raw materials, however, troni
tlngland. It is well known that worn-out clothing of cotton and linen pos-
sesses a certain market-value for Dajiermaking. Peddlers and small dealers
take the clothing wiiich goes technically by the name of "rags " for a few ( ent'-
a pound, and sell it to the paper-makers. But what is worn-out woollen-c loth-
ing good for? It has never been utilized for paper-making. It is good for rag-
carpets ; but the sujierannuated woollens of forty-five millions of jieople, suth
as we have in the United Slates, would stock the market with more rag-carpets
in a year than would be consumed in ten or twenty years. In England they
studied the subject of picking the old woollen-clothing to pieces again, and
spinning the fibre afresh, k machine was finally invented to pull the cloths to
OF THE I XI TED STATKS.
397
nieces, and reduce them to the condition of iinspnn wool. The fibre suffered
111 tlif process, and the wool resulting from it was of an exceedingly short
sui)ie : Imt, l>y reason of the peculiarly serrated and barbed nature of woollen-
ilbrc, even tiiis very short staple could be spun into a yarn, especially if it were
mixed with a certain proportion of long staple ; which yarn was available for
(loths.
'^\\^N«*^^^?^
SIIODDY-l'ICKEB.
The l',iij;lish went into the shoddy - business to an onoriiious extent.
Vorksliiie became the wareliousc of the cast-oiV j^arments and hosiery of all
l;iri)|ii.'. 'I'Ik'so garments were t arefuUy assorted there, selling ^^ ^^^
Mr from fifty dollars to a hundred and fifty dollars a ton, and use of
wore converted into shoddy wool bv the machinerv set tip for »f'°<i^>' ''y
•' - - ' English.
die i)iiii)ose, and sold to the Kngiish woollen - manuiactiirers.
Tho putting of shoddy into genuine wool was a clear adulteration of the
l.ittor. The completed cloth could be called "all-wool goods," and sold for
'.he iii.irket-valuc of such goods ; yet it was not "all wool " in tho right sense
ii! the term, as the defrauded l)iiyer ijuickly found out after i)utting on a suit
I'l 1 iuthes in which shoddy was present in any considerable proportion. The
>ho(l(ly would shake and rub out into his underclothing, and irritate his
inrson ; while every pocket and lining would gather balls of loose, gritty wool,
which would interfere with his enjoyment of the clothing. This was the
-huddy working out, as it invariably will work out whenever shoddy goods
ire worn. Hut the Kngiish did not care, because the larger part of their
wooiluns were sent abroad ; and they suffered no pangs of conscience as long
['■■•■ffrrtrfyr*'
39«
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
as it was somebody else's skin which was scratched by the shoddy, and not
their own.
Since 1861 (and possibly from a little earlier date) shoddy has lioen made
in the United States. There are only about a dozen mills in tlic Imsiness •
y^^^j these are chiedy in the East. Shoddy is not much 'isrd in this
•hoddy in Country ; but it is somewhat. Respectable manufacturer^ aro very
the United careful about putting it into their cloths, because, if tluy ),'aini 1
a reputation for using sho(hly, it would injure their goods. When
ever the price of wool goes up, however, shoddy comes into demand. The
material is employed also openly in the manufacture of certain (lasses ot
goods. In druggets, table-covers, heavy over-coatings, and various telted
goods, it is regularly present, its utilization being justified on the ground tiiai
it saves expense to the human race, and is a means of turning to use wliat
would otherwise be utterly valueless. The buyer must, however, always jlld(r^.
for Iiimself whetiier the fine coatings he is looking over in the shop have nut
shoddy in them also ; for some manufacturers think a certain percentage of it m
their cassimeres does no harm, but too often I'ley outstep the bounds of safety
in the proportion used. Shoddy costs usually about ten cents a jjound, and
wool fifty. The temptation to use the former is, therefore, strong.
Woollen-rags are reduced to shoddy by a cylinder three feet in diame-
ter, the surface of which is studded, like the club of a giant of fable, with steel
t th an inch long, and half an inch apart. The cylinder makes about five
hundred revolutions a minute. The rags fed down upon it are torn apart by
the speed of the teeth ; all rags which are not reduced to fibre falling bade
by their own weight, to be caught and buffeted again.
During the war, and up to 1S6S, shoddy was imported at the rate of from
five million to eight million pounds a year. The importation is now a few
hundred thousand pounds only. The consumption in the United States has
been as high as twenty-five million pounds a year.
CLOTHING.
The manufacture of clothing grew up from the very humble beginning ol
shops in the cities stnmg along the AUantic seaboard for j)roviding sailors witii
*' Slop- their outfit for voyages. They were called " slop-shops." They
■hopt." ^ere part of a very bad system for plundering the tar of the
earnings o*" his voyage while he was on shore, still practised to a very great
extent in commercial cities by the sailor boarding-house keepers. The idea
was and is to lay hold of Jack the moment he comes ashore, board him,
lead him into extravagances, supply him with an outfit for the new voy
age, get from the ship-master an advance of a month's wages, and, if the
tar is not enough in the landlord's debt to consume all the money, then
to get him drunk, and put him aboard the ship, with enough " slops," or
.\.*
OF THE UMTKD STATES,
399
ready niade clotliing, charged for at enormous rates, to wipe olT the balance.
Of (uiiisf, ready -matlc clotliing had to be kept on hand in order to carry out
the system. From this humble origin has sprung a trade in ready-made
clothing which has led to the erection of such palaces of industry and
libiiiiiii as may be seen now in every large city in the country, inland and
(oinincrcial, for supplying the masses of the people with the woollen clothing
they wear during the varying seasons and upon all the different sorts of social
occasions.
The second step in the clothing-business was taken by the Jews of New.
York City. These industrious people, who possess in a remarkable tlegree the
insiiiu t and faculty of trade, congregated on that (pieer, crooked, ciothe»-
aiK iciit street which runs down hill northward from City-hall cleansing by
r.irk, and then up hill again to the liowery. whicii is known the ^'^*'
cdimti'v over as Chatham Street and the resort of old clothes-dealers and
[lawn-sliop keejiers. 'I'hese peojjle bought clothing partly worn, and cleaned
and renovated it, and sold it as new ; and afterwards added to their business
that of fabricating new clothing from half-spoiled goods, such as those rescued
ill a wet and heated condition from burning buildings, &c. The customers of
the t'liatham-street stores were poor jieople. The well-to-do had their clothes
made cither at home by their own families or by employed seamstresses, or
had tlK'iii cut and made to order at tailor-slio])s established solely to secure
the i)atr<)iiage of prosperous people. Farmers generally lia<l their clothing
made at iKJine, often from the strong though rough goods spun and woven by
the girls and women of the family. In the cities, large and small, cutting and
inakiiij,' were generally done at the tailor-shops. Coats were made of blue or
black goods, waistcoats of llaming red, of buff, an<l of white or black, and
trousers of black generally, though grays and browns were liked. In 1834
and iiS^5 the wholesale manufacture of ready-made clothing for well-to-do
and fashionable people began in New York on a small scale ; and since then
the business has extended step by step, the manufacturers catering to every
class of society, until now the home-manufacture of men's garments has
virtually ceased, and every one, from ploughman to railroad-president, goes to
the store for his goods, and can be suited, if he chooses, from the shelves of
the store at once. For a long time there was a prejudice among the more
lasliioiiable buyers against ready-made goods. They did not always fit ; and
tailors did much to deepen the i)rejudice by their tricks in trying to sell to
iiulisc riininating customers garments which did not become them, in order not
to lose a bargain. How often has not the tailor drawn up before the mirror a
mail whose mind runs ordinarily on better themes than his clothes, — and who,
therefore, is not a judge of a fit, — and shown him with one hand how beautifully
a coat fitted across the chest, while with the other hand he took a large reef in
the bagging back so as to pro(',uce the jjarticular phenomenon to which he
drew attention ! It used to be said of an un[)opular man, as a parting shot,
lUJi4
400
INDl'STKIAL HISTORY
m^ \M
irfi^'^f
after the vocalnilary of vituperation had been exhausted, " and his ( lo(i,c,
do'i't fit." For fear that his own dotlies wouldn't fit, tveryl)ody clmij; id the
habit of having his suits made to order. Hut eitiier tailors have urowii more
honest with the civili/ing influences of the age, or their assortment of ^ockK is
now made in greater variety ; for every one can secure an excellent lit at
any ready-made dothing-store ; and the majority of mankind clepend luiou
the shelf and the counter for their suits and overcoats, rather than ii|j()ii il„.
measuring-tape and shears. \ good fit can be obtained even for dress suits.
The manufacturers have found it to their advantage to increase the resonn cs
of their establishments ; and great fortunes have been made from ready made
clothing within the last twenty years in lioston, New York, i'hiladi l|pliia.
I'hicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati. IJaltimore. ami elsewhere. The slopsii(i|i, still
exist : Chatham Street still i)reserves its distinctive reputation, livery ( ilv nf
any si/e has its second-hand clothing-stores. Miit the business has grown so
far l)eyt)nd those pioneer institutions, that one wonders, with the amij^Mul
turkey-gobbler of mature years, how it could ever have been hatched Irdiu so
insignificant a shell.
The census of 1.S70 showed tliat the establishments for manuta<-turing the
clothing of men and l)oys had increased to 7,^58: they einplDyed loS.ijS
Magnitude hands, consumed ;S.S6, 794.000 ••vorth of mateii.iU, paid oui
of businesi. 5^0,745.000 for wages, and created clothing worth, at market
l)ri< es, the large sum of Si4S.6f)(i,<)n(). The invention of the sewing ni:i(liiiu-
about 1S50, ami its sultsequent sale by the lens of thousands, gave a great
impulse to this business l)y ( heapeniiig the goods and imparting r.ipidity to the
manufacture. The < lothing-establishinents and tiieir operatives have linn tin-
best customers of the sewing-mac hine factorie The war, also, gave an iinpuNe
to the business. The uniforms for the troo^ .tcre bought from the readv-
made c lothiers chiefly. They, having the f.icilities and ex|)erieiu e needeil for
the i)roduction of large (luantilies of clothing, obtained most of the contracts
for the i)urpose.
HOSIF.RY.
This term includes not only stockings, but knit goods for underwear. I'iiis
is one of the classes of goods consumed by the great masses of the people.—
consumed, in fact, by all. — for whic h the coimtry was fcirinerly
almost entirely deirt.'n(lent ujKJn Kngland, but in regard to \vhi( h it
is now independent of all foreign countries. Parliament forbade the e^porta
tion of knitting-frames to the colonies of America in order to secnre tiii
exportation of the manufactured goods. Nearly all the knit ca])s, hose,
doublets, &c., which were sold in the general market in that era, were const-
quently imported. The ladies knit for their own fomilies ; but few could knit
for the general market, 'the cnterjjrising State of Virginia offered a premium
of ten pounds of tobacco in 1662 for every dozen pairs of v.oollen or worsted
Knit goods.
Ol- THE UNITED STATES.
401
storkinps ; hut this dcvi< e (hd httlc toward supplying the general market with
Amu I i(. Ill made goods. Little was achieved in tiiat particular <hre( tion until
the -,11)1 king loom was imported, which was linally actouipIisi»ed in spite of the
CcriitTUS of the Itritish custom-house.
Aliitiit 1723 stockings were wosi'u in
(■|K'4cr County, Pennsylvania, by John
t'aiiiiii.and they obtained some repute.
The loom itself made little prt)gres3,
lumever, until the Revolution, when a
l.iruir supply of hose was needed, and
wluii direct em ouragement was given,
ill tlu' shape of premiums and grants,
for llie estahlishment of stocking-fac-
tories 111 Maryland, Virginia, and New
York. I'lien several stocKiiig-loonis
were started here and there. After
the Revolution, weaving continued ;
iiiit it was a hand process, and there-
fore slow, antl the imported goods
were ( lieapiT. The business, though
filtered in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and
Connecticut, where it was print ipally
tarrieil on, tliil not expand rai)idly
until kSji, when Timothy IJailey of
Alluiiy applied power to the lianil-
looiii, and made it a power-loom.
Tlieii .American hosiery became a
factory rather than a household product, and began to hold its own in the
market. Up to this time, all the knitting by machinery resulted in the pro-
tliu lion of a flat web only. The stocking was made from the web by lieing
cut out in the riglit pattern and sewed together. .About twenty years ago
the maciiiiie to knit a circular and seamless webb was invented, by whom is
not. known. This gave a new imiietus to American hosiery, and resulted
in tiie entire defeat of foreign hosiery, and the stojijiage of importations
exce|)t for the consumption of |)cople who have tiie silly idea that foreign
goods are necessarily more beautiful, aristocratic, and exclusive than tnose
made by their own more intelligent anil enterprising countrymen, but the
iiiijiortations have become very small.
On hosiery and knit goods there are engaged now about a hundred and
fifty mills, almost wholly su])plying the market. Some of the de- Progress in
parl'nents of manufacture are new since 1867, and a large share business,
are since 1S64. The progress made in this branch of manufacture is
astonishing, as the United States now make almost all the under-goods,
LAMII KNITTING-MACIIINB.
%: r.
■)'■■■' ' t
U< -*ft ^-^
W^rTfrf^f
402
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
mu
:a
stockings, hosiery, scarfs, neck-comforts, opera-hoods, &c., which they consume
amounting to about forty million
*W ^^^ dollars annually. Not only arc the
^^5J|iP|^^ goods woven circular, but wiihi„
Sf^^^ 1^^ ten or fifteen years the niamilk;-
turers have succeeded in making
goods which are fitted to the ton,"
and in making them, not by iiaml,
but by macliinery, and surinissing
in (luality the goods made abruad.
American wool, with its long, -flossy
staple, is well fitte<l to the produc-
tion of this class of fabrics; and
American competition has not only
succeeded in taking possession of
the home-market for American ])iod-.
ucts, but in cutting down prices
from ten dollars to six dollars a.
dozen. Thus they are put within
the reach of persons having only
very small means ; l)ut, alas lor
our grandmothers ! their occupation
has i)een sadly interni])led. 'i'hcy
ought to get consolation in thinking
that their loss is the people's gain ; but it is to be feared that many of tlicm
are too unreasoning to consider the subject in this comfortable light. !''cw,
who can afford better, will prefer the unevenly stitched grandmother stoc king
to the i^recisely made fal)ric of the machine : so that, comi)lain as l)ittcrly
as the grandmothers may, the day of home-made stockings is rapidly going
by. The i)rincipal centres of the industry are Philadelphia, Penn., and
Cohoes, N.Y.
mCKFORl) KNITTING-MACHINE.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
403
CHAPTER V.
THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON.
TT is not known when totton spinning and weaving began in the world ; but
I the rcronl of it ,l;oi's hack to the earliest ages of which we have any knowl-
edge, i'rohalil) no l)etter illustration of the anticjuity of th.* ^ ^j^
industry can be given than the interesting legend of the voyage of cotton spin-
lason and the Argonauts in search of the (lolden Meece* Like "'"e»"''
weaving.
all liiose ancient fables, the story about the voyage of Jason rests
upun a basis of f k t ; I)ut this fable differs from some of the others in the cir-
cumstance that we know what tiie basis of fact probably is. Jason's expedition
w;^ siinjily an attempt to rea< h India, by way of the Black Sea and some
overland route thence, to ol)tain a (juantity of cotton, — a beautiful fleece grow-
ing on a tree, whi( h it was reported that India was cultivating, and which
pruduccd garments far superior in softness and beauty to those of wool then
cxdusively worn in tiie West. The (".reeks of that age, with all their intelli-
gfiice, were more than half |)irates ; and Jason's voyage was sim]>ly a search
for jdunder. The cotton -manufacture attained perfection in India at a very
early date. The cotton was spun by hand, and woven by hand : but the
in'ojile were inventive, and the mild and moist climate of the region was
favorable to the jjroduction of delicate fabrics ; and. when Kuropeans began
to trade with Imlia actively, the natives were already making textures so fairy-
like, that they resembled cobwebs when spread upon the grass, and were
invisible when wet with the dew.
From India the cotton-manufacture spread in both d'rections around the
wodd. Thick cotton-cloths began to be used for tents and awnings in
Southern Europe about the beginning of the Christian era. The spread of
cotton-plant spread slowly along through the coinHries in the cotton-man-
south of Asia until it finally reached l\gyi)t. The filire was "'"«=*""•
inil)orted to Italy in the middle ages, and shipments of it re.acheil England
about 1640. 'i'he fibre was greatly a Imired in luirope, and all the industrial
nations of that part of the wodd fell to manufacturing it upon as large a scale
as wxs consistent with the small supi)ly of the raw material. The process of
404
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
manufacture was greatly improved by the invention of a large number of
machines. From Europe the manufticture extended west to America. The
plant, however, was found growing wild here when the Europeans landed.
They did not bring the plant, but only the processes of manufacture. I'he
Indians were already working it up into rude cloths, and pieces of armor
before they came. In America the manufacture reached a perfection never
before attained, as far as tlie production of the classes of goods consumed in
large quantities by the population of tho continent is concerned. In the ,ear
of our Lord 1878 we find the art, which has come down to us from at leist
thirty centuries ago, practised on this continent — the farthest i)oint westwanl
it can go — upon a scale of which the ancients of the land of its birth never
dreamed in their most exalted moments. A thousand great factories are
engaged in the business, many of them employing 600 operatives, and all
of them performing all the processes of spinning, weaving, finishing, d\eini,',
and decorating, by the aid of ingenious machines which are driven by the
forces of nature, and which work so fast, that, whereas there are only about
136,000 operatives employed in those thousand factories, the product of
cloth and hosiery every year is eiiual to the ])roduct of the labor of 40,-
000,000 people working with the simple appliances of the birthplace of the
cotton-industry. Such is the development which the manufacture has rcachcci
in its journey westward round the world ; and it seems destined to reach a
yet greater development.
The industry started upon the journey eastward around the world at an
earlier date. It was introduced to China, by a ruler who presiiled over both
China and India, before the Christian era. A native of India reached Japan,
the utmost limit of its progress in that direction, as early as 759 A.I). The
manufacture egan actively in Japan as early as 1558 .'\.l)., — at east a century
earlier than it did in England. It is striking to notice the differences of its
subsequent development in the two quarters of the earth, — the East and the
West. In 1878 Japan has few if any native cotton-factories which employ
more than thirty or forty workmen. There has been no invention of ma-
chinery, and no progress. The fibre is spim by hand, and woven by hand. It
is ginned, one pod at a time, by passing it between a pair of wooden rollers
an inch in diameter. It is prepared for spinning, not by carding, but by
gathering it before the workman, and applying to it the twanging-string of a
large bow, which causes the fibres to fly up, antl arrange themselves in falling
in a lap. The whole industry stands just where it did a thousand year, ago ;
and the only symptoms of a new order of things in that ancient realm are pre-
sented l)y the erection of a very few Anieri(uin and lOuropean cotton-fictorios,
with machinery and power, within the past few years. The older nation
borrows from the younger ones the ideas which are necessary to her progress
and regeneration. Couh' there be a* more interesting illustration of how
much farther the sons of Japhet have run in the race of civilization than the
OF THE UNITED STATES.
405
sons of Shem since they parted company on the plains of Asia Minor in the
(lauii of history?
Ancient as is the origin of the manufacture of cotton, the active develop-
ment of the industry in Europe and America is of very recent date. In 1770
tiiu consumption of raw cotton in France was only sixteen hundred ^^jj^g j
tons a year: in England it was only twenty-five hundred tons a vciopmentof
vcar. In that year America sent to Europe her first venture in »"'*"»*»'y°'
. -' ' recent date.
(•()iti)n : it was only a ton. In 1 784 eight bales shipped from
(.'h.iilcston, S.C., were seized in England by the custom-house authorities on
the ground that so large a cjuantity of cotton could not have been produced
in tlie United States. It is since 1770 that this industry, now of such mag-
nitk'cnt proportions, cmi)loying so many hundreds of thousands of human^
beings, has attained its stature.
The cotton-plant being native to the soil of this continent, and the fleece
being desirable for spinning, the plant was cultivated somewhat in the Southern
States during the few years immetliately preceding the Revolutionary war. It
was raised as a door-yard plant at first. A great deal of attention was paid to
tiie capabilities of cotton on account of the scarcity of wool, of which there
was a very inadecpiate supply in this country ; and the fibre was spun to a
very considerable extent by the maids and matrons of the Revolutionary
period North and South. In 1787 a first timid venture at a regular manufac-
ture was made in New England at the village of Beverly, Mass.,
where a small concern v.-as started to weave corduroys and bed-
ticks. Tlie machinery was of a very rude description. The fac-
tory had ^9,000 capital, and it received a grant of ^1,000 from
the State of Massachusetts. It managed to thrive for fifteen years,
when it suddenly failed, owing to the building of better mills, with which
it could not compete on account of their better machinery. Another small
factory was started about the same time at East Bridgewater, Mass., the State
making a grant of ;^20o pounds to help it along. In 1 78S Brown & Almy
starteil n small factory at Providence for making homespun cloth. In 1790
a venture was m.ide by Samuel Slater, an luiglishman who hail samuei
come to the United States for the sake of finding a field wherein siater.
to practise his chosen cmi)loyiTient of spinning and weaving to better advan-
tage than in ICngland. Slater was an apprentice of Strutt, the partner of Ark-
wriglit, who in 1 769 had invented the drawing-frame for drawing out the rolls
or slivers of cotton in order to lay the fibres parallel. That quarter of a
century was a time of great excitement in the cottcn-trade in England, owing
to the rapid succession of important inventions for spinning and weaving which
were coming into use. In 1767 James Hargreaves had improved jamea
the spinning-wheel employed in his own house by making one "•'■^"•vea.
wheel drive eight spindles instead of one. In 1769 Arkwright had invented
the drawing-frame. In 1 784 Crompton had invented the mule-spinner, in
First manu-
facture of
cotton in
New Eng-
land.
4o6
IND US TRIA L HIS TOK Y
which the spindles were mounted upon a movable frame, which would run out
five or six feet and strctcli the thread as it was twisting, and would nm ji^
again in order to permit the thread to lie wound u|)on the siiindles. 'I'lie
mule-spinner was able to carry a iunidred and thirty spindles instead of tiylu;
and in 1790, when water-power was applied to it, it carried four iiundred ^u\\\.
illes. Improvements were made in cardinti in that era aKd nul
Cartwright. ,,..-,• , , '
m 1785 the Rev. Dr. Cartwngiit mvented tiie power-loom. Ii u.i.s
just at this time that the steam-engine was being invented. Mnglaiid was
greatly agitated by this remarkal)le machine, and tlic business tjf tlu' cotton-
manufacture at once assumed a vast importance in the eyes of lOnglish st.itcs-
men. The various discneries were kept as secret as possible. ■ None of thu
new machines were allowed to go out of the country, especially to .AuKriia;
ami England tried in every way to maintain a mono])oIy of her discoveries.
It is due to that fact that the Heverly mill, started in Massacliusetts in 17X7,
contained none of the improved machinery in use in I-'.ngland. Samuel Slater
was the first man that brougiit to .America a knowledge of tiiat machinerv anil
its use. In partnership with .Almy & llrown. Slater put \\\t at i'rovideme, in
1790, the whole set of new ma<'hines used and inverted by .Arkwright for the
spinning of cotton, which lie made from recollection with liis own hands. This
was the real beginning of tlie cotton-manufacture in the L nited Slates. In
1 793 the three men built a new mill at I'awtucket. Neither of the two mills
had more than seventy-two si)indies.
The beginnings of an attempt to practise so im])ortant an indnstrv in
regular factories could not fail to attract the attention of the Congress of the
United States when that body organized under die Constitution. In order
that Congress migiit be fully informed in regard to this subject, .Alexander
Hamilton obtained the facts of the situation as it tiien existed, and in Decem-
ber, 1 791, made the following mention of the industry in his famous report to
Congress on manufactures : —
" Manufactories of cotton-goods not long since estal)lishecl at Revedy,
Mass., and at Providence in the Slate of Riiode Island, and conducted with a
perseverance corresponding with tiie patriotic ir.otives which began them, seem
Early goods to have Overcome the first obstacles to success, producing (ordu-
produced. xo'^'o, vtlvercts, fustians, jeans, and other similar articles, of aijiiality
which will bear a comparison with the like articles brought from Mam hester.
The one at Providence has the merit of being the first in introducing into the
United States the celebrated cotton-mill [meaning die s|)inning-inule], which
not only fiirnishes materials for that manufactory itself, but for the sui)i)iy of
private families for household manufacture. Other manufactories of the same
material, as regular businesses, have also been begun at different ])laces in the
State of Connecticut, but all upon a smaller scale tiian tiiose abo- ^leiitioned.
Some essays are also making in the printing and staining of cotton-goods,
There are several small establishments of this kind already on foot."
OF THE UNITED STATES.
407
In anotlicr part of the report Hamilton says, —
••'Ihcrc is something in the texture of this material [cotton] which adapts
it in :i peculiar degree to the application of maciiines. . . . Tiiis very im-
nDiiaiil circumstance recommends the fabrics of cotton in a more
I"' Hamilton's
jKiriii iilar manner to a country in \vhicii a defect of hands con- report on
siiiulcs the greatest obstacle to success. The variety and extent cotton-man-
111 • r 1 ■ ufacture.
ol the uses to which tiie manutactures of this article are applica-
lilc is another i)owerful argument in its favor. And the faculty of the United
St.iirs to produce the taw material in abundance, and of a (luality, which,
tlu>iii;li alleged to be inferior to some that is produced in other ijuartcrs, is,
ncvcitlieless, capable of being used with advantage in many fiibrics, and is
prcii'.ibly susceptible of being carried, by a more experienced culture, to a
niiu h greater perleciion. suggests an additional and a very cogent induce-
iiKiit to tile vigorous pursuit of the cotton brain ii in its several subdivisions.
How nuu li has been already done has been stated in a preceding part of this
a'lmrt. In addition to this, it may lie announced that a sex iety is torming
with a ( apital which is expected to be extended to at least half a million of
di)liars ; on behalf of which measures arc already in train for prosecuting, on
a Lu'^e scale, the making and i)rinting of cotton-goods."
Hamilton advocated protection for the new industry. lie thought the
duty of three cents a jjound on the raw material should be re]icalcd, because
very little cotton was being raised in this country. Hamilton Hamilton's
beheved, evidently, that very little would ever be raised here, advocacy of
He thought hemp-raising should bo protected, but said, "Cotton p''°"='^*'°"-
has not the same pretensions with hemp to form an exception to the general
rule. Not being, like hemp, a universal production of the country, it affords
less assurance of an adecpiate internal supply ; but the chief objection arises
from the doubts which are entertained concerning the quality of the national
cotton." Hamilton advised a bounty of one cent a pound on cloth exported,
anil one cent more if the cotton used was Americ an grown. The suggestions
of the secretary were not, however, carried out. The duty on raw cotton was
retained, as also a duty of seven per cent and a half on manufactures,
enacted in 1 790. The American cotton was a great deal better than Ham'lton
was aware of, and there was no need of following his suggestions.
It will have been ol)ser\'ed that Slater's original enterprise was for the
spinning of cotton merely. The Beverly mill wove ; but Slater's did not.
The weaving of that day was done with sufTicieiit speed and character of
economy in private families. The household was the factory Slater's
of 1790. No public need really existed for setting up factories *"'^'P'"'
for performing what could as well be done by the family fireside ; and the
only thing for which there existed a positive want was the means for jjro-
ducing, on a large scale, a cheap and abundant sujiply of yarn. Slater's
venture went no farther, therefore, at first, than the spinning of cotton-yarn
IH
■lii «, >;
iifc ?lt^
^yii<
Yii 3
408
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
for distribution to the families of the neigliborhood, to be woven by tlicm into
the clotli they iieeilecl for themselves, or which they desired to sell.
Within four years from the tine of building Samuel Slater's liitl, old
wooden mill, however, tlie cotton-business took a tremendous start. Mni;l,in{l
had done mucii for the business by originating machines for working u|) the
fleece of the cotton-plant into yarn and cloth. The United States were ikiw to
do move for the cotton-manufacture than Arkwright or C'rompton ever dieaincil
Whitney's o'", and all bv one simple invention. In ijyi Mli Whitney of
cotton-gin. Massachusetts, wlio liad gone to Cieorgia as a private tutor, was
one day a guest in the family of Mrs. (len. (Ireene. During the day nu:itiiiii
was made of the desirableness of the creation of some machine for ^rjia-
rating from the tleece of the cotton-plant the seed which filled it. W liitnt;y
was an inventive fellow ; and, with true Yankee zeal, he un;lertook privati'lv
to solve the problem of ginning cotton. He obtained some cotton lium
Savannah, and had soon invented his famous saw-gin. The lu'st gin was a
cylinder studded with rows of stout wire teeth, whi( h caught the cotton ami
drew it through a wire grating. The lint passed through the grating : but ilu,'
seeds, being too large to go through, were torn off, and se|).".rated from tlic
fibre. Whitney soon alV'rwards em])!')yc.i circular saws instead of wire teeth,
as being stronger and more serviceable, l^ven his first imperfect gin did j^ood
service, and satisfied the planters of (leorgia, who were invited in to see it
work ; and his later one brought with it the assurance that cotton-planting niiL;ht
now become one of the most profitable branches of agriculture into whic h the
planters of the South could go. Whitney took out his jjatent in 179;,, and
began the manufKture of gins with a i)artner by the name of Miller, lie had
bad luck, however. He wa'i taken ill in 1794, and in 1795 his sho]) was
destroyed by fin', l-'urthermorc, Ivs gin was too imjjortant to the piihlii to
permit the latter to wait for the inventor to build on a scale large enough to
sup]5ly the general market ; and, almost from the beginning, a large number ot'
mechanics in New luigland and elsewhere made the gins in large nunileis,
and sold them in competition with the patentee. Whitney luul great tioiihle
in the courts with these infringers upon Iiis rights, and about all he got Ibr his
invention was a grant of fifty thousand dollars from the State of South Caro-
lina as a reward for his discovery. Hut if Whitney gained only the eiii|iiy
fame of his invention, without the substantial rewards to which he was cntiiK.I,
the United States at any rate profited by it exceedingly. .\ fiiivir of cottvni
planting took place ; and so great was the increase of i)roduction resiiltiiiL;
from the introduction of the gin, that, whereas only 138,328 pounds of c(jtioii
were exported from the United States in 1792, the amotint exported in 1795
was more than 6.000,000 pounds. .A proportionate increase took place in the
quantity of cotton .sent to the Northern States for manufacture.
Samuel Salter's good luck, and the cheapening of cotton by the invention
of the gin, led to a great extension of factory-spinning in the Northern States
OF TIIK UNITED STATES.
409
1' ' '>» '
5 wir'
'^m!
IM)
i.iffi
H^
ii
ix'
■U:.
m
»
1*
'^titi„.,j;
<!#■
4J0
INDUSTRIAr. IT r STORY
immediately. Factories were IxiiU on the large and powerful mill-streams of
Kaslern Connecticut, at dilTereni i)laces in Massac IuislU>, aiul
elsewhen; in New I'lngland and the Middle States, 'j'lu
Rapid exten-
sion of cot- >-"i>«i-'wiicii; 111 iM;w 1 .,iij;kiiiii aiiii luc ;»iRiunj oiaics. 1 lu\ were
ton-manu- fur tile spinninj,^ of cotton-yarn, and were neigiiliorhood aiV.uis
'^'^'"'^°^'" desiLHied to sunplv the farmers and citizens of their rL^iimivo
the North. " '' • '^-^i^-iuM.
counties witii tiieir material for tiie weaving of cloth. The "iil^
and young men who found employment in these factories were of the hesi hlood
of New iMigland. From n rejiort maile hy Mr. .Mbert Ciallatin, Seerel.uy di the
Treasury in iSio, it appears, liiat, at the close of iSoy, tiiere iiad lieen en< ird
Condition of '" *'i^' '-^'I'l^^^' States eigiity-seven cotton-factories, sixty-tuu of
industry in wlucli Were in operation, and twenty-five of which would prnluLlv
' '°" be completed and reaily to go to work in iSio. Of the sixtv-tuo,
forty-eight were driven by the power of waterfalls, and fourteen by iu)rse-|HWir.
They employed thirty-one thousand spindles : the whole eighl\-.se\en un'ikl
employ eighty thousand spindles.
It is an interesting fact, as we iiave seen, that, before the cotton-giu w.is
invented, hemp was considereil in the United States a more imjiortant |ilant
than cotton. Hemp was absolutely necessary for the supply of tiie slii|i|imi^
with cordage ; and so great was the interest felt in it, that the protection
accorded to textile agriculture by C'ongress was extended more to hemp than
to cotton. By 1790 the superior importance of c;olton was realized, and
Congress gave to that plant and its manufactures new and zealous attention.
'I'here was little need of recognizing raw cotton itself in the tariff, as none
Congres- °^ ^^^ '"''^^ material was at all likely to be imi)orted, notwith-
sionai legis- standing Hamilton's alarm : yet Congress gave it a protection of
""""■ three cents a pound, which was increased to six cents in 1.S12;
and, in order to secure the largest-iiome market for it possible, tiie manulai-
ture of the fleece was encouraged by a duty of twelve and a half jier cent in
1794, which was increased to seventeen and a half in 1804. and to thirtyfivo
per cent in 18 12. This higii duty on the manufactured cloth was needed,
because England was now sending to the United States large cpiantities of the
cotton-cloth made from oirr own fleeces iiy steam-power ; and it was held, that,
if cotton-cloth was to be consumed in large cjuantity in the United States, it
wouki be better to encourage its manufacture here, in order that our own
people might derive the profits of manufacture, and save the transportation-
charges to and from Europe. If the tari'f increased the selling-prices of
cotton and cotton-goods in the United St, les, it probably did not do so to
any greater extent than those prices would le enhanced under a lower tarif
by transportation-charges to and from Europe ; and the tariff, at any rate
secured the profits of a large jiortion of the manufacture lo our own
countrymen.
Up to the time of the war of 1812 there had been no foctoii s in the
United States for weaving cotton-c th, except the pioneer enterprise at
OF THE UNITED STATES.
411
Hevcrly, Mass., then defunct. TIic fiictorics were all for spinning yarn. Mr,
[•'ramis C. Lowell of lioston now conceived tlie plan of starting Francis c.
a factory for weaving, in wliicli tlie work slioiild not lie done Lowell.
jlovvly and laboriously hy hand as in tlie iiousehold manufacture, hut l)y
watLi jiouer. Mr. Lowell got back to the United Stales from a visit to 1mi-
ropc — wiiii h he ha<l spent largely in inspecting tiie cotton factories — just
as thi» I ountry was going to war with I'aigland for the protection of the
ircniiiMi of our commerce and of the rights of nationality. Mr. Lowell had
iKithci' models nor mac liines to start his factory with, — nothing, in fact,
exixpl his recollection and Yankee wit. He formed a partnership with
TaUK k .'^. Jackson, his brother-in law ; and the two men went to work to devise
a iHiwcr loom. 'I'hey made a numlier of e.xpi-riments, and finally hit upon a
iiKuhiiu' uliicli they tiiought would work. I'aul Moody, an expert mechanic
whom ihey took into tiieir employ, built a loom for them from their plans ; and
ill 181.; the llrni put up a little mill at Wallham, Mass., and began inanufactur-
iiii;. They had \i lull set «;f mat liinery for spinning and weaving. The
nmiihcr of spindles was 1,700. 'I'his ill is claimed and believed to have
Ulii tlic first ( otton-factory in liie wo which perlbrmed all the operations
of miwerting the cottondint into cloth under the same roof. Hitherto, both
ill luii^land and America, spinning and weaving hail been carried on in sejia-
rate Lst iMishments. Mr. Lowell had a great deal of trouiile at fust with liis
kioiii>. They were right in princii)le, but crude in detail ; and it was several
years belbre .Moody, Jackson, and iiimself could devise and find out the
v.irious I onirivances needetl to perfect their plan of manufacturing, and make
itasudos. 'I'lieir perseverance overcame all obstacles, however ; and they
imis|icred in their enterprise. The concern enlanged its business in 182.: l;y
Iniyiiii; tlie whole power of the Merrimack River at the ])lace where the city of
Lowell now stands, and by building there a large mill, for which a joint-stock
company was formed among the capitalists of the State. This act gave birth
both to the city of Lowell and to the magnificent development of the cotton-
manufacture by power to which this country has since attained. The building
of cotton-factories became one of the passions of the age. 'I'here was a great
deal of idle capital in the country: and the success of Slater, Lowell, and
others, stimulated its investment in this industry. An immense impetus was
given to the manufacture ; and, in twenty years from the beginning of the war
of 1S12, the cotton-industry had grown to four times its previous stature.
Nine-tenths of the new factories built were put up in New England, New
Vork, and IVnnsylvania. That was not the par*, of the United Factories
States ill which the manufacture couki have been carried on to the •'"'i* '" New
I I '■■■ ,' 1 1,1 ',- 1 England,
liest advantage. Hie climate was dry and cold, entailing a large New York,
tx])eiise in warming and steaming the air of tiie mills. Wages «nd Penn-
were high in that part of the country. The factories were situated '^ ^°" ""
many hundreds of miles away from the cotton-growing regions, entailing anothef
ff^fy'fi
WW'
i:i i;
4"
/JVD US TKIA L HIS TON Y
WM.
large expense for baling, pressing, hooping, and transporting tlie cotton to
tiie mill, and for unpacking it, freeing it from its hoops and ba[;;,'iii,!,', and
jiicking it lip loose again, after it had crossed the threshold of the mill.
The distance of the factories from the cotton-fields also hroiinht loss of
interest, and waste of the cotton in transportation am! handling. 'I'Ik' liiitcr
l»lace for the factories woiikl have been in the Southern States themselves.
There the climate was mild, the wages of free labor were low, baliii:;, ]ioo|i-
ing, and pressing would have been almost entirely avoided, and tnmsporla
tion would have been only a nominal charge. 'I'he water-power of the !■' niih
was as abundant and cheap, too, as that of the North. In the Norih,
c *".
"i >; I
CARDINC-.MACIIINIi. MASON MACHINE-WOKKS.
however, the population was denser, the climate was more invigorating,
and the spirit of industry had taken possession of the people. The States
of the North were under the necessity of undertaking to carry on manufac-
tures, because agriculture was less remunerative with them than in the South,
and the genius of the people was favorable to emi)Ioyments which called
for the exercise of great ingenuity, technical skill, and executive ability. The
South preferred the charms and independence of the agreeable agricultural
life. Accordingly, in 1831, of the 795 cotton-mills which had then been built
in the United Stales, and were in active and profitable operation, 508 were in
New England alone, and 738 of the whole number were in New iMigland and
the Middle States. The situation in 1831 was as follows : —
Maine .
'' New H.-iinpshirc
Massacliusctts
NO. or FACTOUIES.
8
. 40
• 250
OF THE UNITED STATES. 413
Rliodc Island 116
Cuniiccticut 94
New Vork 112
IViinsylvania 67
New Jersey 51
MnrylatuI 23
Delaware 10
Virj;inia 7
Other States 17
Total 795
The largest actual development of the industry since 1831 has still been
in the Northern and Eastern States. The largest proportionate building of
factories, however, has been in the South, whose future as a great „
' " Develop-
cottdii-manufacturing district is now well assured. ment o(
The growth of the cotton-factories in number, after the war '"''"»»''y
since 1831.
of 181 2, would be one of the most marvellous incidents in his-
tory, were it not lor the iAci that their multiplication did not really rcjiresent
an actual grcwth in cotton spinning and weaving in this coimtry. It must
not be forgotten that the cotton-manuflicture was being carried on upon a
(onsitlerable scale throughout the length and breadth of the land „ .,
" ° Continuation
in the iiomes of the people when factory-weaving was introduced of domestic
10 the country by Mr. Lowell. It was estimated by Mr. (lallatin, "'•""'■'=•
that, in iSio, at least two-thirds of the clothing and of the house
and table cloths consumed in the United States were still the product of
family manufactures, which were then in a flourishing state. During the
next twenty years the principal part of this fixmily weaving and s])inning was
transferred to the factories, and this transfer was of itself suflicient to create a
great factory-industry. The growth from 1 810 to 1831 was chiefly due to the
factory and the power-loom taking the place of the home-manufac*'"'e and
the haiul-loom. The growth after 1831 was the legitimate product of the
increase of population in the United States in numbers and wealtii, and the
larger consumption of cotton-goods which followed their reduction in price.
The following arc the statistics of growth : —
1S09
iSio
iS:o
1S3,
1S40
1S50
1S60
1870
NUMDERS.
62
168
795
1,240
1,074
1,091
956
31,000
90,800
250.572
1, 246, 503
2,284,631
4,052,1X30
.235.727
7.i32>4'5
Ol'EXATlVES.
4,000
57,466
72,119
97.956
122,028
135.369
COTTON fSF.D,
IN TOU.NUS.
3,600,000
9,945,609
77.757.3'6
132,835,856
276,07.1,100
437.905.036
409,900,806
YDS. CLOTH MADE.
230,461,990
398.507. 56S
828,222,300
1,148,252,406
i.i37.5'S,330
$40,614,984
5'. '02,359
76,032,578
98,585,269
140,706,291
ti m
414
/Xr>f S TK/A I Ills TOR V
^fl.
Of toiirse it is iiiulcrslooti, lliat, like all statistics wliicli cover mi vast a
field as liiis, tlic'sc liyiircs, tiioiij^ii ( (iii\|iik'ii by tin.' govfrnuu'nt, do not a^ipiro
ti) aliMilutr act iirat y. 'I'licy arc simply rcmarkalily t:l(»sc ai)|)roxiiiii'iuns to
the Iriitli, ami arc to be taken as valuable iiidiialioiis ot' it. 'I'iic iiiiiiuiu lure
is doubtless, in ca( h year relerrcd to, somewhat larger than above set (uwU,
The fall in lite price of cotton-( loth alter factory-vvcavinj,' bcj,'au wa-v mmiu'-
thing remarkable. In 1S15, when cotton-doth was still woven ( liully U\-
Decline in hand, — the family weaver making tuily twenty-five throw-, ni" tin-
price o( shuttle per minute, and finishinj,' only four yards of (loth a iLiy,-
cotton*. j|^^, pii( c of ordinary cK)ih for sheetings was forty ^nts a yard. In
1822 it had fillcii to twenty-two (cnts, and in iS.'y to eight (cnts and .i ImIi',
In 1850, when the fu toiy-manufai tiire had <oinplctcly abolished the uldiiim.
system, when the power-loom was in full operation, — throwing the shuttle
from a hundred and forty to two hun<lred times a minute, and one piiMm,
tending tluie or four looms, would weave from ninety to a hundred and ^ixtv
yards of cloth a tlay, — -the i)rice of (loth for sheetings was reduced to seven
cents a jard as the result of m.ichinc labor, 'lliis redui tion of price w,;s
interrujjteil by the war and the inllation of the currency rexulling fmin the
w.ir ; but market-values have again fallen to where they were before the w.ir.
so that the reduction of price is seen to be permanent. That this ( h.iii^c
of priie is due ( hielly to the empk)yment of machinery, and not so uhk h to
a fill in the jjrice of cotton, is evident by a comiiarison of the price? 'f ( otton
and of cloth. The following figures will illustrate the point : —
I'l ^
i8t6
1819
1826
1829
1843
184s
1850
185s
i860
1870
1872
1878
I'KUI! (IK miAVV I'UH I', ol-l HINT- | I'l'U 1! (IF RAW
SKI'.Kl 1S(.S A lill I A(.ltll|:S A conns A hllNU,
VAKI>, IN CICNTS,
VAKU, INCilNTS.
IN lliNiS,
3°
, ,
.)0
21
"i
«3
22
■3,V
8i
'7
•°f
6J
12
7i
7
II
(t
/
9i
>4
7j
.0]
«f^,>
•3}
'oj
•3
Mi
'3?
'S
•9
7i
6
II
'^Ui'i
It will be observed that the prices of cloth fell faster than that of ( otton,
and that at the present time, while cloth is substantially as cheap as biforc the
war, cotton commands a slightly better price. The reduction from the jmccs
of i>Si6 has made the United States one of the greatest cotton-consuming
countrien in the world.
t)h III I: rxrii-.n sr.i ri-.s.
415
H\ iSoothi" cotton inaniifactiirc liad reached an interesting ami satisfactory
siaui' 111 di'Vi'lo|iiniMit. NiMily all tlir hr.iiK lies of maniifai lure wire practised
hcri'. .111(1 six sevciillis of the i loth ami ( i)tton-n<)<«ls hou^iil by our Production
|it()|iK' were luadi' in our own mills. 'I'lu' prodm tior was Si 15,- '" '*^'
oo(),(»io worth of goods yearly. 'I'lu' importation was ahotii ;^25,ooo,ooo.
■llir latter consisted almost iiuinly of the liiu'r 1 lapses of sheetings, calicoes,
1.1N(,IIAM-1.00M.
lawns, v\:c. The American < loths, of such kinds as were made, excelled those
liruduced by English mills on accoiuU of their heavier (luality and tlieir freedom
friiiii starch. They contained more honest cotton tt) the ])oimd of cloth than
the laiglish goods. They were, for this reason, in great demand in China,
India, and Japan ; and there was an exportation of them amounting to v^6,ooo,-
000 and j!7,ooo,ooo yx-arly. There was every pros[)ect that the American
1=^^" :" I
y * f-.pi
St,i:
vi:^^m
'-*•■■■ ■*
4i6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
mills would soon be able completely to supply the home-market with oiir own
manufa('tures of cotton, and in a few years more would be ready to undertake
to work up for the world at large the enormous ciuantities of cottim which
were sent al)road yearly in a law stale, ainounting to five-sixths of tlic whole
<Top.
The war which broke out in iS6i affected the cotton-interests of the
country in an extraordinary manner. The cotton-growing region and the
Effect ot cotton-manufiicturing region were sejiarated from eacii oiIkt, and
war upon tile former of the two was also substantially cut off from the world
ustry. at large. The South could with difticulty dispose of its cotton:
it could send little North, and scarce any abroad. The result was, that the
acreage of ci'-ton planted in the South fell off enormously. Tiie jjlantcrs
began to raiic food-crops instead. The cotton-manufactures of the South
increased somewhat; but the factories were by no means able to s'r the
<lecline of cotton-planting. Tiie North, on the otiier hand, deprived of its
supply of fibre, was at its wits' ends to know what to do for raw materi;,!. .\
cotton-famine set in. dining which the price of the raw material rcy;^ from
eleven cents to a dollar and seventy-six cents a pound. A large projioriion of
the mills were obliged to discontinue operations : the remainder were olihged
to resort to the unprecedented measure of imiK)rting raw cotton from f )rcign
countries; and they did, for four years, import an average of 25,000,000
pounds a year from India, Kgypt, and Brazil. This raw material they made tc
go as [\x as ])ossible by mixing in with it flax and other vegetable fdires, and
by producing to a larger extent than before goods whereof part of the material
entering into them was wool. A great many of the Victories transferred their
attention entirely from cotton-goods to woollen-goods. Were it r.:)t for the fact
that the South, which had been one of the largest markets in this country for
imported cotton-goods, was cut off from receiving regular importations durin;.'
this period, the cotton-famine in th.e Nuith would have led to the importation
of at least ,^50,000,000 worth of ( otton-goods a year while the war was pendin::.
What the importations into the South actually were cannot be stated ; bnt into
the North they were only S6o,ooo,o()o during the whole four yi ,ir^ of the wai.
Besides the embarrassment ami loss whii !i liic war inflicted upon the factories
of the North, it brought a still greater disaster, with reference to f;otton, npon
the South. It iKJt only cut off the sale of $190,000,000 of raw cotton ) early
to the countries of l"airoi)e, and of $40,000,000 to the North, but it developed
the cotton-growing of rival regions of the earth. India, l''gypt, and I'.ra/il
reaped a rich harvest from the failin-e of the .Ameri'an cotton-crops from iSoi
to 1865. .At the end of the war the South found itself both with liltic cotton
to sell, and with a powerfid competition on its hands with the other cotton-
countries. The cotton-interests of the South have recuperated since the war,
however, in the most marvellous ami miexpecteil manner, considering the nttcr
prostration and ruin which had overuiken them. The crop of iS65-66was
OF THE UNITED STATES.
417
alaadv lialf a crop ; and so much progress was made in rejjlanting, -that, in
iS7!^-76, the crop was as large as it ever had been in the most favorable year
lu'lorc llie war. 'The competition of lirazil, lOgypt, aiid India, vanished like
the (lew before the sim ; and ten years have placed the i)lante.-s of the South in
exactly the same position in reference to the world'.; supi)ly that they occupied
before the war. Part of tliis result was doubtless due to the ready demands of
the Xoithern mills, which were the first to extend to the South the helping hand
whii li lifteil liiat section to its feet again. 'I'iie North itself has also regained
all it lo>t (luring the war : it has more than regained it. I'.y 1870 Production
it> ]ii(idu(t of cotton-manufactures was larger than ever before '" ''^o.
known ill history. It was manufu luring more (("ttoii-goods than were pro-
duced in the whole country in 1S60; that is to say. ;? 160,000,000 worth as
against 5i 15,000,000
worth in the whole
Initcd States in 1S60.
It had again exported
$6,000,000 worUn of
ijdod^ in a year. It
was making a large
\ariet\ of line goods
Hhi( h had never been
attein]ite(l before the
war ; an<l. while it had
rediKcd the impor-
tations to only SiX,-
000,000 a \'ear, it was
doint,' so well, that it
had almost reached
the point of being
ahle to repay the
favors of I'.ngland by
sending American
(otton goods to lier.
This extraordinary re-
cuperation is one of
the marvels of the age. It is an indication of the inherent vigor and
vitality of the American people, which promises well for the future of our
nationality.
The extent and distril)ution of the cotton-manufacture in 1870 are described
in the following table, taken from the census-report of that year. Extent and
Massac husetts was far aheail of every other State. Rhode Island distribution.
came next ; yet only two-fifths as many spindlos were in operation in the latter
State as in the former.
MASllN MACHINK-WOKKS.
ii
i.Ni
4i8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
t
NUMRKR OF
SPINDLES.
OPEKATIVES.
VAI.I'H OF
■1 «
FACTOKIES.
I'ROIJICTS.
Alabama
>3
28,046
1,032
$1,088,767
Arkansas .
2
I,.2S
17
--'.562
Connecticut
III
597- '42
12,086
14,026,334
Delaware
6
29.534
726
1,060,898
(leorgia .
34
85,602
2,846
3.'4S.973
Illinois
• 5
1.856
98
279,000
Indiana .
4
17.360
503
77''<,C47
Iowa
I
6
7,000
Kentucky
5
7.734
269
49'^,96o
Louisiana
4
13,084
246
2S'.550
Maine
23
459.772
9.439
1 1,^44.1 Si
Maryland .
22
89,112
2,860
4.S52,8o8
Massaciiusetts
191
2,619,541
43.S'2
59-4<)3>i53
Mississippi
5
3.526
26s
234.445
Missouri .
3
16,715
361
798.050
New Ilampshir
e
36
749.S43
12,542
16,999,672
New Jersey
27
200,580
3. '54
4.015,768
New York
81
492.573
9. '44
11,178.211
North Carolina
12,
39.«77
'.453
1,345.052
(Jhio
7
23.240
462
681,835
Pennsylvania
'38
434,246
12,730
17,490.080
Khode Island
•39
1,043,242
16,745
22,049,203
South Carolina
12
34,940
• .'23
'.5^9.937
Tennessee
28
27,923
890
941.542
Texas
4
8,878
291
374.59S
Utah
3
1,020
16
16,803
Vermont .
8
28.768
45'
546,510
Virginia .
II
77,116
1.74'
1,435,800
Totals
956
7.'32.4iS
'35.369
^^'77,489.739
The relation of wages and materials to product, &c., in 1870, was as
follows : —
Raw materials
Mill-supplies .
$100,826,264
10,910,6/2
*" 1,736,936
Wages 39,044,132
Product 177,489,739
Capital invested 140,706,291
The characteristic stap'i products of the American mills are now heavy
sheetings, nne sheetings, serviceal)le drillings, shirtings (csi)e-
productof cially the blue-striped kind), and domestic flannels. Jeans were
American among the earliest goods made. The strong drillings are said to
have been introduced in 1827, and the substantial and blue-striped
shirtings in 1828. The drillings have not varied a thread since they were
OF THE UNITED STATES.
419
first introduced. All these heavy cottons were soon made in superior style,
and were heavily exported. One of the native cloths of the United States was
invented in 1835 by Mr. James Johnson, and took the name of the domett
flannel. Mr. Johnson was under the necessity of using up a lot of cotton
rtarji which had been made for a satinet-mill which had proved unremunera-
live. He produced a cloth from this warp, by using a filling of wool, which
iiii't with favor ; and its manufiicture ha.s since been carried on upon a very
large scale. Calicoes are also a characteristic ^Xmerican procUict, and were one
(if till.' earliest attempted : they were being made in 1824 at the rate of sixty
tiioiisand yards a week. Sail-duck was also made at a very early date. Recent
jirogress had added to the list a large number of the finer goods and fabrics,
such as delaines, alpacas, the finer prints and ginghams, cambrics, &c. The
weights of some of the standard fabrics are as follows ; coarse shirting and
siieeting, two yards and eight-tenths to the pound ; fine bleached shirting and
sheeting, three yards and four-tenths to six yards to the ])ound ; standard drill-
ings, two yards and three-fourths to the pound ; fine drillings, three yards and
four-tenths to six yards to the pound ; print-cloths, seven yards to the pound ;
flannels (yard wide), four to seven yards to the pound ; antl ginghams (thirty-
two inthcs wide), three to six yards to the pound. Cottonades weigh from
four to twelve ounces to tlie yard ; cassimeres, from six to fourteen ounces to
the vard ; and jeans, from three to six ounces. Every mill makes many
(hfferent styles of its goods : sometimes the number ranges as high as two
hundred and three hundred.
In regard to the machinery in use in the American cotton-factories, and
the processes of spinning and weaving, it may be said that the mills in the
(ihler St.itcs are organized ui)on the most approved principles of y^^^ ^,
the art, and are supplied with the be.it niaciiinery in the world, machinery
Spinning machines and looms are frecjuently of iMigliih pattern, ""'' °*" '
and sometimes of Knglish make. On the whole, however, the machinery is
generally of American patterns and make. The manufacturers have found it
desirable to buy .American looms and mules, because of the fact that they were
lightly built. .American iron is better than the Knglish, and tougher, 'ihe
Croinpton, Knowles, and other looms made in this country, are so much
lighter, in consecjuence of the cjuality of the iron, that they are freciuently run
at a saving of fifty per cent of the power, — an important consideration, whether
the jiower be water or steam. In the spinning-frames there have been many
important American improvements. One of them, the ring-spindle, was
invented by a pupil of Slater named Jenks, and has now nearly superseded all
"ther kinds of spindles in this country. 'I'he use of it has increased the
(apacity of the mills, and led to the production of better yarn. The Excelsior
spindle, invented by Mr. Sawyer at Ix)well, is an improvement upon Jenks's.
It is used with a ring ; but it is lighter, saves a great deal of power, and works
at a remarkable velocity. The machinery of the American mills, in fact, is
'li!
420
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
considered, on the whole, to be better now than that of tlie Englisli mills. All
the imp ovenients an; American, showing the intelligence of" our woikmon
and possibly, also, the beneficial effect of our pate. it-law system.
Raw cotton is diviiled into three classes. 'I'he long-staple (or Si.a-
Island) cotton is remarkable for the length and beauty of its fibre, and ilic
ciassifica- delicacy of the thread which can be spun from it. 'I'his lonir
tionof staple is generally used for the warp of the cloth ; that is. for thu
threads which run lengthwise of it. TIk- medium staple, uiiiih
comprises the vast bulk of the cotton raised in the I'nited States, is shorter,
but softer and silkier. It is used for the weft, or threads which run i ross-
wise of the cloth, because it fills uj) tiie cloth better. 'I'he short staple. uhi( h
gem rally comes from India, is harder, and is only used mixed with a jiropor-
tion of the medium staple, i'nr sewing-tiiread. only the long staple is used.
KITSON S torroNlIC KKK.
When a bale of cotton reaches the mill, the first thing done with it is
to open it, and <:lean anti loosen the fibres. Machines are necessary tor this,
Process of bccause the circumstance that the cotton -factories have been in
cotton-man- the past SO far from the cotton-fieUls has made necessary the
ufacture. ijaljng and packing of the cotton under enormous pressure tor
convenient trans])ortation ; and it therefore comes to the mill too niaittil to
Cleaning, go at oncc to the carding-machine. The cotton is cleaned and
picking, ac. picked up loose in an opener and a spreader. These were for-
merly separate machines ; but the tendency is now to have the two i)ro( esse^
l)crformed in one operation. Tiie cotton is either ])ulled apart by toothed
cylinders, or be.aten with blunt knives, while a current of air blows throiif^h
it, and it comes from the sj)reader in the form of a lap, or great, tliic k,
fluffy sheet of 'fibre, cleaned, an>l in gooil condition for carding. 'I'he lap is
woimd upon a large roller as it comes slowly forth from the spreader, and i^
then carried to the cardinjj;-room.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
421
The card, as has already been explained n the chapter on " Woollen
Maniitactures," is a broad cylinder, every inch of the surface of which is
covtretl with wire teeth, and which revolves in contact with two
smallt-T cards. The lap, being delivered to the card, is taken
up 1)\ the large cylinder, and slowly combed out, between if nd the small
(vlindcrs, into a gauzy film, which is then combed from the card by the
action of the dofier. 'I'he cotton leaves the card in a roll, and flows on
to a jiair of rollers, which press and stretch the roll slightly, and let it drop
into a tin can. The cotton then forms what is called a " sliver." Sometimes
the ( otton is carded twice. There is more or less variety in the forms of the
lardiiig-machines, according to the nature of the product of the riiill. A
tlircail-mill, for instance, has a different style of cartls from the print-cloth
mill. The cards are almost exclusively of American make, and are lighter
iniilt. ( an run faster and cheaper, and do better work, than the Knglish cards.
The slivers, when they come from the cards, are takew to tiie drawing-
frames. Two or three of them are fed between a pair of rollers together,
and pass thence on to a second and a third pair, and sometimes
,.,,., Drawing.
1(1 a fourth pair, each pair revolving faster than its j)redecessor.
The slivers are. by this process, uniteil and stretched out into a new sliver
OIK' third or one-fourth the size of the united three. This drawing-jjrocess
.irraiincs the fibres of the cotton, and lays them parallel with each other. The
process is repeated a great number of times, the certainty of a perfect thread
or yarn increasing with each doubling and drawing of tiie slivers. One of
ihc original slivers, as it comes from the cards, is frec]uently elongated, in
(hawing, to \hirty-two thousand tim"s its length. The delicate sliver resulting
iroin this continual stretching is finally taken to the roving-frame, and drawn
om c more, and given a slight twist. The natural interlocking of the fibres
uiiuld not be sufficient now to make the loose yarn hold together without
a>>i>tan( c : and the sliver is accordingly slightly spun, and then forms what
i> (allfd a " roving." The roving, being wound upon a bobbin, is then spun
into \arn for weaving, or tliread for sewing.
In the household manufacture of our forefathers the sj)inning-apparatus
wi-. a wheel, which drove a single horizontal spindle mounted on a standard at
alioiit the height of the elbow. S. cord. i)assing frcmi around the
I irdiinference of tlie big fly-wheel, drove the spindle at a great
vcloi ity. The end of the roll of wool, flax, or cotton, was attached to the
-piiullu by simply tying it around, and the big wheel was started. Simulta-
neously with the starting of the wheel, the s])inner l)rought back her hand
holding the roll of fibre, so as to stretch it at the same time that the spindle,
on its longitudinal axis, was giving the roll the twist ; then, without stopping
tlic wheel, the spinner suddenly relaxed the strain on the yarn, and let her
hand ( ome quickly up to the end of the spindle, by which means the yarn
wound itself up on the spindle instantaneously, instead of continuing to twist.
Spinning.
i
k ^'■^::;
Ui . . -( ■. 1
m'':":
Mi ■ "
422
TNIiUSTHlAl. nisroKY
As soon as this process had been repeated enough times to secure a iijindle-
ful of yarn, the wheel was stopped, and the yarn reeled off upon a woodt-n
reel into hanks, for knitting, weaving, or sewing. It was the slowness t)t' this
method of producing yarn which led the early manufacturers to think, that, if
they could perform this process by machinery, they would have made lor a
while a great and sufficient advance. Hargreaves, who invented the s])inninc.
jenny in 1767, used eight spindles. Invention h; ' now gone so far, that, in
the /Vmerican factories, spinning is done upon frames or mules vhi< h ( arrv
three hundred and sixty spindles. The spindles themselves have undcr^ronf
a change also. They are arranged vertically, instead of horizontally, in one or
more rows. The yarn is no longer wound on the spindle itself, l)iit upon a
spool, or bobbin, through which the iron spindle i)asses, and whicii has a play
up and down the spindle ecjual to its own length. Several forms of sDindles
are used. One style has a little steel fly at the top, through which the tliread
SOirrHEKN COTTON-MILL.
passes : anotlier has a little steel cai). Jcnks's spindle carries a little steel
ring, and is called the ring-spindle in conse(]uenct'. The latter is the p(>pular
spindle in .\merican mills. Sawyer, who made it lighter, and called it the
Excelsior si)indle, secured for it a speed of ten thousand revolutions. .\ self-
oiling bolster allows the spindle to run at a minimum of power. It carries the
bobbin with it in spinning; and the bobbin turns indei)endently in winding uj)
the thread when the spindle-framc or mule is run back for the purpose. One
girl will tend thirteen hundred spindles. The Sawyer s])in<rie saves one-half
of the power consumed in s|)inning by previous processes, or one-sixlii of
the power of the whole mill.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
423
Weaving.
Tiiere is as yet no machine for continuous spinning ; but several experi-
ments are in progress in New England looking to the perfection of Fome such
devici.'.
Tlic yarn, when spun, is reeled off from the bobbins into hanks of eight
hundred and forty yards. The yarn is numliered according to the number of
hanks to the pound. No. 2 is very coarse : No. 300 is very fine. Wo. 600
has been made, however, and No. 350 woven. The yan for the weft of the
doth is wound upon bobbins for j)lacing in the shutdes : the yarn for the
warp requires treatment before it goes to the loom. It 's taken to the proper
(Icpartiiicnt of the mill, and stiffened with sizing, and is then wound ujjon
beams for the loom. The weaving is done upon American looms generally.
All the fancy weaving is done upon the American Crompton.
The jirint-looms work uj) to a hunilred and eighty and two hun-
dred ■■ picks," or throws of the shuttle, a minute. The fancy looms run on
(jinghanis. shawls, tVc,
with the six-shuttle box,
from ;i hundred and
!nirt\ live to a hundred
,ind tbrty-five picks a
mimite. The older
liiDins make about a
himdreii and five picks
a minute. The average
of production per loom
i> frDiii thirty yards to
forty- five yards a day
of ten hours and a liaif.
One uirl will tend three
or four looms. They
arc perfectly automatic .
and require only occa-
Moiial care. In the
American mills tiie
looms are run slower
than in England, and
one person attends a
i:reater number (if them.
For calico-printing tiie cloth is taken from llic loom to the singeing-room.
The (loth when it comes from the loom is covered with a fine nap, which
would interfere with the perfection of the ])rinting, and which is CaUco-
aediniingiy removed by nnining the (loth rapidly over a half P"n»>"K-
cylinder of copper heated red-hot. The cloth is sometimes, though rarely,
passed through a gas-flame. Tlie singeing is a remarkable process, the
p;nT.\i:v ( lOTM-rHESS.
.&-.
424
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
wonder being why the clotli does not burn when in contact with ilu- 'i\^xs
cyhnder. It does not burn, however : it flows past too (juickly ; and u ( oincs
from the ordeal to which it is subjecteil as wiiite as though it liail never
smelled the fire. The cloth is now carefully bleached by boiling, siLciiinj. j,,
alkali solutions, washing, squeezing, drying, &c., until it is perfccilv white.
Calico-printing was formerly an expensive i)ro{ess. Invented in India, and
carried to perfection in i'"rancc, it was introduced into luigland in lOyo, and
into the Uniteil States about the time of the Revolution. Printing first tjok
place by the use of wooilen blocks applied by hand or by machine. (Min-
der-printing was then inventeil, in wiiich the design \> : engraved on a i upjier
cylinder, antl tiie pattern impressed upon the cloth conlmuously. It was very
costly, however, to use these cylimlers. The engraving of them was laiiurious
BAG-LOOM, MASON MACHINE-WORKS.
and they soon wore out. Mr. Perkins of Newburyport gave the business a
vastly improved position by inventing the steel die. The ivittem is engraved
upon a steel roller, which 's then hardened a.s much as jiossible. The jiattom
is tiien transferreil to a soft steel roller by i)ressure, and thence to the copijcr
roller by the same means. In this manner, a design once engraved can l)c
multiplied ujjon copper rollers inex])ensively to any extent. Hefore 1845 only
a few colors were employed in printing. l'"our was the usual number. Ma-
chines are now in use which apply twenty colors. Kach roller prints one
color ; and the cloth passes slowly through the big machine in which they are
placed, going from one to the other until it has received the whole of the
design. The printing is effected at tiie rate of 12,000 to 16,000 yards a
OF THE UNITED STATES.
¥%
(lay. The colors are fixed by mordants. Of the total number of cotton-
factories in operation in the United States in 1870, forty-two were print-works.
TiicsL' factories had 240 printing-machines, employed 8,894 hands, and pro-
(lu(c(l 453,809,000 yards of calicoes and 27,710,000 yards of delaines, worth
«;ej,,Soo,ooo. 'I'he works were distributed as follows : Iowa, one ; Maine,
oiK' ; Massachusetts, eleven ; New Hampshire, three ; New Jersey, five ;
New York, four; Pennsylvania, seven ; Rhoilc Island, nine ; West Virginia,-
one.
Ill the thread-mills, i)articularly in the great concern at Willimantic, Conn.,
the long-staple cotton finils its most cordial customers. So much are the long
fibres of the long staple valued for thread-making, that they are Thread-
siilijei ted to a special combing-proccss in the thread-mills to free ">■'«'<'«•
them from the shorter staple, of which there is always a certain quantity in the
llee( e. Cotton-thread was first spun in i 794. Previous to that date, sewing-
thread was made of tlax. It is said that Mrs. S;imuel Slater, noticing the fine-
ness and evenness of some yarn which she was spiiuiing from Sea- Island cotton,
su}ii;i'sted the idea that this staple would tlo for sewing-thread. The idea was
taken np by -Mr. Slater, and the first cotton-thread was made in his pioneer-
mill at Pawtiukct. In thread-m.iking, the slivers of cotton are "drawn" to
several billion times their original length.
A great tleal of the cotton-yarn made in the United States is now con-
\eneil into hosiery by the aitl of machinery. There are now in the United
States about two hundred and fifty mills devoted to the fabrication of hosiery.
Of the total number, sixty arc in New York, seventy-five in Pennsylvania, thirty
in Now Hampshire, thirty five in Massachusetts, and fifteen in Connecticut.
Their product is in cotton and woollen hose (plain and striped), shirts, drawers,
JK kets. opera-hoods, scarfs, and siiawls. Tiiere is little haml-knitting in the
h^)^KTy-business now, c\( e])t in Neu- Hampshire. The Shakers at Knfield knit
the legs and feet of their hose upon circular machines, and send out the hose
to lia\e the heels and tois knit in by hand with stronger and more .serviceable
varn. In (a)nsc(iiiencc of the extent to which their business has grown, it is
said that there is more hand-knitting in New Hampshire now than there was
lixt) \ears ago.
In the United States it is usual to build houses for the working-people of
the mills in the vicinity of the several establishments, which are turned over to
ih-'ii for occui)ancy at a low rent. 'Ihis circumstance has given Homes of
Iiirth to a vast number of pretty villages in New Kngland and the theopera-
Nurtli. tleriving their existence solely from the mills of the place
and the waterfalls which drive them. The occupants of these villages were
originally people from the farms in the adjacent townships, — intelligent, cheer-
ful, and excellent peojjle. .\t the i)re«ent time, the population of the factory-
villages is more largely composed of people of foreign birth. During and just
ifter the late war, when skilled operatives were so scarce as almost to be worth
%
.X>si4l^
mww'
|>'fj
1^'--
lii-^'J(3i
r
l'^''
Ur' U
M^
426
/ND US V A-/^ r. I//S JOKY
their weight in gold, naniuar Hirers who put up new mills were obliged to icnd
to Canada or Europe, anc' hruig their operatives over in cargoes or train-loads ■
and thus the cluster of housej ererte'l near vhe mill became almost a lort'iL'n
v'Uage from its origin, in every thing except location and ownership. Tin;
operatives have in most instances, howc\ .r, taken kindly to American ways
and American ideas, and joined heartily i,i the sentiments and principles of
the country of their adoption. They are stimulated by freedom of (i|)inion
and equality of j)oliticai condition, and in ainiost every instance have ptKei)-
tibl/ brightened up mentally, and improved their condition materially, imdcr
the shadow of the new banner beneath which they have ♦aken up thei; resi-
dence. The villages still wear the contented, orderly, and self-respcding
apjiearance of yore.
1: .It, ;h„
Jlfiiv'T .i
'-'r^^
OF THE Ui\lTF.D STATES.
4«7
CHAFFER VI.
SILK-MANUFACTURE.
SII.K is the softest, most l)eautifiil, and strongest of all textile fibres. While
as stout as steel, it is, by virtue of its other qualities and its costliness,
the symbol and accompaniment of luxury. It was first used by Ancient cui-
thc people of China and Northern India : gradually it extended '"'» "' •'"'•
into Japan and Persia, and so into Europe. Tradition carries the date of its
first manufacture back twenty-five hundred years l)efore th( time of Christ;
lint bi'ltcr authenticated history lessens the distance by eight centuries, credit-
int; Hoang-ti, contemporaneous with Joseph, the son of Jacol), witli being the
fir>t Niik-culturist of the Chinese l'"mpire. As the word "silk "occurs but
t\vi(C in tiie nil)Ie, and in those cases is tliought by some to have been trans-
LUc'd wrongly, it is very d()nl)tful whether the Jews knew what the substance
was prior to Christ's time. .Vristotle, who lived nearly four hundred years
licfiiir Christ, says that those who accompanied .Mexander tlie dreat into
India saw silkworms, whi( h lie describes accurately ; yet he does not seem
to have understood iiow they produced silk, or even that they did jirodure it.
Vet. even before .Aristotle's time, there had been a heavy importation of raw
and manufactured silk into (Ireece, by way of Persia : and this continued in
the (lays of the Roman republic and empire. I'-ven Pliny, the Roman
historian, who lived at the commencement of the Christian era, described
: .IS a fine woolly substance combed from the leaves of trees. Not until
.\. 555, when two Nestorian monks who were particularly grateful to the
' leror Justinian, and who had travelled in China at the peril of their lives,
lulit a quantity of silk-worm eggs in th'> hollow of their staves to Byzan-
tiii, , was it known in F-urope t'. at the highly-prized fibre was excreted, like
the web of a spider, by a worm, which fonned therewith a chrysalis like a
lateriiillar's. .\t the same time, the monks gave the Roman emperor a full
liescriiJtion of the processes of silk-culture, and imparted the fact that the
principal food of the worms is the leaf of the mulberry-tree ; although it is
known that these insects do subsist ujion other kinds of foliage, but yield, in
conseciuence, an inferior (juality of silk.
"n'T'T^rrrfr
», /
4i8
INDUSTKIAI. HISTORY
(iradually the culture and manufacture of silk extemled tliroii;;!! Asia
Minor and Kurope, althout;!! conllned for numy centuries to the liy/iiuii)^.
ProBreiio( Kuiplre. 'I'he products of Damascus soon became famous. '|'|,^;
thainduitry. imhistry attained prominenie in Northern Italy in about tin.' thir-
teenth century of the Christian era, the velvets of (lenoa having a «i)ii,i.
wide reputation. Silk growing, spinning, and weaving obtained a very little
foothold in Frame until the close of the sixteenth < cntury. It is now tlic
greatest silk-manufacturing country of the civili/.etl world, its produi t> lnjiw
choicer, if not more copious, than those of China. Japan, and India. TIk' raw
silk of China, however, is scarcely surpassed by any grown in Murope. IrDin
France, within the past two or three centuries, silk-culture has extended into
Kngland and (lernuiny and other parts of liurope, and to America.
Ml KWIIKM.
Two of the best-known hobbies of James Stuart, the first of that S( ottish
royal family who sat on the Knglish throne, were his intense detestation of
Coioniaisiik- tobacco. and his desire to build up the infant silk-manufac tuns of
culture. Great llritain. .\ccordin)^ly, no sooner was the first coltmy rstalv
lished in Virginia than he em])loyed his administration to promote tin- ml
ture of silk in .America, and uproot tiiat of the Nicotian weed. He did no»
care to develop the manufai turing-industry on this siile of the .\llanti( . luii
merely to set u re a supply of cocoons, to be soaked, reeled, spun, ami woven
by llritish industry. .As early as i6oS he sent over mulberry-trees and silk-
worm eggs, and re(|uire<l of the London ("om])any. which managed the alTairs
of the colony, that it force the planters t(j engage in this new enterprise. .\
fine of a hundred pounds of tobacco was in 1623 exacted of every jjlaiUcr who
did not cultivate at least ten mulberry-trees to every hundred acres of his
estate. Under these influences some headway was made. Ihit it was rather
unprofitable business, and not to be compared with tobacco-raising ; and, when
Cromwell succeeded James II., the interest of Virginians in silk-culture relaxed
even more. In 1656 and 1657 the industry was in a feeble condition, ami
the colonial authorities deemed encouragement desirable. \ bounty of ten
thousand jjounds of tobacco was offered any one who would export two hun-
dred pounds' worth of cocoons in a single year, five thousand jiounds of
tobacco to the producer of a thousand i)ounds of raw silk, and four thou-
sand pounds of tobacco to any jilanter who would remain in the colony and
OF TIIR UNITRD STATES.
4*9
ili.vi.it himself exclusively to silk-growiiig. It does not appear that anyone
iviiionk advantage of these profi'ers, which were withdrawn in 1666; and
thiiiiuli the industry still linj;ercd along fur many years, — and it is even said
thai Milk was sent from Virginia to I'ingland, tri)m which Charles I. or Charles
II. had a robe made, — yet by degrees the business died out. Waistcoats,
li,>iiilkcr< hiefs, and even gowns, of native silk, were known in the colony until
near the time of the Kcvoltition ; but they were rare, and, whatever sentiment
ilicn may have l)een dinging to them, of inferior (piality. 'I'hey were fuzzy
ami lustreless.
(^)iiite a specialty was made of silk-culture m the nnich yotmger ( olony of
(icorL^ia. In 1 y^^s the loldnial government started a large nursery plantation
of mulberry-trees, and granted land to settlers on ( ondition that a hundred
of these should be planted to every ten acres cleared. Trees, seed, and eggs
wvri. Mint over by the colonial trustees ; and in other ways the industry was fos-
uriii. Tiie liritish Parliament, in 1741;. exempteil raw silk from (ieorgia and
Cirolina from duty, and a bounty was offercil for its production. .An Mpisio-
|Kil ( krgyman versed in the delicate and difticult operation of reeling the silk
from ( ocoons, and a native of Piedmont, Italy, was sent over to teach the
]nM)|ile of this colony how to perform it; an<l Signor Ortolengi, an Italian
j;ciitlcman. was likewise engaged m 1749 to te.u h the (leorgians silk t ult\ire.
SiiliMquently the I,on<lon Society for the Kncouragement of .Arts. Manufac-
tiiR-:, and Commerce, offered a premium of threepence a piece on cocoons
(or about three shillings a pound) for all that were taken to ( )rtolengi's
'•Nl.itiire" at Savannah. .\s early as 1735 silk was exported ; the amount not
cxdiding eight pounds, however. In 1759, the culminating year of the
Cii'orgia silk-industry, ten thousand pounds were exjjorted ; which is about as
miK li as was produced in this whole ( oimtry in iSjt) and 11S60, and more than
two and a half times as nuu h as the product of 1S70. .\ I'lre in the S;uannah
filature destroyed eight thousainl ])ounds in 175S. The production and expor-
tation thereafter decreased. In 1790 the only shipment substviucnt to the
KtAolution was made, and this amounted to only two hundred pounds. For
tin. iie\l forty years very little silk was grown in that State.
Nearly as much attention was given to this industry in South Carolina as in
(Ieorgia in that early day. The (|uanlity produced was much less, but the
ijiiality ex( client. — eipial even to the best Italian silk. In 1755 a distin-
guished lady, named Mrs. Pin( kney. took with her from this colony to IJigland
^ilk which she had manufactured into three dresses, one of which was pre-
Hiited to the mother of the infant King (leorge III., and another to Lord
( lusterfield : she reser\ed to herself the third. The Carolinian silk-business
licgan to decline simultaneously with the (leorgian ; but in the settlement of
New IJordeaux, on the Savannah River, seventy miles above Augusta, much
sewing-silk was manufactured and sold in the neighboring counties, during the
Revolution, by the French residents. ■.,.,' : "
, ;.,« .A--., h
'Kil '
mm
m.
430
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
The fourth colony to engage in silk-culture, and about the only (;ne to
any notable extent in New England, was Connecticut. Mulberry-trees iVoni
Cultivation Long Island were planted in 1755 at New Haven and Manslkld
of silk in (th^ latter then in Windham County, but now of Tolland ("oimu )
Connecticut, _^^^^ silk-worm eggs were introduced in 1 762. The foilowini,' vear
1 )r. Stiles, afterwards presid( nt of Yale College, secured an act of the Assem-
bly granting a bounty of ten shillings on every hundred mulberry-trees
planted, and of threepence per ounce on raw silk. These bounties resulted
m developing the culture of the trees very substantially, and the offer was
withdrawn some years later. .\ small bounty on manufactures of home raised
raw silk was then granted. In i 763 a half-ounce of mulberry-seed was sent
to every town in the colony for distribution. Dr. Stiles was a great entlmsiast
on the subject of silk-growing, and made many valuable experiments and
observations from 1763 to 1790, which "ne recorded in a huge maniiseript
diary, bounil with a silken cortl, and sti^l i)reservjd at Yale C'ollege. The
domestic culture of silk became ([uite general in the colony prior to the
Revolution, and still existed in some sections until 1825. Small groves of
white mulberry-trees, and rude cocooneries, cared for by women, are remem-
bered by persons even now living. It is especially notable, however, tliat tlie
town of Mansfield was the great centre of silk-production in this ( olony ;
and Mr. .\. T. Lilly even goes so far as to say that " Mansfield seems to have
been the only place where raising silk became a fixed ■" ulustry." This apjjlies
more particularly, however, to the period between 18 10 and 1844. Mans-
field, nevertheless, deserves the credit of being the first silk-manufactiiring
centre of this country, — a fact to whi( h we shall presently recur. Mr. LilK
estimates that the people of Mansfielil received as much as fifty thousand
dollars a year in barter for their silk from 1820 to 1830.
Dr. Aspinwall of New Ha\ en, who was the first to import mnlbcrry-trees
and silk-worms into Connecticut, introduced them into Pennsylvania in 1767
or 1768. In '770 Susanna Wright of Columbia. Lancaster County, made
Penniyt- a piece of mantua sixty yards long from home-raised cocoons ;
vania, jjiid this cloth was afterwards worn as a court-dress by the (Jiieen
of Creat Britain.- A piece of similar goods, made by (Irace Fisher, was suh-
stvpiently presented by (lov. Dickinson to the celebrated Catherine Maiaulay.
k filature was erected in Philadelphia in 1769, and twenty-three hundred
pounds of .jocoons were brought there the next year to be reeled. The
filature was built by subscription and at the insjiiration of the .Ameriian
Philosophical Society, which was aroused by Benjamin Kranklin, then tlie
colony's agent in London.
Toward the close of the last century, and in the early part of this, silk-
New York culture was undertaken to a limited extent in New York, New
and other Jersey, Delaware, near Baltimore, Maryland, Illinois, Massachu-
statna. k,qx\s, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, with but little success
in the three States last named.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
43 >
I'lie Revolution nearly annihilated the production in this country by
cutting off the export trade. But private domestic manufacture 2,,^^^ ^^ ^^
still < reated a demand ; and after the war was over a slight re- Revolution
vival and expansion were experienced in the production, Ohio, "P"" *''"
Kcniiicky, and Tennessee also engaging therein. However, the
general decline which had been discernible before the war now continued
slowly, and by 1825 silk-culture had almost entirely died out in the United
States.
A famous period in this industry was the so-called Mortis miilticaulis
mania. The favorite variety of the mulberry-tree among European silk-
growers is the white, or Aforus alba. American experimenters, in„}xt
however, anong the first of whom was Gideon B. Smith, who muiucauiia
imported a specimen in 1826, began to advocate the marvellous """"••
merits of the Aforus multiniulis, and to instigate a revival of silk-growing.
Clearly the most important jjreliminary step in this direction was the cultiva-
tion of mulberry-trees, which were propagated by slips. So successful were
the agitators, that the agricultural classes of nearly the whole country, espe-
(ially of the North, were excited on the subject; and by 1834 or 1835 a
demand was created for yoimg trees or slips, which soon rose in value from
three or four dollars a hundred to twenty-five, fifty, a hundred, two hundred,
and even five hundred dollars per himdred. One enthusiast bought a dozen
cuttings, not more than two feet long, nor thicker than a i)ipe-stem, for twenty-
live dollars, and said he valued them at sixty dollars. In the furore that
ensued, nurserymen and unscrupulous agents even went so far as to sell slips of
entirely different stock for mulberry, and at fabulous prices. A story is told
of a Long- Island nurseryman who resorted to a bold and shrewd artifice to
IniiM u]) his trade. He drove to New York, and took the steamer to New-
jwrt. He drove to the first nursery there, and asked eagerly, " Have you
any multicaulis trees?" — "A few," was the reply. "I will give you fifty
rents apiece for all you have," said the Long- Islander. The nurseryman
thought a minute : " If Mr. is willing to give that price for them, it is
because he thinks they are worth more." So he answered, '* I don't think I
want to sell what few I have." — " Very well," was the reply: " I presume I
lan get them for that." Off he went, and visited every other nurseryman
who was known to have mulberry - trees in Newport, Providence, Boston,
Worcester, Springfield, Northampton, and elsewhere. He did not buy a
single tree ; but he forced the price up from twenty-five cents to over a dollar
in a single week, and thus improved his own market wonderfully. So enor-
mous were his sales, that the utmost art could not propagate trees fast enough
for the trade ; and in 1838-39 he sent an agent with eighty thousand
dollars cash in hand to France to buy young trees for him. But, before the
supply could be had, the speculative bubble burst. Excitement throughout
the country became over-strained in 1839, and a sudden re-action took place.
43a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
There was no further demand for the mtilticaulis ; and, when the ent i-irising
Long- Islander's supply came from France, he was obliged to sell it tor pea-
bnish at the rate of a dollar a hundred. Numerous other speculators were
bankrupted in the same way.
This spirit of speculation proved
luirtful to those sections whore silk-
growing had been already carried on
successfully ; for it crcatcil such
a demand for the trees, tliat raisers
couid not afford to feed their worni^.
A single tree was often worth more
than tlie whole probable jjrodiu t of
silk that season to tlie owner. Mr.
Lilly mentions two trees of onh a
single year's growth, in Nortii Wind-
iiam. Conn., that sold at ant tion. in
August, 1842. for a hundred and six
and a huntircd dollars respectis eiv ;
and the rest were withdrawn from
sale because the bidding was not
sufficiently spirited. The iiiulticauUs
mania completely checked the actual
silk-production for a time ; and then
in 1844 a general l)light killed nu)st
of the trees in the coinitrv. and
very effectually put an end to the
business.
Tliere were, however, jjrior to
this time, a few gentlemen of single-
hearted devotion to the country's
industrial interests, who had a( live-
ly engaged in and encouraged a re-
vival of silk-culture. .Among these
was the Hon. Peter S. Dnponceau
of Philadelphia. After much agita-
tion of the subject, and having employed a Frenchman named D'Homenine,
Duponceau ^^" versed both in producing and manufacturing raw silk, lie
of Phiia- nearly obtained an appropriation from Congress of forty thousand
' ** '■ dollars wherewith to found a normal filature, or school for
teaching the delicite and difficult art of reeling silk. Failing in this, he
founded such an institution at private expense, built cocooneries, went into
the business to ( onsiderable extent, carried on extensive correspondence with
other parts of the country on the subject, and did much to disseminate
COCOUNS COMPl.ETRI).
OF THE UNITED STATES.
433
valual)le information. His efforts resulted in financial failure in 1837. Mr.
Diipoiux'au is on record as having expressed the very decided opinion, that
we Americans should keep on trying to make silk-growing a success before
trviiiu' to manufacture, even if we had to wait twenty years. But the country
luis not followed his advice.
Another gentleman distinguished by his earnest efforts and wide influence
in this realm of industry was the late Jonathan H. Cobb of Dedham, Mass.
Though not as wealthy as Mr. Duponccau, he was nearly as Jonathan H.
active. Interest having become aroused afresh in Massachusetts '-°''''-
ill US30, the legislature authorized the governor to appoint him to prepare a
nKinual on silk-growing for distribution among the agricultural classes. He
(lid the work ably, and the book ran through many editions. He engaged,
too, extensively in the culure himself, and in lecturing thereupon. In 1835
he engaged in an enterprise for manufacturing at Dedham, and his mill turned
out two hundred pounds of sewing-silk a week. He also co-operated with
Christopher Colt of Hartford, and others in the Connecticut Silk Company,
uhose works were in the latter city. This latter failed in 1840. His losses
])aMly/e(l his activity a vhilc : but in 1843 he started up his old mill at Ded-
ham. ur.iler the management of C. Colt, jun. : but a fire destroyed the estab-
lishment in 1845, and thereafter Judge Col)b had no more to do with the
liibiness with which he had been more or less identified for forty years.
For more than (juarter of a century after the bursting of the multicaulis
liulilile, little raw silk was produced in the United States. The census-returns
])ut down the yield of 1850 at a trifle over 10,000 pounds, — Decline in
c'ijiii\alent to about 1 20,000 cocoons, and '. • ."th, perhaps, ^40,000. s'ii«-c"'t"re-
The yield of i860 is returned at about 11,000 pounds, and that of 1870 at less
tlian 4,000. Within a few years, however, there has been sometiiing of a
rt.\i\al in the production, to a slight extent in Louisiana, but very conspicu-
ously in Southern California.
In tiie South there h;is been no ability manifested to reel the little silk
jirodiK ed, and no market for the cocoons. New Orleans abounds in mul-
lierry-trees planted nearly a century ago by the French, and the siiit-industry
trees are haunted by a wild insect whose cocoons are plentiful, in the South.
From 1871 to 1S74 an Ilali;tn named Roca made a business of rearing silk-
worms in that city, and shipping eggs and cocoons to Italy. For the last-
nitinioned ycai his invoices amounted to ten thousand dollars, and his silk
was adjudged at Milan su})erior to any produced thereabouts. Besides, three
ciijis of cocoons were obtained from the .\nierican market, and but two from
ti.e It.ilian. It is thus dcmonstratetl, that, tiiough the dim.ate there is a trifle
<Lunp, Louisiana might make a great success of silk-culture.
California soun developed wonderful agricultural excellence after her
annexation to the I'nited St.ites. Louis Prc'vost of Normandy, France,
planted nudberry-trees at San Jose' in 1S56, but could not procure silk-worm
m
|f|
M*^
If
r'--"^
Vi
(!£><
II
I?-'-'
434
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Kansas.
eggs until 1861. He grows three kinds of mulberries, — the alba, multi-
catilis, and morclta, but lmvcs the white ialba) the prcrcivnco
California. > a \ / i nv-i.,
as do most other Cahfornians. A. M. Miiller of San Jo.^c went
into business with M. Prevost in 1861. Joseph Neumann, a German silk-
weaver, started a similar enterprise near San Francisco in 1866; ami I'dix
Gillet did the same soon after at Nevada City. These California pioneers
raised little silk during the first decade that followed Prevost's beginnings.
That little they sent to Europe as samples to make a market for their eg"s.
In 1869 Neumann raised a hundred and thirty pounds of silk, whicii he had
made up into two national flags, and presented them to the governments of
the State of California and the United States. For the last ten years tho
business has grown very rapidly. Silk-mills have been built in the State, anil
are supplied entirely with raw silk of domestic production ; and thousands of
dollars' worth of eggs are annually sent to Europe.
The only other i)oint at which silk is produced in this country to any
notable extent is Silkville, Franklin County, Kan., where E. de lioissieie, a
French gentleman of means, has founded a small colony wliich
is engaged in both growing and manufiicturing silk. In 1870 he
planted a large quantity of mull)crry-sced, and in tiie following spring set out
ten thousand young trees from France. His experiments with French eggs
have not been very successful ; but he is doing nicely with Japanese impor-
tations.
«
Thus far we have recounted at considerable length the history of silk-
culture : we now propose to give the story of silk-manufacturing in this
country.
Prior to the Revolution, nearly all the s-lk grown on this side of the
Atlantic was exported. From 1780 to 1825 most of our product was worked
Domestic "P ^^ home. Reeling, spinning, and even weaving silk, came to
manufacture be a household pursuit, like hatchelling and spiiming flax, or card-
** ' ing and spinning wool, tiiough by no means so common. Still it
was a domestic manufacture. Usually it got no farther than the form of sew-
ing-silk ; although it was soinetimes woven into dress-goods, which compared
with our modern machine-made silks about as the old-faslvioned "homesi)un"
would with fin; broadcloth. The processes were very rude and defective:
especially so was the reeling. But the s])inning and weaving were generally
performed on the same wheel and in the same loom used for wool, ar.vl t!ic
apparatus was poorly adapted to their use. It mig'i: be here remarked, that,
during the first quarter of the present century. Eastern Connecticut was the
principal centre of even this rude industry. The sewing-silk and raw silk
made in Tolland, Windham, and New-London Counties, in 1810, were valued
at $28,503 ; while the fabrics made of refuse silk mingled witli wool were esti-
mated at half as much. In some other parts of the cjuntr), however, the
business was carried on, but to a much more limited ' t( nt.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
435
The first organized efforts at silk-manufacture in this country were those
of tlie brotiiers Rodney and Horatio Hanks of Mansfield, Conn. ; the latter
of wiioiii, prior to the building of their piill in 1810, had invented _
a double wheel-head which greatly facilitated the spinning of factureat
cotton, wool, or silk. This first mill, run by water-power, was •[•■"**'«•''•
(Icvotcil to the manufiicture of sewing-silk by machinery. The
(.(lifii e measured but twelve feet each way ; but the enterprise was successful.
In 1814 the two brothers associated with themselves Harrison Holland and
John (Gilbert, and built a new and larger mill at Gurleyville, near by. This
venture wa!-- a virtual failure. In 1821 Rodney Hanks built still another mill
at M.insficld, and associateil his son George with h; n in the business. This
mill was operated until 1S2S, when the improvement of machinery by others,
and the ruinous competition that ensued, drove the Hankses out of the field.
\Vc shall presently recur, however, to the progress of the industry in this his-
toric town of Mansfield.
The second pioneer in silk-manufacturing in the United States was William
II. IKirstmann, who came from Germany to Philadelphia in 1815. He cstab-
lisliC'l liinisclf in the biisinc ;s of making all sorts of trimmings, wniiam H.
into the composilicju of wbich silk partially entered. He had Horstmann.
learned the art of silU-weaving in France, imported several machines for his
use, and invented others. Mis products were dress-trimmings, belt and other
rihbons, plaited and braided gcods, fringes, sashes, epaulets, &c. ; and his
business steadily developed. He was the first to introduce the Jacquard loom
into this country, which he did in 1S24. His son, William J. Horstmann,
manufactured power-looms of his own designing in 1837-38, simultaneously
with their adoption in Switzerland. He succeeded his father, on the latter's
deatii in 1852. The elder Horstinann's father-in-law, Hoccklcy, was estab-
lished in Philadelphia in the business of making coach lace, fringe, and tassels.
The Horstmann Sons combined all these departments, and have developed the
l>usiness greatly, continuing it to the present day, having taken premiums at
many local and national exhibitions.
The high tariffs of 1S24 and 182S, and other influences which stimulated
manufacturing of all sorts, induced further effort with silk. In 1S29 a ribbon-
manufactory was started in Baltimore ; but it was a short-lived affair.
Tiie next enterprise was in Mansfield, Conn., again. This started as early
as 18:7-28, when a corporation was organized called "The Mansfield Silk
Company." The partners were Alfred Lilly, Joseph Conant, Wil- Mansfield
Ham .\. Fisk, William Atwood, Storrs Hovey, and Jesse Bingham. Siik Com-
These names have since figured very prominently in connection ''*"''■
with silk-manufacturing. The organization was formally incorporated by the
legislature in 1S29. It gave attention to the encouragement of production,
but aimed especially to improve the quality of sewing-silk by improving the
processes of reeling and " throwing," or doubling. Its first successful
!/*l
■'!'*
436
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
machinery was designp'^' by Edward Golding, a young English throwster.
Their reels were greatly impro ed a year or two later (at the suggestion of a
Mr. Brown, an English silk-manufacturer who had settled in Boston), and
operated by water power instead of hand. Their business now developed, and
they attained cjuite a reputation. American sewing-sill:, though not yet per-
fect in color or evenness, came largely into use. The company offeretl to buy
all the cocoons offered it : it went even farther, anil undertook silk-growing
itself on a largo scale. Large tracts of land were leased, and planted with
mulberry-trees; and the legislature was induced in 1832 to grant bounties on
tree-raising and reeling. They then n-.ade another venture ; namely, an at-
tempt at weaving : but their apparatus wi's poorly adapted to the end. A third
influence operated hurtfully upon the enterprise. Nathan Rixford of Mans-
field invented improvements in winding, doubling, and spinning, which put the
Mansfield Company's machinery behind the times, just as theirs had ecliitsed
that of the original Hankses. In 1835 Mr. Lilly withdrew from the co.Kern;
three others did in 1839; and then the company suspended, although for a
time it let its mill to other parties. This factory, however, deserves the credit
of being the first in this country where silk-manufacture was successfullv
carried on to any e.\tent.
The early endeavors of the Hanks family, and the operations of the Horst-
manns, had widely advertised the possibilities of silk-manufacture in tliis coun-
try. The imposition of a protective tarifl", the efforts of public-spirited men to
promote silk-growing, the application of Yankee ingenuity to the improvement
of machinery, the marked success of these mechanical endeavors, and the
practical achievements of the Mansfield Company, awakened wide interest in
the fabrication of the silk fibre, and drew men and capital into such enterprises,
to a great extent, from 1830 to 1839, — a period the reader will identify with
that of the famous viulticaulis mania. The critical year 1839
blasted nearly all these many young and promising enterprises, and
marked a dividing-line, beyond which few of the earlier ones passed ; altho!ii,'li
several of the most successful manufactures of later days were built upon the
ruins of that fatal period, and by men intimately associated thc^with. This
will the more clearly appear from the history of three or four of the leading
undertakings of that day and this.
In the village of Florence, near Northam])ton, Mass., on the stream known
as Mill River, where the historic bursting of a dam occurred in 1S74, tliere
Northamp- ^'^ erected, over a hundred years ago, what was long known as
ton Silk the "old oil-mill." About 1830 Samuel Whitmarsh of New York,
ompany. ^^j^^ j^.^^j accumulatctl twenty-five thousand dollars in the tailorin;^-
business, went to Northampton, bought the mansion now owned by I'.dward
Lyman, erected two hothouses for raising mulberry-trees, and in 1S32 ( au^ed
the old oil-mill to l)e put in order for silk-manufacturini;. Machinery was
constnicted after designs by Nathan Rixford, the Mansfield inventor. Mr.
1839.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
437
Whitmarsh, by his enthusiasm and activity, not only excited the neighborhood,
but secured the co-operation of several gentlemen from Middletown, Conn.,
in iiis enterprise, among them Augustus anil Samuel Russell, who had founded
a large American shipp'ng-house in China. These gentlemen now organized
the Northani])ton Silk ■ "ompany, and in 1834 built a new brick mill in
aiidiiiiin to tiie old oil-mill. They laid out large mulberry-plantations, and
[)ro( ceded with the manufacture of watch-ribbons, vestings, and other goods.
Henry Clay, I )aniel Webster, and other public men, were presented with heavy
lila( k-silk vest-patterns from this establisiiment. Dut tlie supply of raw silk was
small, and headway slight. In 1.S35 Mr. Whitmarsh, presiilent of the com-
panv. went to France to obtain information on silk-culture. The result of iiis
observations was published in a valuable book in 1839. That summer he
rem iikeil to John Kyle, then in his employ as a weaver, " I shall make this
vcar two hundred and fifty thousand dollars before next winter." The col-
lapse of the multicaiilis bubble ruined the rompany ; and, when winter came,
Mr. \\'hitmarsh had neither cash nor credit enough to buy a barrel of flour.
The ( ompany eventually paid all its debts, amounting to a hundred thousand
dollars ; and Mr. Whitmarsh went to Jamaica, where he made fresh ventures,
that were but partially succesMful. Shortly before his death, in 1S75, he
seriously contemplated imdertaking new ones in ('alifornia.
When Mr. Whitmarsh left, the Northampton Company secured the services
of Capt. Joseph Conant, who had been associated with several Mansfield
enterprises since 1S27; but, when bankruptcy ensued in 1840, the company
sold out. Capt. Conant, S. L. Hill, Cicorge W. Henson, and William Adams,
were the purchasers. The new corporation took the Florence property, and
organized a "community " of interest and i)articipation in work. This proved
a failure; and in 1844 the property again changed hands, and Mr. Hill, who
had secured the partnership of a Northampton capitalist, S. L. Hinckley,
olitained control. The establishment was now denominated the " Nonotuck
Steam-Mill," and has done a i)rosperous business in sewing-silk and twist ever
since. Their " Corticelli " brand is widely famous. Conant built
.,, ,, . , , ... Conantviile.
the Conant Mill ut Conantville, C onn., in 1S52 ; and he and ins
taiuily were instrumental in founding several other enterprises. New and
successful ventures have since been made at Florence, Northampton, and
Holyoke, Mass. This brief narration gives one an i lea of the vicissitudes
that have attended the progress of the silk-industry in this country.
Another simil.ir story is that of the C'onnecticut Silk-Man (licturing Compa-
ny, incorporated at Hartford in 1S35. which receive, 1 a bonus of about eleven
thousand dollars net from a bank charter. It was managed by Christopher
Colt and J, H, Hayden, It collapsed in 1838, after sinking its entire capital.
The latter gentleman then went into partnership with Mr. Haskell, who
furnished the capital ; and they established, under the firm-name of J. H.
Hayden & ('ompany, a silk-mill at Windsor Locks, near Hartford, which con-
tinues prosperous to this day.
i
lijii'.;|
438
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
One of the most successful undertakings in this department of in(histrv !«
that of the Cheney Hrothers of South Manciiester, Conn. The familv was
Chen °"*^ °^ '"■'ftli^ industrious, enterprising farmer-boys. St ih and
Brothers, John became artists, and left Iionie ; so did two othi i^. wlio
South Man- engaged in mercantile pursuits in I'rovidence. All of ihcm h;ul
been more less tiimiliar with the culture of mulberry-trccs (luriiiL'
their boyhood ; and in J nuay, 1838, Ward, Rush, Frank, and Ralpii staiiud
the Mount-Ni Sil' .!s in their native town, wh'.- re for four or five vcars
past they had ,-■.::! \ ;. ••g iilk-worms and produc- some silk. The mills
soon closeil for ;. .i*).! :.-iod, during wiiich W'a. K'usii, and Frank went
to Burlington, N.I. , - engi :• in the nursery and c jcoonery business. I'liey
also published a magazine, i,aii il "The Silk-Gro.ver's Manual," frum liily_
1838, to July, 1840. Other members of the family cultivated mulhcrrv trees
in Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. The multicaulis collapse hurt them finam lally ;
and so the brothers went back to South Manchester in 1841, and re-opeiieil
the mill. Putting in new machinery, they began with the manufacture of
sewing-silk, gradually extending their business to ribbons and handken luufs.
They used imported raw silk almost exclusively, as the .American silk wa> too
poorly reeled to be serviceal)le, and too scanty in supi)ly. Soon an attempt
was made to manufacture broad goods, or dress-goods ; their first experiments
being made with pierced cocoons, floss, silk-waste, and such material as could
not be reeled. This was carded and spun, and used tor filling, by luadnncry
made expressly tor the i)urpose. The j^roduct was a substantial but lustreless
goods, which found a good market. Five years of jxUient ingenuity and
perseverance were needed to perfect this apjjaratus and insure success. This
si)un silk was woven into pongees and haiulkerchiefs at fust, and then into
foulards, ribbons, and broad goods. In 1854 a new mill was built at Hartford,
and put in charge of Charles Cheney, wno had come home from Ohio in
1847.
Until the breaking-out of the late civil war, and the imposition of the
heavy tariff of 1861 upon foreign silk-goods, the Cheney Brothers could not
compete successfully with imported articles. The acts of 1S31
and 1846 had left the silk-industry in this country with too little
protection. But, with the re-imposition of a stiff tariff, the business ra])idly
grew; and the Cheney silks have now accjuired a wide and enviable rei)utation.
The Cheneys have been public-spirited and philanthropic employers. Not
only do they ])ay their help well, but they ha\e beautified the village-homes
of their operatives, provided commodious boarding-houses, erected and fur-
nished a fine public hall, a reading-room, and library, and contributed largely
to the erection of church, school, and armory. Meantime they have pros-
pered in business, and acquired wide reputation and influence in their state
and nation.
The largest silk-manufacturing centre in the country is Paterson, N.J.
Tariff.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
439
John K 'e.
Hitlur, in 1839, came Christopher Colt, jun., son of the Connecticut silk-
mannt.ictiiring company's presitlent, and l)rothcr of Samuel Colt, Pstenon,
inventor and maker of the revolver which bears his name. Young ^^^•
Chii^toplier had been connected more or less with the unsuccessful venture
in 11.11 tford with which his father was connected ; but, foreseeing the impend-
iiii; ruin there, he removed to Paterson, wiiere his brother had already built
a |ii>ic)l-factory. Samuel gave the use of the fourth story of his building to
ihi' vounger Christopher, who there began silk-manufacturing on a small
scik ; but in 1840, amid the very general depression, he sold out to John
Ryic.
Ryle was a native of Kngland, and a member of a family engaged in silk-
maiiiilacturinc,'. He was drawn to this country by tiie miilticaulis fever. '*"or
.n sliort time he was in the employ of Mr. Whitmarsh at North-
ampiun, and later he visited the Hartford factory. He noted tlie
nit'd'nical defects of these two establishments, and saw how they coul<- " im
prDvcii. He possessed not only practical ingenuity, but business sb (Ui '").
During iiis visit to Northampton he had come in contact with (1. \V. \i : uy
anil subsequently met that gentleman in New V'ork. He impressed - o strongly
upon .Murray's mind the idea, that, at the time of the great d. ri, , in
1S41), one CO' 111 most profitably invest, tiiat he persuaded that capitalist to
advance thirty-two hundred dollars wherewith to buy out Ciiristopher Colt,
jini. Murray pu*. Ryle in charge, and three years later took him into jjartner-
shiii. In 1846 Ryle received enough assistance from his brothers in Kngland
to purchase the full ownershi|), and the following year he extended the
business so as to include the manufacture of broad goods. In 1846 he had
set a few looms at work, and made several pieces of ilress-silk a thousand
yards in length. In 1847 the facilities were increased, and in 1S50 he went
to !"ran( e to visit the i)rincipal silk-factorics of that country. A fair specimen
of his work at this period was the large silk flag which waved over the Crystal-
Pahue llxhibition in New York in 1852. Since then his business has in-
creased. pr()s|)ered, and excited lively competition. In 1857-58 he was
employing four hundred or five hundred operatives, and consuming two
thousand pounds of raw silk a week, — an amount then unprecedented in
America.
This is the foundation of the Patcrson silk-industry. In 1840 Paterson
was hut a village of seven thousand inhabitants : now it is a large, beautiful,
and flourishing city. Then John Ryle was a poor mechanic, with Ryie'»
scarcely a friend : he has since won a national reputation. In «"':=eii.
1852 he bought a large piece of property near Passaic Falls, greatly beautified
it liy the arts of landscajjc-gardening and architecture, and presentee it to the
people of the town as a free public park. Shortly afterward he w is elected
mayor of Paterson. In 1854 he built the Murray Mill, then one of the largest
and best-equipped establishments in the country.
•**!,!.
» ' i kJc
^i
l/i*
'ft'-"
MlppllCll
OF THE UNITED STATES,
441
For nearly twelve years Ryle was without local competition. In 1851-52
John licnson, formerly a cotton-maniifacttirer, started a small silk-mill in
I'atcisoii. Three years later, Hamil ^: IJooth beyan business with twenty
opcr.itives, and gradually developed their business (their establisiunent, the
l'a,-,iii- Silk-Works, confming itself for fifteen years simply to '• tni-owiiig "
silk); and soon other small factories were started, some of which were tiie
foundations of great enterprises.
Having thus sketched the foundations of the silk-industry, we ])ause to
consider some of the causes that gave it development, and hastily to outline
its fiilK'i- dimensions.
Olio agency that stimulated manufacture from iSro to 1.S40 was the
cuilini^' of the r.iw material in this country ; but since the last-named date we
have been dependent chielly upon the foreign supply. Another
'I'Ik
Reasons
aL'cn< V was the invention of mai hinery by .\mcri( ans. ...^ .
'p J ' why manu*
Hanks iirothers used rude machinery with their w.iter-power. facture has
Nathan Rixford inventeil many useful devices, the most valuable »"""'■'*'• '"
■' this country.
of \vhi< h was that for reeling silk. liefore the processes of
(ioubhng, spinning, or dyeing, are jHTformed, the fibre from half a do/.cn
cocoDtis needs to be combined in a single tliread. .\s some cocoons contain
hilt three hundred ami others tliirteen hundred feet of filament, and as this is
of spiilcr-web delicacy, the work of lombining parallel fil)res, and attaching
the siKcessive ones smoothly and perfectly, is a very difficult one. Rixford's
Rixtbnl's reels were a great advance on our old ones, and were inventions.
sent ti) China, with samples of thread, fc •; .e and imitation by tiie natives who
supiilied our manufacturers with raw material after 1.S40; and, though it was
hard work to secure their introduction, they finally came into wide use, and
taciiiiated American manufacture. Mention has been made alre.uly of
Horstmann's application of the power-loom to silk-weaving at I'hilaiU Iphia in
1S37. and to the ("heney Hrothers' appar-'us for carding and spinning silk for
filling which could not be reeled. Tiiis latter was an important advance in
the iiiiiiness. Rixford also invented for Ralph Cheney, in i.S_5.S, a friction-
rolkr for ii->e in spinning, which was of great value and extended use. .\Ir.
M. Heiuinway, who began the maiuil^rcture of silk at Middletown, Conr.., in
iS-jQ, was the first to substitute spool for skein silk. I,. 1). Iirown, formerly
of (luricyville, but alterwards of Conantville and .Middletown, invented valiia-
hlc ajjparatus for spooling silk and weighing it ; so that the thread was cut
when the spool contained an oimc( . For many years past the Danforth
Ix)(i)ni()tive and Machine Company of I'aterson has been making a machine
for " throwing " or spinning silk, which is more useful and valuable than is
manufactured anywhere else in the world. Messrs. Atwood & Holland of
Wiiliinantic use a stretching-machine, which reduces the nnevennesses in
knotty Chinese silk to the smoothness of the finest Italian product.
I'he enthusiasm, far-sightedness, persevering energy, and business-tact of
■m
■»l'v''V^?Tr»*»'ipf%f
44a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the pioneers in the silk-business, in tlie face of faihire, ridicule, and many other
adversities, have done every thin^ to establisii the in<histry, and win MthcrH
tiiereto. Dr. Benjamin I-'rankiin, Dr. Stiles of New Haven, Dr. As|)iinv;ill of
that city, Mr. Diii)onceau of I'hiladelpiiia, J'ldge Cobb of Dedham, Rodney
and Horatio Hanks, tiie Atwoods an<l C'onants, the Lillys and others of Mans-
field, Sanuiel Whitmarsh, Christopher Colt, J. H. Hayilen, and John Kylo, are
among the individuals to whom the success of silk-manufacture in .\nKri( a is
chiefly due. Association for the exchange of information and ide.is, and for
co-operation in promoting the common interest, has proved helpful in this a^s
in other industries. Paterson had ;\ local organization of this sort in 1S58,
re-organi/,ed in 1X72 ; and in the last-named year a national organization was
effected, which has since had an annual meeting every spring. The protci tive
tariffs which were en.icted shortly after the war of 1812-15 did something to
encourage manufactuiing ; but tiiey were nearly all removed in 1.S31. 'I'he
threats of civil war in 1859 depressed the business considerably; Imt the
imposition of the tariff of 1861 gave fresh encouragement by checking the
importation of foreign goods. Witiiin the jjast three or four years the law has
been so evaded, tliat large (piantities of ilress-goods have been put on the
market in New York which hail escaped payment of the duty ; and no iitlie
embarrassment has ensued.
By 1S30 there had been only three or four short-lived ventures in Mans-
field, Conn., one in Baltimore, and one successful one in Philadelphia. This latter
Progreit and the Manstiekl Company's were the only ones in operation in
until 1830. that year. During the next decade, besides the Hartford, Wind-
sor-Locks, Northampton, Tlorence, and Paterson undertakings, there were
])erhaps a dozen others started ; among them the .\tlantic Silk Comjiany of
Nantucket, the Poughkeepsie Silk Company, Mr. Cobb's silk-mill at Dedham,
the Morodendron Silk Company of Philadelphia, and two or three organiz.ations
at Mansfield. These and a few others failed altogether, or changed hands,
about 1840. One of the successful enterprises was that of B. B. Tilt of Boston,
who began making silk trimmings for dresses in 1834, and, after doing a good
business many years, went to Paterson in 1862, where he organized the
Phcenix Silk NLinufacturing Company.
From 184010 1 86 1, besides the three or four surviving organizations and the
three or four more built upon the ruins of old ones already named, there were
upwards of a hundred new enterprises undertaken in Boston, the
Connecticut Valley, various small villages of Kastern Connecticut,
New- York City, Paterson, and Philadelphia. Many of these were small, and
for the manufacture of only sewing-silk and twist. Several, es])ecially in the
cities, made dress, coach, upholsterers', and undertakers' trimmings. The
Cheneys and Kyle were almost the only ones that made broad goods.
Since 1861 there have been a large number of new establishments started;
but a larger number of old ones have suspended. In i860 there were 139
1840 to 1S61.
OF THE UNirED STATES.
443
rettirmd in the census, employing 5,435 hands and ^2,926, 980 capital, with
an .u^^ayatc production of 1^6,607,711. In 1.S70 there were but
cigiity-ninc returned (i)riniipally in Connecticut, New Vorl;, and
New Jersey), employing 6,649 hands and $6,231,130 capital, with a total
prodm tion of $1 2,210,662. It was during this era that some of the men
now most prominent in the business — tlie Dales, the Ikldens, and others —
cstaliliihcd themselves.
Since 1870 the industry has developed still farther. Our total jmxluction
h.is increased to upw.irds of $25,000,000 a year. From 1S50 to 1.S60 our
imports of silk-goods averaged ;?2 7,000,000 a year, and in 1860 progren
.iiiiDunted to S,}4..?,?o,3i;r. During the next decade, owing to the »'"«:« "^to-
hij;h t.iriff, they averaged but $17,500,000 a year; but in 1.S71 they rose to
j*3.5.'^'>'^7'"' '"^i'l'e' then they have steadily fallen off. In 1.S75 they aggrc-
gatiil but ;S2j,i6.S,i iS, and in 1S77 about ;S2i,ooo,ooo. Thus it will be .seen
that we are gradually driving the foreign produci from our markets. More
than tluit, we arc now exporting nearly $100,000 worth of sewing-silk a
year. Our products have taken many premiunis, and received high en-
:omiiuus from the juries of fairs, — local, state, national, and international. — ■
within the past few years ; and, exce|)t in the (juality of a few ilress-silk.i and
fclvcts, they ecjual any thing i>roduced in other tjuartcrs of the globe.
^
AAA
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
ii<„ --<;
CHAPTER VII.
SHOE AND LEATHER MANUFACTURES.
WHEN one realizes that more persons arc employed in the United States
in preparing and manufacturing leather than are engaged in niakiii"
cotton, linen, and woollen goods, and that the total value of the former jnoil-
Magnitudeof ucts cxceeds the latter, he api)reciates more fully than before the
the industry, importance of this class of industries. The census-returns of 1870
set down the number of persons engaged in tanning, dressing skins, and mak-
ing hoots and shoes, saddles and
harnesses, trunks, valises, salcliels,
pocket-books, gloves, belting, ami
hose, at over 202,000. To tlusu
siiould be added at least 50,000
cobblers and small shoemakers, who
are excluded from the above fimiros ;
and an allowance shoukl be made
also for those who use leather in
book-binding, carriage-building, and
making "cards" for textile fibres.
The total value of the dire( i lealher-
l)rotlu('ts above enumerated was
.^386.000.000 ; and ,^64,000,000
woukl not be an extravagant esti-
mate of the value of the leather
element in the goods of wlii( h it
forms but a i)art. The same census-
returns put down the number of
operatives engaged in ( otton, linen,
silk, and woollen manufact\ire, at
about 250.000, and tiicir produi ts
at $390,000,000. Since that time
the leather-industr" has, if any tiling, gained the advantage over those with
!ii;A'riN<;-()t'T maciiinh.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
44S
which we here make comparison. It is safe to say, that, in point of value,
it constitutes over one-tenth of the whole manufacturing-industry of the
couiitr)', and, in employment, surpasses the combined manufacture of textile
fabrics.
Unless we except the primitive fig-leaf, the skins of wild and domestic
.iiiimals may be said to have constituted the earliest clothing of mankind.
The spinning and weaving of flax and wool was of later date than g,,i„g ^^^
the first use of skins. Egyptian pictorial inscriptions of an age earliest kind
anterior to the Jewish captivity show the familiarity of the denizens ° '^ °' '"*f-
of tlic Nile country with tanning and the uses of leather. The art of making
"rams' skins dyed red," with which the mosaic tabernacle was covered, was
(loubtiess learned in Egypt. It is an interesting fact, that bronze leather-
slicers. similar to those of the ancient Egyptians, have been found in old
Mexican sepuU hrcs, indicating that the arts of making and using leather were
understood by the founders of the early civilization of that country.
The aborigines of the United States whom the Europeans found here,
doubtless of a later stock than the ancient Toltecs and Aztecs, understood the
.art of dressing the skins of buffalo, elk, deei, moose, and other ^^^^ .^^j
wild animals. 'I'hey employed smoke in their curing-processes, mode of
hilt evidently did not understand the properties of oak and hem- '*''f»»'"K
lock bark. The moccasons, leggings, and hunting-shirts of the
Indians were generally well curried, and sometimes well dyed ; and these,
as well as their robes, were often adorned with jjictorial and symbolical de-
signs of considerable intricacy, if not beauty.
Before tiie early settlers could do any thing of consequence in the way
of making leather, it was necessary that their stock of imported domestic
ciUle siiould increase; which it did rapidly. Accordingly, as early as 1620,
a list enumerating the kinds of tradesmen needed in the colony of Virginia
cuntaiiK'd tanners, leather-dressers, and shoemakers. We hear
little I.A actual shoemaking, however, before 1649, when Capt. of industry
Matdiews, an old settler, received legi.ilative conmiendation for among the
tiie various industries he had inaugumted. Among his other ^^[1^^^^
achie\enients were the erection of a tan-house, the manufacture
<if leather, and the employment of eight shoemakers. The production of
leather and shoes was very slight, though, for many years ; and, indiviilual
ente.prise not being alone sufficient to develop the business, resort was had
to legislative encouragement. In 1662 the Virginia Assembly recjiiired that
tan-houses be erected in every county at the county charge ; and provision
was to be made for the employment of tanners, curriers, and shoemakers.
An allowance was to be made every one for dry hides at the rale of two
]H)iin(ls of tobacco for every pound of hide, and shoes were to be sold for
thirty and thirty-five pounds of toliae co per jiair for the largest sixes. The
exportation of hides was prohibited under ])enalty of a tine of a thousand
' W'f^i i'f
446
INDUSTRIAL HISTORV
pounds of tobacco. The low price of tobacco afforded an incentive for
building up new varieties of industry, and the carelessness and neglud with
which cattle were treated made sonic steps
for their protection almost necessary. Just
how effectual these enactments in Virginia
were does not appear ; but they were fol-
lowed in Maryland, in 1681, with similar
ones as regards exporting hides. Beverly,
writing a few years afterwards, says that
a few hides were, "with much ado, tanned
and made into st.-vants' shoes, bnt at so
careless a rate, that the planters don't ( are
to try them if they can get otiiers ; and
sometimes a better manager than ordinary
will vouchsafe to make a pair of lireethes
of a deer-skin." Hence it would appear,
that, until some time in tlie eigliteenth
( entury, Virginia and Maryland imported
most of their siiocs, of all grades, from
l!urope.
New England, however, engaged in
the shoe and leather business at that
early day more extensively. Cattle were
extensively bred there between 1620 and
1649 ^"i" food, and for the exportation of meat and live-stock. In the last-
Growthof "'I''!*-''! y^^'if die Stoppage of emigration greatly depressed the
industry in cattlc-iiiarket ; yet stock was always plenty, and tolerably well
cared for. As early as 1630 Mr. Higginson mentions the ahun-
dance of " sumacke-trees, good lor dying and tanning leather,"
near Salem. The first tannery in New F.ngland, howxner. was at the village
of Swampscott, in the town of Lynn, destined from that time on to be famous
for its shoe-factories. It was built by Francis Ingalih on Humphrey's IJrook,
Francis and his brother Edmund being among the first settlers in the toaii.
The first shoemaker in I.ynn was Philip Kertland, who came there from Fng-
land in 1635 ; and John Herbert, another shoemaker, settled in Salem the
same year. In 1629 the company's letter to the Governor of Massachusetts
Colony commends to him a shoemaker named Tiiomas Beard, wlio was sent
out to be maintained at the colony's expense, and work un-kr the governor's
direction. A sujjply of hides accompanied him on "The Mayflower," on
which he was to pay freight at the rate of four pounds per ton. It was
ordered that fifty acres of land be allotted him ; but it does not appear where
he lot ated. Records exist of other individuals who were either tanners or
shoemakers in Massachusetts prior to 1 O40. In that year a law was passed
POWEH SOI.Ii-MOUl.DER.
N'wEng-
land
■y.!''
«^
OF THE UNITED STATES.
447
punisliing sucli persons as slaughtered cattle and neglected to save the hides
and seiul them to be tanned ; from which it is probable that all the towns then
organi/i-'il had tanneries. Searchers and sealers of leather had already been
appointed in certain towns ; but in 1642 a general law was passed regulating
the niamifacture of leather more particularly. Butchers, curriers, and shoe-
makers were forbidden to tan, it being regarded desirable to make tanning a
distinct occupation. No one was allowed to buy
a hide but a tanner. Tanners were required to
avoi<l 'not " moors," or processes that would burn
or scald their leather. They were punishable
also for selling imperfectly-tanned leather. Cur-
riers were minutely instructed what preparations
thcv should use and should not use. Sealers
were 10 mark good leather upon examination,
and onlv sealed leather should be used by shoe-
makers. The exportation of raw hides or un-
wroupjht leather was prohibited in 1646. In
.64S the shoemakers had so increased in num-
ber, that tiiey were incorporated as a guild by
th'.' legislature. These were more numerous at
Lvnn than elsewhere.
Says Hisho]), "The fisheries of New England
furnished abundance of oil at a cheap rate for
the leather-ma lufitcture. From the coasts of
Labrador and Newfoundland were also obtained,
before the Revolution, considerable quantities
of seal skins. On account of the high duty
upon them in luigland, many which would otherwise have gone there were
sent to New luiglaiul, where they were tanned, and made into shoes, boots,
&c., and returned to supply the fishermen on the north-cast coast. Others
were dressed in the hair, and were variously employed in making trunks,
taps, ( oats, tVc. The manufacture of leather in Massachusetts in early times
was chielly confined to the old maritime counties — Essex, Midillesex, and
Suffolk — around IJoston Bay. Since the Revolution, tanning, like shoe-
making, for which Massachusetts has become famous, has developed largely
in Worcester County."
It shoukl be remarked in this connection, that the shoes most worn by the
ladies were stuff shoes : the gentlemen wore leather boots and shoes, few if
any of whic h were made of calf-skin until after the Revolution. Description
Tow hide was used almost exclusively for foot-gear, although of shoes
biick-skins were largely wrought up into servants' clothing. Clovers ^°'""
and furriers are enumerated among the artisans of 1651. We find further but
Unimportant legislation in Massachusetts relative to shoe r.nd leather production
subsequent to that just mentioned.
*=*^-^iiiWH ^^ivcat i:^'_=i^
FOOT-POWEK SOLU-MOL'LDER.
: toff
\ »i^^-^ '^
HillPfli
■' \)\'\m
i^ri'vf
44a
INDUSTRIAL J/ J STORY
Connecticut was a decidedly agricultural colony, and cattle were ex-
tensively raised in its earliest days; and we find between 1640 end i6c6
Early legis- ^^^V ^^^^"^ the Same legislation there as had been enadcd in
lation on the Massachusetts relative to the preservation, tanning, and cxporta-
subject. j^-^j^ ^j. j^jjgg^ jjj^jj j]^^. separation of the tanner's from the cunjer's
butcher's, and shoemaker's trade. We also find the General Assembly fixing
the prices of different-sized shoes, and ordering size-sticks to be made as a
standard in the colony. Rhode Island, anf' that part of Massachusetts wliich
was subsecjuently set off as Maine, had tanneries before the close of the
century ; but nearly a hundred years more elapsed before New Hampsiiire did
any tanning.
Cattle were imported into the Dutch colony of New Netherlands in 1', -c.
The first tanner in the i)rovince was one of four brothers named Kvertsen, who
Industry in Settled either at I'avonia or Manhattan in 1638. Tanners soon
New York, bccame numerous and prosperous in and about the city of New
York, and, despite the laws, combined the shoe^naker's trade witii their o;l-! r.
A large tract of land on the west side oi Broad Street, above Bcaser, bct.ame
conspicuous for its tanneries as eirly as 1653. The luiglish governor Ami (jt,
and his council wore very uriv^i
in their exclusioa of i.inivtrs from
the city in 1676, gnutir ■ a mo-
nopoly \j only two. .'* niber
of wealthy an' "u.^mineoi ',ng-
lish and D- ich tanner;, thcreforfc,
moved outside tlie city walls to
i region cast cf llnndway, and
r veen Maid-jn Lane and Ann
S icet, where tuey set* led. 'I'iiev
called the pla< e " Shoennkcrs
Land." Subseciuently they u a
forced still farther up town. — to
the borders of Fresh-water I'miil
and Heekinan's Swamp : and in
that liKaiity, known as "The
Swamp," many of the craft linger to the present day.
New Jersey received lu-r first tanner in 16(10, he locating at Klizabethtownj
and her first shoemaker located there in 1C76. Stock-raising for tiio New-
York markets gave her plenty of hides. Tan-bark abounded in the
< olony ; and judicious legislation so developed tiie produce of
leather there, that New York was obliged to buy of her for a long time. ^\■L'st
F:;i-i»yl- Jersey and Pennsylvania were even more tardy in developin;; the
vii:.i^'.. tanning an 1 .shoemaking industries. In the cjrly part of the eigh-
tccni.J century, however, we find tanning extensively carried on in Pennsylvania;
lllOT-l'OWEK STIillTFI!.
New Jersey,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
449
iiiid leather was exported thence to Europe in 173 1. In that colony, too,
miu li was made of deer-skin for clothing ; and Logan, the famous Mingo
chief, was long actively engaged in dressing them for sale to the whites.
Poui'. in the Carolinas and Georgia cattle were exceedingly abundant,
especially a small breed which were allowed to run wild. But little attempt
was made to utilize their hides. Live cattle were shipped to the West Indies
and to Pennsylvania : raw hides were likewise sent. Until very near the time
of tlic Revolution few attempts were made tc manufacture shoes, a pair of
uhidi were worth as much as an ox. A little leather was made in the coast-
region ; but it was exported. Indeed, from 1745 to 1760, the two Carolinas
exported quite a large amount of tanned leather and dressed deer-skins. In
ilvj back country, where tan-bark was plenty and imported goods rare, the
colonists made some few shoes for themselves. The greater numbe** of the
iniiabitants of those colonies obtained their shoes either from those farther
north anil east, or from (ireat Britain.
Toward the middle of the eighteenth century, north of Virginia, every new
town liad its tannery almost immediately after the first settlement ; and shoe-
makers and saddlers soon fullowed. In i 731, when, at the solicita-
tions of jealous London manufacturers and merchants. Parliament ind"us'try"by
ordered the British Board of Trade to incpiire into the condition middle of
of manufacturers in this country, they found the Americans almost "'^hteenth
^ •' century.
(onipletely supplied with shoes of their own manufacture. The
local shoemakers in most towns did something toward meeting the home
<iem and. Itinerant shoemakers sometimes went from house to house, working
i\p into shoes the familv stock of leather that iiad been tanned by the local
tanner. Itinerant cobblers also went from house to house. Massachusetts
manufactured a surplus of shoes, which went to the other colonies and to the
\\ CMt Indies. When, in 1 764, Kngland attempted to levy duties on .American
imports, and the colonists resented it by refusing to buy British goods a 'ar
as possible, a sjiecial stimulus was given to shoe and leather productior re
before less attention had been given thereto.
During the Revolution the supply of hides was greatly reduced,
amount of labor that was free to tan them and make shoes was also '
by the demand' of tiie military service : consecjuentiy a great ei'
,s;ar( ity of both leather and shoes characterized that period. The '
army suffered great privations. W!'"n the British forces landed at \
ter, N.V., in October of 1776, the Colonial (lovernment caused such hides as
Miuld be collected to lie removed to places of concealment in the Highlands.
I he ( omiuissary dei)artinent of the Continental army, partly from im ompe-
teiu e and jiartly from limiteil resources, found it impossible to obtain shoes
enough for the soldiers. It was stated to Congress, in December of 1776,
that (ine-third of the army at 'I'iconderoga had to perform duty without shoes.
Onl) nine hundred j^airs were sent thither on a retjuisition to supply ovei t.elve
the
ned
>t of
lution.
Ches-
'f^^^^mm^mw
-mm
^ums
.■^'.
'^itrm:
i
^1
45°
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
storing the
industry.
Principal
seats of
industry
during the
last century
thousand men. The army was then authorized to impress shoes and other
supplies where they could be found. During the operations in New Jcrsev
that winter, many of our soldiers " were without shoes, marching over frozen
ground, which so gashed their naked feet, that each step was marked with
blood." The following autumn it was discovered, that near Lancaster, rcnn.
greater quantities of leather than were ever before known there were in store.
Much leather was to be had at Yorktown in exchange for green hides ; Imt
shoemakers to manufacture it were exceedingly scarce.
On the restoration of peace, tanning and shoemaking rapidly revived ; hut
the immediate influx of foreign goods soon depressed them agaiu
peace in re- Until a tariff could be imposed. Virginia resorted to sucli protec-
tion in 1 788, and Congress, under the new Constitution, in 1 ^89.
The principal seats of shoe and leather manufacture, says liishop,
in the last century and beginning of this, were in Massachusetts, Connc( ticut,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, though Maryland and Delnware
also made a considerable amount. South Carolina iiad tanned
some excellent leatiicr before the Revolution ; but after the war
the Southern States gave little attention thereto, or to shoeniakint;,
buying from the Nortli. .\s the \Vcstern country was graduallv
settled, cattle-raising, tanning, and a small amount of siioemaking, kept jiac e
witli th? movement ; and though that set' -n has been dependent on New
Kngland and the Middle States, to some extent, for shoes, it has not called top
more unmanufactured leather than it could itself i)roduce, inasmuch as ( attle-
raising has been a j)roniinent industry of that section.
It is asserted that Morocco leather of fair quality was made in Charles-
town, Mass., as early as 1770. ]>y the subseciuently fomous Lord 'riiiiothy
Manufacture Dext.' and otlicrs ; and the manufa( ture was resumed there in
of morocco, i jqO. The art of making Turkey and .Murocco leathers from goal
and sheep skins was not understood in London until about i 783, — the \ear
of i^eace. The Pennsylvania Society for the I'lncouragement of Manufactures
and Useful .Xrt.i instituted an imjuiry in 1787, and found that two ])ersons in
Philadelphia had attemi)ted the imitation with tolerable success. Sheepskins
have been rendered less valuable for the ])ast fifty years by the introduction ot'
merino breeds, in which improved fleeces are offset by poorer pelts. The
morocco-business, however, has been a specialty of the Philadeljihia leather-
business to a greater extent than it has in any other part of the Union, in
i860 it employed over thirty large fitctories, 1,600 hands, and more than
S500.000 of capital, with sales to the amoimt of*? 2, 000, 000. These figures
might now be safely increased fifty per cent. Indeed, our exports alone of
this (lass of leather exceed J 1,000. 000 annually.
Within the present centur*-, too, calf or kip skins have come
into general use : when^as in Revolutionary aiKl prt- Revolutionary
days they were unknown on this side of tke Atlantic.
Calfskins.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
451
harles-
iniolliy
KTC in
nil goal
ic year
utiK'turcs
rsoiis ill
p-skins
tioii of
V The
Icatlier-
lon. In
3rt- than
c figuas
lone of
,-(.' rome
hitioiury
S<^)on after the Revolution, our tlomestic supply of hides proved insufficient
foro'ir tanners' needs, and importation began chiefly from South America and
the British East Indies. The immense development of cattle- importation
hrceiling in this country, and the annexation of 'lexas, have not °' *'■''"••
kept pace with our demands ; and the importation of hides has steadily in-
creased, with but slight fluctuations. In 1858 we hnported 59,719,083 worth,
or al'out 1,075,000 hides. In 1877 our
inil)ortations, exceeding th.ose of the pre-
vious year by a half, amounted to over
3,000,000 hides, valued at about 5 18,000,-
ojo. Thirty years ago, when the Erie Rail-
road was opened, most of these hides came
to New- York City, and were sent out along
the southern tier of counties in that State
for tanning ; then they came back in the
forra of leather, and were mostly sent to
New l',iiL,'land.
The imported hides, it will be borne in
niiiiil. form only a portion of the whole
leather-product. T~hiis, in t<S39, when
;.46;,,6ii sides or half hides were tanneil
as sole-leather, and 3,781,86^ .,kins were
tinned and curried for upiK-r leather, oiir
importation was i)robai)l_\' less than i,(,)oo,-
000 sides and skins. In 1870 there were
8,7X8,752 hiiles (17,577.404 sides) ,uid
ii.'i(i4,i4.S skins tanned, of which less than
;,ooo,ooo hides and skins were iii\i)()rted.
riio ioliowing table will give some iilea of
the growth of the leather-producing industry in the L'nited States of late years.
it will be observed that there has been a lendencv toward centralizing the
'lusiness. the big establishments driving the little ones (Jiit of business as the
.Mijirovements in the art increased. It should be noted, also, that certain
Kinds of leather are estimated twice over in the census-returns, from which
the following figures are taken. The dressers of skins, the morocco-makers,
and the manufacturers of patent-leather, are included in the table.
K(K1TI>11: .MACHINH.
KO. OP
ETFATBS.
NO. OK HANDS
KMI'LUTBU.
CAPITAI,
INVBSTKD.
IS40.
iSGo.
1S70.
6,6iNt
S,i88
VALUK OF
PKODUCTION,
2"^ 595
35.243
$15,650,929 $20,919,110
-2,774.795 43.4S7.S98
jy,o.' 5,620 I 75.<*>S,747
61,124,812 I 157,237.597
••M
452
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
The improvements in the manufacture of leather, says Uishop, havo lucii
very numerous, and mostly originated within the present century. 'I'hiv luiw
Improve- '"''''" '^"''^ mechanical and chemical, of foreign and native on^in
ments in Their adoption has been attended by a marked influence in tin.' ijro-
"f°i""the'r"" grt-'ssive improvement of the quality and (juantity of the product
in the enlargement of the operations individually and in the iiL'L're-
gate, and in a i)r()portionate increase in the |)rofits ; while the price of Ifallur
compared with tlie raw material, has been reduced. 'The principal oi iIksc
are the several mechanical appliances for softening, fulling, rolling, ami >|i|it-
ting' skins and hides, and for grinding bark (some of whicii were vcrv oadv
introduced), and others for washing, glazing, and finishing leather. Hu' a|i|)li-
ration of water-power, and especially of steam, in many of the o|)erati()ns, aiul
of hot water in others ; the extraction and application of tannin in ( uiu un-
trated solutions and by hydraulic pressure ; the greater subdisision of lal)ur in
large establishments, attended by more skilful manipulation in the ijrficcsscs of
tanning, currying, and finishing leatiier, — have all greatly influenc ed liic oc (jiio-
niy of leather-manufacture. Its profits liave been much augmented by ilic
" sweating " and other operations, whereby the gelatine and muscular fibre
of the skin is more com])letely exposed to the tannic acid, and the wei};ht of
leather increa.sed. and also by the various utilizing inventions whidi iiavc
appropriated all the refiise materials to some useful purpose in the arts.
The manufactures of articles from leather in this country, including boots
and shoes, saddlery and harness, trunks, valises, and satchels, belling and hose.
,, , , gloves and i)ockel-l)ooks, and omitting whi])s. carriaijes, (aid^
Value of " ' o J » > • .
manuti-- and book-binding, aggregated over $230,000,000 ; and of that
amount 5181,644,090 re|)r('sents the boot and shoe industry, and
5.32,709,981 the saddlery and harness business. Thus it will lie
seen that more than three-fourths of the leather-manufacture is in boots and
shoes.
.•\s we have already pointed out. and as the reader is aware, the knight of
St. Ois|>in who makes boots and shoes for local custom, and who generallv
Knights of combines with that branch of the trade the more ignoi)ic dcpart-
st. Crispin, nient of repairing, is to be found in nearly every town aiul village
in the country. More frecpiently than not, his establishment is combined with
a shoj) for the sale of shoes ])urchased ready ma<le from some large niami
facturer. This class of shoemakers reijuire no further mention. Our ( hief
interest centres in the wholesale manufacturers. The census-return of :!3,4-'.s
establishments and $181,644,090 of products in 1870 includes some of the
little establishments. Those making over $5,000 worth of goods a])iece an
set down as 3,151, and producing $146,704,000 worth of boots and shoes, ii
is with them that we are concerned chiefly.
From the very first, Massachusetts has had the lead in this great indiistn
' Thick hides arc somriimrs split inio as many as five layers. eatH of which is dressed for upper lc;uli<:r
tured
articles
OF THF UNITED STATF.X.
453
Ihc towns in the neighborhood of Boston attracted masons, carpenters, and
iitliL'i woriimen, in the winter-season, when work was dull, to ,^i,„,jhu
piirsiK' shoemaking, which was always a resource. As early as setts leads
1635 Lynn had a shoemaker. Fifteen years later she made more '•''•''">"»-
shoes than any other town in the colony, or even in the country.
She made a specialty of women's shoes, most of which were made of cloth ;
hut. ill all the kinds manufactured, the work was (juite rude for a hundred years
or more. Shoemakers were cjuite tmskilled, and had little capital or general
knowledge. In the early part of the eighteenth century they would send to
Kngiand for well-made shoes, and take them apart to study the mechanism.
liy 1750 there was a surplus for ex-
|iort;iti()n. New Kngiand was sup-
|jHed ( hiefly from this one centre ;
nil! siioes were also sent to New
Viirk, I'liiladelphia, and even farther
South, In the year just named, a
Welsh shoemaker, named John .Xdam
li;ii,'vr, settled in Lynn, and by his
superior skill soon became known
throui;li<)ut the surrounding country
;is the celebrated shoemaker of Kssex
(County). Many persons in f.ynii
,ui(l the neii^'liboriiif,' towns a( (luircd
from liini a better knowledge of tlio
,irt, .111(1 obtained the reward of
sii|)eri()rity in the increase of their ;
liu>iness. A Hoston rorres])ou(ic'iit
of "The London ( 'lironic k-," in
17(14, wrote that shoes for women iiikhk.
were made at Lynn exceeding in
^tiiiiulh and beauty any that were usually imported from London. During
the Revolution the towns of Lastern Massachusetts provided the army with
iiio,i of its shoes. Immediately after the war ended, the business rapidly
ileveloped. In 1 7SS Lynn alone exjiorted 100.000 pairs of shoes; in 1795
her export was 300,000 pairs. In 1877 iier product was not less than
14,000.000 pairs of boots and shoes. The wonderful facility with which siioes
were turned out in those early ilays led to the legend, that the materials, being
AwV to the wall by an awl, were comI)ined in the proper manner by a blow of
liie l.ipstone skilfully aimed at them. There were those who asserted that
hoots and shoes grew there spontaneously. Thus, for over two centuries, Lynn
h.is had the .ascendency in the .American shoe-manufacture.
Marblehead, which makes, perhaps, four million pairs of shoes yearly, was
led into the business, after the Revolution, by the decline of her fisheries.
■n
''> ■&^'^-
484
/A'/? US TRIA I. Ills TOR Y
ifiE?
|U<
Danvers, Haverhill, and other places in Essex, were early engaged in ii^.
Marblehead,
manutiicture of women's shoes; and there was in 17X.S a c,
)n-
siderahle manufacture of men's shoes at Reading, near l.ynn
Boston, (^uincy, and many other towns in the vicinity, engaged in the slioc-
nianufacture after the Revolution, as did also Worcester and other towns of
that county.
Philadelphia and New- York cities have also been famous for luarly a
century for the quality of their shoes, and the States of which they arc tlie
Phitadei- business capitals have also developeil the wholesale maniit'arture
P'''"' in other towns. Thi.- following table gives the distribution of the
industry, showing only establishments whose annual ])rodu(-t exceeds five
thousand dollars, and only those Slates being named particularly wliidi liave
over a hundred such establishments : —
STATB.
M.issachusetta .
New York
Pennsylvania .
New Hampshire
Maine
New Jersey
Ohio
Missouri .
Illinois
Other States .
Total
NirMUKR OF
BSTATKS.
I.t23
341
335
78
r.7
164
1S2
ss
688
Nl'MDKR OF
11 ANUS,
3.'S'
51, 167
11,409
2.777
2,105
1,990
2,0^6
960
1.274
9,664
9'."/02
fAVITAt.
INM'.sri'.l).
$19, 1 48,64 5
4,.S72,9()6
4,240,52.5
919.435
677,300
777.900
790,025
505,200
1,527,44s
4.059.577
$37.5'9.oi9
VAI.fK Of
I'KOIll CIICIN.
5.S6,5r.5,44,
I7,S| 5,048
1 1, 00:, 5X7
4,7*^0,0:0
3.'5S.""
2,S;,o„5-'2
2,,S()(),So3
2,:/.j,7oi
2,2(>S.I36
13,0:8,717
1146,704,000
It might be ad<led to this, that Connecticut with only thirty-eight est.ahlish-
Connecticut '"<-'"'^. ''"'' Maryland with sixty-eight, each i^roduced very nearly
•nd other jj2,ooo,ooo ill iHyo; California produced over ;fl 1,5 00,000 ; and
States. Wisconsin and Iniliana, each a trifle over ;S 1,000,000.
Thirty years ago the sales of Massachusetts' enormous suqilus to tlic
other sections of the Union and for the foreign trade were mostly in tiic
.. J , hands of New-York merchants, to whom the New-Kngland pro-
Mode of , , .
manufactur- ducers eitiier sold or consigned their goods. Cimdualiy this
ine and system changed, pardy owing to a change in the system of manii-
fiicture. The number of skilled workmen that came from abroail
became so great as to fdl most of the departments into which the boot-trade
became divided, — as crimi)ing, bottoming, heeling, and fmishing ; and the
pay of the work-i)eoi)le by the piece or the pair enables each to control his
own time, working when he pleases. These sometimes clid) their work, and
appoint an agent to sell : others, by economy, save their pay, and employ a
OF THE UNITED STATES.
455
few men whose work they direct. These, in the cities, are called "garret
hossfs." When they succeed in estal)iishing a trade, they conduct the manii-
f;u lory l>y ii foreman, and o|)en an office in the city, where they sell their
waris, and purchase stock for manufacture. The materials are in this manner
hcitir jxirchased ; and as the seller is himself the manufacturer, coming in
(ont.K t with buyers from all sections, he becomes conversant with the styles
adaiitcd to all localities, and the manufacture is by far the better conducted
lor it. The advantages of this system have made Boston, of late years, the
grand centre of such operations, and have drawn thither the jobbers from
New York, Philadelphia, Haltimore, Cincinnati, St. Louis, &c., until JJoston
has liL'come the largest shoe-market of tlic world.
\\c have already si)oken of tin; improvements in the beauty and other
(jiialitics of American shoes about the middle of the eighteenth century.
'I'Ikv (ontinued to be manifest from that time on, and were, in ,
J Improve-
later years, due to V'ankee ingenuity and taste, and not to mere ments in
iinitatii)n. A few fancy boots are even yet imported from Paris, »»yie <>' >"■«>-
, , . . , , . , , . ufacture.
and our exports are cluelly ot the pianier grades; yet as damty
ami (liiral)le a boot can be made in this country as anywhere on the globe,
riic improvement m the (|Mality of our shoes is in a large measure due to
tlu' iKw methods of s|)litting an<l currying leather, thus affording softer and
riiut material for uppers.
I'tiily as marked as the advance in the (juality of our work is the startling
])rogn'ss made in the methods of manufacture. In the old days the shoes
were sewed, and by hand, — a slow and laborious process. Hut in „ ,
' •' _ ■ Progreii in
iSiS a Yankee, named J()se|)h Walker, of Hopkinton, Mass., mode of
invented the shoe-peg. This wrought (juite a i-jvoiutiem in the
business. At first tiie pegs were worked out by hand ; but when
tliev were found efficacious, and cheaper than sewing, machines were invented
tor their manufacture, and they were sold in larger or smaller quantities to
shoemakers all over the ( oimtry. There are now some thirty establishments
whose exclusive business it is to make shoe-pegs. The tradition is current
in New Kngland, that at one time shoe-pegs became so plenty an<l cheap,
that artful speculators tried to sell them to farmers as a new variety of large
oats for seed.
lint two more important strides were to be taken in the art. Proliably
none of our inilustries has been more extensively developed than the boot
and siioe business by the application of lal)or-saving machinery. . .
When tile sewing-machine was reduced to practice some thirty or ubor-
years ago, the utilization of the device for shoemaking was ■■*''"«
" ° machinery.
qiiii kly thought of. It was several years, however, before it was
properly adapted to this use. Now, however, machines made expressly for
this industry ((juite different in details from those used on cloth), and operated
in large numbers by steam like the looms of a woollen-mill, are in use in about
manu-
facture.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)
1.0
I.I
1.25
UiW2A |2.5
■^ Ui 12.2
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WIST MAIN STRUT
WIBSTER.N.Y. M5M
(71«)I72-4S03
^v
^^
N?
\
\
^.>.
>^^^
\
4^.
'^.
^^
45 6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
half the large shoe-factories of the country. In the other half the shoes are
pegged by machinery. There are, however, some establishments which use
both kinds of machinery; Imt tiie
business is so divided up, that
most manufacturers make either one
kind or the other exclusively. It is
almost incredible, to one who has
not seen it done, that shoes can l)e
sewed by machines ; but the idea of
a machine which both makes ami
dri"es pegs instantaneously, and so
rapidly that a whole shoe can l)e
pegged inside of ten seconds, is
still more marvellous. The idea has
been realized, nevertheless, and has
been in successful operation for some
fifteen or twenty years. Tiie charac-
teristic feature of it is a narrow rib-
bon of white wood, a hundred or
more feet long, reeled upon the
machine. This ribbon is of the thickness of a peg : its width is just the
length of a peg. One edge has, by machinery, been pared sharp ; and
the grain of the wood runs straight across the ribbon. The operator of tlie
pegging- machine has a basketful of shoes or boots brought him, each with the
uppers and soles properly adjusted, and tacked to a last. Upon applying
them, one at a time, to the machine, he causes a strong awl, kept just so
far from the edge of the sole by an adjustable gauge, to pierce a series of
holes in the leather : simultaneously a sharp knife splits enough wood from
the end of the ribbon for a peg ; the point of the peg is guided to the liole
just made by the awl ; and, while that instrument is making its next punc-
ture, the new-made peg beside it is forced down into place. Both operations
go on with the rapidity of a sewing-machine needle, and the shoe has only
to be guided and turned while the process goes on.
Machines have been invented for smoothing the rough soles after pegging,
for making lasts, and for other departments of the shoe-manufacture, doing
POWER-ROLLER.
4S6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
POWER-ROLLER.
half the large shoe-factories of the country. In the other half the shoes are
pegged by machinery. There are, however, some establishments wliich use
both kinds of machinery ; but the
business is so divided up, that
most manufacturers make either one
kind or the other exclusively. It is
almost incredible, to one wlio has
not seen it done, that shoes can be
sewed by machines ; but the idea of
a machine which both makes and
dri'-es pegs instantaneously, and so
rapidly that a whole shoe can be
pegged inside of ten seconds, is
still more marvellous. The idea has
been realized, nevertheless, and has
been in successful operation for some
fifteen or twenty years. The charac-
teristic feature of it is a narrow rib-
bon of white wood, a hundred or
more feet long, reeled upon the
machine. This ribbon is of the thickness of a peg : its width is just the
length of a peg. One edge has, by machinery, been pared sharp ; and
the grain of the wood runs straight across the ribbon. The operator of tiie
pegging-machine has a basketful of shoes or boots brought him, each with the
uppers and soles properly adjusted, and tacked to a last. Upon ajjplying
them, one at a time, to the machine, he causes a strong awl, kept just so
far from the edge of the sole by an adjustable gauge, to pierce a series of
holes in the leather : simultaneously a sharp knife splits enough wood from
the end of the ribbon for a peg ; the point of the peg is guided to the l\ole
just made by the awl ; and, while that instrument is making its next punc-
ture, the new-made peg beside it is forced down into place. Both operations
go on with the rapidity of a sewing-machine needle, and the shoe has only
to be guided and turned while the process goes on.
Machines have l)een invented for smoothing the rough soles after pegging,
for making lasts, and for other departments of the shoe-manufacture, doing
away with the necessity of any particular skill on the part of the workmen,
lessening the cost of labor, but immensely magnifying the total production.
That our shoe-manufactures have increased from #54,000,000 in 1S50 to
$92,000,000 in i860, and |i8i,ooo,ooo in 1870, is chiefly attributable to the
application of new labor-saving machinery to the business. It should be re-
membered too, that, owing to the lessened cost of production, some kinds of
shoes are now even cheaper than before the war, and that the increase in
quantity since 1850 is .quite proportionate to the total values above expressed.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
487
CHAPTER VIII.
PAPER AND PAPER-HANGINGS.
THE philosophers and historians of Europe have been accustomed to claim
that all the progress of the modern world is due to the races which have
had white skins. They take the world as they find it to-day, or as
it was in the days of the Greeks, and point to the difference in „*^ing firtt
greatness in war, science, industry, art, and business, between the practised by
races of Europe and those of Asia and Africa ; the one quarter of g.j' ,^°°" "^
the world being progressive in all things, the other passive or
retrogressive. Heeren tries to account for this difference by calling attention
to the fact upon which he says physiology throws no light, and which philoso-
phy scarce dares to touch ; namely, that the great races of the modern world
have fair skins, and the backward nations dark skins. He intimates that
herein is to be found the cause, or a part of the cause, of the difference in the
development of the two great branches of the family. The assertion is flat-
tering to Anglo-Saxons ; but Heeren seems to have overlooked the Moors of
Spain and the ancient Hindoos of India, to whom the modi, n world is
indebted for nearly all of its great arts and industries. The working of iron,
the spinning and weaving of cotton, silk, and wool, the practice of decoration
and of graving, and many other important occupations, took their rise among
those two peoples ; and Spain gained all its early reputation for industry from
the swarthy race which planted the arts and sciences on her soil, and left them
there to flourish after it had itself been driven back to Africa. The Moors
and Hindoos may have lacked the vigor in politics and affairs which the
European races have ever shown ; but, at any rate, they are the authors of the
arts which have ameliorated society, and made the world a comfortable abiding-
place for man. Paper-making is one of these arts. It took its rise among the
Moors of Spain ; and though it spread from Spain to Italy, and to France,
Holland, England, and Germany, and, in the end, attained greater eminence
in those countries than in Spain, there is no doubt about its birthplace and the
people to whoi the world is indebted for its invention. The Egyptians made
paper from the papyrus-plant in early times ; but the product was not paper
4S8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in the modem sense of the term. The modem article was first made l)y the
Moors in Spain about eight hundred years ago. Paper-mills were in operation
at Toledo as early as 1085.
The manufacture of paper was introduced into France about 13 14. it
Introduction was begun in Italy about 1367, and in Germany in 1390. The
into France, fj^gt paper-mill in England was started in Hertfordshire in 1496.
The invention of modem paper antedated the printing-press by about four
hundred years. It was not until 1455 that Clutenberg and Faust began jjrinl-
invention oi '"8 ^^ Bibles and Psalters which initiated the era of printing,
modern while paper had been made from 1085. The consumption of
'*''"■ paper was small until the printing-press was introduced, and even
then books were too costly and rare to create much of a demand for the
material. The real growth of the industry began about simultaneously with
the planting of the English colonies in America. In 1622 the first ne\v.si)aper
was printed in England ; and this apjjlication of the art of printing gave a
spur to thought and the employment of the pen, so that paper came into
demand, and the world was soon filled with a flc od of newspapers, pami)hlets,
and books, as a conseciuence of it. Paper-mills started up everywhere in
Europe, and the manufacture soon became \ ery large.
Vegetable fibre was first used for the manufacture of paper by tiie early
makers, direct from the plant ; and a wide variety of fibres was used, tiiat
Use of vege- of flax being preferred. Along in the fourteenth century linen rags
table fibres, came into vogue for paper-making, as being just as good, and much
cheaper. The clothing worn in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France, was largely
composed of linen, especially among the peasantry, who wore scarcely any
thing else. There was in all those countries, therefore, an immense supply of
cast-off clothing which might be utilized in paper-making, if engines could he
made to reduce the cloth to fibre. Such engines were invented ; and after
1600 Spain, Italy, France, and Holland employed rags only, and attained
a great reputation for their linen papers. The first three of tbe countries
named produced fine papers. The linen rags of Holland were coarser and
darker, and the paper correspondingly coarse. In making the paper it was
customary at first to pile the rags in large stone vats, and allow them to fer-
ment and soften in water. They were then reduced to jmlp by stamping, were
bleached, washed, and felted into paper. In Holland the process was im-
proved, at least in rapidity, by employing a machine which beat the rags with
long steel knives, and reduced them to fibre with great ceierity. The machine
took the name of the Hollander, and has always retained it. When cotton-
clothing came into use, cotton-rags were employed for paper. They have
since nearly superseded linen-rags, just as cotton-cloth has linen.
The English colonies in America were large consumers of paper from the
beginning of their career. " Oiled paper for the windows " was one of the
first things the emigrants were exhorted to bring with them here by those who
OF THE UNITED STATES.
459
Parliament
opposed to
manufacture
of paper in
the colonlei.
had preceded them to the new continent. Printing was introduced at a very
early date ; and newspapers, pamphlets, sermons, books, and Bibles were
brought out on a large scale. Franklin's first work was a pamphlet, con»ump-
ancl for a long time the product of his presses belonged chiefly tion of paper
to that class of publications. Sermons were extensively printed *""'""'«••
at that day : the prominence they occupied among early American publica-
tions can easily be recognized by any one who chooses to rummage in the
garret where the relics of the early days of his family are stored away. After
1704 newspapers were started in all the cities of the different colonies, and
paper jjecame one of the regular and profitable commodities in which every
importer to this country traded.
The Parliament of P^ngland did not care to see paper manufactured in the
colonies : enactments were accordingly made against it. Pasteboard for the
pressing of cloth was alone permitted. Nevertheless, a paper-mill
was started among the Americans as early as 1693 in a little village
near Philadelphia named Roxborough, where writing, printing,
and wrapping papers were prosperously made, until an untimely
freshet broke loose one day, anil executed the will of Parliament
in a summary manner by carrying away the mill, rags, vats, machinery, and
ail. In the next generation after the starting of this original mill oro^vth of
three other factories were put up, — one near Boston, one upon industry in
Chester Creek in Delaware County, Penn., and the third in Eliza- »•«"'«'"'"•
bethtuwn, N.J. The newspaper printers of the colonies were very much
interested in the growth of this industry. They were good customers of the
mills, and an ample supply of paper at low prices was essential to their
prosperity. Brailford, the famous printer at New York, owned the mill at
Klizabethtown himself; and Franklin assisted to build no less than eighteen
others in the course of his life. By 1 769 there were forty paper-making
establishments in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The paper was
made by these early makers from rags of cotton or linen. The pulp when
obtained was taken by ladling or dipping into a hand-sieve or mould made
suitable to the purpose, and ])y a rapitl shaking motion spread evenly over the
whole bottom of the sieve. The water draining through the cloth left the
pulp in a sheet, which was then removed, and pressed in a pile with other
sheets (a piece of felt lying between each sheet), dried, and finished. The
process was slow, and the product of each mill small. After the Revolution-
ary war broke out, the importations of paper stopped, and the Effect of
number of mills in the colonies, and the variety of their product, Revolution-
increased. Mr. Willcox on Chester Creek, Penn., made the paper "'" ^'"''
tor the Continental money issued by Congress. By 1787 there were sixty-
three mills in the States, forty-eight being in Pennsylvania; and in 1791 Alex-
ander Hamilton reported the business as being among the " considerable "
manufactures of the period. The qualities made were printing, writing,
460
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
sheathing, and wrapping paper, pasteboard, fuller's or press paper, and papei
for hangings. Congress did what it could for the manufacture by layiiiT ;j
duty of seven and a half per cent on paper i!i 1 789, and making rags free.
It has never changed this policy, except at different times, when, to give tlie
finished product more protection, it raised the duty. The duty has at times
been as high as thirty-five per cent, and is still at that rate.
The principal hinderance of the early American manufacture was the short
supply of the raw material, j'he makers could, of course, have used raw cotton
Lack of raw and raw flax, both of which were abundant, and would iiave made
material. remarkably good papers, owing to the length of the fibres ; hut
the excessive price of the paper would either have caused a literary famine in the
land, or given the Europeans absolute control of our markets. Shortly after tlie
panic of 1837, when prices were down and the cotton-crop large, the raw fibre
of cotton was used to some extent, but not much ; and manufacturers liave
never, as a nile, considered bale cotton one of their available resources for raw
material. Their main dependence has always been upon cotton and linen
rags. In 1804, in order to encourage invention to pay some attention to the
subject of raw fibres suitable for paper-making, the American Company of
Booksellers ofleied gold and silver medals for the greatest (juantities and best
qualities of paper made from materials other than cotton and linen rags ; but at
the same time the company used its best efforts to promote the saving of rags
among the families of the country, as being more likely to be productive of
good. 'I'he newspapers seconded the effort to induce people to save rags by
frecjuent agitation of the subject. The Yankee peddler «li(l more
in this direction, however, than all other agencies combined, by
carrying about the country in his big wagon a tempting array of l)right new
tinware, new brooms, &c., and offering to exchange tiieni for good rags, which
he, on the return from bis expedition, sold for cash to the paper-manufacturers.
In the very large cities the demand for paper material afterwards gave rise to a
distinct race of people called rag-women and rag-men, who went about the
streets from early dawn to sunset with iron hooks, collecting all the rags and
scraps of papers they could find in the ash-barrels and gutters, and selling them
to paper-makers. The ready inarket for rags soon led every prudent house wile
to keep a rag-bag, into which all the chippings and worn-out cottons and linens
might go ; and the system of collecting the rags was soon well organized.
Notwithstanding all this, the consumption of paper in the United States was
enormously in excess of the production of rags, and always has been. The war
of 1 86 1 promoted the consumption enormously. The consequence has been,
that the United States has always had to import rags. In 1845 the importa-
tion had grown to 9,000,000 pounds a year ; in 1855 it was 40,000,000 pounds ;
in 1872 it was over 150,000,000 pounds. It is only since 1873 that the impor-
tation has begun to fall off, owing to the discovery of other raw materials ;
but the quantity of foreign rags consumed is still 75,000,000 pounds a year.
Rag-iaving.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
461
teriali (or
rags.
Tlie imported rags come mainly from Italy. The governments in the
nortli of Kiirope do not favor the exportation of rags, especially those of
linen. At various times, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and importation
Jielgium have absolutely prohibited it. Those from the south of *•' '■*••
Kuropc have been held to be the best, however, being whiter and finer.
The great scarcity and growing price of rags have led to numerous experi-
ments during the last hundred and fifty years, with a view to utili/iug other
raw materials. Just before our Revolutionary war there was great substitution
anxiety in Europe in respect to the supply of rags ; and nearly of other ma-
every grass, plant, and tree, which showed its head above the sur-
face of the earth, was made a subject of the devouring attention
of naturalists and manufacturers, witii a view to ascertaining its capabilities for
jjaper-making. In 1772 a book was printed in Germany containing leaves of
paper made out of sixty different materials, amcng which were shavings, saw-
dust, tliistles, cabbage-stalks, nettlesr the cones of pine-trees, and the bark of
several trees. About 1 780 paper was made from wood in Germany. None
of the vegetable fibres of Europe were, however, found to be available, — either
|)ecaiise of their scarcity, or tiie lack of a proper knowledge of how to reduce
tliem, — except the esparto-grass of Spain. This grass, so fibrous as to be
available for other purposes than paper-making, produced an excellent pulp,
and was easily reduced. It became a valuable addition to the resources of the
industry. Its quantity being limited, experiments continued with other fibres.
Straw was tried, and wood again ; and at length, in 1854, Mellier invented a
plan for treating straw, under a pressure of eighty degrees, with caustic alkali,
wiiich cleared the fibre of silica and gum, and brought it into the industry as
an available material for the cheaper tjualities of news and printing paper. A
cheniital process for treating wood made that material available the same year.
The manufacture of paper from wood, straw, and hemp, began in the United
States, in consequence of these discoveries, about the year 1861, at San
Lorenzo, Cal., and in 1865 at Manayunk, Penn. The three materials are
now very largely used, straw most of all. It may be mentioned as a curious
circunistance, that, about fifty years ago, the idea was started of using the
cotton or linen wrapi)ers for paper-making in which the mummies of Egypt
are swathed. The export of these cloths actually began for this purpose,
and would have continued, except that Mehemet Ali wished to monopolize
them for his own use in paper-making in Egypt.
.\ great change has been wrought in the manufacture of paper by the
employment of machinery in place of the old hand-processes. The principal
machine now used in paper-making is the Fourdrinier invention, improve-
The world is indebted to Louis Robert of France for this remarka- •"■"' °' ""■■
ble apparatus. It was brought into use in 1799, and Robert making
received both a patent and a premium of eight thousand francs p»per.
fram the French Government. Leger Didot carried it to England in 1802,
■■jir*r'r' 'k,
^£
463
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
and the Foiirdrinicrs perfected it. After 1820 some of these niadiines
were brought to the United States; and about 1830 Phelps ^: SiJoffonl of
Windham, Conn., began to make a rival machine, called the "(vlindcr
Machine," for the trade. Not long afterward, Howe & ("loddard of WorccstiT
Mass., began to make the P'ourdrinier machine. The application of jiowLr to
the manufacture was a welcome idea to .\mericans. Labor was high luru, and
the cost of hand-moulded paper excessive. The idea of employing iikk hint's
was taken up joyfully. 'I'he machinists perfected the cyliniler and I'Durdriniir
inventions, and contrived a large variety of other mechanical exiKiIicnts for
use in the mills ; and the imi)roved processes made more rapid proj,Tuss here
than they did in either France or Kngland, which originated tlicni. While
those two countries contin\ied to use the hand-moulds on an immense scale,
and still do employ them, the United States directed their whole effort to devel-
oping machinery which should make the best <iualities of paper antomatii ally
as well as they were made in Kurope by the other process. Tiie greatest
strides have been made since 1861. The success has been so great, that
American machine-made papers are competing successfully at home and
abroad with :hose cust in the hand-moulds.
Under tNe oitl system, a pile of a hundred ami twenty sheets of pajjer.
formed by hand, consumed two weeks in the making and fmisiiing : now-
Paper- ^^ work is all done in less than four minutes. The milky pulp.
making prepared by grinding, bleaciiing. and washing, flows from a cis-
escn e . ^^^^^ down upou One end of a long machine stretihiiig across
a large room, which is a combination of entUess aprons, gangs of heavy
rollers arranged perpendicularly one over the other, cog-wheels, and steam
heating-pipes. The pulp foils upon a leather apron, and flows in a little
cascade upon an endless wire-doth, over which the web of pajjcr i:; formed.
The size of the stream is regulated according to the tiiickness of liie |)ai)er.
The wire-cloth is constantly vibrating from side to side. The motion spreads
the pulp evenly over the cloth as it would be done by the shaking motion in
the hand-process : it also aids the felting of the particles of fibre, and the
drainage of the water through the wire-cloth. The greater part of the water
having disappeared, and left a moist web on the cloth as it slowly travels
away from the leather apron, the web is taken up through a ])air of rollers
covered with flannel, which give it a slight i)ressure, s(]ueezing out some of
the remaining moisture, and condensing the web. The web goes through
between a second pair of wet press-rolls, and is then taken up by an endless
felt apron, which carries it to' a fresh set of rolls, which squeeze it more
severely, and leave the paper strong and dry enough to go on without the
support of the aprons. It travels along now bet' een pressing-rolls and over
the surface of steel cylinders heated by steam, and, after passing o.'er about
thirty or forty feet of heated surface, reaches the end of its journey, and is
wound up tightly on a large roller, — an endless sheet of paper. The machine
OF THE UNITED STATES.
463
moves at the rate of from twenty-five to forty feet a minute. The paper is
made at the rate of from three to five miles a day. From the paper-making
niachiiK' the roil goes to the calendering and <;utting machinery ; though
sometinics the rutting is done at the end of the first process by the action
of a pair of shears, the paper coming from the Fourdrinier machine in sheets
instead of in a wel). Calendering is done by passing the paper between two
rollers, one of polished copper, the other covered with paper. The i)ressure
of the rolls is enormous, and the paper comes from between them compacted
ami with a beautiful surface. Letter-paper receives its power to take ink
without blotting, not only by good calendering, but by sizing the i)aper, the
latter being the more essential.
mil.YOKt lAI'KK CUMI'ANV, IIULYUKK, MASS.
Ever since the application of machinery, about the year 1830, the impor-
tation of foreign papers to the United States has fallen off. The importations
previous to that date were heavy, and were carried to such an _,
' -' ' Decrease m
extent, that, for a long time previous to 1825, the United-States importation
Senate actually used paper which was not only of foreign manu- "' foreign
facture, l)ut which bore the water-mark (remarkably out of place
in a republic like this) of " Napoleon, Empereur et Roi, 1813." During the
late war, and for a few years afterwards, the amount of the importations was
from one to three million dollars' worth a year. This was an apparent in-
crease ; but it only took place because there was a demand for elegant writing-
papers consequent upon the demands of fashion, and the percentage of
464
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\\
foreign papers to the total amount consumed was really smaller than ever
The importations soon fell away again. Belgium ceased to send us Ikt ( hca.,
news and book papers, wiiich had been consumed in New York to a l;,r^,^.
extent. The orders for the French anil English writing, ledger, fancy, and
tissue paf)ers, began to stop; and after 1871, the year of greatest import.ition
consumption of foreign papers dwindled rapidly away, until it readied the
very insignificant figure of ;^ii,i78i3 in the whole year of iS;-, tlie
total production of this country being about ;R6o,ooo,ooo worth a year.
One London house, which ten years ago sent ^30,000 worlli of ])ai)cr
to this country, had ceased to pay any attention to this trade. While this
extraordinary change was taking place, an export of American papers spiant'
up. Before the war ^here had been an export to South .\nieri( a ; but
it was discontinued in 1861. It was resumed after the war. It grevy so
Exporution fast, that it rose from S3.777 in 1869 to ;J93S.ooo in 1S77.
of paper. American manufacturers discovereil in 1869, what they had not
really been consciously aware of before, that their machine-inade pajiers
were of as good a quality as the foreign hand-made, and th.it they ( cmld
compete in foreign markets for their sale. They organized in 1877 for ion-
certed action in pushing the export of paper. Forty-one firms uniteil in a
movement to send agents to England and to South .America to see what could
be done ; and they succeeded, not only in selling their papers of all kinds in
South America, but also in England, in competition with the local manufac-
turers of that kingdom. Their writii.g-papers were found to vithstaiui the
moist climate of England better than the English-made. American bank-note,
bond, news, book, and writing papers now go to South America freely. The
writing, ledger, and plate pajjcrs go to England. The thin manilas go all
over the world. Wrapping-papers go to the West Indies. The range and
amount of the sales is rapidly increasing, and the United States is now fairly
in the field for producing a part of the world's supply of paper.
In 1872 there were 812 paper-mills in the United States, princii)ally in
Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. They employed 22,000 people,
Number of and produced 317,637 tons of paper, or a little over 1,000 tons a
miiii. (lay, the value of the same being ^66,500,000. Of the total i)rod-
uct Massachusetts made one-third. Since 1872 about eighty mills have been
added. It is believed that there are now no hand-made paper establishments
in the country. Machinery drove them all out of existence. Two lingered
along until within a very few years, — one in Massac ausetts, and one in Penn-
sylvania, — when they, too, "folded their tents, and silently stole away."
Earl uie of Paper-hangings were first ofiered for sale in America in 1737;
paper-hanc- but they were little used, except in families of wealth, before 1 750.
*"*• in the Their use was regarded as sinful luxury and ostentation. White-
washed walls began to be regarded as something less than of the
highest beauty and moral worth only about the time of the Revolution : those
OF illE UNITED STATES.
465
who ( ould afford them then bought the Knglish and French hangings, and put
them in their houses. Tiiey were so costly, that they w'ere not pasted upon
the walls, but were merely hung upon tlv;in, or placed against them, attached
to iVinics. They were freepiently moved from house to house. i,„porttd
Their manufacture was begun ujjon a small scale in 1 763 ; and from
bviySy there were small factories in Boston, New Jersey, and "•■"•
IVniisyivania. The paper for them was fabricated from the coarsest and
< heapest rags, and even from woollen stuff. It was made in sheets thirty
inches long, which were pasted together neatly in strips long p.,,,, n„„y.
c'noiiy;ii to reach from floor to ceiling ; antl the pattern was stamped (acturei in
upon tiiem with wooden blocks by lianil. In 1 789 Jolin Carnes ^"'*«"'
of Delaware, who had been consul at Lyons, resolved to enter upon
the nianiifiicture of paper-hangings on a larger scale than had been common in
the loiintry. He associated himself with Burrell Carnes and two French work-
men by tiie names of Le CoUay and Chardon, and tliey went into business at
I'hiiailelpiiia extensively. The hangings j)roduced by these early makers were
of a very cheap description ; but they sufficed to introduce color and form
into tlie decoration of houses, and were very e ensively bought by the people.
Bostuii was producing 24,000 pieces yearly by 1794. By 1810 four establish-
ments in the vicinity of I'hiladelphia were producing 140,000 pieces yearly,
worth $97,41 7 ; and I'roviilence was making 8,000 pieces, worth $8,000, yearly.
Tiic best papers were, of course, imported from France and Kngland,
vliere the arts of design and decoration found rich patrons, and had been
practised for generations. I'eople of fasiiion were in the habit of importa-
putting none except French and luiglish papers on their walls, at t'om
least iu their best rooms. The American makers, for fifty years
after the Revolution, aspired to do little except to supply the mass of the
peoi)le with cheap hangings. The prettiest of the papers they made were in
imitation of the foreign styles ; but a part of their goods were in original styles,
and were frequently extremely unique. The writer has a sample of a paper
made at Albany in 181 2 by Barnard & Steele, which was called ..xhe battle
" the battle of Lake Krie " paper. It had pictures in black and of Lake
gray, on a white ground, representing in a vague and ideal sort of ^' * p«p«'-
way three scenes in that famous naval conflict. The pictures were about two
feet apart, and a wall papered with the hanging must have been a bewildering
object to look at. Patriotic scenes were common, the pattern deriving its
interest solely from association of ideas, and not from its material beauty.
.'\nother queer paper much in use in those early days was the "rainbow
paper," invented about 1830 by the sons of John B. Howell at Philadelphia.
Enormous fem-leaves covered the surface of the paper, the hues of which
shaded from dark brown at one end to light yellow at the other, while the
grounds shaded from light blue to dark blue. This shading of grounds and
patterns soon became very coaunon.
continued.
466
INDUSTKIAL IllSTOKY
f
t All the printing was done by hand, with a wooden block twenty im lies
square and three inches thick. The color was first spread upon a liLmkut
Mideof 'Hie block was laid on the blanket to receive its color, .uul was
printinr t],j,„ applied to the strip of wall-paper, metal pins at the i oriicr
marking places on the strip to guide the printer in applying future < olors
Pressure was a[)plied to the block by a treadle operateil by the printer'M inoi
After each impression the strip of paper was pushed along, and a new impres-
sion made, until the hanging hatl received its printing from one end to il^
other. If the pattern was in niore than one color, the paper was hunj< iih lo
dry after receiving each color, and then taken down and subjected to tiie s.uuc
process, each tint being put on separately and by a tlifferent block. '\\\u was
a tedious process, and one man ami one boy could print only a hundnd rulls
of one-colored paper a day. If six colors had to go on, it would take a wcuk.
The process was identical with that for printing calicoes and dress-f^otJiU.
The grounds of these old papers were generally white, and in the patuin, a
great ileal of reil, yellow, and brown was used. The fashionable IruiK li
papers were generally horrible combinations of yellow, gilt, brown, and wliitc,
the floral and leaf patterns being of enormous size, anil the borders twelve or
eighteen inches wide. Oftentimes, however, the imported pa|)ers rei)reseiiti;(l
scenes in a garden, classic legends, &c., the room jjapered with them resem-
bling a panorama, A pajjer exhibited at one of the world's fairs, represoiuing
a chase in the forest, reipiired the aid of twelve thousand blocks in the prim-
ing. In 1824 glazed grounds began to be introduced.
After 1820 the business grew very rapidly. The Kourdrinier paper-machine
enabled the material for the hanging to be produced in rolls, obviatiiij^ the
Orowth of costly old process of pasting the thirty-inch sheets together by
buiinei* hand, and cheapening the expense of the finished hanginjjs im-
■iterisao. mensely. Then in 1843 a machine for printing two colors was
introduced into the business, and, within ten years afterwards, one which would
print in six colors. This machine soon superseded all the hand-printing of
ordinary papers in this country. This still further cheapened the cost, and
increased the sale of hangings. Other machinery was soon invented. For-
merly, whenever the ground of the hanging was colored, the stain was laid on
by hand. A machine was now constructed to brush on the color automatically.
Others were contrived for cutting up the long rolls of paper into strips of
proper length for sale, for rolling up the strips, for brushing the jjaper lo
produce the satin finish, for embossing the paper, and for other pur])oses.
The printing-machine was still further improved. The manufocturers did not
stop with six colors, but put roller after roller into the machine luitil its
capacity had been increased to twenty colors. Each color was laitl on by a
separate roller, and the long web of paper passed from one to the other until
it had taken them all ; and it then i)assed off to a frame, which caught it up in
a succession of long folds, and carried it slowly across the room to dry. One
or THR UNITED STATES.
m
roll ipplicd varnish to the paper, and to this giMin^ was afterwards applied by
dii^tiiit,' it o'>' ">' •*>"■ l>ri;*»'-'»t process cne machine can turn out in one day
irom tlirce thousanil to five thousand rolls of hangings printed in any number
of (i)lors from one to twenty: by the old process this work would have cm-
ploNul a man and a boy for a year and a half. 'I'he beauty of tlie papers and
tht'ii ( hc;)pness continually improved with this ap|)li(ation of machinery.
{'oliiK'd grounds were generally introduced in ])lare of the cold white grounds,
and rii lier, darker, and prettier patterns. Some haiMl-printing of the more
costK p.ipers has still continued to be done ; but American machinery is
gtcatlily enc roac hing on the territory of hand-work, and, for all except the
napirs costing from three dollars to eight dollars a roil, the work is so well
doiu', tiiat experienc cd judges cannot tell which is machine-made and which
h.'ind-made. In France and Knglanil the manufacturers cling to the hand-
|)ro( esses : they regard the product as clearer in print. Yet, within the last
three years, .American makers have taken Knglish jiatterns and jmnted them
by mac lime, and sent the papers bat k to England, where they defied dis-
crimination from the others by the most experienced eye. ■ ' '
i'lie lact that the large cities of the United States arc the best customers
of tiie paper-hanging makers has led them to assemble their factories of late
ycar^. near those <entres of p()|)ulation. Formerly the factories Location of
were scattered through New ICngland and the Middle States in '■««"'•••
the rural cities and villages, where watcr-jjower was plenty, or taxes light :
now tile concern of J. R. iligelow & t'ompany at Hoslon is the only one in
.New Fngland ; and the most jirosperous and largest concerns in addition to
Higelow's are centre«l in New York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. One advan-
tage of having large factories in a city is, that the people of the place can go
to the factory, select a pattern, and have enough of the hanging made in any
special color or tone to match their carpets and furniture. In i860 there
were twenty-six paper-hanging factories in the United States, making 11,037,-
600 worth of hangings a year. The business has increased in amount ; but
the number of factories has decreased. There were in 1870 only fifteen fac-
tories ; but they produced J2, 200,000 worth of hangings : since then the
production has increased nearly J 1,000,000 worth.
Tiiere is in paper-hangings, as in silver Tnd gold ware, architecture, and
decoration generally, a need of distinctive American styles. American flowers
and leaves are largely used in the cheaper paper ; but in the costly style in
kinds, by which the art of decorating paper-hangings must be p«p«'»'
judged, there is still the same imitation of foreign patteins which was common
a hundred years ago. Manufacturers copy the French and English ideas
habitually. Two manufacturers in New York are trying to introduce their own
designs in expensive paper ; but their inspiration is still the foreign decora-
tions. One concern, that of Leissner & Louis, devotes itself largely to making
patterns in the antique styles, producing papers in the Egyptian, Persian,
'*V"r'-^f,f>rr* fir '(f|
i 1
^.j^;''
468
INDUSTRrAL HISTORY
Greek, Pompeiian, or any other style to order. There is great need of eman-
cipation from the influence of the ideas of the Old World, and the con-
trivance of designs in a pure American spirit.
Not only are the styles of paper constantly changing, but the tastes of
people also change concerning their use. Only a few years ago it was gener-
ally believed that many kinds of wall-paper were unhealthy, because of the
Painted V*. poisonous ingredients put into the coloring-materials ; wiiile the
paper walla, paste used in sticking papers to the wall attra.,ied moisture, making
roon damper than they would otherwise be. Actoidingly, a period of gen-
eral wall-scraping was inaugurated. Having been thoroughly cleaned of old
paper and paste, walls were painted ; it being everywhere admitted that tlie
colors adopted were healthy, as well as more pleasing to the eye. But, now
taste is setting once more in the opposite direction, colored walls are being
re-covered with paper, the most stylish mode of putting it on being to use
three shades, — the lightest shade for the middle or body of the wall, a darker
shade for the top, and a still darker for the bottom. By and by we shall
doubtless hear of another change, made as suddenly as this ; and perhaps
wall-papers may be discarded altogether.
The importation of foreign hangings has been at times very large, but
never so large as since the war. In 1872 it amounted to 1^982,000 worth :
since then it has fallen to almost nothing. A large export has sprung up in
its place, especially to South America, Canada, and the West Indies.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
469
CHAPTER IX.
GUNPOWDER AND FIREWORKS.
Dupont.
WHEN old Putnam stormed and fumed about the earthworks on the
hills overlooking Boston, and cried, " Powder, powder ! O ye gods,
give us powder ! " the quality of the article he then sighed for so ardently was
extremely poor. This inflammable material had been in use for four hundred
years ; but the smoke, flame, and ashes it made were out of all proper propor-
tion to its power. The quantity then made in the United States _
was not so large per annum as would be consumed in one of workaduring
our modern mining-regions in a week, or in one lively battle, t^e •*«»»•»-
The government started powder-works during the Revolution to
insure a supply of that necessary munition of war; but it was not until 1802
— when a Frenchman by the name of Eleuthere Irene Du-
pont started a factory on the Brandywine, near Wilmington, Del.
— that powder of any great excellence was made upon our soil. Dupont
had had a chemical education, and, noticing the poor quality of American
powder, resolved to supply the rising young republii with an article which
would obviate the inconveniences of an explosive which fouled the musket
badly, and which would make the country more formidable in war and peace.
The demands of the people of the several States for sporting-powder and for
military powder with which to fight Indians, and the hostilities with England
which began in 181 2, gave Dupont all he could do in the way of manufacture.
He repeatedly enlarged his factory ; and when he died, in 1834, his establish-
ment was the largest of the kind in the country : it has since then become
the largest in the world. The war of 181 2 led to the establishment of other
factories of powder, especially in Pennsylvania, which has always been a large
consumer of powder, and, by all odds, the largest manufacturer. The factories
were generally small, and were located in places remote from other
. . , , r , ■ , , M , Manufacture
projjerty, m order not to endanger life and capital by a possible of powder
explosion. During the war of 1861 the quantities of powder duringrecent
consumed in the United States were enormous. The resources of
the existing factories were taxed to supply the market which was so suddenly
y
i:!
470
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
and unexpectedly created,
requirements of the times.
It was necessary to start new factorii^s to meet the
By 1870 there were thirty-three powdcr-fiic tories
in full operation in the United States, fifte- of them being in Peniis\ l\aiiia
Factorie*
In 1870.
five in New York, three in CaUtomia, two in Connecticut, and two
in Ohio. One of those in Connecticut was that of the Ha/ard
Powder Company of Hazardvilie, a celebrated concern : another was tlie
Laflin & Rand concern of New- York City.
In a country like the United States there must always be a great denniid
for powerful explosives. We have few or no wars of jealousy and con.iuost
Need of to fight ; but we have a million railroads, canals, and streets wliic h
powder. rcisx'-X be laid out on direct and level routes, regardless of kkUs
and mountains ; and they could never be laid out and built, with any regard
to levels and straight lines, without the aid of powerful explosives to sliatter
the rocks, and remove them from the way. We have a million mines of
gold, silver, copper, and iron, and cjuarries of stone, to work, whose treasures
would be almost inaccessible, except for the agency of guji])QiKde£juul^ nitro-
glycerine. There are reefs and rocks to be cleared out of the harbors ; there
are guns to be fired on occasions of public holiday ; there are fireworks to
be burned at festivals, and rockets and mortars to be fire<l by life-saving crews.
Leaving aside the whole subject of the demands of the army and navy of
the United States, and of the militia regiments of the several States, the
legitimate demands of the engineering works, the mines, and amusements of
our people, are still sufficient of themselves to create a necessity for a large
manufacture of gunpowder and explosives. Not long since, a blast was fired
in a limestone quarry of the Glendon Iron Company, at Easton, Penn., wliich
contained a charge of twelve thousand pounds of mortar-powder, displai ing
sixty thousand tons of rock. The legitimate demands of the United Stales
now amount to over twenty million pounds of powder annually. The manu-
facture is larger than that, however, because there is an export of gun-
powder to Europe and South America constantly, both in tlic form of
cartridges, and loose in kegs. The export trade is irregular, and dc])ends
largely on the progress of hostilities abroad : but, whenever there is war, there
is always a demand for American powder ; and, as the monarchies of Europe
or the nations of Asia are in a quarrel about half of the time, there is very
seldom a year in which more or less of our powder does not go abroad.
About half the powder used in the Crimean war is said to have been
bought in America : a great deal of that which the Turks used in the late
war was certainly bought here.
Gunpowder is made of three ingredients, — cha rcoal, nitre, and sulphu r, —
Powder, in proportions which vary slightly, according to the use to which
how made, t^g powder is to be devoted. The ingredients arc combined by
weight. The following are four of the more common proportions, the recipes
being for a hundro pounds of powder each : —
OF THE UNITED STATES.
47»
Atomic theory
Uniicd-Statcs military
Sporting .
Wasting .
74.64
76
78
62
13-51
14
12
18
11.85
10
10
20
The nitre is reduced in quantity for blasting-powder in order to cheapen
the cost and lessen the rapidity of combustion. For most purposes of blast-
ing, a sustained and increasing push is better than a sudden and terrific shock.
A strong and chcaj) blasting- powder is also made by using nit rate of soda ^
instead of nitrate of p otassa or nitre. The ingredients are mixed in the
very highest state of purity. The sulphur and nitre are carefully and con-
scientiously refined before the mixing takes place. It is desired that the
powder shall burn away completely, without re siduum or as h ; and it will not
do this if impurities are present. The charcoal is obtained from slender
willow-shoots^o r from poplar, in the United States. The trees are generally
cultivated by the owners of the factories. In Europe the alder is used, and
in Russia the white-birch. The wood is charred in red-hot iron cylinders,
and ground when cold by rolling,' in a barrel with zinc balls. The ingredients
are all reduced to powder : they are then mixed in the proper quantities,
and sent to the grinding-mill in quantities of about fifty pounds at a time.
The incorporation of the ingredients is a very important matter, and the
grinding, is therefore, very carefully attended to. It takes place in a circular
trough of cast-iron, in which cast-iron wheels of three or fou- tons' weight
follow each other slowly around in a circle, crushing the powder under them
as they pass along. The powder is kept moistened throughout the opci-ation.
After grinding, the powder is subjected to heavy pressure between copper
plates, and is thus reduced to a cake. It is then broken up into grains, either
by mallets or toothed rollers, glazed by rolling in barrels so as to enable the
grains the better to resisi moisture, dried, sifted, and cleaned of dust.
The relative proportion of the ingredients causes the powdes to burn
slowly or rapidly. This idea was taken advantage of by Gen. j „,.,g„ .
Rodman, U.S.A., in 1856, in order to produce a powder suited powder,
to large cannon. He conducted a series of experiments with •'owdeter-
powders, and was the first in the world to produce an explosive
suited to modern artillery. His powders were made in two forms. One,
called the " mammoth," was in irregular grains, from six-tenths to
, . Rodman.
nme-tcnths of an mch m diameter : the other, called the " per-
forated cake," was in hexagonal or cylindrical grains, perforated with six or
ten holes. Gen. Rodman gained slow combustion by these varieties of pow-
der, and consequently greater initial velocity at the mouth of the gun, with
' '■58 ■ * "j
.-3. r hK.
f^:„V'i(i .i,-'i'
47a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\..\ '^11
m
^;!u!i!!!i'i
■/*'' ft •
r./'i«l'<'' 'Tl
it li" '<3
l*^J ,'( . Ill
.■>' '7.
POWOER-KXrLOSION.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
mi
less recoil. The heavy guns used in the war of 1861 were supplied with
the Rodman powder. It is related, that in many cases, when light bat-
teries or infantry regiments were deployed in front of the heavy guns, on
lower ground, but close to them, the men of the latter were sometimes
hit and wounded with kernels of the powder which had not been burned.
Rodman's idea was adopted in Europe as soon as it became known. The
.English pebble and pellet powders, and the Russian prismatic, are the out-
growth of it.
The power of gunpowder is enormous. Water expands seventeen hundred /
times in becoming steam ; but gunpowder expands into a greater volume of
gases, and its tension is enormously promoted by the heat gener- power of
ated in combustion. One early experimenter in this country con- gunpowder,
fined twenty-eight grains of powder in a cylindrical space which it exacdy
filled : when fired, it burst a piece of iron which would have resisted a strain
of four hundred thousand pounds. A mortar loaded with one-twentieth of an
ounce of powder, and having a twenty-four-pounder cannon laid on top of it,
was burst by the explosion, and the cannon lifted. Various experimenters have
arrived at different results in testing the pressure of gunpowder before being
relieved by expansion, the product of force ranging from seven to 662 tons' / 9
pressure to the square inch. The average force of gunpowder is rated at forty
tons to the square inch.
Within the last sixty years a number of other explosives have been added
to the list with gunpowder, some of which have been extremely useful in
engineering. The first was discovered in 1832 in Europe by other explo- '^
Braconnet, who found that starch dissolved in nitric acid, and pre- •'*'••
cipitated with water, becomes explosive by concussion. Braconnet called his
new powder xyloidine. Shortly afterward Pelouse treated paper and cotton
and linen fabrics with nitric acid, and got an equally explosive product, which
he called pyroxyline. The new substance was so destructive, that
a peaceful old stocking treated with nitric acid became so incen-
diary and energetic as to be able to blowup a house. In 1846 Schonbein
made gun-cotton by the use o f nitric and sulphuric acid, and great attention —^^m^ \
was paid to the new product all over the world. Gun-cotton has since been
made to some extent in two forms. In one, long-staple cotton is
!_• 1 1 ,. .... ,,,.,. Oun-cotton.
subjected to the action of one part of nitric and three of sulphuric A
acid, and put through a long series of washings in water and dryings, and boil-
ing in alkaline solutions. The staple is twisted into ropes, or woven into cloth,
for use. In the other, or English process, the staple is beaten into pulp, as in
paper-making, after being treated with nitric and sulphuric acids, and is com-
pressed into small white cubes or cylinders, while moist, under a pressure of
four or five tons. Gun-cotton for experimental purposes has been made on
a very small scale in this country. It was tried at the government engineer-
ing-works at Hell Gate, in New- York harbor, previous to the demolition of the
Pyroxyline.
474
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
1^
Dynamite
reef there ; but it has always been found too violent and uncertain in its action
and too expensive, for practical use.
A whole world of explosives has grown out of the discovery of gun-cotton.
Schultze-powder was soon invented ; which was nothing more than wood
Nitro- reduced to large grains, and treated with acids. Nitro-glycerine
glycerine. was discovered in 1847, and first applied to engineering in 1864,
in Sweden. The simplicity of manufacture and extraordinary power of tliis
agent soon made it popular. It is prepared by introducing glycerine , drop liy
drop, into nitric and sulphuric acids. It is a terrible exi)los ivc, prodncini,'
three and a half times as much gas, and twice as much heat, as gunpowder, and
is never safe to handle except when frozen. It congeals at forty or forty-five
degrees, and is then perfectly safe ; but, when liquid, it explodes with slight
concussion ; and its power is so great, that a can which has contained it, but
has been emptied, will, when thrown on the ground, explode with violenee
sufficient to destroy life. When not confined, it burns with difficulty on tiie
application of a match. Since 1865 it has been extensively used in tiie United
States for blasting in the excavation of railroad tunnels, reefs, &c. It is easily
\ Ymade in the vicinity of tiie works. Dynamite, or 'dant-ijowder,
lite.' oil
dualine, Vulcan-powder, lithofractem, and other explosives, are
produced by causing nitro-glycerine to be absorbed by some inert and jiorous
solid. The silicious infusorial earth found in Hanover, called " kieselguhr,"
is the best which has been found for the purpose. It is not so dangerous to
handle in this form, and is yet slightly slower in combustion, and hence more
serviceable. Nitro-glycerine and all of its compounds are exploded in blasting
by a fulminate of mercury contained in a copper capsule, and usually ignited
by an electric spark from a battery at a safe distance from the mine. One of
the explosives with which the United-States engineers experimented at Hell
Gate was called " vigorite." It was made of coal-tar by the action of nitric
and sul phuric a cids. The idea was to get a cheaper explosive than nitro-
glycerine, if possible ; the cost of blowing up the reef there being large, and
a reduction of expense being desirable. The engineers had to fall back,
however, on nitro-glycerine — that is to say, its compounds — at last, as being,
all things considered, preferable to all other agents. Twenty-six tons of
the material were used, distributed in cartridges in 4,462 holes in the rock.
Dynamite was principally used ; but some of the cartridges were of dualine
and Vulcan-powder also.
The brilliant effects produced by the burning of gunpowder at night, es-
pecially in conjunction with the metals, and other substances having a colored
Fireworks flame) caused the new combustible to be seized upon at once in
and colored Europe to add to the attractions of the royal fttes. In Portugal,
' **■ France, Spain, Italy, and England, in the ages succeeding the
invention of gunpowder, public carnivals for the entertainment of the people,
or royal festivities in honor of distinguished guests, were extremely common,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
475
and were of the most extraordinary description. The travels of the kings
through their own realms were also attended by public displays, and a regular
feature of the night performances soon came to be the burning of fireworks and
colored lights. In America, cannon-firing, bonfires, the ringing of the bells, and
public jjarades and speerhes, were, for a long time, the sole elements of a public
festival, especially of those of a political character. John Adams predicted
that the Fourth of July would always be celebrated with demonstrations of that
character. Fireworks were not greatly used in the republic for some time
after the Fourth-of-July celebrations began. Ship-masters disliked to take
them on shipboard in Europe and bring them here, owing to their dangerous
character ; and they were too costly, and in too little demand, to be manu-
factured here. After 1816 they were manufactured on a small scale; and
they are now made in moderate quantities every year, as Fourth of July
approaches, in response to the demand for them for the festivities on that
occasion. Their public use is confined entirely to that anniversary, the custom
being to have the display on the night of July 3 along with the bonfires, the
parades and speeches coming on the day after. Fifty years ago, when fire-
works were first coming into general use, the displays were conducted by
private enterprise. They were either the patriotic demonstration of private
citizens, or were the speculation of some ingenious business-man, who would
put up a high board fence around the garden adjoining his public-house and
exhibit his wheels and snakes and Roman candles and rockets to tfie admir-
ing gaze of the people at a shilling or twenty-five cents a head. As the cities
of the country have grown in size, it has been deemed fit that the celebration
of so important an event as the anniversary of national independence should in
all respects be carried on by the community at large. So, for twenty years or
more, the annual displays of fireworks have taken place at the public expense
in the various cities of the country, except here and there where demagogues
and two-cent politicians in the city councils have refitsed to vote the necessary
funds on the plea of economy for the sake of the dear people. There is an
obvious propriety in having the displays take place under official supervision.
Not only are they likely to be more splendid, but they are certain to be less
productive of accident, and damage to property. The great accumulations of
wealth in cities, in the form of buildings, have made caution and official super-
vision desirable.
The materials used in pyrotechny are gunpowder (or various mixtures of
nitre, charcoal, and sulphur) , and various metals, salts, and substances for pro-
ducing brilliant colors. The powder used is of a low grade of Manufacture
explosive power, and is intended merely to burn with brilliant "' firework*.
sparks, instead of exploding. In rockets alone is there any explosion. In
wheels, rockets, and Roman candles, the powder is so confined as to give
propelling power. Rockets were originally used in war. The Congreves
formed a great feature at the siege of Copenhagen in 1807, and at the battle
i':'
0%
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
of Leipsic. The French were routed on the latter field by a volley of Ton-
greves. Rockets are now used on the sea as a signal of distress, and a ht-avy
variety is eniployeil on shore to c airy a line
to a stranded ship. They are good tor a dis-
tance of eight hundred yards, or marl) lialf a
mile. The rockets of the present day tor kstjval
use are often very powerful, and ascend in tlif
air from a thousand to twelve hundre<! fcut ; at
their highest point they burst, and tinow out a
volley of colored stars, or a cluster ot snakes.
Within two or three years the paracluite-ro( ket
has been invented, which throws out one, two,
or three large stars, each with a parachute,
which sustains them while lliey float off slowly
on the breeze, burning red, then white, then
blue, and oftentimes other colors. An immense
variety of wheels is made, with showers of
sparks of diflerent forms, and flames of the
different colors of the rainbow : they range from
the little whizzing pin-wheel three inches in
diameter, a boy's plaything, up to the huge
wheel six feet across, which flings out a circle
ROCKETS. of flame and scintillations twenty
feet in diameter. Roman can-
dles have been in use from the beginning, throwing anywhere
from two to eight balls, one after the other. Within the last
few years volcanoes have been introduced, shooting out a tor-
rent of balls for several seconds ; and quite recently the
bomb, which, being set upon the ground, throws up a hollow
ball straight into the air to the height of five hundred feet,
which, exploding, also throws out a shower of balls. The fire-
cracker, the delight of the boys, introduced to this country
from China, forms no part of the public displays ; but it does
form a considerable feature in the sales of the dealers in fire-
works. Its use has been regulated by law since the disastrous
ten-million-dollar fire at Portland, Me., and the
large number of small fires, which resulted from
the careless use of this noisy plaything. Fourth
of July, though, is a hollow mockery to the boys without the
fire-cracker ; and they still consume it enormously. A great
feature of the public shows is the set pieces, in which a spread
eagle, or a portrait of Washington, or " Independence," or some other motto,
is depicted in lines of fire. The fancy of the makers has free play in the con-
Evil consC'
quences of
fireworki.
RUMAN CANDLE.
OF THE UNITED STATES,
477
stniction of these pieces, and they bear names of the most poetical descrip-
tion. Among those produced for the Centennial displays in 1876 were the
Siarol America, the Yankee Windmill, the Jajjanese CUory, the Fairies' Frolic,
the Persian Rose, the Uate-Tree of the Desert, the Scroll Quadrille, the
KdeidoM ope, the Star of Independence, Washington, the Tribute to Ceres,
the I'olka Dance, the Siiield of the Union, the Bald-headed I'^agle of I.iberty,
the Priming- Press, and the Tribute to America. Their names sufficiently
describe t!icm.
In the diversification of the various fires, lampblack, or stroiitia nitrate or
carboii.Ue, is used to i)roduce a very red color, such as is employed in the
theatres at times, or for a simple colored fire Different
in street processions, as well as tor fireworks, colon, how
Willi nitre in excess, these substances produce ''"' '"^' "
a pink. Nitre and sulphur make a white fire. Yellow
an Ik- made by common salt, resin, or amber. A violet
is proiiiued by jjotassa salts, chlorate, and carbonate
mixed ; a blue, by potassa salts and ammonia, copper
sulphate and antimony sulphide, or copper carbonate and
alum; a green-blue, by zinc-filings, or copper sulphate
and sal ammoniac. A good green is obtained from ba-
rium carbonate, or verdigris with copper sulphate and
sal-ammoniac. Iron -filings give bright s|)arks; and
steci-filings and cast-iron-borings, having more carbon,
afford a more brilliant scintillation with wavy radiations.
Lycopociium burns with a rose-color and a magnificent
flame: it is, therefore, largely used for flambeaux in
street-processions, and in theatres to represent lightning,
or flames in a burning building.
Chemistry has thus greatly increased the resources of
the pyrotechnic art. The modern fireworks are very
much more brilliant than those of the middle ages ; and the citizens of
republican America are entertained every Fourth of July, when the improve-
cities bestir themselves, with more beautifiil displays than any mentin fire-
which ever glorified the pomps of the kings of Europe. The ^°'^'"-
brilliant spectacles of the late war during the night bombardments of
Sumter and of the works before Richmond and Petersburgh, which will
never be forgotten by those who saw them, were the most extraordinary
scenes ever witnessed upon this continent at the time they took place.
They have been surpassed since the war, however, just as the royal fetes of
Europe in the middle ages have been, by the splendors of recent j)yrotechny.
The scene in the city of New York at night, for instance, from any tower which
overlooks that vast community, spreading over the country for miles, — into
Long Island on the one side, and New Jersey on the other, — during the
478
IND US TRIA L HIS TOK Y
discharge of anniversary fireworks, is something which surpasses the siil'c-
tacular effects of the late war. The thousands of rockets ascending into tlio
air as far as the eye can reach, the parachute-stars floating away softly on
the wings of the breeze, the volleys of Roman candle-balls in every direction
the flash of colored fires, and the inevitable conflagration of a Ijuildini- litre
and there, — all these, outlined against the night, are the eleuicnla of a
strange and impressive picture.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
m
CHAPTER X.
INDIA-RUBBER MANUFACTURES.
CAOUTCJHOUC appears to have been one of the vaUiable products of the
East Indies which the ancients entirely overlooked. It was not until
this substance was discovered in practical use among the savages of the conti-
nent of America that the civilized world took cognizance of it, and turned to
account the magnificent rubber-trees of India. Caoutchouc was unknown to
scicnct' until 1735. In that year an observing Frenchman who had just come
down the Amazon, and who had noticed that the natives were Discovery of
making l)()ots, bottles, and water-proof cloth, of the gum of a «:"«>"tehouc.
strange and magnificent tree, related the facts to the French Academy of
Sciences. The natives of South America called the gum cahuchu ; and Con-
(ianiinc brought the sound of the name to France, and introduced the new
gum to the world as caoutchouc. In 1 75 1 Condamine again called attention
to this " elastic resin," and announced that it had been found in the trees of
the Fren( h province of Cayenne. Public curiosity was then excited about the
new substance. Small quantities of it v^re obtained from the East Indies and
South America ; and the chemists, who alone for a long period were interested
in it, began a series of experiments to find out what it could be made useful
for. Herissant and Macquer published the result of their investigations in
1763 to show that caoutchouc could be dissolved. Priestley mentioned the
gum in 1770 as very meritorious for the purpose of erasing lead-pencil marks.
A cube of it about half an inch on the side cost three shillings at that time, or
about as much as two pounds of the crude gum costs now. A great many
experiments were made with this interesting gum during the next fifty years ;
but not until the end of that period was it used for any thing, except to erase
lead-pencil marks. In 1823 Mackintosh made the first practical application
of it to industrial dbjects by starting a factory at Glasgow for the water-proof-
ing of cloth with caoutchouc, the gum being dissolved for the purpose in oil
of turpentine and alcohol, or coal-tar naphtha.
From this small beginning caoutchouc has risen in fifty years to occupy a
position in the arts second hardly to that of rosin and of glass. It is now so
Il
I.
lift II^DUSTRIAL IIISTOKY
important, that it seems stranj;o how the world ( oiild ever hav ({ot alon- with-
importanct oiil it. It performs a hiin(lri<l o(h( es wiiidi no other kiunMi ^i,i,.
oidticovtry. stance toiild fuHil. Its elasticity, ailliesiveness, ami impenioiisncsj
to water, arc al)soluteIy iminue. Siuii are its (|iialities, that it is now exten-
sively woven into ta|)es and elastic tissues. It is applied to cloth as a w.iter
proof varnish ; and il cements any number of pieces of cloth toj,'!.ilui into
thick plates, so iIku
it can be used lor
valves of iuiin|)s
and steam enj;ines.
and for i».i(kin),',
l>eltinK, fire-hose,
tubing, hfe-jireserv-
ers, overshoes,
boots, gas-l)aj,'s,
),'loves. and s<()rcs
of other kindred
purposes. .\s a
marine cement, it
joins wood so tight-
ly, that a mast or
yard will break in
a new pl:i< c ratiicr
than where cenunt-
cd. Such are its
powers in this di-
rection, that it was
once i-ri)i)osed to
dispense with iron
bolts, and use this
extraordinary mate
rial for fastenings instead. It is an insulator and protector of telegrajili wire ;
and it can be fashioned into light and serviceable objects for every-day use,
such as inkstands, buttons, combs, penholders, rulers, jewelry, syringes, (ancs,
cups, toys, bottles, pails, &c. A patent has actually been taken out for ein-
ploying this substance for railroad-rails. The visitor at Philadelphia in 1876
would have discovered rails of this description on exhibition there by a live
Pennsylvanian, who was expecting to make his many millions by the gen-
eral adoption of his ingenious idea ; the merit of it residing in the fact, that
the wheels of the locomotive will not slip on a track made of rul)l)cr,
and the whole power of the engine will therefore be saved, — a considera-
tion of immediate importance to every railroad-manager in the world.
The fact that so many uses could have been found for India-rubber in
CUTTA-rCRCIIA TUB.
OF THE i'XlTKn STATES.
481
the ^iiort space of fifty years indicates groat |K)ssil)ilitie» in reference to it&
ftituri' a|i|ili<atioii, Wiu-n tin- < iienustry of liie Kiun is better understood,
It is lidievcd that its applications tan be niore than douliied in number and
\aliic.
riie Indianil)ber-tree grows only in the hottest regions under the ef|uator.
In Inilia it is (ailed the I'lctis clit^tica. It is a colossal tree in that country.
Ill A^-i.uu there is a forest of these trees, containing forty-three tn(iiB-rub<
iliDuvuul in a tract thirty miles lyng by eight broad. The diameter »>er-tree.
ol one tree has been found to be twenty-four feet, and its height a hundred
Icct. The tree is a sort of banyan, and grows l)y the rooting of the branches.
Ill Soutii America it is ( ailed the Si[>honia clastica, or Siphonia cahuchu. It
j;r()tt^ in the |)ro\inces of I'ara and Ama/onas chiefly, lying along the Amazon,
and is lound all the way from the seaboard to a point nineteen hundred miles
in the interior. Its regular cultivation has not yet been undertaken. The
n.itives MK'rely hunt up the trees where they happen to grow in the forests,
and t.ip tiiem at the proper seasons, 'i'he extent of the area covered by these
priceless trees, and the reaily response the soil and vegetation of Brazil make
to ( ultivators, are a guaranty that the supply of rubber is practically inex-
haustible. Nothing ex( ept some such extraordinary demand for it as would
lic ( rcaled by its general introduction for the tracks of railroads (should such
an event ever take place) would ever severely tax the resources of Brazil for
till' K""i- 1 hi^ K""i 's taken from the trees in the Kast Indies by making a
niinilRT of cuts through the bark to the wood all over the trunk and branches
ami exjjosed roots. The juice is richer the higher the cut. A thick sap ,
riscmljling cream flows from the wounds of the tree, and in twenty-four hours X^
alioiit forty pounds are obtained. The tree can safely be tapped once a
fortniglit. The col<l season is usually chosen for these operations, because
the jiiii e is richer, and the tree less liable to be injured. In South America
the natives make a perpendic ular cut in the bark of the tree, and lateral
<:iits leading to it. '["he thick, white, creamy sap flows into the central cut,
and at the bottom of it is conducted by a banana-leaf into a vessel placed to
receive it.
When examined under the microscope, caoutchouc is seen to consist of
a clear liquid, in which float a large number of spherical globules Appearance
of from 7j„(5^^ to ^Tshxsjs of an inch in diameter. Water produces under the
no ciiange on the juice, and can be used to wash it without dimin- •"'"<••«*'?«•
ishing its volume. Alcohol does not change the globules, but causes groups
of needle-shaped crystals to appear. The juice is dried by the natives of
South .America over a fire, when it becomes black with the smoke. Procett of
It is dried on moulds of clay, in the shape of boots or bottles, coUecting it.
on wooden lasts (imported for the purpose from the United States, and
mounted on the end of sticks), and on paddles. The moulds, or paddles, "
are dippped into the juice and dried, and dipped again and again, until the
'Vrrfjyffff . :?
i*r 4
'■'.\ : ^*'kh
IllBII
. i
I
i
482
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
required thickness is obtained. The clay mould is broken or washed out
after use. Sometimes the gum is coagulated by solar heat. A film forms
over tiie surface, which is removed as fast as it forms, until the whole (jf tiw.
juice has hartlened. Tlie several sheets are then pressed together witli ilic
hands into rolls and masses. 'l"he gum is then light colored. In Nicaragua
the caoutchouc is coagulated with the juice of the bejiica-vine. The mass
is pressed into cakes by hand, and rolled into a sheet with a wooden roller
The sheets are called " tortillas," and are two feet wide by two inches tlii, !;
When once coagulated, the caoutchouc can never be restored to its ori"iiKi!
condition of a saj). The purest rubl)er of commerce comes from I'an'i and
Amazonas. It is in bottles and tiiick i)lates. The gum from Carthanena is
in large black lumps or sheets weighing a hundred pounds. The Masl-liulia
gimi is in light and dark reddisii masses, and is mingled with bits of wcjod
and bark, leaves, gravel, &:c.
India-rubber was first brought to the attention of the people of the United
States in the form of erasers of pencil-marks (brought from luigland), and
First use of ^°°" afterwaril in the form of clumsy water-proof shoes, wlii( h the
India-rubber traders imported from Para along with the oilier produce of that
h> United tropical region. These shoes continued to be imported down to
within thirty years ago. The substance did not fail to attrai t
attention. A great many experiments were made to determine what could
be done with it. Shortly after Mackintosh got started in Scotland, some
water-proofing of cloth was done here with rubber, the solvents used being
turjjentine, naphtha, benzole, and caoutchoucine ; the latter being i^rodnced
by evaporating rubber at a heat of 600°, and condensing the vajjor. Means
were also found to work rubber into a thread ; in which form it was sjjun
into tissues of extraordinary elasticity with silk, cotton, wool, and flax, and be-
came rapidly the universal material for suspenders, garters, &c. In those early
years of the manufacture, however, only pure rubber was used ; and in this
form the material was found liable to rapid deterioration. It became ri^^id
and inflexible in cold weather, and soft and inert in hot weather, it was
very soluble. Whenever it was touched by oil or grease it would dissolve,
and it could not even resist perspiration. Though useful for overshoes, it
was so soft as to soon wear out. It lost its elasticity by use, had an mi|)leas-
ant odor, and was so adhesive, that two surfaces of rubber applied to each
other were always sure to stick. Tiine would fail to tell the tribulations which
befell the early manufacturers of India-rubber in the United States in their
eflbrts to cure the defects of this valuable but then intractable material.
They could not master tlic substance. The i)ublic at length accjiiired a
distaste for its use ; and several factories which had been started in lioston,
South Boston, Chelsea, Woburn, and Framingham, Mass., and on .Staten
Island and at Troy, N.Y., with capitals of fifty thousand dollars to five hun-
dred thousand dollars, failed in the business. In 1840 it looked decidedly
OF THE UNITED STATES.
485
as though the applications of India-rubber were destined to be confined to
water- proof clotli and erasers. 'Die exportation of the gum from Para at that
time amounted to only 800,000 pounds a year, owing to the small demand
for it ; anil nearly all of that went to (Ireat Britain. It has since risen to about
15.000,000 pounds annually from Para alone,
just at the moment of supreme despair in the industiy, two Americans
hit iijion separate tliougli kindred discoveries, which coripletely changed the
wliolc aspect of affairs, and made the manufacture of India-rubber one of the ^
great pt-.rsuits of the age. In 1.S3S Charles Goodyear of Massa- ooodyear ^
chusctts became actiuaintcd with Nathaniel Hay ward, who had and Hay-
been tlic foreman of tlie I-iagle Company at Woburn, where the "'"''■
latter had made use of sulphur by impregnating the solvent with it. From
him Mr. (lor 'year first became acciuaintcd with the properties of sulphur as
a drier of ;, 111-elastic. (loodyear bought Hayward's claim ibr the use of
siilpiiur, an 1 made it the basis of his patent of Feb. 24, 1839, by which he
hoped to make tlie manufocture of rubber-goods successful. He made a lot
of i,'()0(ls witli sulphur, but found, alas ! that they, too, soon decomposed, just
as ail the manufactures of rul)ber had done before them. Goodyear, who had,
si)ent nearly twenty years in a diligent study of the -properties of rubber, was
at his wits' end to know what to do. B'lt he di;l not give up the battle.
While experimenting one day, the idea occurred to him to try the effect of
extreme heat upon India-rubber. The stuff would melt at a low heat : what
would it do at a high heat? He touched a piece of it containing sulphur to
the stove. To his surprise, be found that it charred like leather. This was-
something new. He tried it again, with the same result ; and the inference
came like a flash, that, if the heat was stopped at the right point, the rubber
mij,'ht he divested of its adhesive qualities, and liability to rapid deterioration,
and made hard and dry. He put some rubber into boiling sulphur, and found
that it did not melt, as it would have done when exposed to a low heat, but
that it again charred like leather. On heating another piece before the fire,
he found, between the i)art which charred and the part unaffected by the fire,
a jiortion which was hard, but not charred. The discovery was complete. It
only remained to perfect a few details ; and Good) ear soon introduced to
the ])ul)Iic his elastic, non-adhesive, vulcanized Indi.i-rubber, — a substance as
different from the pure gum as gold from copper. This was the foundation of
the moil rn industry. In his subsequent manufacture Goodyear soon learned ^ C
to iniorporate a variety of substances with his raw material in order to save
the latter as much as i)ossil)le ; and, as now made, his rubber is prepared with
one part of sulphur, fourteen of whiting, two and a half of white-lead, and
two of litharge, to sixteen of rubber, and exposed to a temperature from 265°
to 270° I'ahrenheit for several hours.
The next step in the line of progress was the invention of hard rubber, or
vulcanite. There is some dispute about priority in this discovery ; but Professor
1
7
't*''>'"?*/-rffft'y» fi
484
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
ii
C. F. Chandler awards the palm to Austin G. Day of Connecticut. The dis-
invention of covcry is claimed by Nelson (ioodyear, who filed a cai^cat Dec. 31,
^vulcanite. 1849, and obtainetl a patent May 6, 185 1, for a hard, inflexilile
compound composed of rubber, sulphur, ma^'nesia, iScc. 'l"he material ulitained
by this process was useful for certain ])urposes ; but it was too brittle to he ot
great value. Day obtained his jjatent, Aug. 10, 1858, for a compound coniijosed
of two parts of rubber to one of sulphur, which, when heated from 275" to
300° Fahrenheit, became hard, flexible, and elastic. This product superseded
the other, and is the vulcanite of commerce. It came into rapid and extensive
use, and is one of the valuable materials of the modern arts. Day afterwards
invented a modification of vulcanite, which he called " kesite," and applied it
to the coating of telegraph-wires.
These discoveries made a great change in the India-rubber manufacture of
the United States. It having become apjjarent that there was now some hij|)e
Effect of ^°'" ^^ industry. Congress took cognizance of it in 1842 for the
these first time, and gave it the protection of a thirty-per-cent iluty on
•cover es. importations of manufactures in the comprehensive Clay tariff. A
number of companies were soon formed under (loodyear's patents in Con-
necticut, New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere. The progress was very rapid,
and in 1850 rubber-goods were made in the United States to the value of
^3,024,335. In i860 the manufacture had become centred in fewer and
larger establishments, and the product was $5,642,700. In 1870 there were
fifty-six factories in operation, employing 6,025 people, and making $14,566,-
374 worth of goods annually. Of the fifty-six factories, ten were in New York.
twelve in New Jersey, thirteen in Connecticut, and sixteen in Massachusetts.
Since that time there has been a large increase. The extent of it cannot be
accurately stated ; but it is somewhere about fifty per cent. The import of
gum, mostly from South America, is now from 10,000,000 to 12,000,000
pounds a year. The ability of the United States to import and manuf;;cture
the crude article seems limited only by the capacity of the natives of the
3 ( Amazon to collect and export it. The crude gum costs us at this time forty
l^ cents a pound. During the first twenty years after Goodyear's discovery the
export of rubber-goods from the United States was considerable, amountinj; to
i^ 1, 000,000 worth a year on the average. Since i860 Europe has gone into
the manufacture very largely upon (^oodyear's plan, and the exportations since
then have only been $200,000 or $300,000 worth a year. If the exports are
ever increased again, it will only be by means of superior and cheaper protcssci
of manufacture and new inventions.
The processes of manufacture are peculiar. The gum in its crude state is
extraordinarily elastic and tenacious ; and it can only be worked, therefore, with
the most powerful machinery. The cakes and sheets are first cleaned by
being cut up in a mill into small pieces, under water, by means of knives and
iron teeth. The resistance of the ruober generates heat enough to make th2
OF THE UNITED STATES.
485
water boil. It is then again ground, cut, pressed, and treated in various
ways, and finally compressed into a cake by being subjected to pmcegg of
enormous pressure in cast-iron moulds under a scrqw. Its adhe- manufac-
sivencss asserts itself, and unites the mass perfectly. It is left in '""'
the mould for several days. In some mills the cleaned pieces of gum are rolled
bv machinery into sheets, in which shape the gum is conveniently adapted
for conversion into thread for weaving. The sheets are sliced into thread
by means of sharp knives, which are kept const antly wet to pre vent tnem
from sti cking . The machine for this purpose was invented in Europe by
Ratlier in 1826. The fibres of thread, as they are reeled off, are stretched
to six or eight times their original lengtl; by hand. Being moistened and
cooled in the operation, they are deprived of elasticity, and can then be
woven readily into webs and tissues of any degree of fineness. This stretch-
ing of the rubber-threads has been carried so far, that they have been elon-
gated to 16.625 times their original length. A pound of caoutchouc makes
from eiglit tho usand to thirt y-two thousand yards of thread. When the woven
tissue is' finislicd it is pressed with a hot iron, and thie rubber immediately
regains its elasticity. Threads are sometimes made from vulcanized rubber.
They constitute the warj) of the tissue, and are kept stretched by weights.
Sometimes thread is made by reducing the gum to a paste by maceration
with some solvent, and by forcing it through a line of small holes. The
threads are arried off through the air six hundred or seven hundred feet by
a wel), durin.; which process the solvent evaporates, and the thread becomes
dry and hard. The threads are then deposited in a receiving-cup.
The thick sheets into which the gimi is rolled after the process of cleansing
are usually laid away in the warehouse for several months to come. Being
tiien l)rought back to the factory, the rubber is mixed with various materials
whicli tlie manufacturers find they can advantageously incorporate into it.
The mixing-maciiines are very i)owerfiil. They are great hollow revolving
cylinders heated by steam. The slieets are rolled slowly between them, and,
as they soften with the heat, are supplied with the white-lead, su jphuj;, and
otiier materials, by means of a brush. Tiie cvlinders knead tliese substances
togetlier. tlie rubber giving out a scries of pistaldj hot explosions meanwh ile.
owing to the bursting-out of the heated air confin'*d in the sheets. Pieces of
reftbe rubber or of fabrics of rubber and cloth can be kneaded into the mass
during this process. The rubber comes from this machine in a thick, soft,
sticky slieet. It then goes to the calendering-machine, where the process is
substantially repeated, and the sheet rolled out into a thin mat. The mixture
can tlien be incorporated into cloth or canvas by rolling, or by the aid of
solvents. In the manufiicture of belting, cotton-duck of double strength is
impregnated with the soft, sticky rubber fresh from the mixing-rolls, and is
then calendered into perfectly smooth sheets. The cloth is then taken to the
belting-room, where it is laid out on tables, and cut into strips of the proper
9i
#'•
■■■^t" i.-," .■ -. j
I
1
I
486
IND US TRIA L HIS TOR Y. .
widths. If extra strength is desired, two or more strips are placed together
and united by rolling. The belting is then sent to be steamed in a tinunber
made for the purpose, and in eight or ten hours is thoroughly vul( anizcd.
Belting thus made has greater strength than leather, and adheres to tlie dnini
with a tenacity which prevents slijiping. In the making of hose a diiiorciu
process is employed. A long iron tube of the right diameter is covered
with a sheet of rubber: this is then covered with webs of stout clotli woven
for the purpose. When a sufficient number of folds have been a])plie(l, an
outside covering of pure rul^ber is put on, cementing the whole t",il)ric.
The pipes, with the hose still on them, are then jjlaccd in the stcain-lieatcr
and the hose is vulcanized. Very stout hose is thus made : it is far j-npe-
rior to leather, and will stand a i)ressure from three hundred and seventy-
five pounds to four hundred and thirty-five pounds to the square inrli.
The cloth can be preserved from i.ie re-action of tiie rubber by means of
carbolic acid.
In the making of overshoes the cloth is first prepared by mixing, rolling,
and calendering, and is then cut up and fashioned into shoes of tiie desired
Overshoes, patterns. The joints are united by means of rubber ; and tiie
how made, sticky shoe, being lined with flannel, stamped, and otherwise
finished, is then sent ofl" to be vulcanized. The manufacture of shoes and
boots is one of the largest branches of the business.
One of the useful applications is for the valves of steam-engines and for
steam-packing. Rubber preserves its elasticity when exposed to steam, and
consequently follows the expansion and contraction of liie cylinder
oM^cHa-rub- ^"^^ metal parts of the engine perfectly ; so that the fitting is always
ber to valves exact. Valves of five feet in diameter are often made from rubber.
o steam- Car-springs, and springs for coaches and carriages, are now made
of rubber very largely indeed. The substance never loses its elas-
ticity (thanks to (ioodyear), and the springs last a long time. It answers
also for door-mats, for paving, and for bed-springs.
The hardened rubber, or vulcanite, is fast sujjplanting bone, shell, and
Su rem c 'vory for its greater beauty, and the ease with w'nich it can be
of rubber moulded into any form. Its only rival is grtta-percha, a kindred
product of the creamy sap of another tropical tree. This latter
substance was discovered in 1S42, and it is now largely imported
from South America and other tropical regions for the same uses to which
Gutta- vulcanite is applied. It is very serviceaole for speaking-tubes,
percha. fancy articles, dentists' tools, &c., and for the insulation of tele-
7 ^ graph-wire. (Jutta-percha was first applied to the purposes of insulation by
Samuel J. Armstong of New York. Machinery was built to coat wires witii it
in 1848; and the first wire in the world thus prepared was laid across the
Hudson River in 1849,31 Fort Lee. The idea was carried to England, and
used in the construction of the Atlantic cables. It is saic* that this (jriginal
over bone,
sheU, ftc.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
machinery was also carried over then. Gutta-percha and vulcanite are both
prepared by the same process for use in the arts.
There has been a vast amount of litigation among the inventors and manu-
llicturers of India-rubber and gutta-percha. An invention which clearly works
for the good of mankind is eagerly seized upon by those who have Liti„tj„n
capital, as likely to be the source of great fortunes to those who over India-
employ it in the manufacture. Those who have experimented in a ''"''''f'^ '"■
certain direction, and invested their all in mills, machinery, and
I'oods, are strongly tempted to the piracy of inventions when they observe a
more fortunate contemporary hit upon a better way than that they have them-
selves followed ; and the conseijuence of it all is, that a lucky inventor often
finds liimself obliged to fight long and hard to maintain his right to profit
by the property created by the activity and ingenuity of his own brain. Good-
year was one of these men. The litigation in which he became involved was
enormous. It is gratifying to record the fact that the inventor of this priceless
product of vulcanized rubber was able to maintain his rights, and to profit by
them ; and that is more than can be said of all inventors.
^ \'U!
1^4 #■:
I )
I i
488
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
to manufac-
turet.
CHAPTER XI.
CHEMICAL MANUFACTURES.
THE mechanical department of manufacture is the one which alone
catches the attention of the untechnical observer. To his eye ninety
Application "'"^ hundredths of all the processes of industry appear to lie
of chemistry the mechanical manipulation of raw materials, and the applica-
tion of heat and force to effect changes of form and contlition.
But furnaces and machinery do not cover the ground so exclu-
sively as that. Chemistry plays a more important part in industry than ap-
pears upon the surface of things. It is, in fact, the very atmosphere of life in
which industry breathes and exists : it is at least the twin-brother of machinery.
Not a metal in the bowels of the earth, not a mineral (except common day),
not a textile fibre, and scarce a vegetable or animal substance, which is fabri-
cated for any human purpose, reaches its final state of a perfected product
without having been subjected to one or more chemical processes whicii are
absolutely necessary for its manufacture. Every metal must be prepared for
working up by being first refined. Cotton, wool, silk, flax, and hemp must be
bleached, fermented, purified, or stained, or subjected to all four processes.
Leather, rubber, soap, and various kinds of food, must be deprived of the
liability to decay. Wooden buildings, ships, carriages, and cars must be jiro-
tected from the corrosion of the elements. Salt and sugar must be purilieil.
Sand and clay are required to be converted into durable and serviceable disles.
None of these things can be accomplished by mechanical means alone. Chein-
istry is called in to participate in the achievement of them all ; and crude and
barbaric indeed would the triumphs of man over the forces of nature still i)c,
were it not for the help of this powerfiil art to second his efforts. It has been
well said that to take away chemistry from industry would be like taking away
gravitation from the universe. The result would be chaos.
The manufacture of chemicals in the United States began as early as 1 7(^3,
when John Harrison started his factory of sulphuric acid and lead-paint in the
city of Philadelphia. It was carried on, however, to a very limited extent in-
deed, for more than sixty years. The genius of our civilization was not favor-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
489
able to the patient study, and quiet, persistent experiment in the laboratory,
which are required of those who engage in this department of
effort. The taste of Americans was for mechanical invention, and tu"" ofVui.
for tlu' bustle and excitement of active pursuits. Neither science phuric acid
nor literature could flourish in a marked degree among a people y^^° " "'
with such propensities ; and accordingly, during the last and for
the first half of the present century, the chemical industry made slow progress.
Lead and zinc paints, sulphuric and nitric acids, dyes and saleratus, the most
ordinary and necessary of chemical materials, were made here and there in
Eastern cities on a small scale ; and they comprised about all the manufactures
of tliis class which were produced. Congress endeavored at times to encour-
age tlie industry by imposing a duty on manufactured chemicals, and by
providing that the raw materials — sulphur, nitrate of soda, dye-woods, crude
saltpetre, argols, &c. — shoukl be admitted free, ''."he professors in charge of
the scientific departments at Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Hamilton, and other
Eastern colleges, did something towards turning attention to the matter also
by their researches in regard to the minerals, alkalies, and salts progreis
of the different portions of the territory of the United States. It within
has only been within the last thirty years, however, that the manu- * "^^ ye»«.
factiire of chemicals can be said to have attained any eminence whatever in
the I'nit'jd States ; and probably one-lialf. if not more, of the establishments
now in existence, or at least of the branches of the industry now pursued, are
the creation of the tariff of 1S61.
Industrial chemistry has had its largest development in France and Eng-
land, where general manufacturing has also attained its largest growth ; and
Germany has also made marvellous strides in this fiekl of progress. Develop-
In Trance alone the annual production of chemicals has now """"* °*^ '"-
reached the great value of $250,000,000. By the side of this chemistry in
giaiit (leve!()j)ment the chemical manulacture of the United States France and
seems mere boy's play, amounting, as it did in 1870, only to "^^ ""
$19,417,000 of chemicals, dyes, and drugs, and $5,800,000 of fertilizers.
Nevertiieiess, tlie [)rogress of the last twenty years in the United States has
heei. striking. 'I'lie manufacturers have ventured to undertake something
besides tiie stajjle products of sulphuric acid, soda, vegetable dies, and medi-
cines ; and they have, within the period named, entered upon the production
of a large variety of the rarer chemicals, and have evidently planted the founda-
tions of a great industry. In 1870 there were 301 chemical flxctories ui the
United States, concentrated chiefly in the vicinity of the large Eastern cities,
and 125 factories of fertilizers, these latter being largely in the Southern States.
A large part of the raw materials consumed by the American chemical
factories is imported from Europe and South America, although it is a fact
that they might be obtained from our own soil. There are enormous supplies
of alkalies, for instance, on the plains and in the mountains of the Far West,
490 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
and all the materials that a chemist could wish for the production ot" sul-
Importation phuric acid (that most necessary and extensively made of diciuj.
of raw cals) in the valley of the Mississii)pi. Salt and lime exist in ilm
mater a ■. Unit^jfj States in unparalleleil abundance ; sour oranges go tu \s.\i\^
in Florida every year by the thousands of busiiels : yet the crude ciiL-mii als
which are obtained from these things, and large quantities of the manufacuiicd,
as well as a great (luantity of these very raw materials besides, are imported
yearly from abroad. The extent to which this importation has grown may he
seen by the statistics of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. The imports
were as follows : —
Argols, Ills 9,025,54:
Medicinal barks, lbs 1,976,016
Camphor (crude), lbs 1,022,565
Chloride of lime, or blcaching-powdcr, lbs 47,642, (••,3
Cochineal, lbs. 1,324,165
Cutch and tcrra-japonica, lbs. 22,992,973
Dye-woods, cwt 1,195,071)
Gums, lbs 9>''*73.5i5
Indigo, lbs 1,504,7X3
Madder, lbs 3,178,988
Sulphur (crude), tons 43.-(4J
" (refined), cwt -9.039
Salt, lbs 901,209,894
Nitrate of potash (saltpetre), lbs 13,846,670
Soda, nitrate of, lbs 54,2aS,334
" bicarbonate, lbs 4,298,906
" carbonate, lbs 217,360,808
" caustic, lbs 36,000,895
" other salts of, lbs 507. 3J^'
Chemicals, dyes, drugs, and medicines, n. e. s., dols. . . 8,816,804
In all, our purchases amounted to about §25,000,000 worth of drugs,
dyes, and chemicals ; and yet $20,000,000 could have been produced from
the materials which exist in unlimited abundance in our own soil. This fact
points to the possibilities of the increase of the industry in the United States,
when the manner of extracting the acids, alkalies, and salts of commeac,
from American minerals, is better understood.
The most important of the products of the chemical factories is Svilpiiuric
acid. It is one of the oldest known of acids, having been in use among
Sulphuric the proto-chcmists of ancient Arabia. Professor Chandler calls
""''• it one of the pillars of science, on account of the number and
the value of the uses to which it is now applied. It is used to convert com-
mon salt into soda, and hence lies at the foundation of the glass and soap
industries. It is the necessary agent by means of which nitric and hydro-
chloric acids are obtained, the two solvents upon which the refining of gold
and silver, and electro-plating and photography, depend. It is employed in
\ :■-
OF TflF. UNITED ."STATES.
491
the production of alum, ammonia, nearly all the vegetable acids and alkaloiils,
the aniline colors, ultramarine, the chrome compounds, bleaching-powder,
(hloriiliirin, ether, phosphorus, and fertilizers, anil is a constant resource of
the lalioratory ; and hence is truly the pillar of a thousand great industries
mil o( ( upations. This substance was anciently made by distilling iron sul-
phiti.'. In 1720 Dr. Roebuck of Kngland suggested that it could Dr.
lie made by burning sulphur, either in the form of pure brim- Roebuck.
stone, or as metallic pyrites. The manufacture has ever since been conducted
upon tho plan thus suggested. In the U.iited States brimstone is used. The
Milphur is burned in a draught of air, which carries the fumes into a large
chaml]cr completely lined with lead, wliere they are precipitated by a pecul-
iar process in the form of acid. 'I'he acid enters the chamber in the form
ol' sulphurous oxide gas : it is there mixed with steam and nitrous fumes
cvolviil from saltpetre with sulphuric acid. The oxygen of the nitrous fumes
combines with the sulphurous oxide to make sulphuric acid ; while the nitrous
oxide uas left in the air absorbs oxygen afresh from the atmosphere, and trans-
mits it again to the sulphurous oxide in a process of unbroken continuity. S.
I'liiited (juantity of the nitrous fumes is sufficient to keep up a constant jire-
cipitation of oil of vitroil upon the leaden sides and bottom of the chamber.
The a( id, being dilute<l with water hx)m the steam present in the air, must
now lie condensed. 'I'his is done by boiling in lead i)ans. When the acid
bciomcs sufficiently concentrated to attack the lead, it is transferred to
platinum stills, and there given a final condensation. In Kngland the more
common raw material is the pyrites of iron or copper. It seems, that, in 1S38,
the Kiui; of Nai)les gave a monojjoly of the sulphur-trade to Taix & Com-
panv of Marseilles, as a result of which suli)hur rose in London from twenty-
fne dollars to seventy tloUars a ton. 'i'he Englishmen immediately patented
fifteen different processes for making sulphuric acid from pyrites within a year
al'turward, and have ever since largely employed the material. They make
over a hundred thousand tons of vitriol a year. The only drawback of the
acid obtained in h'.ngland from pyrites is, that it contains arsenic, and is con-
seipiently unfit for fertilizers, the making of which is one of its most extensive
applications. In t!ie United .States the utilization of the mineral sulphides has
made little or no headway. Professor Chandler has, however, called attention
to the fact that a marked feature of the tjuality of the American sulphides is
the absence of arsenic ; and he has declared for many years, that the highly sul-
phurous coal-seams of the valley of the Upi)er Monongahela, in West Virginia,
alone would supply the whole Mississii)pi Valley with sulphuric acid for agri-
cultural purposes for centuries to come. Professor Sterry Hunt has also urged
the utilization of the enormous beds of pyrites in the Carolinas and Kast
Tennessee, which are useless for any other purpose. The suggestions of these
eminent gentlemen wiU no doubt yet be heeded. The mechanical power of
sulphuric acid as a .solvent and re-agent is something enormous, and is the
'.Tt.'ftr*' f
I •
■'
49*
l\'DUSTRIAL HISTORY
I
'
cause of its great value. It lias a great appetite for water, absorbing it rapidly
from tiic air ; and an illustration of its power can be given by rLinarlviii" that
the aciil causes the water which is poured into it to shrink in volume troiu i8
to 1 1.4. When one reflects upon the trcnendous mechanical force which
it would recjuire to compress water to that extent, the power of siilijhuric
acid will be imderstood.
Nitric and muriatic or hydrochloric acids are made with the aid of ii^^i
sulphuric. 'I'he former is made by distili!..g saltpetre witii sul[)hiiri( ;i(iii
Nitric and ^ '^^' **''^'' "^'-''^ '^^ "°^^'' bowever. more generally nitrate of soda iiom
muriatic South .America, as l)eing cheaper, anil richer in nitre. This sail
comes chiefly from the i)rovince of 'larapaca in I'eru, wlurc it
exists in a natural state in beds which cover hundreds of s(iuare niiks of
ground. It is by some misnomer popularly called "C'hilian salti)etrc." jlv-
drochloric acid is made by treating common salt (chloride of sodium) with
sulphuric acid. The chloride of hydrogen which passes off is con(hiiii(l
into water, where it is eagerly absorbed. The water takes up 460 tinus its
own volume of the gas, and increases one-th'rd in bulk, and seventy live jKr
cent in weight, in the ojieration. Some very large Victories of these acids have
been established in Philadelphia ; tliat city being, by the way, the print ipal
chemical centre of the country, manufacturing nearly half of the dyes, drugs,
acids, salts, and medicines produced in the I'nited States.
The different manufactures of salts of soda are very numerous, but not so
extensive as the industrial development of the United States demands. Nearly
Salts of all the carbonate of soda, for instance, — a material used in L;lass-
"°'''- making, in the production of caustic soda for soai)-niaking, ami
for other purposes, — comes from I'aigland. It is easily made from common
salt by converting the latter into a sulphate with sulphuric acid, and ihtii
treating it in a furnace with charcoal and carbon.ite of lime, which jirodnccs
carbonate of soda mixed with suljihide of calcium, the former being then
separated from the ash by leaching with hot water. All the materials exist
in unlimited abundance in this country for the extensive mauufai ture of
carbonate of soda ; but the .American chemists a])pear to have been afraid to
compete with the cheap labor and large capital of I'.ngland in any consid-
erable production of it. Caustic soda is now largely made at Plii!a(lel|)hi.i
and elsewhere, although the importation is still very large. It is i)re|)ared
from three parts of the crystallized carbonate of soda, dissolved in '.vater, and
one part of quick-lime, slaked, and mixed with water to the consistency of
cream, 'l.ie caustic solution is then decanted, and boiled down raimlly,
melted, cast into sticks, and preserved in bottles. The purest caustic soda is
dissolved from the residue obtained by boiling down with alcohol, the latter
being then driven off by heat. Soda for baking-powder is also largely made
at the .American factories. One concern in California has been making it
since 1875, in San Francisco, from native salts obtained at the warm sjjrings
OF THE UNJTKD STATES.
493
in Cliiirc hill County, Nevada. This factory is the pioneer in the attempt to
use till' alkaline treasures of the Kar West ; and it is making such pruj^res-^ in
the piiiiluetion of carbonate, bicarbonate, and otlier salts of soda, that prol)-
.il,|v, ill .1 tew years, it will begin to supply the eastern part of the republic with
itsgoitds. Soda is now made to a limited extent in Philadelphia from crycjiite,
— iiiniiK'ral found in dreenland, containing sodium, aluminum, and fluorine.
One of the new manufactures is that of ( itric acid, — a chemical used by
the silk-iiyers to heigliten the colors of cochineal and safflower, and by the
calico-printers to discharge mordants from the cloth. 'l"he industry began in
rhil.i(lrli)hii in 1X74. .\t present the crude material is obtained from abroad,
mainlv Irom Sii ily. It consists of the jui<;e of lime-^, lemons, and sour (jranges.
The ^Dur oranges of Florida will, in the future, be utilized in this manufacture ;
but lluv do not yet enter into it largely. The acid is obtained l)y fermenting
the sour juice. Chalk is added, and citrate of lime precipitated. This is
trciti'il with sulphuric acid, which forms sulphate of lime, leaving the acid in
solution.
One of the large features of the imports of crude materials is called argols.
This substance is not yet jjroduced in the United States to any extent. It is
the salt deposited in crystalline crusts on the sides and bottoms of importation
wine-liarrels. Heing less soluble in alcohol than in water, it leaves "' ■''bo'*-
the wine as the proportion of alcohol increases. Chemically this deposit con-
sists of |)()tassic bitartrate, with a small intermixture of calcic tartrate and of
coloring an<l mucilaginous matters. Commercially it is of the highest im-
portance. The lees of the wine are dissolved in hot water, and clarified by
means of clay, and then recrystallized. The process is repeated j and the
result is a white crystalline substance called cream of tartar, which is sold with
liicarhonate of soda for bread-making. 'I'he high cost of the article has led
<lealers to i)ractise the most shameful adulteration of cream of tartar ; and half
of that found in the market contains flour, gypsum, &c., exceeding two-thirds
of its bulk. From argols are also made Rochelle salts, tartaric acid, and
salt of tartar. The wine-protlucing regions of the United States promise in
the future to be the means of creating a partial supply of argols at home.
Among the very recent branches of cheiriical manufiicture in the United
States is that of the aniline colors. The discovery of these intense and bril-
liant (lyes has completely revolutionized the art of dyeing and print- Aniline
iiig textile fabrics within the short space of twenty years : it has «^°'°''»'
increased the resources of the dyer immensely, and has made the processes of
<lycing more comjjlicated and elaborate. Aniline, so called from anil, indigo,
was discovered in 1826 by a German chemist by the name of Unverdorben,
who got it by distilling indigo. It crystallized readily ; and he called it, accord-
ingly, crystalline. It attracted much attention in laboratories. A great .deal
of study was given to it, and the range of chemical knowledge greatly increased
in the course of the researches of those interested in it. No commercial
I
It>
494
AV'/J rs TKIA I. Ills TOK Y
importanro was attarhod to it until iS)^6, when \V. II. IVrkin I'rodncod fr,„n
it tlic bfaulitiil inirplt- dye called maiivi'. That set dyers and < liciniNS j,, .,
flame, and liic whole scries of remarkable tints which aniline is (.ipahlc of
producing' were soon discovered. The presence of the article itselt wis ;i|so
soon detected in other tilings than indi^'o. .\niline, like many ollur • hcinicl
Matiuiac prodmts of value, is obtained comniercially from refuse <ir worth-
tureanduM. |^,j,>j siibstances. It is anioni; the products of distillation of (,,,i|.
tar, peat, bones, iVc. It is usually made for the trade from ben/ole, oin' of ih,
elements of < o.il-tar, the process bein.i,' as follows : Iten/ole is treated with njtri(
acid to form nitro-l)en/ole, and this is (handed by the action of ferrous .ini.itc
(made from iron-filings and acetic acid) into a compound from whii ii miiiurc
aniline is obtained by distillation. A second distillation, with a slight e\( iss of
lime or soda, gives crude aniline. The product is a colorless, mobile, oi|\, and
very poisonous liipiid, jjoilmg at 1S2", ami possessing an aromatic, biirnin.; i.isic.
l-'or the trade it is generally converted into what is called rosani-
line, which is itself a dye, and from whi( h ne.uiv all the otl^.r
dyes can be made. One i)art of aniline oil is treated with one and a half lurts
of a seventy-(ive-per-cent arsenic acid in a closed iron still. The prodnc t is
boiled with water, and fdtered. Upon adding conunon salt in excess, c rude
hydrochlorate of rosaniline is precipitated. This is dissolved in boilini; water.
filtered, and allowed to crystallize ; and the salt thus i)btained is called rosani-
line. The dye is also ;)repari(l in other ways, by treatment and distillation.
It varies in color from a beautilul cherry-red to a rich crimson. Rosanaline is
known by the names of aniline-red, magenta, st)Iterino, fuchsine, roseine.
a/aleine, ^kc. : it is soluble in water and alcohol. .\ great deal of the anilinL-
in the general market appears there fir. f in tlie form of this salt. In tin.'
United States, although coal-tar is distilli. " 'ere, and benzole is one of the
regular articles of exjjort, all the crude a-iiline used is imported : the arti< le
comes ]»rincipally from Germany, where it is most largely maiiufac tured. Ro-
saniline contains three atoms of re])laceal)le hyilrogen. liy treating it with
iodide of methyl, ethyl, amyle, and otlier radicals of alcohol, and recovering
the iodine by boiling in caustic: potash, .salts are jirecipitated, ranging in color
from red, violet, and |)uri)le to the jMirest blue, according to the amount of
hydrogen which has been re|)lacecl. (Irays, browns, m.aroons, blacks, greens,
and yellows, all of the rarest beauty and greatest intensity, are obtained by
different processes. The manufacture of these colors is carried on jirinc ijially
at Philadelphia, though they are often prei)ared in the laboratories, of the
textile factories themselves. Many of them are very easily prepared.
Space forbids the enumeration of all the ])roducts of the .American laho-
ratorics ; but a few sul)stances may be referred to as showing what jewels
modern science finds in unattractive quarters, and how the refnse
of our cities is made to contribute to the welfare of the people.
One of the very large products of Cincinnati and Philadelphia is glycerine.
Glycerine.
OF TlfE CXITin STATES.
491
Thii article is obtained from the refuse of candle-factories. Another is
niiiiiuiiiia, extracted from tlie gas-lii|iii)r of tiie j,'as-wi)rk^, Still another is
Itniiiiidi' of potash, wliic li is j,'aliicn.tl from the refuse of salt-works. It has
aln I'lv iicen relate<l how (ream of t.irtar is made from tiie lees of wine. This
in\.ilii,ilile substance is also largely produced from beef-bones, which a few
vtMi-; ago were thrown away as \isek'ss.
Cliloriile of lime, thoii^'h in immense req\icst in the cotton and linen
factories anil other textile establisluuenls of the country, is nude in the United
1
Tins M)li.\-W.M>Ii Idl'NTAlN.
Slates to a smaller extent than tlie mngnitiuie of tlio consumption of the
article would seem to reiiuire. It is easily prejiared. Ciilorine gas is first
produced by means of tlie re-action of hydrociiloric acid on binoxidc of
inanj^anesc, — a mineral abundantly supplied in all parts of the chloride of
world, and always eagerly sought after. In some factories the ''"""•
{;as is ol)tained by the re-action of sulphuric acid on common salt and bi-
noxiilc of manganese. Hy whatever process it is made, it is stored away in
I
1 ; H\
I
f
1 i!J'' Uiii
mv^
\i '
n
r^.:^l:^
V. l:\i
■ftl
r^
\^^-- im-.
if
i
I
496
INDUSTKIAI. HISTORY
slaked lime by tlic simple means of briiif^ing the two substances toijother
in a closeil chamber. I'he lime is spread about seven inches deep ()n the
floor, and the gas forced in. It is slowly absorbed by the lime, the process
consuming al)out four days.
One of the most prominent chemical manufactures in this country is soda-
water, so called, and its kindred beverages, — i)oi)-beer and artiluial miiuial-
Manufac-
water. The first-named is nothing more than pure wat
cr mi|iivn;
tureofsoda- nated with carboriic-acid gas. When lemon, ginger. sar>a|i.irilla,
"'" "' or other flavoring-extracts, are added, and it is sold in bottles, it is
known as pop-beer ; and when, instead of sm h sirups, certain mineral-Nilts
are adtled to the carbonic-acid water, corresponding to the analysis of i citain
natural mineral-waters, thev are sokl for consumjjtion by the bottle, m for
distribution by the " fountain." The idea of making such preparations, esjie-
cially the last-named class, originateil in Germany and Sweden. Mxiieriments
began as early as the sixteenth century ; but the foundation-i)rini iples were
not discovereci for a long time : indeed, it is only within sixty years that the
art has been brought to perfection. In 1810-20 herzelius founded in Stock-
holm, and Struve in Dresden, artificial spas. Faraday and Liebig jironouiKed
the hitter's imitations of mineral-waters perfect, and equally wholesome with the
original. The apparatus for the manufacture consists of a large copi)er gener-
ator, in which the gas is evolved by a mixture of sulphuric acid antl carbonate
of lime, certain i)ipes and reservoirs for purifying it, a receptacle in whicli the
gas is mingled with water (fresh, flavored, or impregnated with mineral-salts,
as the case may be), and a device for filling bottles or larger receivers tor
" fountains." Valuable improvements have been made by Mr. John Matthews
of New York to the process. One consists of a safety-valve to the generator
to prevent explosions, and another is the practice of lining the fountains anil
connections with block-tin to prevent corrosion and poisoning. There are
no less than ten thousand of his fountains in use in this country, and both of
his devices have come into extensive use in Europe.
Ot THE UAJTED STATES.
497
CHAI^ER XII.
WOOD AND OTHER MANUFACTURES.
Ir i> now proposed to coiisitler a variety of industries wiiich Iiave grown up
ill the United States, wliicli are devoted to the manufacture of the vegetable
imKlm ts of tile soil and of the minerals. Some of these, which General
(ouid not he well treated witii brevity, iiave been discussed in »''«*=•'•
special chapters. In tlie majority of cases, these industries, though now
severally employing millions of capital anil su])porting lumdreils of thou-
simls of peoi)Ie, are capable of being treated concisely ; and they are, there-
tore, f,'rinipeil as miscellaneous manufactures in the present chapter. Stime
(if these are of very ancient date, taking their origin as far back almost as
tlie se'tlement of the country : some are of very recent date, many having
tome into existence within the last forty years. Whether old or young, they
are ail profitalile to the country, and form an essential jiart of its strength and
wealth. The I'nited States have not always manufactured a very considerable
p.irt iif the raw products of her soil and fields, — not even a very large share
ot that portion of those products consumed in manulitctured form by her own
;ieii|)le. In the early ages of the country nearly all the r.iw materials — the
Imles, the grain, the bark, the tobacco, the cotton, and the metals — were sent
ahroatl. and the things made out of them were brought back again from the
lands to which the original products were sent. Old Beverly, in 1705, impa-
tiently loniarked of the -olonists (a hundred years after the first settlement, be
It iiiiteil), "Nay, they are such abominable ill husbands, that though their
(iiuiitry he overrun with wood, yet they have .all their wooden-ware from
I',nj,'land, — their cabinets, chairs, tables, stools, chests, boxes, cart-wheels, and
all other things, even so much as their bowls and birchen brooms, — to the
eteii,,.! reproach of their laziness." It was not to be expected, however, that
so free and active-minded a people as the Americans, living in such an invigor-
mwvi climate, would long continue to send their raw products abroad to be
manufactured, after they had freed themselves from that great obstacle to
imiiistry, a tyrannical government, and after they iiad so fairly subjugated the
soil as to have an abundance of food ; anil accordingly we find that they
IJid
I
^^
■m-
498
/ND US TRIA I. HIS TON V
si \iil.\
ms\^m
began to manufacture their raw products largely for themselves alter their
independence, and " the eternal reproach " was quickly wiped out. It has
already been related what the Americans have done in manufacturiiu' their
crude metals. The history of manufacturing the more important vegetahle and
mineral products of the United States has been nearly coinpletcd. A tl^
more pages, however, are needed to finish this portion of our work. W hil ■
seeking to make this chapter as brief and at the same time as complete as
possible, it is to be hoped that no imi)ortant fact relating to the develoiiineiu
of the industries herein considered has been omiited.
LUMUKK.
The business of lumbering is one which the European settlers on Uiis
continent were obliged to begin before any other. Two necessities faced
Lumbering ''i*-'"" ^^''^'^" ^'^^'V ''UHlcd, — the ueeil of sJK'Iter from the weather.
among the and cleared land whereon to cultivate food. Nearly tiie whole
CO onistB. country was covered with vast and ancient forests : tiiese yielded
the material for houses and barns, but rendered the work of prei)ariiu; the soil
for tillage highly laborious, liut there were energy, courage, and enthusiasm m
the hardy Anglo-Saxon stock which occupied the coiuitry from \()\a Siotia to
Florida, and scarcely less in the Dutchmen and Swedes who broke the line oi
English settlements for a time from the liodson to the Delaware River; so
that the axe and saw were vigorously plied from the very first oct njjation of
America. The early dwellings were of logs, imitated ever sin(-c by pioneer^ in
new sections of the country ; and the few boards and shingles used were hewn
out with an admirable dexterity. Forts for defence against tho hostile bidians.
bridges across the streams along which the first settlements we e planted, docks
for the little shipping which afforded communication with the (Jld World, logs
for corduroy roads over poor s])ots in the needed highways, and firewood for
cooking and comfort, all called for fiirthcr labor ; and later — much later than
should have been the case — there was some demand for material for (altie-
pens and barns.
A rare and timely piece of good fortune for the American colonists was the
invention of the saw-mill, which first made its appearance in this country in
1633, or shortly before, jjreceding the first establishment of it in
the mother-coiuUry many years. .Although the saw was known in
I'^gyjit in the time of Moses, yet a mill in which it was o|)erated by nachine-
ry was scarcely known in F-urope before the discovery of America, (lerniany
had sawmills in the fourth century; the Island of Madeira, in 1420; .Nor-
way, not till 1530; France, as early as 1555 ; and Fngland, not until \M)7,.
This last-named mill was torn down to gratify a hostile popular prejndiee.
Fears of like demonstration prevented the erection of another in 1700, and
the populace destroyed one as late as i 767. Prior to the introduction of the
Saw-mill.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
499
sawmill, planks were hewed out or sawed by hand ; which explains the jireva-
liiic c of clay floors and the scarcity of plank floors in iMirope in the olden
lime.
Saw-mills located on some eligible stream, and nm by water-power, were
credi-il at a very early date in the first colonies, and thereafter made their
aijpcaiance in each new colony and settlement which afforded the motive-
|ii)\vcr ; indeed, the location of many settlements was determined by the
iircstiKx of a good mill-stream. The first saw-mill that is known to have
hccn (.rected in New luigland was on Salmon- l''alls River, near First saw-
ihc jjrcsent city of Portsmouth, N.H. ; and it was built there soon """•
after the land was grantetl in 1631 to .Mason and (lorges, the g"*?at pro-
|irictarit.s of that region. It is known to have been in operation in 1635,
and mifilu have been up a year or two at that time. It is a.sserted that a
>att-inill was in existence in Massachusetts as early as 1633 ; but no evidence
of it exists, although one was proposed for the colony in a letter of instruc -
tion^ sent to (lov. Kndicott in 1629. \ patent for an improvement in saw-
mills was granted Joseph Jenks of I Ann in 1648; but it is impossible to
liiul anv record of a saw-mill in Massachusetts before the one built in Scituate
ill 1656, and burned by the Inilians in 1676. .\nother existed, near Duxbury,
,b carK as 1664. Worcester had one in 1684; and Groton, in Middlesex, in
idSo. Neither Vermont nor Rhode Island appears to have had any sav.-mills
lutore the Revolution. The younger Winthroj), afterwards governor of Con-
iKctieiit, brought a millwright to New London, and put up a sasv-mill in 1651.
ill superintendent, John Klderkin, was for thirty-five years the principal con-
iraitor for the building of meeting-houses, dwellings, bridges, iVc, in Eastern
('(mne( ti( lit. Two more were built near Hartford in 1671 and 1680. Several
iiuire were lonstructed in the colony within the next few years. Saw-mills
ii|icrate(l by wind instead of by water were erected by the Dutch on Manhat-
tan bland as early as 1633. These were the first on this continent, but were
very iiiiprufitable, according to jirovincial documents. Others were soon built
111 tile vicinity, however, and up the river, near .Mbany. The t'atskill region,
ami several points on the east side of the Hudson, followed these examiiles.
lilt French had saw-mills near Ticonderoga in the early part of the eighteenth
aiilury. West Jersey led the eastern side in the erei tion (Z saw-mills. The
first one on the Delaware was put up in 1682. .\niboy built her first ones in
16S;,. They rapidly multiplied in that colony, however. The Dutch and
Swedes anticipated William IVnn in this direi tion. I )elawaie had a sawmill
ill 165S, another in 166?. and a third in 1678. Pemi found sawmills in
Pennsylvania in 1683 already in ojieration. They were long scarce near
Philadelphia, however ; and not one was to be found in the adjacent county
"I Hacks as late as 1731. They multiplied in the interior, though, especially
where the (lermans setded. There is no record of Maryland's first saw-mill ;
l)ut she had corn-mills run by water as early as 1639. Virginia made great
^4m
r ■ i
ii U;(
:ir:-lii.tff
iimM.
500
/A'D C/S TRIA I. HIS TOR Y
$
j, :l'.
account of hewing clapl)oards and masts in lior very earliest days. 'I'liorc \va>
talk of saw-mills in 1620 ; hut nothing was done toward their erection lor full
thirty years. The C'arolinas and (Jeorgia had magnificent pine-forests, whidi
one wonld think would have early invited the lumhennan ; Init, in |ire-R(.\o|ii.
tionary days, saw-mills were scarce in that region. As late as iSoS South
Carolina had hut sixty-five, and (Jeorgia hut one. Within the present (inturv
though, the C'arolinas and other Southern States have sent some fuie lumbir
North. But there was a shocking waste in North Carolina after the wilue of
the cotton-] ilani
was reali/cil.
Splendid fmot^
were linriuMJ
down til dear
tile land, ami tho
only use niaili.'
ot the s(nian-
dered inatorjal
was to nianufai -
tuiv a little jiot-
asii out of tlif
asiies. 'I'nriicn-
tiue ami resin
lia\'e. iiowtvcr.
since been ob-
tained in jireat
quantities from
that section, in
addition to the
)unii)er.
Krom tliL^c
heginninu"^ the
local luniberinj;-
business iKvd-
oped all (ivc'thc
country. Mills were erected wherever the settlers located near good streams.
New Hampshire and Maine went into the business more largely than some of
the other colonies. lUit the saw-mill followed the i)ioneer wherever lie went ;
and this remark holds true of the post-colonial as well as the colonial period
of our history. As the .-Xtlantic States filled up. and the Western States were
occupied, the saw-mill was regarded the first essential of civilization. Thih
we find the New-Knglander who o( ( u])icd Ohio building a aw-mill in 17S9
on Wolf Creek, sixteen miles from Marietta. The fact that ... »^anton (Mass.)
alone from a hundred and fifty to two hundred saw-mills were niantifacturcil
^AW-MII.L 1>N I UK CDNK.MAlIliH.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
5o»
.mnuallv about 1 790 is significant of the development of the lumber-business
ihruimli this important instrumentality all over the country.
riic abundance of pine-forests, the improved facilities afforded by saw-
mills, and the natural hardihood and enterprise of the colonists, led many of
them to embark in the lumber-trade, not simjjly for their own ueveiop-
neiessities, but for puq^oses of trade, domestic and foreign. Saw- mem of in-
mill? were, to a great extent, run like grist-mills, the proprietor ""'y-
tikiiiL' toll from his many patrons, and selling the stock thus accumulated, and
even engaging in the cutting of trees, in order to keep his mill going, and
(.nlaru'i.' iiis profits. The projjrietary lumber-business thus had an early start :
It bet,'.!!! in New Hampshire and Maine, which, in the seventeenth century,
both liulonged to Massachusetts. Many mills were erected on the Piscata(iua,
S;u(i. Kennebec, and other rivers. Mason, (lorges, and the Pepperelis,
iirigiiKil jiroprietors in New Hampshire and Maine, engaged extensively in the
iiiisincss. There was a deal of ship-building done too, in those colonial days,
at Kittery, and elsewhere along the coast ; and lumber was largely consumed
in this way. There was a large export of partially-manufactured lumber to the
Wtst Indies, and of masts and knees for shipping to Kngland. New England
( arricil on a large sugar-trade with the Indies, and was obliged to ship thither
large (luantities of staves and shooks for barrels. In the eighteenth century
the C'ham])lain tlistrict exported lumber extensively to Montreal and Quebec,
and after the Revolution a large business sprang up in the western counties of
New \ (irk. New Jersey became conspicuous for her lumber exports early iiir
(Colonial days, and prohibiteil the carrying of any timber, planks, boards, oak-
bolts, staves, heading, hoops, or even hop-poles, e.xcept in her own shipping.
Hiiue rafts of lumber were floated down the Delaware to l'hila<lelphia, and
iluwii tlie Sus(|uehanna to Baltimore. Philadelphia exported 783,000 feet of
iuinher in 1765, and in 1731 a liritish publication mentioned the importations
"' X'5t<J"" worth of lumber annually from Virginia and Maryland. The
oitii ial value of the different kinds of lumber exporteil from all the colonies
\\\ 1770 was ^154,637 : this embraced boards, plank, scanUing, timber for
masts, spars, and buildings, staves, heading, hoops, and poles. In 1792 the
e\|)()rts of lumi)cr were 65,846.024 feet, including 80,813,357 shingles, 1,080
tedar and oak ship-knees, and 191 house-frames.
W ithin the present century, however, and especially within the past thirty
year>, the lumber-business has attained a deselopment compared with which
that (if the pre- Revolutionary age was insignificant. The needs of Lumbering
the (ountryhave vastly increaseil, and the facilities for handling during inst
ami ;nan\ifacturing lumber have improved to a remarkable extent. ' """ "'^"
Fony and fifty years ago we had a large ship-building industr)'. which has
ile( lined ; and we are using iron rather more than wood in our modern bridges.
lint when it is remembered that our i)opulati<)n has increased from three to
forty live millions, and that but one man in fifty has a house of brick or stone,
'
I
m._ r I
Wl^A'-'^
-IP r: .
'1.4^
■If • '-
.r .t '.' I ■ • ;' -
' '. X
502
/JVD US TRIA I. HIS TON Y
it can be seen, that, for building-purposes alone, our demand for luinlxi hi
multiplied exceedingly. Then, too, within forty years we bn-e iniilt thousiinU
of miles of railroad and telegraph, re(iuiring ties and j)oies all along tin.' ioiul'
The timber thus employed ih of an inferior sort ; but the (piantity is iniiiKiisc
Woollen pavements in our large (-ities 'Iso consume large (juantiiics of thi^
material. The invention of wood-working machinery and the devclopmcin oi
various manufactures have necessarily increased the demand ; while the aiipli-
(ation of the steam-engine to the saw, and the arrangement of saws in lmiil'-,
so as (() cut several planks from one log sinuiitancously, have enlar.4i(; the
capacity of the mills wonderfully, and so increased the sup|)ly.
If one will but compare the value of the lumber sawed and planeii, and thi.'
numl)er of establishments engaged in the business, in 1850, i,S6o, and iSjo,
Centraiiza- '"'•-' ^^''" <'i!^i<>ver that tile increase in ])n)duct is very rcniarkahk',
tion of but that the increase in the number of mills is not iJniportionati' ;
us r>. ji^ other words, the business is becoming centralized. W'iiile there
are a great many little local .saw-mills all over the country, the main Ixisincss i^
conducted by a {c'k large ones, which < ut fifty or a hundred times as hmk h
in one season as any mill of half a century ago. Thus in 1X50 the prodiK l ot
for hiinher h,,,
l>iiilt thousand,
ilong the nmtu.
't'ty is i'uincnsf
uantitics of thj,
(ieVL'lopUK'IU ()|
while iIk- apjilj.
f" saws ill ^aii),',
'■^^
c cnlarm'i! the
ilaiu'ii, ami thr
.S6o, anil i.S;o.
.TV rc-markalilc,
linipdrtionati' ;
. Wliik' there
ain l)iisines!i is
imes as niiuh
the product of
OF THE UNITED STATES.
503
n,89S ni'lls was $58,520,966 ; in i860, that of 20,165 mills was $104,928,342,
or nearly double that of ten years before ; and, in 1870, that of 26,930 mills
was ?^52,032,229, or more than double that of i860. The inciease since
then has not been at quite the sume rate ; but it is very large.
Half a century ago the State of Maine was the great producer of surplus
lumber for the rest of the country. At times the States of New York and
IVnnsvlvania equalled her in product, and in i860 considerably
1 • Maine.
exceeded her. But while the Champlaui region, the western part
of New York, the Delaware, C!hesapeake, Schuylkill, and Alleghany regions,
were ^reat producers, the population of tho;;e States was so large as to nearly
or ijiiite consume their home-supplies ; I'hiladclphia even importing from the
Hanuor district. Maine was lightly populated, and exported to all New Eng-
himl, and even flirther south on the .Atlantic coast. Hy i860 the saginaw
Cireen-May region in Wisconsin, and the Saginaw district in Michi- '*'»*'■'<='•
gan, had assumed considerable prominence in the business ; and they both
eclipsed Maine during the next decade. Thus while Maine's product of sawed
liiinber, including laths, shingles, and staves, in that inter\-al, only increased
from .^7,167,760 to ;?i 1,395,747, Wisconsin's rose from ;f!4, 616,430 to $15,130,-
;i9. and Michigan's from $7,303,404 to S31 ;;;46,396. New York's product
had increased, meantime, from $10,597,595 to $21,238,228. and Pennsylvania's
from $10,994,060 to $28,938,985 ; but cxccjit a good-sized export from New
York to Canada, and a moderate one from Pennsylvania South, those two
States did little more than provide for themselves. The Siiginaw region con-
tinuetl to increase its product until 18; ivhen its climax apjiears to have been
reached. The (Irecn- Hay region has continued to increase its product. The
same great belt of dense white-pine forest which starts in Maine, and runs
through to the head of the (Ireat Lakes, also crosses Minnesota; which State
has, within the past eight or len years, risen into great prominence as a lumber-
producing State. The saw-mills about the Falls of St. .Anthony arc, perhaps,
more numerous than in any other one locality in the United States. The
jirineipal lumber of Maine and the North-West is the white or soft pine, with
considerable spruce and hemlock : the hard pine comes chiefly from North
Cariilina, (leorgia, Florida, and Alabama. The Dismal Swamp in Virginia is
also (piiie a ])r()du( cr of i)ine, spruce, and hemlock. Ohio and Michigan yield
(onsii! Table black walnut, cherry, ash, and white-oak, although these woods
are also found elsewhere. Louisiana and Mississippi arc also coming to be
large Ituiiber-producers. The Pacific coast and Roi ky-Mountain region
abounds in a sort of fir, or red-wood, which is \ery serviceal)lc : this is the
])rincipal lumber of Oregon. The city of Chicago is now the greatest lumber-
mart of the world, her supplies coming chiefly from the shores of Lake Michi-
gan. It might be remarked in this connection, that Chicago and other lumber-
markets now send to the pioneer, all prepared for use, mu( h of t!-.e building-
material needed by him. Indeed, to such a degree of pcrfec lion is this science
.1
1^
ii
!il
■ ■■ \.-l
■ It!' 'V
III
Sit'
n
11
5 "4
M7J f '.9 TA'/A L II IS TOR Y
carried, that thousands of ready-made he ises are sold and shipped ui their
destinations every year; the timber being •. j cut and nunil)ered, tii.u a -ikiltnl
carpenter, provided with tiie pro[)er accompanying designs, can lasily c-rect
the proposed edifice in a very short space of time.
We have already spoken of the magnitude of the lumhcriii^-busiiKss
carried on by individuals and separate companies ; yet it is not Ki-ncrallv
DcBcription realized ; nor is the exciting, laborious, and almost romaini( i-xp^-
of industry, riencc of the lumbermen. Kvery iixll the mill-owner or ( oiitrador
arranges for a winter's campaign in the woods. If the land be iiis own, hu
provides equipments and sujiplies for the men himself; or, if tiic land he
another's, he arranges with the proprietor to cut the wood for so uuuh i
thousand feet, or so much per tree. .An eligible neighborhood, where i|\(.Te
are plenty of trees, and a stream of water near by, with perhaps a more or
less sloping bank, is selected ; and thither a gang of able-bodied woodsmen
are despatched ere snow flies. Rude log-huts called " camijs " arc erei idh
with wooden chimneys, and beds of hemlock-boughs ; and here they slav fur
the season. The .staple of their diet is salt pork and rum. .\t niglu, ( ards.
story-telling, and general hilarity, beside a blazing fire, form a marked (ontrast
to the hard toil of the day and the loneliness and t heerlessness of a forest-
winter. Such adventures, too, as the encountering of wolves and catamounts.
the occasional skating upon a frozen river, and the sharj) competition tlirough
the day with neighboring gangs of workmen, lend excitement to this wild,
strange life. Through the day the toil is of the hardest. The trees are ( ut.
stripped of their branches, sawed with great cross-cut two-hand saws into logs
of the desirable size, and hauled into convenient localities for ilrawing lo the
water-side. Then, by means of a chain, a skid, and an ox-team, the logs are
loaded upon huge sleds, — sometimes only one end of the log being placed
upon the bob, — and are hauled down to the river and emptied in, the ice-
crust serving to keep them from floating ofl". I-^ach owner's logs are jiroperly
marked in order to distinguish them, inasnnich as a number of different con-
tractors are at work often on the same .stream. This is the case especially in
such great lumber-regions as the Kennebec, the Penobscot, Saginaw River,
(Ireen Bay, and Rum River (Minn.). The season begins in December, and
generally ends in March. Kvery thing de])ends on the snow. Sometimes this
is so deep, that the oxen cannot break paths ; and again there is so little, that
it has to be scraped vip at nightfall, and made into a road to be used onl\ u
night ; for even the winter sun and the mildness of day would so soften the
bed, that the sleds would cut it all up ar ! destroy it. Much of the work of
hewing, sawing, loading, and hauling, is c ane in the stormiest and coldest of
weather.
From the time when operations cease in the woods, until the rivers open,
there is generally a season of about two months. Few of the hands stay in
the woods during this period, although a few are needed to keep watc h against
OF THE UNITED STATES.
505
thefts. When spring cornea, the logs are floated clown stream in an immense
ni;b> I ailed a " drive." (lencrally this branch of the work is carried on by
a (liilLrcnt set of men from those who cut the logs. Here, again, great
,kill and muscle are recinircd, and great excitement is afforded. 'I'he logs are
accuimilated by millions ; the streams are swollen and rapid ; and the scene
resembles an immense herd of furious cattle, such is the confusion, and leaping
of logs upon one another. I')vcry now and then occurs a "jam," where two
iiriiiDrc logs in the van catch against obstructions on opposite shores, become
ioikcil, and so check the progress of the whole drive, which now piles itself
u|) like an ice-pack. .\t this juncture some bold and dexterous " driver " runs
out \\\w\\ the floating mass, (jiiickly finds by his practised eye where the difti-
ciiitv is, and pries the obstructing logs apart with his pole ; then the whole
drive gives way with a tremendous rush, tiie foremost logs shooting away like
rorkcts. and the heaj) in tiie rear suddenly subsiding. Only with the utmost
agility is the adventurer able to reach the shore. A whole gang of men is
eng;ii;e(l in this labor, and it takes several days to reach their destination:
a((tir(lingly a cook accompanies them on a raft with their clothing and
provisions, and ministers to then ; in the logging-camp.
Finally the dam is reached wi re the mills are located. Here a "boom,"
or scries of logs bound together with strong chains, and sometimes stayed by
great piers, cat< lies the drive, from the confusion of which the property
of different owners is laboriously and tediously se})arateil. Then, through the
Slimmer and fall, the logs are forced through the mills, and converted i' lO
liimlier.
Tlic following description of a mill and mill-site in the Saginaw region,
where salt-boihng is carried on in connection with the sawing of lumber, as
is elsewhere described, will afford an excellent idea of the mayni-
. ° Description
tiiile of this business, not only in Michigan, but in all the other of miu and
jiniK ipal lumber-regions already designatetl, just as the description salt-works
1 1- 11 11 • ••,»!,■' Saginaw.
j,'ivt.ii al)ove applies ecjually to all winter operations m the North.
Says a writer in "The New- York Tribune," of an establishment at Bay City, —
•• The mill, salt-works, and other buiklings. cover a very large area. The
rivLT-front and slii)s, from which the lumber, lath, shingles, and salt can be
jikued on steam anil sailing vessels, are a mile and a (piarter in extent.
The motive-powers of the saw-mill and other works are one engine of 760
horse power, and four smaller engines uscil for various purposes. There are
225 men eni|)loyed in and about the mill, salt-works, anil yard. There have
been 265,000 feet of lumber sawed in the mill in one day of eleven and a cpiar-
ter working-hours. The capacity of the mill is from 25,000,000 to 30,000,000
feet of lumber when the machinery is running on ordinary time, from May to
November ; but the results can be doubled in busy seasons when the men are
emplcjyed night and day. In this, as in all other large mills, gang-saws are
used in addition to the large circular-saws. The gang-saws are set upright in
iVi
191
■']
If
r^\i
)_■; 11
u'.'l.,./ ..
5o6
Ii\D US TKIA L HIS TOR Y
I
Displace-
ment of
manual
labor by
machinery
frames. There are two pairs of gang-saws in this mill : the largest of thuse
contains fifty-four saws. The large circular-saws are used in jiroducinj^ timlicr
of varying widths, the log being adjusted by machinery, so that any thickiics',
can be obtained. 'I"he furnaces are fed with sawdust, which is carried liv
means of endless belts from below the saws to the mouths of the lonj,' row oi'
furnaces. All of it, however, is not needed for this purpose ; and the surplus,
together with a considerable amount of other refuse, is conveyed by simiik'
machinery to an opening, into which it is being continually dischar^'cd when
the machinery of the mill is in motion, 'I'his opening leads to a large turnaic,
twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, into which the refuse is thrown aial con-
sumed. It was constructed for this purjiose alone."
\VOOI)-\VC)KKlNti MACIIINICRV.
During the last fifty years mechanical labor has taken the place of manual
labor, in the sawing up and shajiing of wood, to an extraordinary extent. The
greatest i)rc)gress has been made in the United States, where ma-
chines have been absolutely necessary to supi)lement the limited
amount of human lal)or which manufacturers have been alilc
to command, and where there has been a general iin])ressi()u.
among workmen and employers alike, that all the country needs
to obviate debt, taxes, anil bail weather, and to make the men handsome and
the women lovelier, and give everyboily a thousand dollars in tiie bank, is tiie
use of plenty of machinery and a liberal issue of ])ateiit-rights. The spirit
with which new maciiines have been received in the I'liiled States has been
very different from that wiiich formerly prevailed in luiropc, and is still mani-
fested there from time to time. The result is a larger use of meclianii a!
inventions, and a corresponding imi)roveineut in the jjosition of working-men,
who. from manual laborers, have risen to be ilireitors of maciiines, and maste's
of shops.
Since 1867 one of the most interesting de[)artments in every one ol" the
world's tairs has been that in which .American woodworking iikk hinery has
been exhibited. 'I'he first show which attracted sjjecial attenHon
■^li-^axv.- ^^'^^ ^^ Vax'm, in 1867. .\t the exhibitions of 1S51, 1S55. and
ing machine- 1862, the ICnglish had been almost without rivals. In uSO; tho
fairs ^°^^^ * United States appeared u)>on the scene both with wood-working
anil metal-working machines, and made a show which was a veri-
table surprise to the English makers. The .American exhibit was specially
commented upon in the reports made to all the governments whose people
were represented in the fair. Professor Rcauleaux, director of the Industrial
Academy at Berlin, was especially ijiterested in the American machines ; and
he reported to his government : " Upon the whole it may be said, that, in
machine-industry, Kngland has partly lost her formerly undisputed leadership,
OF THE UNlTEIi STAII-.S.
507
or tli.il slie IS at least about to lose it. ^^he healthy, young, trans-Atlantic in-
dustry, wliith continually withdraws fiom us energetic and intelligent heads and
robibt hands, makes, with the aid of her peculiar genius, the most sweeping
progress ;] so iliat we shall soon have to turn our front from Kngland westward."
l)i.'s( riliTng the distinguishing traits of .American machines, I'rofessor Reau-
Ica'ix said, "They are distinguished from us by more direct and rapid concej)-
tiii'i. ri'he American aims straightways for the needed construction, using the
inc.ui^ tTiat appear to him the simplest and most effective, whether new or oUKj
Our liistorically heai)ed-up material, and the cautious character of the (lerman,
arc so inseparably interwoven, that, among the number of known means, we
often forget to ajjk whether they arc the simi)lest, or whether new ones might
not 1h' lietter. ("rhe American really constructs in accordance with the severest
tlu'(iriti( al abstraction, observing on the one side a distinctly marked-out aim,
wci^'hiu^ on the other the already available means or creating new ones, and
then proc ceding, regaidless of precedents, as ^straight as possible for the ub-
jed.") ('. H. Rogers i\: Company of Norwich, Conn., ojjtained the gold medal
at tiiis iair. .\t I'hiladelphia, in iiSyG, the department of machines and tools
for \v(ir;ing wood was almost exclusively oc<ui)icd by tiie United States. Can-
ad.i >ent a few machines, dreat IJritain had one exiiibitcr, and tiic rest of the
worlil perha])s a do/cii. The I'nited States had attained to undisputed emi-
miu f in the originality, variety, and c\( ciicncc of her wood-working contriv-
an< e^ : and not a rival tVoui the Old World dared really to compete with her.
Hie sawmill (the pioneer wood working machine) came into use in the
vtrv earlv days of this country : but not till recently has it reacheil any thing
like .1 perfect state. Kven yet tiu" saw-mill is not all that it should The
lie; for the mechanical appliances for handling the log. for hold- »»w-miii.
iiij; it in place on the iron frame wlii( h ( arries it forward to the saw, and for
ailjusting the guides of the circ ular saw, are still somewhat crude, and make
the manufacture of lumber a dangerous occupation. It is claimed that more
persons are maimed and injured in the Cnited States from the use of circular
saws as now employed than from any other cause, wars and accidents not
exeepted. If dangerous to careless sawyers, the mill has at any rate become
very efficient in cutting up the logs into jjlanks, boards, and scjuare beams, with
1,'reat rajjidity, and little waste of material. (>ne of the devices of the saw-
mill to which a good deal of attention is paid is the " dog," — a sharp iron
tiHith, projecting from the uiiright iron standard against which the log is
plued, to hold it steady while it is being sawed lengthwise. The " dog " is
worked by a lever, which causes it to sinV- down into the log with a tight
gri]), and draw the log tightly against the standard. .'\ great many " ilogs " are
maiie for the trade, having various tenacity of grip ; and every few years a
"boss dog," or a " boss dog, jun.," or some other species of the canine, is
Ijroiight out to take the ])lace of the inventions which have jjreccded it, and
are sujiposed not to do the work as well.
I
irr'.!>
!..^:^''v^
H r!ii'
.|-:!1i;t '"-''ft
nMlf?
808
INDVSTKIAl. IIISTOKY
Saws, of course, arc used all the way upi in the shai)ing and iiiaimt;u lurc
of wood, from forest-work to < ahiiiet-work. Sc an e a shop of any s\ix- is
without its circular saw for cutting up wood rapidly ir.to e(|nal Icngtib, ami
circular and the haiul-saw is universal. Within the last twenty-live yi,ir-> x\\\-
other lawi. bon-saws have come into use also for the inanufa. ture i>i .una
mental work, such as brackets, j)ieces of irrej{ular form for furniturr, iiiii.iiiuiii^,
for staircases, &c. 'i'he ribbon-saw is of two kinds : it is eitiier .in indk^N
band of steel, which passes over two wheels, — one above, the other lalow, the
table on which the piece of wood to be sawed is lai<l, — oi it is a straight, slen-
der blade, which works up and down
with a re( iprocatiiiK motion. UK-
band-saw was the slowest in arriving
at i)erfection. 'I'he blades were lia-
ble to break with a sudden stnnn.
'l"he blades for these saws are miw,
however, of excellent make, and the
machinery upon which tluy are
mounted is of the most solid and
non-vibrating des(rii)tion. I'lie saws
are a valual)le aid to the Inrnilnre-
niaker and architects, .'hey are re-
sponsible for a great deal of the
gingerbread ornament put upon the
eaves, porches, bal< onies, and win-
dows of our modern woiKJen cot-
tages ; but they have sui)stantial ami
valuaiile uses, and are the orij;in of
su< h beautiful and inexpensive
brackets and wooden ornaineiits lor
interiors, that we can forgive tlieiii
for wiiat they have done for exte-
riors. 'I'he ileniand for these s.iws
has been very large. Exhibited first at fairs as ( uriositics for (iittiiii; up
blocks of wood into complicated Chinese puzzles, tiiey soon < ame into j,en-
cral use in all practical work. A great many of the general machine-shoiis ot"
the United States are devoted to their manufacture. The saws are workeil
either by steam-power or by means of a treadle. The reciprocating saw ( an
be given a speed of two hundred and fifty cuts a minute by means of a
treadle, the saw working so easily that the workman is in no resjjcc t embar-
rassed with the action of his foot.
Some very ingenious improvements have been made in the United States
upon that most universal of wood-working machines, the turning-lathe. TIk'
machine - lathe originally was devoted only to the jiroduction of straii,ht
HAND-SAW.
Oh Till: r XI TED STATES.
509
rDund ^ti»•ks for l)room-luuitlli.'s, hanistL-rs, parts of chairs, ttc, and other simple
roiiiiil nbJLTts. 'I'hc chisels, which cut away tiic wood as the rough .sticks
rcvolviil at fjreat speed, were ( arried alon^' inmi one end of the Turning.
sti( k til the other l)y tool-posts, which were operated by ioiij,' feed- '"**"•
mru^. If it was desired to turn the lianister. ciiair-len. or other ol>je( t. in
,inv inttern. tiie chisel had to lie ap|)lied by hand, and guided l)y the eye of
ilu' workman. .About twenty five years ago the lathe was iniprosed. so as to
|iiitiirin the whole business of carving a chair-leg of any pattern. The slid-
iii)itiHil carrier w.is siipjilied with two tools. One. a chisel, was fixed, and
w.b iiiide to rough off the work ; the second, a V-shaped cutter, cut out
i1r' |i.illern. being guideil by a template fixed to the bed of the lathe. A
kiiilc. whose edge was fashioned according to the form to be produced, was
inuk lo move vertically in a frame behind the lathe. .\s the tool-carrier
|i,b^L(l along, this knife was made to descend, and smooth olT the pattern.
Ilv thi^ apparatus it became jiossible to turn out chair legs with the accuracy
.ut.imeil by hand, and with increased s|)eed. The lathe was also so improved
IS to permit the tiirning out of wood
111 elliptical and sipiare forms. The
Milk was given two motions. It re-
\olvud rapidly ujion its axis, and at the
\iiiu' time received a motion from side
111 side by means of eccentrics. i"vc.. in
till.' yearin^: ; so that it approached and
receded from the cutting-tool sufti-
I iently to give it a scpiare or elliptical
siirt.u e. This style of machine has proved useful in turning out wood for
|iatteriii ; and it has been adoptetl by the brass, silver, and gold smiths in the
"s|)inning-up " of llat sheets of metal into hollow-ware, in which process a
lilock iif a certain shape anil a flat disk of niet.al are put into the lathe, and
tlie metal is made to lie down ujuin and take the shape of the block by
jiressing it with a smooth steel tool, both revolving rapiiUy iluring the
proi'ess.
I'laning-machincs were introduced at a very early day. I'hey are of two
kinds. In one style cutting-blades are mounted upon a cylinder, and the
jilank or strip of wood to be planed is passed through between pianing-
tlie ])]aiier and a he,ivy roller, which are fixed the right distance ""Chines.
apart by means of screws: in the other style the cutting-tools are chisels,
mounted at right angles upon two spokes of iron, and made to revolve in a
( ireie at enormous speeil. These machines are made to plane horizontally or
vertically, and to deal with wood across the grain, with knotty wood, and
Iilanks and beams of all descriptions.
Tile sash, blind, and door, and the hand-plane industries have given rise to
a variety of machines for cutting out mortises, tenons, grooves, slots, and
ri.ANEB ANU MATellIN(iMACIIlNK.
I
>..i!:!:
510
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Machinery
for making
sashes,
blinds, and
doors.
joints of all kinds. The work is generally clone in these machines by means
of chisels anil saws. This class of machines has miiltiiiiicd verv
fast since 1861 , and has concentrated in factories a large amount
of work which was formerly carried on by hand, and scattered lar
and wide among small shops. It has also greatly lessened tlie
art of production. The machines are all very simple, \\\wyA\
frequently very ingenious, and work with great precision. The framing, sliaii-
ing, and panelling of
windows, doors, and
blinds, is now done
entirely by machine-
ry ; and the apjilica-
tion of mec' 'nil al la
bor in this industrv
has gone so lar, that
even the \s\:c stajiles
which fasten the rod
of the window- blind
tt) the slats are all
driven by machine,
and with incrediMe
sjjced. If a ma( bine
were invented to
brush on the green
l)aint Vj the window-
blind, sash, or door, there woidil be nothing more to do in the constnu lion
of tliose ol)jects which could be tlone by machine, 'i'hat a device of that
character could be made is apparent ' oth by the aiti of the unassisted reason,
and froni the fact that f.ngland ex-
hibited a i)ainting- machine at Phila-
delphia in 1S76, It was. in fa( t. her
only wood-working machine shown.
One of the comparatively recent in-
ventions is a set of machines for making
Barrel- ^'^'-' 'liffi-'ri-'llt ])arlS of bar-
making- rels. In these the staves
machines. , , , . • • . i
are sawed out, bent, jointed,
and prepared for the barrel, with scarce-
ly the aid of any hand-tool whatever.
The heads of the barrels and the wooden hoops are also sha])e(l by appro-
Carving and priatc inventions. There are also now in use machines for carving,
engraving. engraving and jiortrait engines, lathes for cutting and boring
spools, box-inortising-machines, stair-jointers, hub-boxing-machines, cork-
TWKNTV-FdlK-lNtH I'l.ANHR.
M()1'1.I)1N(.-MA( IIINR.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
5"
cutters, sliingle and lath saws, a variety of apparatus for bending wood for
carriages, &c., and shoe-peggers. The latter are often made so as to drive a
peg into the shoe the moment it is made from a ribbon of hard wood, coiled
lip like a spring in tiie machine, and fed forward as it is wanted. Peg.-; are
also made by the bushel by means of it, and supplied to the trade for hand-
pegging. It is said that shoe-pegs are made on such a scale in Connecticut,
,111(1 so cheaply, that they are sometimes sold for oats, — a legend whicii will
■lo now to be placed on the shelf with the kindred tjle of the fortunes made by
'unnecticut jjeddlers in retailing wooden machine-made nutmegs. A great
■leal of machinery is also used in cutting out and jointing wooden Toy-making
•iiys and automatons, such as snakes, clog-cLncers, dolls, furni- """chinery.
•lire, mechanical playthings, wooden pipes, tenpins, boats, puzzles, blocks, &c.
Franc e formerly had almost a monopoly of tlie manufacture of toys, and her
nigenuity in devising new ideas is still unexcelled. Hut her toy^ have been
marlv ail hand-made, and .American machine-made wooden toys are proving
a Ibrmidahle rival to the product of her factorie.-). 'I'hey have become so
wiihin tiie last ten years.
Wood is one of the raw ])roducts which enter into the manufacturing
industries, whose cost is generally so small, compared with the labor expended
upon it. tliat it does not usually form any material part of the cost Extensive
(if tiu' article made from it. Houses and bridges which contain a "se of wood
^ireat de.ii of lumber are, of course, exceptions. Usually the cost '" "' '"*"
of wooden-ware is attributable chiefly to the wages of the men employed in
it^ nianntac ture. Nino tenths of the sellin;,'-price of carriages, toys, ships,
fiirniiinc, tlie minor parts of a house, brackets, picture-frames, &:c.. Houses and
h labor. This being the case, and labor being so high in this '"■'''eeS'
(diintry, the public necessity for an extensive employment of time and labor
saving nKU hinery in the manufacture of wood is apparent. Congress has given
pr()te( tion to the making of wooden-ware by a heavy tariff, steadily Wooden-
maintained ; but, without the aid of machinery to cheapen proiluc- ware.
tion, it is doubtful whether half the manufacturers of wood in this country
eotiid hold tiioir ground againit foreign competition. Witii this protection, and a
plenty of maciiinery, they are able to outstrip all rivals in supplying the Ameri-
can market with all wooilen-ware in common use ; and, to some extent, they are
now able to export common goods. They have long been able to export ware
lahricaled from peculi.ir American woods, such as l-,ickory, and peculiar inven-
ti(iii>. like the cabinet organ ; but it is only recently, and by the aid of
liiadiinery, tiiat ware made of common woods has been made by them a
leature of any interest in the export tiade. Coods upon which machinery
cannot be employed, and which requi.e the expenditure of a great deal of
l.ilior, wc still buy of other nations ; such as lac(iuered ware, carved wooden
docks, carved paper-knives, elaborately-carved cabinets and inlaid tables,
curious sets of chess-men. fe-. :
'"^'r^nfrrrfrf^ff] '{•{ I
m
512. INDUSTRTAL N/STOA'V
The numlier of establishments in the United States employing wooil work
ing machinery to any extent in 1870 was about 57,000. They were the fol-
lowing : —
'^'•*'S. NO. OP FACIDlMKq.
, Agricultural implements o^q-c,
Boats , - .
Moxes ,_04,,
Brooms (j,-
.. . Wagons l^^cyy^
Cars ,7-,
Cooperage 4,00,
Cork-cutting
Furniture 5,ijt>o
Hubs, spokes, and fellies jo>
Kindling-wood -■o
Lumber (planed) 1,1 1^
Lumber (>>a\ved) 25,817
Lumber (staves, &c.) 15
Musical instruments 340
Oars. 25
Sashes, doors, and blinds i,6or;
, Slii|)-I)uilding 763
, Shoe-jiegs . 26
Wishing-niachines 64
Wheelbarrows 23
Wheelwrights 3,613
Wooden brackets 65
Wooden-ware 269
Wood (turned and carved) 733
These establishments employed steam-engines, wind-mills, an<l water.
wheels which had a capacity of 850,000 horse power : and it is e>lini;ite(l,
moderately, that the number of wood-working machin' s in operation in thi'
factories and mills was 120,000. Ten years ago it was estimated tliat thi.
total number of wood-working machines in France was only 10.000. Tiic
difference is partly explained by the circumstance that America is a ,i,'reai ibr-
esting country, and not only obtains from her own woodlands, and works uji
in her own shops, all the co.nmon timber she consume.^, but a vast amount ol
lumber is sawed and planed for exportation ; whereas France is oi)liK<-(l to
import a large amoimt of timber which comes to her already prepared lor
consumption. .Mlowing for this difference in the foresting products of the
two countries, the comjiarison in the amoimt of wood-working machiner\
employed by each is stil' remarkable. \ comparison ecjually (iivorable to the
Americans could be made with every other coimtry in the world. To liuilil
the machinerj' required by the American shojis devoted to wood-working, and
supply that which is required to replace the worn-out and antifjuated, call> for
the services of several hundred machine-shops and the labor of thousands ot
our countrymen.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
513
FURNITURE.
The furniture-industry had no definite beginning, as did some of the other
trades of the country ; though, hlce the mushroom which came in one night
through a tar-walk, it had a definite debut in society as a full- ^^^^ „{• fy^.
I'rown fiutory-industry. It grew up (juietly in the carjjenter-shops niture-man-
scattered through the land in every village and hamlet, beginning
in a modest way with simple hard-wood chairs, benches, dining-tables, and
bedsteads, all plain-
ly !)iit strongly
made, and without
anv pretence of
stvle. riie carpen-
ter, wlien out of a
jol) of house-build-
ing, fdled np the
dull days with fur-
nitiire making, not
as a regular trade,
but as a moans of
saving his time.
The chairs were
straight-backed af-
fairs, often with
bent hickory arms.
They were general-
ly uiK ushioned, but
they supported the
form admirably;
and so well did
tluy |)erform their
imrposc, that nine-
tentlis uf the heav-
ily upholstered and
drajied chairs of the * chmk.
present era t)f fash-
ionaliie arl are far less comfortable and healthful to the occupant than the
(luaint hickory chairs which come down to us in ancient homes from a hundred
years ago. The tables were simple, but heav\ . Ihcy generally had hinged
leaves in order to economize the space of the ajiartment when not in use.
Sometimes they were made so that the whole top revolved on a hinge, and
toukl he turned up perpendicularly, anil the table pushed ui) close against the
wall. Oftentimes the tables were hinged to the wall of the room, so as to turn
/
'A=
I
SM
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
up flat against it when not in use, the leg of the table hanging down against it
when thus raised, but swinging tlown into its proper position when tiic table
was lowered. The bedsteads were often as .strongly built as a house. There
was no grudging of material in them. The four posts were huge and hji-h
and the sides and the head-boards almost as thick as the side of a shji
A framework was built over them for the curtains of .the bed. Less fur-
niture was used in that age than at jiresent, and the wants of the < olonists
were amply .supplied by this desultory manufacture in the cariK'iitcr-sliops.
Besides, for more than a hundred years, a great deal of furniture was im-
l)orted from Europe. Mahogany furniture, which was then very iuik h m
fashion, was almost exclusively imported.
.\fter the Revolutionary
war, ornamental woods were
Mahogany freely iin|i()rte(l
furniture. from' tile West
Indies and South .America.
Carpenters then l)e^an ti,
make mahogany furniture, as
well as that of the nioi^ com-
mon \V()(o(ls. Tlic wood was
generally worked uji solid.
The chairs, bedsteads, (ahi-
nets, chests, and tal)ks into
wh' li it was fasiiioned. were
all made by hand ; and the
workmen lavished upon tlieni
an amount of loving ( arviii^'
and dccoraticjn which showed
that their hearts were in the
work. I'ieccs of this mas-
sive old furniture arc still preserved in many old families as heirlooms ; and
when they stray into the general market, as they (x casionally do, thev are
eagerly snapjied u]) by wealthy families at fabulous prices. There was not
very much of it made, however, owing to its cost and the limited demand lor
it. It was hard to make it, also, in competition with the luiropean makers ;
f(jr France, Knglanil, and (lennany had great factories employed in tiiis (ia.ss
of manufactures, and furniture could be turned out at very much less ((jst
than here.
The industry first began to differentiate itself from the general carpenter-
Furniture- business in 1812. ("ongress imposed a tax of thirty per ( cut upon
mailing in all imported articles of furniture, and maintaineil a duty of about
'*"■ that weight, by the way, imder all subsecpient tarifls, free or pnjlec-
tive, steadily. The two or three years of war following 181 2 were an additional
OF THE UNITED STATES.
515
protection to the furniture-makers, and by 1815 -u large number of them were
rci^tilarly engaged in the business in all principal cities. From R^pjj deveu
that period the rise of the industry has been rapid: it has mv>re opment until
than kept pace with population. Soon after 181 5 Amercan ideas ' **"
ami vigor began to manifest themselves in the business, especially in the pro-
(liK tion of furniture for common use. The rocking-chair, a purely American
idea, was largely manufactured. Straw, cane, wicker, and rattan seats and
backs to chairs, were introduced. New woods were put to use, such as cherry,
liiittcrnut, ash, and black-walnut. Wicker-work chairs were made. Machinery
was constnicted to produce the parts of chairs, beds, bureaus. &c., in whole-
sale lots. The art of veneering was adopted, which was to furniture what
silver-plating was to table-ware. A variety of charming anil serviceable forms
were invented, and all furniture was made lighter, handsomer, and cheaper.
Ihe use of machinery cheapened furniture immensely, and brought within the
rea( h of the great masses of the people that profusion of <:hairs, tables,
bureaus, &c., which had abounded on'y in wealthy houses. The country was
growing; in wealth too rapidly. The sale of furniture grew enormously. Families
bought a vlozen i)ieces of it where they had bought one before, and furniture-
making soon became one of the most diffuseil and most tlourishing forms of
native industry. Hy 1850 the American makers had almost entire possession
ol' the market : indeed, they had possession of it for all except a certain
lier(entage of the more fashionable and costly varieties. The (piantity of
(Dinmon furniture imported was a mere leaf floating on the surface of the
stream of native imnluction.
The growth of the bus'..iess since 1H50 will be illustrated by Growth
the following figures : — »'"" '^^o-
TS50
iSoo
lS-0
Iiuliidinj; iron bedstead, refrigerator,
iS;o ' picture -frame, and looking -j^l ass
' makers
s
Ol'IiKATIVUS.
3.594
5,981
6,312
22,010
27,016
S3.2'>'<
57-09'
VAUIH OF
I'KODUCT.
;p 1 7,663,000
25,632,000
69,082,000
75,539,000
Within the last twenty years the business has become subdivided greatly.
\ery tew makers now attem])t to produce all the artic:les needed to equip a
house for occupancy. In the thickly-wooded districts many fac- YLtzKnx tub-
tories confine themselves simply to getting out furniture in the division of
rough by means of machinery, sending it to the large cities to be "■'"'■»•
finished ft)r the market. 'Ihere are now so many special styles of chairs mufle,
— office, dining-room, cane-seat, wicker, camp, upholstered, bent-wood, and
5'6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
SO on, — tliat large numbers of makers devote themselves to one specialty in
chairs. Some factories make a specialty of sofas, some of ottomans, otlu-rs
of tele-i-tetes and divans. There are a large number who make special st\ks
of tables, — dining, ironing, card, billiard, extension, library, carved, jnl.ud
and centre tables. Some make bedsteads alone ; though the common plan is
now to make l)edroom-furniture in sets, the sets including a bed, bureau, ( om
mode, washstand, table, and three or four chairs. One class of makes now
confine themselves to gilded or enamelled furnaure ; others to solid, ( arvcd,
and inlaid sets. 'i"he most fashionable makers keep a corps of desigiurs, iinl
make sets for parlor, bedroom, dining-room, &c., to order, often takiiii; ilic
measure of a room, and adapting the pieces to it.
It is only within the last ten or (iftecn years that American makers luivc
begun to pay any especial attention to a foreign trade. As furniture is a ( lass
Cultivation "^ products into the making of which art ideas largely enter, and
of foreign the artistic is the special field ii\ which Americans have Ijcen
""" "*'■ behind the rest of the world, the furniture-dealers have i)een afraid
to venture into the foreign markets. At the Paris l\xhibition in 1X67 iIr-
United States were represented by so insignifi< ant a display of furniture, that the
visitor would not have known that they were represented at all. The display
consisted of a few camp-chairs, a few rocking-chairs, an inlaid table trom
Wisconsin, and a laurel-wood door from California. Our manufacturers have
gained confidence since 1867. In 1876 they were represented at i'liiladel-
phia most creditably : they made a splendid and showy display. In all ( 0111
mon fiirniture their styles were original, and their workmanship of siiiierior
description. In elegant furniture their carving, finish, gilding, ^:c., were ail
that could be desired, and were fully equal to those of foreign makers. That
exhibition was a great en<;oiiragement to .\mcrican makers, and they are now
exporting their goods.
The one weak point in .American furniture is the ku k of originality ol |iat
tern in the more artistic pieces. Kvery thing is borrowed fron^ the iileas of
Lack of the French or the English. Whatever hapjjcns for th time to he
originality, popular abroad — whether it is the style of "Louis XIV.," the
" Louis XV." patterns, the '" renaissance," the " rococo," the " (^ueen \nne," the
"Eastlake," or what not — is copied immediately and slavishly by the .\nie.iran
designers. This fact is both a source of regret to their countrymen, and is the
reason why so much costly fiirniture has always been imjjorted. No adiiiirable
American style has been developed ; and buyers of artistic fiirniture depend
on Kurope for their styles, and prefer, when possible, to buy the furniture really
made in the workshops which set t'le style, rather than the imitation by the
American workman. Nothing remains to be desired in the way of ( onunuii
furniture ; but, in the line of artistic fiirniture, every thing is to be desired. A
gleam of the dawn of a better order of things was seen at the Philadelphia
Exhibition in two or three pieces, bedsteads all of them, which were carved in
OF THE UNITED STATES.
m
a truly American style, deriving its inspiration from a study of the plants of
our own soil, and from a study of American ideas. One was carved with the
symbolic ornaments of the lily, the poppy, and the Virginia creeper. Here
was ;i suggestion of an American style. When the idea shall have been devel-
opeil, and American pattern-makers shall fill their heads with ideas taken from
the suggestions of our own beloved land and reproduce them in their furni-
lure, they will occupy a position inferior to none aiaoag civilized nations.
STAKCH.
When Mr. Tilden, after his defeat for the Presidency in 1877, got back from
his subseciuent trip to Juirope, he made a speech from his residence in (Ira-
mcrcv Park, New-York City, of which the newspapers made a
,, , , r 1 • 1 • Uses of corn.
great deal of fun. He alluded to the variety of products in this
country which are not yet manufactured and utilized for the foreign trade to
the extent of which they are capable. " Ks|)ecially cereals," he said. He
then went on to specify Iniiian-corn, which can be prepared in so " many
delicious forms for human food." Acting on the suggestion that Europe needs
to be riviiized, and life there made joyous by imparting to its people a knowl-
edge of the mysteries of cooking this succulent grain into pudding, corn-cake,
iiuish, &c., Mr. Abram S. Hewitt of New York proposed in Congress that a
(orn kit'hen should be established at Paris at the Kxhibition of 1878, in order
ti) I reute a demand in Europe for Indian-corn by showing the natives how to
1 uok it. This, in turn, made sport for the newspapers, and the sky was dark-
ened with the ( louds of lurid paragraphs and bad jokes which filled the air.
In spite of th'- American propensity for looking at the funny side of every
thing, there was a great deal of truth in Mr. Tilden's remarks. The United
States do not yet utilize their grains for export to the extent of which they are
capable, and there is a va.st field here open for profitable effort. The success
of one single branch of the manufacture of cereals is indicative of what may
vet be (lone in other directions.
Corn-starch is purely an American invention. Its birth dates from 1842.
Previous to that year, all the starch known to commerce was made from wheat,
barley, rice, and i)otatoes, princijjally from the first and last named. corn-»t«rch
I'otato-starch was introduced into the United States in 1802 by John »n American
liiddis of Pennsylvania ; and a large number of factories were built '"'""*"'"•
to make the article, especially in the cotton-factory districts, the factories being
their principal customers. A number of wheat-starch fiictories were also built.
Abroad wheat was the principal material used. The consumption of starch
made from it was enormous, especially in England and France, whose cotton-
factories took a large part of the whole product. In 1842 Thomas Thomai
Kingsford, while superintending the wheat-starch factory of W. Kingsford.
Colgate iV Company in New Jersey, made experiments with corn, and satisfied
j
r.'l
■it
«ti
5'8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
himself that corn-starch would be a better commercial article in some respects
than any other. In 1848 a factory was built for him at Oswego, N.V,, 1,..
gentlemen living in the city of Auburn in the same State, the location licinu
selected on account of the ease of obtaining large shipments of corn iVoni
the West at Oswego by an all-water rout.,*, an<l on account of the nearness of
Oswego to the large commercial cities and manufacturing States. 'I'lie (;ii lory
was a prosperous concern from the outset ; and it has grown so fast, that it
occupies ten acres of land, and has machinery for treating 950,000 bushels of
com a year. Its product is now about 10.300 tons of starch a year. In iSc8
another great concern was started at (lien Cov. L.I., by the seven .Messrs.
Duryea. The two establishments Te now the larj; -st starch-factories in the
world. After i860, when the two concerns had fairly develoijcd their caijahiii-
ties, they put an end, for the first time in history, to the importations of starch
to the United States. They followed this iij) by an em])hatic l)id for foreij^n
patronage. They sent their starch all ov»'r the world. 'I'hey made it in tiiree
forms, — 'or cooking (in which form it is called "maizena"), for laundry-use,
and for cotton-factory purposes ; and they got gold medals for it everywhere,
Bxport«of and enormous orders. In 1864 the export was scarce 1,000,000
•t«rch. pounds: in 1877 it was barely short of 10,000,000. ThesiKiess
of the two great concerns named has led others into the business, whic h is
Corn-ttarch '^rK^ ^i"*' prosj)ering. C'orn-starch has not, however, superseded
v*. wheat- the manufacture of wheat-starch, and that branch of the Inisiness
is also continued on a large scale. In 1870 the total niiinl)er of
starch-factories in the United States was 195, the number of operatives 2,072,
and the product worth 55,995,000. The business is destined to have a j,'re,it
future develo])ment.
The proportions of native starch in the different grains is as follows : Corn,
from sixty to eighty-five jjcr cent ; wheat, sixty l)er cent ; rye, sixty ; oats, forty-
six ; barley, fifty-seven ; rice, sixty-one ; pease, thirty-seven ; and beans, tliirty
eight ; and the percentage in potatoes is sixty-two. There is no reason why
corn-starch — so delicious for food, and so vaiiial)le .is sizing, and so (heap —
should not supersede all others, and why the United .States should not supply
the greater part of the world with it. Its use as food is rai)idly increasing.
It needs only to be known to 1)C embraced as a regular |)art of the l)ill of fare.
Perhaps it is a pity that the corn-kit(-hen of Mr. Hewitt was not added to the
F^xhibition of 1878, after all, as one of the attractions of the American
department.
W'INF,, .SI'IRIT.S, AND UKKR.
One of the forms in which the grains and fruits and other raw products of
the United States are utilized for commerce is in t le manufacture of stiniiilat
ing beverages. Mr. Tilden did not refer to this class of manufactures when
he commended the idea of bringing the things whicii can be made out of tlie
OF THE UNITED STATES.
S»9
cereals of the land to the attention of foreign nations. There has been ample
(levtlDpment in that direction already.
Nearly all the colonists of America, especially those living south of (lon-
nectic lit, brought with them to this country a taste for wine, beer, and whiskey.
The latter two beverages were pojjular among the middle and laboring classes
in Kn^land and the Netherlands, and the former among the gentry. g,,,y ^^ ^^
Wine was a luxury which almost all who came to this continent itimuianti
had to do without for a long period ; but the population began to '''' •="'"'"'•*••
makf beer and whiskey, and to import what they couhl not make, almost as
soon as they landed from their ships. In every large company of artisans sent
out to the jolonies, a few brewers were regularly included among the rest.
P'or a long period, however, the majority of the colonists brewed their own
k'cr at iiome, just as many farmers do still, in this present age of coionitu
huge breweries and cheaj) lager, in the country-towns in the hay- brewed beer.
ing and harvest season. In 1649 it is reported that Virginia had "six public
brew- houses ; but most brew their own beer, strong and good." Virginia gave
a warnicr welcome to luxuries of this descri|)tion than some of the other colo-
nies ; but the condition of things was about the same in all the neighboring
pfoviiK OS. 'There were public breweries here and there ; but most people
made their own beverages. In New Knglaiul alone was there no welcome to
stimulating drinks.
By the time of tlie Revolution, the distillation of whiskey from corn and
other grains had begun, and was practised to a very wide extent. The stills
were small ; but there were a great many of them. They were Distillation
scattered all through well-settled and sparsely-settled districts "' whiskey.
alike. The whiskey made was a purer article than that put upon the market
at present, and could be drunk in greater (juantity without danger. It was so
cheap and so common, that those who made it carried it about in pails to sell
to men at work on buildings and public improvements, and handed it out in a
dijjper. 'I'he old records of the county clerk's offices show that the owners
of stills in various States accpiired a great deal of property by bartering whiskey
for real estate. It was often stipulated in ileetls that the land should be paid
for in so many barrels of whiskey down, and such or such a (juantity, to be paid
in the form of a pint a day, to be dnink at the still.
Spirits and beer were so extensively consumed at that early day, that, when
Congress took up the first tariff bill in i 789, the tax on this class of luxuries
was very carefully considered, as being a thing which affected the
l)eople closely, and which would be likely to yield a large revenue.
Jamaica rum was very extensively consumed among the other varieties of
stimulating beverages. The bad effects of spirits on the morals and health of
the people were spoken of by several congressmen, and it was universally
resolved to tax them as high as there was any probability whatever of collect-
ing a duty. Alexander Hamilton's report on the finances in 1 790 stated, " The
Tariff of 1789.
'.r :'^T't7ftrf^''-,H
n
520
INDU.ITRIAL HISTORY
,,K'
.t^,' , < ''.
I' ,!. '-'■
,;fe'... '1-
i**':'MrKv
K-' I
•(.. f
r ''V.
; .i«i
:. !^' '
S!' . V
consumption of ardent spii'ts, n ) (loul)t very umch on account of their cheap-
ness, is carried to an exircUit' ; which is truly to he regretted, as well in riTard
to the health and Miorals as thi' economy of the community." Mr. liainilton
recommended .>. tax which would opcnte in favor of increasing the use of
cider and malt .icjuors, and decreasing that of whiskey. Congress assented to
the principle, and taxed spirits heavily. It is to be feared, however, thai the
result was only to increase the lome-manufacture of whiskey, whidi now
iMicame very profitable. As a moral measure, the duty had little effe( t, wnat-
ever result it may have had as a source of revenue.-
The manufacture of whiskey and beer has kept even pace with the inc rease
of population in the United States. A strong public opinion lus excluded
Growth of stimulating beverages from several of the States, — particularly
manuf.jcture those o^ New Kiigland, — and it has limiteil their use among re-
o w (key. ^pectable people in all. excejjt, peihajjs. in regard to ordinary beer,
which is a comparatively harmless drink, as it certainly is an agreeable one, and
which is increasing in use constantly. Hut, in sj/ite of public opinion and of
active temperance agitation, thcie has been so far a steady growth in the iniiui-
fai:ture. The lute war, with its |)aisionate excitements and its wearing exjios-
ures in the field, gave a great imjjetus to the consumption and manufac lure of
whiskey ; and though the i)assion has died out, and the exjjosure is at an end,
the taites acquired in the field still linger, and maintain the demand for spirits.
'I h; consumption is now enormous. Considering how large a jjroportion of
the population never touch a stimulating beverage, ladies and children particu-
larly giving spirits a wide berth, it Is an extraordinary thing to find th.it 61,000-
000 gallons of whiskey are low annuall" produced in the United States, and
7,000,000 barrels of beer ; and tliat, in addition to this, about 400 fac tories
are busily engaged all the time in i)roducing wines, branilies, and chanipaj^ne
for the American market. In 1870 the industry presented the followinji
statistics : —
Cider
.Spiriis
Ale and beer .
Wine and brandy
ESTAtlllSH-
MKNTS.
547
710
1.972
398
OPERATIVES.
'.47^
5.'3<
'2,443
1,486
VAI.I'R OP
P'ii)Ulil.T.
$1,537,000
36, 1 91, 000
55,706,000
2,225,000
These were the establishments officially reported. To these must be
added, however, a large number of whiskey-stills conducted illicitly in the
lUicitdu. mountains o*" the South and in the large cities of the North, the
tiiiint. number of which is not known. There are a very large number
of these illicit stills. The revenue-officers are constantly breaking them up,'
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sa>
hut tlicy spring i.p again as thick as frogs after a siiower, and they ackl to the
total |)ro(hict of t'le country in spirits millions of gallons yearly. 'There was
great temptation toward illicit distilling in the few years following th.' war, when
the tariff duty on imjiorted whiskey was two dollars and lif'y cents a gallon,
and tlie internal-revenue tax on that made within the country two dollars a
gallon. Since the tax was reduced to fifty cents a gallon, the amount of
secret distilling has very much decreased, owing to the removal of the tempta-
tion ; Ixit it is still considerable. Latterly, distillt.-rs in the North have added
siirrei'titiously to the real produc lion of the country by managing to put ui)on
the market a large amount of whiskey which has not paid the govern:nent ta.x,
and which, conse(iuently, made no figure in the returns of the total amount of
whiskey produced. These whiskey frauds created a great jjublic sensation in
1876 at Chicago and St. Louis, and in 1878 at Cincinnati. Prominent and
res|)e' table houses were engaged m them. The extent of these evasions of
the law has been so great, counting in both the illicit distillation and the failure
to report to the government the fiill product of the regular distilleries, that
there ought to be added to the figures above given of total annual j)roduct of
spirits from 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 gallons to approximate to the real truth
of the matter. The production of beer is probably correctly returned. There
is less temi)tation to deceive the government in regard to its manufacture.
l'rol)ali!y 7,000,000 barrels is the real annual i)roduct.
I'he large whiskey-making States are New York, which has about fifty stills ;
Pennsylvania, a hundred and ten stills ; New Jersey, fifty-seven stills ; Ohio,
seventy-five stills; Indiana, thirty-six stills; Illinois, fifty stills; chief whit-
KentiK ky, a hundred and forty stills ; Tennessee, forty-four stills, key-produ-
and Virgu.ia, forty-nine stills. ''"» ^*'*"'
The large brewing States are New York, which has now about two hundred
ami ninety breweries; Ohio, two hundred breweries; Pennsylvania, about two
hiiiiilred and fifty ; Indiana, a hundred ; Illinois, a hundred and chiefbrew.
fifty: Michigan, a hundred and thirty; California, ninety; Mis- '"« states.
smiri, ninety ; Iowa, a hundred and five ; New Jersey, fifty ; and Wisconsin, a
hundred and eighty.
During the ilays of the high tarifi" on whiskey, a great deal of sinuggling
of tiiis article into the country was done from ('anada. Near Toronto there
arc a lumiber of distilleries of a sujierior (juality of whiskey, the whiskey
prodiK t of which many prefer to buy in the open market, paying ""'"eB'ine-
lariff and all, rather than purchase the home article. The profit on the smug-
gling of Canada whiskey was so great, that, for years, the whole frontier had to
lie watched with imsleei)ing vigilance in order to head off those who were
bringing in the untaxed article to the United States. It was brought over in
wagons, boats, in small ([uantities concealed about the person, in tin babies,
and in a thousand other wajs.
Whiskey is made by distilling a fermented mash composed of com, wheat,
8"
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
barley, rye, or oats, or a mixture of them. Mourbon whiskey — so oaliiMl
from Bourbon County, Kentucky — is made from fifty to sixty per cent of ( om,
ProciBi of and forty to fifty of small grain ; ten per t:ent being malt, ami iIk'
dittiliing. fgjjt ,.yg Monongahela whiskey — named aficr the (ouiity in
Pennsylvania of that title — is made from rye, with ten per cent of mall added.
Canada whiskey is made from rye, wheat, ami corn mixed, with five per < i-ni
of malt. The number of pounds of spirits containing forty-five per rent oi
alcohol which can be obtained from a hundred i)ounds of grain is as Hil-
Jows : Wheat, forty to forty-five ; rye, thirty-six to forty-two ; barley, lortv ;
oats, thirty-six ; buckwheat, forty ; corn, forty. Pure whiskey contains alHiiu
fifty per cent of alcohol. A large part of that sold in the market is noi
whiskey at all, however, but a mixture of high wines (spirits containing more
than sixty per cent of alcoiiol) with various substances to give it color and
taste. The ingredients put into spirits to make commercial whiskey are oliin
of the most frightfiil and poisonous descri|)tion ; it has been rei)eatedly enoiij;h
proved in New iMigland to make a man reform from drinking sinijily by
showing him just what the whiskey he has been drinking was composed ol.
There are, however, some comparatively harmless mixtures wlii( h are sold ib
*' pure Hourbon," iSrc, in which the spirits are simply flavored with peac h ami
hickory nut, jiure brandy, oil of Cognac, and vinegar, ameliorated with glyce-
rine, and colored with burnt sugar. A great deal of cheap whiskey is exported
to Kurope to be manufiutured there into Holland gin and good Cognac.
brandy by flavoring and redistillation.
It is not intended here to go into the moral side of the (juestion f)f this
industry in the United States, except merely to say that the moral side of it,
Moral rank which cannot be entirely ignored, prevents the industry from being
of industry, classed among those which are beneficial to our beloved (ountry.
It would be better for the land and for our countrymen were the industry tu
decline. Three-quarters of the spirits prodviced can be spared. Modern
science shows that the temperate use of alcoholic beverages is not l)a(l tor
certain temperaments ; but it also shows that even the temperate use is liad
for the majority of men, and that vice, pauperism, discontent, crude 'deas,
and disease follow in the train of its use invariably. It is only into families
which refrain from the consumption of ardent spirits that variety of ideas,
content, and the gentleness and grace of life, enter and take up their aljode.
Less than one-cjuarter of the alcohol and distilled spirits now manufat tnred
in this country is really needed as chemical solvents in the arts.
The manufacture of wine is an enterprise of recent date in the United
States : it is probably not over twenty years old, and has not yet reached
Manufac- special development. The citizen and the statesman look with
tureof greater interest on this branch of the business than on the pre-
**''"'■ ceding two. The first American wines were really a sort of clari-
fied cider, which was sold in the market by the name of champagne and
OF THE UNITED STATES,
S»3
really was not a bad sul)stitute for it, except that it was not what it professed
to k', ;intl was therefore a sham, no matter how |)leasant a l)everage it really
was. Wines have been made in California and in New Mexico for a long
period, i)iit only on an extremely small scale. The grapes of those regions,
ami the sunny climate, led naturally to wine-making ; antl the jjroduce has
lieeii so good, that the Spanish pojndation, and lovers of good living there,
have long <hantc(l the praises of their native wines. It is only within about
twenty years, however, that there has been any special manufacture of wine
even in those summery portions of our national domain. 'I'he wine-making
States are now Missouri, which in 1870 had a hundred and ninety estab-
iishnuiits which are devoted to wines and brandies ; California, with a
hundred and thirty-nine establishments ; Ohio, with thirty-eight ; New York,
with nine ; and Illinois, with tive. The total product in 1870 was worth
Jlj, 225,000. ihe .American wines are both red and white, and comprise many
of the s|)arkling, or champagne, variety. They arc not very delicate natu-
rally, and they are made heavy by the addition of alcohol and sugar before
fermentation. Were they made of the pure juice of the grape, with a view
to flavor and gentle exhilaration, rather than for strength and beautiful color,
the manufacturers woukl do much toward removing the strong i)opular feeling
against them, and would secure for them a larger sale both at home and
abroad, .\inerican wine-makers do not now hesitate, however, to appear at
world's fairs, and compete with the makers of die older countries. Twenty
or thirty were at I'aris in 1867: others were at Vienna in 1873. At I'hilji-
(Iclphia, ill 1876, a show was made by thirty makers. At the latter exhibition
the Californians showed not only a great variety of wines, but the largest grape-
vine in the world, — the famous Montecitc-vine of Santa Barbara, which, after
,in existence of fifty or sixty years, during which it bore about six tons of
grapes a year, had then only recently died. California still possesses the
largest living grape-vine in the world, variously called the " Daughter Vine," or
the "Vouiig .Mammoth." It grows near the i)lace where the former thrived so
long, is now eleven inches in diameter, covers an area of ten thousand scjuare
feet, and yields from eight thousand to ten thousand pounds of fruit a year.
in the United
yet reached
lan look with
1 on the pre-
sort of clari-
ampagnt^and
CORDAGE AND BAGGING,
There are now raised in the United States every year 4,600,000 bales of
<otton, which have to be enclosed in coarse, stout bags in order to be in a
< nndition for transportation to market. There are also raised Qu,„j|,y ^f
50,000,000 pounds of wool, which must also be put up in thick baling and
l>ags for market. There are, besides, 290,000,000 bushels of baggingatuff
, > ' ^ I > required.
Wheat, 1,300,000,000 bushels of corn, and an average of 400,-
000,000 bushels of other grain, besides 140,000,000 bushels of potatoes,
unmeasured apples, and uncounted tons of flour, produced ; the principal
''"''wrrfffm-:^
illiV; m
■ MM
524
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
part of which stuff spends a portion of its time in bags of thick cloth or
tenacious paper after it leaves the farm and the mill, and before it is finally
consumed by man. The number of bags which have to be manufactured
every year to accommodate this enormous supply of produce can only be
counted by the tens of millions. It is so large as to be a matter of inter-
national importance ; and foreign merchants and manufacturers arc foml of
studying how they can manage to furnish to the United States the largest
share possible of the bags she requires every year, or of the raw material from
which the bags can be made.
Another class of goods which enters into even more universal consump-
tion in the United States comprises ropes, cables, and twine. No great
Cables, sailing-vessel leaves a port of our country without going out with
rope», ac. fj.Qj„ ^g ^Q thrgg miles of ropes and cordage aboard of her,
either strung aloft as rigging, or co-led belov/ as cables ^nd spare ropes. No
vessel, in fact, large or small, stirs without a certain amount of cordage
aboard ; not even a canal-boat, which, at least, must have towing and mooring
cables. As there are 23,000 large ships and steamers belonging to the i)eople
of the United States, and 3,000 canal-boats and barges, it will be seen that
immense quantities of cordage are consumed every year in the furniture of
the vehicles of ocean and river commerce. Resides this, every theatre in
the country has a forest of rigging behind the scenes. Every new building.
and work of construction, is erected by means of ropes. Every awning,
flag, tower-bell, curtain, fishing-boat, and railroad-train recpiires the use of
ropes and lines. F^vcry i)ackage done up at the store must have a piece of
twine. Cordage, in fact, is in universal demand. The Yankee sdioolboy,
who always carries two or three pieces of twine in his pocket, illustrates the
law under which we all live in respect to cordage ; for, while we do not all
go about in the world with a wild mass of string and ends of rope in our
pockety, we could not get through life comfortably without the instrumentality
of that useful class of goods.
Cordage and bagging are made from the same classes of coarse vegetable
Materials fibres, — flax, hemp, and jute. Cotton is sometimes used for small
used. ropes, and generally for twine.
Rope-making was one of the earliest mechanical pursuits of the (olo-
nists of America ; they being impelled to exert their skill in that direc tion
by the neeti of rigging for their ships, and of nets and lines for
their fishing-boats. Virginia raised a great deal of hcmit and
flax in the early years of the province; and after 1629 N'w
England raised hemp also. A sort of wild hemp grew in the
latter district, from which the Indians made nets and lines ; but this was not
what the white man cultivated. Hemp-seed was obtained from England and
Holland, and the domestic plant was the one cultivated. By 1641 a rope-
walk had been started in Boston by John Harrison. In 1662 John Heyman
Rope-
making
an early
pursuit.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
S»S
was authorized to make cordage at Charlestown. This industry was, unao
coiintably, not opposed by Parliament ; and, there being no weight upon its
|iracti( e, it was talcen up rapidly by Connecticut and otiier colonies. By 1698
there wore several rope-walks in Philadelphia, some of them being owned by
loseph Wilcox. The native culture of hemp began to fall off about this
time. This luxuriant plant, growing from four to twelve feet high, as fast and
as strongly as Indian-corn, exhausted the soil. In Virginia it began to be
al)aiuloned for tobacco, and in the North for crops less taxing to the soil.
This did not prevent the cordage-makers from getting raw material, however.
An inii)ortation of hemp from Russia and other hemp-countries took place,
sufficient to satisfy all demands. Parliament sought to stimulate the growth
of hemp here by offering in i 703 a bounty of six pounds per ton of hemp,
"bright and clean," which should be exported to England; but the effort
(lid not avail much, and the i)ounty was not long maintained. Virginia
and otiicr colonies offered bounties also for hemi-vraising at different times :
but it (lid not pay to raise hemp on a very large scale when the soil was
so available for tobacco and plants of that rank ; and the country has
never, from that day to this, raised all the hemp it could con- Culture of
suine. For the last twenty years, from 20,000 to 40,000 tons of ^emp.
the material have been imported annually. The culture of hemp is now
confined principally to the States of New York, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Missouri. F'lax is now the more poi)ular crop with farmers,
because its seed is so valuable for the oil it <;ontains, and the crop does not
tax the soil so heavily. It is raised principally in the West, Ohio producing
more than half of the whole crop. The production is about 15,000 tons of
fibre a year, and 1,700,000 bushels of seed. Flax, however, still has to be
imported at the rate of from 4,000 to 6,000 tons a year to supply the demand
for it, because the farmers throw away the fibre half of the time, being content
wlien they have gathered the seed. Flax was raised abundantly during the
cotton la 'nine in the North resulting from the late war ; but its culture fell
off again after the cotton-crop of 1866 came into Uie market.
Hemp is pre[)ared for rope-making by exposure to the dew and weather in
the tields, or by soaking in tanks of water ; both of which processes have the
same effect, — namely, of decomposing and washing out the natu- process of
ral glue in the bark of the plant, which unites the fibres of the bark rope-mak-
into a tenacious peel. When the fibre readily sei)arates, die hemp '"''■
is removed from the woody heart of the plant, dried, and prepared for spin-
ning by hackling. This process is simply combing by hand to get out the
dust and tow. .After the hand-treatment it is hackled finer in a machine, and
then combed by another machine — the " spreader " — into a long, loose roll
ol bi)re called a "sliver." One or two of the slivers are then passed through
a '"ilrawing-frame," in which they pass through two sets of rolls (the second
set moving faster than the first), l)y which means the sliver is drawn out and
i
526
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
attenuated. The sliver then g.oes to the spinning-machine, in which it is still
further " drawn," anil twisted, into a yarn. The yarn is then reeled fur luistiim
into a rope. John Good of Brooklyn has invented. a plan by means of which
the yarn is passed through a tube before reeling, and made smootiici. The
yarns are graded in size, according to tiie number that will just fill a half-iiu h
' tube, or make one strand of a three-inch rojje. No. 40 is for fuie rope. NO
20 for cables, i'iie yarns, being reeled, are now tarred, if destined for liti^ini'
by being drawn through tar heated to 220°. When they come out of the tar
they pass between rollers, or through small holes, so that the sui)ctI1u(jiis tnr
may be pressed out. 'I'he yarns are now twisted into a rope in a long liuildinir
called a rope-walk, which is generally ajjout 1,200 feet long. (The govern-
ment walk at Boston is 1,360 feet long.) .\ number of bobbins, ( ontaining
300 fathoms of yarn eacii, are i)ut into a frame at one end of the walk, and the
yarns are "hauled down" into strands. 'I'hree or more yarns jiass into a
tube, which compresses and moulds them into a strand ; and the three strands
of the rope, emerging simultaneously from as many tubes, are drawn along tlie
rope-walk l>y another machine the full length of the building. Ilach strand is
now separately and simultaneously twistetl until it is hard, and then the three
are allowed to come together and < lose up into a rope. .\ suitabh sliaiied
triangular wedge is placed between the strands to ])revent them from doling
up too fa.st, and the whole process goes on slowly under the i)ersonal inspec tion
of a workman. Tlie process is the same, whether the ro])e be large or small.
or tarred or white. Since 1827, when ro])e-factories were started in Wheeling.
Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Louisville, the machinery has been propelled In
steam, and a stronger twist has been given to rope, and its strength iiK reased.
The breaking-strain of hemp rc)])e was al)out 9,200 ])oun(ls to the s<|uare inch
when made by the old processes: the breaking-strain has risen as high as
15.000 pounds of late. Twine is s])un from cotton and flax by the ordinarv
jmxesses of spinning, the fibre being carded, drawn, twisted, and reeled li\
ap])ropriate machinery.
In 1870 there were in the United States 201 factories of c oninge and
Number of twiuc, employing 3,700 men and boys, and turning out work worth
rope-facto- $9,000,000 annually. The factories were scattered all over the
nes in i 70. (Country ; but the large majority were in the Last. Those on
the .Xtlantic seaboard were largely supplied with imported hemp ; those in the
interior, entirely with the native article.
Wire rope is now beginning to supi)lant hemp for ships and hoisting-
ayiparatus and many mechanical purposes. It is ])rol);il)le that it
will soon take the ])lace of hem]) for all purposes where gre.it
strength and light weight are desired, as in heavy rigging, cables, &c.
For the finer qualities of bagging, such as for grain and flour sac ks. lotton
and flax are i)rincipally used ; for the coarser sorts, hemp and jute are the
favorite materials. Jute is a grass growing seven or tight feet high, the
Wire rope.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
527
neculiar product of India, which was unknown to Europe until 1830, and first
became known to the civiUzed world from the fact that it constituted
the nialerials of which the gunny-bags were made in which Indian
produce was exported. Attention being attracted to the fibre, it was exported
to Kngland ; and the city of Dundee in Scotland developed a great manufac-
ture of it into gunny-cloth. Scotland is still the principal seat of the industry ;
hilt the United States has since i860 taken to the manufacture of jute bagging
also, and now imports sixty thousand tons of jute-butts annually for the purpose.
I'he bagging is useful for putting up the cotton and wool crops. The total
value of the raw jute imported is about $2,500,000, and the bagging jute-raising
made from it $4,501 000. Attention has Ltterly been drawn to >» United
the i)Ossil)ility of raising jute in the United States. Experiments *"''*'
have been made with success in Louisiana ; yet it is doubtful whether it is wise
tu encourage this crop. Half or more of the flax-crop of the useofref-
I'nited States is thrown away by the farmers after the seed is use flax for
thrashed from it, the flax being raised only for the seed. A better °^8'"*^'
b^tjging can be made froin that refuse flax, or the flax-tow, than from jute-
hiitts, as there can be also from hemjj-tow. It woidd be more patriotic and
prudent to encourage the utilization of hemp and flax for coarse bagging than
to ex])end any effort on native jute. It is interesting to note that the long-
(leeaved industry of whale fishing has revived with the jute-manufacture, a great
(leal of oil being consumed in that business.
Sime 1S60 the manufacture of I gs of paper has been added to the
industry, and now occupies a very distinguisheil position. The idea of the
invLiitors was to create something which would answer the purpose
^ ' ' Paper bags.
of flour-sacks, whi( h, owing to the scarcity of cotton, were very
ix|)ensive. The\ employed for the purpose thick manila paper, and succeeded
.idiiiirably. .\bout forty factories are now devoted to the industry ; and they
.ire |)ro(lucing bags of all sizes and strengtii, from the little package-bag in
wlii( h the customer takes home a povmd of candy to the huge sack holding
uMc or two huudreil-weight of flour.
To flax, hemp, jute, and cotton-bagging, there are now devoted about eighty
factories, producing about $15,000,000 worth of goods.
SOAP.
Fhe French, the sunniest and most polite people in the world, love to
liciievL' that nearly every thing which ameliorates life, and renders social inter-
lourse pleasant, was invented among themselves. They claim the ^ ^^
origin of soaj), of course. The south of France has always had French
an abundance of olive-oil and soda. The writers say, that, away °"8^'"'
l)a(k in the twelfth century, a fisherman's wife at Savona, who had warmed
some suda lye in an earthen jar which had formerly held olive-oil, discovered
1 ■
I
'I
iii
il {
I
m'^
528
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in the jar a new substance, which attracted attention on account of its utilitv
and Icti to tlie establishment of regular (Victories for its manufacture. Froi„
the name of the village, the new substance was called savon, — a word vvhid,
sur\'ives in Saxon in the adjective saponaceous. It is certain that soai) was
made at Marseilles in the twelfth century, and that that city has ever since
been the principal centre of its manufacture in the world at large. In i,S0o
30,000 workmen were employed there in that one industry, and liic jinxliKt
was over 60,000 tons. The use of soap spread from Marseilles all over
France, and thence all over lOurojie and to the rest of mankind. '1 he mann
facture has always been a prolific source of prosperity fur that great inaritiiiie
city, both because it added largely to the commerce of the port, and l)e( ause
it gave employment to so large a proportion of its own population. The soaijs
were perfumed, and were of excpiisite delicacy and beauty.
In 1S77 the manufacturers of Marseilles awoke to find that the salcr of
their fomous i)roducts were falling off in an alarming manner. Nortii .America
which formerly took so large a (luantity of the goods, no lonL'cr
Decline of . / , , • , , , ^
Boap-manu- was buying tiieiii. ihe bouth-.Xmerican demand began to tail off.
facturesin Kurope itself wiis not so large a consumer. Upon investigation, it
was found that the trouble was due to several causes ; and one of
them was the fact that the United States had ceased to be a buyer, and not
only that, but that she was actually exporting from 5,000 to 10,000 tons of
common and perfumed soaps every year to the countries formerly su])])lie(l liv
France. The matter was considered of so serious conse<iuence, that the
attention of the government of France was called to the matter. .Nothinj,',
however, has been done which could stop the .American competition ; and the
consecpience is, that the ancient city of .Marseilles ap[)ears to be doomed to
see a portion of her industry permanently go from her to tlie New World.
Soai)s and candles, which were always made at the same factory, were
imported to the United States in considerable (luantities until
Importation , „ , , ,-r i
of soap into about 1 824, when the tarifl was so arranged as to give an nnpetiis
United to the homc-manufacture. Up to ;hat time the only varieties
made here were the common soft-soap — which was then, as now,
largely a household manufacture — and the common laundry and toilet s()a|)s.
Higher grades were attempted after 1824, and made on so large a scale, that
Tariff of the foreign article was virtually excluded from this market. The
^^y tariff of 1864 gave another impetus to manufacture by raising the
duty from about three cents to ten cents a pound. Since 1864 the Ameneaii
factories have been making the very highest class of perfumed and deiieati
soajjs, as well as the more common grades ; and they have, as alread\ stated,
not only been able fully to supply the home-market, but to extend tlieir sale^
successfully to foreign markets.
Three of the American houses have attained \' a great reputation within
the last fifteen years ; namely, those of Knoch Morgan's Sons, B. '1'. Babbitt kV
OF THE UNITED STATES.
529
Advertising.
Coinjiany, and Colgate & Company, all of New- York City. 'i"he first-ncmed
invcntotl the article called sapoHo, in which a fine white pow- g^^g^^ di-
cier is incorporated, which renders the soap useful for removing American
dirt liom the hands, and from furniture, wood-work, oil-cloth, &c., '"■""'■=-
turers.
l)yrul)l)ing. Colgate and Babbitt have made themselves known for
s|)c(ialtics of their own. All three have employed indefatigably that great
rcMiurce of the energetic business-man in the i)rescnt age, — the
svstLiii of atlvertising, — anil in this respect have been imitatetl by
Hig.yins and other Western makers. One secret of success in trade is first to
have .1 good thing to sell, and then to let tbe whole world know it. The
|)Lililltr travelling along every country street, and knocking at every urban
(ioor. was the mainstay of earlier merchants of small goods who wanted to
(lilTu^f their wares over the country. Since the multiplication of newspapers,
ami tiie enormous increase of travel, printed and painte<l advertisements have
l)CL'ii the resource of those who have a new thing to sell, and want to impress
its virtues upon the minds of the peojile. The soap-manufacturers have filled
the newspapers of the land with their notices. They have frcijuentetl all the
lairs, from the WorUl's F {positions down along the whole line to the annual
(ounty displays of cattle and l)ed-(iuilts at them all ; and hive hung up big pla-
cards to catch the eye, and inform the mind. They have sent out an army of
men with brushes and pots of colored paints, who have covered all the availa-
ble hoard fences and barns ami conspicuous rocks with huge inscriptions and
signs proclaiming the names and virtues of their soaps. They have made it
aimoii impossible for the .American < itizen to sit down in the retirement of his
own iu)ine, or to go out into the open air, without seeing something that
reminded him of the very excellent character of the latest brand of soap, and
how happy he would l)e, and how rich he would probably get, if he only
lumj^ht that style oi' soap very largely. (Ireat ingenuity has been displayed by
(iiilereiit makers in preparing their newspaper advertisements. Sometimes
these (ariis are printed as paragraphs of reading-matter, and are frecjuently
sjiarkling models of wit, beauty, and brevity. Higgins has used the pictorial
pajiers largely, and filled them with imaginary pictures in which a box of his
ftoap constitutes by turns a camp-chair for Bismarck, an iron-clad for the
American navy, a coach drawn by a four-in-hand of ilogs, a target for a riflc-
shoot. (Src. The mgenuity of those who have advertisetl by paragraphs is so
great as to be worthy of illustration. Mere are a few samples of the style of
thing they have resorted to, the paragraphs being technically called at the
newspaper-offices " reading advertisements." The samples have been taken
at random from the actual paragraphs of these enterprising firms.
" Sliakspeare says, ' Care is no cure, but rather corrosive, for things that
are not to be remedied.' We cannot associate care and corrosion, however,
with 's Toilet-Soap ; for it saves care, and is deliciously emollient. This
new toilet-soap is the highest achievement of a well-known manufacturer for
i
1
IXJ\
l^
530
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Its perfect purity, 9.\A pleasant re-action on the skin, combined with a sweet
natural odor."
" Poets and essayists have deUghted in the supreme delights of c oimtrv
life, and its accompaniments of health, and peace of mind. But body and
mind require the help of regular habits and cleanly habits. Why not, tlKii
sing the praises of 's Toilet-Soap? The purest of all toilet-scnps (for
none but the finest vegetable-oils enter into it), and exhaling a delicate violet-
odor, it needs only to be tried to become a household necessity."
"According to Voltaire, perfection is iluuinvi only l)y slow degrees and
the hand of time. This is j.eculiarly the case with inventions and dis-
coveries. For instance, has been forty years in applying and i)ertertinL'
his chemical science: therefore we have his new toilet-soap, — an article for
the toilet and bath-room that cannot be overpraised for its excelleiK es. As
a test, it is found to be the most admirable in the world for th" dcli( ate skin
of babes."
" Old Fuller, the excellent preacher, says, ' If thou wouldst please the
ladies, endeavor to make them pleased with themselves.' You can lieip to
do this by recommending them to use that superb toilet-article, 's st)a|).
Nothing can eipial its excellences : for the purest oils only are used, and tiie
resources of science are artistically and scientifically lavished upon it ; and a
delicate fiagrance is the result."
This exaggerated style of advertising is amusing in many respects : l)ut it
requires men of wit and scholarship to pen their paragraphs ; and, as ,m
investment of money, they have proved very remunerative. None t)l the
manufacturers wiio have resorted to this ])lan of introducing their goods to
the public have failed to make a fortune by it.
Soft-soap is made by boiling the scraps of fat from kitchens with a strong
lye made from wood-ashes, or directly from ])otash. The hard bar-soap ol
commerce is made in the same way, except that the materials are
more choice, and that twenty-five or thirty per cent of powdered
rosin is added, and saponified with them, ('austic soda, prepared for tiie |iur-
pose, is now generally the alkali used for all soa|)s, in ,-iace of the l)e made
from wood-ashes emi)loyed by our forefathers. Marine soap is made from
cocoanut-oil. It is very hard, will hold a great deal of water l)efoie dissoh-
ing, and can be used to wash with salt water. It has a heavy, disagreeable
odor. Toilet-soap is made from very pure and sweet materials, such as olive-
oil, sweet-almond-oil, beef's marrow, and refined sweet lard. The Marseilk^
soaps have gained their une<iualled reputation by being made of ulive-oil,
from which fact it has hajjpencd that the soap has been entirely free from tiie
heavy animal odor which generally attends common soaps. The materials I'ui
the cakes for the toilet are saponified withcjut heat, and ])erfumed with vegeta-
ble-flavors. A very good toilet-soap is made, however, by cutting very pure
tallow-soaj) into tiiin shavings, and melting it over a water-bath with rose and
Soft-soap.
OF THE UNITED STATES. 531
(iraiij^'c-flower water and common salt, in the proportion of twenty-four pounds
of xi.ip to four pinta each of the perfumed waters and half a pound of salt.
When cold, next dav, the soap is cut into small bits, thoroughly dried in the
shaili', and again treated, as before, with rose and orange-flower water. It is
(oolfd, powdered, and dried again. Hy this process all unpleasant odors are
removed. Castile-soaj) is made from olive-oil and rajie-seed in France, but
from various mixtures of fats and oils in this country. Oxide of iron imparts
tlie strongly-marbled appearance of this product. Soap is also made from
i;lvi erinc and many other substances.
riie number of factories ip this country at present devoted to soap and
(andles is nearly C50. They produce about 525,000.000 worth of goods
annually.
FLOUR.
ilie Uniteil States has become one of the great sources of the food-suj^ply
iif the world. It is the aim of every free and independent nationality to make
sure of its food-supply by raising it at home ; but some of the
loimtiies of the Old Worlil have utterly failed in every attempt un'iteV*' °
111 this direction, and some of the richest of them — especially states to
Irani e, (Ireat Hritain, and the Netherlands — are obliged to buy '""•'*"
fdoil iVuin other nations. This is also the situation of the West
Indus and South America. The United States, on the other hand, with her
fertile fields and active pojxilation, has managed to raise all the food her
jioiHilation of forty-five million can i)ossibly consimie ; and she has, besides,
,1 Miriiins of grain alone every year to sell which will support thirty million
lieo|)le a year. .Accordingly, this country not only does not import food, but
it exports largely to the kingdoms of the OUl World, and to those regions in
the tropics which prefer to raise coffee, tea, and tropical fruits, rather than
,1 ,1,'reat snjiply t)f jjrovisions.
The grain-( n)ps of the L'niteil States now amount, in an average year, to
.iliout tlie Ibllowing figures in bushels : —
W licat ........... 2()o,ooo,coo
' "rn 1,300,000,000
'■^y*-' 20.000,000
<'ats J3o,ooo,ooo
I'arley 40,000,000
Of this enormous yield, about 60,000,000 bushels of wheat and 70,000.000
III (iirn are exported to other lantls. A part of what is left is consumed in
replanting the earth, and in the manufacture of starch, hominy, and whiskey.
There remain about 230.000,000 bushels of wheat and 1.000.000,000 bushels
uf corn, which are consiuued in Ihe United .States as food. \ part of the
lorn is fed to the flocks and herds of the country in the grain. .A part is
'f('>.h,.r,ri,n ,r
!■■■
532
/AD US- TK/A I. HIS TON V
also used as fuel in years of excessive abundance and expensive transijortation
One-half of the corn, however, and three (juarters of the wheat at Kmm ar^
ground up into flo'ir and meai for l)read.
("•rain was reduced to flour, in the early days of the settlement of ti,,.
country, by breaking it with a hand-pesile in a mortar made from a hollow
Coioni* ^'""' • ' '^'^ ^''^^ ^^ '''-'^' "i^"'' niode of making bread. 11^.
mode of v .. man improved u|)on it a little by rigging up an .iiipaiatus
fl'ou''r."* ''*'■ ' well-sweep, and suspentli- the heavy pestle from ihat, so
"1..t; •' could be operated witl. xs expenditure of labor. Hk'
windmill w. ,, how •■ • soon introduced, and fuially the gristmill nm In
water-power: and \W
^L'ttlers glavlly allows.;
the grindstoiir to mi.
pcrsede tlic laborious
pestle and niortar.
whicii it did inun^dj.
alely. 'i'lu- lloiinni;-
mills were a great ( nn-
venieiice to the pai-
ple : and tluy haw
been an iiislitiuion oi
such positive lunshi-
l\, that they have niiil-
liplied in all parts oi
the ( omury as ia>i av
the p(jj)ulation.
Twenty years a..,
the largest tloiiniis:
State in the (ounlrv
for the supjily of the
general market \va>
New V'ork. i'his wa^
due to the abundance of water-power in that State, and the large number dt
canals and railroads available for collecting the grain and di^trih-
ormersu- ,|(j,-,,r (h{. fl()iir. The grain came largelv from the farms of the
penonty oi '^ ^ o .
New York as State itself, but also, in part, from the West. The city of Roehe>
a flour-mak- ^^^ ^.^^. ^^ principal Centre of manufiicturc, owing to the Itixii-
ing State. ' ' ' r>
riant water-power of the famous (lenesee River. The cities of
Baltimore and Richmond also became ftimous milling-centres. .\t the latter
Baltimore ^"^^ places a large part of the surplus grain of the South was eon-
and Rich- centrated for conversion into flour, and distribution to market.
"""" ■ Since 1850 the manufacturing-centre for the general market lia-
moved backward. The great flour-cities of the country are now in the hean
(;AI.I.K(iil Kl Ol'KMII I ■
OF THE UNITED STATES. 533
1)1 tlu grain-regions of the West. Ix)uisville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis,
St, I'.uil, Milwaukee, Toledo, &c., are now the flour-cities par excellence ; and •
it is (lom their mills that the barrelled product comes which is distributed
through the older States, and sent abroad, bearing the enthusiastic brands of
■OldClory," "(iilt Kdge," "Sea-Koam," "Red U-tter," " Peer- N.metor
less," '• Monarch, I'he i'ride of the Border," " Hallelujah," and »"••'"••■
^0 on. Mow rapidly the milling-interest has developed since the opening of
the U ist to free settlement may be seen from the following statement of the
total number of flouring-mills in the United States : —
i8ao 4.3*54
1850 1 1, 81,.
i860 ij/'jB
1870 22,_, (
TIk' product was worth 1^136,000,000 in 1850, and ;^248,ooo,c. j -n , S60 ;
liiit in 1870 it was worth {$445,000,000, and in 1878 it must i.avc eei. at
least .<55C).ooo,ooo.
In tlu; Kastom States the mills are run principally by water-pc .-i Along
tht (oast Uiul on the islands many old windmills still stand, and grind, in
their iiuaint, leisurely way, the <orn and wheat of meal comnui- jjiuginthe
nitits. Steam-mills generally supply the cities. In the South Eastern
wind iind water power is chietly used ; but in 1870 Texas had also * "'
till' Miilis driven by horse-power, and seventeen by oxen. This sort of motive-
liinviT was also resorted to more or less in most of the other Southern States,
iIk mills in that section being numerous, but small. An instance of the
>m.ill si/e (>f the Southern mills can be given. North Carolina had southern
aliout 1,450 mills in 1876 as against 1,400 in Ohio; yet North states.
( aruliua jjroduced only about S8,ooo,ooo worth of Hour and meal, while Ohio
|iro(lu(ctl more than four limes as nuich. In the West steam-power and
water-power are used. The mills of the West are very large : the bulk of
the (louring for the general market is now done in that i)art of the <:oun-
irv. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri are
'^ In the West.
the principal milling States. New York and Pennsylvania, how-
ever, by reason of their dense po])ulation an<l heavy lo<al consumption, still
grind the most flour ; but it is chiefly consumed by the States themselves.
Tlu' ordinary operation of grinding grain is carried on by letting the grain
lluw slowly down between two heavy grindstones from four to six feet in
iliaincter, weighing about 1.400 pounds apiece ; the lower one sta- pmcessof
iionury, the upper one revolving at a speed of 120 revolutions a snaking
minute. The grain enters between the stones through an aperture ""'■
m the centre of the upper stone, and is ground to powder speedily. The
flour and bran flow from between the stones into the tight box which sur-
rounds them, and are carried olT by spouts to l)e sifted and separated. Within
\ri ' h
i: ■■■..•:' "
'j*^^«s;
534
INDUS Th'/A I. Ills TOR Y
a very few years a new process has been invented, which promises to rrNoIn,
'tioni/e the business of grinchng. The plan is to let the grain flow into a
hollow cylinder, within which a forest of iron spokes, mounted upon the axis
of the cylinder, is revolving with great velocity. The grain is stnu k in the
air, and reduced by collision rather than by grinding. Another and littlfr
known " new process " is the invention of Mr. Lacroix of Farib.uili, Minn.
and dates from 1872. The plan is to let the stones revolve slower, ^d as to
grind the grain more coarsely. The flour is bolted upon very large lioltini,'
cloths with the aid of an exhaust draught of air and of brushes, which |ircvciits
the cloth from clogging. It is claimed that eight or ten jier cent uimc ilonr
is gained by this process.
The exports of flour are now 5,900,000 barrels yearly, and of nual 145,01)0
barrels. The ex])()rts of both ought to be largely increase<l. I'liij^laml t^rinds
our grain, and derives a prolltable trade l)y sending it as flour iuid nual to
South .America and other non-lbod-producing cotuUries. \\V ought tn ^'riiui
that grain ourselves, and obtain the profit of the manufacture. Wc inij,'iit also
grind some portion of the 1 13,000,000 bushels of grain sent abroad ivciy voar
in the kernel.
The .S)utheni flour is the best for exjiort, becausi' it lias tin- i|uality ol"
standing the moist o( can-voyage better than other flours. Kichmoiid, lialti-
more, and St. Louis supply the bulk of tlie flour for export.
MU.SIC.\[. INSTKUMKNTS.
In tiistant ICuropc the people expect very little of the I'nited States in
an art point of view. They look \\\\o\\ the country as half-savage yet. Tluv
European think everybody carries a revolver, and drinks a great deal oi
idea of whiskey .straight, and can go out of town into the (onntry anv
*""'"■ day, in any part thereof, and kill a wild Indian or a lani
pant Iniffalo within a few miles of the city. They look upon the I'liited St.itis
somewhat as they do upon Siberia, whose only value to I'airope con>ists in its
producing savage dogs of great size and beauty ; or as a barbaric country, from
which it is absolutely out of the (piestion to expect any product of genius ami
high artistic culture. It was therefore possible in 1X73 for an I'lnglisli < icruy
man, the Rev. \\. R. Haweis, to write his charming book on '• Music and
Morals," in which he discussed inu!;i<" and musical instnnnents in all tluir
pha.ses, historical and otherwise, and absolutely without referring to tiie exist-
ence of such a thing as an .American piano, organ, or violin ; and the book
Superiority ''^'^'^ reprinted in the United States too. \'et the .Amerii an i^iano.
of American Organ, and violin are concededly t)ie best made in the present age
panoi. ^j. ^^ vvorld. The l-'-uropean makers of pianos have been dc
feated at every international exhibition since 1862 by one or both of thi
American houses of (Whickering and Steinway, in respect to touch, tone, bril-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
535
liancy, durability, and all the other desirable (nialities of the piano. Broad-
wood (wiiose pianos often cost i!6,ooo in London in 1851), Erard, Collard, anri
I'levcl iiavc all failed to surpass the American makers. The American cabinet-
organ is superior in all respects, Unci has a world-wide sale. It has been
discovered of late years that New-York CMty possesses a violin-maker, (le-
mllnilor, whose work ranks with the best whic h is produced in liie ancient
capitals of the Old World. It is a singular comment on tlie lack of candor
ami uiriiess in the Knglish mind, that the production of such remarkable in-
striimciits in America was not alluded to in any manner in the book above
refcrri'd to, which professed to be standard on the subject of which it treated.
The human family is fond of nuisic, and tiie variety of musical instruments
in use is large. Kvery nation contributes its fjuota to the vast multitude of
contrivances for producing musical sounds. Wild countries have pondnesi of
eccentric creatit)ns of bamboo and hide, horn trumpets which can man (or
be heard tiiree miles, and violins, ornamented with tusks and men's """* '"
hc.iils. which produce shrieks of noise that would make an American's hair
stand on end. From this class of instruments, up to the melodious organs,
violins, pianos, and brass horns in use in civilizeil regions, there is a wide
interval ; but it is filled with a myriad of inventions of all degrees of originality
and |)irrc( tion. The piano, which stands near the head of the list of perfect
m>tnuncnts, is comparatively a recent invention, ilating back no farther than
i;(K). It hail ancestors which resembled it somewhat, however, in the (|ueer
old psaltery and dulcimer (boxe*^ ^ -.oss which strings were stretched), the
claviciiherium (with a keyboard, the strings being plucked with ([uills), the
thvicyinbal, the virginal, the spinet, and the harpsidiord. The harpsichord
wis the instrument in use by our great-grandmothers. It was the first one of
the scries in wiiich the strings were struck by a hammer. I'rior to 1760 the
striMj;s hail been plucked with a ''uill. A few specimens of the harpsichord
are still extant among the older families of the country. One made for Charles
Carroll was exhibited in I'hiladelphia in 1876.
'['he expense of the larger musical instruments prevented many people from
iiwiiiiig them in this country until after the manufacture began hen*. A great
many violins and accordions, which cost little, were owned by the people, and
helped solace the loneliness of the farms, and the lack of ])opular amusements
111 homes in the cities. Jefferson was an accomplished musician
, . • , 1 , . Jefferson.
with the first-named mstrume-it. Mut harpsichords and pianos
were seldom seen. .\ few were imported by merchants for sale in the
• itics; anil great musicians who came over here to give concerts generally
hroiight pianos with them, which they generallv left behind when they returned
to Europe : but, on the whole, the instrument was as rare as ajjpointments to
positions in the President's cabinet. It was. moreover, even as late as 1825,
still a thin-toned, feeble instrument. It was made with a trame entirely of
wood, and could not stand our climate.
4'
(
'.
1 1.'
»:
"^'*f''wqrfffv '
5M>
IXDUS TRIAL HISTOR Y
i' !
!; ' , "tiiih ^^?
i i nil
i;^ :^^H^i.A
1, ' ! If'''-. . ■
(■ ■ , p
h-^'. ,i.
RTi]
In 1822 Jonas C'hickering of Hoston, a young and intelligent mcrhanir
with a love of music, began to experiment at piano-making. His first iiistrii-
jonat mcnt was offered for sale in April, 1823. Chickering began,
Chickerinc. almost from the very outset, with pianos which were a long stri<le
ahead of the JMiroiwan instruments in purity and resonance of tone, and in
the length of time they would remain in tune. He made the entire franas
of his pianos of iron instead of wood, and introduced the cir< tilar s( ales
arch wrest-planks, and tuning-l)locks. The iron frames were a great inijirove-
ment. The strings of a piano pull enormously ; and, unless the frame is per.
fectly rigid ami unyielding (which the wooden frame never was), the iiiano
will get out of tune rapidly, and soon wear out. 'I'he pull of the strings of
CIIICKENINf^ riANO.
a modern grand piano is between eleven and twelve tons. The iron frame
was improved by other makers, and was soon adf)i)ted generally botii in
America and Europe. Al])heus Babcock of Philadelphia got a jjatcnt in
Conrad 1 825 for an oblong frame, the sha])e of wiiich caused it to resist
Meyer. ^j^p tension better. Conrad Meyer of Philadel|)hia, in 1833, made
square pianos with full iron frames substantially like those now used in-
American makers.
There were other makers in the business in the early part of the ccntnry :
among them were Stodart, Osborn, ar.r! Thurston ; Stodart, pcrha])s, being
Early piano- the most popular. All the makers displayed great ingenuity in
makers. increasing the richness and brilliancy of tone of their pianos ; and
they were rewarded, in the prosperous times following 1825, by the large
demand which grew up for their instruments. Competition between them
OF THE UNITED STATES.
5J7
rcdiu i'<l prices, and the sales soon increased to several thousand a year. The
sale lias since been constantly extending. Chickering took the leail after
a while, an,! in 1853, when he died, was selling eight hundred pianos a year.
Kv 1S67 the firm had sold in all thirty thousand pianos, and was ahead of
all (Dinpetitors. The house has since increased its sales to more than three
thousand a year.
In 185s Steinway & Sons of New- York City introduced the second of
till' two striking improvements which have been made in the piano by Ameri
laii makers: this .", \s the " overstringing " of the bass-strings, as it steinway &
is t ailed ; that is, taking them out of the horizontal jjlane in *""••
wlii< h the tenor-strings are i)la<ed, and stringing them over the others, and
iifaur the middle of the soimding-board. Hy this improvement, and a new
arrangement of the bridges, Steinway & !~ons increased the length of the
Uiss-fords over the sounding-board from forty to sixty-four inche,-. This
liroiight a wonderful access of power to the instrimient. All the other
makers, American and foreign, were soon compelleil to ado|)t this ex-
iilicnt arrangement of the strings. They were the first to manufacture im-
proved grand pianos in this coimtry. Their first essay in this direction was
liroiight out in.1859, and appeared in concert at the New- York Academy of
.Music.
In i860 Lindeman &
Sous of New \ork pat-
iiitiil a cycloid piano
whii li received universal
(onunendation ; and
Doker & |{rothers. J. P.
Ilak'. Harris Brothers.
anil Albert Weber, of
Niw York, Knabe &
Coiniiany of other
Haiti more, inventors.
William P. ICmerson, and
ilaiict, Davis, >V Com-
jiany, of liosii, n, and
others, in turn, l)r<)Ught
out special styles md
patents. .Ml these
makers have had a great sale of their instruments. Steinway & Sons to».'k
the lead in 1869.
The annual production of pianos in the I'nited States is now about forty
thousand: in Europe it is only about twenty-five thousand. In 1.S67. at
Paris, the first prizes were given to Steinway and Chickering. The t i/ited
States now outstrips the Old World both in the extent of ])roduction and the
WKllKR I'lANO.
,-m
*''
538
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
II
,.-•':«'
quality of her pianos ; and she has the three largest fn'-'cles in tne world.
She can well sustain the negi.v.t of Haweis in " Music and Morals " witli
equanimity, in view of these facts.
Within the last two years, one of the New- York factories (that of Idsei)!)
P. Hale) has begun to do business on a scale which promises to put its s;i!es
Joseph p. ahead of that of the houses of both Chickering and Stiiiiway.
Hale. Mr. Hale, a Massachusetts man by birth, began piano-niakim,'
in New York in i860, after having first accumulated a fortune in the ( nxkcrv
and real-estate trades in Worcester, Mass. His i)urpose was to chcnijcn the
selling-cost of the piano. He wanted " the people," as contrasted with the
upper ten thousand, to have a i)iano which would be both good, and ( hLMii
enough for them to afford. He entered upon the manufacture on a kuxT
scale, and by 1872 had a factory in New-York City capable of Iniilding >i\ty
,iianos a week. He has rccendy undertaken to increase the ( apai ity nl hi^
factory to a himdred and fifty pianos a week ; which would lie three tinier
greater than that of any other factory in the world, and would siipijlv one
fifth of die trade of the continent. Mr. Hale's operations made a i,Teat
sensation in the piano-trade in 1877.
In 1870 there were 156 i)iano-f;ictories in the United States. enii)l(iviag
Number of 4,200 people, and producing 24,306 pianos worth S>S.^ 50,000.
factories. '\\^^, number of factories does not increase ; but the prodm tioii
has now nearly doubled.
.An instrument which is contesting for the jialm of jiopular favor with tlie
piano is the sweet-voiced caI)inct-organ, wiiose gentle and sympatnetic tojKs
Cabinet- are far better adapted to the (juiet and repose of tiie family Hie
organ. (|^,,,^ ^■^^, ^ore l)riiliant but less gracious piano : in fact, it niii;ht
have been said that the contest is ended in favor of the < al)inet-or;.;an. were
it not for the fact tiiat its larger sale is partly due to its ( hea])er pri( e. .md
that the recent reduction in tiie jiricc of pianos !ea\es the contest tor the ulti
mate largest sale still an unsettled (|uestion.
The caliinet-organ is an .\nieri< an invention : it sprang from so iiiunlile
an origin as the accordion. It is a reed-instruuK'iit, the tones Wkw^ jmo-
AnAmerican diiccd. not with the aid of pipe-^. but by t!ie vibrations of a thin
invention. j^^^jp y(- i,,-;,^..; ixi^mA luiif au iiK ii to several in( hes in length, r,.s
tened at one end over an aperture in a nutai phite througli whicli a curreiu nt'
air is forced or drawn, 'i'he original patent was issued to .\aron .M. l'ea-ile\,
in 1S18. for what he call.'d "an improvement in organs." .At first tlie reed-
organ was siin])ly an accijrdion, or lap-mclodeou : and it was in tliat form that
manufacturers, for a long period, improved and sold it. It was enlarged hy
different makers, strengthened in ])ower. and finally improved in tone l)y
cur\ing the reeds into an S. It iiecaine popular for accomiianiinents to
church-music about 1840. In 1846 Jeremiah ("arhart, then of I'lilTalo,
invented the modern " melodeon " by fitting to the reed-organ a pair of
OF THE UNITED STATES.
539
m
exhaust-bellows and a regular key-board. It was provided that the air in this
instniment should be drawn inward through the reeds, rather than blown
outward. 'Ihc change improved the tone, prevented the reeds from sticking,
secured a prompt response whenever a key was touched, and brought with it
main other advantages. Mr. Carhart, and Prince & Company, made four-
octave melodeons on this
pl.iii lor two or three
years, and then increased
their siopc to five octaves.
Man\- changes of detail
were made in tlio arrange-
nuiit of the interior appa-
ratus from year to year.
anil llu' tone and working
(if the instrument were
iini»ni\eil. I'hc nKuhine
still lacked the i)erfect
swxetiiess whi( ii it ought
to have had. Emmons
In lX4(, I'.m- Hamlin.
Mioas Hamlin, a young
man in the employ of
l'rin< e iV Comiiany :)f
llutt'alo. iiit ujion the hap-
|)y iilea of gi\ing a slight
twi>t to the ( iirveil reeds.
I'he ( hange eliminated all
harshness from the tone
of the reeds, and made
tlu'in >ofl and nuisical.
It led. also, to experi-
ments in the direction of
giving; different (jualitics
of voice to ri'cds by al-
terations in their size and
form, which have since
|iru\eil successful. I'rince
iV ('oni|)any iuunediately adopted all the new ideas in their melodeons,
and presented to tiie public a class of Instruments which iu-^tantly became a
powerful rival to the piano. Said Spenser in a ri'tircd nook of an ancient
palace,
" Mv liivc doth >il,
PKiyinj; alone, earcles-i, on lier luavrnlv virginaU."
CAIilNKl-OKCAN
il'
' '1ff,y.r,^f.,j^ff,,.f
1
1
540
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the manu-
facture.
If the ancient virginal, with its faint, thin voice, could have filled the poet's
head with dreams, what would not the divine, assuaging strains cf the sweet
melodeon, now brought to perfection, have done in that direction !
In 1854 Mr. Hamlin formed a partnership with Mr. Henry Mason, ,011 of
Dr. Lowell Mason the composer, and began the manufacture of reed-organs
Progress of "^P^" ''■ ^'^''8^ ^Q.2\^ in Boston. The firm first presented to the
public their organ-harmonium, with four sets of reeds and two man-
uals of keys. In 1861 they brought out' the school-harmonium
in i86i. the cabinet-organ. They have since constantly developed the re-
sources, sweetness, and scope of their instruments, until they stand absolutely
at the head of manufacturers of reed-organs in the world at large. 'I'liey are
not, however, the only American makers who excel the P'rench, (ierman, and
English makers : many others do that, and among them the B. Shoninger
Organ Company of New Haven, Conn. ; the Quaker-City Organ Company,
Philadelphia ; Peloubet, Pelton, & Company of New York ; the Benham ( )rgan
Company of Indianapolis ; the Clough & Warren Organ Company of 1 )ctroit,
Mich. ; and the Taylor & f'arley Organ Company of Worcester, Mass. It is
believed that these makers all build upon the exhaust or American plan ; and
their instruments are certainly superior, in sweetness, variety, and rajiidiiy of
execution, to European organs, — a fact which is recognized by the large
foreign salo of their organs. They receive orders from every continent in the
world, and send abroad about $600,000 worth of instruments annually.
The manufacture in the United States is now being carried on in aliout
Numberof scvcnty-five establishments. In 1870 the production had already
establish- reached 32.000 ip.strnnicnts a year, wliii li was a good ways alicad
ments. ^^^ ^^^ manufacture of pianos. It cannot at present be less than
50,000 a year.
In the building of i)ipc-organs for rliurchcs the United States have made
some i^rogress. 'i'hey are able now to depend upon liieir own
Pipe-organs. /-ni i^ii <• ■ \ •
factories for all that they need in tins ( lass of musical instruments.
The principal makers are Hook & Hastings of Boston, and (leorge Jardine
\' Son of New York. About 700 chun li-organs are made every year.
The manufacture of brass iiorns and trumpets, violins, banjos, guitars,
drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, accordions, tambourines, and all (itlicr
Manufacture ''istruments, both for serious and comic use, is now condiuied
of brass upon a large scale. The industry is in a very healthy state,
instruments. ,j |^^, i,i^,i,^^^^t ,.]^^^ „f |,ra,s and sdver pieces, and of violins, is
being attemjited, and reasonable success has been attained by a few makeis.
(Jcmiinder of New York, es|)ecially, has done well in violins. The manufac-
ture now amounts to about $2,500,000 worth \ early. There is a fondness tor
Furopean instrun.cnto ol these smaller kinds, however, which our makers have
not yet conquered ; and $700,000 wortn of them are imported yearly. The
triumph which the ]>iano and orgiiii makers have won has yet to fall to the lot
OF THE UNITED STATES.
541
of the makers of these sm ler instruments. That the latter will yet carry their
eagles all over the musical world and subdue it, as their brothers have done
before them, is, however, certain. They have the talent, and it only needs
time and patient study to accomplish the result.
Two-thirds of all the musical instruments in the country are made in New-
York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, the cities taking rank in the order named.
MATCHES.
The means of lighting a fire were so poor in the days of our forefathers,
that a fire was dispensed with whenever possible ; and where a fire was
al)solutely necessary, as in the kitchen, it was kept alive constantly,' how fires
like the flame on an ancient altar, by feeding, and by covering the were former-
coals at night with the ashes. The usual way of kindling a fire in ^^ '*^ *" •
those (lays was to strike a sliower of sparks from a piece of flint into a few
scon bed cotton or linen rags, which, by a little gentle blowing, would then be
maile to burst into a flame. Phosphorus was not discovered until Discovery of
1677. and it was not until a hundred years afterwards that it came phosphorus.
into use at all for lighting fires. There were two ways in which it was tiicn
used. \ piece of phospliorus was put into a vial, and stirred with How it was
a hot wire, so as to coat the bottle with o.xide of phosphorus : the ** '^"* "■"*••
l)ottle was then tightly corked. When wanted for use, a s])linter of wood
n!)oiit six inches lung, the end of which hail been coated with sulphur, was
(lipped into the vial, where it took fire from the phospliorus, and was lighted.
This process of getting a light was in use almost within half a century : only
the rich employed it. .Another plan contemporary with it was to employ an
(iwiiinriate match. .\ stiik of wood about -^ix inches long was tijjped with
sulphur, and then, with a i)aste made of chlorate of potash, gum, and sugar,
colored with vermilion. Vials containing a piece of asbestos soaked in oil of
vitriol were sold with them. The match, touciied to the oil of vitriol, burst
into a blaze.
In i<S29 an Knglish chemist discovered that chlorate of potash would ignite
by friction ; and this gave rise \.o the modern lucifer-match. The
now style of match was tipped with ciilorate of potash, sul[)liate
of antimony, antl starch, and was lighted by drawing between folds
I if saml-paper. The manufacture of this class of matches began
soon afterward in the United States, in New England. They were
I ailed " locofoco " matches pop'ilarly, the jingling and unmeaning name being
j;i\cn them for comic effect. 'I"he Democrats in 1835 accpiired "Locofoco"
the name of " Locofocos" as a political jjarty fiom the use of these ""tches.
matches. 'I'he New- York Whigs had called a meeting ; and the Democrats, in
order to get jiossession of the hall, came in and blew out the candles. The
Whigs .-etirod ; and the Democrats then relighted the candles with locofoco-
Discovery
which led to
the making
of the luci-
fer-match.
i -r'rrrfrrffriir
542
INDUSTPIAL HISTORY
IJfie
m-1 J.
t ' .?
matches, and went on with the meeting. The matches were also called 'Con-
greves," because they were exi)losive like the rockets of that name. In 1814
Invention of pliosjjhorus was for the first time applied to the match itsuir, In
Aionzo D. 1836 .\lonzo 1). Phillii)s of Springfield, Mass., got a patent for jjIios-
Phiiiips. phorous matches, which was a step in advance of the old kimi : ami
since then the manufacture has been carried on in the United States oii a lame
scale. The length of the" match was reduced to about two inches. Maclnnerv
was invented for making the wooden splints, and performing different oinra-
tions of the manufacture ; and the business was so systematized, and Lnt(.ic(l
Extension of upon on such an enormous scale, that matches soon be( anic. not
industry. ^^^ luxury of the rich, but the cheapest article which 'ii'crcd into
the retail trade of the people. In 1850 A. Beecher & Sons established a larj^c
factory &f matches at Westville, Conn. ; and in 1S54 Swift X: Courlnev uxni
into the business at Wilmington, Del. Tiie two firms consoiidaii'd in iSjo a\
the Swift, Courtney. & Beecher Company, and now constitute tlie i)riiui|)al
house in the business in the United States. Tiiey have branchis ii I'hiladd-
I)hia, New York, Baltimore, and '"iiicago. TIktc are at ])ri.',-ent iMMit eighty
establishments in the business. Tiie manufacture is enormous, rea' ii.\' a!)oiit
15,000,000,000 matches a year.
Friction-matches were first made in combs of a do/ei^ or wo eai h. in
Process of this foriu the wood was very conveniently anaii^ for ilijipini.'
making. j,^j(j [\■^^. melted sulphur, and afterward into tlo- ( lu mi- il pivpara-
tion of phosphorus, or chlorate of j/otasii. Iv'ch matcn was biokt.'n olT as it
was wanted for use. This st'';' of match is still largel) mrde lui its ( hoaimcss.
The more convenient and n>U( 'nore common form in whi' i matches arc ^old
is in bundles or boxes, containiiu JViv*-. ',;.'. -e from t.\enty-fivi" to five iiumlicd.
The splints ;;re t'ornv"! l)y mnihiticrx u -'ch will make two 'lu'.iion in a dav.
They are rolled into tlat bundit., , _j;lui.en inches across l)y iikk hinerv, each
splint being held apart from its neighbors ; and are then dipped by h and into
the chemical preijarations necessary to cause them to ignite. One Wurknian
can dip a million matches in an hour. They are then dried, ami put up in
packages for the market.
The match-business is now the principal customer for ])hosplionis, and one
of the large ones for sulphur. It is said that ninety-five per (cut of all the
pliosijhorus made is (onsumed in match-making. The business
Quantity o j^,^^ j^^,^,^^ j^^ ^j^^. ^^^^ ^^^ uuhealthv one, owing to the ll(li■^ono^^
pnospnorus ' .01
consumed in character of the chemicals used. In I'',ngl;ind. where mat(di-niaking
'^^":^' used to be carried on largelv at home, ihe poor i>cople cnnaurd in
making. '^ - 111
it were never free from the fiunes. .\t night their very rloihinj,^
was luminous: in the day-time white vapors were ((intinuallv rising Ironi
them. American ingenuity, by iiUroducing the use of ma< hines. has made llic
busir j.o a ven (lii.'erent sort of an occupatimi : and it is now as healthlul as
;he majority fif trades.
r^ %
OF THE UNITED STATES.
543
Among the matches now made are several for special uses, — the pailor-
matcli, for instance, which uses no sulphur, and is thus free from the choking
fiimi's of sulphur ; the smoker's matcli, which blazes strongly, and various
(an lie used to light a cigar in the wind or rain ; and the wax kinds of
matdi, which burns a long time, and is an elegant affair for "'*"' ""
dainty uses.
GLASS-WARE AND I'O TTERY.
Tiie first glass-factory in the United States was started in Virginia almost
immediately after the founding of ihe first settlement. It is said that the very
first I aiL'o sent back to Engu.nd contained " trials " of glass made _. , ,
'^ o o First gla&i-
iii Virginia. There is very little on record about that original factory in
istal)lishment ; but it appears, at any rate, that it stood in the ^""=<'
woods, aljout a mile from Jamestown, and that a portion of its
prodiK t was in the form of glass beads to be used in thi- trade with the
Iiulians. In 1621 a fund was subscribed to estaljlish a faclory especially for
f;lass beads. Italian workmen were sent over to get the works in operation.
W licihcr one or more factories were in operation in 1632 is not known; but
one ( L'rtainly was. It was broken u]), however, in that year, by the Indians,
wlu) invaded the colony, and destroyed factories, the crops, and tlie settlers
imliscriminately. The glass-bead business was not again resumed in Virginia
lor mort.' tlian a hundreil and fifty years.
Till' next essay by the colonists was in Massaciuisetts. (Uass bottles, table-
wan', and window-glass were universally wanted, and the colonists were not
satisfii'd with tlie .low anil costly business of getting them from „. ^
i;uro|)c. Factories were aicordingly started at IJraintree at a very ing in Mas-
earlv date, and at Salem in i6iq: thev were encouraijed bv the "'•''""tts
''-' • t^ . Colony.
govcrnnieut of the colony of Massaciuisetts, and ajjjjcar to have
ilirivt'! tor a long period. Tlie one at Mraintree remained in operat learly
Miitil the time of tlie Revolution. I'hiladclphia liad a glass-hoii^- 1683.
All old ma|) of New-York City sliows that tliere mxtc two glas- Ties at
that phu c as early as 17,52. During the Revolutionary war wind _; lass was
made 111 New Jersey ; but it was a very inferior article. After th' .<.evolution
tiif 111 inut'acture of glass was encouraged botli by tlie national an
iiv several of the state governuuMils, as l)eing one of the ba*
wml oidustries of the countrv. 'I'en iier cent dutv was levied '^"stry after
' - Revolutior-
i|ioii all imported glass-ware by the former. In 1788 the legis- arywarby
laiure of New V'ork loaned three thousand pounds for eight years "'"States
, , ,- . ,, 1 , •'"'' nation
to the proprietors of a glass-uictory near .Albany, and about 1803
Massa< iiiisfiis voted a l)ounty to a factory in Boston for every tal)le of window-
.^lass made. 'I'he manufacture was encouraged in Connecticut, Marvland, and
Virginia ; and all of these States had small fiictories in operation I jfore the
beginning of the present century. The business began at Pittsburgh, Penn.,
Encourage-
nent of in-
i i
544
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in 1796, with the estabhshment of bottle and crown glass works hv (icn
O'Hara. This factory met with great success ; and it is in operation i\ en at
Success of ^'^^ present day, under the ownership of Thomas Wiglunuin &
factory at Company, though, of course, so enlarged and changed as to possess
Pittsburg . ^j^jy ^1^^ ^^^j]^ ,^^^ ^^^ ^^^ body, of the original works, i'itishumh
became the principal glass-making city of tlic coimtry in a very few years
(len. O'Hara's success inspired others to go into the business, and the war
of 181 2 operated to provide still furtiier inducements by raising tiie jirids of
glass-ware ; and, as Pittsburgh was sufticieiitly remote from the coast and
frontier to be safe from the operations of the war, by 18 14 there were fivu
glass-furnaces in blast in that city, making boviles, window-glass, am! table-
ware. One of them was the flint-glass-works of Hlakewell & ('onipanv. the
pioneer of its class in .America. This concern imported its workinou; it
made sets of table-ware for two presidents, and also produced a s|)leiKli(l
vase which was subsequently jircscnted to Lafayette.
The United States were designated by nature as a glass-making countrv,
The land is stored in every part with sand, limestone, and disintegrated (luartz-
rock of the best (niality ; and there has always been an abiiiKiam t.
of cheap fuel. Only one of the materials entering into the ( (im-
position of glass is not present in this country in abundance : that
is soda, which con'^t.-'.-ites twenty per cent of the weigiu of glass.
This (an be obtained, however, as cheaply as it can be in i'inuland.
lielgium, and l-'rance : and the ])Ossession of the other materials is a i|iialifi-
cation foi the business such as tew other countries are endowed with. There
lias been, therefore, a consiilerable growth of the business, espec iallv in
Pennsylvania, Nea- Jersey, and New Vork. The statistics are as follows : —
Favorable
conditions
for glass-
making in
United
States.
4i f,ifi;i -[x^
183^
1.S40
1S50
1.S60
1S70
KACTOKIBS.
44
81
94
113
201
5i,5oo,cxxi
4.000,000
4,641,000
Q.OCD.OOO
19,233,000
Of the factories reported in 1.S70, fiftv-two were in Pennsylvania fmosth
at Pittsl)urgh, where there were forty-seven Victories in active operation), fiff.
foi;r in New York, nineteen in New Jersey, fourteen in M.issachusetts, ami
nine in Ohio.
Notwithstanding this progresi, the glass works of the United States In- no
means supply the domestie mijket. No iloubt .he production of liottk>
-'M. f-j"-"!.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
VAI.IT OK
I'HODl I T.
\'ani;i (mosriv
cration). lift-
iichiisetts, am!
1 States liv H'l
loii of liottlo
S4S
coarse and fine, of lampj-thimneys, good table-ware, and common window-
glass, is sufficient for the
(lemaiulsof
America
the conn- does not sup-
trv; Imt in P'yherown
market.
the higher
([ualitics of window,
mirror, and plate glass,
the production is en-
tirely inailequate. Over
six million dollars'
worth of tliese classes
of glass-ware is in>
portcil \ early from Ik-1
<;iun). France, and I'"nj^^-
laml, to sii|)ij|y the de-
ficiency of native i^ro-
(iiiction. 'TIktc is in
this direction a lar^e
lick! for the extensio.i
of the business. Sev-
eral places exist in the
Soiitii where tlie inann-
tactiirc could be eco-
nomically and profita-
bly carried on. Mobile
being one of them.
There are several gooil
places in the North-
west.
Ill the manufacture
of j;lass-warc there is
not one ar- p„„„ „,
tl( le in ten glass-mak-
t ho 11 sand '""■
which is not fashioned
at the end of a blow-
pipe. Plate -glass iat
"iniiows. and the lenses
>ii 'ipticaJ instruments, casters.
arc rast ; and L'oblets,
unip->, and st>mc other irrcgularly-siiai)ed *arc, are jiressed in dies : but
everv thing ebe is taken Irom the meUing-pot in a soft lump at the end
M
'
v\
m
mmn
W
"^^.*..i4fc
546
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
S^' ''\\
M:i I
W ' v^\y\
m
of a blow-pipe, and acquires its first form by the operation of the luivs and
hands of the workman. Window-glass is made by blowing the lump into
tables or cylinders. The sand, carbonate of soda, manganese, and arsenic
which compose the glass, are first melted down in eight or ten pots arranged
in a large circular dome, in the centre of which is the fire. It takes aljout
forty-eight hours to perfect the fusion. When the bubbles are all gone and
the drdss has been skimmed off, a workman dips the end of a blo\v-])ii)e five
feet long, with a diameter ranging from one-fourth inch to one inch, into the
melted glass, and
takes up a luni]) of it;
he blows this into a
large flat gIol)e. A
boy affixes to tlu'
globe opi)ositc tlu-
pipe an iron rod
with the aid of a lit-
tle meltctl glass, and
the l)low-])ipf and
the nose of the
globe are then sepa-
rated from tiic globe
by the application of
a piece of ( ohl iron.
The globe iicld by
the iron rod is then
put into the furnare,
and rapidly revolved.
It softens, and finally
opens out with a flap
into a flat dish, which
is then kept revolv-
ing until it is cold. It
is next sent to the an
nealing- furnace, and
its brittleness removed by annealing; and it is then cut up for the market with
a diamond-point. The other process of making window-glass is to blow a
lump of melted material out into a cylinder, which is done by holding the
blow-pipe alternately over the head, and then down below the j)latiorni on
which the workman stands. In the latter position it elongates into a cylinder.
The cylinder being put into the oven, the heated air within bursts out the end
opposite to the hlow-pipe. The latter en<l is cut off with a hot iron as soon as
the cylinder is cool. The cylinder is then .slit onre lengthwise, and laid in an
oven, where it softens, opens, and flattens down, the workman assisting the
DECASTHRS.
Of- THE UNITED STATES.
547
Plate-glaat.
Dner.ntion by working a block of wood over it attached to the end of a rod.
Ihc plate is then sent off to be annealed. The distortions which are pro-
duced by looking through window-glass come from the fact, that, the inner
anil outer surfaces of the cylinder being of different lengths, the flattening
produces in the glass undulations called cockles.
Hottlcs and hollow-ware are blown out from a lump of melted material, and
shaped in moulds of brass or iron, which open and shut on a hinge, and are
worked by the foot. I'late-giass is cast upon an iron slab, at the Bottles and
sides of which arc placed bars of iron of the intended thickness hoUow-
of the plate. An iron or copper roller rests upon these bars, and '*'""'■
is tlicii rolled over the surface of the melted glass, pressing before it the super-
fluous material, and giving the i)late a uniform thickness. The
edges of the plate are trimmed when it is cool, and the plate is
tiicn annealed. Flint-glass for table-ware is ground after pressing by means
of sand and emery wheels. The sharp edges so often noticed are produced
in this way. All glass has to be ground and polished by apparatus specially
fitted up for the purpose. Colored glass for stained windows, laiHerns, to:., is
nudi' !iy mixing into the melting-pot oxide of gold for red, oxide of copper
fur l)hie, oxide of manganese for amethyst, iron ore and manganese for orange,
copper and iron for green, and other metals for other colors. The color may
be produced in the body of the glass itstdf, or only on t!ie surface ; if on the
surface, it is prodmed by dipping the lump of clear glass into a pot of colored
material, when some of the latter dings to the whole surface, and remains
permanent in every stage of tlie subseiiuent processes. 'I'he silvering of glass
for mirrors is a simple operation. Tin-foil is spread over a stone table, and
(|uicksilver poured thinly o\er it. The plate of glass is slid slowly upon the
table, pushing the quicksilver before it, the object being to prevent any air
getting under the glass. The superfluous metal is then drawn off, and the
])late weighted down for several hours. It is then taken u|), the tin-foil adher-
ing, and exi)osed to the air, l)ack up])ermost. for several days, until the
amalgam is perfectly hard.
The Siemens reverberatory gas-furnace has been adopted in the glass-
manufacture, as well as in the iron and steel business, — more largely abroad,
however, than in .\mcrica. It is now considered essential in the e: „
aiemens re-
making of the hip'-.cr {pialities of glass. The ordinary furnace, verberating
with its melting-pots arranged around an open fire-box, is certain b"*-'"'"""-
to injure the glass by bringing coal-dust, sulphur, to:., into contact with the
mehing-materials. This is all obviated by the Siemens furnace ; and Hie
enlargement of the plate and fine glass business in this country can only
proceed with the aid of this style of furnace.
Pottery was one of the earliest manufactures of the colonists. The Lon-
don companies sent over potters to all the colonies, and the Dutch did the
saint for their settlements at the mouth of the Hudson. The colonists
tepfi,f
Ill
if,''' '
;> '
548
/A7J rs TK I A I. HIS TOK Y
ANCII'.NT Iin-IKKY — Jim.
could not get on without jars, jugs, mugs, and I'arllicn dislu-s ; and cvt ry .lis-
trict of the country had its own |)ottcry. Alexander llamiitou ri|i(iitr(l ii,
1790 tiiat tlie liusiiitvs \v;is
Manufocture I'lnving. It \v;is
of pottery by one of tl\f few
colonists. I I . ,
branciu's oi mdns.
try which had made itsiH' ahK-
to sui)iily tiie •■olonial (kin.UKJ.
'I'lie husiness is a very ^iin|ple
one, tlie clays, while and Iikumi,
lieiii),' fashioned l)y hand updH
a little revolving round table
directly from the liMn|i, diinl ii)
the air, haki'd in ,m ovin. and
Number o( IIk'II gla/ed. it is
potteries. v^. ,.y i.^ttn^vcly
practised throughout the idim-
try, there being about 750 pot-
teries in operation, sii|i|ilyiiig
about :S6,o()o,ooo worth of ware
every year. Trenton, N.J. . is tiie greatest individual centre of the niaiuifat-
ture. Within the last fivi- years the pot-
ters have begun to juiy some attention lo
the matter ot' producing artistic pottery.
Their forms had been, until five years ago,
of the simplest and most practical des( rip-
tion ; little was done for beauty, and «an i-
any pottery was made for ])urely orna-
mental objects. .\ change in refereiK e to
form is now taking jilace. Within tiie
last ten years the attention of makers has
.been drawn to a collection of pottery near-
Cesnoia ly two thousand years old,
collection. which was dug uj) from the
ruins of the temples in the Island of Cyprus
by Cesnola, the consul of the United States,
and wiiich was sold to the Metropolitan
Museum of New-Vork City. 'l"he lovers
of art have gone wild over these treasures,
and a mania has grown uj) for ornamental
jiicces in the same sha])es as many of the interesting antiques in this lainnni
collection. 'I'he old mania for artistic china has broken out .igain too, ami
these two causes combined have presented to the pottery- makers their ojipor-
ANt I FN I I'dl IKNV.— .|AI(.
OF Till-: UNllEli STATES.
549
tmiiiv. Many of llic inoic ciitcrprisinf,' firms Iiavc rcicnlly undLTtakcn to pro-
ihiic jars, vasL's, miij^s, \< ., in llic antique style ; and tlu' market is now full of
ilu II wart', and tiie sales of it are larj,'e. Some ol the pieces they make they
ilcciiiale at tlie pottery tiiem.-.elses in brown and i)la(k ; hnt a larj,'e propor-
timi (if the pieces is sent to tiie store in tlu rou^'h state, to lie sold to la<lies
.mil Jilists who desire to decorale the jars and vases themselves. The forms
111' (diiimon pottery have jien eptiltly improved, too, alonj; with those of tiic
more artistic kind.
\\
Iti^fi
W'<'
W^
^
yi
^■.t:
POKCKI.AIN llATK.
Porcelain.
I'orcclain-ware is also made to some extent in the United States, though
this is not yet one of our },'real industries. New York. Pennsylvania, and
N\'\v Jersey have excellent f u idries, nuikini; ware from native
earths, and decor.itin^' it with tlower and leaf, and bird, insect, and
animal ])atterns, according to the taste of the day. 'I'his liranch of manufiic-
turt' jiartakes of the character of I'liie art, and it is not one in which .American
artisans have yet won any dislingiiished success. What will be the result when
the excellent schools of design in Massai husetts and New York have done their
work a little more thoroughly, need not be referreil to here ; but it may be said
- •'■''Vi '
'(;: • -m
%^A
wTxnm
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
/.
^ ,<.\
1.0
I.I
La 128 12.5
■^ Uii 12.2
Hi
140
■^
2.0
L25 IIIU
I
1.6
Hiotografiiic
Sdences
Corporation
23 WIST MAIN STMIT
WItSTM.N.Y. I45M
(716) •73-4303
*
^
;\
•5^
\
,-v
:^^
55°
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
that there is ample room in the United States for a large corps of native«
American decorators. The taste of the people for choice table-ware has outrun
the ability of the native factoiies to gratify it. Decorated china is now the
attribute of the rich. It ought to be within the reach of all the people \ but it
never will be until there are more decorators, — a great many more, — and until
all the manufactories can afford to employ them. The decorators are at pres-
ent principally men of foreign birth and training. The
very best class are native artists, who occasionally lay
aside the easel to illuminate a jar, a vase, a plaque, or
some other object of clay, for a friend or for the market.
As before said, it is only the rich that can afford to en-
gage the services of either class. It is not strange that
the United States should not yet be great in china and
porcelain ware, when we reflect that attention to the
industry only began about sixty years aj,o ; while, on
the other hand, the porcelain countries par excellence of the world have
practised the art of moulding and decorating this ware for a period of from
three hundred to a thousand years. The best that can be said of the art
as it exists in this country at the present day is, that it promises well for
the future. It most certainly does that.
PORCELAIN CUF.
GLUE.
The most arid soils sometimes best repay cultivation ; and things the most
useless and valueless in life often turn out to be, in tlie hands of those who
From what know their peculiar qualities, articles of priceless merit. It is from
it is made. refuse that some of the most necessary and excellent commodities
of the age are obtained. Glue is one of these commodities. It is made from
the trimmings and clippings of hides, which are removed during the process
of currying and tanning. Those scraps are not only useless for any other pur-
pose than glue-making, but, were they not available for some such p irpose,
they would be absolutely unpleasant to have on hand. They would be hard
to dispose of, and, unless speedily removed, would be a source of disease
and danger. As it is, however, science has put them to use for the produc-
tion of an article which society could not now get along without ; for glue
is of universal convenience. It enters into the binding of the
books we take up every day ; it cements the furniture which we
use every hour of our lives ; it renders writing-paper capable of taking ink
without blurring ; it makes turpentine and petroleum barrels tight ; it joins
the violin ; and, in fact, performs a thousand services of the most necessary
and interesting description. V'-:re it not for the fact that this article can be
made from refuse cuttings of hide which are of no intrinsic value whatever,
it would be so costly, that books, paper, furniture, and all objects into the
Utility.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
551
construction of which it enters, would be so much more expensive, that the
increased price might suffice to turn the scale adversely when one was deciding
whether to buy those articles or not.
In glue-making, the cuttings of hide, when fresh, are put into a strong
solution of lime in order to remove the hair, fat, and bits of meat, clinging to
them, and to dispose the cuttings to melt readily upon the appli- procett of
cation of heat. When sufficiently treated, the scraps are taken giue-
out of the lime-water, and washed and dried. The latter process ""'' "*'
is performed in the most thorough manner ; and, in order that there may be
perfect desiccation, the scraps are generally stored for a long period of time.
In the spring and fall the scraps are put into the melting-pot in 'bags of
netting, and boiled with rain-water. The gelatinous substance in them dis-
solves readily into liquid glue. The glue is drawn off, strained, and allowed
to cool and settle ; and, when it becomes hard like jelly, it is sliced into sheets,
and spread upon nets to drj'. Drying requires two or three weeks. The
sheets are ready for the storf. when perfectly dry, though they are usually
stored away in lots for a while before they are marketed. The climate of
America is very favorable to glue-making, on account of its dryness. In
moist countries, like England, the drying is not so perfectly and beautifully
(lone.
There are now about seventy glue-factories in the United States. Phila-
delphia is the principal centre of the trade, although Chicago and St. Louis
have latterly attained some importance in it. The Philadelphia factories are
very large.
A purely American variety of glue wxs invented by Mr. Spaulding. It was
called " Spaulding's Prepared Glue," and under that name was extensively
advertised and sold, not only in the United States, but in Europe
and other parts of the world. It was made in a liquid forr^,
and had the quality of hardening when applied to the cementa-
tion of two surfaces. Sold in bottles of small size, its con-
venience secured for it great popularity. Various preparations of this sort
are now in the market. An ounce of nitric acid to the pound of dry glue,
or three parts of acetic acid to one of dry glue, preserves the glue in liquid
form. .,.
One of the most important uses of glue is for the making of sand and
emery paper, — an industry which is carried on frequently, if not
generally, in the glue-factories themselves. The sheets of paper j„" ^i,ing"'
useil are made from old rope so as to be very tough, or from land and
manila-fibre direct. Sand-paper and emery-paper are largely '^"J'
used in all fa* tories in which wood is fashioned for popular use,
and in many oii ■ 1 shops besides. They are comparatively recent inventions,
and are of great service to manufacturers.
•■ Spauld.
ing'B
Prepared
Glue."
552
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
VENEERING,
The ancient forests of Brazil and other parts of South America contain
enough trees of rare and beautiful cabinet-woods to give the whole human
race furniture of solid woods. But these forests cannot be utilized at present,
and will not be brought into the market for many generations ; and ral)inet-
Economy In woods of great beauty are, therefore, rare in the general market,
uie of and costly, rather than abundant and cheap, as they might lie.
veneer ng. j\]3out fifty years ago the cost of cabinet-woods was so great, tliat
three logs of mahogany sold for five thousand dollars apiece in London.
The expense of all fine cabinet-woods, and the actual scarcity of some varie-
ties, led to the art of sawing up beautiful logs into thin sheets, and of covering
furniture, doors, picture-frames, chests, &c., made of cheaper woods, with these
sheets of the rarer timber, so as to produce the same effect as though tiie
articles were made of solid cabinet-woods, and thus to gain the appearance,
without the cost, of solid wood. It was an application to cabinet-work of the
idea of plating an inferior substance with a superior, which has also been
utilized in silver-smithing, glass-making, and other industrial arts. Singularly
enough, after veneering had been invented and i)ractised for this object, it
was found that the practice had a great merit of its own in strengthening
the wood veneered by preventing it from splitting anil cracking, and in
enabling the workman to produce a nimibcr of panels, &c., of exactly the
same graining of wood. Its utility for all these general purposes has led to
its general and increasing employment.
The woods which are sawed up for veneering are rose-wood, mahogany,
ebony, sandal-wood, satin-wood, bird's-eye-maple, French maple, tulip-wood,
Kindt of and a large variety of the South-American cabinet-woods, whose
woods uted. names are so strange and unpronounceable, that it would not he
desirable to reproduce them here. The best portions of the tree for sawing
are those where the branches form, because the twisted and gnarled arrange-
ment of the fibres of the tree in those parts of the trunk produces a wide
variety of interesting forms in the graining of the wood, and deepen.; the
color, and renders the wood more close and compact. The veneers are
sawed out very thin ; but the thinness varies with the value and quality of tiic
Thickness of wood, from an eighth to a hundredth of an inch. Saws of great
veneering. precision, running in gangs, are used. Sometimes a different
process is used, the veneers being cut off in a broad peel by a turning-
lathe. This, however, is more generally resorted to in cutting sheets of bone
and ivory.
The veneers are sent to the cabinet-maker rough, because the rough face
Treatment of assists in glueing theno down. They are fastened on simply with
veneers. good glue ; the Only care necessary being this, that they must be
worked down so thoroughly as to expel the air from below them. They are
OF THE UNITED STATES.
553
clamped down until cool and dry. The outer surface of the veneering is
then polished, and treated exactly as though the article were made of solid
cabinet-wood.
Undoubtedly a pure taste would dictate a preference for a black-walnut or
common maple article of furniture which was made of solid wood, and was
exactly what it represented to be, than a much more splendid and showy
article, apparently of bird's-eye-maple or rosewood, which, in reality, was
veneered. But veneering is not necessarily a cheat, and it has too many
valuable uses to be dispensed with altogether. For instance, who would want
a piano to be of solid rosewood ? Who could afford to buy one of solid wood ?
CARRIAGES AND CARS.
The forests of the United States, once so magnificent, are now being swept
away with a rapidity which has alarmed our statesmen, and has made the sub-
ject of replanting the devastated fields a question of vital impor- Destruction
tance. The demands upon the timber-growth of the country are "' 'orestt.
enormous. Wood is wanted for millions of dwellings, for fences, furniture,
shipping, railroad-ties, fuel, telegraph-poles, machinery, boxes, for exportation
to foreign countries, and a thousand other objects ; and, instead of the de-
mand fixlling off as timber grows scarce, it is the fact, that in many cases
the demand is constantly increasing. The requirements of the car and
carriage factories, for instance, are increasing every year. In the days of our
great-grandfathers, the occasional ancient coach, and the heavy lumber-wagon
in which the freight-transportation of the country was carried on, were almost
the only vehicles that rolled along the roads. The people did contrast be-
not own private carriages themselves. When they travelled, they tween the
took to the coach, or rode on horseback, the latter being the more "''''" ""f
° present time.
customary plan. The purchase of a private carriage was such a
rarity, that such an act was sufficient to stamp a man as an aristocrat, and was
very likely to create a prejudice against him. So that in those days, ahhough
the people fairly lived under the branches of boundless and apparently inex-
haustible forests, and though timber was as cheap as dirt, the amount of wood
cut for carriage-building was so slight as to make no perceptible impression
upon the forests whatever. But now things have greatly changed. Within the
hundred years just gone by an era of railroad-building and carriage-owning
has come in, and during the last fifly years carriages and cars have been build-
ing in increasing numbers year by year. Now, in 1878, the demand upon the
forests of the country for the stuff with which to build these vehicles is some-
thing enormous and alarming. Upon the railroads of the United States there
now roll 350,000 cars, and upon the highways and streets 15,000,000 carriages,
stages, trucks, and carts. To replace the old and supply the demand for new
vehicles of these several classes, it is estimated that the country now requires
^'>f--^/rrt\n' ir
554
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\
i
the growth of 500,000 acres of timber annually. These figures sliow better
than any thing else can the enormous development reached by tliis spec i;il
industry in the United States.
The earliest efforts of the people of America at carriage-making were put
forth in the direction of building rude carts and wagons without springs for
First effort! "^^ '" teaming goods to and from the mill, from the farms to
in carriage- town, and vUe vetsd, and from city to city. The wheels for these
making. vehicles were all, or nearly all, imported, until the Rcvolutiijuarv
war ; at which date the colonists, for the first time, fell to making them gener-
ally for themselves. The few private carriages of that day, one of wliii li
Importation was owneil by Washington, were imported. They were lieav),
of carriages, coach-like affairs, drawn by six horses, and adapted to travelliiv
on the bad roads of that period. '.Vith the better times which came after ilie
WINUSOK WAC.ON.
Revolution, and particularly after the war of 181 2, the carpenters turn.'d their
hands to something besides heavy wagons, and especially to a new style of
vehicles (namely, stage-coaches) for which there then grew up a great demand.
Stage-coaches were unknown in the United States until after the Revolution.
There were only 1,905 miles of best roads in the country in 1791, and the
mail was carried in heavy wagons. Lines of stages were started to run in
every direction, however, after 1791, in the coast States ; and the reciuirenients
of the companies, recorded by a heavy tariff of forty-five per cent, soon {,'ave
carriage-building a great impetus in all jjarts of the country. Very little was
done for the improvement of the ordinary freighting or Conestoga wagon for
a long period ; but the models and arrangements of the coach were things
which touched the people closely, and this class of carriages received a great
OF THE UNITED STATES.
555
deal of attention accordingly. Woods were sought for to compose the axles,
wheels, and body, which were, at the same time, the toughest and lightest.
The seats were carefully cushioned. Every part of the vehicle was carefully
studied and improved ; and the whole coach was made light, strong, comforta-
ble, ar.d serviceable to a degree which had never been known before. One
556
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY'^
factory
nibus."
running
started at Troy, N.Y.. about the year 1815, became famous in tin:
manufacture of a
style of coach
which was far supe-
rior to the undent
models of Mn^iland,
and which soon
came into genera!
use in this country
under the name
"Troy of the
co.ch.- ,..,.^^y
coach." The stage-
coaches of the i)res-
ent day are still
mainly of this ])at-
tern, developed at
Troy, N. Y. An
other firm, at Con-
" Concord Cord,
wagon." j(j j^
became famous for
another style of
coach, adapted to
summer travel. It
had the three seats
and the boot of the
regular stage ; l)ut it
had a wagon-body.
and a light canvas
top. It took the
name of the "Con-
cord wagon," and
is still known by
that name wherever
manufactured.
About 1830 still
another style of
coach was intro-
duced, which took
the name of "cm-
It was an extremely long vehicle, a sort of ark, with two seats
longitudinally cf the coach. Invented in France in 1827, it was
OF THE UNITED STATES.
SS7
Rapid de-
velopment of
carriage-
building
■ince 1830.
introduced to New York in 1830, and was employed to run on regular
routes in that and other cities for the accommodation of people going up
and down and about town. These omnibuses arc made very introduction
miicli smaller now than formerly, but are still run in most large of the
cities. Their value lies in the fact that they are more exclusive *""" *"'
than the street-car, and they supply the facilities for city travel without
injuring the streets through which they run by the laying of an iron track.
After 1830 the business of carriage-building developed very rapidly, and
many new ideas were introduced. The elliptical spring, invented hi 1825,
began to be employed. Smiths began to make the tires of their
wheels in solid rings, and to shrink them on by cooling, instead of
making them in pieces, breaking joints with the fellies. Hickory
came into general use for wheels and frames on account of its
strength and lightness. Machinery was invented to make the
spokes, hubs, tops, the small metal-work, and other parts of wagons and car-
riages, by the thousand and tens of thousanils. New styles of wagons were con-
trived, adapted to special needs. The business developed remarkably fast ; and
improvement followed improvement so rapidly, especially in the construction of
pleasure-carriages, that particular builds of wagon became anticiuated in less
than ten years, and were superseded by something else, lighter, handsomer,
stronger, and cheaper. Hundreds of new factories were started, and hundreds
of ingenious brains were set to work devising new ideas in pattern, build,
and materials. The general tendency of all improvements was to cheapen the
cost of carriages, and make them lighter and stronger. The reduced cost,
and the improved roads and growing wealth of the country, brought about a
lively demand for the products of the factories ; and by 1850 the manufacture
and sale of carriages were enormous. The American patterns were very much
admired in Europe. They were largely copied in Europe, and heavy orders
were sent here for the carriages themselves.
The factories have always shown a readiness to change the styles of their
work, and to pass from one thing to another, according as fashions or the
circumstances of the times have changed. Some of the factories shifted to
the business of making railroad and street cars when railroads came into
being, and discontinued the wagon-branch of the business altogether. Many
of them took to making army-wagons during the war. Elxpress-wagons were
taken up by many of them at one period, and there has been a long rivalry
between the factories for the production of the wagon which should carry the
largest number of tons of goods with the least draught upon the horses. Some
of this class of goods are now made to carry five tons of goods. Children's
carriages have been added to the business of many firms. Some factories now
make from three hundred to five hundred styles of carriages.
Large numbers of the different styles of American wagons are now
exported to the different parts of the world ; and America, which once was
558
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
beholden to Europe for her cart-wheela, now in these latter days returns the
compliment by sending back wheels, steel axles, and finished carriages, of
workmanship and material superior to any thing Europe herself produces.
The growth of the business will be seen by the following figures : —
1840
1850
i860
1870
"873
92
1,822
7.2S4
11. 847
12,500
CARRIAni!)
MADE.
'3.33«
95,000
270,000
800,000
1,000,000
2.274
14,900
37.459
54.028
75,000
VAl.UK or
PKOULtT.
{'.708,741
I 2,000,000
35.027.000
65,302,000
100,000,000
The business of building railroad and street cars has all grown uj) since
1830. It has centred principally in the Middle States, owing to the necessity
Railroad and of proximity to the iron and coal regions. There are now a hun-
•trcetcart. jred and three factories in operation in the United States and
Canada, six of them being in Canda. An average of sixty thousand cars are
built yearly, the majority being freight-cars of the four-wheeled and eight-
wheeled types. The passenger-cars constitute less than one-twentieth of the
whole number built, though, perhaps, half the total value of cars built. These
cars are of the eight-wheeled and twelve-wheeled types. The early railroad-
cars of the United States were merely slight modifications of the ordinary stage-
coach. As soon as it was seen that the new style of travelling was to be an
established thing, however, the railroad-car proper was immediately invented.
At first the car was merely in principle several stage-bodies joined together, the
seats being arranged in compartments, and the conductor climbing along from
one compartment to the others on a foot-board outside. This style of car was
the common basis from which the American and the English car of the present
day has been developed. The English people, however, improved upon this
ancient sort of car, merely to make it larger and more comfortable, retaining
the compartment system on account of its aristocratic exclusiveness. The
Americans, on the other hand, improved upon the parent vehicle, not only to
render it larger and better, but to make it more democratic. The car was
elongated, the doors placed at the two ends, and a row of seats placed on each
side of the car ; the aisle for the conductors and passengers being in the centre,
and the whole interior of the car being free from compartments and partitions.
Down to the time of the war, the American cars were still somewhat crude affair;.
They frequently leaked during rain-storms, and the dust from the locomotive
and ground found its way into the interior through the cracks at the windows.
The cars were poorly ventilated, and the seats were uncomfortable. Since
i860 the cars have been so improved as to be luxuriously comfortable. The
OF THE UNITED STATES.
559
interiors have been beautified with rare woods and ornamental paintings and
gilding, and more attention has been paid to the seats. George M. Pullman
in 1864 v/ent into the business of building what are called " drawing-room " or
" palace " cars, which are now added to all express-trains on the great routes of
travel. In these luxurious coaches the traveller can secure freedom from the
iTOvvd, and seats as comfortable as in his own drawing-room at home ; and he
{ a: obtain from the porter, if desired, such refreshments as he wants. Sleeping-
cani fur night-travel have also been introduced since 1864. It is with this
clasb of cars that the name of Wagner is associated.
. The business of car-building is one recjuiring great capital and remarkable
managerial ability : the number of concerns engaged in it is therefore small,
xs we have seen. The number engaged in the highest branch of the busi-
ness, that of building p^^senger and palace cars, is only about twenty. At
least fifty distinct trades are drawn u])on to share in the construction of the
best class of cars ; and, in the decoration of them, fine art itself is placed
under levy. The cost of cars varies from |6oo for a coal or platform car to
tio.ooo for a first-class passenger-car, and |30,ov. -> for a palace-car. There
are palace-cars on the broad-gauge Krie Railroad which cost {^50,000.
tlftil:
Il
%■
y
560
JNDUSTIHAL HISTORY
CHAITI'R XIII.
CONCLUSION.
THK foregoing survey of American nianufacttircs strikingly exhibits the
variety, inagnitudo, and excellence of this great department of luinum
inilustry. 'I'he forces and proilucts of Nature have been drawn
magnitude "P"" '*^'' l'^^' servi( e of man to an amazing degree : in every dine-
of American tion almost lias lie stretc lied out and appropriated the rich wtalth
turM "' 'y'"t' iiround him. Among his numerous triumphs, the disiovcry
of steam, witii its manifold applications, and means for ap|)lyiiij,'
it, is to be ranked among the first, both in the order of genius retiuircd to
utilize it effectively, and in the results attaine<l. The use of steaiu for rapid
transit is certainly one of the grandest achievements of civilization, and it
will doubtless ever continue to excite human admiration and awe. Su( ( ess
in this direction has led .us almost to overlook the service rendereii by steam
Stationary as a motor for nuuuifacturing-purposes. The stationary engine
engine. certainly merits nearly, if not (juite, the consideration due the
locomotive. Its invention tloes away with the necessity for locating mills
and factories bcsi<le an eligible stream. Such establishments may now lie
built in our large cities, where the facilities for obtaining help, transixminj,'
raw material and finished product, and negotiating purchases anil sales, afford
the manufacturer marked advantages. Steam-power is much more reliable,
too, than water-power, and free from certain risks. Neither drought nor
freshet interferes with its ojieration ; ajul so low is the cost of fuel, coiiijiared
with these advantages, that the stationary engine is rapidly supplanting die
mill-dam.
Quite as much ingenuity has been devoted by inventors to the improve-
ment of this class of machines as to the perfection of locomotives. 'I'heir aim
Improve- '^^^ been, not only to make them more cheaply, but to economize
ments in space, lessen the amount of fuel, simplify construction, and insure
machines. greater safety. A great many ex[)eriments have been tried in the
way of making safety-boilers which shall never explode, and several inventors
claim to have reached that consummation ; but, as no such boiler has yet
gly exhibits the
iiicnt of human
ivc been drawn
in every dircc-
the ricli wealth
is, the discovery
ms for applying
litis retiuired to
steam for raimi
) the iniprove-
cs. Their aim
t to econonii/,e
ion, and insure
en tried in tiie
veral inventors
boiler luii- yet
OF TlfE UMTI-.n STATES.
S6'
come into general use, the problem n really unsolved. It does not seem,
however, to be beyond the re;u h of human invention ; and we may con-
fidently hope for an early triumph over the many ditficulties thus far unsur-
moiinted.
ii
I ^1
ii '■;
^"^i
562
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
There are five kinds of stationary engines, — the beam and oscillating, which
are in use upon steamboats, and the rotary, steeple, and horizontal engines.
Kindt of These all have innumerable modifications. In addition thereto
■tationary there are certain portable engines for such temporary uses as
enKinet. driving piles, hoisting building-material, and threshing grain. The
first stationary engines in this country, bu'lt at the close of the last century aiuU
in the beginning of this, were chiefly designed for pumping mines. Tlieir
application, of late years, has been to manufacturing. American inventors
have done much to improve these machines. J. Eve, a r'-.ivc 0(" this country,
obtained a patent in England in 1825 for a valuable improvement in rotary
engines.
A vast stride in advance was made by the Messrs. Corliss & Niglitingale
of Providence some twenty-five years ago. They devised a new way of con-
necting the governor with the cut-off, which economized the power of steam,
and so effected a great saving in fuel. The marked improvement ni.ide in
this respect may be thus illustrated : The James Mills at Newburyport, enga<,'ed
Economy In in the manufacture of cotton-goods, had a pair of condensing
use of fueJ. engines, whose cylinders measured twenty-four inches in diameter
with a four- foot stroke. They consumed 10,483 pounds of coal daily, on the
average, for five years prior to the contract made with Mr. Corliss ; and it was
thought that they ran to good advantage. But the makers offered a pair of
high-pressure engines in their stead, on these terms : The company might pay
either $10,500 in cash, or five times the value of the coal saved the first year,
the choice to be made before the engines were put in. The company took
the latter alternative, and were obliged to pay $19,734.22. Since then the
stationary engine has been still further improved.
Another phase of our industrial history deserves a passing notice ; and that
is, the substitution of iron to a great degree for the softer metals in conse-
8 b titution Q"^"^^ ^^ ^^ greater ability of us modems to work it. In ancient
of harder times copper was very extensively emj>loyed in the mechanic arts.
for softer ,^q{ because iron was unknown, but because the artisans of tliose
days did not understand how to work it. An illustration in i)oint
is the manufacture of weighing-apparatuses, which formerly were made of brass,
and have only recently been manufactured of iron.
Originally our mechanisms for ascertaining weight were either a pair ol
scales or pans, balanced at the ends of an evenly-divided beam, or a lever
Scale- with unequal arms called the " steelyard." Now these instruments
makinK. i^^ve increased in variety, delicacy, and scope, so that so light a
particle as ^-^xs P^rt of a grain can be detected ; while a car containing many
tons of metal or other heavy freigiit can be exactly and easily weighed. The
big beam employed by the country butcher is but a form of the steelyard.
The platform-scales in use in the ordinary grocery-store are operated on tlie
same prmciple. The larger scales for hay, coal, and railway-cars, are still of
V -''
t
OF THE UNITED STATES.
563
Our letter-
the same kind, only that they use a system of compound instead of single
levers. The town of St. Johnsbury, Vt., is famed for the manufacture of
scales which have had a most extensive use in this country. It has almost a
monopoly of the business in larger apparatus. The more delicate balances
employed by apothecaries are made at
more numerous points. The Danish steel-
yard, wliich has the article to be weighed
stationary (as with the American steelyard),
but with the other weight fixed and the ful-
crum movable, has never come into use in
this country. Another form of weighing-
apparatus, however, has an extensive use in
tiie United States : it consists of a coil of
brass wire, whose elasticity is gauged by a
movable index upon a graduated scale.
i'in-peddlers and fish-men are generally
provided with tlMs kind. A variety of this
same kind has a dial-plate attached, on which a needle rotates.
scales are but modifications of forms already described.
VVe cannot close this history of American manufacturing industries with-
out a brief reference to three kindred processes which properly come under
the head of mechanic art, thougii more or less nearly approaching the realm
of fine art. The first of these is photography. The chemical principle on
which that process depends — namely, the discoloring effect of sun- photogra-
iight upon paper coated with nitrate of silver — was discovered as p*'>'-
long ago as the twelfth century ; but not until 1840 — the year after Daguerre
invented the process of taking sun-pictures on silver-coated plates, and Talbot
simultaneously devised a way to fix a picture taken on paper in the camera —
was our present photographic process rendered fairly practicable ; and the
largest meed of praise for that accomplishtnent is due to Professor J. W. Draper
of the University of New York, who had for many years been experimenting
in order to discover a way to set the picture when once obtained. The
invention has worked a mar\'ellous revolution in portraiture, and put it within
the power and means of every one to have faithfiil family likenesses. In the
form of stereoscopic pictures it has enabled us to procure, at a slight cost,
perfect representations of great statues, paintings, distant natural scenery and
lK\laces, and all that is wonderful and rare in the way of display in nature or
in art. The process has been of rare value, too, in obtaining cheap and accu-
rate pictures of mechanical devices, and also obtaining permanent views of
rare transitory phenomena, like solar eclipses, and transits of planets across the
sun's surface. The art is constandy undergoing trifling improvement in
process, and meeting with a wider use in science and the mechanic and fine
arts.
^1
It i
564
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\
I
The word " lithography " means the art of printing from a stone, and liad
its origin in an accidental discovery by a poor German in the latter "jjart uf tlie
Lithogra- eighteenth century. His mother asked him to make a mcnioran-
P''y- dum of the family washing; n' -1, not having a piece of paper at
hand, he jotted it down on a slab of peciui.ir stone. As it lay before him he
thought of inking the lines, and printing therefrom. His subsequent experi-^
ments met with a success that attracted world-wide attention. At that time
etching was a favorite process for producing pictures. Lithography somewhat
resembles it. The principle involved in the operation is the refusal of an oily
ink to adhere to a wet surface, and its affinity for a greasy surface. A design
is drawn witli a greasy crayon, prepared with great delicacy and care tor the
purpose, upon a variety of fine porous stone, found at its best only in (ler-
niany. The whole surface is then moistened ; but the moisture clings only to
the clean stone, and the design remains dry. An ink-roller being applied, the
ink is rejected by such of the surface as is wet, but is taken by tiie lines
inscribed. From the plate thus inked an impression may then be printed.
Of course there are many minor stages in tlie process, which are essential to
its success, which are not here detailed.
Lithography was introduced into this country in 1821, and applied both to
fine-art uses and to map-drawing ; its expense being far below that of copixr-
plate engraving, and the number of copies that could be obtained from one
plate being for greater. It has met with many improvements and applications
Chromo- in the United States. Within twenty years the art of chronio-
lithography. lithography has attained a great development. It consists of
printing the dift'erent parts of a many-colored picture by separate plates for
each color very much as calicoes are printed. The work recjuires great
delicacy of adjustment, and
often a large nuinl)er of
plates, to produce tiie pro))er
mixture of tints.
A combination of photo-
graphy and lithography has
Photo- been made still
lithography, niore rerently,
with maivellous residts. It
has been foimd that a film
of gelatine can be sensitized
by the use of bichromate of
potash, so that, on l)eing sub-
jected to exposure under a
photographic negative, it ac-
quires the essential characteristics of a lithographic stone. The cheniie al elfect
of the unlight passing through the light parts of the negative is to touglien the
^S^lhHmttt.>>
l-ArYKOOKAI'll.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Stone, ami liad
tter"part ut" the
:e a niemoran-
:ce of paper at
before him he
iequent experi-*
At that time
aphy somewhat
iisal of an oily
'ace. A design
nd care for the
St only in Cier-
: clings only to
ing applied, the
:n by the lines
len be printed.
are essential to
gelatine, so that it will repel water, and take ink ; and the parts of the film pro-
tected by the dark parts of the negative, and subsequently washed free from
the bichromate, absorb water, and repel ink, when the film is finally mounted
on a block, and subjected to the printer's roller. This process of photo-
lithography has been adopted by " The New- York Graphic " for its illustra-
tions, and with various modifications, and under several names, is coming into
extensive use for book-illustrations and choice facsimiles of rare paintings.
Tlie papyrograph, which was introduced into this country from France in
1876, and is rapidly coming into use for the purpose of cheaply reduplicating
autograph-designs, circulars, price-lists, &c., consists of a sheet of Papyro-
paper, varnished with a water and ink proof coating, and written Bfoph.
or drawn upon with an ink which corrodes the varnish, and leaves the lines
porous. Being properly washed and dried, and laid upon a flat cushion
moistened with ink, in the bed of the press, the sheet becomes a sort of
lithographic plate, from which many hundred impressions can be easily taken.
applied both to
that of copper-
lined from one
nd applications
art of ciiromo-
It consists of
irate plates for
requires great
djustnient, and
numl)er of
uce the pro|)er
Its.
ition of photo-
thograpliy has
en made still
ore recently.
IS results. It
nd that a film
n be sensiti/eil
bichromate ot"
, on being sub-
losure imder a
negative, it ac-
hemi( al effect
to toughen the
BOOK III.
SHIPPING AND RAILROADS.
CHAPTER I.
WOODEN SHIPS.
IN, the age in which Columbus ventured across the Atlantic in search of a
new route to India the ships of the world were all of small size compared
with tliose of the present day. No such exchange of commodities by sea as
we observe to-day had ever yet taken place, and no such long smaiisizeof
voyages were undertaken. Commerce was simply a coasting-trade vessels in
between different parts of Europe, and between Europe and the "" ' "*"'
Mediterranean coast of Africa. Navigation scarcely ever took place out of
sight of land, except in the northern fisheries and on the peaceful Mediterra-
nean. For such objects as merchant-ships were required in that age, ves-
sels of less than two huntlred tons' Inirden were of ample size ; and the vast
majority of all the ships afloat, of whatever nationality, were of less than that
burden. A few war-ships in France, Spain, Portugal, England, and Italy, were
over two himdred tons' burden, a great vessel of a thousand tons being
occasionally seen. The merchant-ships were mere fishing and coasting ves-
sels : they had two or three masts, and were generally rigged with square sails.
The ships in which Columbus made the pioneer voyage across the Atlantic in
1492 are described as being, two of them, light barks called "caravels," without
decks in the centre, and rising to a great height at the bow and stern, with
forecastles and cabins for the accommodation of the crews. The third is said
to have been decked throughout her whole length. In 1582, of the 1,232
vessels then belonging to Fhigland, only 217 were larger than eighty tons.
"Tlic Mayflower," which brought over the Pilgrim Fathers, was of a hundred
and eighty tons' burilen. At the time when the active settlement of Ainerica
be!,'an, the Netherlands was the great shipping-country of the world. The
niit( h had about 20,000 ships at sea to about 2,000 owned in England. The
Spaniards and Portuguese were next in enterprise to the Dutch. The English
did not begin to be eminent in shipping until fifty years after the planting of
the Nortii-.American colonies, and it was the carrying-trade of the colonies
that maile them so.
Ship-building may be said to have been the first industry practised in
569
570
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
111;
^^
ROMAN VBSSBL.
America after that of house-building. The beginning was as early as 1607
"The when the Popham colonists in Maine built a thirty-ton vessel
Virginia." called " The Virginia," which subsetiucntly made several voyafrcs
across the Atlantic. Though the Atlantic has, since that date, been crossed in
more diminutive craft than " The Virginia," a voyage in so small a vessel now
would be considered little
short of madness, No ves-
sel like that could Ijc put
into ocean-tnide now. and
pay. "The Virginia" was a
busy little ship during its ex-
istence. It came to .America
with the dates and Soniers
expedition in 1609, and
traded back and forth along the coast and to England for many years (luite
diligently. When Lord Delaware arrived at I'oint Comfort in Virginia, in
the summer of 1610, he found the craft there along with liiree other vessels,
" The Discovery," " The Deliverance," and " 'I'he Patience," which had been
sent over by the London Company.
The second vessel built in America of which there is any record was a
Dutch yacht called "The Onrest," which was constructed on the Hudson
"The River, by Adrian Blok, in 1614. This yacht is antedated only by
Onrett." "The Virginia." It used to be a saying, that no matter where an
English ship sailed, or in whatever part of the world an Knglishman landetl, .1
Dutchman and a Dutch ship were sure to have been there ahead of them.
This pioneer yacht of North America fulfilled the old saying with res])e{ t to a
large part of New England; for in 16 14, six years before the arrival of the-
English colonists in Massachusetts, Adrian Hlok, making a voyage through
Hell Gate and Long-Island Sound, had discovered Block Island, and inspected
the coast as far as Cape Cod. In 1616 he had explored the whole coast from
Nova Scotia to Virginia.
The same year that the ancient Knickerbockers had thus establisheil the
naval art on the Hudson River, Capt. ^ohn Smith landed in Maine, en route
from England to Virginia, and built there seven boats to engage in cod-
fishing.
The abundance of timber and pitch-pine in this country led to systematic
proceedings in the way of ship-building at a very early date. Timber was
Faciiitiee ^'^""y '^^^'^ '" England , and the trading-companies, under whose
for ship- auspices the colonies were planted, saw that it would be advan-
"'■ tageous for them to have their ships built here. The Massachu-
setts Company acted as early as 1629 ; their very first letter to the governor
and council of the colony announcing that they had sent out shipwrights,
six in number, " of whom Robert Moulton is chief," to introduce this branch
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sfi
of business in the New World. Mechanics were also sent to Virginia for
the same purpose ; but the wonderful fertility of Virginia appears to have
been too much for the shipwrights, and they found tobacco-planting a much
more profitable occupation than the one they had been bred to. Ship-
building began the soonest, and thrived the best, in Massachusetts. The first
vessel built in this colony was launched into the Mystic River at Medfonl,
July 4, 1631, for (lov. Winthrop, its owner, who called it "The Blessing of
ti\e Hay." This prosperous beginning was soon followed by the construction
of a great many other vessels of small s :, at different points in the colony,
to be used in the fisheries and to trade ; and by 1641 the industry had grown
to such importance, that a regular official supervision of the building of them
was ordered. It was enacted, that, " when a ship is to be built within this
juristliction, it shall be lawful for the owners to appoint some able man to
survey the work from time to time, as is usual in England. ... If his advice
is not heeded, then, upon complaint to the governor or any other two magis-
trates, they shall appoint two of the most sufficient ship-carpenters of this
jurisdiction, and shall give tliem authority to view every such ship and all
work belonging thereto, and see that it be performed and carried on accord-
ing to the rules of the art."
Regular ship-building was not over ten years old in the colony of Massa-
chusetts before the carpenters undertook vessels which were of large size for
tliat day. Richard Hollingswortii began one at Salem, in 1641, construction
which was of three hundred tons' burden. Gov. Winthop refers of vessels of
incidentally in his journal to the size of the vessels which were "'" *"''
now undertaken. He writes, " The general fear of want of foreign commodi-
ties, now our money was gone, and that things were like to go well in England,
set us on working to provide shipping of our own ; for which end, Mr. Peter,
being a man of very public spirit and singular activity for all occasions, pro-
cured some to join for building a ship at Salem of three hundred tons ; and
the inhabitants of Boston, stirred up by his example, set upon the building of
another at Boston of one hundred and fifty tons. The work was hard to ac-
complish for the want of money, &c. ; but our shipwrights were content to take
such pay as the country could make." " Such pay " meant here corn, calicoes,
and commodities of all kinds. Lindsay, in his " History of Merchant-Ship-
ping," says that in 1572 "the largest merchantman that sailed from the port
of London was of only two hundred and forty tons' register." Yet we find that
in 1642 the colonists of Massachusetts had built one of three hundred tons,
which was larger than any the wealthy parent kingdom had owned seventy
years before. This is in reality only an illustration of the change produced
by tiie discovery of the continent of America upon the merchant-shipping
of the whole world. With the planting of the settlements in America, and the
simultaneous discovery of the route to India around the Cape of Good Hope,
commerce ceased to be a coasting-trade : it became trans-oceanic for the first
573
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
time in history, and every country which had any active trade whatever with
the new regions of the eartii was obliged to Ixiild a new and larger class
of merchant-vessels for the service. The colonists in America built for the
trans-oceanic trade from the start : hence the size of their ships became lari;e
rapidly. Mention is made of one, about 1643, which was still larger ilum
three hundred tons.
In 1652 an event occurred which assisted ship-building in this country
very materially : this was the ()assagc of the famous Navigation A"t iiiuler
Navigation Cromwcll, the law being re-aflfinned in 1660 under Charles II.
Act of i6ji. 'j'l^^. object of the act, as far as America was c:()uccrned, was to
secure the whole trade across the ocean to IJritish and colonial vessels, to
the exclusion of the Dutch and Si)anish. The Dutch were about engro^sinj,'
the carrying-trade to .\merica at that time. As early as 1640 they had about
an eijual share of it with the Knglish, except to New Kngland ; an indication
of it being the memorandum which comes down to us, that on C'liristmas
Day, 1640. there were in the ports of Virginia twelve ships from laigland,
twelve from Holland, and seven from New Kngland. The New-Knglaiiders
were so rich in shii)i)ing, that they carried on almost all their commerce tluni-
i| selves; but the colonies to the south of them were supplied with Ijirojiean
fi, wares largely by Dutch ships. The law of 1651 secured the whole trade to
the royal and colonial shipping, and the latter got fully half of it : the conse-
(juence of the law being great activity at the colonial shipyards, and a
corresponding increase of colonial tonnage.
One of the diflficulties of the colonists in building ships was the general
scarcity of money. There were no silver or gold mines of any account in
Scarcity of the country, and the colonists hatl only a limited amount of hard
money. cash, which they gained by sending their grain, hides, timber, iVc,
to the West Indies. ^Vhat little silver they got in this way was (piickly
despatched to Kurope to pay for the manufactured conmiodities which the
colonies were obliged to imi)ort ; so that there was a constant dearth of money
here, and this made it exceedingly hard to pay for a ship. The shifts fliey
had to resort to in those days are shown by a contract made in 1 74 1 at New-
buryport, Mass., cited by Mr. J. J. Currier in his "History of Ship-DuiKling
on the Merrimack." The owners were to ])ay as follows : " Three hundred
pounds in cash, three hundred ]K)imds by orders on good shops in Hoston,
two-thirds money, four hundred pounds by orders up the river for timl)er and
plank, ten barrels of flour, fifty pounds of loaf-sugar, one bag of cotton-wool.
a hundred bushels of corn in the spring, a hogshead of rum. a hundred-
weight of cheese ; the remainder part to be drawn out of said Cummings &
Harris's shop." A memorandum in Douglass's " Historical and Political Sum-
mary," dated 1748, refers to one ship which had been so nearly paid for in
ji calicoes, that its owners called it a calico shij). The builder, taking his pay
in goods, i)aid off his workmen in the same way. This simple mode of pay-
I
J
OF THE UNITED STATES.
in
mcnt lasted until after the Revolutionary war. It answereil very well, too, in
tlic majority of cases ; the largest number of vessels built being, of course,
from ten to fifty ton shallops, sloops and schooners for the fisheries and coast-
ing-trade. The shallop, it may be said for tiiose who do not know about that
class of vessel, was from ten to twenty tons' burden, and was ilecked from end
to end, and carried two small masts with lugsails. 'I'he schooner was purely
;in American invention, and probably grew out of the embryo of the shallop.
It is related that a new vessel rigged like a modern s(:lu)oner, having been
luini lied at (lloucester, Mass., by Capt. Andrew Robinson in 1714, entered
the water beautifully, and was carried by her momentum away from the
shore with such speed as to show her to be a fast vessel. S(jme one cried
Diit in admiration, " See how siie schoons ! " and the captain replied, "A
schooner let her be ; " and this class of merchantmen took that name accord-
ingly.
The Revolutionary war, and the succeeding years until the war of 181 2,
constituted a trying period for the ship-builders and ship-owners of this
country. During the war, their vessels running along the coast and
to tlie West Intlies, and such countries of Kuro|)e as gave tliem Revolution.
a friendly welcome, were captured in large numbers by the I-nglish ary war
siiips ; and many a merchant was ruined by the loss of his property "''°" '"ti"*-
in this way. The building and e(iuipping of privateers soon took
the place of regular commercial enterprise ; and large numbers of vessels were
armed and sent to sea from the New-Lnglaiul purls every year, as long as the
war lasted. Scores of these vessels were never heard of again. Some of
them were fortunate, making captures of ricli merchantmen, and bringing
their owners and crews great wealth. Tiie ships of one New-llngland mer-
chant took 120 prizes worth ^13,950,000, and otiiers had brilliant luck of a
kindred descrii)tion ; but, on the whole, , is certain that the shipping-interests
of the country suffered more than they gained. Then, after the war was over,
and peaceful commerce was resumed, a period of thirty years ensued, during
which England assumed the rigiu to search and detain our ships, and impress
sailors of English birth. In 1806 this evil was aggravated by an impress-
English blockade of France, — a compliment which was returned ment of sea-
by France by a declaration blockading the Britisii isles. Each """'
of tile two powers forbade neutrals to trade with the other ; and, while their
bitter dispute continued, each interfered regularly with .\merican shijjs, cap-
turing them at sea, and detaining them in jwrt, and often confiscating both
ships and goods, because they were supposed to be giving aid and comfort to
the enemy. Many of the captured vessels were released ; but their cargoes
often became worthless during the detention, and the owners lost heavily upon
them. The people of the United States were grievous sufferers by these
interruptions of their commerce. The government remonstrated with France
and England against them, and tried to bring both powers to reason by a
\
7 "fT'T"
'VjrtP-t*
■111
574
INDUSTRIAI. ff /STORY
non-importation act in 1806, an embargo act in 1S07, and a non-intcrcuiirse
act in 1809, judging that what touched the pockets of their merchunis would
prixhice more el led tiian any thing else. I''<)r the time being, tlicse several
laws imposed only a heavier, though necessary, burden upon our own i^hip
builders and ship-owners. 'I'hey were effectual, however, with Franci'. aivl
partially so with Knglnnd. In 1809 and 1810 Norway and Denmark h.id ih,'
audacity to imitate their bigger neighbors by seizing our ships also to secure
payment of tolls. Hy 1812 the cajjtures of American vessels had been \u
follows : —
Taken into Dullish ;iiul Norwegian ports (1809, 63; 1810,124) ■ 1S7
Capt'if-''' '•>' '■•n>;lantl ()\y
Captured l)y Krante 558
Total i,f)(,2
Warodaii.
This sort of thing could be endured no longer, and accordingly this
country went to war with Kngland in iSi2to secure protection to itrojiertv
on the high seas and the freedom of commerce. Regular trade
being almost im|)ossible during the war, merchants, with the ( on-
sent of the government, again went itito privateering. The exploits of tiieir
ships were brilliant nd romantic in tlie extreme. The United States lost
1,407 merchantmen and 270 armed ships during that war, but captured
2,360 from the enemy (750 of them being retaken, however) ; tins, on 'he
whole, making a very good thing of it. Most of the prizes taken by our ^hips
were rich merchantmen, while most of the vessels we lost were coasting and
fishing craft.
The United States gained two advantages with respect to shipping hv
these two wars and the intervening period of I'iuropean interference and
Advantagei aggression. The first was, that the necessity of building fast ships
gained by was imposed Upon our builders, and they were forced to pay great
t ewar. attention to their models. No one wanted to send a ship to sea
imless she was capable of sailing ra|)idly away from a hostile cruiser if pursued
and obliged to run. As early as 1782 a ship had been bu'lt in
New ICngland, the frigate " Alliance," which, being chased by a fast
Knglish shi]), was able to run fifteen knots by the log, with the wind abeam.
in making her escape. Our builders displayed great ability and originality in
meeting the recpiirements of the age. They ignored the rules prevalent in
llurope, and, rejecting the short, deep hulls and blulT bows, made their vessels
long, with sharp and c:oncave bows, and stems, whicdi permitted the water m
flow away from them freely. Sometimes, at first, more attention was paid to
speed than steadiness; and a sixteen-gun ship, "The Neptune," is known
to have ("apsized and sunk at Newburyport the moment she had crossed the
bar on her first vcjyage. But by 1812 earlier faults had been corrected, and
'Alliance.
Oh rriF. rxiTF.n siates.
575
!^
HB
l»
,1 :,f:;«|
II
"T-'r.,,,.™
576
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the ships of the United States were the handsomest and swiftest in the world.
'riiere was great compensation in that, when peace came, for tiie years of ri^k
and loss which liad preceded. The second aiivantage above referred to was
more immediately the result of the brilliant victories of the war of 1S12.
Upon the return of peace the United States demanded that her ships should
be permitted to sail the seas unmolested, and that they should be received in
European ports upon the same footing as the ships of " the most fa\()ixd
nations ; " or, in other words, that navigation should be conducted on a basis
of exact reciprocity. The prestige which this country had gained in that war
prompted England to accede to the demand at once ; and the other nations
of the world entered into treaties of maritime reciprocity soon after, or else
passed laws which had the same effect. It had been customary in Eurojje to
tax American ships entering port a heavier tonnage duty than native ships.
We had returned the compliment in 1789 by taxing foreign ships entering
our ports fifty cents a ton, and American ships only six cents a ton. These
discriminating duties were repealed in 1815 with respect to England, and
during the next twenty years with resjjcct to most other maritime powers ; and
trade was placed upon an ecjual and reciprocal footing. The good effects
Superiority ^^^""^ ^°°" **'^*-'"- American ships, being swifter, stancher, and
of American better managed than those of any other commercial nation, got
* '''*■ possession immediately of almost the entire foreign commerce
of this country, and the shipping and carrying trade of the country increased
very fast. Our grain, cotton, timber, tobacco, rice, naval stores, hides, pro-
visions, and other crude products, began to go abroad in very large (juantities;
and the wants of this growing country made it necessary to bring to our shore
from P^urojie immense cargoes of cloths, clothing, iron-manufactures, steel,
chemicals, &c., and tens of thousands of emigrants. American shi[)s obtained
the i)rincipal part of the carrying ; and, as commerce and travel increased,
shipping increased too.
The only locality which was at all famous for its ship-building south of Ncw-
Ship-buiid- "^^^^ L'ity, in the early part of this century, was the Chesapeake
ingatChesa- Bay. The schooners and ships of this region were among the
pea e ay. haiuisomest anil swiftest flying our flag or any other. They took
the name of " clippers ; " and, though the beautiful moilels upon which they
were constructed were soon adopted all along the coast, the Balti-
more clippers were thought slightly superior to all others, and were
regarded far and wide as having attained the acme of the ship-buikling art.
The lines of packets which were started after 18 15 to ply from New York,
JJfjston, ami other cities, to the Euro])ean ports, and which continued to run
until about the time of the w.ir of 1861, were of the clipper-model; and, in
fact, all American ships were built of that pattern, except a few of large
capacity, constructed expressly to carry cotton, which were organized solely
with a view to cargo-room, and had (jueer hulls bulging below the water-line.
■ Ciipptra."
OF THE UNITED STATES.
577
viftest in the world.
or the years of ri^k
ove referred to was
the war of 1S12.
at her ships should
Juki be received in
"the most favoad
inducted on a basis
gained in that war
d the other nations
y soon after, or else
uniary in Europe to
y than native ships.
reign ships entering
:ents a ton. 'I'hese
ct to England, and
aritime powers ; and
. The good effects
nfter, stancher, and
nmercial nation, got
i foreign commerce
le country increased
stores, hides, ])ro-
ery large (luantities ;
bring to our shore
■manufactures, steel,
:rican ships obtained
id travel increased,
The performances of the clippers have been remarkable. The Liverpool
packets from New York and Boston (varying from six hundred to nine hundred
tons' burden) used to make the trip across the sea regularly from twelve to
twenty days. .\s early as 1825 the ship "Oliver Ellsworth" ran from New
York to Livcr[)ool in thirteen days. " The Independence," one of whose
sailing-days was March 5, which annually took out the President's message,
once made the run across the ocean in nine days, showing a spee'^l wiich is
rarely exceeded at the present time by an ocean-steamer. ' The Flying
Scud" of the Australian packet-line from New- York City (lyOj tons' burden)
was accustomed to make the whole voyage to Australia i>; seventy-six days
with a cargo, and in 1S54 once ran four hundred anil forty-nine nautical miles
in twenty-four hours (over eighteen miles an hour). No modern steamer can
beat that : the clipper-schooners alone have beaten this time. " The Clipper
City" (a, hundred and eighty-five tons), a fast-sailing lumber-vessel, built in
1854 for the trad< .f Lake Michigan, ran regularly eighteen knots -n hour,
and has been kno»vn to make the astonishing si)eed of twenty knots. These
are not exceptional cases : they arc merely instances of the speed of the fast-
sailnig ships of the United States.
.\bout 1830 there began to be a perceptible increase in the size of the
ships of the country, owing to the large coasting-trade which was springing
up. The exchange of products between different parts of the ship-buiid-
seaboard was becoming very large. Cotton, rice, sugar, and to- '"« '° '^s"-
bacco were coming North : cloths, iron and steel manufactures, carriages,
tools, fertilizers, India-goods, &c., were going South. Barks and ships were,
in consequence, built for the trade, varying between five hundred and eight
hundred tons' burden, in place of the hundred and fifty and increase la
three hundred ton schooners and brigs. The foreign trade was •'*"•
at the same time becoming very heavy, and thousand-ton merchantmen
began to make their appearance. When gold was discovered in California,,
and the famous stampede of that and the subsequent five or ten years began,,
shipping took another step forward ; and huge clipper freight-ships of a special!
(lass were built for the long voyage around Cape Horn to the new regions.
iin the Pacific, to which the whole world was rushing. By 1850 sixteen-
hiindred-ton vessels were employed in the California trade ; and the tonnage
of the vessels increased year by year, until (in 1878) there are sailing-ships;
plying to San Francisco from New York of twenty-five hundred tons' burdem.
I'iic gigantic clipper, called "The Ocean King" (a four-master, owned in
Boston), is of four thousand' tons burden: another, "The Great Republic,"
is of the same size. The Californiamen, in fact, now figure in the American
merchant marine very much as the East-Indiamen have always done in the
Hnglish marine : they are the great ships of the sailing-fleet. This trade,
lieing a part of the coasting-trade of the United States^ is expressly reserved.
to our flag.
1
§$'
578
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
By 1 86 1 the shipping of the United States had reached a very interesting
development. Beginning in 1783 with about a hundred thousand tons of
ships, — few of which were more ilian three hundred tons' burden, and tlic vast
majority of which were under a hundred, — the national wealth in siiips
increased quite steadily, in spite of all disadvantages, until in 1861 the
total tonnage of the country had reached the enormous figure of 5,539,813.
iMigland alone exceeded us. The American shipping compriseil the fuiest
■ and largest under sail afloat, and the assortment of types they included was
perhaps the most extensive uniler the sun. The special wants of clillercnt
parts of the coast and of different trades had given rise to different classes
of vessels : among the number were the (iloucester fishing-boat ; tlie Block-
Island double-cnders ; the New-England shari)y, flat-bottomed and cat-iigged;
the Long-Isi:?nd and Hudson-river sloops ; the clipper brigs, barks, ami
ships ; the " kettle-bottomed " cotton-ships ; the Boston ice-ship, for the
Panama and South-American trade ; the lumber-schooner, carrying the most
of its load on deck ; the fishing-dory ; and the pleasure-yacht, the appearance
of whose model in English waters in 1851, in "The America," built at New
York, revolutionized pleasure-boating immediately. The war of 18O1 caused
a decrease in our shipping. In the first place it threw about a million
tons of shipping out of employment, owing to the blockade of the South-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
579
em I'orts, and led to the sale or lease of the ships to the government, and
the destruction of a large proportion of them in the war. Then
, ,..,.. Effect of
Confederate cruisers began to capture our ships m the foreign jate war
trade and whale-fisheries, and burn them. Maritime ventures be- upon "hip-
came so hazardous in consequence of the captures, that our "' '"''
merchants were afraid to sail their ships upon the open sea any longer under
the .American flag ; and, finding a ready market for them in England, they
sold a great part of them to Englishmen and others, the sales amounting
to 774,652 tons, the transfers during the four years of the war exceeding
the sales to foreigners for forty years preceding. A large part of the tonnage
ill the foreign trade was recalled, and put into coasting. The war was a
terrible blow to our carrying-trade ; and, although it is now thirteen years
since the war ended, we have not yet recovered the ground lost during that
struggle. We are getting it back slowly ; but it will be several years yet before
the merchant marine of the United States stands where it did in 1861.
The following table of selected years will show the growth statistics of
and changes which have taken place since 1 789, the first year in growth and
which the tabulation of accurate statistics began : — ^ anges.
n)SNA(iK KK(.1S-
Tl-RIM) FOK TlIK
KOKliKiN •rK.\UI£.
TONNAC.E IN
COASTINl.-IK.XUE.
TONNA'.JK IN
FISl'tKIH.S.
TOTAL.
'■89
•^3.^93
68,607
9,062
201,652
1790
346.-^54
•03.775
28,348
478,377
i;95
S "9.47 1
184,398
34,096
747,965
iSoo
667,107
272,492
32.!^93
972,492
iSio
981,019
405.347
38.417
1,424,783
1S13
673,700
470.109
23.8 '9
1,166,628
1S15
«.54.395
475,666
38,167
1,368,128
iS:o
S«3.657 '
588,025
108,485
1,280,167
1S25
667, 4aS
640,861
1 14.841
1,423,110
iSjo
537.563 '
516,979
137.234
1,191,776
1840
762,83s
1,176,694
241,232
2,180,764
1S50
1.439.694
1.797.825
297.935
3.535.454
i860
2.379.396
2,644,867
329,605
5.313.868
iS6i
2,496,894
2.704.724
338,195
S.539.813
1865
1,518,350
3.38>.522
197,010
5,096,782
1S66
I. .3^7.756
2,719,621
203,401
4,3'o,778
i8;o
1 ,448,846
2,595,328 •-•
159,41.1
4.246,507
'S75
'.5' 5.59^5
3,169,687
118,436
4.853,732
1876 ....
1,592,821
2.609,323
77.3'4
4.279.458
1,;
' The reduction in these two years is only apparent: it is due to a correction of the tables by dropping
vessels vvreikeil, condemned, or sold to forcitiiicrs, which had been carried on the register for years.
' The reduction here is due to the larger enipluyment of steamers in the coasting-trade since the war, one
iteimer doing the work of three sailing-vessels.
ill
580
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
i'i
11
iff
'If-:
Is
The ship building of the country has concentrated chiefly in the New-
England States, owing to the superior industry of the people. There docs
Shi build- "°^ appear to have been any other special reason for it, because
inginthe Other States have just as large supplies of building, cojjper, iron
New-Eng- cordage, and naval stores, and some of them a great deal nioro
land states. ^
of one or all of them. From 1607 down, however, more tli.iu
one-half of all the vessels of every description launched in American waters
have been built in the New-England yards. New York. Pennsylvania, Dela-
ware, Maryland, and Virginia have been buiUling States also. South of
Virginia there appears to have been little or no effort in this direction. Since
1840 there has been more or less of the Iniilding of craft for the inland waters
on the Great Lakes and the Western rivers.
A ship is a mawellous fabric. Costing, for first-class oak vessels, now about
fifty dollars a ton, nine-tenths of whii-h expense is for labor, the ship calls into
requisition the services of forty or fifty distinct trades, and demands tlie highest
engineering and mathematical ability on the part of the designer, and tlie
ablest workmanship on the part of the builder.
"Ah! what a wondrous thing it is
To note how many wheels of toil
One tii<)Uj;hf, one word, can set in motion I
There's not a ship that sails the ocean,
But every climate, every soil.
Must bring its tribute, great or small,
And help to build its wooden wall."
The construction of shijis is one of the most profitao.e branches of industry
a country can carry on. They belong to that peculiar class of products in
Profitable- which the raw material forms the most insignificant part, and tiie
nessof the wages of the workmen the largest possible i)roportion, of tiie tost
n ustry. ^j- ^^^ completed work. Besides that, a ship once built retiuires
continual repair, and the repair of ships on a large scale is even more profit-
able to a country than is the building. It is for this reason that ail tiie gov-
ernments of the world with a sea-coast strive to have their own shijjs huilt by
their own people, and to ])romote as much as possible the biiil ling of ships for
other nations. The United States have, always r.''|uired American siiips to l)e
built in American yards. The enormous profits of the .carrying-trade lead
governments also to legislate in favor of their own shijjping. The United
States, for instance, have always reserved the whole btisiness of the roasting of
this country to our own (lag ; and for a period of fifty years it imposed an
extra duty upon all goods coming froin China, Japan, and the East Indies, in
foreign ships, so as to secure that trade to our own vessels. Furthermore, our
laws tax all foreign ships entering our ports fifty cents a ton as compared with
a six-cent tonnage tax on our own vessels, whenever the foreign governineiit to
which the ships belong discriminates in any way against our vessels.
,ilH l'
OF THE UNITED STATES.
581
'I'lic cost of wooden ships has varied a great deal since 1607, owing to the
clianL;t's in tiic wages of labor, and other causes affecting the general range of
pricisof all commodities. A contract at Salem, Mass., in 1661, cost of
mentions the price per ton of a ship as tiirce pounds five shillings, wooden
oraliont sixteen dollars. In 1.S25 first-class ships were building * '''*"
in tin' L'nited States for tiiirty or forty dollars a ton. In 1840, which was the
lic>t \xar the race of ship-owners then living had ever known, — when tonnage
was in great demand, and many vessels paid their cost in clear profits of
Ircit^lit, — the cost was about fifty dollars a ton. .About 184S the price had
risen, i>ossibly l)ccause large siiips of llie new type were fitted uj) very elabo-
Mtt-1\ , tlie captain's cabin being as richly furnished as a palace-car ; so that
ships cost as iiigh as seventy dollars a ton (the average price was fifty dollars).
In iSfio a first-class thousand-ton oak siii]) built at New- York City would bring
sixty-live dollars a ton, gold. The same vessel could be built in Maine for
forty-eight and fifty dollars a ton. Up to this jjoint in the history of the
country, the cost of American ships, whatever it might happen to be in any one
year, was, nevertheless, from five to fifteen dollars a ton less than that of vessels
built ill Kngland. After 1S61 the derangement of prices caused by the war
niaiie .American wooden ships the most expensive in the world. The price
rose in 1869 to eighty dollars a ton for a thousand-ton oak ship fitted for sea
witii one suit of sails, the price varying somewhat with the part of the coast on
which it was built. In some yards in .Maine such a ship could be launched
for sixty-five dollars a ton. .At the present time [irices have found their old
le\ei, and oak vessels are constructed for fifty dollars a ton. Canadian vessels,
luiilt of soft woods, and therefore shorter lived, are sold for forty-five dollars a
ton.
A very notable change is going on in the substitution of steam craft, or boats
towed liy steam, for the old-fashioned coaster in the transportation of merchan-
dise. When steaml)oats first came into practical use, it was prc)phe-
sied that tiiey would speeilily drive olf all coasting-vessels, because ^""P"''"""
their trips would be made with greater regularity. They could steam craft
not carry so cheaply, though; and consecpiently sailing-vessels ^n** "'°o<*="
have retained easily enough until now a very large portion of their
ground, steamboats taking only the more costly freights and those requiring as
rapid transit as possible, leaving the transportation of coal and other coarse
commodities to the slower-sailing carriers. Within a few years, however, this
province, too, has been invaded, as we have just descrilied ; and so rapitlly are
the canal barges and other vessels towed or propelled by steam gaining the
carrying- trade of coal, grain, and all commodities not transported by the
re;'\ilir lines of steamboats, as seriously to imperil the business of the sailing-
vessels : indeed, it is highly probable that in a few years they will be driven
from a large jjortion of .American waters by their too formidable com-
petitors.
it^
582
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Statistics of According to the last report of the Bureau Veritas of Paris it
the world's being for 1^66-67, the sea-going merchant sail-vesse!s of tlie
world were distributed as follows : —
tonnage.
KLAUS.
VESSELS.
20,265
TONS.
(kcut Hritain
5.8o7,.i75
United .States
7,288
2,j'/3,5:i
Norway .
4.749
1,410,903
Italy
4,601
1,292,076
(jermany
3-45'''
375.095
France .
3.S58
7-5.043
Spain
2.Q'5
557.3-0
Greece .
2,121
426,925
Holland .
I.M3
3W.903
.Sweden .
2,121
399. 12S
Russia .
1,78s
391.95'^
Austria .
983
338,6S4
Denmark
'.348
188,958
Portugal .
456
107,016
South Americr
I
273
59.45'^
Central Anicri
ca
'53
59.944
Turkey .
305
48,209
Belgium .
55
^3.344
Asia
42
16,019
Africa (Liberia)
3
454
Total
58,208
i5.553.8;'iS
English eminence has grown up, in part, from the employment in her trade
of iron sailing-vessels, which she found she could build cheapei than sin; could
wooden ones. No iron sailing-ships have been built in the United States,
except one only, "The Iron Age," constructed at Wilmington, Del., about ten
years ago.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
583
/eritas of Paris, it
.ail-vesscls of the
BLS.
TONS.
6S
5.f<o;.j7S
88
2.3'JO,5:i
49
1,410,903
01
i,2():,076
56
375.W5
5.S
725.043
)'5
557.320
21
426,9:5
43
399.903
i\
309, 1 :S
■S5
391,95s
)S3
338.6^4
34H
iSS,95S
456
107,016
273
59.45»
'53
59.944
305
■tS.icx;
55
23.344
42
16,019
3
454
208
I is,553,8.SS
CHAPTER II.
STEAMHOATS.
ON'E of the most imposing spectacles of this or any other age is the calm
and impressive manner in whicii Knghsh wr'ters claim " the glory of
iiaviiig introduced steam-navigation to the attention of the world," Puiton and
and tlie coolness with which they say that this invention — having, ''''=>'.
like daylight, fresh air, and other objects of great utility, been born in Eng-
land — finally left its inventors " to irradiate the names of others who reaped
the benefit of their laI)ors," the most prominent of the " irradiated " being
Fulton. The first British steamboat splashed its way around a lake at Dalwin-
hton, tor the first time, in the middle of ()<tober, 1788, the event accruing to
the great edification of the farm-hands of the regions adjacent, who came
down to see a boat " driven by smoke " at the rate of four miles an hour.
Vet experiments had then been making with steamboats in America for thirty-
eight years ; and in 1785, three years before the first English boat was tried,
John Fitch had navigated the Schuylkill in a shallop, with a paddle-wheel at
the stern, driven by steam ; and in 1 786 he had made eight miles an hour with
a second and new steamboat on the Delaware. The idea of propelling boats
by some mechanical device even was not at all new with England. The
ancient Egyptians had galleys which were worked by paddle-wheels propelled
by oxen, the power being transmitted somewhat on the principle employed in
a modern threshing-machine. The Romans had the same style of craft to
carry ,orn and sokliers to Sicily in the days of the commonwealth. It was
l>roi)osed at Heme to work vessels on the duck-principle, by constructing two
tremendous web-feet, which should open and shut like umbrellas, and be
operated by steam. One ingenious luiropean had also proposed to propel
boats by firing big cannon from the stern, it being ascertained by experiment
that a moderate- si zed ship might be driven at the extraordinary velocity of ten
miles a day with thirty barrels of gunpowder. In the romantic tale of " Amadis
of Ciaul " the unknown author had described a fiery vessel rushing over the
ocean with the speed of the wind, in a way which really answered very well
as a prediction and as a description of a modem Mississippi-river steamboat
584
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
racing down stream with a rival vessel, with a hundred and fifty pounds ])rcss.
lire on the boiler, and burning i)itch-i)ine knots and turpentine. 'I'Ik' wliolo
idea of forcing a vessel througii the water without the agency of huuuui labor
and independently of wind and tide, was ages old when England invented a
little twopenny four-knot vessel to sjjiasli around the i)recincts of Dalwinston
Lake, and amuse the louts of tiie adjacent hillsides, llngland's sole credit in
the way of i)riority is for the invention of the steam-engine. For that f^reat
machine, all hail to ICnglaiul ! \\'e must put our hats on again, however, when
mention is made of the steamboat.
There is a great deal of romance about the ancient style of propul^iun.
The Indian,
" Skimiiiiiif! Oiit.irio's waters l)liic
Like the sw.iIKiw's wing in his l)ark c.inoc,"
and the Venetian in his stately galley rowed with double and triple banks of
oars, and the Yankee with his wonderful clip])er and its cloml of canvas,
have been a constant tlieme for poets anil historians. Hut, after ail, steam
speaks to poets and prose-writers alike with a more glorious voice tiian oar ur
sail: —
" For fire is chief like haughty gold,
.And with its glow-
Fills all the night with tlailic."
So old Pindar sang : and the saying is fir more true than ever Pindar
dreamed ; for fire and steam have given us the greatest ships of all time, whose
achievements are of indescribable magnitude, and whose influence is more
far-reaching and important than that of any other material agency under the
control of man.
When the discovery of the steam-engine had set all the world thinkin;; of
a new way to accom|)lish all mechanical work, and long beff^a' the ideas of
Watt were i)erfected, it was jjroposed to apply steam to the propulsion ofjioats.
As early as 1750 it is said an experiment of some kind had been atteini)tcil
in .America, at Reading, rcnn. ; antl Oliver luans, who in 176S proposed a
steamboat, also made experiments at Philadelphia. Shortly after the Revolu-
tionary war, two .American inventors wh<i had been simultaneotisly studying
the new idea — John Fitch of Connecticut, and James Rumscy of
Maryland — both brought out patterns of boats to be propelled by
steam. Rumscy's first idea was to construct a boat which should go u]) a
river by the force of tlie current acting "on setting-poles." He showed a
model of a boat for navigating rivers on this principle to (len. Washington on
the Potomac in 1784, and in 1785 he got a ten-years' monopoly for building
such boats from the Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania. Fitch experi-
mented from the beginning with steam. His first vessel had a paddle-whccl
at the stern, and was tried successfully on the Schuylkill in 1785. In 1786 a
Rumsey.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
885
fty poiinil-i jiR'ss.
tine. 'I'll!.' u 111 lie
of human lahur,
gland in\ciui'(l a
ts of Dalwinston
id's sok' cR'ilii in
For tlial ^rcat
11, however, when
ile of propulsion.
I triple banks of
cloud of canvas,
It, after all, steam
/oice than oar or
han ever Pindar
of all time, whose
ntluence is more
igency under the
ivorld thinking of
n- the ideas of
)pulsion of boats.
been attempted
176S pruj)o-ed a
ifter the Revulii-
:\neously studying
ames Rumsey of
D be ijropelleil by
should go nj) a
' He showed a
. Washington on
poly for liuililing
I. Fitch expcri-
l a paddle-wheel
785. In 1786 a
larger and more practical steamboat was tried by him on the Delaware,
making eight miles an h(5ur. This was before the adoption of the Federal
('(in-titution, and while patents were issued only by the several States; so that
I'llc h had to apply to such of them as he thought woidd give him a favorable
luaring each by itself. Pennsylvania gave him a fourteen-years' i)atent in
i;,S7; and Delaware, New York, and Virginia followed her example. In
i;S7 Rumsey brought out an invention for moving steamboats by means of a
])uinp, water being drawn in at tiie bow, and expelled violently at the stern.
This was the plan of Dr. Allan in England also, that gentleman believing that
the boat would be rapidly propelled ; " thereby imitating very accurately what
the Author of Nature has shown us in the swimming of fishes, who proceed
by protrusion with their tails." Rumsey tried his plan on the Potomac, and
tiien took it to Kngland, where it worked well on the Thames, making four
miles an hour. The inventor died in 1793. before he had reaped any substan-
tial reward for his invention. The next invention was by I'itch, and was
nothing less than the ocean-propeller, — a contrivance which most people yet
believe to be an I'.nglish affair, and whicii the ICnglish themselves, in their
large and comprehensive way, definitely claim to be the originators of. The
craft made use of for Fitch's experiment with a propeller was a common long-
boat eighteen feet in lengtii. The boiler was a ten or twelve gallon puch's
iron-pot, with a thick plank lid firmly fiistened ilown upon it. The invention
steam-cylinders were of wood, barrel-shaped outside, and firmly '"="'"=«'•
!i()()l)ed. The connecting-rods, beam, and crank were of ecpially simple con-
struction. The propeller was a regular iron screw, the blade, or flange, taking
three turns aroimd the shaft. With this device F'itch made six miles an hour,
the sheet of water on which it was tried being Collect Pond, ninety feet
deep, which covered the ground where the 'I'ombs now stands in New-York
City, and a large area in the vicinity. The boat was afterwards abandoned
on the banks of the pond, and allowed to decay. The date of the experiment
is stated as 1 796.
In 1804 Mr. Stevens of Hoboken, N.J.. made a number of trips on the
Hudson River with a small steamboat propelled by a wheel at the stern. He
afterwards did a great many valuable things in tlie way of perfecting the
steam-engine.
S(j far there had been nothing done, except in trying experiments. F'itch,
in 1790. had rui; a boat between Philadelphia and Burlington to carry pas-
sengers, which was operated by iiaddles at the stern. But this was only an
experiment, and was soon al)antloned ; and Fitch had died in 1798 a broken-
hearted man, owing to die want of ])opular appreciation of his Fulton's ex-
inventions, l^ut steam-navigation was now to be made a success periments.
by Robert Fulton, a native of Little Britain, Penn., who had gone to Europe
in 17S6 to perfect his mechanical education, and push his fortune. Fulton
made a great many curious experiments in locomotion in Europe, one of them
586
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
m
being an attempt to blow up th. Knglish ships l)lo( leading Brest in 1801, with a
submarine torpedo, in behalf of Napoleon. He remained under \vat<.r four
hours anil a half; and would have blown up an English seventy-iuur, cMcpt
that she moved out of the way just in time to avoid him. He did not, in tiit-
end, blow up a ship. He afterwarils tried to sell to the Knglish a patciii to
blow up the French; without success, however. In 1S03 Fulton lauiK lud a
steamboat on the .Seine below I'aris, in behalf of himself and t'liaiudlor
Livingston, our minister to France, llie latter of whom had takm great
interest in Fulton's exi)eriments. This pioneer boat of I'ulton's ii'el \\\\\\ an
astonishing mi^haj). 'The builder had miscalculated the strengtii of the vessel ;
^_ and, when the machinery was
])laced in the centre, she broke
in two in the middle, ami the
whole concern went to the
bottom. John Scott Rusbeli,
vice-president of the .Society
of Arts for ScotlaMil in 1841,
who relates this in( ident, savs,
•'Tile shattered vessel was
raised, and was found to lie
almost entirely broken iiii.
How admirable are the les-
sons inculcate<l by a thorough
failure ! The .American steam-
boats have ever since been
distinguished by the excel-
lence of the strong and light
framing by which their slender vessels are enabled to bear the weight
and strain of their large and powerful engines." Fulton, nothing (huuit-
ed, fished out his machinery from the mud of the Seine, and in the
fall of the same yvar placed it in another vessel, sixty-six feet long and
eight feet wide. The vessel had paddle-wheels, but moved so slowly (only
three miles an hour) as to be thought at first a fiiilure ; but Livingston ami
Fulton both learned from it valuable lessons, and they prepared to carry the
benefit of their discoveries back to their native land immediately. They at
once ordered an engine to be built by Bolton and Watt, to be forwarded to
New York, to begin practical steam-navigation in .American waters. Living-
ston got a natent from New-York State for the right to navigate its waters
"The by steam for twenty years; and in 1807 "The Clermont" was
Clermont." launched, under F'ulton's direction, on the East River at New-
York. She was of a hundred and sixty tons' burden, and was supplied with
side paddle-wheels. A moie astonished crowd of human beings had never
collected on the shore of Manhattan Island since the days when the open-
FII.TON S BIRTHPLACE.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
587
mouthed red man saw Ilemlritk Hudson sail up the bay, and cast anchor off
shore, than were assembled the day "The Clermont" made its first trial trip.
Kvi.ryl)ody had said the experiment would fail. 'I'he boat had been tailed
" Fulton's Folly ; " and the whole scheme hail been the standing joke of the
town. "The (.Vermont" had not gone a hundred yards from shore, however,
iRtore the multitude whi<h was looking on became a prey to the liveliest
siir|irise and admiration, which almost (lecpcned to alarm as they heard the
rai kct of her madiinery and the terrific splashing of the water, and t,aw the
fire and smuk'; pouring out of her chinmey. i'he boat
" Walked iIk- waters like a thing of life,"
and left the ovcr\vhelmed spectators behind her at a speed of five miles an
hour. She made that first trip to Albany, against the current, in thirty-two
hour'^, scaring the boatmen and farmers along the Hudson dreadfiilly, especiallv
at night, by lier roaring and her lires. This vessel made regular trips to and
from .Albany, ami was joined in 1.S07 by a second boat, built by the same
owui rs, tailed " i'he Car of NeiUune," and later by a third, called "The Par-
agon." 'i'he two latter were of three hundred and three hundred and fifty
tons resi)ectively.
Steam-navigation was now a success, ( omplete. i)ractical, and triumphant ;
ami the achievement took place in the New World, and through the energy
.iml genius of .Ninericans alone. It was not until 1S12 that "The ,,,.», r _ .
f^ The Comet
Comet of the Clyde," the first trading steam-vessel of luirope. was of the
launched, and taken out for a trial-trip. John S<ott Russell con- Clyde."
gratulates Amerita upon the benefits arising from I'ulton's enterprise, and
says, ".Mthough .America, in common with the rest of the world, will look to
this country as the source from which she derived this benefit, yet we heartily
join," &c. Really .America must be excused. R. I,. Stevens of Hoboken,
wlio had alrea<ly i)erfected a ])ractical)le steamboat, would have accomplished
steam-navigation before Henry I5ell did on the Clyde in 181 2, had I'ulton
done nothing about the matter ; and even if l-'ulton was, in fact, preceded
hy the ])eople on Dalwinston I^ake, and if he really profited by their experi-
ments, it was his own peculiar and original genius which accomi)lished what
tiiey could not, and that was something for which he was not indebted to
Knglish inventors.
The navigation of the Hudson, though patented to I'ulton and Living-
ston, was thrown open to the pul)lic, by a compromise, in 1815. Other
pcoph; wished to build steaml)oats, and |)ul)lic sentiment was un- ., . ..
' ' Navigation
favorable to the monopolizing of the water-courses of the conn- of the Hud-
try by anybody. I'\ilton at first claimed the monopoly of the «o" thrown
Western rivers ; but iiis claim was disputed, and carried to the
courts, and beaten; so that, after 1815, the rivers of the country were as free
588
INDUSTRIAL IIISTOKY
to wliocvcr might < hooso to navi(;ate thorn by steam as they had prcviniisly
l)c'cn to vessels unilcr sail.
Steamboats made their appearance in the West in 1812. The pidiurr
boat was "The New Orleans," built at Pittsburgh by I''iilton at a (n.t nf
. ;|?.io,oo(), and provided widi a stern-wheel and sails. She \\,i, of
Appearance i ■ i '^ "i
of »team- between three Imndred and four hundred tons' burden. In Oiio-
boats in the i,^.^^ ,j^,2^ ^\^^ ,„,„i^. (i,^. (^p fr,„n Pittsburgh to Louisvillr in
seventy hours : she then made several trips to Cincinnati, and in
December went to New ( )rleans, and was there put into the trade belwieii
tiiat city and Natchez. Siie was wrec kcd on a snag in 1.S14. This boat |i,ii(i
for half her cost the first year. The second boat was "The Comet," Imilt
at Pittsburgh in 1.S13 by Mr. 1). French, whi( ii found her way to New ( (rlciiis
in 1 814, and, after two trips to Nalche/, went out of existence, her ma( hiiury
being taken out and put into a cotton-mill. The tliird boat was "I'ho
Vesuvius," also built at Pittsl)urgh by Fulton ft)r a < ^mpany. This vessel w.is
of three hundred and forty tons. She went to New Orleans with the otlurs,
and was burned in liSiT). None of these boats had been able to nsceiid ilic
Mississippi River. They went down stream well enough. " 'I'he Vesuviib "
had tried to return, but failed. 'l"he ascent was not accomplished until
1815, when "'l"he F.nterprise," a small boat of only seventy tons' Inirden, with
a single wheel at the stern, for the first time m.ade the voyage up the rixers
from New Orleans to Cincinnati, arriving there in twenty-eigiit days. She
reached Louisville in twenty-five days, and stojiped there in oriler to pennit
a public dinner to be given in honor of the event.
The first steamer in the coasting-trade was built by the Stevenses at
Hoboken, while Fulton still had a monojjoly of the Huilson, and was run
by the outside route to I'hiladeiiiliia.
There now remained only one field for tl ' American steamboat-men to
conquer: that was the home of old Neptune I unself, — the open ocean. The
Steamboat- crossing of the .Atlantic was altogether a different matter from a
ing across voyage along the coast and up and down a great river. AnKTi( an
the Atlantic, jj^jid^.^s and merchants hesitated to attempt the undertaking for
many years. At length, however, the experiment was tried. \ vessel i alkd
"'I'he Savannah," three hundred and eighty tons' burden, ship-rigged, with
Crossing horizontal engine and paddle-wheels, was built at Corlear's Hook,
of "The N.Y., by Crocker <.V I'ickitt, for a company of gentlemen, ulio
l)rop()sed to send her across the ocean for sale to tiie lMn|ier(ir
of Russia. She sailed from New- York City in 1S19 for Savannah, (la.,
making the trip in seven days, four of them under steam. From Savannah
she went direct to Liverpool, making the voyage in twenty-two days, during
fourteen of which she was under steam, moving the rest of the time undtr
sail. Her arrival in Creat Britain created a great commotion. When about
entering St. (leorge's Channel, off the city of Cork, the commander of the
OF TltE UNITED STATES.
589
cy had pri'vioiiNly
Sis. TIu" iiiminr
Iton at a (ct of
sails. Slu' Nv.is of
Ininlcii. Ill ()(to.
I to Louisville in
("incinnati. and in
llic tiMik- iK'tvwiii
. This liii.u |Mi(|
I'lic Comet," liiiilt
ly to New ( irKMiis
KC, licr iua( hnury
\ boat was '• Iho
'•. 'I'll is vessel was
ns with the otlu is,
ihk' to asceml the
"'I'lic Vesuvine"
iccompli^luMl nimi
tons' hnnlun, witii
yagu up the ii\ris
-eight (lays. She
in oriler to permit
the Stcvcnses at
ioii, ami wa.i run
steaiTiho.at-men to
pen ocean. 'I'lic
nt matter iVoin x
ri\er. Amcri(,ni
e undertaking; tor
.A vessel cillnl
ship-rigged, witli
Corlear's Hook,
,1,'entlemen, wlio
to the laninror
Savannah, (la.,
I'Vom Sa\annali
two days, dnrin};
)f the time under
)n. When al)()iit
)mmander of the
Ilriiish fleet, seeing a huge cloud of smoke rising from the vessel and covering
llie sky, sent off two cutters immediately to save her passengers and i rew
from the destruction whiiji he sujjposed was threatening them. 'I'he sleamer
j)aid no attention to the cutters ; and the I'.nglislunen, exasperated hec ause
their benevolence was not accepted, rowed furiously alongside several times,
uid Ured several guns across the steamer's bow, and finally hove her to and
boanleil lu-r. The o('fi<ers, finding tli.it the steamer was all right, finally let
her ;^(), and she bore away. At Liverpool her arrival created a treniend(jus
scib.ition. As she <Mme up the harbor with sails furled and the .Amerii an
colors flying the piers were thronged with people, who greeted the ship with
cnllinsiasti(' cheers. A great many jiersons of distinction visited her. She
fiii.illy went on to St. retersi)urg. She was an object of great curiosity at every
port at which she stopped, but was not sold as expected ; and accordingly
she set sail for home. The King of Sweden offered # 100,000 for her, pay-
aiile in hemi) anil iron delivered in tli<' I nitetl States; but the cash was
wanted, and the offer was not accepted. The ship ran home from Norway
in twenty-two days. Her machinery was then taken out, and she became a
sailer. She subsecpiently went ashore on Long Island, and was completely
wrei ked. The owners of the vessel are said to have lost over 550,000 by their
voy.it;e to Kurope. 'i'he trouble with '"'I'lie Savannah" was, that her engines
were imperfect. They consun>ed so much coal, that the ship could not carry
enough fuel for the voyage, and there was no room for cargo whatever. It
was about twenty years before the steam-engine was so |)crfected as to make
oeeaii navigation profitable ; and, when that time arrived, the I'.nglish were the
first to take advantage of it; the pioneer ships, "The Sirius " and "The
Great Western," entering New-York harbor almost together on the .3d of
April, 18,58. The honor of the first crossing of the Atlantic remains with our
own countrymen ; but the credit of establishing vessels in trade g , u,. ^
belongs to the Knglish. The Royal Mail (or Cunard) steamers ment of
began running from ILalifax to Boston in 1840, and they have
never ceased to run to the jiresent day. Other lines were after-
wards started, and at the present time England has about a hunilred and
twenty-five steamers running to the Uniteil States, 'i'he Mills line to Hremen
(.■\merican) was started in 1847, and the ('ollins line to Liv- Growth of
trpool in 1850, as also the (Jarrison line to Hrazil in 1S65, — all <"her lines.
from New- York City. The Pacific Mail line to China was started in 186';
also. When 1865 came, however, England had a hundred and twenty
bteaniers running to this country, and hail virtually monopolized the steamship
traffic, her lines being sui)])orted by the patronage of the government. Our
own lines to Europe had been withdrawn, 'i'he only line wc have to Europe
to day is that of the American Company of I'hiladelphia, which employs four
three-thousand-ton steamers in the trade.
bi 1 818 the first steamboat was built for the trade of the Great Lakes, then
first line of
steamers.
59°
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
steam-
boating
beginning to be considerable. It was " The Walk in the Water," named after
a celebrated Indian chief in Michigan. She was built at Black Rock, N.Y.
on the Niagara River, her engines being brought up from New- York City by
, sloops to .Mbany, and thence despatched by six and eight horse teams over-
|fl| land to the Niagara River. The different parts of the engine arrived from
Albany in fifteen to twenty-five days' time. " The Walk in tiie Water " was
brig-rigged, and of tliree hundred and sixty tons' burden. Being lost in a
gale in 1821, she was replaced by "The Superior." The owner of the two
boats was Dr. I. B. Stuart of Albany. As trade on the lakes increased, more
steamers were put into the business by other people at all the large ports.
These were the beginnings of steamboating in .\merica. They iiave been
described with great tninuteness, because the United States was the i)ioneer
. . country of the world in utilizing the power of steam in the prac-
pioneer in tical transportation of freight and passengers, and the history of
early efforts is thus especially interesting; and also because in the
beginnings of an enterprise is infokled its whole subseiiuent his-
tory, just as truly as every characteristic of a tree is outlined and predicted in
the little sprout that has just poked its way out of the soil. No eiiterjirise
can be understood unless its origin is known. If the origin be tiioroughh-
comprehended, the intermediate steps by which the enterprise attains its final
development are of small account : they are merely a repetition of the steps
first taken.
Steam was put to service upon the water in this country about tliirty years
before it was employed in traffic overland ; and it played a most imi)ortant
part in the development of tiie country, and in cementing to-
gether its various communities. It brought the distant territories
in the North-West antl at the mouth of the Mississippi River at
once into immediate and patriotic relations with the older com-
munities, and was the means of building up a thriving exchange
of commodities, and unity of sentiment, between them. The same was true
of the different parts of the Atlantic coast. In the settlement of tlie West
and South the steamboat greatly assisted ; and so well adapted was tliis new
agency to the work of threading the chain of lakes, and to overcoming the
vast distances of the great rivers, that by 1835 the building of steamboats in.
t!ie West had become very large, and by 1856 tliere were more tlian a ti'ou-
■> ••^|\ of this style of craft actively engaged in the traffic of that portion of
our domain. The steam-tonnage of the Mississippi-river Valley at that time
e(iualled the magnificent steam-tonnage of the whole empire of (Ireat Britain.
About 1850 the old-style steamboat of the West and North, ranging from two
hundred to four hundred tons in size, began to be found inade(iuate to tiie
wants of trade because of its small size. The builders then began to enter
u])on the construction of larger craft ; and they enlarged their vessels year by
year, until the latter have, in 1878, attained a size, in the trade of the Missis
Importance
of steam-
navigation
to this
country.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
591
ater," named after
Black Rock, N.V.,
New- York City by
horse teams i>ver-
gine arrived from
II tiie Water " was
Being lost in a
owner of tlie two
L's increased, more
; large ports.
They have been
s was the pioneer
iteam in tlie prac-
ind the history of
ilso because in the
le subsequent his-
.1 and predicted in
il. No enterprise
gin be tlioroughly
'ise attains its final
tition of the steps
about thirty years
a most imi)ortant
in cementinL' to-
distant territories
ississippi River at
the older ( oni-
thriving exchange
le same was true
nent of the West
(ted was this new
overcoming tlie
of steamboats in.
ore than a ti'ou-
that portion of
Uley at that time
of dreat Britain,
ranging fr(jm two
ladeciuate to the
1 began to enter
ir vessels year by
ie of the Missis
si|ipi at least, equal to that of the c lossal trans-Atlantic steamers. One of
tliese huge Western boats will be referred to hereafter.
On the coast a steam-packet was running between New York and Philadel-
phia as early as 1814, and a regular line was plying from New York to Charles-
ton as early as 1832. After 1830 the whole coast became alive „ ^.. ^
' "^ ^ Establish-
witli Steamboats. Lines were started in Long-Island Sound to ply mentofcoast
in the routes to Boston, Hartford, and other New-England cities, ""=8°'
. . , ° ' steamboats.
tlie steamers connectmg at proper points with stage-lines on the
mainland, just as they now do with railroad-lines. Lines were started in
Chesapeake Bay, in the waters of Virginia, and in every large river leading
from the interior of the Southern States to the coast. The coasting-steamers
finally crept as far to the southward as to Savannah, to which point a line began
running alx)ut 1848. In 1848 steamers began running between Charleston
and Havana in Cuba, under the patronage of our government. The greatest
coasting-line of all was authorized to be established by the Act of Congress of
March 3, 1847, in order to facilitate intercourse between the P^astern States
and our newly-acipiired territories on the Pacific Ocean. We had just obtained
all that vast territory lying west of the Rocky Mountains by cession from
Mexico. With the existing inadeciuate means of tran-portation, that region
was practically as far away from the .Atlantic centres of population as though
it had been buried in the interior of the continent of Asia. In order to
settle this new territory, it was necessary to have steamers ; and so Congress
autiiorized lines to be started in the same patriotic spirit in which it afterwards
originated the Pacific railroads. Two companies were formed, — the United-
States >'ail, to run from New York to .\spinwall on the Isthmus of Panama, a
distance of 2,000 miles ; and the Pacific Mail, to run from Panama on the
Tacific, 3,300 miles, to San Francisco. The pioneer steamer, ''The pacific «,(!
California," 1,058 tons, left New-York City Oct. 5, 1848, being steamship
followed within a month by the "Panama" and "Oregon," 1,087 '=°'"P»"y-
and 1,099 to"s, all three steaming for the Pacific by way of Cape Horn. The
first steamer of the other line to ply to Aspinwall, "'I'he Falcon," 891 tons, left
New York in December of the same year. This line touched at New Orleans
en route by contract. It is seklom in the history of the world that a great
agency for the performance of a specific work is created so opportunely as
were these two lines. 'Vhile " The California " was peacefully wending its
way across the tropical seas en route for its distant service, and its officers were
wondering what on earth they would find at Panama to carry to California, the
exciting story came to the Eastern States that gold had been discovered in the
Sacramento Valley in extraordinary tjuantities. The officers of the two steam-
shi]) il,.es at New York were at once besieged with applications for passage to
California. " The Falcon " went out loaded ; and when " The California "
came into the harbor of Panama to get advices from home, before going on
northward, she found a multitude of eager gold-seekers there awaiting her
592 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
arrival, and she went on her way loaded down to the water's edge wiih
passengers and freight. Her consorts had the same experience. Both steam-
ship lines were a magnificent success from the start; and they themselves did
more to build up our empire on the Pacific rapidly than a thousand sailinir-
vessels slowly working their way around Cape Horn could have done. i!y
185 1 there were nine large steamer;; in the Atlantic line (one, "The Illinois,"
being of 2,123 ^o"^' burden), and six in the Pacific line, one of the licet. "The
Golden Gate," being of 2,068 tons' burden. 'I'he two lines consolidated into
one in 1865, and then sent out steamers to China. Since the fouiulation of
this great enteri)rise other coasting steam-lines have been started, and the
number of them now is legion, 'i'hey ply on all parts of the three coasts, and
between all principal commercial cities.
The growth of steam-tonnage in the United States will be shown by
Statistics of the following table, the figures beginning in 1823, because the
steam-ton- steam-tonnage was then first recorded separately : —
TONNAGE.
1823 24,879
1830 64,472
1840 202,309
"850 525.434
IS60 867,937
1870 1.075,09s
1876 1. 172.372
The distribution of this tonnage in 1876 was as follows :
NUMBER.
2,081
270
021
1,048
4,320
tonnai;e.
Atl.mtic .ind Gulf co.ists
Pacific co.ist
Nurtlicin lakes
Western rivers . , .
665,879
78,439
201,742
226,J12
Total
1,172,372
The principal trouble of the early builders of steamboats in '}.vm ' nintry
was in devising a proper way of transmitting the power of the steam-engine to
Difficulties ''^^' water. Fitch tried paddle-wheels, a bank of oars, and a screw-
o( early i)ropeller. Rumsey tried a jet of water. Subsequent inventors
"'' "^' tried a vast variety of devices. One was an endless chain carrying
a long row of paddles to p!iy in the water at the sides of the boat or undcr-
neadi the false keel. Another was the side-fan or duck-foot propeller : boats
were supplied with a whole set of fins on each side. Another plan was the
er's edge with
. Both steam-
themselves diil
ousaiul saihng-
ave done. l>y
"The Illinois,"
the fleet, " The
)nsoliilateil into
: Ibmnlation of
started, and the
liree coasts, and
I be shown by
23, because the
TIINNAGE.
24,879
64,472
202,309
525.434
867.937
1.075,09s
'.•72.372
665,879
7^,439
201,742
226, 12
1.172.372
in <\ys -- nintry
steam-engine to
irs, and a screw-
:iuent inventors
,s chain carrying
boat or undcr-
iropeiler: boats
ler plan was the
OF THE UNITED STATES.
593
triple crank paddle, — a queer combination of paddles, guiding-rods, cranks,
iVc, ilie object of which was to employ three sets of paddles' and make them
(lip straight down into the water, describe the segment of an ellipse in the
water, and come straight out again. Any nuinber of devices of that description
were tried. Then the circular paddle-wheel was experimented with in a hun-
dred forms. The several paddles were made to revolve so as to dip into and
( oine out of the water perpendicularly. They were made to feather in the air,
to fold up, and perform a variety of other gymnastic feats. Paddles of all sorts
i>f geometrical forms were tried, — triangular, oblong, pointed, &c., — inventors
being possessed with the idea that an imitation of the tails of fast-swimming
fishes ought to be had. One (jueer invention was a jiaddlc-wheel which was
intended to go without steam l)y a pendulum ai)paratus. It was a rival of
I'lilton who conceived this brilliant thought. The wheels of his boat revolved
l.ke fury, indeed, when the boat was on tl •>. stocks ; but when it was launched,
,;ml the machine set in motion, the boat ditl not move an inch. The builders
fmally settled down on the common paddle-wheel an<l the screw as the only
useful and practical devices ; and, though all the old ideas are being continually
re-invented, nothing has ever been found to supersede the ones named.
Five different types of steamboats have grown up in American waters, two
(if them i)eculiar to America, and without etiuals in their way in the world.
I he five types are those of the common double-ender ferry-boat, ^
ijriveii by a powerful, quick-acting engine and paddle-wheels ; styles of
the tug-boat, a little, deep-hulled craft, with engines powerful ■''<='"»"'-
(.nough to enable them to handle an ocean-steamer, sometimes
tleinonstrating four-hundred-horse power and a speed of fifteen knots ; the
great freight and passenger propeller, often of four thousand tons' burden,
driven by a screw at the stern, for ocean-service ; the American sitle-wheel
river-steamer ; and the high-pressure, side-wheel Mississippi-river steamer.
The .American river-steamers are models of beauty and speed, and are
uneiiualled anywhere in the world. They have fine clean runs, with long,
^harp bows as keen as razors. They diviile the water, instead of raising it into
.1 swell like the oKl style of Dutch and luiglish hulls, and allow the waves
gradually to unite again at the stern, so as to leave scarce ly other swell
lichind them besides that raised by the churning of the wheels. They are
remarkably long and narrow, being often twelve times as long as they are
hroad. The hull is built for lightness. The draught is generally moderate.
Ihe great weight of the ma< hinery and boilers in the centre is supported by a
truss, somewhat on the principle of a bridge. The arches of the truss rise high
in (he air above the vessel, and give to the structure a wonderful rigidity. The
engines are low-jiressure, and work on the princijjlc of the Cornwall pumping-
cngines, with a remarkably long, (juick stroke of the i)iston, the steam being
"seil ex|)ansively. The American river-pistons often travel from five lumdreil
to six hundred feet a minute ; while in England the usual rate is not over two
594
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
hundred and fifty. The boats are capable of a speed from twenty to thirty
miles an hour. Many of the early steamers of the Collins, Mills, VaiKk'ibilt
and other ocean and coasting lines, were substantially of this class of wsslI
though built a little more substantially to meet the strain of the ocean-swtlls.
The magnificent " Adriatic," Collins's last ship, — a vessel 330 feet loiv, ex-
ceeding 5,000 tons' burden, and costing over 1^1,400,000, built in 1856, — Iiad
a hull more of the present fashion of ocean-steamers, and fliirly confirinud the
latter style of huU in ocean-sen'ice. The Long-Island-Sound steamers are kA
the river pattern, and are now the handsomest specimens of their class in liie
country. They are about three hundred and twenty-five feet long. One
peculiarity of the river-steamers is their huge wheels and the wheel-liouscs
which enclose them. On the Hudson River " The New World " had wheels
forty-si.x feet in diameter ; and " The Thomas Powell," forty-feet wheels. TIk'
Sound steamers have from thirty-five-feet to forty-feet whe.'ls. Large wIklIs
allow the blades to enter and leave the water more nearly verlii ally, and
diminish the concussion.
The Mississippi-river steamers are equally long, narrow, and sharp with
those just described ; but they generally have higii-pressure engines, and they
are somewhat larger, and of lighter ilraught. Their upper works are some-
what differently arranged ; and their decks are broatler, in order to secure
more cargo-room. In 1876 there was launched at St. Louis one of these
craft, " The Great Republic," which was three hundred and forty feet long,
from ten to seventeen feet hold, fifty-seven feet beam, and a widtii of deck of
a hundred and three feet. Her capacity of cargo was four thousand tons ; and
she could carry also two hundred and eighty passengers, and then have a
draught of only two and three-fourths feet fonvard, and four feet aft, — the
peculiar and necessary feature of \Vcstern travel. Her wheels were thirty-seven
feet in diameter, and her cost $200,000. She was the largest river-steamboat
in the world.
The screw-propeller has, within the last twenty years, grown very popular
for ocean-travel. Though invented in the United States, it was neglected
The screw- there from the beginning. In 1839 Kngland took up the idea, and
propeller. grad'-ally introduced it into her transatlantic service. Since 1861
all the American ocean and outside coasting-steamers have adopted propellers.
and the side-wheelers have now disappeared from the ocean-service. Only
one or two steamers on the. coast still retain the paddle.
Very recently, however, another invention has appeared, in which propul
sion and steering are combined in the same apparatus. The screw is the instru-
ment employed ; but it is so adjusted and operated as to perform both fun( -
lions. One great advantage claimed for it is, the course of vessel may be
almost instantly changed, thus lessening the danger of cohioion and other
similar perils. This is an American invention ; and the story is told, that.
during a recent trial in British waters, one of the persons on board the trial
OF THE UNITED STATES.
595
Steamer, being desirous of knowing how quickly the course of the vessel could
be changed by this new apparatus, was told to give the signal for making the
cliange, when his curiosity would be gratified. Soon after, he gave the signal ;
and the course of the steamer was so suddenly altered as to lay him out
si)rawling on the deck. Recovering, and picking himself up as soon as he was
al)le, he declared that he was perfectly satisfied of the great merits of the
invention.
According to Martin's " Year- Book," the steam-tonnage of the world in
1877 was as follows : —
NUMTIEK.
1,465
TONNAGE.
Kngland
1,470,158
Unitcil States
....
1,176,000
Fr.ince .
522
194,546 1
(Itrmany
i 253
'67,633
I'lirtMgal .
i 39
36,000 ;
Austria .
1 78
57.265 1
Italy
118
37.8 '0
liclgiiiin .
24
30.397
Netherlands
86
76,827
I)cnm;irk
•23
27.381
Greece .
16
6,048
Chili .
22
9,641
China and Japan
"*"WFm*:
■■^n
596
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER III.
IRON STEAMSHIPS.
DURIXC/ the days of thi.' ocean-races between the ships of the Collins
and C'unard steam-lines, plying between New- York City and Liverpool,
two splendid steamers left England tb.e same week for the run to America.
Wooden ^^^^ ^^'^^ "The Persia," o."" the Cunard line ; the other the maguifi-
and iron cent slde-whceler, " The Pacific," of the Collins line. On tiie way
ste«ms ips. ,j(,pQ^>^_ (i^g (y.Q vessels met with floating ice. 'I'he sliarj) huw
of the iron-hulled " Persia " cut the ice like paper, and jjasseil through in
safety. " The Pacific," a timber-ship, was broken up by the encounter, and
took its place with the " thousand fearful wrecks " which strew the bottom
of the sea under the ocean fury. This melancholy event called the attention
of the two continents to the sea-going qualities of iron hulls ; and from that
day to the present the steam-tonnage which has been launched to brave tiie
dangers of the open sea has been built in greater and greater degree of iron,
until at present wooden steamers for deep-sea navigation are built nowhere in
the world.
Attention was turned to iron ship-building in this country almost simul-
taneously with the rise of the art in ICngland. The first iron boat was probahly
First iron imported from England for trial; but as early as 1X25, only four
craft in years after the first iron steamboat was built in Europe, a little craft
merica. ^^ similar ilesign and material was launched at York, IVnn.. fur
plying in the trade on the Susquehanna River. This little vessel was '• The
Codorus." It had a wooden frame, and drew twelve inches of water. This
was the first iron boat ever constructed in .America. The bars in the Sus(iue-
hanna at low water seriously interfering even with the trips of so light drau;;hl a
vessel as " The Codorus." she was sent South to ply on some river in th.u
section of the country, and where she was destinetl to a U)ng career of useful-
ness. The buoyancy and strength of this preliminary boat led to the c(>n-
struction of several others in Pennsylvania and New York for river-navi^ation
within the next ten years. They varied from a hundretl to three hundred Idus'
burden. ♦
OF THE ULITED STATES.
597
s of the Culliiis
/ and Liverpool,
run to Anuric;i.
iher tlie nia.mufi-
le. On the way
The sliarp bow
issetl through in
3 encounter, ami
trew the bottoui
leil the attention
i ; and from that
led to brave the
r degree of iron,
)uilt nowhere in
ry ahnost simul-
at was probably
1825, only four
)pe, a little craft
York. IVnn., for
•essel was " The
of water. 'I'liis
in the Susquc-
o light draught a
•nie liver in tli.il
areer of useful-
k'il to tiie icn-
river-navigation
ce hundred tons'
In 1839 a steamer entirely of iron was constrncted at Pittslinrgh, Pcnn^
called " The Valley I''orge." Her hull and lower deck were entirely of iron,
the former o{ fourth-inch plates, the latter of eighth-inch i)lates. ,
^ ' Iron steamer
Her frame was of angle and T iron. "The Valley Forge" constructed
was a rapid boat, easily managed, and i)assed successfully "* '''"^"
through several encounters with snags which would have sunk a
wooden boat. She ran until the summer of 1S45 as a packet-boat between
Nashville and New Orleans, and was then withdrawn, and cut up into mer-
cliant-iron, nails, spikes, iVc. She was broken up, not because she was an iron
jioat. but because Western trade then required a larger class of steamers.
•• I'he Valley Forge " carried only two hundred tons of freight, whereas thou-
s.nid-ton vessels were beginning to be needed.
liy 1842 there was a line of iron steamboats in the coasting-trade Itetween
Hartford and I'iiiladelphia, a line of five iron boats on the Savannah River,
(ia.. and a con-
sideral)le mimber
of iron tugs ply-
ing in the harbors
of the Progress
North. "nti''842.
and on the Dela-
ware and Karitan
Canal. The light-
er frames and
hulls and general
durability of these
boats ret ommended them to shipping-men. The building of them stopped
shortly before the war of 1861, however, for the reason that our foreign,
coastwise, and internal commerce had grown to enormous jiroportions, and
required the use of vessels of great size, for the construction of which iron was
so costly, that vessels built of tluU material coulil not it)mpete with wooden
vessels for freights. Besides Miat. few builders owned the cajjital necessary
for i)utting up the expensive shops and i)owcrful machinery suited to the
busincs.;.
The war, so great a calamity to the country in diverting from peaceful
industry and agriculture for four years millions of the flower of our popidation,
and leaving behind it desolated homes and a great debt, was a E„ggto.
};reat stimulus to many important bramhes of national industry, war upon
Iron sliii)-buil<linL; was one of them. (Government contracts for ""o" **"?-
' '' building.
constructing the monitors and iron floating-batteries of the war
enabled various builders in places adjacent to the iron-regions to supply
themselves with rolling-mills, machine-shops, and apparatus of great power
anil value, which, with the advent of peace, could be emi)loyed in construct-
STEAMSHIP. — CTNARI) LINE.
.TVnP'jr..
'''4,y,3
^iU!v.:i,
59«
MVJ I 'S TK /A I. I US T( K Y
:^i!i 5
1i^
iiig int'r(liantslii])s of every class. At the dose of the war, pipiroii \v;is
fiflyeiglit tlollars a ton; by 1.S6S it liail ilropped to thirty-eiglil dollaiN a
ton. I'lie gei\eral advantages of iron merdiant-sliips having (hsposed ilic
mercantile coniniunity toward that type of vessels, orders were then guru
for tiie ({.Mistnu tion of several : and the art has ever since been ])ra( ti^td (,ii
a continually-growing scale. Sime 1.S6S nearly all of the steanislii|)s ImiU
for tiie coasting-trade of the Uniteti States, all of those for the foreign traik,
and many for sonnd, river, and lake navigation, have been built of jiuu.
It is evident, that, in all these trades, iron hulls must eventually superMck^
those of the more perishable material, 'liiey are lighter, and last twu e
as long. .American iron has su|)erior (pialities for the jjurpose : it permits
the use of lighter frames and plating.
The years 1S7:: and \'^~;}, constituted a new era in the historv of this
The years industry. The Pennsylvania Railroad had resolved to establish ,1
>87>-73' liiK' of first (lass ocean-steamships to run from I'hiladelpliia to
Liverpool, to form the sea-division of its line of commimication between
the fruitlul and i)oi>uU)us interior of the United States and iMirour
American ' * ■ *
line of Its interest in the matter induced a number of mere hants of l'iii|,\-
steamersto d^-ipiiia to organize a com])any to build a line of American iron
Europe. ' "^ '
Steamers to run from that city in comiietition with the foreign lines
from New York. The railroad company became a stockholder, and guarnn-
teed the bonds of the new organization to the amount of J 1,500,000. Under
this arrangement, proposals from builders were asked for, William C'ramii \
Sons of Philadelphia, a firm whose yard had been established in 1830, were
the successful bidders. They agreed to lay the keels of four iron steamshi|)s
of 3,016 tons' burden, 355 feet long, to draw twenty feet six inches in fresh
water, capable of carrying 920 passengers anil a full cargo, at a speed of
eleven knots and a half per hour, with a consumption of forty tons of coal
per day, for J5 2,080,000. The firm comprised men of long e.xperience; hut
they fortified themselves before beginning the ships by an examination of
the yards on the River Clyde in Kngland and the best specimens of foreign
steam-shipi)ing. They resolved to build four ships which should in every
res])ect excel those of foreign construction employed in the traffic of tlic
Atlantic, and they did build them in a thorough manner. " The Pennsyl-
vania " was launched Aug. 15, 1872; "The Ohio," Oct. 30, 1872; "The
Indiana," March 25, 1873: and "The IT nois," June 15, 1873. The line
went into operation in July, 1873. This ; now the only line of steamships
carrying the American flag across the Atlantic. Its captains are un-lcr
positive orders never to incur risk for the sake of making a quick pas.sage,—
a policy followed by the Cunard line, the oldest in the Atlantic trade, and
successful in an eminent degree in inspiring the confidence of the travelling
comtnunity. The ships have, nevertf ^less, made better average time than the
foreign steamers running out of tht same port. The passage to Liverpool
war, pig- iron was
ty-cij^ht il(ill:irs ;i
ing ilisposLd the
were tlvjii gi\i'i\
l)ccn pnulisrd (.11
; stcanislu])-, liiiilt
the fonigii trade,
.■en btiill (il iruii,
jntually sujiLTsitli.'
r. and last twice
iri)us(.' ; it i)t'riiiiis
the history of this
vi'd to L'stalilish ,i
mi I'hiKuk'liiliia to
lUniration bctwuii
States and l'!ur<)|)c.
ncri hanls of l'hil.\-
• of Anicric an iioii
ith the foreign liius
iol<ler, and giianm-
1,500,000. Ulldrr
William C'raiuii >\:
shed in 1830, were
jur iron stcanis!>ips
six inches in fresh
go, at a speed of
forty tons of loal
g experience ; hut
an examination of
lecimens of forei-n
1 should in cviiy
the traffic of the
r. "The Pennsyl-
30, 1872; "The
, 1873. The line
line of steamships
:aptains are un'i'.T
a (luick passage, —
\tlantic trade, ami
ice of the travelling
:rage time than the
issage to Liverpool
01- 77//: CX/T/-:/) .S7A77:S.
599
.iviiagcs eleven days nine hours More favorable rates of insurance have
Ikiii j^jranted to these steamships than to any others in the Atlantic service,
nvi) Cimartlers alone excepted. The vessels have been a success both
rm.incially and mechanically.
While the Ameritan line was building, two iron steamshi])s of large si/.e
were (onstnicting at the yard of John Koac h vv: Son, a short distance below
the t itv. — the largest works of the kind in the coiuitry. 'I'hese
\uir "The City of IVknig " ami "The City of Tokio." ordered [hlj^"!"*""
liytiie Pacific Mail .Steamship Company for its trans-l'acific service PacificMan
to liiian and t'iiina. They were to be the largest iron mere hant- ^♦'"'"^'''p
■' ' •' '^ Company.
steamers in the ocean carrying-trade of the world. "Thedreat
Kastern " was the only iron vessel whi( h excelled them in size ; but that vessel
was a commercial failure, and was not actively employed in trade. The build-
ing (if these two vessels excited that extraordinary interest in the United States
STEAMSHIP. — » IIITH-STAK I.1NB.
\vhi( il daring enterprise, and any effort for the supremacy of the national flag
;u ^ea, have always aroused. The launching of "The City of Peking" in March,
1874, was made the occasion of a great celebration, which was attended by a
delegation from both houses of Congress, and by merchants from the leading
cities of the country. " The City of Tokio " was launched soon afterwards.
Both shii)s have since been employed with eminent success in the trade of
the Pacific. They each carry over 5,000 tons of freight and 1,650 passengers,
and are crack ships in every respect. They are 423 feet long. " The City of
Peking" made the fastest trij) ever made across the Pacific in 1875, burning
forty-five tons of coal a day ; whil" the vessels of the Occidental and Oriental
line, which nm in competition with her, owned and built in England, bum
sixty tons a day, running on schedule time. These vessels have engines of
5,000 horse power, and are driven ordinarily at a speed of fifteen knots and a
half per hour. They can run to Hong Kong from San Francisco in twenty-
t\\'o days.
"T'-fir'*"
?^ ' '■
Coo
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
These ships placed upon the Iniilding of iron merchant-steamers in the
United States the final sfau)]) of success, and they initiated the era of j.ip'c
Magnificence i'^''"''''^'''^ nuuiinj,' at f,Teat speed with a small consiunpticn <if ,,,,1].
of new Since tiiey were umlertaken, tlie nuinlier of wooden steaiiiei-, lijr
steamera. ^^^^ coasting and foreign tratte built in tliis country might nlmost
i)e counted on one's fingers. No one now builds of any thing except iron tor
those trades. Some maLrnificent vessels of the river type of steamer, of wooil,
have been produced for tlie traffic tluougli Long Island Sound between New
York and tiie cities of New Mngland. lint this is not coasting-navigation
imijjer : it is more like river-navigation. The hulls of some of these vcasels
are of iron, however.
The class of steamsliip which has been liuilding for the coasting-traijc is
unlike any other in use in tlie world. It has the beautiful bow and nni wliu h
Ships (or the '^''^^''-' •^'^^''^y^ characterized American \essels. Hull, frame, and
coasting. generally botli decks, are of iron. 'I'iiey are fitted with s( lew-
*" '■ propellers, water-tight bulkheads, comjiound engines, and luo
masts, though sometimes tiiree, and range from i.Soo to 2.500 tons' Ijurden.
-, . , Thev are of light draught, so as to enter Southern harbors wuh
Number of ?>.-•'
iron vessels fa( ility ; am! some of tiie recent vessels built at Chester contain
built since tanks, to be filled witii sea water and emptied, to assist them (i\er
1806.
the bars when needed. Tiie numl)er of iron vessels buih for
American owners since 1866 was, in June, 1877, as near .as can be computed,
250. They raiikeil as follows : —
Less than icx3 tons 57
From 100 to 500 tons 73
From 50010 1,000 tons )o
From 1,000 to 2,000 tons 61
From 2,000 to 3,000 tons 9
From 3,000 to 4,000 tons 8
(Jver 5,000 tons 2
The total tonnage June 30, 1877, was 191,490. Of the whole nniulHT,
only three were sailing-craft. In addition to the above, a number of sina'l iron
steamboats were built, and exported to South America to run on the .\iiia/(jn
and other rivers.
Iron ship-building keeps naturally in the vicinity of the iron and (oal
mines : it is leaving )5oston, New York, and other cities distant therefrom,
Location of and Concentrating on the Delaware. While the business is des-
business. lined to reach such i)roi)ortions eventually as to re(iiiire the o|ion-
ing of iron shipyards in all parts of the country, particularly on the Missis-
sippi River ami the Western lakes, there are at present only four firms of
prominence in the business, and not over ten in all. The oldest is that of
William Cramp & Sons at Philadelphia. This yard was established in 1830 : it
OF THE UNITED STATES.
60 1
t-stenmcrs in the
ihc era of l.ir^o
lUinptic.n nt' (oal,
)(lcn stcauicr-i fur
ntry might a!ni()>t
ij; except iron fur
steamer, of wood,
mil between New
oastiii.u'-navig.ition
e uf these ve.iseli
; coasting-trade is
ow and nni wlu( h
Hull, frame, and
fitted witli screw-
engines, and Iwo
.500 tons' l)ur(li'i).
ithern harbors widi
at Chester contain
to assist tliem over
n vessels Imilt for
lean be cominiled,
le whole nnniber,
imber of snia'l iron
in on the Amazon
the iron and coal
listant therefrom,
e business is des-
reciuire the oi)cn-
irly on the Missis-
only four firms of
oldest is that of
)lishcd in 1830: it
was eng.aged in building of wood until i860, when it constructed "The New
biiii-,ides" and a number of ironclad,,, and has Ijeen engrossed with iron-work
tscr since. Since conii)leting tiie iron steamers for the American line to
l.iirope, it has produced six iron colliers for the Reading Railroad, of 1,200
tons' capacity each, and 224 feet long; "'I'he ("olumbus," an iron screw
vessel of 1,850 tons for the coasting-trade, the largest which in 1874 had then
Im n built for that service ; and a number of other coasters and tugs, besides
doing a large amount of government repairing. The works will employ 12,000
m\\. At Wilmington are situated the yards of the Harlan & Hollingsworth
('oiiii)any, and I'usey, Jones, (S: (■omi)any. The former concern is also exten-
sively engaged in the manufacture of railroad-cars, and employs 1,000 men.
It has built several of the Pacific mail-steamers, and some of the finest boat;.
on the coast. 'I'he latter firm has made a s])ecialty of work for the South-
American rivers. The princijial firm of iron shi])-l)uil(lers is John Roach &
Son of Chester. I'enn. Over $2,000,000 has been invested by this concern in
sho]>s and machinery ; and the most jjowerfiil mechanical appliances in the
cmintry ,ire to be seen at the yard at Chester and the engine-works in New
York. ( 'ver 5^15,000,000 has been i)aid out by the firm, from 1872 to the
]iresent time, for wages and materials ; and thirty-five iron ocean-steamers have
been built, besides extensively rejjairing and overhauling tiie government iron-
clads, '{"hirteen iron steamers were l)uilt by this yard in 1877. from i.Sooto
:.5oo tons' burden, to ply in the traile to Southern jiorts. the West Indies, ami
Hia/il. The firm employ 1,800 men. Tiie I'enn Iron-Works at Philadelphia
have also been engaged in building iron ships for several years. In addition to
these, the Reading Railroad Company has invested a large amount of capital
in shops at Port Richmond on the Delaware for the purpose of building iron
colliers for its large distribution of coal to points on the coast. The intention
is to have a fleet of fifty iron colliers, l-'ourteen of these have been built at the
other shipyards on the Del.aware. They range from 525 to 1,500 tons' burden.
The boats which are to be built in the fiiture will belong to tne larger class.
At Buffalo the construction of iron tonnage for the trade to the West has been
going on for five years. A number of large and stanch propellers have been
built for the .Anchor line of steamers plying beiween Krie and the Western
cities in the grain, provision, and [fassenger trafric, wiiich are in all respects
superior vessels. In 1872 13,000 tons were built at Buffalo, and 20,000 tons
in iiS74. The past year, only two tugs have been produced. A yard has also
l)ccn opened at Wyandotte. Mich., and one at New Orleans.
It is believed tiiat iron hulls will eventually rei)lace the old-fashioned style
in the genera! business of the Ohio, Mississipj)!, and other great Western
streams. lOxperience has shown the wisdom of changing to iron. Future of
In a wooden vessel of 3,000 tons' burden, 500 tons of freight- *>"<»> vessel*.
room are sacrificed by the thicker beams and shell of the vessel. A ship of
the same outward size built of iron carries 500 tons more freight. Besides
I
"rrytn II
6oa
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
this great advantage, another is gained from the fact that the iron ship lasts so
much longer. Those now being prothiced by the American yards secure the
rating of A i for twenty years, and are hable, at tiie end of twenty years, to lie
useful for ten years longer at least. A good stanch siiip will last the nicrdnin
until he is ready to retire from business, anil turn over the affairs of his huusc
to a younger generation. Iron vessels have now been tried for fifty years
under all circumstances of storm and tempests, collisions with ice, stniiuiing
on the coast, and acciilents of every description. They have constantly slmwu
their superiority, and have saved to their owners millions of dollars wliiih
would have been lost in wooden vessels subjected to the s...ne trials. 'Ihese
facts have rendered them popular with the counnercial world. No one now
thinks of buikling of wood for the open sea, any more than of hunting bulTalo
with pop-guns.
The fall in the price of iron since the war is giving a great stimulus to this
business. It has a briUiant future before it.
Ol- TJ/h UN/ TED STATES,
60S
ClIAlTl'R IV.
CANALS.
at stiiimlus to this
Till", project of iinilinjj tlic dilTcrcnt parts ot our common domain with
artificial water-ways occurred very distinctly to the minds of the states-
men of the Revolutionary period, who, not being so embarrassed condition of
as the ptiblic men of the present (l:iv with current (piestions of e»'iy'o«d8.
vast and immediate importance, had i lore time to think of the future, and the
directions which should be f^iven to development and public effort. The
wagon-roads of the country in Revolutionary days were in a shocking condi-
tion. None of them were what would lie « ailed good roads at the present
(lay; and the majority were in a dreadful state, full of ruts and pit-holes where
the track was dry, and corduroyed with trunks of large trees wherever the
track was wei. Few streams were bridged ; and the crossings of all of them,
l)y constant use, were so worn as to be difficult and dangerous. The Cones-
toga wagons, which did the overland freighting of the country, were continually
being mired ; and there was scarce a highway in the land which did not have,
as a part of its regular and necessary furniture, a large supply of rails lying at
the roadside, to be used in prying unfortunate teams out of the mud. The
need of some better plan of transportation was fully realizeil by the men of
the (lay, and canals were among the earliest expedients suggested. The
improvement of such highways as were available for foot-routes received the
earliest attention of Congress ; but canals were discussed by the people in the
several States, and their value was fully appreciated. Massachusetts proposed
a canal from Boston to the Connecticut Riveras early as 1792, and a hrge
number of schemes were originated in all the States. The lack of public and
private capital, however, jirevented any thing being done for their construction
in the Revolutionary period.
The war of 181 2 made our people see the danger of delaying the improve-
ment of the internal ways of communication any longer. It became apparent
that recourse could not be had to the open sea to reach different parts of
the coast in times of war, and that wagon-roads were inadequate to the
needs of the country in such emergencies. At the close of the Revolution
<f ■'
604.
/JVD US TKIA r. ins TOR Y
\
Mr. Morris had suggested the union of tlie chain of Great I,al\c.s with the
Effctof Hudson River, and in 1812 he again advocated it. Do Witt
war of i8i2 Clinton of New Yorlv, one of the most vaUiable men of his day
upon the \qq\, up this idc ', and brought the leachng men of his State to lond
him their support in i)ushing it. '1 o chg a canal all the way from
Albany to Lake Krie was a pretty formidable undertaking : the State of New-
York accordingly invited tiie Federal Government to assist in the
Erie Canal. i • i i • i
enterprise, 1 he canal was as desirable on national grounds as on any
other. The proposition met with a rebuff, however ; and then the Empire State
resolved to build the canal herself. Surveyors were sent out to locate a line for
it ; and on the 4th of July, 1817, ground was broken for a canal by De Witt
Clinton, who*. as then governor of the State. The canal (363 miles long) was
built in eight years, at an original cost of $7,143,789. The completion of the
work in 1825 was the occasion of great public reji)icing. A boat loadcl with
distinguished guests started from Lake I'>ie, first taking on board some u, the
water of the lake. Its progress to the Hudson River was attended by i con-
stant succession of public demonstrations of the most enthusiastic character.
When the boat had reached the Hutlson River, and Lake Erie was for-
mally wedded to that stream by pouring tiie waters of the lake into the river,
the event was signalized by the firing of a gun ; and the news was earned all
the way back to Buffalo the same day by the sound of signal-guns, which were
Champiain ready for the event all along the 'ine. and which passed the news
Canal. along we;;tward by firing a salute. Tiie same year that the llrie
Canal was begun, ground was also broken in New-York State for a canal from
Lake Champiain to the Hudson, sixty-three miles in length. This work was
completed in 1823.
The construction of these two water-ways was attended with the most
interesting consecjuences. ICven before they were completed, their value iiad
become clearly ajiparent. Hnats were placed upon the Erie Canal
as fast as the different levels were ready for use, and set to work
in active transportation. They were small affairs comi)arcd with
those of the present dav, being about fifty or sixtv tons' bunion,
tlie modern canal-boat being a hundred and eiglilj or two hun-
dred tons. Small as they were, they reduced the cost of transi)oitation
immediately to one-tenth what it had been before. A ton of freight by land
from Buffiilo to Albany cost at that time a hundred dollars. When the canal
was oi)ened its entire length, the cost of freiglit fell from fifteen to twenty-
five dollars a ton, according to the class of article carried ; and tiie time
of transit, from twenty to eight days. Wii at at that time was wortli only
thirty-three dollars a ton in Western New York, and it did not pay to send
it by land to New York. When sent to market at all, it was floated down
the Susquehanna to Baltimore, as being the cheapest and best market. The
canal changed that. It now became possible to send to market a wide vari-
Effect of
canals in
cheapening
transporta-
tion.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
605
ed with the most
tod, their value had
)on tlie I'-rie Canal
se, anil set to work
airs compared with
sixty tons' burden,
eit^hly or two hun-
of transportation
of freight by land
When the canal
fifteen to twenty-
0(1 ; and tiie time
lie was worlli only
id not pay to send
was floated down
best market. The
iiarket a wide vari-
ety of agricultural produce, — fruit, grain, vegetables, &c., — whicii, before the
canal was built, either had no value at all, or which could not
be disposed of to such good advantage. It is claimed by the market for
original promoters of the lOrie Canal who lived to see its bene- vast quan-
ficial effects experienced by the people of the cour.try, that *'*'" °'
that work, costing less than 5<S,ooo,ooo, and paying its whole
cost of construction in a very few years, added $100,000,000 to the value
of the I'arnis of New York by opening up good and ready markets for their
proiliK ts. The canal had another result. It male New-York City the
commercial metropolis of the country. An old letter, written by a resident
of Newport, R.I., in that age, has lately been discovered, which speaks
of New-York City, and says, "If we do not I, ok out, New York will get
ahead of us." Newport was then one of the principal seaports of the
country: it had once been the first. Now York certainly did "gee ahead
of us" after the l'>ie Canal was built. It got ahead of every other ^ow it af-
commereial city on the coast. Freight, which had previously fected New-
gone o\erland from Ohio and the West to Pittsburgh, and thence °'^'' "*'■
to Philadelphia, costing $120 a ton between the two cities named, now went
to New York by way of the Hudson River and Krie C'anal and the lakes.
Manufactures anil groceries returned to the West by the same route, and New
York became a nourishing and growing emporium inimeiliatoly. The Krie
Canal was enlarged in 1835, so as to permit the passage of boats of a hundred
tons' burden ; anil the result was a still further reduction of the cost of freight-
ing, exp;',>;ion of traffic, and an increase of the general benefits conferred by
the canal. The Champlain (Janal had an effect upon the fiirms and towns lying
along Lake Champlain, in Vermont and Now York, kindred in character to
that above described in rcs])ect to the l'>ie Canal. It brought into the market
lands and produce which before had been worthless, and was a great blessing
to all concerned.
The effect of the example of New-York State was magical. All the old
projects in New luigland, Pennsylvania, and the South, for water-ways from
point to i)oint in the domains of the several States, and to unite
the people of one State with those of anotlior, bloomed again into construction
hcing, as though the naked v. oods and sear hillsides had felt the of the Erie
breath of a celestial spring. T'lie conseciuonces of the building fg'jdjhe"""'
of the Krie Canal wore foreseen by everybody before the work was building of
completed ; and public men did not wait to hear the firing of the "'"i''" ""-
' "^ dertakings.
guns over the acliievement of De Witt ('linton's great idea before
they set about planning similar works for the good of their own States. It
took several years of agitation before much was accomplished ; but the stimulus
afforded by the building of the Mrie Can; 1 succeeded in bringing about the
execution of a great many iiiii)ortant works. No loss than twenty branch
canals were planned at once in New- York State, Among those projected in
6o6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Other States were one from Boston to the Connecticut River; one iioni
Worcester to Providence, " on which," it was said, " there would be a ini'litv
transportation," it being estimated that "a hundred tons of cheese and seven-
ty-five tons of pork would annually find an outlet in it ; " " canal from Balti-
more to Pittsburgh ; others from Long-Island Sound across the State of
Maryland, and from the Ohio River to Lake Erie ; and yet others in Vir'inia
and Pennsylvania. It was a period of great excitement and public effort ; and
time would fail to tell of the brilliant and extensive schemes which filled the
minds of all the people at that time, and whose merits were the constant theme
of popular discussion. Some of these works were never built, as the cai)ital
could not be commanded to construct them. Many of them were, iiowever
completed, to the great benefit of the several States.
Pennsylvania was one of the first in the field in practical work. She
resolved to build a canal to the western part of the State for the double ])ur-
Harr.sburgh P°^^ ^^ g'V'ng an impetus to the agricultural and manufac turing
and Pitts- interests of her own State, and also in order to secure to the city
burgh Canal, ^j. phi|a^l^.|pl^ja a share of the trade with the West. A line of
communication from Piiiladelphia to Pittsburgh was accordingly planned, and
undertaken at the State's expense. The project was agitated for several years
before the people at large could be brought to the point of sustaining a route
of such magnitude; and it was not until 1826, therefore, that ground was
finally broken for a canal; but earth was turned at Harrisburgh July 4, 1826,
and the work was thereafter prosecuted with vigor. A good canal was in
operation from Columbia on the Sus juehanna to Pittsburgh by 1836, the route
being interrupted at Hollidaysburgh with a portage-road of thirty-six miles to
Johnstown, which did not prove fatal to the value of the canal. Other
water-ways were planned in other pans of the State, — local affairs for coal and
grain transportation, — and many of them were built during this period, ihe
canal-route from the West was pieced out at the eastern 1 nd by a railroad from
Columbia to Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania thus had her through-route to the
West. It reduced the cost of freight from Pittsburgh to the Delaware River
from a hundred and twenty dollars a ton to thiny dollars ; and, though the
city never got back the trade which New York had taken from her, siie gained
by the new works immenselj'. These works were afterward sold to tiu' Penn-
sylvania Railroad.
Oiiio was building two canals at the same j)eriod, — one from Portsmouih on
the Ohio to Clevelanil, which was finished in 1833 ; the other from Cim innati
to Lake Erie, which was finished in 1843.
Ma.ssachusetts ordered surveys for a water-way west from Boston in icS:5,
and the engineers did a good deal of preliminary work in examining the
Massachu- ground out toward the Connecticut River ; but nothing was ever
setts. accomplished by Massachusetts in this class of public works,
Public attention was distracted to another style of transportation-route. — the
••1IW
OF THE UNITED STATES.
607
railroad ; and the energies of the State were diverted from canal-building, and
applied to the work of constructing railroads.
( )ne of the ancient projects had been for a canal from Baltimore west to
the Ohio River. Washington, Charles Carroll, and other eminent men of the
Revolution, had favored this idea, and had talked about it a great „ , .
tsaltiniore
(leal. It had slumbered for forty years, owing to the scarcity of and ohio-
means of the young republic ; and only when the F>rie Canal had '''^"
been begun was Maryland aroused to a new and realizing sense
of the value of the idea. Congress was finally induced to vote $1,000,000 for
a canal from Georgetown to Pittsburgh ; and Virginia and Maryland, as well
as the cities of Washington and Alexandria, having subscribed $1,250,000
more, the work was put under way in 1828, Charles Carroll and John Q.
Ailams turning the first earth. The canal was very hard to build, and did not
make that rapid progress which its projectors desired. It was not until 1850
that the work reached Cumberland, Md. ; and when it arrived at that city it
stopped. It had cost $16,000,000. Surveys have been recently made with a
view to going on with it to Pittsburgh. It will undoubtedly be carried on to
that city at some time or other.
The Farmington Canal in Connecticut was built during this period of
excitement, the Dismal-Swamp Canal in Virginia, and a number ParminBton
of other short local affairs in different parts of the country. All Canai.
these enterprises repaid their cost to the public a hundred times over.
After the first speculative era of f-anal-building had passed by, a number of
other important canals were opened by different States, which still, like the
Trie and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canals, play a part in the Building of
general transportation-business of the country. One was the other canals.
canal from Lake Micliigan at the city of Chicago to the Illinois River, a dis-
tance of I02 miles, which was completed in 1852. Another was wabash and
the Wabash and Krie Canal, projected by the State of Indiana, ^"' Canals.
which, after many reverses and stoppages, was finished about 185c, and was
tlie means of creating another connection between the trade of the lakes and
the streams of the Mississippi Valley. Another great route which has not
been fully utilized even yet was across the State of Virginia. The idea was
to connect the Kanawha River, a branch of the Ohio, with the James River
leading into the sea. Over five million dollars was spent in trying to connect
these two rivers ; but the work was not finished, and still remains uncompleted.
Congress has aided in pushing this work, and it will probably be finished
during the next decade. It will open the shortest possible water-route to the
sea from the grain States of the West, and especially the central States of the
Mississippi Valley ; and there is not the shadow of a doubt but that it will have
a great traffic, and will probably change Richmond into a great commercial
emporium. Railroad-building has since 1835 largely diverted the energies of
the country from the construction of canals ; but experiment has only
■'•r>-...„,, ,.
608
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
railroads
upon canals
demonstrated the wonderful value and imperative necessity of such canals
Effect of ^^ those which have been particularly mentioned. Wherever ihey
are built, they are the cheapest route for the transaction 01 a
heavy freight-traffic, and by their cheapness they exercise a re'u-
lating influence of the most wholesome description upon the cost of trans-
portation on the raikoads.
It is now held by the statesmen of the country that the building of ihe
Erie Canal was the wisest and most far-seeing enterprise of the age. It !ias
Wisdom of '^'^ ^ permanent and indehble mark upon tiie face of the repulilic
building Erie of the United States in the great communities it has tlirrc ily
*"'■ assisted to build up at the West, and in the populous Inetrol)ull^ it
created at tlie mouth of the Hudson River. None of the canals which liave
been built to compete with it have yet succeeded in regaining for their Slates
what was lost to them when the Erie Canal went into operation. This water-
route is still the most important artificial one of its class in the country, ami is
only etjualled by the Welland Canal in Canada, which is its closest rival, h is
now proposed to make the lOrie Canal a free route, open without tolls to all
who may wish to navigate it. If the canal is really made free, it will retain its
position as the most popular water-route to the sea from thedreat West. Tlie
Mississippi River will divert from it all the trade flowing to South .Xmerica . nd
Mexico; but for the North-West it will be the only water highway to the
ocean.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
609
CHAPTKR V.
THE FISHERIES.
Venice.
INTIMATELY connected with tlie subjects of shipping and transportation
is that of the fisheries. A large j)art of the tonnage of all prosperous mari-
time nations is employed in the catching of ocean-fish, and it has freciuently
happened that a nation has owed all its maritime prosperity to the schooling in
na\igation which its people acnuiretl in this special field of employment.
Venice was o^-iginally only a collection of huts of fishermen, who,
fiiuling nothing to support them on the barren islands where For-
tune had destined them to reside, were obliged to live on the fish they could
git out of the sea, which they either consimied themselves, or peddled to the
inhabitants of the neigliboring coasts. Their mode of getting a living led
tlicm naturally into trade by sea, and this was tiie origin and the secret of all
their wonderful eminence. The Dutch were mariners and traders for the same
reason. 'I'hey diil not live on an island : but their country was so inhos|)itable,
that liiey found it more profitable to fish than to farm; and in 1600 these
industrious people alreaily had as many as three thousand boats, or busses, at
sea, catcliing herring, white-fish, and wliales. To market the catch to neighbor-
ing countries retjuired six thousand vessels more ; and the Dutch built up
the great city of Amsterdam on a foimdation of herring-bones, and made it,
liciiles, a centre of trade for all Europe. The luiglish also fished very
early ; and it is an interesting fact, now almost forgotten, that the Scots, who
fished more than the English, were once so superior to them in Legijiatio^
shipping, that the .-Vnglo-Siixons were very much alarmed about it, of Angio-
— so much so, that, in order to eciualize tilings, tiie King and Par- '"'°"*-
lianient offered heavy bounties to tiieir own fisliermen, and ordered all the
jieopie of the kingtlom to eat fish on two da\s of the week, so that the Englisii
might have fishing-boats, a trade, and a trading-marine, as well as their rivals.
In our own country the ocean-fisheries have borne an important relation to
the general shipping-interests of the several States. The men brought uj) on
liie coast where cod, mackerel, and whales have abounded, have supplied
our trading-marine with the best sailors it has ever had ; anil it was that class
'^"^-r-fTrrr
6io
INDLSTRIAF. lUSTOKY
of web-footcd nion — who li;i(l learned reailessly U) onc-omitcr all ihe ponl> of
the sea and comiuer then), and who always sailed their ships in the hea\ieit
weather, and " never struck a topsail as long as there was a mast tu il\ it
from" — that won for our republic its na\al triumphs in 1S12. 'I'iicv are
to-day still the most valuable element in the personnel of our whole niaritiuie
\\ *1
f.-.tablish!nent. Their shi])s have ever been the ])ioneers and reconnoiirii\n
jiarties of our tradinji-marine. They have exjilored every corner of the earth,
and always been first in tlie field. The first time the American flat; was ever
seen in luiyland was at the head of a wh;ilin^'-ship which entered the Thames.
'I'he early voyagers along the coast of North .America remarked the abun-
dance offish in the vi( inity of the shore from the very start. Whales were very
OF THE UNITED STATES.
6ll
numerous ; and great shoals of them, of the largest and best kinds, rame along-
side of the ships of the discoverers, and played sportively in the billows, some-
times to the great consternation of the seamen, whose vessels were not very
!:irL;c, and who dreaded being nni into by the big fellows and sunk. I'Aen
liciorc the settlement of the continent by the English began, the mariners of
l',iir()i)e, having learned that there was an abundance of fish in America,
llii(ked out with their vessels to the Hanks from all parts of the 01.1 World. It
was not an unusual sight, as early as 1600, to see six hundred or seven hun-
(irt'd vessels off the coasts of New Kngland taking fish. The ( ity of Bristol
ill England acquired great prosperity from these i.cw discoveries. 1 ler people
soiiu learned to send out boats to .\merica, and their i)rofits made a .sensation
in shii)|)ing-circles in luigland kindred to a modern gold stampede or an oil
fx( itcment. Whole fleets were sent out to reap a ])art of the new harvest.
These boats were of about a ium<lre(l tons' burden. They took back to ICng-
lanil loads that were worth three thousand i)ounds, of which twcj thousand
pounds was ])ure gain. Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian ships fre-
qiieuted tlie Hanks, along witii the others, for a long period of t'me.
It is said tliat one of the main ideas in fountling settlements in Massa-
chusetts was to builil up a colony of fishermen. There is no (lou])t but that
the utilization of the fisheries entered into tlie ])lp.ns of tlie origi-
nators of the colony, 'i'he charter of Massac'nisetts contains a seuVsettled
clause, saying. "Wee have given and graunted . . . all fishes— to build up
roval fishes, whales, balan, sturireons, and other fishes, of what ':°'°"y °
' fishermen.
kinde or nature soever, that shall at any tyme hereafter be taken
in or within the saide seas or waters, or any of them, by the said "...
[the grantees being here named], "or by any person or jjcrsons whatsoever
there inhabiting." To take advantage of the fisheries was one of the first
enterprises of the colonists, and it was to assist them in doing so tlvit the
company in London sent over shipwrights to build vessels on the coasts of
Massachusetts. Whales then swam along within sight of land, in such num-
bers, that, even if there had been no premeditated purpose witli respect to
the fisheries in sending the colonists to the barren coast of New Mnglaml, the
settlers would have been temjited to engage in ocean-fishing at a very early
(lay, merely by the siiectai les which passed before their eyes. But the fish-
eries being known before they came, and the jiatrons of the colony doing
their utmost to encourage the settlers to embark in fishing enterprises, it is
not surprising th.at Massachusetts became a colony of fishermen and mariners
from the beginning of its existence. \dr was Massachusetts alone in this.
The other New- England colonies followed closely in her footsteps, and
fished as well as farmed from the date of their settlement. Every island
along the coast became a centre of fishing activity, therefore, at a very early
(lay. I'".very favored port became crowded with boat and ship yards. .\ row
of villages sprang up along the beach from New- York City to the St. John's
6l2
/\nCSTA'/U. IIISTOKY
m
\ !•>.
Effect of
wars of 1776
and 1812
upon
fisheries.
River, devoted exclusively to pis< atori,il pursuits ; and sonic ot" lliLin, like
(lloucester, at'tcrwanls attained to a great prosperity and reputation. A> i ,iiK'
as 1 731 Massacluisetts had six luimlred vessels and six tiiousaiid sailor, .u
sea, half of them in the lisheries. I'he Ne\v-l!iiL;landers, by their su])(.ruir
advantages, antl their iiostiiity to the l'"renel<, Spanish, and l)ut( h, soon -nt
(oniplete control ot' the ol'l'-siiore banks, and dro\e all other a(l\eiUurcrs a<\,i\-.
Soon, obtaining nn)re fish and whale oil and bone tiian they conid tiieMi-rl\i.s
consume, they carried them to the otiier colonies on the continent and to
i'airope, anil laid the foundation of the connuin e ai'al maritime eminciK c
whicii have never sinct' dcpaitcil from then). The ll^herics were t\vi( c .mm-
iiilateil !)y war, — namely, at the time of 'he Revolution, and Ikhh
1S12 to 1S15; ami the ■vhaiing-interest s ilfered a se\ere Mow
again when petroleum ua-> discovered, and when the Confeditate
cruisers mailed in among the lleet in the North I'.k ific and li'niud
a large number of the >hips. I'lioe reverses were no more, how-
ever, than all pursuits are sure to eniou'Uer from time to time in their
history ; ai'' they happily were not, in general, permanent in their inllueut e.
In most cases tlie lisheries revi\ed within a few years after the rt-verses took
place. 'I'he whale-fishery was the only exception. There was one tune
when the fishing-cajitains of New I-ngiand were one of the most pros])eriMis
classes in the country ; namely, from 1.S15 to iS6c. .\ fre(iuent occiureiK e
during that period was the migration of fishing-ca|)tains I'rom New Hedlonl,
Nantucket, and other fisiiing-towns, to the farms and cities of the interior
of the country, to New-Vork State, and elsewiiere, where, with their familiis
and their snug accumulation of well-earned profits, t!iey passed the later veais
of their existence in the pea( et'ul enjoyment of inland life. It may be >>aiil,
also, that no more valual)le citizens were found in the inland havens, where the
cajjtains took shelter alter their voyages were over, than these same hanlv,
uj)right, and intelligent men. No more valuable element exists in the pojm-
lation of the I'nited States, indeed, than these fishermen of the New llngianil
coast. Brave, temperate, industrious, jjatriotic, and a strong reliaiK e in ( ase
of war, with a large i)ercentage of i|uaint characters among them, they form a
most interesting and important (lass.
Congress has diligently sought to promote tlie ol'f->hore and open 01 enii
fisheries of the United States from the earliest tlays of the republic. 1' Ikw
, . , . looked witli great favor upon these emijlovments as the c radle of
Legislation -^ ' ' •
of Congress tile iKivy and the men hant-marine. The products of the fisheries
were, of course, valuable : but thev were not so essential to our
welfare as to make it worth while for Congress to levy taxes upon
the whole < ountry in order to obtain them. It was the employment ii-eli',
and its great public utility in training up hardy, skilful, and eiiiigetic sailois,
which won favor in the eyes of Congress, 'i'he polic; adopted toward the fi^li-
eniien was to make the tax 0:1 their tonnage extremely liglu, to iierniii
on the
subject
or ■niE rxrn-.ii siaii.s.
(""^
L' of ihuiu, like
atiiin. .\> r.uiy
msand Miilm-. al
ly their su|i(,rli)r
DllU'll, snun Udl
ilvc'iUuiXTS .nv.iy.
.:t)ulil llK'm>rl\i.s
onlinciU ami ii
iritiinc I'luiiu IK I'
were Uv'k r ,ium-
oUilion, and linm
.■(1 a SL'VCl'L' lllllW
I tlic I'lint'cikralo
iciric ami Irinicd
•ri' no moil', luiw-
lo tinu' in Uiiir
\\\ their inlliieiit (■.
r the reverses took
■re was one lime
> most prosperous
.■(pienl occurreiKc
[om New lieiltord.
■s ol" the interior
ith their families
jd tiie later years
It may lie said.
ia\ens. where the
R'sc same hardy,
usts in the jioiju-
ihe Ne\v-l'.ni;land
reliance in ease
them, ihey form a
and open-oecan
ii'pul.ilic. 1' h.is
as the I radle ol
cts of the fi-lieries
essential to our
(, K'vy taxes uiion
.■mploynienl ii-^ell,
1 en''rgeti(- sailors,
•d towanl the fish-
li-lu, to permit
tluin to import salt for ciirini,' fisli free of duty, to impose a luavy duty on
f)ieij,'n fish and fishinj^'-produi ts, to gise a bounty to all employinj; a Ixjat
wliosc crew were three-fourths Amerieans, and to negotiate treaties with
l',n:^land to secure for them fi>hini,'rii;hts in tiie liritish-Anierican provinces,
MK h as the right to land and < ore fi^h in Newfomidland, to fish within the
three -mile limit of shore, iVc The bounty to fishing-ve>sels was of very early
dale ; in 1S55 it was made three and a half and four dollars a ton, according
to ilie size of the vessel. Over .S15.000.000 have been |)aid from the national
Irr i^urv to the ocean-fisheruien in these tonn.iye bounties alone. Never was
AS AN( i.v ui: \i.::.
money better spent. The relief grante(l bv free salt has been a valuable form
of tticouragemeiit. Salt lan be importi'ii in the ocean sti'amers from iMigland
nvich chea|)er th.m it can be l)rouuht from New \'ork ami Wisconsin and
(Kposited on the coast, for the reason that the original cost is less. The
Mi';imers come this wav witli very light cargoes, and they ;ire glad to load up
with bags of salt for b.dl.ist. and to carry it at a ]>urely nominal rate ; while
tran-portation from the interior of the I'uited Slates to the coast is expensive.
Ill iS;() the foreign salt consumi-d in the fisheries already amounted to
''i.ooo.ooo jjounds a year. The ( t)nsumption has siiue grown to i::6,ooo,ooo
l"jiiiuls a vear,
M; i
■*T7'T?' w
614
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
'if:
ill
Im
The whale fishery was the first, anc' for a long period the most important
of the fisheries. Hegiimi'ig vn iho shores of Lon^' Island, at Nantuc ket, .mkI
The whale- in Massachusetts and Maine, with the employment of a few Ion ..
fishery. bonts, which put out from the shon. whenever a whale cauR' in
sight, it developed until it had viriu Uly ilrivon tiie whalers of all other nation-
dities from the seas in open and friendly competition, and was emplovin"
700 ships and 16,000 sailors. From 18.(5 to iSOo it employed from 650 to
700 vessels, the tonnai^e ranging in different years from iSo.ooo to 198,000 •
the capital invested in the business in shij)s, boats, harpoons, apparatus, \i-.
tjeiiig 525,000,000, and the yearly product in whale-oil, sperm-oil, and whalc-
bo'ie, being ij! 12,000,000. Nantiw ket was originally the principal centre of
the 'nterest. Her whalemen, by long i)rictice, bc'-ame m,"-o Lxi)ert, and con-
seciuently more successful, than those of other parts of the coast; and siie
accordingly soon came to rank first in the business. New Uedford was next,
and New London, Fair Haven, South impton, Stonington, and otiier ports,
came afterwards. Nantu ket now 'lands only fourth upon the list, and Nl\v
Bedford is the pr ncipal whaling-i)ort of tiie country. The first wiialmg-
grounds were, of course, off siiore, along tiie North-Atlantic coast. When
the fish "oegan to get a little shy a. id scarce, the oidps put out for regular
voyages, and cruised along the (lulf Stream, and off the West Indies and
Brf/.il. As early as i8n(> they had found their way into the Pacific Ocean;
but in th>>se times they rarely filled with oil there : the captains preferred to
come Lack around Cape Horn, and fill up in tlie tropics on the way home,
taking sperni-whales or right-whales, as the case might be. .M)out 1S50
the whalers began to find it necessary to criiise in the most distant waters ; and
the siiips went to sea accordingly e(iuip[)ed for a two-years' voyage, and two
years have been ever since the regular voyage of New- England whalers. The
system adopted for these expeditions grew uj) very naturally from the old ])rac-
tice of watching on shore for a whale in the offing, rowing out and cap-
turing the prize, and dividing the proceeds among those who took part in tlie
capture. Instead of paying llie officers and men of the ships in money for
tneir services, every voyage was made a co-operative affair. .'V certain share
of tlie catch was allotted to the cajitain as his compensation, a certain ofhir
smaller share to the lower officers and men, and a certain jjroportion to the
o'.vner cf the ship for profits on his investment. The part allotted to eac h
man was called his " lay : " thus his "' lay was on''-sixteenth," and so on.
This system was a great stimulus to enterprise, and was one secret of tlie
remarkable vigor which the whaling-marine displayed. Many famous voyages
were made. Prior to 181 5, from 900 to 1,600 barrels of oil, worth from
J522,ooo to ?40,ooo, was the ordinary successfiil catch : after that the sliijis
were enlarged, and from 1,600 to 2.500 barrels, worth from ;?40,ooo to ;>62,oo(),
was the standard fair catch. But now and then a ship came into jiort having
sent home during her voyage, or bringing with her, 3,000, 3,500, or 4,000
v-'<
OF THE UNITED STATES.
OIS
w%
<,'^*' '
most important,
il Nantucket, ami
lU of a lew V)\v^-
a wiiale fame in
■ all other iKitioii-
1(1 was emiiliiviiii^
oyed from 050 to
),ooo to 198,000 ;
lis, ajiparalus, \c.,
rnM>il. and whalc-
rhuipal centre of
e expert, and con-
e coast ; and >he
Bedford was next,
, and other ports,
the list, and New
The first whalini;-
ntic: loast. Wluii
)Ut out for regular
; West Indies and
he Pacific Ocean ;
)tains preferred to
on the way ht)nie,
be. About 1830
listant waters ; and
s' voyage, and two
and whalers. 'I'lic
from the old prac-
ing out and cap-
took part in the
lips in money tor
A certain share
ion. a certain otlur
proportion to the
t allottetl to each
nth," and so on.
one secret of the
ny famous voyat^es
jf oil, worth from
.iter that the ships
40.000 to ?C2,000,
ne into port having
o, 3,500, or 4.""<'
iV
liirrels of right-whalo oil. In 1843 "The Maria" of Nantucket came back
Ipiui a twenty-tuu months' < ruise with 2,413 barrels of sjerin oil, w(<rth
<;;o,ooo, this variety being scarcer and more valuable. In 1S49 "'1 he Smith
America " of I'rovi<lence, R.I., which was fitted for sea at a tot.u cost ot
^40,000, came back with 5,500 barrels of oil and a large supply of bone,
worth in all ^89,000, paying her cost, and a dividend of 125 percent. She
liad been otit twenty-six months. '" The Russell " of New IJedford came
hack in 1.849, after a three-years-and-four-moiitiis' voyage, with 2,650 barrels
of sperm-oil, worth ^92,000. 'I'he most remarkable voyage ever made, per-
iiai'-i, is vouched for by .\lr. .Mexa'ider Starbuck. "'I'he luivoy," having been
(ondemned to be broken up, was sold to \Villiam C. ISrownell of New lied-
fiinl, who concluded, alter all, to send her out once more, aii<l did send her
to sea at a cost to himself of jl8,ooo. The tmderwriters declined to insure
her. 'I'he vessel freigiited 1,000 barrels of oil from Wytootache to Manila;
and tiien, putting into the North I u ifi( . siie caught 5.300 barrels of oil and
-5,000 ])ounds of bone. 'I'he receipts of the voyage were Si3'8,450. In
1853 "The Favorite " of Fair Haven realized Si 16,000 ; " 'I'he Montreal " of
New liedford, Sr^6,o23 ; ami " The Sheflield " of New liedford, which had
been gone four years, Si24,cx)o. "I'lie I'ioneer " of New London made in
1S64 and 1865 in the North .\tlantic the most successful catch ever known.
Her voyage realized Si 50.060. These brilliant results have not been obtained
of kite years. .After 1861 the whale-fishery ran down, owing to the scarcity
and shyness of the lish, the low jirices of oil conse(pient on the discovery of
|ietroleuni. and the high cost of fitting out ships. In iSoo a 1,900-barrel ship
could be fitted out for Si 2,000: in 1S60 a 3.800-barrel ship cost S65.000,
fitted for sea. In 1S77 the lleet had become reduced to 171 ships, of a
capacity of 39,165 tons. The right-whales of the North Pacific, and the sea-
elephants of antarctic regions, are now the ])rincipal deiiendence of our
whaling-men ; but the game is getting very scarce. It has been the prey of
j^enerations of eager men ; and it will one day become extinct, unless Professor
Haird, or some such man, turns his attention to their artificial propagation.
Why should he not ?
The cod and mackerel fisheries are now more important in respect to the
tonnage employed in them than the one just described. They employed
iiore tonnage, indeed, than the whale-fishery prior to 1830, the cod and
figures for 1S29 especially being remarkable; the whaling-fleet mackerel
heing only 57,284 tons in that year, and the cod and mackerel * "'"' i
boats 101,797 tons. Hut after 1830 tlw Hank fisheries fell into .the second
aiik : and they only came vc the front again in 1 86 1 , when the war, with its
high ]irices, jietrolenni, iVc, broke clown whaling. The cod and mackerel
tonnage is now 87,000, and the number of boats 2.31 1, nearly all of them
hcing under fifty tons' burden, and about half of them under twenty tons.
There are over 20,000 men employed in the business. The boats go out to
6i6
IND I 'S TRIA L HIS TORY
\
the Hanks on llio co-operative plan, ea( h man getting a stipulated slian nf
the catch, and the owner su|)i)Iying a certain portion of the outfit, and gelling
his pay, like the rest, in fisli. 'I'he cod and nuu kerel are liolh caught witli tjie
line. 'The former is easily <aiight. 'I'he hook, baited with any thing to atlract
attention, though generally with small fish, is dropped until it touches liic
bottom : it is then hauled up slightly, so that with every lurch of the Ikmi it
will clear the bottom. \ bile is signified by a slight jerk. 'I'he line is tlu'ii
hauled in rapidly, hand over hand, llie fish unhooked, and the htok baited ami
thrown out again. When the fish l)ite freely, three hooks can be used on the
same line ; and. in fact, they are generally used. The crew of the lioat range
themselves along liie gunw.Ue on both sides, and often are kept in a slate of
incessant action by the eagerness of the fisli. .\l night the fish are cleaned
and salted down. Mackerel-fishing is more exciting, because the fish are
gamy, and they dash madly about in the water when hooked. 'Ihc ina( km 1
swim in slioals ; and, wlien llu'V are biting, there is always a scene of gnat
activity anil excilenunt on lioard liie boat. The rapidity witli wliich several
barrelfiils of fisli (an be l.'.kcn frniu the water is wonderfiil. 'I'he cleaning
and packing in sill ,ue i>erlormed when the fish lire sI.k k ; iliat is, when tins
are not biting well, or .it night. 'I'hese fi>h h.ive sometiiius litcn i aiighl with
nets ; but liie proci'^s is iliftii nil ami ims.iti^f.ulory. and the ri^herinen gciK imIK
pilfer the line. The s.iliie of the proihirt of i oil and inai kerel fisiieiit^ i-,
aiiout ;>9,ooo.ooo a ye.ir. \ iiadv maikil is always found for ihr fi^li. aiuj
tho>e wlio are engaged in the liu>iiK-is ha\e only liie competition of liic
Canadians to fear. .\s a genenil rule. thi\ hold their own against tluir
Nortiiern neighbors. Tiie state of tilings esisting ju^t at present, Iiowimt,
is unf.nor.ible to llu-iii, lii<.ui>i. under the tre.ity of iS;^. the I'liited Slat s
market w.is tiirowii o]ien to the (aiiacji.in fi^herinen in e\i liange for llie rijlit,
on our pari, to li>li witiiin the tliiee mile limit. 'I'iii' C.inadi.ins gained iiioie
than they lost by tliis ; and, altiioiigh tlie H.ilifax ( onmiission in i.S^y
adjudged that tlie Inited States ought to p.iy S5. 500,000 for ilie Miinrior
advantages slie gained jiy that treaty, the decision was dearly iiiijii--t. and it
has so increased the odd; ig.iinst our fishermen, that stejis were taken by
Congress in May, iiSy.S, to hue the fi>hery-(lause of the treaty abrogated.
One branch of the fisheries — wiiii h. however, is re.iliy an in slu ire affair,
and has ne\er needed any sjiecial protecting care from the government — is
Oyster- the oyster-busiiiess. The only legislation which has been lueiled
business. \^.^^ \>Q{iw to jjrevent the oystermen from infringing on ea< h oijur's
rights. This species of ocean-inhabitant grows naturally in tlie cool waleis all
along the Northern coast, and attains a si/e, and delicacy of flavor, iinei|iialled
anywhere in the world. The waters of Virginia and Maryland and of I.ong-
Island Sound are the favorite haunts of the oyster. \ favorite jiractice in the
trade is to breed the oyster in Virginia or Maryland, and bring it Xortli by
the sloop-load, and plant it in the vicinity of New-Vork City, and on the I.ong-
i' -n^"
OF THE UNITED STATES.
617
[iiilatcd sliaii' nf
iilfit, and t^itini;,'
I caiiglit Willi the
y tiling to attract
il it toiu ins the
li of the liii.it it
'I'lic lino is then
iriok baitt'il and
l)i' iisfd (in the
)!' llie Itoat nni;;i'
.•pi in a ^)tatc ot'
fish arc cleaned
use the fisli :ire
1. 'I'li(! nvK kill!
a scene of j;reat
•itii \vhi( li several
il. 'I'he cleaniiii;
that is, wiicn llu \
l)een < an^ht wiiii
ishernien generally
,ckerel fishein-- i>
I fur the fish. .1:11 1
petition 111' the
n a.n.uiiit ilnir
ivsenl. Imwever,
the I'nited Sl.it ■>
-e for the ri,.:ht,
ns y.iineil nioie
lissioii in iN;;
lor the su|»Tior
Iv <iiiju-.t. and it
IS were taken hy
V alirogatcd.
in in shore alf.iir.
^o\-ernnH'n! - is
Kis lieeil lU'ei'.ed
l; on ea< h oilu r'-^
e cool waters .ill
llavor, unei|nalk'd
id and of l.ong-
jiracticc in the
rin.i,' il North liy
nd on the Long-
IIYSTRKS DNl:. TUil| ANIi IMHhL'. NK.NKs lil.li.
I^Ian<l and ronnertinit coasts, where it fattens. Haltiniore and New-Vork
( ,ty are the principal centres of the oysterdnisiness. In both plac es millions
of dollars'
ttorlh of the
liivahe are put
up annually in
cans and kegs,
ami distrilnit-
iil liv railroad
li) all parts of
the I'nited
States and
( .iiiada. Of late years, oysters have been sent to Mnrope from those < ities ; and
the business is becoming considerable, now that the steamers have been jiro-
vuled with the facilities for keeping the oysters cool en route across the sea.
The animal product is valued at about 5j5.ooo,ooo.
Among the other treasures of the sea which accrue to the profits of our
fishcrineii and the luxury of our tables are
the halibut, the shad, salmon, blue lish,
herring, white ^l■^h. wtak t'lsh,
I I II. I I Shad, sal-
b.iss, cl.uiis, lobsters, eels, ami „ ,
other N.irieties. 'I'lieri' are rinK. lobster,
about thirtv five kinds in all. "";;■ •'i''^'"
fish.
'I'hi'y ai'e .ill t.iken in lar^e
<piaiit:iirs. Lobsters are canned for the
gener.d m.irket, and are now exported in
considerable quantities, as well as oysters.
( )ne br.iiirh of the business not yet men-
tioned has now grown so huge as to t.ike
its |i|.u-e among tlu' st.iple resources of
the couiilrv, although th.e inhabitants of
the regions where il is engaged in most
sincerely wish that it had never become
a staple resource, ami that the fish would
sv iin away to some hitherto unheard-of
'li.irter of the globe, and never, never come back. This is the ( alching
"I porgies and bony fish for fertili/ing-]Mirposes. These little fishes swim
in immense shoals, ntimbcring milliims of fish. They are caught in nets in
llie Sound, and along the northern coasts generally. The shoals are often so
laryc as to tow, against the wind, the net and the schooner from whii h il has
Ih'cm tarried out ; and they sometimes carry away the nets. Hut, if the shoal
is not too large, it can be handled. The fish are valued for their oil, 'vhich is
extracted by proper processes, and also because their remains can then be
OYSTERS (;|((1«1S(, 11
6i8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
converted into guano for the benefit of the farms. The establishments where
this manufacture is carried on waft a fragrance upon the breeze which docs
not remind one of hehotrope or the East Indies.
Two kinds of fish wh'cii were remarkably abundant when the country was
new were the shad an'l the salmon. These fish have almost disappeared
Disappear- ^o"^ ^^"^^ localities, and they are scarce in all. The attention of
nnce of shad the government of the United States was called several years a"o
an salmon. ^^ ^j^^ subject of tlie artificial proi)agation of these and other lisli.
Experiments were making under Seth dreen, in New- York State, for the hieed-
Artificiai '"S of millions of lake and river fishes, anil the placing of them
propaga- in lakcs and streams to repopulate the waters which had thus
*'°"" been almost emptied of their game by local anglers antl spearmen.
Other States were giving attention to the subject ; and the United States were
invited to consider the state of the coast-fisheries, and the propriety of pro[ja-
gating shad, salmon, &c., to replenish impoverished waters. A law was passetl
Feb. 9, 1 87 1, for the creation of a fish commissioner, and I'rofessor Spencer
F. Baird was appointetl by the President to that office. Since that date,
extensive and minute investigations have been in jirogress to gain a prelimi-
nary idea of the character of the coast and of its foovl fishes, rrofessi/r
Baird spent the summer of 187 1, with his assistants at Wood's Hole on Cape
Cod, the summer of 1872 at Eastport, Me., that of 1873 at Portland, Me.,
1874 at Noank, Conn., and 1875 '^*- Wood's Hole again. No work was done
on the coast in 1876, owing to Professor Hainl's presence at the Centennial
Exhibition to take charge of the general display of hatching-apparatus and
methods of fish-culture ; but research has since been resumed. The studies
of the commissioner were attended with valuable results, and led to the prac-
tical hatching of shad and salmon for distribution to the waters of the several
States and Territories. Up to 1877, over 26,000,000 shad, 7,500,000 salmon,
and 2,670,000 white-fish, had been hatched, and placed in the waters of the
United States North and South> and on the Pacific, under the supervision of
the commissioner. The work is still going on, and on ar. increasing scale,
supplemented by the active efforts of fish commissioners in a number of the
States. It promises to yield valuable results in a few years, and to repay its
whole cost a thousand times over. Undoubteilly the time will yet come wiieii
active efforts in the way of multiplying the off-shore fish, such as the cod and
mackerel, will be attempted.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
619
CHAl^ER VI.
RAILROADS.
AN clofjuent Virginian in C'oi.gress, commenting on the rapid progress
of the country in mechanical invention, said admiringly, that tiie
people of America were a race jiossessing much the same spirit as Mission of
the Normans of old, and following much the same career of con- the present
(liRst and success. The only difference was, that the Normans genera* on-
subdued kingdoms of men, whereas the Americans were achieving the still
more difficult task of a con(}uest over nature. The mission of our generation
is to subdue the material universe, he said ; and he spoke of the people of the
North as " amazing the world by their feats of mechanical skill, and covering
the remotest- seas with the argosies of their commerce, free as the winds, and
iMundless as the waves that bear it." What would he have said could he have
looked forward into the future twenty years, and seen a continent subdued
ami populated by this same people through the agency of a new and wonder-
ful mechanical creation which flew from one part of the land to the other
with a speed which defied time, and with a freedom, certainty, and regularity
which laughed at storms and seasons, and which was employed in the service
of a now and wonderful conmierce whose magnitude and wealth dwarfed into
insignificance that carrieil on upon .the sea?
To trace the rise and progress of a railroad from its inception — perhaps
in the head of some casual lounger around the stove of a country store —
to its actual consummation would give a more perfect insight into the genius
of the nineteenth century, and the goal toward which civilization has so far
tended, than could possibly be gaineii by the most profound study of the
pages of Huckle.
The moving causes for building railroads in this country are, for the most
part, jirccisely the reverse of those which lead to their construction in Europe.
In I'jirope they are built to satisfy existing retpiirements for increased means
of communication ; they are built to meet the wants of thickly-settled dis-
tricts: in this country this is but one, and a minor one, of their offices.
Their characteristic office here is to create such districts in places where none
620
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
exist. They are causes with us, not effects. The brightest dream of tht-
American patriot, irrespective of [)olitical creed, is to "open up" some
portion of the wilderness of which the great area of his country is couiixistd ■
and to do this he looks, and rightly, to the railroad as his principal aid. It
must be confessed that the poetry of the railroad as the willing coadjutor of
human aspiration belongs to America, .in common with all new countries
rather than to luirope, where it is merely an inevitable seepience of an aciuul
achieved status.
The period of fifty years following the war of iiSi2 was one of restless
activity and Titanic strides. The American mind was displaying a fertility
.1"! n I. Ill i;?.'.i.
and resource which had no parallel in the history of the world. Invention
Half century Succeeded invention with astonishing rapidity ; and scan e was
succeeding the public mind aglow with some great idea for the comftirt and
waro I ij. convenience of the human race, and government and ])e()]ile at
work to carry it into effect, when the drum-beat of a new thought would be
iieard, and a -lew tY'^imr be initiated, which should work wonders in the
(ivilization and ha])piness of the people and the development of the wealth of
the nation. In no field was progress more rapid than in that of internal
transportation. Hardly had plans for building military wagon-roads to every
part of our extended domain been perfected — so that the trains of huge,
canvas-topped, broad-tireti wagons in use in early days, with their teams of
OF THE UNITED STATES.
621
four or six big horses and " orchestra of bells," might be made thoroughly
useful to the people — than steam was invented for the navigation of rivers,
and canals were built for increased ease and rapidity of communication between
distant parts of the interior. The old way was supplemented or superseded by
sonictliing better almost before the capacities of the old way had been fully
developed. In the very year that the public mind was the most excited
about canals (1825) attention began to be drawn to still another and better
ageiK y of transportation, which was destined in time to overshadow all others
completely, antl work out public results that would have been regarded in
1825 as the wildest dreams of romance, and even in 1878 can scarcely be
graspcil by the human mind. Railroads were ';'ven to tiie world in that year,
and were discussed in tne United States, and soon riveted such attention, that
great schemes for canal-building were dropped, and effort concentrated upon
the new idea. 'l"he ra|)i(lity of progress which had preceded the invention of
this style of land-transportation followed it; and in 1878 the United States
with its 45,000,000 of people have 79,000 miles of road in practical operation
(not of track, but Oi road) against 88,000 in luirope with its 300,000,000 of
people, and 1 1 ,000 in the rest of the world besiiles with its i ,000,000,000
of human souls.
Railroatls took their rise in the tramways in use in the mines of Kngland
and (iermany for ( onveying heavy masses of coal and iron ore to the doors
of the mines, and thence to buildings or yards for the sto--\ge or Rajiroads
manufacture of the minerals, or to wha»-ves or ile[)6ts for iheir had their rise
transfer to wagons and boats for distribution. Coml)ined with '"*''"■""'■>"•
this idea was another, for employing steam to propel carriages along com-
mon roads. These two ideas were conceived in the closing years of the
last century, anil were not at the time thought of together, but were made use
of as totally distinct inventions. In this country the idea of a steam-carriage
preceded that of the tramway. As early as 1794 Oliver Kvans of Marylaml
used to say that the t:hiKl was then born who would travel from Philadelphia
to Hoston in a steam-wagon. He was regarded as an enthusiast; but efforts
were made for thirty years to realize his idea. A great many steam-carriages.
were invented. Rumors of the experiments reached England ; and in the
summer of 1819 a London pajjcr had an item saying, " The Americans ha^e
applieil the power of steam to supersede that of horses in propelling stage-
coaches. In the State of Kentucky a stage-coach is now established, which
travels at the rate of twelve miles an hour. It can be stopped instantly, ami
set ajiain in motion with its former velocity ; and is so constructed, that the
passengers sit within two feet of the grouml. The velocity depends on the
sia' of the wheels." This item is believed to be inaccurate as to the fact of
a steam-coach in practical use ; but it correctly sets forth what American
inventors were striving after.
Experiments in this directicm were tried, for many years. On some routes
"'7'',T'r tf
633
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
of travel, like that between Albany and Lake Erie, forty or fifty horse-coaches
First ste»r.i- Were often despatched in one day ; and, could steam be usL'd to
coaches. propel tliem, a great saving of expense, and expedition of business
would be effected. Steam-coaches were exhibited in New York, Philadelphia
/! '? U ^^ '■^^'""gton, and elsewhere; and in 1824 S. T. Conn of Virginia publicly
'■ advertised for capital to form a company to run a steam-carriage on the turn-
pike between Washington and Alexandria. He wanted 5 1,200 for the purpose,
- - a modest sum, surely, compared with the millions of capital which it now
takes to build and operate a modern line of steam-railway. Believing in the
jjossibility of steam-coaches, and seeing the necessity of providi
uu
a vjIkI
hard, straigiit road for them to travel on, tiie State of New York in 182;
projected a great wagon-road from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, to cost
/
V
rilK S<H,TH CAKnI.INA," 183I.
^
\
%
V ^ $500,000. and ordered surveys for it. Other States gave attention also to the
n subject of the improvement of tiieir common roads.
The crude idea of a steam road-wagon was never realized, because in 18:5
(N V attention was 'Irawn to tiie subjec t of railways. The Storkton and D.ulinuton
Stockton ana l^'j ibvay hj id Jjieeii_ojjieiie<l in Knj,dan<j_n i .order to simiiK- Lomloii
Darlington wit, h^ coal, and passiMi^jer-cars we re drau ui s^^ it by a crude :ort
of locomotive at the rate of se\x'n miles an hour. The stories
told about this coal-tramway brought on a d.r.cussion in the Ignited States
which left the projected steam-coach quite out of sight. "The bondnn
Courier" said in 182 1 ; of Mr. Rus h, the American minister, then soon to
return to this country to be secretary of the treasury, '' \Vhat(;ver I'iirlinnient
may do " [abotit railways in England], ''they cannot stop the course of knowl-
edge and imjirovement. The American Governinent has possessed itself.
through its minister, of the improved mode of maliiif and constructing,' nil-
roads ; and there can be no doubt of their immediaie adoption throughout that
OF THE UNITED STATES.
623
• fifty horse-coaches
I steam be used to
ledition of business,
York, Philadelphia,
of Virginia publicly
irriage on the turn-
200 for the \)urpose,
lapital which it now
yf. Believing in the
f providing a solid,
New York in 1825
I Lake Erie, to cost
[attention also to the
i/^'d, borause in iSr,
Iklon and Darlin.L'ton
llcr_toMililily bondnn
l^Titby a crude ' ort
[n hour, '''he stories
]in the I'nited States
light. "'I'he l.oiniiiii
Minister, then soon to
\Vhat»;ver Pailiameiit
\. the course of know!-
has possessed itsell,
and constnicting rail-
iption throughout that
country." There could be noie whatever : for railroads were more needed in
this wild and undeveloped country than in England.
There was not a mile of railroad in America in 1825. In 1826 building /^^ -^
bcL'an. Two short roads were undertaken almost simidtaneously, — a line / ,
three miles long at Quincy, Mass., to bring down granite from the , ^
(juarries ; and a line nine miles long at Maiich Chunk, Pcnn., to roads in
bring down coal from the mines. Both were horse-roads. The United
Mauch-Chunk road cost from ^ 2,500 to $3,00 a mile,, being laiil
o\er a route i)reviously used for ordinary wagons! Wooden rails were laid
upon wooden sleepers lying four feet apart, beiiu^ fastened thereto by wooden
keys. The sleepers were supported on stone foundations, and the rails plated
on the inner edge with rolled iron bars from an inch and a (juarter to an inch
and three-quarters wide. A gravel-path for the horses was made between the
rails covering the sleepers. The wagons weighed from 1,200 to Description
1.500 pounds each, and were mounted on flangeil wheels two feet °' '*'^'"'
in diameter. They carried a ton and a half each. The cars were allowed to
nni down five miles by tie force of gravity, and were then towed to the place
for dumping the coal by horses. On the Quincy road the tracks were five
feet ajjart. Wooden rails six inches bytwelve were laitl on stone sleeper^
lying eight Jeet^qijart, which, in turn, were supported upon a stone foundation.
On the top of the rails was phded a scantling two inches by four, which was
plated with bar iron from two inches and a half to two inches and three-
iiuarters wide. The wagons weighed six tons each, cost four hundred dollars
apiece, and were mounted on wheels six feet and a half in diameter. Two
horses drew fifty tons' weight, including the wagons, over this road, at a speed
of four miles and a half an hour. On a canal the same weight could not have
heen drawn by two horses then faster than two miles an hour. This road cost
511.250 a mile, owing to the rock-cuttings and trestle-work which were
necessary upon it. The two roads were finishe<l in 1827. A ptddic celebra-
tion took ]ilace on the opening of the latter. (Ireat popidar interest was felt
in both, and committees came to see them from all parts of the country.
\() railroad had yet been built in the world for the general conveyance of
passengers and goods, — not even in England. So far, all the railways had been
constructed for the transportation of the products of mines over Early linet
extremely short routes. "I'heir utility for the purposes of general were an
trattic, however, was disclosed by these preliminary experiments, * °'*"
and .America seized upon the new idea quite as (juick as England. Daniel
Webster, Charles Carroll, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Clay, and other public men, ex-
jiressed a belief in their ])racticability ; and the new era was suc-cessfiiUy
initialed. Wings were now lent to enterjjrise by the rivalry of cities. New
Vork had taken an astonishing start consecpient upon the opening of t mi, E rie
(jinal, and was diverting trade from Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore, which
could only be regained, if at all, by the construction of great transportation-
l
-''•fir.' a'V'
1
^
■
C24
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
yf^i-
K
/^-j"
routes from those cities ihto the interior ; and the busiiiess-men of those places
set about the unclertai^ing at once. Long lines of railway were projected from
all the most enterprising seaboard cities into the more thickly-settled portions
of their own States, with the idea of ultimate extension toward the West.
They were a'l originally planned to be operated by horse-power, or by sta-
tionary engines; though the possibility of cni-
ployin g locomotives was kept in view, and me-
chanics were encouraged to study the subject
of sleam - locomotion, and try their hands at
building engines.
A short road of seventeen miles from Albany
to Schenectady h'\d been authorized by the New-
Baitimore ^'"■"^^ State Legislature April 1 7, 1 826,
■nd Ohio to be operated by horses, inclined
"""' ■ planes, and stationary engines. On
July 4,, 1828, ground was broken for a railroad
from Baltimore out to Ohio, the president of the
day being the venerable Charles Carroll, who said
to a friend on the occasion " that he considered
it among the most important acts of his life,
second only to his signing the
Declaration of Independence,
if even it were second to that."
Twelve miles of the ro ad were
opened to travel in May, 1830,
the cars being drawn by horses,
as it was not until a year or
two later that the certainty of
attaining greater speed by
means of locomotives was as-
sured. At '' ni the track was
laid on large blocks of stone ;
but, after passing the I'ataps-
co, wooden ties and stringers
were used, owing to tlicir
ROLSTON INCUNEn RAILWAY.
greater elasticity.
The Halli-
and seml-
. /yf{^/moxQ and Ohio Company acted with vigor, pressing its contractors,
iV / ing committees to other parts of the country and to England to stutly road-
building and the capacities of steam. In 1832 the road was built to Point ot
Rocks, a distance of seventy-three miles; and the company had offered pre
V
7
^^miums of $4,000 and $3,500 for locomotives to run at certain rates of speed
\Ki on the road of the company, by means of which they obtained "The \urk,"
v.M^ \y\i\\\\\. at York, Penn., by Davis and Gartner, which was able to draw fifteen tons
) V ^ '
OF THE UNITED STATES.
62;
men of those places
were projected from
ckly-settled ponions
1 toward the West.
se-power, or by st;i-
j possibility of em-
)t in view, and me-
) stiuly the suliject
try their hands at
1 miles from Albany
horized by the New-
iature April 17, 1826,
by horses, inclined
ionary engines. On
roken for a railroad
the president of the
rles Carroll, who said
"that he considered
int acts of his life,
ily to his signing the
pn of Independence,
vere second to that."
es of the ro ad were
travel in May, 1830, \'\
:ing drawn by horses,
not until a year or
lat the certainty of
greater speed by
ocomotives was as-
nt the track was
ge blocks of stone ;
)assing the l'ata|)s-
n ties and stringers
owing to tlieir
isticity. The baiii-
mtractors, and send-
:,dand to study road-
as built to Point of
ny had offered pre-
rtain rates of si)ced
tained" The York,"
to draw fifteen tons
6a6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
In So
railroad a.
Railroads
in South
Carolina.
/P*^
'\
\
J
on a level at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. The comjiany was delayed
by litigation with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, which fought
its progress; and it was not until 1853 that the road reached the Ohio
River.
h Caroli: a a company was incorporated, Dec. 19, 1827, to build p
an ' lit to Hamburgh, on the Savinnah River, in order to ojien
ju,y ■ '^Uimunication with the ri • agricultural regions iyiug in
vHp 'ion, the intervening d. (-ts being a wilderness ol
swi„;ips. r ■>d-States engineers made the surveys, as they did
for all these early railroads. The road was oj:ginally built upon trestle-work
nearly the whole distance, with a thin strap-rail laid upon stringers. Charles-
ton was the first city in the country to employ a locomotive. In 1830. when
the road had been finishe<l for only eight miles, — several months before the
opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in lOngland, upon which
eam-engincs were employed, an event which created a furore of excitement
both sides of the ocean, — a locomotive weighing five tons, and called "The
Best Friend," was operated profitably on the South-Carolina Railroad. It was
built at West Point, N.Y., under the direction of Mr, E. L. Miller of Charles-
ton, S.C., and was the first one used in the passenger and freight business of
, ^ the United States.
\^ ^/^ In 1 83 1 the Mohawk and Albany Railroad was opened to use. The same
/ Mohawk and y*^^"" ^^*^ ^^^^ f"""'" R't^hmond, Va., to Chesterfielil, tiiirtscn miles
'^ Albany Rail- long, the sccond One finished in the United Stat^i, was thrown
^°° ■ open, and a little line five miles long from New Orl'^ans tc Lak
Pontchartrain.
Pennsylvania's transportation-route to the West was undertaken at first d)
.eStcite iiself. Agitation for a railroad and canal beganjn_i8ji^^s soon as it
was seen what a blessing to New- York State the Erie Canal had
Yir^t »ail-
roads in become. Surveys were made ; and in Febr uary. 1828. th e com-
mittee on internal improvements reported to the lower house of
the legislature that a railroad ought to be built at once from I'iiila-
delphia to I^ncaster and Columbia, and thence extended to the West. They
said, " This will accommodate a district of country, which, from its i)rolific soil
and rich cultivation, is considered the garden of our country. ... A wise
and equal policy will require its farther extension to the West, for the purpose
of accommodating the populous and flourishing counties ' on the southern
boundary, and connecting them with our own commercial njetropolis." Ihe
State built the railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia (eighty-two miles), and
the portage road from Hollidaysburgh to Johnstown, so that they were ready
for use in 1832. It also built a canal from Johnstown to Pittsburgh, the total
cost of all these works being twelve million dollars. This gave Philadelphia a
route through to the West, and enabled her to meet the competition of other
cities. While these works were in progress, a number of small roads in the
./^^^
Pennsylva-
nia.
i^n
OF THE UNITED STATES.
627
iny was delayed
\y, which fought
ached the Ohio
1827, to build a
in order to opin
I regions lying in
a wilderness of
veys, as they dii.l
ipon trestle-work
ringers. C'harlcs-
. In 1830. wlicn
lonths before the
land, upon which
9>e of excitement
, and called " 'Hie
Railroad. It was
Miller of Chadcs-
frcight business of
to use. The same
[leld, thirteen miles
kat-'i, was thrown
w Orl'ians tc Luk
;rtaken at first ny
T824 .JS soon as it
e Erie Canal had
V. 102H. th e com-
^10 lower house of
once from I'hila-
the West. Tiny
:om its prolific soil
intry. ... A wise
;st, for the purpose
on the southern
njetropolis." 1 li*-'
ty-two miles), and
|at they were ready
ittsburgh, the total
rave Philadelphia a
hpetition of other
mall roads in the
Sduiylkill mining-region were building through private enterprise, and one
from Philadelphia to Germantown was chartered in 1831.
ANOTIIKK VIEW OF JACK S NARROWS.
Boston's first idea was to construct a canal through the State to the Hudson
River to connect with the Erie Canal, and thus secure an uninterrupted waterr
628
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
New Jersey.
route to the most distant regions of the West. But in June, 1825, (Jov. Lin-
Massachu- coln, in spcaking upon the matter to the legislature, said, " AnotlKr
settt. means of communication lias been suggested by tiie construction of
railways." In June, 1826, a committee was ajjpointed by the legislature to
report upon the (]uestion of a railway to the Hudson. Various routes were
surveyed. The legislature was slow, however, in acting, and the business nun
of lloston became impatient. They visited New-York State to urge tiu-
people along the Ime of tiie Mrie Canal to build railroads connecting Albany
with Lake I-lrie, and besieged their own legislature with statements in regard
to the benefits to Massachusetts of a railway to connect with the Ncw-Wnk
\^H roads and canal. In 1830 companies were chartered to build railroads from
Boston to Proviilence and Lowell ; and finally, in 1831, a beginning was made
/ f'- ' in the work of building westwardly, by a charter to a company to construct
abroad to Worcester; which was immediately organized, and the road l)iult
/S^and opened by July 4, 1835. l'^^ Western Railroad Cor|^oration was chiir-
. . teretl in 1833 to build from Worcester to the Hudson. The work was con-
' " "^ ' sidered to be of such public utility, that the State lent to the comi)any at
different times State scrip for sums which amounted in the end to four million
dollars.
Whire those lines were building, a communication was being created
across the State of New Jersey by the Camden and Amboy Rail-
road, between the cities of New York and Philadelphia. The
road was begun in 1831, and finished in 1834.
At the same time several short lines were building in New-York State, —
among them being the Utica and Schenectady, chartered in 1833, and the
Other linei Albany and Syracuse, chartered in 1834, — with the design of stim-
buiit in New ulating the construction of other connecting railroads, which should
*" ' eventually give the State a complete through line from Albany to
Lake Erie. It is an interesting fact, that even in that early period, in 1830, — in
fact, when there were only twenty-three miles of railroad in operation on this
whole continent, — the great project of a railroad from the State of New York to
the Mississippi River at St. Louis had been conceived by De Witt Clinton, and
publicly advocated in a little pamphlet, of which only a few rare copies are
now preserved. The road was to be about a thousand miles long, and to
cost fifteen million dollars. It was too vast a project, however, for the
resources, and even the needs, of that age ; and the only real outcome of the
proposition was the beginning of a chain of railroads through New- York State
to Lake Erie, above noted. In the two lines above referred to, Boston capital
was invested ; for it was foreseen, that, if the new agency for transportation
fulfilled the expectations of its advocates, the disadvantages of Boston's geo-
graphical position wotild be annihilated, and the future all-rail route to the
West would be of great advaritage to her. Besides the two lines above men-
tioned in New- York State as then building, there were also the Ithaca and
OF THE UNITED STATES.
639
Oswego, the Canandaigua Railway, a line from the Hudson to meet the Wcblern
Railroad of Massachusetts, and a few other small local lines.
The science of building and operating railroads was not well understood
(luring the first ten years of their existence, and many wild and erroneous
imtions were entertained in regard to tlieni. Roads
wire planned to be built on routes run- science o(
nii)g over mountains and vales that a raHfoad
1 111 r I.I I . building very
Stage-coach would have found it hard to imperfect
pass. One of the very early charters durinu fint
};ranted in New-York State was for a rail-
road from Catskill to Ithaca direct. This was in
1.S28; and, in the ten years following, api)lications
were made at .Mbany for charters for about a hundred
•nml forty different companies, of which nuniber only
twenty-one ever built the roads respectively projected
by them. It \vas not known for many years whether
to tre.it the locomotive .as a toy or a madiine.
Morses were doing so well on all the railroads in
operation, that it was supposed they would not be
superseded. On the Baltimore and Ohio Road a :,
single horse would draw a hundred barrels of flour r
loaded upon four cars at a speed oi seven miles an ^
JKUir. Experiments were m.iking with locomotives "
.It Philadelphia and West Point, and several of these
machines were imported from England to test their
abilities. But even as late as 1832, when Mr. lia ld-
win of Philadelphia had jJrocUiced nis lirst eng ine,
'■ Th e Ironsides," for the (]ermantown road, and it
had .attained a speed of thirty miles an hour, its
utility was so much in doubt, that the following ad-
vertisement appeared in a Philadelphia newsjiaper :
''Notice. — The- locomotive-engine (built by M. W.
Baldwin of this city) will depart daily, when the
wctither is fair, with a train of jiassenger-cars. On
rainy days, horses toill be attache,!." The engine was
treated merely .as a curiosity. The ])roblem of the
locomotive w.as solved i n li^x^. bv "The Lanc aster"
of Mr. Baldwin's make, and Peimsylvania resolved
to adopt that sort of motive-power for her raiIro.id to Colum1)ia. But even
then there were many things about an engine not understood ; and constant
experiment and expenditure of money h.ad to be resorted to before the requi-
•site knowledge W£is obtained.
In order to facilitate the building of railroads, the States at first extended
630
JND US TKIA /, Ills TOKY
5M'
to the companioH buildint; tliom direct aid either from the pnhlic treasiirj , -ir
Granting of l)y a loan of thc public rn-dit. There was a generous j;I(iw uf
public md. interest in them in the piililic mind. 'I'Ik' patriots never n.iilm.d
for a Koiirtli-orjiily c'leliration or a puliiie dinner without drinkinj; a Ikmhv
toast to internal improvements. The pa|)ers were lull of rhapsodies upon ilio
nianii of the new idea ; and orators in ])ul)lic asseml)la^;es, and in the ( .iiiiinU
of the state and nation, felt that they had well earned the puMic ^ratiinili-
INTERIOK OF SI.F.EPINr.-CAR.
by the ardor of their advocacy of railroads, canafs, and military roads.
Such being the state of the jjublic mind, every railroad enterprise wisely 'on-
ceived and ])rudently conducted found it easy to obtain State aid to mu h
reasona!)le amount as would enable its promoters to accomplish their work.
Maryh'nd was the first State in the country to grant legislative aid to railroads.
In 1S28 the smn of {5500,000 was granted to the Haltimore and Ohio line;
and in 1835 the State subscribed ?'i3,ooo,ooo to the stock of the comp;my,
and thc city of Ualtiniore $3,000,000 more. Massachusetts loaned $4,000,000
:^'mn
Oh THE UMTIlli STATES.
631
pulilic treasury, <^\
I gencri)iis ^Inu y\i
lots ncviT gaihnvd
. drinking a in iiiv
Kipsodics ii|M)ii iho
and in tilt' < .iiuiiils
111' pnlijic ^ratilmk'
ind military roads.
Uorjjrisc wisely 'on-
Statc aid to Muh
•()nii)lish llii-ir \Mirk.
ivf aid to raiinKuis.
ore and Ohio line ;
;k of the company,
s loaned 54,000,000
to ilie Boston and Albany line. New York followed her example by loaning
small sums to the different companies building the ( hain of roads out to Lake
I'rir, — a stop which the panic of 1837 made necessary in part, since it dis-
(oiir.i^ed the investment of private (ai)ital. I'ennsylvania went so far as to
liuild her first rail-route from I'hiladelpiiia to Coiiunhia with its l)ran( lies, and
the I inal route on to I'ittsburgh, at her own expense. The wealthy State
of \'ii,i;iiiii constructed the iilue- Ridge Railroad on her own account, and
i-«.iJ
INTERIOR 01' FASSENCF.K-CAK.
sul>MNiuenily subscr '>ed to the stock of several lines; while Kentucky loaned
her ( redit for railroad-building repeatedly. South Carolina loaned {?ioo,ooo>
to her first road. 'I'he object of these proceedings was, in the main, simplv to
assist private enterprise ; and the total amount of aid granted was a very ',r,iall
I'art of the total capital invested, being probably less than ten i)er cent. The
works were, in the main, left to private enterprise.
Hiiring this decade several railroads were projected in Canada and the
iiritish IVovinces. 'The (Ireat Western Railway took its origin in one of these
\
j if-
''' -n..,
'^'■rri" >' -wJi!\
C'.
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
IS, /
projects, — the London and Gore Railroad Company, wiiicii was chartered
iiroad in '" ^^3'i- Nothing \va' ever done with that charter; and the plan
Canada and was re-organized in 1845 as the Great Western Company, in order
British Prov- to provide for a road from the Niagara to Lake Huron, and thus
inces. tj 7 ■
secure an all-rail route from the West, through Canada and the
United States, to the seaboard at Boston. The road was built under this latter
ciiarter. A line from St. Andrew's in New Brunswick to Quebec was pro-
posed in 1835, and the home government set apart ^^ 10,000 to make the
surveys for it through what was then a perfect wilderness. One-fifth of
the sum was expended, and further expenditures were then stopped tuitil
the boundary-question with .America could be settled. Work on the road
was resumed in 1847. The Erie and Niagara Company was also chartered
in 1835.
Rapid transit was a subject as much talked about in those early days as
in these more modern times, when a net-work of railroad-lines and telegrapii-
Great inter ^^'''^'s traverses the country in every direction, and transportation
est displayed and travel engage in an eager race against time. Lines of mail-
in subject of (-QafjiiL's were arranged to run in connection with steamboats, and
rapid transit. ^
every fresh victory over time and sjjace was heralded in tlie
public Hints with enthusiasm. In 1821 it was announced as a specimen of
rapid travelling, that the distance between New York and Providence had
been trave"sed i n tw^'nty-fue hours by steamboat and s tage. In 1824 it
rpfjiiirpd gf'yfnt y-one hours and a half ' 9 gp frn\r\, faij^"" to Washington ;
and that was quick time too, the usual time being about eighty hours. It
recpiired ninete en day s to go from Philadelp hia to Na tchez, and tweiijiji:-
f our days to go to Ne\v_()rleans. \\'hen Baltimore was broi'.giit within fifty-
four hours of Saratoga Springs, it was regarded as a great achievement.
These specimens of rapid travelling were due to the improvement of the
wagon-roads and the employment of steam on the rivers. They stimulated
travel gready ; and in 1825 it was announced as a gratifying and remarkable
event, that, during the Fourth-of-July celebration at Philadelphia that year,
three hundred New-Yorkers were said to have been in the city ; and in New-
York State as many as forty coach-loads of passengers were then ariving
every day at .Mbany by the great turnpi!;e ruiming out to tlic western part of
/j the State. After 1832 this class of items disappeared from the coliunns of die
newspapers, and a new variety appeared. Rapid travelling by rail became
the exciting topic then, and astonisliing runs from one city to another over
the new stjle of road were recorded in the prints in place of the exploits
of th« mail-coaches. Even with cars drawn by horses, time was at once
reduced one-half from the best achievements of the stages, and, as soon as
locomotives began to be used, to one-fourth and less. Wonder and curiosity
fdled the publi-.; mind at the i)erformances of the new scr\-aiit of man. The
papers never tired of talking about theiu. Crowds flocked to the railroads
.11 was chartered
2r ; and the plan
ompany, in order
Huron, and ilms
C'anada and tlie
t under this latter
Quebec was pro-
300 to make the
s. One-fifth of
;n stopped until
ork on the road
as also chartered
ose early days as
:s and telegraph -
nd transportation
. Lines of niail-
I steamboats, and
heralded in the
s a s])e(;imen of
Providence had
ige. In 1824 it
I to Washington ;
eighty hours. It
lez, and tweiitj,-
'ght within fifty-
it achievement,
rovenient of the
'I'hey stimulated
and remarkable
,'lphia that year,
y ; and in New-
re then ar-iving
western part of
.' coliunns of the
l)y rail becanie
to another over
of the exploits
lie was at once
and, as soon as
ler and curiosity
t of man. The
to the railroads
OF THE UNITED STATES.
633
jSiliM,
IKWISroN NAKRnVVH, PENN.
I
n
il^
p!
634
/A'D L'S TRIA L HIS TOR Y
to see the locomotives go by ; and hundreds of people went travelling who
till now had had a horror of the long, rough, fatiguing voyages by stage. 'l"he
locomotive was hailed by all travellers with delight. It did not reduce tlie
cost of travel materially ; but it increased the speed, and it gave an unwonted
stimulus to travel and business-operations wherever it ran. Railroad-travelling
has now so improved, that, in 1875, the run from New York to San Francisco
was mail e in three days and a half ; which was nbout the length of time it
formerly took to go i rom Boston to Wa shinj jton.
The reduction in the cost of transportation by railroads was enormous.
No line twenty miles long was constructed anywnere without enabling farmers
to send their cider, potatoes, apples, cheese, and produce generally, to town
at from a half to a cjuarter of what it had cost them previously. It enabled
farmers to sell vast (piantities of produce, wiiich, before that, would not pay the
cost of transportation. Freight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was — by the
railroad to Columbia, and the canal thence to tiic city last named — reduced
from a hundred dollarsto thirty dollars a ton. It was calculated in Maryland,
from the experienceof the first low sections of the road building out to tlie
Ohio, that, when the line reached Cumberland, the freight upon coal, tiien
several dollars a ton, would be retluced to one cent ; and in South Carolina
the railroad to the interior was found to enable the i)lanters to send their
cotton to the seaport at a few cents a bale, when it had previously cost them
from three to four dollars to gel it down by the rough antl swampy wagon-
roads.
The reduction in the expense of transportation by means of railroads is not
the only benefit conferred by them. By their creation it became practicable
to cultivate the soil far away from rivers and lakes, and which to-day woukl be
lying in native, untamed wildness excc|>t {ox these mighty agents of civili/ation.
The railroads long ago surpassed the rivers in importance as highways, render-
ing it possible to acq"ire from every inch of the national domain whatever
riches it may i)ossess.
These achievements of the railroads and the performances of the locomo-
tives, after 1834, finally demonstrated the va'.ne of this new agency 01 transpor-
Superiority tatiou. Its Superior speed, cheapness, and comfort were fully
of railroads, proved, and, in fact, surpassed all prediction ; and there was
great confidence that the defects of the roads and tracks and rolling-stock
would be corrected just as fist as inventors gave their attention to them. .\
passion for railroad-building accordingly set in. A v.i^t number of companies
were formed in all the older States to open up rail-communication between all
the thickly-settled regio'^'j of the country ; and, as fast as population advamed
westward, the locomotive followed it closely, and united the cities of the new
States to their sisters in the K.ist with the iron bands of civilization. How
rapid has been the progress will appear from the following table, showing the
mileage of railway-construction in the United States since 1S30 ; —
OF THE UNITED STATES.
635
;nt travelling who
es by stage. 'I'he
d not reduce the
gave an unwonted
Railroad-travelling
to San Francisco
length of time it
ds was enormous,
it enabling farmers
generally, to town
iously. It enabled
would not pay the
)urgh was — by the
named — reduced
lated in Maryland,
building out to the
it upon coal, then
1 in South Carolina
Iters to send their
reviously cost them
lid swampy wagon-
s of railroads is not
)ecanie practicable
to-day would be
jcnts of civilization,
highwajs, render-
domain whatever
1S30
183 1
1S3:
i!<33
>.S35
KS36
1837
183S
1S39
1840
1841
1842
1S43
1844
1S45
1S46
1S47
184S
1849
1850
1S51
1852
'S53
i!S54
1855
1856
1S57
1S58
1 8 59
i860
1S61
1862
.863
1S64
1S65
isr)6
1867
iSf)8
1SG9
iS;o
1S71
.S72
'•^73
1S7,
.8;,
1876
mii.es in
ANNUAL INCREA3B
Ol'EKATlON.
OF MILEAGB.
23
....
95
72
229
■34
380
«S'
633
253
1,098
465
'.273
175
'.497
224
'.9' 3
416
2,302
389 •
2,818
5.6
3.535
7'7
4,026
491
4,185
•59
4.377
192
4.633
256
4.9.^0
297
s.sys
668
S.9'J6
398
7,365
1,36$
9.021
1,656
I0,<>S2
f.96r
12,908
1,926
'S.360
2,452
16,720
1,360
i«.374
1,654
22,016
3,642
24.503
2,487
26,9fvS
2,465
2S,7.S9
1,821
30,635
1,846
3 '.286
051
32,120
834
33. '70
1.050
33.908
738
35.085
1,117
36,827
1,742
39.276
-'.449
42.25s
2.979
47.208
4.953
52.898
5,690
60,568
7,670
66,735
6,167
70340
4,105
7«.74«
1,901
74.658
'.9»7
77^470
2,812
^36
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
V :>
To the total mileage for 1876 should also be added the mileage of Canada,
Miles built which is 4,929, because those railways substantially belong to and
during Bfty form an integral part of the American system of railway-com-
''""■ munication. In fifty years 82,443 miles of railroad were Imik
and put in practical operation ; or, computing the length of track upon
CONf.M/M(,H VlAUUCr.
these roads, — co mting in sidings, double and (luadniple tracks, &:c., — 9S.77,?
mil'^ of railroa''; track were laid on tiiis continent North of the Rio (liamlc
in simply a lialf-century of effort. None of the richer and older nations (an
present a record like this.
'be following shows the distribution of the railroads to the different Slates
and Territories in 1876 ; —
;T»n'T'T'P'*i
;age of Canada,
y belong to and
)f railway-con I-
oad were bmlt
of track upi,:.
cs, &c., — 98,77,]
the Rio (liindc
ider nations (.ui
e different Siateu
OF THE UNITED STATES.
637
EQUU'MENT OF KOADS OWNED AND CONTROLLED.
MU.F-S OF
ROAU.
STATES.
LOCOMOTIVES
CARS.
COST OK ROAU
1,000
167
AND liQl,lPMENT»
Maine
2,8 1 1
545.314.005
New Hampshire
940
J2S
2,728
23,714,859.
Vermont .
810
197
3.038
33.585.33s
Rhode Island
IS.J
37
291
6,129,023
Connecticut
91 s
260
4.833
52,912,022
Massachusetts
'.837
77"
17,841
124,675,669.
New York
S.525
1,667
ti,i6S
42i,593..iOi
New Jersey
1,601
7S7
23.838
146,795,016
Delaware .
28s
2
35
5,027,202
Pennsylvania
5.983
2.247
97,f>67
386,891,860
Maryland .
1,107
762
»9.37'J
100,073,120
Virginia .
1,649
288
5-252
89,774,065
West Virginia
584
-
5
163,000
North Carolina
1.570
116
'.434
37.023,418
South Carolina
'.353
162
i,SuS
37.295.123
Florida .
484
32
282
17,420,000
Georgia .
2,306
3t8
4.643
62,038,201
Alabama .
".738
184
2,442
70,641,120
Mississippi
1,0.(4
132
^^-s^i
27,302,035
Louisiana
539
•52
2,280
48,198,667
Texas
2,085
.84
3.552
79,037,900
Ohio
4.687
1,749
38.225
373.944.388
Indiana .
4.003
7'>8
i6,5<4
194,496,511
Illinois .
7.285
1,645
41,128
4i5 777,t43
Kentucky
',475
299
5.030 .
76,655,260
Tennessee
1,645
>3'
1,649
29,555,822
Arkansis,
78S
28
307
t, 88 [,.400
Missouri ,
3. '46
543
16,304
^458.579
Iowa
3.939
150
3.25'
36,352.984
Wisconsin
2,707
291
6,404
1 i,728,24i>
Michigan .
3.395
491
12,569
1 39,866,082
Minnesota
2,020
'53
4.039
79.754.596
Kansas .
2.23S
217
4,aSo
92.523-557
Nebraska
i.tso
34
728
19.578.755
Colorado .
957
30
57
30.694.150
Dakota .
275
4
74
12,700,000
Utah
5'S
31
573
8,2i,,00O
Wyoming
Nevada .
459
680
33
713
4,650,000
California
1,919
80
2,909
64,705,<)0()
Orej^on .
251
«4
231
7,361,664
Indian Countr)
Washington
279
no
9
17'
6,000.000
Union-Pacific
1,038
168
3.227
1 1 5,2 1.1,588
Central-Pacific
1,212
77.470
228
4,401
I4.'!,630,283
Total
•
15,618
399.924
$4,087,253,225
1 . .
liclS'lifl
!
ml
^^'^*t|iff!
I. t^~:■ ■ " (i' 1
4'ti
638
IND US TKIA L HIS TOR Y
^i*;f>«W.i
■V :
PPI^WPI
OF THE UiVITED STATES.
639
Thus, in the space of fifty years, there has been expended in this new and
wild country the enormous sum of $4,087,253,225 in building railroads be-
tween the different parts of our domain. That so young a country, without
iHiQims KiirK.
wraith, without capital, a region inhabited almost exclusively at first by farmers
and planters, should have displayed such remarkable resources of costof
cajjital, will not appear wonderful, however, when it is explained r"*'''o»<'*-
huw the capital was obtained. In the early days of railroading it was fd' that
640
INDUSTRIAL 111 STORY
)^
enterprises of such magnitude as were then proposed could only be c anird
How money on by the aid of the people ; and accordingly public nuctincs
was raised, ^yg^e held in the cities and villages through which the roads were
to run, and the best speakers of the day were engaged to awaken the imprest
of all substantial citizens in the public and private advantages of th," ro.ids.
Subscriptions to the stock of the conii)anies took the form, thercfuri.', nl .1
popular movement; and it was the characteristic of the early railrca(l-i!)in-
panies, that a vast number of small sums saved by industry anil frugality were
invested in them. 'I'he State legislatures aided many of them, a', wc ha\e
seen, by grants of credit and money. A part of the capital to build tiic mads
was also obtained in Loiulon, whither the agents of the principal lines \\Lie
sent, even in the very infancy of their respective enterprises, to see what (duld
be done in the way of borrowing money. As railroad-extension becainc a
popular furore, borrowing capital in London became a haint ; and the risult
has been, that, in the course of these fifty years,' a sum of money, estimated
at not less th an ;>40o,ooo,ooo, has been obtained in England and Kuropu Ibr
the building of our American railroads. A large part of the money tiuis
invested by foreign capitalists was transmitted to the United States in the form
of railroad-iron. The manufacture of rails was in its infancy in this country;
antl England supplied us, until about five years ago, with nearly all the mils
laid down here. Locomotives and cars we built ourselves ; but we did not
Importation have the flictories to make jyon r^i ls. From 1840 to 1877 tlare
o( rails. ■^txii imported from Isn^l and q, 200,000 tons of ra ils, being a
iarge proportion of the whole quantity used. The cost of the rails imported
was something over ^2 00,000,000, the price per ton being at times excessive.
In 18C4 it ran up one month to a hu ndred and fiftY- f'^nr «lnl1,ii-g |wr ton,
though sinking back next year ^0 "'i^h^ yth'"*^^ doU .irs, flr^^^ mnpinfr down in
1876 to- farty dollars a ton, which is more nearly their legitimate value, iart
of the capital for Ijuilding the roads in the new States of the West was loii-
tributed outright by the General Government of Washington in the form of
large grants of the public lands, by the pledge of which the companies were
enabled to raise millions of money which they could not have otherwise
secured. This policy of land-grants began in 1850. The State of Illinois iuul
projected a grand system of canals and railroads in 1837, one feature of which
was to be a rail-route from Chicago to Cairo through the central portioii of
the State. The Central Road was begun, and ;!;3, 5 00,000 spent upon it I>y
the State, when bankruptcy overtook the enterprise, and work was stopiicd.
Congres- I" '^50. Congress, in a liberal and wise spirit, granted to the State
of Illinois every alternate section of the public lands on each side
of the i)rojected road and its branches, six sections in width, to
assist in carrying it forward to completion, — a grant which comprised 2,595,000
acres of land, an area larger than the State of Connecticut. The same law
made grants of the same description to Alabama and Mississippi for the exten-
sional
giants
only be carried
public: iiu'ftiiij,'s
li the roads wxre
akcn tlie interest
es of th • ro.uK.
, thcrcfurc, ot a
rly railrcad-i 1)111-
nd I'nigalily were
leni, a', \vc have
J buikl tiie roads
icipal lines wire
see wbat cduld
Mision became a
; and the result
noney, estimated
1 and Kuroi)e for
the money tlnis
Itates in the form
■ in this country ;
;arly all the rails
; but we did not
40 to 1877 lliere
)f ra ils, being a
he rails imjiorted
times excessive,
dnljjrs per ton,
iliiping down in
late value, i'art
ic West was con-
in the form of
companies were
have otherwise
.te of Illinois iiad
feature of wiiich
ntral portion of
pent upon it I)y
)rk was stopped.
nted to the Slate
nds on each side
ions in widtli, to
iprised 2,595,000
The same law
)pi for the exten-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
sioii of the railroad from Cairo to Mobile. In 1851
Illinois incorporated the Illinois Central Railroad
witii a capital of $1,000,000, and turned the land-
grant over to the company in fee-simple, stipulating
only that the company should i)ay 5^oo,ooo at the
start into the public treasury, and five per cent on
641
the gross earnings an-
nually thereafter. The
c o ni J) a n y took the
lands, built the road
with them, and proveci
the wisdom of the new
policy of the govern-
ment by paying to the
State nearly $500,000 per annum ever afterwards as its share of the gross earn-
ings of the road, and by doubling the value of the previously unsold govern-
ment-lands in the State of Illinois. Those lands had been previously held at
BRIIKiE. — CONEWAGO CREEK.
'' ::t-i^:
■■''r^ii
"▼••.'wr («
642
IND US TRIA L II IS TOK Y
a dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and could not find buyers. After the
building of the Illinois Central Railroad, they all sold for two dollars and fitiy
cents per acre, and the government realized $9,000,000 for lands whic h had
been valueless before they felt the magic breath of the locomotive. 'I'his
policy of the government was based upon the iilea, first, of developing ilie
fertile lands of the West by affording the facilities for and inviting immigra-
tion ; and, secondly, upon the idea of enhancing the value of its own lands hy
the process of settlement. So completely was all anticipation realized, llnit
popular sentiment strongly favored the granting of lands to railroads; ami it
is a remarkable fact, that the people have been more willing to make laiiil
donations than the companies have been to accept them, as appears from liie
TRACK AM) TUACK-TANK.
circumstance that over 4,000,000 of acres have been given up b; liic (om-
panies, and surrendered to the government. These gifts, however, iiavc 1,'i'cn
so badly abused in many cases, that public sentiment within a few years lias
undergone a radical change in respect to the recipients, and a marked disin-
clination has shown itself in political platforms and the action of Congress to
granting any considerable portion of the national domain in the future for
railroad-purposes. This renewal of interest in the public lands, and better
appreciation of their value, is one of the favorable signs of national regen-
eration. The extent to which Congress has provided the railroad-comi)anies
of the United States with capital is exhibited by the following table of land
concessions from 1850 to 1876 : —
-}l)i^
OF THE UNITED STATES.
643
lyers. After the
dollars ami filty
lands whii li liad
jcomotivc. This
if developing llic
inviting immi^rj-
■ its own lands liy
,ion realized, llial
railroads ; and it
ng to make lanil
appears from the
en up 1); tin; < om-
lowever, have bocu
lin a few years has
nd a marked disin-
tion of Congress to
111 in the future for
c lands, and l)Cttcr
of national regen-
railroad-comi)anies
owing table of land
STATU.
Illlnoit .■••
Miuiuippi*
Al.ibania.
Flurida . . ■
Louisiana.
Aik.insas .
Missouri
Iowa
Miihignn. .. .
DATE OP GRANT.
Miilil^an (Res,
Wisconsin • . . .
Sept,
Sept.
Sept.
Aug.
AiiK.
Sept.
M.iy
Jimu
June
June
June
June
M^y
.M,iy
M..y
M;iy
June
June
Vet..
July
Tel).
July
Kel..
July
July
June
June
Kel).
July
July
.M..y
I June
M..y
June
M.iy
June
May
.\l..y
May
May
June
June
June
June
June
June
June
March 3
July 5
J line 3
June 3
15,
COMPANY.
850
8 50
850
856
8;6
850
856
856
856
8;6
flji)
85(>
8,6
85*.
850
8 id
fiSd
8511
8sJ
8ij(>
85.)
8tin
8rl
8(>(i
Slid
8si
853
asj
86(>
860
8,6
864
850
8114
85"
804
856
85b
864
864
856
855
856
856
856
864
S56
865
863
856
856
Illinois Central
tMohile and Chicago
.Mobile and Uhin Kivcr
Vick>il>ur|{ and Meridian
Ciuir and Ship Island
Mobile and Ohio Kiver
Alaktnia and Florida
Selnia, Kome, and Dallon
Coosa and Tennessee
Mobile .ind (Jirar.l
Alabama uul Chattanoog.t
South and North Alabama
Klorul.i Railroad
Florid. I and Alab.ima
I Vnsatol.i and ( ie)iri;ia
Florida, .Atlantic, anil (lull (..enlral
North l.iuiisiana and Texas
New Orle.uis, Upelousas, and (I't Western,
(-'.liro anil Fulton
C.iiro atid Fulton
Memphis and Lillle Riu.k
Mem|jlus and I.iiile Rock
Little Kork and Fort Suiiih
l.ittle Rotk and Fort Smith
Iron .Mount. tin
Mannib.d .uul St. Joseph
Pacitio and .Southwest liianih
C-'.iiro and Fulton
Cairo an<l Fulton
St. I.ouis and Iron Mountain
Iturlitij^ton and Missouri River
nurliuKton and .Missouri Riser
C'hi»:aKo, Rock Island, and F.u ilic
CMiica};o, Kock Island, and P.u itic
t'edar Rapids and Missouri River
Cedar R.ipids and Missouri River
Iowa Falls and Sioux City
Dubuipie and Sionx City
Mc(".rct;or and Missouri River
Sioux City and St Paul
Detroit and Milwaukee
Port Huron and Milwaukee
Jackson, Lansing, and Saginaw
Flint and P^re Marquette
Grand Rapids and Indiana
Cirand Rapids anil Iniliana
Marquette, Moughton, and Ontonagon....
\\ ly de Noipiet
Chicago and North-western
West Wisconsin
Wisconsin Railroad Farm Mort. Land Co.,
KfTIMATED
NUMBRR np
At'HKS IN LIM-
ACHES HATKNT-
ITS OK THE
ED UP T<1 Jl/Nl
liKANT.
30, 1875.
a.J9S.o53
>,595.o53
1,004,640
737. '30
404,800
«98,o37
6j5,8oo'
aju,4oo
4'9.5a8
4iy,5Joi
394.5"
48 1 ,>>io
457.407
133,480'
^7.784
840,8801
504.145
897,920
552, '99
576,000
436,720
443,543
881,984
165,688 1
165,688
1,568,739'
i,275,aia
'8.1, "ij'
37.583
610,880
353.3"
967,840
7'9.'93
1,160,667
1,115,408
l,04o,cxxi
194,524
438,616
127,238
3"5.539
J4,6o6
53o."i-'5
550.530
458,77'
336,196
804, ix»
781,944
599.03«
1,161,235
1,161,204
2111,26a
4.017
182,718
640,000
948,643
292,08s
97.337
1,26|,1&[
482,354
i6',37»
'.=98.739
782,250
348,396
1,226,163
683,023
473,606
1,536,000
•37.573
524,800
396,838
355.420
30,998
3 '2. .384
6.438
1,052,469
742,900
586,828
5'3.5a9
629,182
629,182
53'. 800
317.434
433.707
128,000
128,000
564,480
517.908
999.983
796,91a
39.939
' No evidence of the construction of any part of these roads having twen filed in the General Land Office,
the grants are presumed to have lapsed; but the lands have not been restored, and Congress has not yet taken
action in the mattc».
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
Uit2A |2.5
|50 "^ ■■■
_ Ki I2£ |2.2
1.1 l*^ i-
1
1.25 1.4 1.6
<
6"
►
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WIST MAIN STRUT
WEBSTIR.N.Y. I4SS0
(716) 172-4903
k
644
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
111
Wisconsin..
Minnesota .
Kansas.
Corporations .
June 3
May 5
June 3
May 5
March 3
March 3
March 3
March 3
March 3
March 3
May 5
July 4
July 4
March 3
March 3
• March 3
July 25
July as
July as
July I
July I
July I
March 3
July I
July I
May 6
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
March
March
May
March 3
March 3
856
S64
856
864
857
857
87,
857
857
857
864
866
866
863
863
863
866
866
866
866
862
862
869
862
862
870
864
864
866
866
866
866
866
87.
867
870
87.
87.
St. Croix and I-.al<e Superior 1
and Branch to K.-iyflcId I
St. Croix and Lake Superior and Branch )
to Bayfield I
Chicago and North-wcsicrn
Wisconsin Central
First Division St. Paul and Pacific
Branch St. Paul and Pacific
St. Vincent Kxtension (St. Paul and Pacific)
Minnesota Central
Winona and St. Peter
St. Paul and Sioux City
Lake Superior and M ississippi
.Southern Minnesota
Hastings and Dakota.....*
I.eavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston. ..
Missouri, Kansas, and Texas
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fd
Missouri River, Fort Scott, and Gulf.
St. Joseph and Denver City
At issouri River, Fort Scott, and Gulf
Union Pacific
Central Branch (Union Pacific)
Kansas Pacific
Denver Pacific
Central Pacific
Central Pacific
Burlington and Missouri River
Sioux City and Pacific
Northern Pacific
Placerville and Sacramento Valley
Oregon Branch (Central Pacific)
Oregon and California
Atlantic and Pa :if c
Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific
Stockton and Copperopolis
Oregon Central
Texas Pacific
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg,
ESTIMATED
ACKBS iN LIM-
ITS OF THE
GRANT.
Sa4.7»4
3-8,737
565,000'
600,000
1 ,800,000
1,248,038
1,475,000
a, 000,000
643.403
1,410,000
1,010,000
930,000
735.000
550,000
800,000
1,520,000
3,000,000
1,700,000
2,350,000
12,000,000
245,166
6,000,000
1 ,000,400
8,000,000
1,000,100
3,441,600
60,000
4 7, 000, 'TOO
200,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
43,000,000
6,000,000
3,520,000
320,000
1 ,200,000
18,000,000
3,800,000
NU.MnER OF
ACRISS I'ATKNT.
ED til' 1(1 JlNtt.
30. --875.
Total, deducting' the lands reverted 008,344,163
5'4.7'8
318,740
546.3^2
398,865.
«.a37,44!
522.925
780,291
179,05s
1,609,748
929,566
743.24'
'65,394
169,911
259.830
977.954
3,274,686
22,527
44'. '58
13.489
'.844.297
iS6,453
506,55s
49,8u
376,977
387,630
a.374.o90-
40,596
630,717
494.059-
236,525
504,478
686,118
41,178
38,053,530
As the estimated quantity of lands contained in the grants is somewhat
Total more than the quantity which the companies will realize from them,
•mount of owing to previous settlement, especially in Kansas, Minnesota
grant. Iowa, and Arkansas, the total grant is estimated in reality as amount-
ing only to 183,216,733 acres, worth $52,575,000. The government also aided
' No evidence of the construction of any part of these roads having been filed in the General Land Office,
the grants are presumed to have Upled; but the laadi have not been restored, and Congress has not yet taker
•ction in the matter.
-»j.iiii ■ iiiiNlfaiMa
Nl'MtlEU OF
ACRUS I'ATKST-
ED IM' K) JlNtt-
30. -875.
5'4.7i8
318,740
546.3"
398,865.
I,»37.44J
522,92>
780,291
179,05s
1,609,748
929,5(')6
743.241
265. 3'H
169,911
259,830
977.954-
22.527
441. '58-
13.489
1,844.297
186,45}
506,55s
49,811
376.977
387.63<>
2,374.090
40.596-
630.7'r
494.059'
236,525
504.478
686,118-
41,178
38,052,530
is somewhat
ize from them,
IS, Minnesota
ity as amoiint-
ent also aided
kneral Land Office,
s has not yet ul«»
OP TITE UmTED STATES.
646
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in the construction of the Pacific railroads, as enterprises of great national
utility, by issuing to them bonds to run for thirty years, payable from a sinking-
fund established by the companies ; the bonds being issued to the companies,
Oovernment as fast as they finished the different sections of their roads, at the
loM*. jatg Qf 1 1 6,000 a mile on the plains, 1148,000 a mile through the
mountain-ranges, and $32,000 a mile between the ranges. The following table
exhibits the amount of the loans to the different projects : —
Central Pacific
Kansas Pacific . . .
Union Pacific
Union Pacific, Central Branch
Western Pacific .
Sioux City and Pacific
Total ....
AUTHORiaNG ACTS.
July
I, 1862, and July 2,
M
1864.
niiNcirAL.
$25,885,120
6,303,000
27,236,512
1, 600,0a
1,970,560
1,628,320
$64,621,512
to amount
invMted.
The contribution of the government, therefore, toward the capital needed
Ratio of aid ^°'" Coating the railroad-system of the United States, was I144,-
000,000. Large as is this sum, it is only one and three-fiflhs per
cent of the whole amount of capital invested. That part of it
which consisted in land-grants has been repaid to the government by the
increased value of its other lands.
Another plan resorted to, after railroad-enterprises attained a magnitude
which rendered inadequate the old and simple method of raising the capital
lMtt« of for them fix)m th6 savings of the people in the localities through
boBda. which they run, was the issue of bonds by towns and cities. A
very large number of the short lines of the country were built by means of
capital raised in this way. Some of these bonds have not been paid ; but the
object of their issue was secured, and the roads constructed, and added to
the permanent wealth of the country.
The fifteen years just before the civil war was a period of great activity in
railroad-building. It was seen that the growth of cities and the mi>rketing of
PiftaeD surplus products of farm, plantation, forest, and mine, were de-
yeara prior pendent on the construction of these avenues of communication.
to civil war. ^ ^zn many important lines were projected and built in that
fifteen years, among them being the Erie Railroad, the Hudson-river, the
Pennsylvania, the IlKnois Central, and many others. Connecting links were
finished, so as to open an all-rail route from Boston to New Orleans, and from
Chicago and St. Louis to all the principal cities on the Atlantic coast ; so that
the pint-woods and myriad factories of New England were united to the
OF THE UNITED STATES.
647
cotton-fields and cane-brakes of the South, and the waving wheat and com
fields of the West to the wharves and fleets of stately ships upon the ocean-
coasts. The locomotive sped through every part of the country. Regions
which before were impenetrable wildernesses became gardens ; and millions of
human beings came from Europe to populate them, and And in the midst of
them a competence and independence which they had never known in the
previous part of their lives. Old cities received a new birth, and new ones
sprang up in magical fashion all over the country. New industries were
planted by the exigencies of the roads. There was plenty of work every-
where ; and the wealth of the country developed in a manner that astonished
the Old World, and formed the theme of admiring comment of statesmen and
writers everywhere.
In the early years of railway-traffic the transportation-system of the country
presented the aspect merely of a confusion of disconnected and independent
roads, managed without regard io any common purpose, and with conioHda-
very little respect for the wishes of patrons living beyond the ter- tion of rail-
mini of the several roads. The New- York Central route was '***'''■
composed of twelve distinct corporations and lines between Albany and Lake
Erie ; and for twenty or thirty years there was not a trunk-line anywhere in the
country, in the modem sense of the term. Every little line of fifty miles of
track was managed in delightfully autocratic style ; and the only concem of its
officers was to collect the charges for the transportation of freight over their
line, what became of the freight after it had passed on — whether it was lost
or plundered, or stood for weeks on a siding — being of no earthly interest to
them whatever. The shipment of freight to any distance by rail was thus
attended- by all sorts of delays, vexations, and losses. This was a discourage-
ment to trade, and thus both the roads and the public suffered by it. Out of
this state of things arose several measures looking toward unity and harmony
in the railway-system of the country, among them being the consolidation
of connecting-lines into single companies, the lease of connecting-routes by
powerful companies, — so as to secure trunk-lines from the seaboard to the
productive regions of the interior, and between interior points, — and the for-
mation of fast-freight and express companies. The growth of the trunk-lines
and the rapid-despatch companies ^ill be separately mentioned.
Massachusetts was one of the very first States to discover the need of a
railroad the whole length of the State, and connecting at Albany with the Erie
Canal. Dr. Phelps and Daniel Webster were early and earnest
advocates of the measure. Two routes for a railroad were sur- ,ettVthefl'rit
veyed at State expense — one through the Northem, and one suteto
through the Southern countries — in 1827 and the two succeed- J|^",'^]Jj°°*
ing years. The Boston and Worcester Railroad Corporation was
chartered, June 23, 1 831, to build the first part of the road, — forty-three miles
and a half; which task was completed July 3, 1835. The road earned a
648
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
little over ten per cent on its original capital of 5 1,000,000 from the start.
In March, 1833, the Western Railroad Corporation was chartered to build
Boston and ^"^ ^o"^ Worcester to the Hudson River, with a capital of I? 2,000,.
Albany ooo. The Company did not organize at once, owing to some im-
Railroad. certainty in the popular mind as to what the State most needed
in the way of railroads. There was great agitation for a direct line to Now
York from Worcester by way of Hartford, and for a line to Norwich, Conn.
By persevering efforts, the Western Railroad Corporation secured its capital
by subscriptions along the route of the road ; and work began in the winter
of 1836. In January, 1836, the governor, alluding to this project in his
STATION ON I'RNNSVI.VANIA CENTRAL RAILROAD.
message, said, " Should the work in its progress stand in need of resources
beyond the reach of the enterprise and means of the individual citizens by
whom it is undertaken, it is believed that the public patronage could be safely
extended to it as a project of vast general utility, whose successful execution
would form an era in the prosperity of the State." State aid was very much
needed after 1837, on account of the business prostration of the country ; and
three separate loans of State credit were made, amounting in all to $4,000,000.
Celebration The road was opposed in New- York State by influence from tlie
of event. ^ity of New York ; but the managers overcame all obstacles, and
on the 2ist of December, 1841, opened their road from Worcester to Albany.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
649
Tublic celebrations of the event took place in Boston and Albany. The road
of the Western Corporation cost $7,566,791. When the Western Road was
opened, a difference sprang up at once, between the two companies con-
trolling the route from Springfield to Boston, about the rate of fare ; th i
Boston and Worcester Road claiming an undue share of the through rate.
A conflict on this subject was carried on with acrimony for more than twenty
years, and wafi never settled until in 1868 the two roads were consolidated
into one conjpany as the Boston and Albany Railroad Company. In 1871
the Albany ;ind West-Stockbridge Compan)-, in New- York State, was consoli-
dated with the corporation, thus putting the route from Albany under one
managemei.it and ownership. The combined capital of the three companies
was J>27,3ij5,ooo. At Albany this road connects with the New- York Central
and the E,rie-canal routes to the West, and the Albany and Susquehanna route
to the coal-mines. It has brought about a great change in the ancient
currents bf trade. Now flour and grain coming down the Erie Canal go
no longer, as of yore, down the Hudson and up the Sound, whence, in due
course cf time, they reach Boston by doubling around Cape Cod. All these
things i,ow go direct, and reach Boston in ten hours from Albany, against the
six or '.even days' transit of the old regime. At Boston the road has a grain-
elevatfjr with a capacity of 1,000,000 bushels, coal-pockets, warehouses, and
other terminal facilities, which are not excelled in any seaport of the United
States. Freight is supplied to three weekly lines of steamers to England.
The Boston and Albany Road has repaid its entire debt to the State of Massa-
chusetts, and is one of the prosperous enterprises of the country.
Another connecting link between the New-England seaboard and the
N^w-York transportation routes to the West was completed in 1875 on the
li'ie through the northern counties of the State talked of in 1827 ; Hootac-tun-
tMs is the Hoosac-tunnel Fast Freight Line. It is composed of "'' Railroad.
3. combination of railroads, and affords to the public a choice of routes between
Albany and Boston. The component parts of the line are the Fitchburg
Railroad from Boston to Greenfield (a hundred and six miles), the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel to the Vermont State line (forty-four
niiles),and the Troy and Boston Railroad to Troy (forty-one miles). The Troy
and Greenfield Road with the tunnel were built by the State at a cost of $20,-
000,000, and are still owned by the Commonwealth. The tunnel was opened
for the first train Feb. 9, 1875. The capacities of this route are not yet fully
developed ; but it is expected to reduce the cost of transportation to Boston,
*nd thus increase the trade of that port.
The beginnings of railway enterprise in New-York State have already been
lotod. Two great trunk-lines to the West have been constructed through that
"commonwealth since the humble commencement made between New-York
'he th.-n little old towns of Schenectady and Albany. For the Central.
*^"rthern route fourteen charters were granted; though in 1852 the number of
V
650
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\
roads had been reduced to twelve by the consolidation of the Auburn and
Rochester with the Auburn and Syracuse, and the Tonawanda with the Attica
and Buffalo Companies. This chain of railroads was bui!t economically and
honestly. The first of them, those between Auburn and Albany, were Liiilt
originally to be operated by horse-power, and were so operated at first ; Imt
engines were soon put upon them all, the first ones being impcVt^^^l fron^ I'""K-
land for the purpose. Nature had marked out the destiny of\this chain of
roads as one single route from Lake Erie to the Hudson ; Init they were
operated as distinct lines until 1853, when an act of the legislatur-, pa:;se(l in
April, authorized their consolidation. The prudence with which tht'y had been
built, and the populous and productive nature of the regions theV traversed
and tapped, are exhibited by the following table, showing the value of the
roads at the time of the consolidation : —
N/ME O" KOAD.
Albany and Schenectady ....
Utica and Schenectady ....
Syracuse and Utica
Rochester and Syracuse ....
Buffalo and Rochester ....
Rochester, Lockport, and Niagara Falls .
Buffalo and Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls and Lewiston
Buffalo and Lockport ....
Rochester and Lake Ontario .
Mohawk Valley
Troy and Schenectady ....
Total of stocks and convertible bonds
STOCKS AND
CONVEKTIULK IIONDS.
51,621,800
4,500,000
3,300,000
5,608,700
3,000,000
2,155,100
565,000
354.260
675,000
150,000
1,575,000
650,000
524,154,860
PREMIUM OP
THE STOCK
(PER CENT).
'7
55
50
30
40
^5 \
25
25
55
contolida-
tion.
The terms of consolidation were, that the stock of the new comjiany, to bC
called "The New- York Central," should equal the aggregate of the stock of the
Terms of individual companies, and that, for the premium which the stocl<
then commanded, six-per-cent bonds of the new organizatiorj
should be issued to the holders. The total amount of bond^
issued under this arrangement was $8,894,500. The debts of the companies
amounted to about ;$2,8oo,ooo ; so that the total liabi' 'iesof the newconii)any
were ^535,836, 796. The average cost per track was $44,485 a mile. Karningy
amounted in 1857 to $8,000,000, or $14,000 a mile. The distance fioii;
Albany to Buffalo was shortened to 298 miles. Another link in the New- York
Central route was completed in 1851, being the Hudson-river Railroad \^
New- York City, 142 miles long, chartered in May, 1846, and built at a cos'
1
J
the Auburn and
da with the Attica
economically ami
^Ibany, were Iniilt
•ated at first; but
p^tcd from Kng-
i ofvthis chain of
)n ; t'»t they were
islatur-% pa:-.sed in
liich tht-y had been
ions theV traversed
g the vahie of the
NDS.
„eM11.M of
TIIR STOCK
(PER tKNT)-
3
'7
55
5°
o
3°
40
25
o
• •
• •
o
2S
)0
25
)0
55
»
••
5o
new comi>any, to be
te of the stock of the
ium which the stock
le new organi/atioH
al amount of hond^
)ts of the companies
of the new company
85 a mile. Kariiing^
The distance from
ink in the New-Yorlf
ion-river Railroad t(^
6, and built at a cost
OF THE UNITED STATES.
65 »
of ;? 1 1,328,990 or ^(78,673. In 1864 the road fell into the control of the
Ntw-York Central, nnd in 1870 was permanently consolidated with it. It
was agreed that the capital of the new concern should be $45,- Hudion-
000,000. The stock being at a premium, however, the company river Rail-
conceived the idea of turning the fact to advantage by giving a '°*'*'
representative value to the increased worth of the road to which the premium
was due by issumg eight-per-cent certificates, convertible into common stock
at the option of the holder. Of these certificate*
1^44,428,300 were issued, thus virtually increasing the
stock by a stroke of the pen to 589,428,300. Tlie
corporation has since laid another double track be-
tween Albany and Buffalo at a cost of $25,000,000, paid for by the issue of
bonds, thus securing a four-track road the length of New- York State ; and has
leased the New- York and Harlem Railroad, thus securing four tracks to the
city of New York, without the necessity of laying the additional two upon the
costly route along the banks of the Hudson. The road's western connections
are the I^ke Shore and Michigan Southern and the Canada Southern. It is
operated jointly with those lines for Western business, and it carries freight in-
discriminately both ways both for Boston and New York. Its New-England
connections are the Boston and Albany and the Hoosac-tunnel route to
<Js«
INDUSTKIAL HISTORY
Boston. Seventy per cent of its eastward-bound freight goes to New iMi^^laiul.
The principal characteristic of the business of the New-York Centra! is its enor-
mous passenger and local-freight traffic. It transjjorts over 7,000,000 passcn-
jjers a year, and in 1876 carried 6,800,000 tons of freight. The cost of freight
has been reduced to three dollars a ton from linffalo to Albany. It will be
recollected that the cost was a hundred dollars a ton in the days of wagoning.
UNION D^TOT, I'lTTSDURCH.
The Erie-railway route was planned as early as 1825, the State of New
York ordering a survey for it in that year. The public interest in a railway
Erie Rail- through the southcm counties of the State was very great, and
'■°"'*- a number of public conventions were held in regard to it. A
company was chartered to build the road in 1832, the capital to be ,^10,000,-
000 j and De Witt Clinton, jun., made a survey for it. This road was built
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Hi
iiiider disheartening circumstances. The region it traversed was excessively
rii^;;,'ed, and afforded an extremely small amount of local business to the line.
No paying traffic could be expected until it was completed through to Lake
Krie. The great fire in New York preventeil many of the stockholders from
]);iying for their shares. The panic of 1837 intervened, and cripi)led other
niun. ''he line was laid out with such poor judgment in places, that the work
liail to be abandoned as useless. The State loaned 1^3,000,000 to the comjjany
in 1H40, and afterwards presented the loan to the company; but it was not
until 185 1 that the rails were laid to the then new harbor of Dunkirk on Lake
^;rie, and the through traffic, which alone sustains this great road, was tapped.
Tlie company languished, however, until 1868, when, under a new manage-
ment, it was equipped with steel rails and an abundance of first-class roUing-
st()( k, and became one of the finest railroads in .America, with a large and
conjitantly-growing business in the transportation of passengers, coal, petro-
leum, agricultural produce, and general merchandise. As in the case of the
New-York Central, advantage was taken of the increased worth of the road,
and the expenditures for its improvement, to issue new shares in large quan-
tities ; and during the four years ending Sept. 30, 1871, the common stock
was increased from $46,302,210 to 1^86,536,910, and two years later the total
liabilities of the road were 5115,449,211. The inability to earn a dividend
upon so large an investment involved the company in fresh trouble, and litiga-
tion without entl. The road has been further embarrassed by the fact that its
track has been six feet wide, while connecting roads to the West have been
only of the standard width of four feet eight anil a half inches. In spite of
its troubles, the Erie Road is a magnificent property, and is transacting a large
business. Its terminal facilities at New- York harbor are very fine ; and, when
the gauge of the road is reduced (as it will be in a few years, the work having
been begun), it will be a formidable competitor for the through business of
the West. The road is operated in conjunction with the Atlantic and Great
Western and other lines to St. Louis, and the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern to Chicago. In 1876 it carried 5,972,000 tons of freight. It has,
including branches, 459 miles of main line, and controls 500 miles of connec-
tions. The comparative distance from the grain-centres of the West to the
seaboard by this route, in comparison with other trunk-lines, will be stated
farther on.
Philadelphia's route to Chicago is composed of what were originally six
separate railroads ; and the route to St. Louis, of roads built by thirteen different
companies. These roads are now all either owned, or leased in pennsyWa-
peq)etuity, by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the most exten- ni« Railroad
sive railway organization in the world. This company now owns *^'""P"">'-
1,505 miles of roadway, not counting in double tracks or sidings ; and 4,324
miles of road are either directly controlled by or operated in its interest : in
*U> 5.829 miles, representing a capital of ^1398,267,000. These lines pass.
6s 4
IND US TKIA I. HIS TOR Y
\
through eleven States, and extend into the heart of the cities of St. I uuis,
Chicago, Cincinnati, Haltitnore, IMiihulelpiiia, and New York, tapping the
tommerie of the Ohio and Mississippi and the (Jreat Lakes, and coiiiuMtinir
the grain, eoal, and iron regions of tlic interior with three of tije great o( ean
harliors of tiie North Atlantic. 'Die Pennsylvania Railroad Conipaiu wis
formed originally to complete the work undertaken by the State itself to j;ivc
the city of Philadelphia a commodious transi)ortation-route to the wcitirii
iounties of the State and to Ohio. 'Ihe State line of works was first upLiad
in 1830 ; but it was a broken line, consisting of two pieces of railroad, — duc
from Philadelphia to Columbia, eighty-two miles; the other from II()lli(l,iys-
burgh to Johnstown, thirty-six miles (this one being operated by stationary
engines), the two roads being sujjplemented by two hundred and siviiuy-
eight miles of <anal. I'lijladcl-
phia was unable to i(iiii|]cic
with New York's nubiokcii
routes by rail and canal ; an 1
accordingly a < ompany was
formed to build a railmad Inini
Harrisburgh to I'ittsburj;!!. In
1S57 the Slate sold its main line
of works to the IVnnsyKania
Railroad ('()mi>any for .^7,500,-
000 (they cost ^1 j.oon.cioo),
and rail communication Inmi
I'liiladclphia to l'itt>l>nrL;li tlirn
became continuous and i iVk uiit.
During the late war, the IVnn
sylvania Road made enornums
profits ; and recogni/ing the fad
that the business it was then doing was accidental, and could not be su'-taiiin!
except by the extension of its lines to the West, it devoted a part of its earn
ings to bi.ilding the Philadelphia and I'".rie Road, and the completion of varioib
branch lines in the State whi( h would bring traffic to the main stem. In i.Sfif;
tile company assumed tontrol of the chain of roads constituting the l'itt^liiui;h,
Fort Wayne, and Chicago route to Chicago as lessee for nine hundri-d ami
ninety-nine years. The same year it secured a line nnder its own < ontroi lu
Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis by lease. It leased the Northern Central
in 1870, thus gaining connections with Haltimore and with Canandaigua, N.\. ;
and in 1871 it secured control of the iMited railroads of New Jersey, thus
getting a direct line to New York. The comj)any now owns twcnty-tuo
branches, and controls l)ranches and extensions by lease. Its policy lias been
dictated by such sound judgment, that no part of this vast network of lines is
a burden upon the company, or any thing except a useful tributary to its
WAThll-1 ASK.
'»r"^^-""^ii*if f
OF THE UNITED ^/ATES.
(^ss
business. Its capital stock is now nlnjut 1153,000,000, and its total liabilities
alidiit j5 1 16,000,000, The company has a grain-elevator at iSaltimore, two at
I'iiiladelphia, and two at Krie, I'enn. ; and at New York it has millions of
(li)ll.irs invested in wharves, warehouses, cattle-yards, oil-dt'pots, and other
terminal facilities required by a large anil varied commerce. l*hiladelp!iia is
the principal point of export, however, the company having established from
that port a line of four American iron steamships to Liv«'rpool by guaranteeing
j; 1, 500,000 of its bonds. This line operates at present the only American
sic.unsliips engaged in trans-Atlantic trade. The Pennsylvania Company is in
MUNCV MOUNTAIN, NBAR IIKLI.KHIM K.
all respects a colossal organization ; and, whatever may be said of the danger
of permitting so vast a moneyed power to grow up in this republic, it can at
least be said that its operations have been of incalculable utility to commerce
and the country.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, though begun in 1828, was not finished
through to the Ohio River at Wheeling, a distance of 379 miles, ^^^ \c\\on
until Jan . i, 1853 . Litigation with the canal running parallel to it, of the B«Ui-
and tlie opposition of other conflicting interests, had made great ^°."' ■"**
delays. The cost of the road and equipment was $23,600,000.
After the war, the company leased a number of connecting roads in order to
/^
m
>'Nrr,
'tftP'UVf
mms^\
PM^j
li
;lrPi^''h.f^4^
^■*l^■^
I*
1
' J t
ill 'I
656
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
secure the unity of operation and establishment of through rates which the other
great companies had been striving for. In 1866 a connection to Columbus, ().
was leased, and in 1869 another running to Sandusky. In 1870 the Winchester
and Strasburgli Road was leased, thus securing the business of the Shenaiuloah
Valley in Virginia, and paving the way for obtaining a share of the trade ut'
North Carolina. A connection through to Chicago was secured by alliance
with other roads in 1874, and another recently to St. Louis. The liabilities of
the road now amount to about $56,000,000. The interest of die city of balti-
more in sto . and bonds is $10,500,000. The road is wisely managed, and
has a large business in coal, petroleum, grain, and general traffic. Its teiniiiial
facilities on Locust Point in Baltimore are not approached in any other sea-
port of the country, e.\CLi)t at Boston : they comprise grain-elevators, coal-
shoots, warehouses, oil-yards, and wharves, and are the rendezvous of
innmnerable sailing and steam vessels, and the depot of the ocean steam-
lines to Europe. During the freight war between the railroad-lines in 1865
the company established its own steamship commimication with England, but
lost $758,000 in the venture, and soon withdrew the steamers. The road has
a great future before it.
Another system of railroads leading from the West to the seaboard has
grown up north of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River within the last
Grand Trunk twenty years, and is termed the "Grand Trunk of Canada."
of Canada, 'j-j^g Grand Trunk Railway Company was chartered in 1852,
with a capital of ;^3,ooo,ooo, to build a road from Toronto to Montreal. In
1853 a number of other companies consolidated with this organization, upon
an agreement by the latter to carry out the contracts they had made. 'I'liese
contracts included the building of roads from Toronto to Sarnia on Lake
Huron, from Point Levi to Richmond, and from Quebec to Trois Pistoles, and
also for building the great Victoria Bridge 'at Montreal. These works were
completed at a cost of ;^2 1 ,000,000. At the same time the company leased
for nine hundred and ninety-nine years the Atlantic an I St. Lawrence Road of
Maine, extending from PorUand to Island Pond, N.H., near the Canada bor-
der. This system of railways did not at first secure so large a shore of the
through business from the W'estern granaries as was expected ; but an exten-
sion from Port Sarnia to Chicago has recently been effected, the line has been
I)rudently managed, and the route has become an important part of tlie Ameri-
can system of railways. The Grand Trunk has secured a connection to
Boston by way of the Central Verinont Railroad, and now competes actively
with the through lines centring at that port.
Thus, out of a confusion of disconnected railways, operated without regard
Competition ^° ^^ interests of each other or the public, there have grown up
amonEraii- five great compact and united systems leading from the great
"*■"*"■ trade-centres of the interior to the seaboard. The transportation
abilities of each of these five routes have never been fully taxed. It is csti-
IWrmi
tes which the other
n to Columbus, (),,
870 the Winchester
of the Shenamloah
re of the trade of
secureel by alliance
. The liabilities of
3f ihe city of Balti-
i'isely managed, and
raffic. Its terminal
d in any other sea-
rain-elevators, ct)al-
he rendezvous of
i the ocean steam-
ilroad-lines in 1865
1 with England, but
ers. The road has
o the seaboard has
Liver within the last
I'runk of Canada."
chartered in 1852,
to to Montreal, In
organization, upon
had made. These
to Sarnia on Lake
} Trois Pistoles, and
These works were
le company leased
Lawrence Road of
ar the Canada bor-
xrge a shore of the
ted ; but an exten-
, the line has been
It part of the Auieri-
a connection to
V competes actively
ated without regard
lere have grown up
ng from the great
The transportation
y taxed. It is csti-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
657
m
V!
li ^.td:^-
[:"!'■*
1 ; 1' •' ; , ii
'^9
M' ■.' ■ "i^
\w<^
.llil. \»AKu WAlKK-l.AH.
6s 8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
mated that the tonnage of each might be tripled. The fact that no otc of the
five lines has carried as much freight as it has been capable of doing has led
to sharp railroad wars within the last five years. )me of which were waged at
great loss to the lines, freight being carried at less than cost. Various com-
pacts have been made to harmonize the differences of the lines, and agree
wiiat the rates shall be for through freight over each, but without permanent
success. Compacts have only been made to be broken. How nearly
matched the different routes are, with reference to the fundamental matter
of distance from the West to Liverpool, may be seen from the following
statement : — '
FROM CHICAGO,
Grand Trunk to Montreal ....
Grand Trunk to Boston
N. Y. Cent, and Boston and Albany to Boston,
New- York Central route to New York .
Erie route to New York
Pennsylvania Railroad route to New York .
Pennsylvania Railroad route to Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania Railroad route to Baltimore
Baltimore and Ohio R.R. route to Baltimore,
MILES.
FROM SEAK)I!T
TO LIVERTOOL.
Tor.M..
842
1. 143
2.936
4.079
1,020
2.936
3.956
976
3.o«3
j.9''<9
958
3.0'3
3.971
912
3.013
3.9:5
822
3,200
4.0::
800
3.338
4,13s
S40
3.338
4.178
It is estimated that the through traffic between tlie West and the Atlantic
seaboard now amounts to eight million tons annually. That por-
tion of it which is grain is brought to the coast at an average cost
of twelve cents a bushel from Chicago, the total cost from Chicago
to Liverpool being about thirty-four cents a bushel. This amazing
reduction is the effect of the consolidation of through routes, and
competition between them.
Unity, as we have seen, grew up first between the lines running to the
North-Atlantic sealx)ard. Trade set the most heavily in that direction, and
the four years of war prevented for a time an alliance between
Value of
traffic be-
tween the
West and
Atlantic tea
board.
estabiithed the lines constituting the through routes from North to South. But
since the since the war sc jral trunk-lines have been fornied, tra\ ersing the
country in that direction. It is expected that these will bear .in
important part in the future in the trade with the coast of the Gulf, from which
a large part of the commerce with Mexico and South America will he carried
on. The principal of these lines are the following : —
1. The St. Louis avid Iron-Mountain Railroad, with connections running
into the state of Texas.
2. The Missouri, kansas, and Texas Railroad.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
659
Lections ninning
3. The New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago Railroad, connecting at
Cairo, 111,, with the Illinois Central.
4. The Mobile and Ohio Railroad, running also to Cairo.
5. Tlie Louisville, Nashville, and Great Southern Railroad.
6. Three series of lines running from Washington through Virgini?, by
different routes, to the South and South-West ; which may be designated as the
Virginia and Tennessee Route, the Atlanta and Richmon*! Air-line, and the
co:ist-line running through Weldon, N.C., to Savannah, and connecting with
all the Southern States.
These important highways of commerce have great capacity, and thus all
exert a regulating influence on freight-rates between the South and North.
riic trip from Boston to New Orleans can now be made by rail, by Economy of
the lines leading in that direction, in three days. In the olden f«»''"o«<i»-
time, before the days of the locomotive, the trip required twenty-four days.
What a marvellous change in fifty years !
The express-business really took its rise in the days of stage-coaches, or at
least before the railway-system had grown beyond its early infancy. It grew
out of the robberies of stage-coaches, and of a practice, still com- yc\%k of
moil in all the new parts of the country, of forwarding packages of Express
money and valuables by passengers travelling by stage. Before the """P"" '••
establishment of the railroads, mercliaiits and banks employed members of
the legislature, and other trustworthy citizens, in their journeys to New York,
Boston, Albany, and other large cities, to take with them, and deliver to their
correspondents, the remittances which they did not dare put into the United-
States mail-bags for fear of robbery. On the Western plains, down to within
ten years, many a passenger has had his fare paid to the States from the
mining-regions, in consideration of his carrying with him in the coach, and
delivering to the railways on the Missouri, the bars of gold and silver which
there was no other method of transmitting to the States so cheaply and safely.
In 1840 this irregular practice took the form of a legitimate business through
the efforts of Mr. Alvin Adams of Boston, the founder of the Adams Express
Company. There was then no railroad to New York ; and Mr. Adams began
carrying letters and parcels to New York by stage, to AUyn's Point, Conn., and
thence by steamboat to the metropolis. He was a man of singularly engaging
manners and manly character, and he soon won such confidence that he
giined a very large patronage. In a short time the business grew so large,
liiat he ceased to travel himself, and engaged messengers to make the trips to
New York for him. Then boxes and bundles began to ho sent, and a man
with a wheelbarrow was hired to do the collecting and distributing in Con-
necticut. Then a wagon was hired for the same purpose. This latter was so
important a step, that there was much meditation about it in advance, before
Mr. Adams decided upon it. When the New- York and New-Haven Railroad
was completed, the company offered to give Mr. Adams a car for carrying
I
660
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
money and valuable packages for $1,700 a month. The offer was accepted
with fear and trembling, but proveil a success from the start. From this
beginning the business grew up, until Mr. Adams had agencies in every part of
Adams '^^ country from San Francisco to Boston. The Adams Kxi^rcss
Express Company was then formed with a capital of Si, 000,000, and has
ompany. ^^^^ since transacted a colossal business. In New-Vork State the
express-business took its rise almost simultaneously with the start in \(.\v
England, the pioneer in the work being Mr. Henry Wells of Aurora, N'.V. It
began in the same way, Mr. Wells travelling, however, by rail, and cnrrying
^g„j his bundles with him in the car. The express-company of Wells,
Fargo, & Fargo, & Company, which he organized, has had as extensive a
ompany. ramification over the country as that of Mr. Adams. It was
followed by other companies in different parts of the country ; and tiie insti-
tution now forms so intimate and necessary a part of the transportation-
business of the country, that no raih '.id, however short or local, is now withuut
its special accommodations for express-packages. The companies are an
adjunct of the railroad-system of tiie country. They rarely own cars of tiieir
own ; but they jierform the service to the public which they have been < ailed
into existence to discharge by contracts with t;te different connecting-lines,
which secure the rapid and uninterrupted transmission of jiackages, regardless
of the conflicts of interest of the different roads, and the obstacles they throw
in each other's way in the transaction of ordinary business.
The fast-freight system is only the application of this idea to the transmis-
sion of ordinary commercial freight. Tids system has grown up entirely
Fast-freight within the last fifteen years. The necessity for fast-freight corn-
system, panics did not arise from the dangers of rol)bery of the cars, but
from the detentions of freight in all parts of the country, owing to the discord-
ance of interests among connecting and competing lines. Despatch and
safety could not be secured without the creation of some responsible agency
distinct from the railroads themselves, with which, on the one hand, the public
could deal direct, and which, on the otlier hand, would secure that concert of
action among the roads, as far as freight was concerned, which the roads
could not achieve themselves. 'I'he experience of the express-companies
showed how these desirable ends could be secured.
The first form of fast-freight transmission was introduced by the (ireat-
Western Despatch Company on what is known as the private line sviitem.
The company furnished its own cars, made contracts with the various connec t
ing railroads, paying the roads specific sums for the privileges granted, and
then established its own freight-agencies in the various cities. The (Ireat
Western was (juickly followed by the Merchants' Despatch, the Union, the
National, the Star, the Diamond, Globe, Empire, and various other lines,
nmning over all the great routes of the country. There is scarcely a great
railroad in the United States now over which two or three or more of these
OF THE UNITED STATES.
66 1
;r was accepted
urt. From this
in every part of
Adams Kxpress
)oo,ooo, ami has
w-Vork Slate the
lie start in Niw
Aurora, KA'. It
ail, and cnrryini;
Mnpany of WVlls,
id as extensive a
Adams. It was
ry ; and the in^^ti-
le transportation-
:al, is now witliout
:ompanies are an
own cars of their
y have been called
t connecting-lines,
ackages, regardless
bstaclcs tliey throw
to the transmis-
grown up entirely
fast-freight com-
y of the cars, but
uiK to the disconl-
I)esi)atch ami
responsible agenc y
le hand, the public
urc that concert of
, which the roads
express-companies
iced by the (Ireat-
rivate Une system.
le various connei l-
lileges granteil. ami
] cities. The C'reat
Ih, the Union, the
larious other lines,
is scarcely a great
le or more ot these
rs.
lines do not run. The private lines ofTered great advantages to the pul)lic :
they insured safety and speed, and reduced the cost of transportation.
Aliout 1870, .however, the railroad-companies began to find that this new
system was not so profitable to them as it was to the public. The fast-freight
lines not only absorbed the entire profits of the through traffic, but often
COATESVILLE URIUGE, TENNSVLVANIA.
proved a weight upon the
roads themselves by tak-
ing from them all tlie pay-
ing business. This led to
the establishment of an-
other form of fast-freight-
ing, called the " co-oper-
ative," established by the
roads themselves. Each
connecting railway between principal points supplied a quota of cars toward
the common equipment of a co-operative line. This class of lines took the
designation of particular colors ; and we have now, in consequence, the Orange,
Blue, Red, White, Purple, and other lines. The private lines are gradually
being superseded by the latter class. The Pennsylvania Railroad has assumed
the management of the Star, Union, and Empire lines ; and the same ten-
dency is visible in other parts of the country. The fast-freight system has
1
\.
662
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
//.
>
been of vast benefit to the commercial community, and is now a ])er
manent feature of railway-transportation : it employs 60,000 cars. The
Empire Line, the largest of the lines, has 4,500 cars ; the Re^ Line, 4,000 •
the White, 3,000 ; and the Blue, 4,000.
We now come to speak of a step in railroad construction which gave
to our system of internal transportation a world-wide importance : this was
Pacific the building of a railway across the plains and through the iiioim-
Raiiroad. tain-ranges of the Far West to connect the seaboard of the llast
with that of the distant Pacific. Since railways were invented, the world lias
been running to short cuts and rapid transit. The slow and leisurely methods
of our ancestors are being gradually laid upon the shelf. The world moves
faster than of old, and nothing satisfies now except the most rapid movement
of commerce and travel which it is possible to bring about. When the route
to India by way of the Cape of (lood
Hope was discovered, the merchants
of Portugal and the Netheriands wea-
content if their big, bluff-bowed ships
came back from their voyages of trade
in two years from the time they left
port at home. For three hundred
and fifty years, trade was transacted
chiefly by that circuitous and tedious
route. When California was settled,
and the discovery of priceless depos-
its of gold was made, merchants were
long content to trade by way of the
long route around Cape Horn, their
ships returning only at the expiration
of a year. The age became impa-
tient at the pace at which trade was moving. The Panama Railroad was built,
shortening the trip to California many months ; and then the Suez
Canal was opened, shortening the voyage from China to eighty
days. But there was yet much to do in abbreviating the route to Asia. From
New-York City to Panama, and thence to Canton, is 1 1,850 miles : from Kng-
land to Canton by the same route is 14,630 miles, or half the circumference
of the earth. But were there a railroad across the American continent in
as direct a lirte from New York as could conveniently be built, the trip from
that metropolis to Canton would be only 10,845 niiles long, and from Eng-
land to New York, and thence to Canton, 13,845 miles; the distance from
England to Canton by way of the Suez Canal being 12,000 miles.
There had been, for several years, t^lk about a rail way to the Pacific.
The war accelerated the national impulse in favor of such a work by showing
the need of an inland route to California, and facilities for the rapid transpor-
nRST OFFICB, CENTIIAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Panama
Railroad.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
663
i is now a \¥tx
3,ooo cars. The
Re^ Line, 4,000 ;
iction which gave
lortance ; this was
through the iiumn-
iboard of the I'.ast
ited, the world has
d leisurely methods
The world moves
)st rapid movement
t. When the route
if the Cape of ("lOud
ered, the merchants
he Netherlands wea'
ig, bluff-bowed ships
heir voyages of trade
m the time they left
For three hundred
rade was transacted
rcuitous and tedious
;alifornia was settled,
■y of priceless depos-
lade, merchants were
trade by way of the
id Cape Horn, their
inly at the expiration
age became impa-
|a Railroad was built,
and then the Suez
,m China to eighty
oxite to Asia. I'ro'"
o miles : from Kng-
flf the circumference
nerican continent in
le built, the trip from
Jong, and from Kng-
; the distance from
|o miles.
Iw ay to the Pacific
a work by showing
Ir the rapid transpor-
tation of troops to those far-away western portions of our domain. In July,
1862, two companies were incorporated by Congress to build the road. The
Unio n Pacific was to begm at <.)maha, and go westward : the Central Pacific,
starting at San FranciscOjjvas to build out to meet it. The Act of 18 62, and
a subsequent"'one~pa ssed in 186^, gra nted to the companies a right ot way
two himdred feet"wide th ough the public domain, and twenty sections of
land per mile, and, in addition to this, a loan of government credit to the
amount of $16,000 per mile on the prairies, $32,000 per mile between the
Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas, and $48,000 per mile for a distance
SNOW-SHEDS.
of a hundred and fifty miles across each of those two ranges. Wo rk began
in 18 63. The Central Pacific consolidated with the Western Pacific Railroad
out to San Jos^, the San Francisco, Oakland, and Alameda Company, the San
Joaiiuin Valley, and the California and Oregon Companies. The work was
prosecuted on both ends of the line with great energy, attracting the attention
and admiration of the whole civilized world . In 1868 thr ee hundred and fifty
miles hatl been completed on the Union Pacific, and track-laying was going
on at the rate of a mile a day. In May, 1869, the two roads met at Oeden.
Utah, a nd an all-rail line existed from the Atlan tic to the Pacific Oceans. The
last spike driven was made of gold ; and the event, telegraphed instantly to all
/
\ (j
y
664
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
parts of the Union, was the occasion of public rejoicing and excitement every-
where. Flags were exhibited, cannon fired, and meetings of public congrutu-
lation held, to celebrate the completion of the great national work.
There is a great future before these roads. They have been successful jn
obtaining a share of the commerce from Asia both for United-States ace oiint
Future of and for European. Connecting with the steamships at San Fran-
theie roads, cisco, they have shortened the transit from Yokohama to New
York an average of a hundred and sixty days to thirty ; and they are hriiiLMiig
into the States east of the Mississippi River now, in large quantity, the teas
and other commodities which formerly took the slower routes vid Panama or
Cape Horn. To England they deliver teas, put on board the Atlantic steamers
at New York, in forty days, which England cannot obtain in less than a hunilrcd
and twenty by steamer vid the Suez Canal. This through business will doubt-
less be shared in the future by competing Pacific railways ; but the country
along the Union and Central Roads is being rapidly developed through the
agency of the roads themselves, and will give them in the fiiture a local traffic
which will more than replace the falling-oflf in the through business.
The total volume of the through commerce will, however, be largely
increased when the three new Pacific railways now projected are completed.
Northern Competition will reduce the transportation-charges, and lead to an
Pacific. expansion of trade. The three roads referred to are the Northern
Pacific, chartered in July, 1864, with a land-grant and a loan, which now lias
over five hundred miles of road in operation west from Dpluth on Lake Supe-
rior ; the Canadian Pacific, organized in 1873, with a capital of ;?io,coo,ooo, a
grant of 50,000,000 acres along the main line, and a subsidy of $30,000,000 ;
Texas and the southern route to Pacific, which is building by two com-
Pacific. panies, — the Texas and Pacific from the East, and the Southern
Pacific from the West, — each company having a land-grant from Congress,
and the latter the enormous one of 60,000,000 acres from the State of Texas.
This latter route is well under way, and should be finished in two or three
years.
iEBiLT:nEKSi8£'::Tijr
•
^^^
w
<
■■♦,
BOOK
IV.
MINES
AND MINING, AND
OIL.
CHAFITIR 1.
MINING.
GENERAL HISTORY.
THE place which the mining-industries of a country deserve to hold
among the pursuits of a nation is not to be estimated by the market-
value of the product as compared with the market-value of other importance
products of labor ; for, if it were, mining would be entitled to a of mineral
very insignificant rank. We manufacture every year to the extent '"° "'^**'
of nearly six billion dollars ; we market our agricultural products for some-
thing like three billion ; while the total yiehl of all our mines does not sell for
two hundred million. The development of agriculture and manufacturing
has been peculiarly dependent upon the use of metals, the implements and
machinery necessary thereto being made almost entirely from mineral sub-
stances. In other regards — in building, illuminating, transportation, printing,
travel, and human intercourse — we are so utterly dependent upon metals, that
we may truly say they have been the means, f more than any thing else mate-
rial, of the world's ci\"' .nation. Thus viewed, American mining-industry attains
pre-eminent importance. Nevertheless, owing to the tardiness with which we
discovered the extent of our mineral resources and to some other disadvan-
tages, the development of these interests was greatly retarded, and belongs
chiefly to the last half-century of the country's history.
By the alx)rigines a little was known of the existence and value of copper,
petroleum, and silver, on this continent ; and the former two were Aborigine*
used in the region now included within the United States ages ignorant of
before the white man set foot on the American continent. *"**' ''
The hope of finding mineral treasure was one of the incentives that led the
early colonists hither, and they were quite diligent in searching for metals.
All along the Atlantic coast, almost immediately after the first se„ch for
settlements, discoveries were made of silver, lead, copper, iron, metaUby
tin, antimony, coal, and other valuable minerals ; but they were '*''''"'•*"•
found generally in small quantities ; and, in competition with foreign produc-
667
1 ,
668
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
tion, the working of mines was frcciucntly found iinremtinerative. Then, too,
the presence and hostihty of Indians made siu h enterprises dangerous. Iron
ore was sent to England from near Jamestown in 1608, the year after Vir(,'inia
was first permanently settled ; and in 1620 a hundred and fifty skilled work-
men were sent to the colony to erect anil operate iron-works. An Indian
massacre two years later, however, put a discouraging end to proceedings,
Another discouragement grew out of such blunders as the supposed discovery
of gold in Virginia by Capt. John Smith. A shipload of the glittering dust
was sent to Kngland, and there pronounced to be nothing but iron pyrites.
However, the plucky colonists persevered in spite of all depressions and
Early effortt obstacles, and made very creditable beginnings. Iron-mining was
In mining. resumed permanently in Virginia in 1715. The metal was found
in Massachusetts in 1628 and later, and a company was formed to 'vork it in
1643. Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania followed suit.
Penn had discovered iron as early as 1683 ; but no forges are mentioned on
his grants earlier than 1719-20. Lead-mining began in Missouri, then belong-
ing to France, in 1720; and the old Southampton silver-lead mine was openjd
in Massachusetts in 1765. Copper-mining is first heard of in Connecticut,
the Simsbury mines being worked as early as 1 709 ; but they were abandoned
as unprofitable about the middle of that century. The Schuyler mine, near
Belleville, N.J. , was dibcovered in 1 719, and is historic as the scene of the
building of the first steam-engine in America in 1 793-94. The Lake Superior
copper was first mined by the whites in 17 71, and in small quantities. In the
early colonial days the settlers used wood for fuel, and charcoal for the forge
and smelting-works. Coal, however, was found in Rhode Island in 1 768, and
mined for use. The great bituminous seam near Pittsburgh, Penn., was struck
in 1 784. Previous to this time coal was found in quantities in Virginia ; and
canals were cut, connecting parallel rivers to facilitate its transportation. By
1 789 quite an export trade with adjacent colonies had been built up.
At numerous other points along the Atlantic seaboard these and other
metals were found prior to the Revolution. Smelting-works and forges were
erected to reduce the ores, some of which, however, were exported. The
home government discouraged the manufacture of metals in this country,
though, at that period ; which was a damper upon mining-industry.
In the following chapters we trace more in detail the steps in the history
of each branch of mining in this country. Suffice it here to say, that, from the
Effect of humble beginnings just mentioned, but slow advances were made
Revolution- for several decades. The Revolutionary war, by cutting off sup-
•ry war. pjj^g ^^^^ England, and creating a special demand for iron and
copper ordnance and lead bullets, as well as other metal for domestic and other
implements, gave a peculiar stimulus to mining, although the army so drained
the country of men as to leave few for such occupations.
It was not until a quarter of the present century had passed that we see any
Then, too,
rous. Iron
fter Virj^inia
killed work-
An Indian
)roceedinj,'s,
d discovery
ttcring dust
pyrites,
■essions and
-mining was
il was found
3 'vork it in
ollowed suit.
entioned on
then belong-
was open'.'d
Connecticut,
! abandoned
ir mine, near
scene of the
ake Superior
:ies. In the
or the forge
1768, and
was struck
^inia; and
ation. By
p.
and other
forges were
orted. The
his country,
the history
lat, from the
were made
ing off sup-
er iron and
: and other
so drained
; we see any
670
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
marked strides in the mining-business. In 1820 attempts were made to mix
Mining since anthracite coal witli charcoal in iron-smelting : but the experiment
'825- was not successful until 183 1, when the hot-blast was invented'
then both the coal and iron industry took a tremendous start. In 1835 'e^d-
mining received a wonderful impetus in Missouri and Iowa from new dis-
coveries. Copper-niining was revived along Lake Superior about 1842, and
made a sudden jump. The California gold-fever of 1849 was the beginning
of the search and procurement of that metal on a considerable scale. Petro-
leum came prominently into notice for the first time in August, 1859, wlien the
V^ Drake well struck oil ; and the Comstock lode was discovered in Nevada that
same year, and laid the foundation of our present silver-mining business.
These are the points from which the present development of our mineral
resources dates.
A review of the history of mining during this important period shows that
our operations have been characterized by intense excitement and magnified
Speculative speculation, by gross blunders and by great waste. Says Kimball,
character of [It] " is an instructive narrative of fluctuating fortune, rangng
"""'"*■ through all the intermittent vicissitudes of prosperity and stagna-
tion, of factitious inflations and calamitous recoils, of blind delusion and
credulity, of stolid unbelief, of highest popularity, and general distrust." The
possibility of making a great deal of money in a short time always crazes
people ; and the discovery of large deposits of metal, both the baser and the
precious, affords just such inviting possibilities to the workman and to the
capitalist. And so, in the case of each of the great discoveries of lead, copper,
gold, oil, and silver, a large proportion of the country's population has been
rendered frantic. An immense rush has set in toward the centre of inter-
est ; fortunes large and small, often augmented by extensive borrowing from
credulous friends and relatives, have Jjeen invested in land-claims, and stock
companies to work therr. ; towns and villages have sprung up almost in a day,
like Jonah's gourd. The hopes of but few out of many would be reahzcd ;
disappointment and ruin ensued ; and not only were poverty, sickness, and
death often the result, but whole towns of the mushroom type have been
almost as suddenly wiped out of existence.
In this mad rush of greed and excitement, other blunders besides those of
investing in unprofitable lands have been made. Furnaces for smelling have
been located without due regard for getting fuel ; costly machinery for crushing
ore has been bought, and forwarded to the scene of action, without knowing
whether ore would be found at all, or whether the apparatus was suited to the
ki.id of ore discovered; new processes for extracting metal have been
resorted to, without reliable inforniation as to their value ; and other such
ruinous mistakes have been committed by frenzied speculators.
There has also been an enormous waste of valuable minerals in conse-
quence of this same impetuous desire for wealth. In the lead-regiuns ot tlic
OF THE UNITED STATES.
671
were made to wix
but the experiment
blast was invented ;
art. In 1835 lead-
;owa from new dis-
ior about 1842, and
3 was the beginning
arable scale. I'etro-
gust, 1859, when the
ered in Nevada that
ver-mining business.
nent of our mineral
nt period shows that
sment and magnified
vaste. Says Kimball,
iting fortune, rangng
jrosperity and stagna-
f blind delusion and
eneral distrust." The
»rt time always crazes
3th the baser and the
workman and to the
•veries of lead, copper,
population has been
the centre of inter-
nsive borrowing from
|and-claims, and stock
^ up almost in a day,
ly would be reah/.cd;
loverty, sickness, and
•00m type have been
Mississippi Valley argentiferous galena is quite common, and often the lead
is entirely wasted in the extraction of the little silver. In the
. •.!,,. 1 ,-1 Waste.
coal-regions, especially before the organization of the present
large companies and their combination in monopoly, only the richer measures
woidd be worked, leaving a large quantity of inferior yet valuable coal on
higher levels to be lost by caving. Such recklessness in handling was p^ainised,
that from a third to a half of the product was lost. The same stite of things
has been found in the silver country. Mines have been neglected as soon as
the rich surface-deposits were procured, and the accumulation of water and
rubbish have mrde it next to impossible to work what were really paying shafts.
But a re-action has set in of late years in these regards, and this extravagance
is steadily lessening.
The two great causes, which, after the discovery of our great resources
and the passion for w \lth, have stimulated American mining, are the govern-
ment's general poll of encouragement, and the advancement in principal
mechanic and natur 1 science. Under the old English laws the causes of im-
crown was entitled to the gold and silver found on government p'"^""'"*-
lands, and a certain proportion of other minerals. But in this country, although
legislation has been very slight until recently, and the gold and silver miners
of the Pacific coast were ruled only by self-made regulations, the government
has favored the free occupation and investigation of the rocks for minerals,
and facilitated the cheap purchase and lease of mining-lands, 'ihere has
been a protective tariff, too, on foreign metals at times, the heaviest having
been since i86r ; and this has greatly promoted the development of our iron,
copper, coal, and other minerals.
.\mong the most serviceable inventions in practical mining and metallurgy
for the past ten or fifteen years are the California stamp-mill for crushing
quartz, the mercury amalgamation process for gold, the pan process for silver,
the hydraulic process of gold-mining in alluvial regions, the application of new
explosives to rocks, new methods of drilling, new blast-furnaces, and new
methods of converting iron into steel.
Our independent schools in mining and engineering date from 1865. Mr.
Abram S. Hewitt, speaking in 1875 of their rapid increase in number, said,
" Many of them compare favorably in theoretical instruction at Mining-
least, and several of them in the apparatus of instruction, v.-ilh the «=hoois.
famous schools of the Old World. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
at Bciston, the School of Mines of Columbia College at New York, the Shef-
field Scientific School of Yale College at New Haven, the Stevens Institute of
Technology at Hoboken. the Pardee Scientific Department of Lafayette Col-
lege at Kaston, the excellent school at Rutgers College under the direction of
Professor Cook, the new Scientific Department of the College of New Jersey,
the School of Mining and Metallurgy of Lehigh University at Bethlehem, the
School of Mining and Practical Geology of Harvard University at Cambridge,
!■
67a INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the Scientific Department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia
the School of Mines of Michigan University at Ann Arbor, the Missouri
School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, the Polytechnic Department of
Washington University at St. Louis, and the similar department of the Univer-
sity of California at Oakland, and perhaps some which I have omitted to
name, — this is a list of schools for instruction in the sciences involved in
mining and metallurgical practice of which we need not be ashamed."
Other agencies for the advancement of science in this class of industry
National ^^ ^^ appointment and reports of a national commissioner of
commis- mining-statistics since 1866, the organization of the American
sionerof Institute of Mining Engineers in 1870, and the publication of
periodicals especially devoted to such subjects, the most prominent
of these being "The American Mining and Engineering Journal."
The following table, made up from the census of 1870, shows the value of
the principal mineral products of this country that year: the figures for 1878
would doubtless raise the total very nearly fifty million dollars more : —
Coal $73,524,992
Iron ore 13,204,138
Gold (placer-mined) 7,266,613
Gold (hydraiilic-niinnl) 2,508,531
Quartz (40 per cent gold and 60 per cent silver) . . . 16,677,508
Copper 5,201,312
Petroleum 19,304,224
Lead 736,004
Zinc 788,880
Cinnabar 817,700
Nickel ' . . . . 24,000
Asphaltum " . . 450,000
Peat 8,200
Quarrying (including marble and slate) .... 12,086,892
Total $1521598.994
^
^M
--►-T^nY
OF THE UNITED STATES.
673
CHAPTER II.
GOLD.
Drake.
ALTHOUGH some specimens of gold were collected in North Carolina
and Virginia previous to the Revolution, no excitement about the sub-
ject arose until the discovery in Cahfornia in 1848. Before then Early di»-
the gold-miner had pursued his occupation quietly, and without coveriesof
ever dreaming of enormous riches suddenly acquired ; but, with '^° "
the discovery on the Pacific coast, aH was changed. Gold had been found in
California prior to t .s time ; for Hakluyt (in his account of the voyage of
Sir Francis Drake, \\i\o spent five weeks in June and July, 1579,
along the coast) says, " There is no part of the earth to be taken
up wherein there is not a reasonable quantity of gold and silver." Although
this statement was highly overdrawn, yet it probably contained a basis of
truth ; for the Mexicans found placer-gold near the Colorado River at various
intervals between 1775 and 1828. Still these discoveries were regarded as
unim])ortant ; and even so late as 1835, when Forbes wrote his History of
California, he says, '• No minerals of any particular importance pigcers of
have yet been found in Upper California, nur any ores of metals." San Fran-
Three years later the placers of San Francisquito, forty-five miles "•'i"'*°'
north-west from Los Angeles, were discovered. The deposit of gold was
neither extensive nor rich ; but it was worked steadily for twenty years. In
1841 the exploring-expedition of Commodore Wilkes visited the coast; and
its mineralogist, James 1). Dana, made a trip overland from the
Columbia River, by way of Willamette and Sacramento Valleys, to
San Francisco Bay ; and in the following year he published a work on miner-
alogy, in which was mentioned the discovery of gold in Sacramento Valley,
and of auriferous rocks in Southern Oregon. Dana did not regard his dis-
covery as of any practical value ; and, if he said any thing about it in Cali-
fornia, no one heeded his words. Nevertheless, many persons believed the
country was rich in minerals; and on the 4th of May, 1846, Thomas O.
Larkin, at that time United-States consul in Monterey, wrote in an official
letter to James Buchanan, who was then secretary of state, "There is no
Dana.
674
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
doubt but that gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, sulphur, and coal mines
are to be found all over California ; and it is ecjually doubtful whether, under
their present owners, they will ever be worked."
Seven years later, on the nineteenth day of January, 1848, — ten days belore
the treaty of (niadalupe Hidalgo was signed, and three months before llic
Marshall's ratified copies were exchanged, — James W. Marshall, while en-
discovery, gaged in digging a race for a saw-mill at Coloma, about tliirtv-five
miles eastward from Sutter's Fort, found some pieces of yellow melal which
SUTTER S SAW-MtLL.
he and tlie half-dozen men working with him at the mill -magined were gold.
Feeling confident that he had made a discovery of great importaiKC, but
knowing notliing of chemistry or gold-mining, he could not prove tiie iiatuir
of the metal, or tell how to obtain it in paying quantities. livery morning he
went down to the race to look for gold ; but the rest of his companions
regarded Marshall as very wild in his ideas, and continued their labors upon
the mill and in sowing v^heat and planting vegetables. The swift cuiant ot
the mill-race washed away a considerable body of earthy mi.Uer, leaving ihe
coarse particles of gold behind : so Marshall's collection of specimens con-
tinued to accumulate, and his as'sociates began to think there might be some-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
(>1S
r, ami coiil mines
ful whether, uiulcr
— ten days before
nonths before the
larshall, \vliile en-
a, about thirty-five
yellow metal which
,VA'-;.- -•
^^D
I M-nagined were gold.
Ireat importame, hut
lot prove the naluve
1 Every mornin;: lu-
L of his conii);uiioiis
led their labors upoii
The swift current ot
ly muner, leaving the
In of spe(-imens con-
lere mit;ht be some-
thing in his gold-mine, after all. About the middle of February one of the
party employed at the mill went to San Francisco for the purpose of learning
wiiether this metal was precious, and was there introduced to Isaac Humphrey,
who had washed for gold in Georgia. The experienced miner saw at a glance
that the true stuff was before him, and, after a few inquiries, was satisfied as to
the richness of the deposits. He made immediate preparation to go to the
, and tried to persuade some of his friends to go with him ; but they
nil
thought it would be only a waste of time and money : so he went with Bennett
for his sole companion.
Arriving at Coloma on the 7th of March, he found work at the mill going
on as though no gold existed in the neighborhood. The next day he took a
pan and spade, and waslicd some of the dirt from the bottom of washing
the mill-race in places where Marshall had found his specimens, 'ofeoid.
and in a few hours declared the mines to be far richer than any he had seen
or heard of in Georgia.
He now made a rocker, and went to work earnestly washing for gold ; and
every day he found ap ounce or more of metal. The men at the Renews his
mill made rockers for themselves, and all were soon busy in search ''f"""**-
of tiie shining stuff.
I'^ery thing else was abandoned ; yet the nimor of the discovery spread
slowly. In the middle of March, Pearson B. Residing, the owner of a large
ranch at the head of the Sacramento Valley, happened to visit other dis-
Siitter's Fort ; and, hearing of the mining at Coloma, he went coveries.
thither to see it. He said, that, if siiriilarity of formation could be regarded
as proof, there must be gold-mines near his ranch : so, after observing the
method of washing, he went away, and in a few weeks was at work on the bars
of Clear Creek, nearly two hundred miles in a north-westerly direction from
Coloma. A few days after Reading had left, John Bidwell, formerly a repre-
sentative of the northern district of the State in the lower house of Congress,
came to Coloma ; and the result of his visit was the organization of a party
of Indians belonging to his ranch to wash for gold on the bars of Feather
River, seventy-five miles from Coloma. Thus the' mines were opened at
several distant points.
The following was the first printed notice, in a California newspaper pub-
lished in San Francisco, of the discovery : " In the newly-made p^xnttA
race-way of the saw-mill erected by Capt. Sutter on the Ameri- notice oi
can Fork, gold has been found in considerable quantities. One '*'"°*"y-
person brought thirty dollars to New Helvetia, gathered there in a short
time."
On the 29th of May, the same paper, announcing that its publication would
be suspended, says, " The whole country, from San Francisco to
Los Angeles, and from the seashore to the base of Sierra Nevada,
resounds with the sordid cry of ' Gold, gold, gold 1 ' while the field is left half
i
676
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
planted, the house half built, and every thing neglected but the manufacture
of picks and shovels, and the means of transportation to the spot where one
man obtained a hundred and twenty-eight dolL^rs' worth of the real stuff in
one day's washing ; and the average for all concerned is twenty dollars per
diem."
Towns and farms were deserted, or left to the care of women and children •
CAUFORNIAN GOLD-FINUUK I'KUSi'UCTING TIIK GKOUN'U.
while rancheros, wood-choppers, mechanics, vaqueros, and soldiers and >ailors
Rush for who had deserted, or obtained leave of absence, devoted all ihoir
the mines. energies to washing the auriferous gravel of the SacrauiLMito basin.
Never satisfied, however great their profits, they were continually looking tor
new places which might yield them twice or thrice as much as they had made
before. Thus the area of their labors gradually extended ; and, at the em! of
1848, miners were at work in every large stream on the western slope of the
Sierra Nevada, from the Feather to the Tuolumne River (a distance of a
F^''"''1|ff
t the manufacture
\e spot where one
if the real stulT in
twenty dollars per
imen and children ;
^tj
Id soldiers and >;ul<"s
Ince, devoted all their
Ithc Sacramento basin.
lontinually locking for
]ich as they had made
\ ■ and, at the end of
western slope of the
Iver (a distance of a
OF THE UNITED STATES.
677
hundred and fifty miles), and also at Reading's diggings in the north-western
corner of the Sacramento Valley.
The news of the gold discovery was received in the Atlantic States and in
foreign countries with incredulity and ridicule ; but soon the receipts of the
precious metal in large quantities, and the enthusiastic letters of Reception of
army-officers and of men whose word was unquestioned, changed news in At-
tlie current of belief, and created a wonderful excitement. Ore- ""*'"^ "'"'
gon, the Hawaiian Islands, and Sonora sent their thousands to share in the
auriferous harvest of the first year ; and in the following spring all the adven-
turous young Americans east of the Rocky Mountains wanted to go to the
new Kldorado, where, as they imagined, everybody was rich, and gold could
be dug by the shovelful from the bed of every stream.
Though the phrase "golden sands" is often heard, gold is found in a
tougli clay, which envelops gravel
and large bowlders as well as sand.
This clay must be thoroughly dis-
solved : so the miner fdls „gje of
his ])an, — which is made washing
of sheet-iron or tinned '" 8°''*-
iron, with a flat bottom about a foot
in diameter, and sides six inches
high, inclining outwards at an an-
gle of thirty or forty degrees, — and
goes to the bank of the river, scpiats
down there, puts his pan under
water, and shakes it horizontally,
so as to get the mass thoroughly
scaked ; then he picks out the larger
stones with one hand, and mashes up the largest anfl toughest lumps of clay,
and again shakes his pan ; and when all the dirt appears to be dissolved, so
that tiie gc'd can be carried to the bottom by its weight, he tilts up the pan a
little to let the thin muil and light sand run out ; and thus he works until he
has washed out all except the metal, which remains at the bottom.
The rocker, which was introduced into the California mines at their dis-
covery, is made somewhat like a child's cradle. On the upper end is a riddle,
made with a bottom of sheet-iron punched with holes. This
riddle is fdled with pay-dirt ; and a man rocks the machine with
one hand, while with a dipper he pours water into the riddle with the other.
Being agitated, the licjuid dissolves the clay, and carries it down with the gold
into the floor of the rocker, where the metal is caught by traverse riffles, or
cleats ; while the mud, water, and sand run off at the lower end of the rocker.
which is left open. The riddle can be removed, thus enabling the miner to
throw out the larger stones which are mixed with the clay.
f/i:
' ff 1
678
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
The year 1850, two years after Marsliall's discovery, was marked l)y a nml.
titude of " rushes," or sudden niiyratioiis in search of imaginary ri( h di-r.
gings. The miners, although generally men of rare intelligence (dnipaivd
Early ideas with the laborers in oilier countries, had vague ideas of the
of miners. geological distribution of gold; and the marvellous amounts du-r
out by them (sometimes a single miner extracting thousands of dollars |)lt
day) excited their imagination so highly as to jjrevent tht formation ot a
sound judgment, even if they had possessed the re(iuisite information upon
which to act. Many believed that there must be some volcanic souno lioiu
which the gold had been thrown up and scattered over the hills; and ihcy
thought, that, if they could only find that place, they would have nothing; lo do
except to shovel up the precious metal, and load their mules with it. Mdic
than once, long trains of pack-animals were sent out with the cunfidnii (.x-
pectation of getting loads of gold within a few days.
No story was too extravagant to command credence. Men who had nucr
earned more than a dollar a *lay before they came to California were dissatis-
Learning ^^'^^ when they were clearing twenty dollars, and were always roady
from expert- to Start oiT on sonic expedition in search of distant diggin,:;s wiiich
were expected to yield more abundantly. Although the miners of
to-day have better ideas of the auriferous deposits than those had wlio tmlni
sixteen years ago, and no longer count upon digging up the pure gold by the
shovelful, yet they are now, as they luve ever been since the disccjvcry of tiic
mines, always prepared for emigration to any new field of excitement.
Of course the chief want of the placer-miner is an abundant and con-
venient supply of water ; and the first noteworthy attempt to convey the
needful element in an artificial channel was made at Coyote Hill,
in Nevada County, in March, 1850. This ditch was about two
miles long, and, proving a decided success, was imitated in many other ])lai cs,
until, in the course of eight years, six thousand miles of mining-canals had
been made, sujjplying all the princijjal placer-districts with water, and furnish-
ing the means for obtaining the greater portion of the gold yield of the .State.
Many of the ditches were marvels of engineering skill.
The problem was to get the largest amoimt of water at the greatest altifule
above the auriferous ground, and at the least immediate expense, as money
_. , was worth from three to ten per cent per month interest. .\s the
Early expe- ' '
dients for pay-dirt might be exhausted within a couple of years, ami as tiie
anticipated profits would in a short time be sufficient to pay for a
new ditch, durability was a point of minor importance. There
was no imperial treasury to su])ply the funds for a durable aciueduct in every
township, nor could the impatient inincrs wait a decennium for the conii)letion
of gigantic structures in stone and mortar. The high value of their time, and
the scarcity of their money, made it necessary that the cheapest and most
expeditious expedients for obtaining water should be adopted. Where the
First canal.
obtaining
water.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
679
i marked by a iinil-
imagiiury rirh dijr.
L'Uigcnce lompaivd
ague ideas (.'I tho
L'Uous amounts iIu.l,'
;ands (jf dollars jjcr
tire formation of a
e information upon
olcanit: soun c from
the hills ; anil they
I have nothin;; to <lo
miles with it. More
th the cunfukiu ex-
Men who had never
lifornia were disvUis-
nd were always ready
listant iliggini^s \vhi( h
though the miners of
those had who toiled
I the pure gold by llit
the discovery of the
excitement,
abundant and con-
lempt to convey the
made at Coyote Hill,
ditch was about two
[in many other i)la(es,
f mining-canals had
|th water, and furuhh-
Id yield of the Stale.
It the greatest altit'ule
le expense, as money
\m\.\\ interest. .\s the
of years, and as the
jsufficient to pay for a
importance. There
lie afpieduct in every
|m for the completion
le of their time, and
cheapest and most
idopted. Where the
surface of the ground furnished the proper gratle, a ditch was dug in the
earth ; and, where it did not, flumes were built of wood, sustained in the
air by framework that rose sometimes to a height of three hundred feet in
cro^^ing deep ravines, and extending for miles at an elevation of, a hundred
or two htmdred feet.
All the devices known to mechanics tor conveying water from hill-top to
hill-top were ado])ted. Aqueducts of wood, and pipes of iron, were Aqueducts,
suspended upon cables of wire, or sustained on bridges of wood ; s'p»i°"9. *=•
and inverted siphons carried water up the sides of one hill by the heavier
pressure from the higher side of another.
1 Kl-.^.sl Kl;-ll't\-, \\\\.\ ]t\\VM.
The ditches weie uswally the property of companies, of which there were
at one time four hundred in the State, owning a total lengtli of six thousand
miles of canals and flumes. The largest of these, called the
Ditches.
Kureka, in Nevada County, has two hundred and five miles of
<iitehes, constructed at a cost of nine hundred thousand dollars ; and their
receii)ts at one time from the sale of water were six thousand dollars per day.
Unfortunately, these mining-canals, though more numerous, more extensive,
and bolder in design, than the aqueducts of Rome, were less durable ; and
some of them have been abandoned, and allowed to go to ruin, so that
scarcely a trace of their existence remains, save in the heaps of gravel from
which the clay and loam were washed in search for gold.
68o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
As the placers in many districts were gradually exhausted, the demand for
Destruction water, and the profits of the ditch-companies, decreased ; ami tin;
of ditches. more expensive flumes, when blown down by severe storms, carried
away by floods, or destroyed by the decay of the wood, were not repaired.
The construction of hundreds of ditches within three or four years afitr
the successful experiment at Coyote Hill createc' i fresh impulse to i)la( or-
inveniionof mining, and greatly modified its character. New inventions,
the "torn." though of the rudest description, were multiplied to facilitate the
process of gathering the yellow metal. Among others was the introduction of
HYUHAIM.IC MINING. — WASHING DOWN A BANK.
an implement which had been previously used in (Georgia, called liy tlic short
and unclassic name of " torn." This was a great imi)rovenient ujion 'he
rocker; yet it was soon superseded by a still greater, — the shii<"0,
The sluice. •' ' , ,
whi h is a broad trough from a hundred to a tiiousand feci Ioiil',
with transverse cleats at the lower end to catch the gold. With a (1ls( cnt of
one foot in twenty, the water rushes through it like a torrent, bearing down
large stones, and tearing the liim])s of clay to pieces. The miners, of wlioin
a dozen or a score may work at one sluice, have little to do save to tiirow in
the dirt, and take out the gold.
Occasionally it may be necessary to throw out some stones, or to shovel
the dirt along, to prevent the sluice from choking ; but these attentions cost
iTTf"''?
OF THE UNITED STATES,
68 1
;d, the (Icmand for
ecreascd ; ami tho
^ere storms, carrictl
e not repaired,
or four years after
impulse to pl.K cr-
Ncw invciUioiis,
lied to facililate thu
the introduction uf
% '^^^
''" ' W*-"^
W--
(\'\llcd by tl>c sliort
Jrovemcnt upon 'he
greater, — the slui<'c,
thousand feet Ion?.
With a descent of
[rrcnt. l)carin,u down
[he miners, of whom
llo save to throw in
Istones, or to sliovel
liese attentions cost
nous
methodi.
relatively very httle time. 'l"he sKiicc is the best device heretofore used for
washing gold, and is supposed to be unsurpassable. It has been superiority
used in California more extensively than elsewhere ; although it °' "" »iui<:«-
has been introduced by American miners into Australia, New Zealand, IJritish
Columbia; 'I'ransylvania, anil many other countries.
The sluice, though an original invention here, had been previously used in
Brazil ; but it was never brought to much excellence there, nor pornjerw
used extensively ; and no such implement was known in 1849 in used in
the industry of gold-mining. Brazil.
The shovel could not bring earth to the sluice fast enough, and the wages
of a dozen workmen must be saved, if possible : so in 1852 lOdward IC. Matti-
son, a native of Connecticut, invented the process of hydraulic Hydraulic
mining, in which a stream of water was directed under a heavy ">'ni"B-
pressure against a bank or hillside containing placer-gold, and the earth was
torn down by the fluid, and carried into the sluice to be washed ; and thus the
expense of shovelling was entirely saved.
The man with the rocker might wash one cubic yard of earth in a day ;
with the torn he might average twice that quantity ; with the sluice, four yards;
and with the hytlraulic and sluice together, fifty or even a hundred
yarils. Tiie difference was immense. The force of a stream of ness of va-
watei rushing through a two-inch pipe, uniler a pressure of two
hundreil feet perpendicular, is tremendous ; and the everlasting
hills themselves crumble down before it as if they were but piles of cloud
blown away by a breath of wiiul, or dissiiiated by a glance of the sun.
And yet even this terrific power has not sufficed. When the hills have ^ ^*
been dried by months of constant heat and drought, the clay „ ^
■' > / Hydraulic
becomes so hard, that the hydraulic stream, with all its momentum, mining not
(lid not steadily tlissolve it ; and often the water ran off almost as "'wy»
cluariy as ever through the sluice, and conseipiently was wasted.
The sluice could wash more dirt than the hydraulic stream furnished when
the clay was hard and dry ; and, to prevent this loss, the miner Efficiency of
would often cut a tunnel into the heart of his claim, and blast the sluice,
chy loose with powder, so that it would yield more readily to the action of
water. Two tons of powder have been us'jil at a single blast in some of these
operations.
With the introduction of the sluice, the ditch, and the hydraulic process,
the hiring of laborers began. The pan and the rocker .equired Hiring of
every man to be his own master ; but these new processes led to laborers.
other modes of employment.
There was an abundance of rocker- claims in 1849; but three years later
there were not enough good sluice-claims to supply one-third of the miners.
The erection of a long sluice, the cutting of drains (often necessary to carry
off the tailings), and the purchase of water from the ditch-company, required
p : m
■' 'hi!l
lit
>k !
<M
68a
/JVD US TKIA L I/IS TO A' Y
capital ; and llie manner of rU-arin;^ tip rondorod it possible for llu- owmr
Cautei lead- "'^ ^ sliiicc to prevent liis servants from stealing any <'oiisi(K ralile
ingtoem- portion of Ilis gold before it came to iiis possession. 'I'liiis ji wn^
ubor"'"'°' ''''^' '''""" ' "^''"" ••' 'liriiiR miners for wages became coniiuon in
the i)!ater-(iiggings.
Placer-gold, it is supposed, is nothing but loose portions which have Ijicn
disintegrateil from rocks by the operations of nature, and is only a very smill
portion of the gold not
yet gathered. Wlun
Mur( hison wrote iii.
Placer-gold, Work upon
what it I.. ,1,^. ru.ks
of the Silurian age, he
dec lared that gold veins
were confined diii. Ily to
the Silurian hk ks, ami
that the (pi.Tiitity < ipa-
ble of extrai tioii from
them at no ilistant day
would be exhausted.
'i"he gold-bearing km ks
in the Ural .Mnunlains
in Australia, and to a
considerable exttiu in
California, belong to the
Silurian period. If ••we
cast our eyes to the
countries wa tried iiy
the I'actolus of Ovid,
to the Phrygia and
Thrace of the Citceks,
to the .Alps .111(1 ^'oidcn
Tagus of the Romans,
to the Hoheniia uf the
middle ages, to tracts in
Britain which were worked in old times, and have either been long ab.nndoned
or arc now scarcely at all productive, or to those chains in America and .Aus-
tralia, which, previously unsearchcd, have in our times proved so rich." — in
all these lands gold has been imjiartcd abundantly to only the silurian or the
associated eruptive rocks. Yet it has been conclusively proved, since the time
when the first edition of Murchison's "Silnria" was published, that gold
abounds in rocks of every geological age. The explorations of 'I'rask and
Whitney in California in 1853 and 1854, and subsequently the discovery of
FI.UMR NEAR SMARTVILLE, CAI..
" "Ml Ik f
-"||l*
OF rHK UNITED STATES,
683
il)lc for the owntr
ig any considiiahlt-
s«)ion. '\'\\y\^ ii w;is
ccamc common in
s wliich liavr luin
is only a very small
lion of the gold not
gnlhcrcil. \Vlnn
rcluson wrote liis
;er-gold, Work n|ion
'«'»'»• the roi ks
the Silurian aj;c, he
:lare(l that ^oltl veins
re confined ( hiiflv to
Silurian ro< k^, anil
t the i|uanlily 1 .ipa-
of extrai tion I'mni
;ni at no distant day
uUl be exhausted,
ic gold-bearing; roi ks
the Ural Mountains
Australia, and to a
nsiderable extent in
ifurnia, belong to the
irian period. It "we
it our eyes to the
ntries watered hy
Tactolus of Ovid,
the rhryt;ia and
race of the dreeks,
the Alps nnd golden
gus of the Romans,
the Hohemia of the
(He ages, to tia( ts in
iccn long abandoned
n America and Aus-
•oved so rich," — in
ly the Silurian or the
■oved, since the time
Lublishcd, that goM
Uions of 'I'rask and
Itly the discovery of
sciondary fossils in the main belt of gold-bearing States, together with the
di-.(overies in Hungary in 1863, prove that rocks belonging to the latest
geological periods, even as late as the tertiary, contain prothictive gold-bearing
veins.
Again : later geological investigation has shown that the (piantity <()n-
tained in the rocks, and which is accessible, is more abundant than geologists
formerly supposed. Murchison maintained that tiie gold-veins Quantity or
parted, as they descended into the rocks, till they became mere koU more
threads, tiiat could not be followed or workeil to advantage. Mr. than wm
Selwyn, in his report to the ICnglish ( Jovernment at Australia, in once nup-
1X56 and 1857, on the mining resources of the colony of Vi( toria, '"'" "
dedaied that there was no evidence from the mines in that plat e to sustain
Mnr( bison's position, that any vein rich at the surflice dies out, or suddenly
becomes unprofitable. It was true that the iipjjer portion of many veins were
OIK e far richer than they are now. Hut the reason was very apparent ; the
gold had been removed by denudation, 'i'he very fact th.at many veins even
thus abraded were still often very rich on their present surfac e, went far, in
his opinion, to prove that the diminution of yield in depth, even though
admitted to be true on a large scale, was still so slow a.> not to be appre-
eialile within any depth to whii h ordinary mining operations might be carried.
Raymontl, in his rejiort to the United-States (Jovernment in 1870, said that
most of the gold-veins might be considered as practically inexhaustible in
depth : indeed, the statement of Murchison, according to this autliority,
"is completely overthrown by exi)erience." Mr. (1. Arthur Phillips speaks
the opinion now universally acknowletlged, that gold-ledges arc not more
liable than ordinary metalliferous veins to become impoverished in depth.
Since the discovery of the original home of gold, the extraction of it ry
therefrom has been carried on in a more scientific manner than placer-mining, ^p^
h is true that many of the earlier enterprises in the way of rpiartz- progress o(
mining were failures. Large and costly mills were erected ; a scientific
multitude of laborers were employed ; but they did not know """'"'•
how to select the rich from the i)oor cpiartz, and too often located their mills
where there was only a small pocket, which was soon exhausted. Besides,
the mills were too large to be fully operated without receiving all the poor
as well as the rich rock accessible in the vein ; the amalgamator did not
understand his business ; the rich rock in which the Mexicans had worked
often failed ; the creditors who had loaned money for the erection of these
stnictures brought suit to foreclose their mortgages ; the work stoi)ped ; the
titles of the property became insecure ; and the people in the neighborhood
declared that quartz-mining would not pay. What a wonderful change has
occurred since those early and disastrous days !
In the mode of pulverizing and reducing quartz comparatively few
changes have been made. In some mills the same machinery and pro-
684
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
cesses have been used, without alteration or addition, for a long period.
Failures in There is, however, a general belief that the business has not been
early quartz- properly Studied by any one; and it is certain that there is much
mining. difference of opinion in respect to various important questions
concerning the reduction of ores. The practice is not uniform in regatd to
the fineness of pulverization, or the size and speed of the stamps, or tlie
mode of amalgamation. Wood, as a material for the shafts of stamps, lias
given way to iron ; the square form has been replaced by the cylindrical ;
and the stamps, instead of falling with a simple downward motion, now come
TAIL SLUICES, VUHA KIVER.
(]■ i\vn with a twist. The mortar into which the stamps fall is now always of
iron ; and the stamps stand in a straight line, instead of forming a circle as
they did in some mills years ago.
There arc other modes of obtaining gold, which, however, are so nearly
obsolete as to reciuire only brief notice. Tiic arastra, for instance, was used in
the early days to pulverize the ore. It is a Mexican contnv-
The arastra. , , , . , ,^ . ,,,. ,, i
ance, rude, but (so miners say) effective. Winnowing, or <ii)-
wasliing," was ])ractised also by the Mexicans. It is still used in some
parts of Southern and Lower California, where the ore is found too tar away
from a sufficient supply of water to make any other practice possible. Tiie
wind bears away tiie dust and light particles of earth, and leaves the gold-
dust, which is heavier.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
685
During the progress of geological surveys gold has been found in many
places, but nowhere in such quantities as in California. It has been found
in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in Vermont, in New ^vhere gold
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and in still larger quantities in the has been
remaining Southern seaboard States, as far as Alabama. Doubt- °"" '
less, in the years to come, unless its value diminishes very much, vast quantities
will be extracted from the AUeghanies, especially with the more scientific
processes now in use. Gold-mining contains more of the gambling element
than any other regular industry ; and this is one of the reasons why it has
always possessed such a singular fascination for many. But quartz-mining is
robbed essentially of this uncertain element; for the business, if properly
conilucted, yields more regular profits than any other mode of gathering
the precious metal.
m. I
686
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Latest metal
to attain
prominence
in United
States.
CHAPTER III.
SILVER.
SILVER is Hie latest of all the mineral products to attain prominence in
the mining industries of the United States. Prior to the year 1859 the
silver produced in this country was- utterly insignificant. Only
faint traces of it had been found here and there, and it was rarely
made the object of special exploration. The silver coin in circu-
lation was almost exclusively of foreign metal, as was also the plate
in common use.
The early Spanish invaders of this continent found the Aztecs of Mexico,
and Toltecs of Peru, jiossesscd of great quantities of this precious metal, which
Spanish was obtained from the great mountain-range, which, under dilTerent
discoveries, names, extends from the southern to the northern extn.'mity of tlic
New World. Mining was carried on even more extensively under the new
governments, aud immense quantities of treasure were carried hon,:; to Europe
in Spanish ships. But that portion of this great treasure-vault of nature
included within our present boundaries remained almost entirely free from
investigation until 1849, and for ten years the search was directed almost exclu-
sively to finding gold.
Silver was found, however, mixed with galena, or lead ore, in small quantities
by the eastern colonists a full century before. Such a vein, for instance, was
discovered in Worcester County, Mass., in 1754, and worked with
profit. Another was discovered in Columbia County, N.Y., as
early as 1 740 : this was on the estate of Robert Livingston.
Near it was an iron forge for the reduction of metal obtained rroni
Connecticut. The same year argentiferous gaiena was found in
Dutchess County of the same State, and later in Westchi.-ster County; the
former being worked by the Germans of that vicinity. In a vein of copper
discovered in New Jersey in 1719 there was found silver in the proportion of
four ounces to every hundred-weight of ore. The Swedes reported the discov-
ery of silver in Pennsylvania in their day ; and it was found in small (piantities
near Davidson, N.C., and in South Carolina along the Savannah River. Later
Early
discoveries
in New Eng
land, New
York.&c.
f
ittain prominence in
o the year 1859 the
insignificant. Only
re, and it was rarely
silver coin in circu-
as was also the plate
:: Aztecs of Mexico,
reciovis metal, which
hich, under diiTerent
em extr'.-mity of the
lively un'ler the new
ied hon,; to Europe
sure-vault of niUiire
X entirely free from
irected almost extlu-
Ire, in small quantities
lein, for instance, was
{54, and worked with
ia County. N.Y., as
Robert Livingston.
metal obt..:r.-.'''. from
galena was found in
;hi.'ster County ; the
lln a vein of copper
in the proportion of
reported the discov-
,d in small (piantities
lannah River. Later
OF THE UNITED STATES.
687
the great galena-mines of the Upper and Lower Mississippi were discovered to
contain a slight proportion of this precious metal. Li some of these several
lo( alities the silver was abundant enough to pay for extraction, but rarely. In
the early colonial days it was not possible to eliminate it as easily and success-
fully as now, and in most cases such experiments were soon abandoned. In
later days it became more profitable, and yet in few cases were the results
more than tantalizing. At the present time the North-Carolina mines are the
onlv ones in the eastern part of the United States that are worked for this
metal. No statistics are obtainable showing the exact amount of native silver
protluced in this country in 1850 ; but it is asserted, that, at that period of our
history, ninety-nine of every hundred silver dollars then in use in the United
States were of Mexican or Peruvian metal.
Just previous to the discovery of the famous Comstock lode, stock com-
panies were organized in New York, Cincinnati, and many other cities, to
explore and work abandoned silver-mines in Arizona which had
heen ceded to the United States by the Gadsden treaty. The
Sonora Company of Cincinnati was the most prominent of these ; but, when it
began operations in 1858, it was upon a new mine, seventy-five miles south of
Tucson, very near the Mexican border. Their works were at Arivaca, seven
miles from the mines. Operations were also commenced seventy miles north
of Tucson, in 1870, by the Maricopa Mining Company of New York, whose
mines yield an argentiferous copper ore. The outlet for the product of both
these mines was by wagon to (niaymas, Mexico, on the Gulf of California.
These mines are upon the Pacific slope of the silver-yielding range of Sonora
and Durango in Mexico. Other mines have been found and worked with
profit in Arizona, farther west, near the Gila River.
The greatest event in the history of silver-mining in America was the dis-
covery of the richest deposit in the world — on the eastern slope of the Sierra
Nevada — in 1859. The crest of the range runs along the eastern comstock
part of Cali*brnia ; and in the Washoe country, twenty-five miles '°''*'
over the border into Nevada, this magnificent vein was found. All during
the inter%-al between 1850 and i860, those tireless, even heroic investigators,
the jjrospectors, had ranged the whole mountain-region of die V\ est on foot,
with knapsack, hammer, and blow-pipe. As they wandered from ledge to
ledge they picked out specimens here and there, cracked them, and studied
the appearance of the fracture, and now and then reduced a bit of the ore with
the blow-pipe on a piece of charcoal. In 1858-59 a party of these prospect-
ors was working its way up Six-mile Canon, in the Washoe country. There
they found some rich sulpliurets of silver interspersed with free gold. Imme-
diately Henry Phinney (or Fennimore) and Henry Comstock filed a claim to
a mine. The former sold out his claim to the latter for a pinch of gold-dust,
not realizing the immense value of the discovery ; and Comstock himself soon
parted with the property, although his name still clung to the whole lode.
n
■ftm "I
it ':!-i;.
688
IXD US TRIA L ins TOR Y
Prospectors keep as close watch of one another's luck as so many coast
fishermen. IJefore i)ractical operations began, the great possibilities of this
region began to be suspected, and a vast number of claims were filed all aloii.r
these eastern foot-hills of the Sierra ; and, as soon as mining was actually
undertaken, it was realized that the richest accumulation of this precious
metal ever known was beneath the feet of the Washoe o[)erators. TidiiiLj^ of
the marvellous wealth hid away there spread like lightning, not over Caliloinia
alone (Nevada was not then a State, and had scarcely any population), and
SECTION OF CO.MSTOCK VEIN.
not over the United Slates alone, but over the whole civilized world. One of
those periods of frantic excitement and wild sensation ensued such as Mark
Twain has made us all fiimiliar with in his " Roughing It." A most extraordi-
nary emigration ensued. Several large new towns sprang up, notably Viri,'inia
City, Carson City, and Silver City ; Nevada took a place among tlie .Stales ot
the Union ; and the Central Pacific Railroad was extended through the region,
its nearest station to the jjoint of first discovery being at Reno, on ■• Tniclice
River, twenty miles away.
In "The Great Industries of the United Slates" it is remarked, ■•'Hicre
is, perhaps, no instance so striking of the promptness and daring with uiiicli
as so many coast
possibilities of ibis
were filed all along
lining was aclually
n of this prec.ioiis
rators. Tidini^s of
not over California
ny population), and
i/.cd world. ()nc of
ensued such as Mark
' A most cxlraordi-
up, notably Virginia
among the States ot
;d through the region,
Kcno, on ■• I'lackce
is remarked. •• Tliere
ind darnig wiili wliich
OF TlfF. US' I TED STATES.
689
American capitalists launch their money into an enterprise in which they have
confidence as the development of this Comstock lode. In 1861 this lode was
a w ill of black suli)huret, bedded primeval granite and cjuartz, on the steep
slope of a lonely and barren mountain two hundred miles from roads and
^hops and wheat-fields, parted from tiiein by the gorges and snowy peaks of
(he Sierras : four years afterwartl a city of twenty thousand inhabitants was
^
\\
m
Mi
I
I''
690
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Ml- "
planted on that wild declivity, and nearly two millions and a half in assess-
ments had been paid to develop the mines."
The general excitement was increased b> the discovery of argentiferous
deposits elsewhere in Nevada. Many tliousand claims were located, not a few
of which were large and well-defined, yet of little or no value. In the greater
number of cases, however, they were contracted, and the lodes on wliii h they
were staked lacked the features of true veins, or proved poor below the sur-
face. Says Mr. Kimball, " Notwithstanding wide differences in merit, most of
these claims — the best as well as the worst of them — passed at greatly in-
flated valuations into the possession of joint-stock companies organized upon
the strengdi of extravagant expectations. During three years, while the
excitement lasted, three thousand mining-companies were incorporated in San
Francisco alone to work mines in the Washoe district, their nominal capital
amounting in the aggregate to a billion dollars, though their market-value never
exceeded sixty million dollars, ("ompanies still more numerous, with locations
in other parts of Nevada, were formed in Eastern cities. Without wailiiij for
the result of exploration or development, most of the companies hurried into
enormous expenditures for mill and machinery, of which a great deal was unlit
for any use whatever, even had machinery ever been needed ; cities were built
in an ambitious and luxurious style ; and speculation in city and town lots was
scarcely exceeded bv the traffic in mining- claims. The furore, if any thing,
grew for three years, rather than abated. In the summer of 1864 ^ re-aetion
set in, it having bv this time become clear, that, in the Washoe region, the only
mines of any considerable and well-established value were those upon the
Comstock, and even those for a time were objects of distrust ; while the other
regions of Nevada, of which such high hopes had been entertained, had
together failed to contribute more than five or six per cent of the total pro-
duction of the State, the rest having been furnished by the Comstock lode
alone."
Among the more prominent companies at work on the Comstock lode are
Gould & Curry, the Ophir, the Savage, the Imperial, the Yellow Jacket, and
Prominent the Belcher. Up to 1865, Messrs. Gould & Curry had realized
companies, ^g much as all the other companies put together. To get an idea
of the enormous profits of the business, it may be stated that it cost about ten
dollars a ton to get the ore mined, and each ton yielded fifty dollars' worth of
silver. An idea of the rapid development of these mines may be derived
froin the following figures. Wells, Fargo, & Company received
Production. u *j kj
and transported for these companies silver bullion amounting to
/!2,275,276 in 1861, $6,247,074 in 1872, $12,486,238 in 1863, $i5,795-5''^S '"
1864, and $15,184,877 in 1865. Altogether some $70,000,000 worth of silver
was taken from the Comstock lode from its discovery up to 1866.
Thereafter, for a few years, there was a slight subsidence in the production;
the lowest point touched being in 1869, when the whole lode is credited with
WWP-'
OF THE UNITED STATES.
691
id a half in assess-
ery of argentiferous
re located, not a few
lue. In the greater
lodes on wliii li they
poor below tiic sur-
:es in merit, most of
passed at greatly iii-
mies organized ui'on
-ee years, wh'.le the
incorporated in San
their nominal capital
.■ir market-value never
merous, with locations
Without wailin,^ for
ompanies hurried into
a great deal was unlit
ded ; cities were built
city and town lots was
e furore, if any tiling,
r of 1864 a re-action
i'ashoe region, the only
were those upon the
[trust ; while the other
,een entertained, had
cent of the total pro-
»y the Conistock lode
iie Comstock lode are
lie Yellow Jacket, and
1& Curry had realized
ther. To get an idea
. that it cost about ten
fifty dollars' wortli of
Lines may be derived
|& Company received
bullion amounting to
1863, $i5.795-5'*^S '"
[oo,ooo worth of silver
to 1866.
ice in the production ;
lode is credited with
692
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
only ;Jt 7,5 28,607 of precious metal. A new development ensued, howtvir,
which was very rapid between 1872 and 1875, in wliich latler year the yiuld
was $26,023,036. It is estimated, however, that forty per cent of tlie value of
the product of tlie Comstock lode is in gold, which would make the projxjr-
tion of silver for that year about ;f! 16,000,000. The ;f>200,ooo,ooo yielded from
1859 to 1876 is divided roughly into $80,000,000 gold and $120,000,000 silver.
Within two years there have been rumors of still richer deposits having lutn
discovered on this lode ; but the facts are concealed from the public, prul>;il)ly
for stock-jobbing purposes.
Nearly ten years after the Comstock claim was first entered, silver wis
found abundandy in the white-pine district of Nevada. In some places the
White-pine deposit was so rich, that, when the cjuartz had been mined away,
district. sheets of almost pure metal, worth $17,000 a ton, could be 'orii
out of the vein. This supply was limited, however, and the yield has not hei.ii
steadily maintained. Silver has also been found in other parts of Nevada in
smaller quantities.
Colorado in the Central-City legion, and Idaho and Montana in the
Colorado VVasatch region, have developed silver-mines of considerable
Idaho, and importance since 1865 ; but, as yet, they do not approach Nevada
Montana. j^^ ^j^^ ^^^^j yj^,j
At the present time the United States produce between $20,000,000 and
$25,000,000 of silver annually (which is about half of the world's product),
Present and three-quarters of the amount comes from the Comstock lode.
yield. ^ contributor to "The Atlantic Monthly" remarks that this coun-
try contains the largest proportion of silver, compared with other metals, of
any in the world ; that the production of silver is more steady than that of
gold, taking the world over ; and that the signs of our silver-supi)ly holding
out well for years to come are much more promising than those concerning
gold.
Political influences, however, as well as the discovery of an increased sup-
ply, have tended of late years to depress the price of silver considerably ; so
Demoneti. ^^^ there has been far greater variability in its value than in that
aationof of gold. Even before demoneti. itic.i in 1873 it had fallen o(T, so
''*'^' that it was necessary to raise tl t ratio between silver and gold
coinage, in weight, from 15^ :itoi6 :i. But the removal of it from a
place in our dollar coinage, and the similar action of Germany in 1874, had
the effect of reducing it by degrees nearly one-eighth of its former price.
Since the demonetization act of 1878 was enacted, however, there has been a
tendency toward recovery ; and a lar^ class of economists think it will regain
its old value and place in the coinage of the world.
»-.,T»-vTtrri
OF THE UNITED STATES,
693
ensued, however,
Uer year the yield
;nt of the vahie of
make the i)r()i)<)r-
)0,ooo yielded Irum
Ji 20,000,000 silver,
posits having heeii
Lhc public, probably
entered, silver \v,is
In some plaees ihe
been mined away,
, ton, could be 'orn
le yield has not been
r parts of Nevada in
ind Montana in the
ines of considerable
not approach Nevada
/een $20,000,000 and
the world's product),
n the Comslock lode.
marks that this coun-
jwith other metals, ot
steady than that of
Ir silver-supply holding
than those concerning
,• of an increased sup-
Lilver considerably ; so
fits value than in that
I73 it had fallen off, so
[tween silver and gold
I removal of it from 1
loermany in 18 74, l^^^
■h of its former price.
lever, there has been a
lists think it will regain
CHAPTER IV.
LE^D.
LEAD is found in this country all alo.jg the Appalachian range from New
iMigland to Georgia, in the Sierra Nevada, and at two points where
in the Mississippi Valley ; but the principal development ot lead- f°""'*-
mining is confined to the last-named region and to the last fifty years of our
history.
This metal was discovered by the colonists along the Atlantic coast long
prior to the Revolution ; and numerous attempts to work the veins were made,
though often witli such poor success tliat they were abandoned after a few
years. The re-discoveries on the Upper and Lower Mississippi about 1826
still further discouraged F^astern production ; and the late civil war and other
causes depressed the lead-mining industry in the seaboard States, especially
the Southern ones, even more : so that now Carroll County, N.H., Wash-
ington County, N.Y., Pulaski and Wythe Counties, Va., are the only Eastern
producers ; and the last-named county in Virginia is the only one of the num-
hor wliose yield is of consefiuence. Kentucky also does a trifle in this direc-
tion still ; and Nevada is the only State on the Pacific side of the continent
which has a lead-product large enough to be recorded, and even this is slight,
and of recent development.
The eaHiest accounts we have of a lead-mine being actually worked in
Massachusetts was in Worcester County in 1 754 ; although the existence of
deposits iiad been known long previously. This vein, like that at Early work-
Southampton, worked in 1765, was of argentiferous galena. Lead ingof^in".
«'as found elsewhere in the State, and also up in New Hampshire. In the
latter State, beside the Carroll county mines now in operation, those of the
town of Shclburne, which have been abandoned, also paid. Little was made
of the discovery near Middletown, Conn., until 1775, when the Assembly
directed the mine there to be worked, and smelters and refiners imported from
New York and New Jersey as*a war measure. The enterprise never amounted
'0 miicli, though. In New York, specimens were picked up to send to the
motlicr-country, Holland, as early as 1629 ; but though it was found in Ulster,
> 1
"^nr,.
II
694
/A'/J C/S TR[A I. Ills TDK Y
Columbia, Dutchess, and Washington Counties, no attempt was made to uurk
the veins until a party of (lermans developed a mine near North-east, Duldioss
County. Similar enterprises were undertaken by Livingston farther iiji thu
Hudson about the same time, I'rofitable mines have since been operalrd in
St. Lawrence County, but are now abandoned, I'enn knew of the cm^Icik e
of lead on his grants as early as i6<S3 certainly; but no mine was wdikid
profitably until 1778, near Frankstown, on land once surveyed for I'enn. I lijs
was a war measure, and the product was all bought up by the Slate. In liDih
Chester and Montgomery Counties, mining has been kept up since in ,1 miv
desultory way. The Chester-county Mining Comjjany began o])erati()n^ in
1850, and kept at them only four or five years. Like enterjjrises of a iihahjus
date had been equally short-lived, A lead-mine, wiiich was worked to a sji-lu
extent for a time, was found in Virginia as early as 1621 ; bu*t at the tnm an
Indian massacre terminated operations at the first iron-mine near Janu-town
this lead-mine was lost, and not re-discovered until long after, Oprraiions
were begun at Wythevilit as early as 1754, and in Montgomery County also
about the same time. Lead-mines are known to have been workrd laar
Fincastle, Botetourt County, during the Revcjlution, Those of Lastern Ken-
tucky and Tennessee were probably utilized not long after. Veins were limnd
in South-western North Carolina, which yielded ore containing seventy fni' per
cent of lead, before the Revolution, This was along the French Ilroad Kivcr,
The famous Davidson mines are located near the centre of the State, 'riiese
latter are noted for their argentiferous galena, and have been worked as n)ii( h
for the silver and minute (juantity of gold to be obtained as for the kad.
Work has been revived there since the war, and the mines have been in ( on-
tinuous operation nearly a century ; but the procurement of lead is now no
object whatever,
Nineteen-twentieths of the lead produced in this country to-day, howtvcr,
comes from two regions in the Mississippi Valley, One includes one lounty
Where lead ^^ Illinois, two of Iowa, and three of Wisconsin, contiguous to one
principally another, and yields, perhaps, twice as much as the other, whidi is
comes rom, gp^g^^j ^^j ^\ q^^,^ ^|^^j. p.^^^ q|- j|^g State of Missouri south of tiic
river of that name, although mining is carried on in only eight or ten (ountics.
The Indians of the Mississippi Valley knew of the existence of (kjiosits
of galena, for the ore is found in their mounds ; but no evidence exists that
, .. they knew how to reduce it to lead, simple as is the |)rocess.
Indians •' ' .
knew of the (Jalcna is a sulphuret, antl can be reduced by merely smelting
with charcoal. It is in this form that we find most of the lead
in this country.
In 1700 the French priest Le Sueur made his voyage of exjiloration
up the Mississippi, discovering many lead-mines. It was not until ly.SH,
however, while yet all the region west of the river belonged to France, that
Dubuque began operations, having obtained a grant from the Indians. He
existence of
lead
OF THE UNITED STATES.
69s
)t was made to work
N()rll\-casl, Duti lu'ss
;ston farther 11)1 tlif
:o been oiKTaliil in
new of the cxi^Uiu e
10 mine was worked
eyed for IVnn. I liis
y the Slate. In hoih
t \\\) since in a vrry
began oi)eratiiiiu in
lerprises of a iiriAinus
vas worked to a slij;ht
; biit at the tin\c an
mine near Janu-lown
ng after. Oiuraiidns
intgomery Co\inty also
•c been workid mar
liose of l'",astern Km-
ir. Veins were lnuml
aiiiing seventy live i)er
J l-'rench Uroad River.
of the Stale, 'fliese
been worked as niucli
lined as for the lead.
es have been in eon-
:nt of lead is now no
.untry to-day, liowever,
Ic ineUides one eonniy
nsin, contiguous to one
as the other, \vhi< li is
Missouri soutli of tlie
eight or ten < ountics.
existence of deposits
10 evidence exists lliat
|ple as is the i)rotcss.
jd by merely smelting
find most of llie lead
/oyage of exploration
was not until 17HS,
jonged to France, that
rem the Indians. He
Dubuque.
worked these mines until 1809, when he died. This tract of land — on
\vlu( h is situated the city that now bears his name — was ceded
by the Indians to the United-States (lovermnent in 1807, and
shortly afterward the representatives of Dubucpie were forcibly ejected. No
le.i^es were granted until 1822, anil mining was not resumed until 1826. A
government survey was had in 1839, and a general sale allowed in 1844. Hut
from 1826 the progress was marked and rapid, the business extending over
into Illinois and Wisconsin ; and the first great climax, of the (leveloi)ment
ol this region was reached in 1846, when the tariff was taken off fiom lead
almost entirely, and agriculture began to draw off the ittention and labor
of that region, 'i'hc city of (lalena, 111., as also other cities and villages
in that section, was the product of that i)eriod of industrial growth, which
was marked by much of the excitement anil speculation which have i liarac-
terized mini ig in this and other countries of the workl at almost all known
stages of his ory.
Lead-mining began in Missouri in 1720, while that country belonged to
France, and under the patent given to Law's famous Mississippi Company.
Mine La Mottc, in Madison County, named after a mineralo- Lead-mining
gist who came over with Renault, was' among the first discov- '" Missouri.
cries. Little was done there up to the time of Renault's return to France
in 1742. Schoolcraft estimates that in 1S19 there were forty-five mines in
Missouri, including the region in and about Washington Cotmty, and also the
locality in the south-western corner of the State. At that time, he estimates,
there were eleven hundred i)ersons at work there at lead-mining ; whereas
in 1S54 Dr. Litton thought there were not more than two or three hundred:
yet at both periods the average product was fifteen hundred tons annually.
This was far less than that of the Upper-Mississippi region. During the late
civil war the mining-business was greatly prostrated in Missouri, and recuper-
ated but little till nearly 1870.
It might be remarked of these Missouri mines, that for a long time the
rich, white, almost transjjarent carbonate found in soaie of them was rejected
as worthless ; its character not being known to the miners, who were used
only to lead in the form of galena. Another great source of waste in this
country has been the dissipation of lead by the process of cupellation, when
there was silver enough in the ore to make that the principal object.
Processes have, however, been invented, by which the vapor can be caught
ami congealed, and the baser as well as the choicer metal be procured.
It is very difficult to get accurate statistics concerning the quantity of
metals produced in this country, and those concerning lead are regarded as
particularly unreliable ; but the following, taken from the census statistics of
of 1870, will give an idea of the present distribution of the Indus- production.
try, although the production has nearly quadrupled since. The following table
shows the value of the product : —
6^6 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Wisconsin $3691067
MiF.souri 2oi,8,S5
Illinois 73i302
Iowa 50,250
Other States 36,500
Total l736,oo.J
This, at four and a half cents a pound, would make b' . 16,265,422
pounds, or scarcely more than 7,000 tons. The table of metallic production,
prepared by R. W. Raymond, however, sets down the production for 1S69
(which is what is really credited to the census year) as 15,653 tons.
Previous to the development of the Mississippi-valley mines, Kngland and
Spain were the two great lead-producing nations of the wodd, althougli ncitiier
England and of them obtained as soft and fine an article as we. From 1S45
Spain. jQ ,3j2 Kngland's average annual production was 55,000 tons:
Spain's, for 1847 and 1849, was 30,000. In 1845 the United States produced
26,500 tons, or fully one-fifth of the whole quantity produced in llic world.
Twenty years before, we had produced only 1,281 tons of 2,240 ])oun(Is; in
1832 we produced 8,540,000 pounds ourselves, and imported 5,333,5X8; in
1844 we (lid not import a ton. From the removal of the tariff in 1*^16 to
1854 there was a steady decline in our production. In iSj; it
Tariff. , , . ,
was, as above stated, 26,500 tons ; in 1854 but 14,000, at wliich
figure it kept until about 1869. Our importation in 1844 was notliing; in
1859 about 64,000,000, or 29,000 tons, — twice our own production. In
1875 our production was 53,000 tons, and in 1877 our importation had
dwindled to le.>s than 7,000 tons.
Says Kimball regarding American lead-production, " No country is so
richly endowed with lead as this, nor any so little justified in importiiig a
Remarks of pound of it. In the Far West, where its development is enor-
Kimbaii. mous, there is no help at present against wasting what is not
utilized for the extraction of silver ; but it is a ' penny-wise-and-pound-
foolish ' policy indeed which in the Northern and Atlantic Stat'.'s, or wher-
ever transportation is at hand, estimates the value of galenas only by tiieir
tenor of silver."
'^-lUf •'
OF THE UNITED STATES.
697
CHAPTER V.
COPPER.
COPPER is the one metal discovered and put to a practical use by the
aborigines before the discoverers friun Europe came to this country ; and,
what is a still more interesting fact, the native Indians of long ago Copper used
understood the art of hardening and tempering co|)per so as to ^^ indiam.
make adzes, chisels, and other implements therefrom, — a step in civilization
which the white man of to-day would be glad to retrace, were it not that iron
and steel subserve all these purposes so admirably. The great mounds of
Imlian relics in die West contain articles showing conclusively that the abori-
gines knew of the existence and uses of copper, which they doubtless obtained
from tiie Lake-Superior region.
The search for metals was diligently conducted by colonists on the Atlantic
seaboard at an early day ; and copper was among the first of their findings,
inasmuch as it was dis;ribiited more or less all along the ocean- gg,, j,,,,
side of the Appalachian range. Endicott found it in Massachu- covetiea o(
sttts in 164S, and imported Swedish workmen to smelt and refine ""Pf"-
it. His mine i)roved less productive, however, than he anticipated. Previous
to that time, copper pyrites were found in New York ; but the mineral having
ken mistaken for gold, and the blunder having been discovered, it was little
prized. Tlie Shawangunk Mountain abounds in this form of copper ; and it
has been mined to some extent near ICllenville, Ulster ('ounty. The Dutch had
found pure copper near Minisink, Orange County, N.V., before they surren-
dered their possessions to the English. This metal was found nearly a century
later in Dutchess County, in veins crossing those of galena. Cojjper was found
in Pennsylvania in time and in sufficient cpiantity for William Penn to mention
it in a letter of 1683. Tlie remains of a shaft in Lancaster County show
that copper was mined by the French or settlers from Maryland as early as
I'enn's time. An extensive vein of copper war, found in Catocton Mountain,
Maryland, soon after that colony was first settled. Copper was found in
Virginia, along the Roanoke, in Mecklenburgh County and that neighborhood,
eariy enough for three thousand pounds of ore to be exported in 1 730. The
;.ri-if
![sh#
V {'M,^^.
*i}*:
;■ .J"!
698
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
same metal was also discovered along the banks of the James. The lllue
Ridge has long been noted for its cupreous deposits ; and they were discovered
in Polk County, Tenn., and the adjacent districts of Georgia and Nortii Caro-
lina, at quite an early date. Copper was also found in small quantities in
South Carolina.
Among the first mines to be systematically worked for copper, excepting
Endicott's in Massachusetts, were those at Granby, Conn. ; to operate whii ii
Early work- a con.f any was incorporated in 1 709. About the middle of liic
ing of mines, eightconth ccntury, tiiese mines, having been abandoned, were
bought by the cciiony for a state-prison, and used as such for sixty years.
COITEK-MINING.
Mining was resumed there in 1830, but soon discontinued. Most of these
ores were shipped to England. About 1719, the Schuyler mine, in New
Jersey, near the Passaic, was discovered, and, prior to the Revolution, was
among our most famous copper-producers. It was in a inachine-shop at ihe
'melting-works connected therewith, at Belleville, that the first steam-engine
was built in this country, in 1793-94. In 1751 a copper-mine was oi)ened
near New Brunswick ; and anotiier, near Somerville, was operated liefore the
Revolution. New Jersey and Pennsylvania also produce in small ciuantities
the green carbonate ^oC copper called " malachite," which is almost as
precious as a jewel. Siberia, however, is the great producer of this mineral.
-fr-^V^]
fames. The r.lue
;y were discovcicd
I and North Caro-
,mall quantities in
: copper, excepting
; to operate whicli
the middle of llic
1 abandoned, wire
ich for sixty years.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
699
When it is known that in 1830 our total production oi" copper was not ov>.r
fifty tons, and that, even in 1840, it was but a hundred tons, it will be realized
how recent is the principal development of the copper-mining industry in this
country. Besides the discoveries we have already mentioned, there were many
others in early colonial days ; but active operations were not undertaken in
many of them, and in most cases they were abandoned after a few years of
unremunerative labor.
The great source of American copper is Lpper Micliigan. Along the
northern shore of that great peninsula which separates Lake Superior from
Lake Michigan stretches a rich metalliferous region. \\\ Mar- upper
quette County iron abounds. Farther west, in tlie trap-rock wliich Michigan.
l)ei,Mns at Keweenaw Point, and runs through Houghton and Ontonagon
Counties, metallic copper is found in rare abundance. The belt containing
it is from one to twelve miles wide, and a hundred and fifty miles long.
.'\lexander I lenry was the first wliite man to operate a mine there. This was
in 1 771, near the mouth of the Ontonagon River; ami his success led Dr.
Franklin, our minister to France (hiring the Revolution, to say, in connection
with the probable Canadian boundary, that it should be made to run tlirough
Lake Superior, so as to include "the most and best of the copper to the United
States."
Hut Hougliton's report on the geological features of this region first drew
general attention to it, and it began to be noised abroad that this was a rare
treasure-vault of copper and silver. This was indeed the case, although the
silver — found in distinct nuggets nearly pure, and not mingled with tlie cojjpcr
— proved to be much less in proportionate quantity than was supposed. Ne-
gotiations were set afoot by the government to extinguish the Chippewa title to
those lands ; and then ensued a tremendous rush thither of miners and specu-
lators, and one of tiie greatest excitements that have ever agitated American
industry. Says Kimball, —
" The copper-region of L:ike Superior owes, in a great measure, its rapid
and energetic development to one of those popular furores so frecpient in
Anieriea, — the 'copper-fever,' as it was termed, which became epidemic over
tlie whole land in ICS45. Preposterous fables as to the occurrence of native
silver and copper, in masses, upon and just beneath the surface of the whole
hai<e-Siiperior country, to be had only for the picking \\\>, were bruited about
in all the cities, unsettling the minds and habits of the well-to-do industrious
folk of the country, and opening, for the first time in the United States, a
Iironiising field, on their own grounds, to all sorts and conditions of adven-
turers for the exercise of the cunning maiuBU'res of their several roles. 'The
shores of Keweenaw Point,' says Mr. Whitney, ' were whitened with the tents
of speculators and so-called geologists.' Leases of lots one mile square, for
mining-purposes, were taken from the Federal Government with great avidity
wherever they could be obtained, regardless of all intelligent discrimination as
III
700
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
to their metalliferous character, and, indeed, of the entire absence of mineral
lodes or deposits, or of the logical impossibility of their existence in certain
rocks. These leases were held mainly by private speculators and joint-stock
companies, whose object was less to unearth the untold metallic wealth wh'ch
they were supposed to have secured than to profit either by the incren:,Mig
market-value of their mining-privileges, or by the proceeds from the sale of
corporation shares. Speculation after this fashion flourished for upwards of a
year. In 1847 the bubble burst of its own overstrained distention; and the
collapse overwhelmed in general disaster, and swept out of their mock exist-
ence, several hundred distinct corporations, wiiile only some half a dozen
survived the shock."
Mr. Hewitt says that these leases were granted under a forced construction
of existing law, but were soon suspended as illegal, doubtless owing to abuses.
He adds, "The Act of 1847, authorizing the sale of the mineral land; and a
geological survey of the district, laid the foundation of a more substantial
prosperity." It should be remarked, though, that some of this enthusiasm led
to practical results, and that a few of the companies operated in good foith.
This is evident from the fact, that whereas, in 1840, the whole country pro-
duced but a hundred tons of copper, the product in 1850 was six iunnlred
and fifty tons, the gain being chiefly in the Lake-Superior region. The great
development, however, has been since then.
The progress made in mining necessarily gave giowth to the population,
built up towns and transportation-lines, and in other ways gave importance to
_ ^ that section. The Hon. Alexander Campbell of Marquette, Mich.,
mentof in an oration delivered early in 1861, thus touches on this point:
M-*"*''*"" "^" '^55 Portage Lake was comparatively unknown (its population
less than a thousand), while no great interest was yet attracting
special attention : to-day tliey have a population of over six thousand souls,
and copper-mines that are producing a monthly product of a hundred and fifty
to three hundred and thirty tons. No man can now go to this interesting point,
and behold the thrift that is everywhere apparent, — the great number of new
buildings being erected, the stir of the populace, the immense investments of
capital, the copper-cars as they thunder down the train-roads to the lake, the
prodigious quartz-mills, and the power and success with which tliey stamj) the
co])pcr rocks and separate the copper from the rock, the large merchandise
that is carrieil on to supply so large a population, the new enterprises in the
form of spacious docks, new hotels, founderies, stamp-mills, smclting-works, —
without receiving a deep impression, especially if he possess an observing
mind. Nor is this all. As these developments began to assume such pro
portions, some of the corporations, and a few of the enterprising citi/cns
of the place, in order to facilitate the commerce, appropriated thirty-live
thousand dollars from their treasuries and pockets to open the i:?.rb^r known
as Portage Entry, fourteen miles below the villages of Houghton and I^in-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
701
isence of minera\
st.ence in certain
s and joint-stock
allic wealth wlvch
by the incrcnvng
from the sale of
for upwards of a
stention; and the
their mock exist-
ime half a dozen
breed construction
,s owing to abuses.
ineral lands und a
a more substantial
this enthusiasm led
ated in good faith.
whole country pro-
50 was six hundred
region. The great
I to the population,
gave importance to
,f Marquette, Mi'h.,
iches on this point:
Inown (its population
^t was yet attracting
six thousand souls,
a hundred and fifty
|his interesting point,
eat number of new
jnse investments of
lads to the lake, the
|hich they stamp the
large merchandise
■w enterprises in the
|s, smclting-works. —
ossess an observing
assume such pro
enterprising eili/cns
.rovri^ued thivty-hve
,n the r.-l-^'- >^';'"^"
;oughton and 1 Han-
cock, which are located near the mines, and on what is known in common-
place as Portage Lake ; so that steamers of the largest class, with a full freight,
have been enabled to cross the bar, run up to the mines, discharge their cargo,
and receive the copper. Previous to this improvement, tugs and scows were
used to transport the freight to and from the steamers, which dropped their
anciiors in the lake outside the ' entry,' to the docks at the mines, at a cost of
two dollars per ton. When the lake was rough, as was often the case, stcfhmers
<()uid not discharge or receive freight. This difficulty is now obviated, and the
expense saved, while the business has much greater despatch. . . . At the
other points on the copper range — Eagle Harbor, Eagle River, and Ontona-
gon — the development was much earlier than at Portage Eake, and first
gave prominence and importance to the country. The celebrated Cliff mine,
wliose annual product for over ten years has exceeded fifteen hundred
tons, was opened in 1845. The Copper- Falls, Central, and other mines in
the same district, known as Keweenaw Point, were opened at a later day.
Tiie equally famous Minnesota mine, in what is known as die Ontonagon
district, and whose product the last year was twenty-one hundred and eighty
tons, was opened in 1848. The National and Rockland, whose products are
now large, were opened some years after. It was the early opening of these
mines, and their success under all the disadvantages which the country suffered
at an early day, and the working of many others in the same districts, which
have not yet been as successful, that for many years gave business and
interest to the covmtry ; and now that other points, with the light and facility
which existeil, have bounded into being with wonderful development, it in
no way detracts from those whose entire success gave birth to all that has
followed."
Most of Michigan's copper is metallic, embedded in quartz; but in 1846
a vein of black oxide was discovered, which was exhausted after twenty tons
were taken out. It was exceedingly rich, and had much to do with the sensa-
tion of that period.
It now remains to consider the progress made by the copper-mining indus-
try of the country as a whole for the past few years, and note in what other
regions besides this the business is carried on.
As we have already remarked, the United States produced but fifty tons of
copper in 1830, a hundred in 1840, and six hundred and fifty in 1850. During
the two decades thus included, the product of the whole world had statistics re-
imreased from 25,500 to 54,700 tons. In 1853 we produced 2,000 latingto
out of the whole 55,700 tons. Our product for 1866 was 10,790 •"" "'=*'°"-
tons. The census-returns for 1870 put the total value of our copper-product
at 55,201,312, which, at $400 a ton, makes about 13,000 tons; which is, per-
liaps, an under-estimate as to quantity. Dr. Raymond estimates that the
copper-product of the country in 1875 was 15.625 tons. In 1870 the census
accredited four-fifths of the whole country's yield to Michigan j and, of the
702
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
SKPARATINC COPPER ROCKS.
three counties that monopolized that State's supply, — Houghton, Keweenaw,
and Ontonagon, — the first-named produced three-quarters ol" it.
It should be noted in this connection, that competition with the Lake-
Superior region of America has seriously cut down the British production. At
the close of the last century, and from that time to 1865, Great Britain was
the greatest producer of copper in the world. In 1864 her yield was 14,247
tons, the joint contribution of 196 mines. The ne.xt year 203 mines aggre-
gated only 11,888 tons, and their product is diminishing. In 1865 the United
States produced 8,472 tons, in spite
of peculiar disadvantages tiuu are
estimated to offset 3,000 more
tons; and in 1866 we had raised
our figure to 10,790. Chili has of
late years come to be tlie great
rival of great Britain and the United
States, having produced 12,500 ions
in 1850, and 14,000 in 1855. 'l,.e
blockade of the Chilian ports in
1866 by Spain cut off this supply,
and gave a temporary stinniliis to
American and British production;
but the ce: tion of hostilities a
few months later was followed by a corresponding re-action.
In 1861, in the midst of the Washoe fever, copper was found in Calaveras
County, Cal., in sufficient (juantities to create a great sensation, and to im ite
a search for similar deposits all along the Sierra Nevada. The
result was to develop a belt of copper lodes all the way from
Southern California up into Oregon. Nevada and Arizona were
also found to contain the metal. Few of the mines begun proved remunera-
tive, however. Says Kimball, "' Work was energetically begun in many dis-
tricts, and soon sufficient was accomplished to demonstrate the extent of the
copper-resources of California and neighboring territories to be nowhere
equalled, and at the same time the premature character of an extensive
copper- industry in interior sections of the country neither supplied with
mineral coal, nor ready means of transportation. The Copperopolis (Cala-
veras County, Cal.) mines, which had been the fir't to attract attention,
sustained the high opinions which had been formed of their capabilities;
though, up to this time (1867), the Union appears to be the only mine that
has yielded profit, it having done so from the first on a scale hitherto unknown
in copper-tnining, notwithstanding the many commercial obstacles it has at
present to encounter."
The census of 1870 gave the following returns of the copper-production
of the country for the year, by value : —
Discovery of
copper in
California.
,,r— T|^;s7r
ghton, Keweenaw,
}i it.
311 with the Lake-
ih production. .\t
, Great Britain was
:r yield was 14.-47
203 mines aggrc-
In 1865 the L'nitLci
8,472 tons, in spile
idvantages thai are
offset 3,000 more
[866 we had raised
>,790- ^"^'^' '^''' °^
ne to be the great
ritain and the United
)roduced 12,50010ns
4,000 in 185:,. 'I'.e
.he Chdian ports in
I cut off this supply,
emporary stimulus to
I British produciion;
tion of hostilities a
>n.
■as found in Calaveras
iisation, and to inrite
Sierra Nevada. The
les all the way from
ida and Arizona were
un proved remunera-
, begun in many dis-
late the extent of the
jries to be nowhere
LCter of an extensive
leither supplied with
Copperopolis (Cala-
to attract attention,
of their capabilities;
je the only mine that
[cale liitherto unknown
lal obstacles it has at
Ihe copper-production
OF THE UNITED STATES. 703
Michigan ^4,312,167
Vermont 358,845
Tennessee 310,000
North Carolina 96,000
Maryland 71,000
Nevada 30,000
Virginia 8,000
Pennsylvania 7,800
Arizona 7,cco
Total $5,201,312
As the price was then about four hundred dollars a ton, or less, it is a
simple matter to reduce these figures to tons. I'he census commissioner
remarks, however, that his estimates are not altogether trustworthy. It will be
observed, for instance, that he omits California altogether ; and other accounts
indicate that Calaveras County in that State alone yields as much as either
Vermont or Tennessee. Vermont's production, nearly a thousand tons annu-
ally, is confined to Orange County in that State ; Tennessee's, to Polk County ;
North Carolina's, to Chatham ; Maryland's, to Carroll and Frederick ; Ne-
vada's, to Humboldt ; Pennsylvania's, to Berks and Lebanon ; Virginia's, to
Louisa ; and Arizona's, to Yuma and Mohave.
Our production of copper exceeds our needs at the present time by nearly
one-half, as will appear from the following statement of our exports and im-
ports for 1877 : —
EXPORTS.
IMPORTS.
Ore
Pigs, bars, &c
Manufactured articles
^•59.530
2,295,711
226,059
$70,912
163,104
363.250
Total
$2,681,320
$596,266
Balance of exports
Value of our production, about ,
152,085,054
6,000,000
Tlie little ore we import is mostly smelted at Boston, Bergen Point (near
New York), and Baltimore.
704
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER VI.
COAL.
\ i
p
{
THE discover)', mining, and transportation of coal is one ot the ni03t
interesting as well as instructive chapters in American industrial iiihtory.
Importance As coal is the product of some of the grandest growths and Imns-
of coal. formations in the natural world, so does it play an equally important
part in modern industries and civilization. Its history is crowded with interest
from that for-off time when gigantic coal-ferns grew in the greatest profusion,
and during the steaming and fiery period when this enormous growth was
decaying, and transforming into fuel, to our time, when the product is col-
lected, transported, and brought to our doors, to serve a highly useful purpose.
A single fact will reveal its importance ; namely, that the value of tlic ( oal
mined in the United States is eepial to that of all the gold, silver, and iron
Coai-minine produced in the country. The colonists were amply supplied with
inthecoio- fuel from the forests; and it was not until 1750 that coal was
""*■ discovered near Richmond, Va. Not much was done in tlie way
of coal-mining until after the Revolution, when it was exported to riiiladcl-
phia, New York, and Boston : indeed, the demand at these ports for Virijinia
coal continued until thirty years ago.
Perhaps some of our readers will be surprised to learn how short is the
history of anthracite-coal mining in Pennsylvania. It is true, the existem c
Discovery of '^^ '^'^^^ there was known long before the close of the last
century. To fix tiie date more definitely, it was in thi; year 1791
when Philip Gunter discovered it. He was a hunter, and lived
on the eastern side of the mountain drained by the Lehigh River. On llie
day of this great discovery, which must certainly be reckoned among the
greatest ever made on this continent, he had spent the hours in the woods
without finding any game. His heart was dc])ressed (so the story ^'oes) ;
for he had left his wife and children in the morning with a scanty breakfast,
and both he and they were in sore need of food. ;\s night drew on he was
still several miles from home, on the summit of Sharp Mountain. .'\s rain
was falling, and darkness approaching, he quickened his steps ; but, as he was
anthracite
,.oal.
H
OF THE UNlTKn STATES.
70s
ninning along through the woods, he stumbled over the roots of a tree, and
fell near enough to a large black stone for him to recognize its color. He had
heard of such a thing as stone-coal, and he thought tliat this must be a speci-
men. Giving it a few days after to Col. Jacol) \Veir.>--, .''lio llien lived near
the present site of Maiich Chunk, it was forwarded lo I'hiladelpliia : and in
due time it was learned that (lunter's sad hunting-(k'y was not fruitless, after
all ; for he had really discovered coal. Soon after, several thousand acres of
laml in that vicinity were jjurchased at a very low ligure. as it was not regarded
valuable ; and the Lehigh (.'ual-.\Iine Company was funned, containing among
other members Robert Morris, the famous fmancier of the Revolution.
is one 01 the most
an industrial history.
St growths and li.uis-
an equally impor^''*"^
:rowded with interest
le greatest profusion,
normous growth was
1 the product is col-
highly useful purpose.
, the value of the < oal
gold, silver, and iron
c amply supplied with ^|
1 1750 that coal was
was done in the way
exported to Philailel-
^ese ports for Virginia
earn bow short is tlie
[is true, the exislemc
L close of the last
It was in the year 1791
Is a hunter, and lived
Ichigh River, on the
1 reckoned among tlie
le hours in the woods
I (so the story goes) ;
lith a scanty breakfast,
1 night drew on he was
I, Mountain. As ram
.steps; but, as he was
H)SSII. MSI!.
Four laborers were employed in the beginning in mining coal: yet these
soon proved too many; for where was the market? Of coal
there was an abundant e; but wiiere the customers? and how tempt to
could it be brought to them? I'here were no roads; and the ■"'"•=""-
° thracite.
river ran a wild career, and would not suffer the intrusion of any
kind of boat for a moment. After a short time the mine was suspended.
In I 798 a company was organized to improve the navigation of the Lehigh
Ki\er. and the prospect of opening a watery highway Un tiie transportation
of coal revived the expiring hopes of the coal company. The
improvements were completed four years later ; and a committee, ^n"o '"
lonsisting of five persons, was appointed to examine and report navigation
tile condition of the river. A canoe was launchetl, and the party ° j^^" ^^
liegan to descend the stream. The boat glided along gracefully at
lirst ; but before going far the frail craft upset, anil the committee, notwith-
standing the important ca])acity in which they were serving, took a very sudden
;iiid unwelcome bath. It is said that two of them narrowly escaped drowning ;
l>ut all succeeded "in rescuing themselves, when they halted in their labors,
and betook themselves to the nearest inn, where they warmed the inner and
■ ^!
I
jE!>
706
/JVD CS Th'lA t. Ftrs TO.K > '
^^n..,:;v
^%^
dried the outer, man. and, now that the danger was passed, laughed heartily
over the occurrence. As they soon after sought their homes, it i^ hi^-hiv
improbable that the examination was continued, especially in a boat n\ ihi'
canoe style.
Whatever rejjort wa;, made by the committee, it is certain tiiat i!ic km)
company resumed operations ; and the next spring it was iletermiiied to send
Lively ex- ^'"^ ark-loads of coal to I'hiladel; hia during the time of freshet,
perimentin when the rivx'r was high, and many o. Hie rocks im])e(liiiij its
tra^nsporting ^.^,^^^^^ ^^^^e submerged. Iiu'/ing hauled the coal to the l.o.ii-, by
means of horses, one hundred tons were put on board o( e.u h
vessel, and then the voyage began. For the first fifteen miles the ruer
descends three hundred feet, and the current always runs rapidly: yet,
swollen as the stream was by heavy rairs, die current was very iuik h uiMer
than ujKin ordi
nary occasions.
Six men went on
board of each
vessel ; and. h.iv-
ing cut them
loose from their
moorings, tliev
started on a \erv
exciting voyage.
We can easily
imagine how ani-
mated they were
as their vessels
began to descend
the stream. Being sheltered from the current at their [ilace of moorin,::.
they moved slowly at first, like a steam - engi.ie when a long train i-.
behind ; but after a little they fioated into deeper water, where tliey were
suddenly caught by the current, and swept along with great speed. The
stream was not very wiile, but it roared furiously ; and not only were its sides
lined with rocks, but its bottom also ; while many an ugly monster peered ii|)
through the foaming waters to frighten the daring navigators. The boats
whirled around and past these rocks. in safety, yet receiving many a thnmp
and bump, which caused them to shake worse than Harry Gill or a man
stricken with the i)alsy. ICvery moment they bent, twisted, and cracked ; and
those who embarked thinking they were going to lia.e such a lively trip wen'
realizing their anticipations to a painful excess. Oars, and whatever means
they had to guide their boats, were of as little account as feathers. They were
utterly unmanagealjle, and were swept along in so rude anil uncerenionions a
manner as to make the heads of the boatmen fairly dizzy. .As the descent
.,!■ .?...:^^/>
I'LvVM-l.Ml'kliSSlONS IN COAL.
■rT-r""'"!!
Oh it/ 1: UNITKD STATES.
707
crtain that the ^^^,<\
ilelcrmincd to slihI
the time of t'rtshot,
rocks impeding its
t;oal to the l)().ils by
It on board of cui h
itcen miles the riser
i runs rapidly ; yet,
was very much wilder
than upon ordl
nary oKasion-^.
Six men we'll on
\)oard of each
vessel; and. hav-
ing cut them
loose from their
moorings, they
started on a very
exciting voyage.
We can easily
imagine how ani-
mated they were
as their vessels
began to desceml
leir place of moorin-,
[vhen a long train l^
Ivater. where ihev weiv
ith great speed. Tli^'
not only were its suics
Lly monster i)eered ui-
Lvigators. Hie bo;u^
•ceiving many a thump
; Harrv ('-'" or a man
Ltod, and cracked ; ami
such a lively tri)) were
i and whatever means
is feathers, 'rhoy were
and unceremonious a
Idizzy. As the descent
grew more rapid, and tiie rocks — some half submerged, while others were in '
full sight — became more plentiful, tin- danger seemed more apparent. First
one boat, and then another, swimg round against the rocks, and the current
mailed over her; while the boatmen managed to get to the shore as best they
could, leaving their treasures to their unkindly fate. Of the six boats, only
two reached Philadelphia ; and tiiese were nearly shaken to i)ie( es.
but, when the market was rea( hed througli mu h great perils, ihe < argo met
wii'i a very slow sale, and most of ti\e purchases were simply for trial. Kinally,
the inunicii)al authorities bought a cpiantity to feed an engine, Failure to
whii li was then in use pumping water to supply the city ; but it is "ii coai.
said that all their attempts to burn it jiroved unavailing. '• Disgusted with
what they esteemed a nuisance, they caused what remained of it to be broken
\\\\, and scattered over the foot walks of the grounds. .And here and thus
ingloriously terminated, for a period of seventeen years thence ensuing, the
operations of the Lehigh (,'oal-Mine Company." Such is the history of the
eadv movement to open the great anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania, and
find a market for this now highly-prized fuel.
In iSio coal was found in the vicinity of Pottsville, which was tested by ^C /^
the hl.icksmiths there, who proved able to ignite it. It seems almost unbe-
lievable to us in these ilays that there should ever have been any Discovery o(
ubt about the burning-(|ualities of coal ; yet in truth, during the coal at
irly part of this century, this was the greatest difficulty in the P""*^'""'
way of intro<lucing it into market.
sivenil wagons with coal from
they had not forgotten their experience with the coal from Lehigli Early effort
Valley. Still he was able to sell considerable ([uantities by guar- to sell it.
anteeing to all who insisted upon it that the " stones " would burn. Some.
however, who bought, faileti to ignite them, ami their indignation was kindled.
I'hfir friends tormented them for their exhibition of folly, and the clouds began
tdgrow black around the colonel's head. Writs were issued for his arrest, and
Ik' heat a retreat. By pursuing a circuitous path, he was able to reach his
iiome without falling into the clutches of the law-officers of the town. Among
other purchasers was the Fairmount Nail-Works. .A whole morning was spent
liy the proprietor and his men in trying to light the stone, but without success.
All sorts of experiments were tried : it was raked, poked, and blown ujion with
lvii;c blowers, but all in vain. Finally, the men, disheartened and desi)erate,
-Iv.it the furnace-door, and went off to dinner. .All the while they are gone,
v.e imagine we can hear them talking about those black stones which would
iH)t burn, and how the proprietor had been imi)osed upon, and discover of
luul thrown away his money ; iiow their forenoon had been wasted ; true method
and what would have been accomplished had they gone on their °' 'gn't'ng
ri;.;nlar track, and not attempted to try uncertainties. But, when
ihey come back, imagine their consternation in beholding the furnace-door
llO
I'
tva.^ iiiv, ^i\_tii^m iiiiiiv^iui y 111 iii^
Let. In i.Si 7 Col. (Jeorge Shoemaker loaded ^^"V
Pottsville, and sent it to Philadelphia. But
Ui-
il
U
.»■ '.
* •
:oS
INnUSTh'TAl. HISTORY
GUAUMININO AND COKU-BUKNINU.
01- lllE IWirF.D STATES.
709
■r-'vv y >.7
;,^-
' ■)
J^Uf
ri'il liot, and the fire within },'l()wing with intensest heat ! Tlicre they stand,
wuiuier-stiickcn, ail tiunr many prophecies overthrown, witii llie secret of
liiiining coal at la.'jt found out, and which was now to work such a niij^hty
revolution in the industries of the country. I'he secret was soon blazoned
aliioad through the press; and the next tune Col. Shoemaker appeared in
the streets of Philadelphia he was not chased by indignant ( oal-purchasers,
nor compelled to take lodgings in jail. His guaranty had proved good, and
from that hour a new impetus was given to the production of anthracite coal.
.'\s wood near Philadelphia was growing scarce, the price was Resumption
raised so high, that the Lehigh C'oal-Mine Company once more o' coai-min-
renewed operations. In 1820 they shippeil 365 tons to Philadel- h"ighCoai-
phia, and 1,000 tons the following year. In 1822 the amount MineCom-
rcac lied 2,240 tons, and as much more the year following. Pre- P""^'
vious to this tinie a company had been formed to improve the navigation of
lli>l.>M. I HAL.
the S( hnylkill River; and in 1823 the two concerns were merged under the
title of the " Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company ; " and, having a large
tai)' ' they began such improvements as the rapidly- increasing business
(leni lied.
e river was made navigable for boats, which were but little more than
"■L- boxes twenty-five feet long and eightee.i feet in width. A writer says,
'At St two of them were joineu together by hinges, so as to
allow tliem to bend up and down in passing over the sluices ; but n^nt°n'
as the boatmen became more accustomed to the work, and the modes of
channels continued to l)e improved from time to time, the number |[*^*''°'*""
of sections thiis lashed together was increased, iMitil their whole
length reached a hundred and eighty feet. They were piloted and steered
with long oars like a raft. Machinery was devised for jointing and putting
together the planks of which the boats were made ; and the men were so
expert at it, that five of them could put together one of the sections and
n:l<'.
iH
fNPUS TKIA I. HIS TOK Y
launch it in forty-five minutes. Boats of (iiis i Inscription were used until iS^i,
when the coal-production had increased to such an extent, that thi' ixiais
employed to transport it, had they all been stretched out into lini', woiilil
have reached over fourteen miles in lengtli. Upon the conip'etioii of ilic
Pennsylvania C!anal in this year the Lehigh was <:onverted into a slack water
navigation, witii locks and towing-])atli for horses. It has been oi)eraU'(l in
this way ever since, with no less advantage to tlie public than to the (ompany
themselves."
The next improvement worthy of note in the way of transporting i oal wa.i
nothing less than the construction of a railway, nine^ miles in leiiutli. trmn
Conitruction ^^ summit of i^iiaq) Mountain to the mer. This waiTTjeniiii in
of raUroad January, and finished nine months afterward. With a sin};k' ux-
/ « Sharp ception, it was the fi'-st railroad built in the United States. Kor
f I \ Mountain. ' ' ^ ...
i '-' many years it drcjw visitors from every part of the country ; and it
is said, that, whenever a railroad wiis proposed, a preliminary ( onunitlcc was
appointed to examine and report its characteristic features. The f^'radc was
very great (about a hundreil feet to the mile), so that loaded cars moved hy
their own gravity; while they were drawn back by mules, whic:h weif favorcil
with a free ride in the other direction. It is recorded that they enjoyed ilnir
ride exceedingly, expressing their approbation of the arrangement by all iIr'
tokens which long-eared animals are capable of using. They learned to regard
the privilege of riding down as an inalienable right, and no earthly prctcx'
could induce them to go on foot.
While the affairs of the company operating in the Lehigh region wun:
going on swimmingly, the coal-dejjosits in Schuylkill County were not nog-
Coal-mining '^cted. In i822 1,500 tons were shipjjcd over the S( hiiylkill (a
inSchuyikiu nal ; and four years later, when the canal had been tiioionghly
"• ""■ repaired, 1 7,000 tons were sent to market ; and the amount swellcci
to 60,000 tons the year following. As the coal-trade was now thoroughly
established, stoves anti hearth-grates adaptetl for such fiiel were made ; and
the public, very slow at first in using it, had become excited. The ( oal-region
was explored, and lands which had long been regarded as worthless found
eager purchasers at fancy prices. Towns were laid out, roads were built ovir
mountains and along their steep sides, railroads and canals were jiroJLi toil,
new mines were opened ; in short, the fever of speculation set in almost as
strongly as it did in California when the gold-discoveries were blazoned abroad.
It is said that within a period of six months from the outbreak of the spc( 11
lative movement, which continued active for nearly three years, Ww niiilion
dollars had been invested in the coal-lands in Schuylkill County. Tracts
which were purchased in 1827 for five hundred dollars were sold two years
afterward for sixteen thousand. This fact will show to what height .si)eculatioii
had been carried.
The mode of conducting mining-operations in this coal-field was (|iiite
OF THE UNITED STATES.
711
!ro used until iH^i,
ent, that tlu' lui.iis
lit into linr. wouM
conip'olioii (if ilu'
into a slack walcr
} been opcratt^d in
Inan to tlu' compMny
ransjiortinn loal wa^
ilcsjnjt-'nutli. In mi
'I'his was~T)i.'nuii in
With a sin^ii' cx-
Unitcd States. I'or
the country ; and it
inary conuniltL-i' was
res. The grade was
)aded cars moved by
;, which were favored
at they enjoyed iheir
rangcment by all ilie
hey learned to regard
(d no earthly prelex'
Lehigh region wen;
oiuity were nut neg-
er the Schuylkill (a
had been tlionxigbly
id the amount swelled
was now thoroughly
nel were made ; ami
;ed. The coal-region
as worthless fonnil
roads were buili over
inals were projedcd.
.ion set in almost as
vere blazoned abroad.
utbreak of the spec"-
•ee years, live million
kill County. Tra*"'^
were sold two years
lat height speculation
s Ci
oal-field was (|uil«
different from those in the Lehigh repion. There a single company mined all
the coal ; while in the Schuylkill region a large number of operators
were engaged in the business. It is true that a coiijile of concerns due,iJl
were organized, possessed of a considerable amount of capital ; rointm in
Imt there were many beside who leasetl their lanils, and who pro- *'!',"„"'"'
(luced only small (]uantities compared with the output of the
present tlay. The e.vpensive, wasteful, and slow mode of mining can be
comprehended from the single fact, that the same number of master colliers
were required to produce a hundred thousand tons as are now engaged in pro-
ducing forty times that (piantity. Still it was not to be expected that this new
industry would be economically conducted in the beginning. Perfection in
mining, like perfection in every other pursuit, was to come only by manifold
experiment. The leases of the operators usually covered a "run " upon the
out-crop, or strike of the vein, of from fifty to seventy yards, with an allowance
of sufficient space to perform the necessary outside functions of a mine con-
ducted on strictly ancient princii)les. The pits varied from thirty to forty feet
in depth, and the coal was hoisted in wooden buckets by means of a rope
and windlass. The same " machinery " drained the mine of water, unless the
influx was extraordinary ; in which emergency its abandonment became a
matter of necessity. A few of the more enterprising operators — such as had
a " run " of one or two hundred yards on the vein — erected gins, and
raised their coal and water by horse-power. These, however, were the Napo-
leons and Caesars of the trade, who thought nothing of shipping two or three
thousand tons per annum. Kvery thing proceeded cheerfully and satisfactorily
until 1830, when the market became su<ldenly and unexpectedly overstocked.
The increased production was frightful, — 63,000 tons over the previous
year. Prices fell to a ruinous figure. The paper of the shippers was protested,
and many of the mines were discontinued. The implements employed in
mining were converted into cash, and more than one operator fled from the
region to some other which afforded a safe immunity from imprisonment for
debts. Among other consequences, there was a large diminution in production
during the following year.
Two years later the business revived, and the shipments exceeded 209,000
tons; which was more than double the quantity mined during Revival of
the previous year. In the same year, many marked improve- buiine**.
ments were eflfected in the mining and transportation of this " stone " fuel.
COAL-MINKKS.
Miners are exclusively foreigners, who come chiefly from ICngland, Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, and Germany. There is nothing peculiar about their appear-
ance, except that, when at work, a lamp is attached to the side of their cap,
and they are usually besmeared with coal and mud. They are a healthy class
712
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Nationality
and habits
of miners.
of people ; and, though their life is one of unusual peril and gloom, they rarely
abandon it for any other pursuit. In the West, during dull sea-
sons, efforts ha* e been made to employ them in farming, but \"ith-
out succe^ss. They prefer to live below ground, amid the darkness
dirt, and danger of the coal-regions, to a life above in the sweetness of sun-
light, and sunounded with greater excitement. So much for the force of habit.
Indeed, they have become so accustomed to their toil, and to the positions
often necessary for chem to assume in the course of their daily tasks, that pain-
ful as these would be, especially after a few moments, to other people, miners
are often seen even in their hours of leisure occupying them. One may go
into a saloon where min' .s are in the habit of congregating during the even-
ing, and he will see perhaps half a dozen, or twice or thrice that number, sitting
around in the form of a circle on the floor, their legs bent under them : and
there they will sit for hours engaged in social conversation.
The miner has acquired the reputation of being a lawless ican, whose lianil
is against every one outside of his own class ; but this is an altogether one-
Bravery of sided view. They are quite as industrious and law-abiding as other
miners. workmen ; and though many of them are cjuite ignorant, and
steeped in prejudice, yet they possess many noble cju^iities, and constantly are
performing deeds in the way of rescuing their imperilled brethren which testify
in the strongest manner to their sympathy and heroism. As their work is amid
constant danger, they are schooled in bravery ; and every now and tlien an
instance occurs of devotion to the suffering, and heroism displayed in their
rescue, which is thrilling. Who does not remember the account reported in
Rescue of "The New- York Tribune " last year? One evening, as the men
miners in were on the point of leaving work in a mine in Wales, the roar of
ru.shing water was heard, and the galleries and tunnels suddenly
began to fill. The water had broken through from an abandoned and flooded
.nine, and of course rose in the main shaft and the lateral worl.ings until it
found its level. Most of the men made their escape ; but when tlie roil was
called fourteen were missing. An exploring-party went down to look for them.
They foimd all the galleries within a few hundred yards of the bottom filled to
the roof ; but a knocking heard behind a wall of coal indicated that some of
the missing men were imprisoned alive in a gallery which sloped upward, its
mouth being under water. The wall was several yards thick. Volunteers went
at it with their picks. The prisoners worked from within. In a few hours they
could hear one another's voices. But, the moment a hole was broken through,
the confined air, kept under great i)ressure by the rising water, burst out with a
terrific explosion, and one of the imprisoned miners was shot into the opening
as if he had been blown from a gim. He was taken out dead. I'our otiiers
in the chamber with him were rescued uninjured. Knockings, however, were
heard farther on ;• and it appeared that other missing men were in a similar but
still worse predic.-ment. — shut into a chamber of compressed air. It is witii
OF THE UNITED STATES.
7»3
714
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the efiforts to release this second party that the chief interest of tlie story
begins.
The wall behind which they were confined was in a heading that was
flooded, and nothing could be done with the pick until the water had hei;n
Extraordi- pumped out. Divcrs first attempted the perilous feat of reaching
nary energy the Opening from thc main shaft *hrough half a mile of water, and
'»p aye • jj ^jjg afterward ascertained that one of the men within had tried
to escape in the same way. This, however, was impossible. It was not until
the fifth day that the volunteers were able to begin digging. The distani e
to be cut was a hundred and twenty feet. The work went on day and niglu
with an eagerness that seemed like desperation ; and yet it was so slow ! Cut-
ting through the solid coal in a gallery not more than three feet high, where
the water, only kept down by constant pumping, threatened every moment to
rise and ingulf them, with trouble from gas, and the danger of another e; plo-
sion of air always before them, the rescue-parties took their lives in their hand
whenever they went into the mine ; and their wives followed them with sad
eyes as they entered the shaft, doubting if they would come up alive. The
hope of saving their comrades, shut up so long without food, was at best but a
forlorn one. To reduce the danger from the sudden liberation of tlie air, —
danger not only of a violent explosion, but of a sudden rise of thc water in the
chamber as soon as the pressure should be relieved, — air-tight doors were
constructed in the cutting, and an air-pump was set in operation to establish
-an etjuilibrium on both sides of the wall. A week after the accident, voices
were heard ; and the working-party were cheered by a faint cry, " Keep to tlie
right side ; you are nearly through." The next day the work had made such
progress, that an iron tube was forced eight feet through the barrier of coal,
and an attempt was made, but without success, to introduce milk through it to
the famishing prisoners. The miners learned then that there were five of their
comrades in the chamber, all alive, but two of them nearly exhausted. .\t
night there remained only eighteen inches to be cut away, and the excitement
rose to fever-heat. An enormous assemblage of people surroundtl the mouth
of the mine ; ])hysicians were in readiness ; a temporary hospital was prepared ;
and a house near by was put in order for the sufferers, if haply they siioukl he
got out alive. The state of the work was discussed in Parliament, and bulle-
tins were flashed at short intervals to the farthest ends of the kingdom. Hut,
just when it secme.i that a few strokes of the pick might complete the labor,
an eruption of gas took place, and the working-party had to run for their lives.
In time, however, the air was renewed, and the work went on. The afternoon
of the tenth day a hole was knocked in, and one of the cutting-party entered
the cavern. All was still. In their weak condition, the agitation of the moment
made the imprisoned men speechless. The rescuer felt about, and, not finding
any one, shouted, " Don't be afraid ! " The answer came, " All right, we are
not afraid ; " and then a pair of rough arms were thrown about his neck. Th"
OF THE UNITED STA7ES.
715
Ms. J- tti'ii-fc^
roLusioN OF lur.s in a siiAi-r.
I
716
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
first to be taken out was a boy named Hughes : anil it is related that when the
car came to the surface, and the long suspense was over, the vast crowd of
spectators "did not cheer, nor use any of the ordinary means of sliowing
enthusiasm ; all seemed too serious for that."
Miners usually receive a certain sum per ton for mining coal ; but for
several years disagreements between them and their employers in respect to
Difficulty wages have been numerous, leading, in some instances, to vcrv
in adjusting serious conscquenccs. It is not an easy matter to ascertain tht-
*''*^''' exact truth concerning these controversies ; but, if the account
which we shall now proceed to give does not perfectly square with the facts,
it is not because we have failed to make many inquiries, nor through indiffer-
ence to present correctly so important a page of our history.
When prices rose during the war, including the price of coal, it is afifirmed
upon good authority that miners, notwithstanding the greatly enhanced ccst of
Advance of l'^''"g> received no higher wages without first making a demand,
wagi .. dur- and then following it up with a strike, or a threat of that nature.
ing the war. ^^ operators were making large profits, they were very imwilling to
suspend operations ; and so the demands of the miners were complied with,
and wages were several times advanced. "
Production in a few years enormously increased ; and during the spring of
1868 the coal-market was glutted, and prices went down as low as they were
Strikes dur- in 1 844, with the single exception of a short period at the outbreak
ing isos. ()f the war. Had the coal-mining business been in the hands of a
few operators, as it was ten years before, the market would iiave been obliged
to suspend production ; but the business was now carried on chiclly by five
companies, which had a large amount of capital invested, and which could not
susjjend operations. It was deemed necessary, however, to reduce tiie wages
of the miners. The latter contended that a reikiction of their wages would
not prevent tlie glut of coal ; that as long as all the ('omi)anies c:ontinue(l to
work every mine, and to open new ones, there wou'id l)e an incessant glut, and
it would be impossible to find a market for coal, even if the workmen con-
sented to work without wages. Twice did the workmen submit to reductions,
but urgeil each time the folly of overloading the market. But the comp;:ni.>s
were determined ; and the history of 1868 was a ;u!ct ession of strikes, suspen-
sions, agreements, resumptions, and again suspension, accompanied by violent
fluctuations in price, and at one time an advance to the very highest figures of
war times.
The following year (1869) things grew worse. The winter had been mil;!.
and there was an accumulation of more than seven hundred thousand tons oi
The strike coal belonging to the five principal compan es. After vain efforts
of «869. among themselves to agree upon a reduction of the supply, the
miners, with great shrewdness, offered a voluntary susperiHinn of thirty days to
enable the companies to wc tk off their accumulated stocks. The offer was
OF THE UWITF.D STATES.
7' 7
ig the spring of
ow as they were
I at the outbreak
the hands of a
\iG been obligeil
II chiclly by fnc
which could not
ihicc tlie wages
leir wages would
es t:ontinued to
;essant glut, and
workmen I'on-
,t to reductions,
the comp"!iies
strikes, suspen-
anicd by violent
ighest figures of
accepted ; and, under pretence of this so-called strike, the companies increased
the freight-charges over their roads nearly one-half, ran up the price of coal to
very high figures, and reaped a small fortune from the suspension. When the
thirty days had expired, the companies expected the men to go to work at the
old wages : but the men declared, not without an appearance of justice, that, if
the market-price of coal was to depend upon their suspending and resuming
work, they were certainly entitled to some portion of the advantages of their
action; and they demanded, that, if coal advanced beyond that price, their
wages were to advance in proportion, — on i)recisely the same principle as that
which the companies had invariably enforced in reducing wages the moment
xne selling-price of coal declined. This was called the "basis system," the
supjiosed lowest price of coal being taken as the basis of wages. The com-
panies at first were unwilling to accede to this i)roposition ; but, after a long
struggle, several of tliem submitted. Others have refused to this day, prefer-
ring to pay the men higher rages rather than recognize the hated basis.
For *he next three yean, no very serious strikes occurred, although grum-
i)!ings were heard, and occasionally there was an outbreak. No very general
disturbances arose, however, until the dose of 1874. As the year strike of
was drawing to a close, another •strike was inaugurated, against "74-
the advice of the Labor Union which had been formed, and without the
faintest realization of the long anil bitter contest which was to come before
oven a short-lived peace was secured.
It will be rememberetl that this was not long after the panic, when nearly
every kind of business was depressed, and when prices were tending down-
ward, with no probability of a recovery. Notwithstanding this commence-
very clear outlook, the miners demanded an increase of wages ; ment of
and, the demand being refused, a strike took place. The strike, '"' *'
however, in the beginning, was not regarded as serious, although at an early day
the workmen were informed that not only would their demands not be acceded
to, but that wages would be reduced. This war, not, however, believed, and
matters remained quiet ; good humor, in the first instance, prevailing. The ,
strike was inaugurated at a time when the great body of workmen expected to 1
he idle ; navigation had closed ; the winter stock of coal of the F^ast and South I
had been laid in : it was the period of limited demand, of what is termed )
" dead work," in preparation for the coming season. As, however, the attitude /
of the Coal Exchange was firm, very early came annoyances in the refusal /
of tlie men to allow even sufficient coal to be mined for the use of the furnaces U
on the line of the road and for the locomotives of the railroad companies.'
In tlie mean time the general business and manufacturing interests of the
<;ountry were still more depressed. By the latter part of February, 1875, all
hopes of even a partial revival of business in the spring had died out. Many
of the large manufacturing and iron establishments of the country, which had
struggled through the past year on the accumulated capital resulting from
I^
718
llVD (IS TKIA /- jVAV tor Y
OF THE UNITED STATES.
719
seasons of prosp'jrity, > ther totally stopped work, or ran on lialf-timc ; whilst
the area of the anthracite coal-market had somewhat extended, the uses were
being curtailed, and a large falling-off in the demand during the coming year
was felt to be a certain prospect. The facilities for mining coal created a
supply largely in excess of the demand ; and the fact was perfectly understood,
that no combination of the coal-mining comi)anies would enable coal-operators
to run on full time, and maintain jirices of coal or wages.
"As a conse(iuen(e, in the beginning of March, 1S75, when the policy of
the coal-operators was fully develojjed, tiie struggle began in earnest, the
operators maintaining that the reduction of wages was to them covvine in-
a matter of necessity ; wh.ilst the Labor Union remained firm in tensity of
the demand that at least the jirices of tiie precctling year should *'"''"•
be maintained. The stock of money accumulated by very many of the work-
men was now exhausted, and a call was made on kindred associations for
assistance. These associations sympathized with the struggles of the miners
and laborers ; but they had their own interests to guard, and in most instances
had themselves yielded to the pressure of the times. The response was,
therefore, made with a necessarily sparing hand."
Many were willing to go to work, but feared the Molly, whose history
will soon be sketched. " Intense feeling began to manifest itself on both sides.
The Labor Union yielded the position, so far as the question crisii
of reduction was concerned, but, as a question upon which its 'e«=hed.
existence was involved, demanded to have a voice in the setdement of the
basis of wages. A mmiber of coal-operators were willing to commence work
on these terms ; but the great coal-mining companies, with the entire approval
of many individual operators, refused to treat with the Labor Union at all.
By the action of the great carrying companies in the regulation of freights this
policy was enforced."
At length, in June, 1875, the miners yielded. This was the most severe
defeat the miners had experienced. " Most of the ' labor-strikes ' previously
inaugurated had been local in their character; in some instances, Defeat of tho
confined to particular collieries ; in others, to districts ; and again, ">'""»•
in others, to the coal-shipments by particular lines o*" railwa>. In none of
these contests had the men suffered overwhelming defeat : they had not
always, it is true, obtained their full demands ; but the result had generally
been a compromise, in which their power was acknowledged, and the out-
rages committed either by unruly members of the Union, or indirecdy result-
ing therefrom, wore, to a certain extent, condoned." But in this, the longest
and most expensive strike to miners as well as to operators, the former were
•"ompellcd to succumb. Yet it had been begun contrary to the advice of
many of the leaders ; for they saw with the eye of a prophet the whiriwind
that was to come. With declining markets and an over-production of coal,
what could the miner expect beside lower wages, unless it were no wages
at all?
•J20
IND US TKJA L HIS TOR Y
Record of
Mollies in
this country
of brief
duration.
THE MOLLY MAGUIKKS.
This is not a lovely or engaging theme ; yet no pursuit is without its
"arker si' ■; aid, if the history of roal-mining be shaded more
Why a con- ....
■iderationof ^--'Vil/ • ^'.\ mo.it of our numerous iP-Uistries, it must l)e remcm-
the Mollies .; ;., . -iiost of the Workers in it ■ e a dark, sunless li!'i', and
s necessary. .^ .. ^ keeping with the indus, . itself for terrible incidents
to arise therein.
The record of tiie Molly Maguire in this country is very brief, but verv
sad and tcniMc The society to which he belongs is neither new nor recently
known ; for it iiad its birtii long aijo in
the Emerald Isle, and many an iiu i
dent of thrilling interest
has been wafted to our
shore. These we Ikuc
not space to relate : be-
sides, the cup of their mis-
deeds, notwithstanding their short ex-
istence in the anthracite regions of
Pennsylvania, was long ago filled to
overflowing.
All of our readers have heard of
the famous Ribbonmen of Ireland,
Ribbonmen wliose deeds fill SO large
of Ireland. ^ gp^^-g j„ ^\^^ ,^„„.,i^ „f
crime in that country. The society
was organized to maintain the rights of
tenants, which the landlord, according
to general belief, sought to crush out.
He was regarded, not as the rightful
owner of the land, but as a usurper,
who, if possible, was to be extirpated
from the soil. Time, instead of burying this belief, only strengthened it ; while
the breach between the two classes was still further widened by differences in
religion and education, and the rank and poisonous growth of prejudice.
" Under the influence of such prejudice and feelings," says a writer who has
thoroughly studied the subject, " a certain unwritten code of laws, or ' tenant
rights,' came into being, by which the tenant claimed to possess his leasehold
estate, without, under any circumstances, the right of dispossession existing in
the landlord. The landlord might be desirous of improving his estate, or rent
be largely in arrears : nevertheless, .any action on his part in maintenance of
his right of property, was, under the Ribbon code, to be resisted to the death.
l^ut not only upon the landlord did the Ribbonmen exercise their deadly ven-
JAMtS KERRIGAN.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
7^1
•nt
Pti ■nil' nil.
,vai
geance : other tenants entering upon the possession of the disputed property
were, equally with the landlords and land-agents, the victims of murderous and
generally fatal attacks. This society sprang into existence in the early part of
the present century, maintained its unhallowed existence for many years, and
only received permanent check upon the execution of Hodgens and Brun,
convicted of conspiracy to murder Patrick McArdle, at Carrickmacross, in
1852." Such, in brief, is the history of the rise of this world-famous society.
How long it was after their appearance in the anthracite regions 1 ""ire
they obtained control of the Ancient Order of Hibernians is not know, bi
the history of this association under the new rej^ime deserves ^^
notice, for it has been very imperfectly understood by the public. Or.
Prev ,>us to its capture by the Mollies, this society had borne an
honorable record for its many deeds of disinterested benevolence,
because of its good name that the Mollies were so desirous of getf ip control
of it ; for they hoped, under the guise of its fair re'iutation, to do - N.ings
which could xw'' be easily done in any other manner. It is unnecessary to
describe here how the Mollies executed their design : suffice it to say, that in
due time this order was completely under their baneful control, and in its
name a series of outrages were committed which the entire land vividly but
sadly remembers. It has been questioned, however, whether any organiza-
tions l>elonging to this order existing beyond the anthracite regions were drawn
into the fatal net. Doubtless assistance, in the way of contributing money to
defend the Mollies when their crimes were exposed and they were brought for
trial, was rendered by many members who resided elsewhere ; but certainly it
has never appeared that any society in an organized capacity furnished such
assistance. It was contributed personally, not in a corporate or organized
way ; and therefore there is no reason for charging the societies belonging to
this order, lying beyond those directly implicated, as guilty of sympathizing
with the Molly Maguires, or furnishing any assistance. The sins of members
individually are not to be visited upon the organizations themselves ; for, if
they are, what church or other social organization can plead innocence ?
The conquest of the Labor Unions ere long by the Mollies was as easy
and successful as the subjection of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Yet the
public generally have formed a wrong idea of these Labor Unions, Labor
on account of the presence and activity of the Mollies amongst Union».
them ; just as the worthy fame of the Hibernian Society was blasted ^ly the
conduct of the Mollies, who in an evil hour, and when no wrong was sus-
pected, came in and stealthily took possession of the organization. It may be
thought singular how so small a number, compared with all the miiiers, were
able to effect this result ; and hence many have believed that the Mollies were
far more numerous, even in the beginning, than they were in fact, or else that
very many of the miners were in sympathy with them. Either alternative is
without much foundation, as we shall endeavor to prove before concluding this
chapter.
■t;
7"
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Wrong
impreision
reipecting
their
ignorance.
Object of
" Labor
Unions,"
Let it be remembered that the coal-workers, though for the most part
foreigners, are not so densely ignorant as to be unable to perceive
tiieir rights, and comprehend their surroundings. Though possess-
ing less education than the average American, they are neitiicT so
ignorant nor lawless as many suppose them to be ; and one wlio
is well qualified to judge declares that none rejoice more eaniLstly
than they in the belief that a reign of terror is over, and that law and order
will rule once more.
Keeping tills point in sight, we proceed to note that the Labor Unions
arose as a defence to the (Iciuands
of capital, which was massing itself to
control the entire anthra-
cite-region. When almost
the whole field was ab-
sorbed by five companies, representing
an enormous amount of capital, and
capable of dictating any terms it
pleased to the workmen, so long as
they continued in their old ways, \v;is
it not about time for them to do some-
thing to meet this mighty power wiiich
liung over them like a thunder-cloud,
and which grew blacker every mo-
ment ?
We do not see how any one can
blame them for combining. If they did
wrong, it was not in taking this step, but in subsecjuent ones. At first they
Not to be ^^'^ "° hostile intentions against life or capital : it was only to pro-
biamed for tect themselves, and prevent future aggression. Unluckily they had
com n ng. ^^^ \iQQn going long before the Mollies stole in, and announced
their unwelcome presence. Under their evil sway the Unions made new
demands, founded harsher rules for the government of members, and extended
Their de- ^^vt power over the miners who held aloof from the organization.
mandaand Thus they Went on until they demanded of the mining-companies
powers. ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ should be employed or discharged without the sanc-
tion of the Union. To this demand others were added of hardly less impe-
rious nature. The manner and hours of working, and the superintendents
and bosses, were regarded as under their control. Moreover, they claimed
the right to determine the rates of wages, and times of payment, and other
equally extravagant and surprising demands. Says Mr. Dewees, "Some of
these acts are attributable to the circumstances which gave them the power,
and others to the pernicious influence of the band of criminals who foisted
themselves among them. Whilst it is an act of simple justice to the leaders
MANUS KULL.
•T'llsl-i \
'""m
OF THE UNITED STATES.
%n
of the I«il)or Union to ncknowle(lj;c, that, as a general rule, the true inter-
ests of the woriting-men, from their stand-point, were sought to be obtained
peaceably and through compromise, and whilst, in such efforts, they liad the
approval of the great body of the society, unreasonable demands were pressed
through the influence, and granted through fear, of the Molly Maguire.
•' Under the influence of organization and of general prosperity," continues
Mr. I )ewees, " the Mollies increased in numbers and in power. Throughout
the coal-regions they completely controlled the organi/atioii known Aimtoftha
as the \. O. H., or Ancient Order of Hibernians, and, using that Mo"'««-
order as a cloak, endeavoretl to increase still further their numbers and their
iiillnence, on the pretext that the order
was (bartered by tlie legislature for
legal and proper purposes as a benev-
olent association. The ambition of
the leaders among tiiem, many of
•.vhom deserted labor and the mines,
for tiie more congenial and influential
|)ositions of small tavern and saloon
keepers, kept pace with their increased
power. They sought not only to
control the movements of the Uibor
Union, to inspire whole coal-mming
interests with a fear of their disi)leas-
iire, but also to have a potent voice
in politics." Their more especial am-
liition was to control the affairs of the
township, and control the collection
and expeniliturc of the public funds.
Possessed of but little taxable property
themselves, it was of immense impor-
tance to them to get hold of the tikwas y. usher.
iml)lic purse, and be able to empty
and replenish it according to their own will and pleasure.
As they were successful in an eminent degree in their designs, the history
of their management is but little more than a repetition of the man- Doings of
agement of the Tweed ring on a smaller though not less frightful MoiUet.
scale. Large sums were assessed to repair roads which needed only a small
outlay for this purpose ; and even the school-fimds were perverted, though it is
helieved the misapplication was not as extensive. They ahnost succeeded, in
Schnylkill County, in electing as associate judge a notorious Molly who has
since been convicted of crime. Both of the great political parties bid fov
their support, and the rewards demanded and received were neither few nor
small. " Rumors of a vote to be given on account of a pardon to be extended
I-! ''^I-
1H
WDUSTKlAt. HISTORY
their
optratlons.
to some offender or offenders whom no perjury could save from tin- im'shci
of the law have been common ; and such pardon, following <|uickly alicr the
residt of an election has become known, has given those rumors a func aiKJ
effect they would not otherwise possess."
The effect of such an accession of power to an organization so irnsiion-
sible, corrupt, and desperate, may be easily imagined. Nor is it diffK ult to
trace the devastating effects id'thr or.
ganization upon the properly, dL'si^'iis,
Effector '""' ^'vt-'n lives, of iIidm'
who dwell in tiu' (oal-
regit)ns. "The (jwiur of
productive coul-lands," says hewois,
" wearied by the «:onliniial stru^gk'
between his tenants and llic nun,
whereby his income was seriously im-
paired, was glad to sell his laii(l< at a
moderate figure in (onijjarison witli
their true value ; whilst the owiKror
unproductive lands, borne douii In
taxes, and seeing no hope in thr In-
tiire, was glad, at a conipaialivily
small price, to disi)osc of projicrty
that was becoming an intolcrabk' l)iir-
den. The control and management of the mines, the manner of tlieir work-
ing, the right to employ and discharge hands, were i)assing away from thu
owners, and were fast resting in, not the Labor Union proper, but the bahor
Union under the direction of the Molly Maguires."
The time had come for the great companies to make a determined effort
to rescue their property. After a long periofl of suffering, and
Proiecution 11/ n i n
of Motiietby another of preparation, the blow was struck which delivered tlicm
of an enemy whose history, though short, had been truly ttrrililc,
and whose long catalogue of misdeeds the public have read and
remember with horror. • \
Two cauies ^^ "^^X ^^ wondcrcd how it was possible for any organization
of lucceit of in this late age, in a county of Pennsylvania, — whose courts were
** "■ supposed to be always open, and where the law never failed of
execution through lack of force, — to corMnue such hellish work for so long a
period. Two causes conspired in a remarkable degree to aid them in their
dark and bloody work, the absence of either of which would have i)roved fital
to their plans.
The first was secrecy. It is difficult, perhaps, for many to
reahze how thoroughly this idea is engraved into the texture of the
Irish race. To inform of a crime, in many instances, is regarded a wrong as
I'AIKRK IIKSTKH.
railroad-
companies
Secrecy.
OF THE UNlTF.n STATUS,
7*5
jjri'.it as the crime itself; and to such an extent has liiis feeling developed, that
it has truly become a part of the Irish < haracter. In the plottings of tlie
Mollies a large number were engaged, yet the utmost secrecy was preserved ;
and their ways and movements would have been unknown to this day, for
aii^ht we know, had not a detective been sent among them. From the begin-
ning to the end of their fearful career they kept their own sec rets until secre( y
would no longer avjii any thing. It is a wonderful trait of «;haracler which
they have exhibited, nor could it have bloomed so i)erfeclly on American soil
iluring the short period the organization has existed. This trait is the product
of many years of education, — education of a fearfid sort, in which tyranny
,inil revenge were the twin stimulating forces.
The other cause is the secrecy alforded by nature for executing their
(ksigns. Vast forests lie in do.se proximity to the villages, to which the Mollies
(onld (lee and find sure protection. It was not possible to fill the gjcggy
woods with police ; and a hunt there after the law-breaker would af/orded by
liave proved a fruitless undertaking, 'rhus a shelter was afforded """'"•
lor the criminal, so secure as to stimulate him in executing his lawless
[iiirposes.
In this chapter we have paid less attention to the MoUy-Maguire move-
iiK-nt (as that is known to all) than to underlying causes of it, „, , ,.
^ ' / fi ' Singularity
as well as the machinery employed to accomplish their designs, of Moiiy-
It is a singular blur upon the industrial history of the United **■«"'"
° ' movement.
States, and one which will not soon be forgotten.
LATER niSTOKY.
Having traced the history of mining and transporting coal to 1830, let us
take uj) the thread at that point, and follow it until the present time. The
inilirac ite-coal fields of Pennsylvania, wiiich embrace nearly all Extent o(
that kind of coal known in the world, lie in tiiree basins, or coai-fteidi.
valleys, which are c;iMod the southern, middle, and northern coal-fields.
Tlumgh the total area -; only 472 miles, the coal i.s of such great average
thickness, varying from filty to a hundred feet, that the entire region is esti-
iiKitcd to contain 26. 36 1,</ -0,000 tons; from which amount, after deducting
imc-half for waste in mining and breaking the coal for market, and for other
losses occasioned by faults and irregularities in the beds, 13,180,538,000 tons
ire left. Subtracting from this amount the 206,666.325 tons mined between
iS:o and 1870, there is still remaining a sufficient supply, allowing consump-
tiiiii to go on at the rate of 25,000,000 tons per year, to last for 525 years.
It was in the southern or Schuylkill region that mining-operations of any
importance first began. In 1833 a charter was granted for build- Reading
ing a railroad from Philadelphia to Reading ; and a year or two R«iiroad.
later it was emi)owered to extend its road farther, so as to pierce the anthra*
J26
INDUSmrAL HISTORY
I
OF THE UNITED STATES.
727
cite-coal regions of Scliuylkill County. The road was completed in 1842, and
was fifty-eight miles in length ; but it has stretched itself out, by building addi-
tions and leasing other roads, until it has found its way into every valley of the
southern and middle coal-fields, and in the year 1870 operated 1,168 miles of
single-track railroad, of which 466 miles were located in the coal-regions.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was chartered as early as
March, 1823, to run from Rondout on the Hudson to Honesdale
Del A^vsre
on the Delaware River ; from which point the northern or Wilkes- ^^^ Hudson
barre coal-field was entered by the addition of a short railroad Canai
extending to Carbondale. About a quarter of a century later the °'"P»"y-
Pennsylvania Coal Company was formed, being composed, either wholly or
nearly so, of stockholders and diiectors of the Hudson and Dela- pennsyi-
ware Canal Company. To this new concern was leased a portion vania Coai
of the coal-lands owned by the present organization upon condi- """P^^y-
tion tliat tlic coal mined should be always transported over its lii.e to Rondout.
\ few years later, however, when the Erie Railroad was in full operation,
and the organization of the Pennsylvania Coal Company had somewhat
changed, it began shipping coal over the new route to Jersey City
and other points. This action of theirs gave rise to a famous
'iwsuit between the two companies, which lasted for a long time,
and was conducted with a great deal of ability as well as bitterness.
The president of the coal company studied law, so it is said, for
the very purpose of taking an active part in the defence of the suit,
and was, in fact, the chief counsel in defending the company from its enemies.
In the end the Pennsylvania Coal Company won their cause, which virtually
ended the agreement ; and since that time it has transported coal over the
Erie Railway without any further interference by the rival concern.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company was not simply a carrier of
coal, but mineil it also, having purchased large tracts in the begin- Miner and
ning, and added more from time to time, according to the judg- transporter
ment of its managers. ° "" '
In 1853 two other railroads were chartered, which also engaged in the
business of mining coal, as well as in transporting it, — the Dela- u^,^^ ^
ware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, which entered the north- Lackawan-
ern coal-field at Scranton ; and the Lehigli-Valley Railroad, which "■' '"''
confined its operations to the middle coal-field. Although it
was simply a carrier of coal in the beginning, a union was effected with the
Beaver-Meadow Railroad, which was also a miniT ; and thus the fifth great
mining-concern was engaged in this great and rapidly-growing industry.
The year previous, however, the New-Jersey Central Railroad, concerning
which so much has been heard of late, was chartered to extend New-jersey
from the sea-coast to Easton, Penn., on the Delaware River. Central.
At first it was simply a transporter of coal ; but, not content with tloing this, it
Lawsuit be-
tween Dela-
ware and
Hudson
and Pennsyl-
vania Coal
Company.
I
728
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Five com-
panies chief
miners and
transporters
of coal.
was possessed with a more ambitious aim, and accordingly leased the Lehigh
Canal and the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad Company, together with tiie
mines which these concerns were operating, and, in addition, the Wilkesbarre
Coal Company, which was chartered in March, 1849. These six
companies have been the chief miners and transporters of anthra-
cite coal for several years, although other concerns have also
mined and transported considerable quantities. The chief interest
of anthracite-coal mining, however, centres around the railroatl
corporations above mentioned, which united the business of mining witii that
of transporting coal.
Until within a very few years, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company
had been uniformly prosperous. Its affairs have always been conducted Ijy a
Later his conservative board of directors ; and with its short, easy, and cheap
tory of Del- mode of getting coal to tide-water, for years it yielded rich returns,
^are and ^^^ ^ qj- j^g affairs were highly prosperous. But, when other
railroads undertook to mine as well as to transport coal, this con-
cern also believed it was necessary, in order to retain its markets, to lease and
build railroads ; and, accordingly, the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad was
leased, and other roads extending northward to Whitehall and Rutland, while
a railroad was built from the former point to Montreal. This was a bold push,
and the experiment has not yet proved successful ; but it is too early to pro-
nounce final judgment upon the scheme. The new policy has its friends and
its enemies ; and a much longer space is required to determine whether it will
fulfil the anticipations of its projectors, or continue a burden from which relief
in some way must ultimately be sought.
Concerning the New-Jersey Central, its history is fresh in tlie public ear;
for its terrible collapse occurred only a short time ago. For several years after
its plans were developed, it was successful. Enormous (jnantitics
tory of New- ^^ '^o^^' ^^''^''•-' ""'led and transported ; its stock rose very high, and
Jersey was regarded so secure, that large numbers of persons along the
°""^* ■ line of the road invested in it, in aome cases, all they possessed;
tnist-funds were jiut into it ; and it was supposed to be one of tlie most
profitable concerns of the day. J?ut the company saw its unlucky hour, and
collapsed, scattering ruin and misery far and wide. The immediate causes of
this sudden decline will be soon given.
The history of the Reading Railroad is, perhaps, the most astonishing of
all the railroads concerned in mining coal. In the beginning if was simply a
carrier, the mining of co?! being done by a large number of operators, who, for
Later his- ^^ most part, Icpscd the priiilege of mining, as we have previous-
toryofRead- ly described. But, like the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com-
ing Railroad, ^r^^^y^ j^ f^jt impelled to Unite the two branches of mining and
transporting coal : so another company, called the Reading Coal and Iron
Company, which was really the same thing as the railroad itself, was organized,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
1»9
eased the Lehigh
together with the
I, the Wilkesbarre
1849. These six
[)orters of antlira-
ncerns have also
The chief interest
3und the railroad
f mining with that
■1 Canal Company
;n conducted by a
irt, easy, and cheap
ielded rich returns,
But, when other
)ort coal, this con-
irkets, to lease and
lanna Railroad was
and Rutland, while
lis was a bold push,
is too early to pro-
has its friends and
mine whether it will
;n from which relief
principally to engage in the business of mining this fuel. At once it began
the purchase of coal-lands, and this policy was continued until large tracts
were ac([uired. New mines were opened in every direction, railroads were
built and leased, and large tracts in the anthracite-coal field were purchased.
Pretty nearly the entire anthracite-coal field is now owned by the five com-
panies which have been alreaily described.
The Northern Central Railroad of Pennsylvania owns some coal-land in
the Shamokin Valley, which lies in the middle coal-field ; and, as pennsyiva-
this company is leased to the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, it "'« Central,
may be reckoned as the sixth largest concern engaged in the business.
While the Reading Railroad was merely a transporter of coal, its dividends
for many years were regularly earned and paid ; but, with a change of policy
(whedier necessary or not is a question lying outside of our prov- Effect of
ince),the outlay for the extension of roads and leases, the purchase new policy,
of coal-lands, and the opening of new collieries, were attended with enormous
expense. Then the strikes occurred which we have already described, and
the i)rices of coal began to decline ; and the railroads which were engaged in
this business of mining coal saw that it was necessary to do something in
order to continue the payment of dividends. The production of coal had
enormously increased, and so had their expenses : what, then, was to be
done ?
It was finally determined to form a combination for the purpose of limiting
the i)roduction of coal, the amount which each of the five companies should
furnish, and the rates for selling the same. This seemed a bold combina-
meas\irc, and was strenuously opposed by many of the newspapers ; "°"-
but the companies saw no other mode of relief. Such a combination was no
new thing ; for long ago English mine-owners united for the purpose of fixing
the price of coal.
This modern combination, which was formed in 1873, had only a short life ;
though, during the three years in which it held together, it had a very remarka-
ble history. Creat as the necessity for its existence seemed to be short life of
imong those who entered into it, they were constantly violating it combina-
m one way and anotiier, each beiu'^ anxious to dispose of more
coal than was permitted by the agreement. All sorts of schemes were de-
\i'-ed for escaping from it ; while, of course, each concern strenu- Evasion of
uusiy maintained that the others should maintain the compact agreement.
inviolate. All the railroad-companies transported more or less coal for i)rivate
operators ; and, as the (piantity which they were allowed to mine was not fixed
m the stiptdation, in some cases their product enormously increased, although
It was j^enerally believed that tlie railroad-companies themselves were carrying
^nd selling thjir own coal under other names. Then rates were cut, and
various expedients were resorted to by the several companies to increase their
sales beyond the limit fixed by agreement.
imi'
m^i
730
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
One of the new phases which appeared in the business was the cuttiii' out
of the middlemen, in great measure, by the Reading Railroad Coni])an\. It
War on Sold coal by retail, as Well as in larger quantities, at I'liiimklphin
middlemen, ^^j other places, and sought, so far as ])ossible, to bring (oiisiiniLri
into direct communication with themselves, thus saving the profits of ih^
middlemen. This caused some ill feeling among them, as one nwy ixadiK
STABLE IN A .MINE.
imagine who knows any thing about iiuman nature ; and they sucrcedcd in
investiga- procuring an investigation, by order of \iie legislature of the State
t;c-. cfRead- ^f Pennsvlvauia, into some of the doings of the Reading Kail-
II. t Railroad ' i i.i
road, particularly their mode ot selluig coal. I he cc)in])anv
by legisla
ture.
emerge! from the contest completely victorious ; and since
hen
noth'ii;.' ha;i 1). en said about siiort weights and other practices on the part of
this concern.
The repeatrd violations of the agreement among the conijjanies conccni-
iiv- th': production and sale of coal led to an abandonment of it, am' at once
rmn
was the cutting' out
road Comi)any. It
tics, at Phiiatk'lphia
, to bring consmiKis
the profits of the
as one niav nadilv
id they sucrcedL'd in
Igislaturc of the Slate
if the Reading K;ul-
(oal. The coiiii)any
lioiis ; and since then
[tices on tlic jiait ol
companies
Int of it, ant' at once
OJ-' THE UNITED STATES.
73 »
the price of coal began to decline. This also affected the price of stocks ;
and after a short time the New-Jersey Railroad succumbed, and _ . ,
•' '' c^nd ot com-
passed into the hands of a receiver. Thousands who had invested bination, and
their fortunes in it were either seriously crippled or ruined : for l!''" °.' .
■^ ' ' dissolving It.
the stock rapidly fell from ii6 to 23. Never was the collapse of
a vast corporation more unexpected, sudden, or terrible ; never were the
judgments of men more completely ^;et at nought ; never was a solid enter-
prise more speedily ruined by too sanguine calculations, and what proved to be
unwise management. i
BITUMINOUS-COAL MINING.
The biunninous coal field is far more extensive than the anthracite ; for it
underlies the western half of Pennsylvania, the eastern portion of ' >liio, West
Virginia, liastern Kentucky, and, stretciiing through Eastern Extent of
Tennessee, extends as far as .Alabama, cml)racing an area of coal- bituminous-
bearing rocks of nearly fifty-cigiit thousand stpiare miles. Coal '^°" '' '
of this kind is also found in Michigan and Iniliana ; the bed in the latter
State being a continuation of that in Illinois, where was made the first
discovery of coal of which any written account is preserveti. It was dis-
covered by Father Hennepin in 1669 ; and in his Journal, published in 1698,
there is a map on which is located a coal-mine by the side of tiie Illinois
River, near Ottawa. Tl-,is, unquestionably, is the earliest notice on record
of the existence of coal in .'\merica. 'I'lie coal-bearing strata comprise a
larger area than in any other State in the Union, although the coal-measures
of luwa, Kansas, and some of the other States, are very extensive.
Along th(' eastern border of the field in Pennsylvania and Marylani' e
several small areas which contain a semi-bituminous coal, which lie be jii
the pure bituminous coal farther west and the anthracite regions gem.
on the east. The i)osition of this coal, thus lying between the two bitun
so differently-formed coals, has given rise to a great deal of specu-
lation concerninj^ the formation of coal ; but no theory has yet gained exten-
sive currency. The two localities most extensively worked are Bloss 1 on
the north, and Cumberland, Md., cr'' the south; but there are other noints
whidi have been worked to advantage, — at Broad Toi). Johnstown, Towanda,
and Ralston. The Blossburgh region was opened by railway in 1840 ; au'l two
years later the (Cumberland field was pierced by the Baltimore and Ohio,
which first brought this coal to tide-water, displacing the bituminous coal of
Virginia.
This enormous area of bituminous coal, which, including lignite, stnu'ies
across the continent, and as far north as Alaska, is being continu- ^^g, ^f
•illy opened up and employed for a highly useful purpose. T'he bituminous
mode of extract-on somewhat differs from that in the anthra '°' '
cite mines ; and as the openings are far more numerous, while the men
ous-
el.
mm^
732
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
DftSrnVT OF A HOKSK DOWN \ MINE*SM/I"T.
^m •■
O/- THE UNITED STATES.
733
1
1
i
eniployed in each are fewer, no sucli extensive combinations among them
h;i\c arisen, nor liave strikes been so numerous or disastrous. Still there
have been some, especially in Ohio, and of a very serious nature too,
requiring the presence of troops to protect the property of the operators
ami of thos(; v,'lio were willing to work. l>ut a more curious
condition of things hapjjened in the autumn of 1876 in the fr*e'utnt"'
coal-districts of St. Clair and Aladison Comities, 111., from which than in
St. Louis, the UKUUifaclurers around there, and the steamboat ="*'^''°<;'"=-
' coal fields.
interest, chiefly derive their supplies. It is not often, es])ecially
in ihe.se " hard limes." that the spectacle is ])resenled of a numerous body
of workmen voluntarily going into idleness in order to get lower rates of
wages; yet that is precisely what happened in this instance.
Until I'Vbruary, 1.S76. the miners were getting out coal at the rate of two
cents per imsliel. They had formed a I'nion among themselves; but, as
there never was a I'nion yet which did not generate a non-Union, singular
it was not lung before it was discovered that a numerous bo(K' of strike.
"Iilacklegs" (the sobriquet of men not belonging to the .i(:.,Ly) were at
work for less than the regulation i)ricc>.. Tiiereupon, in order to l^"at them
with their own weajions. the I'nion men proposetl to the operators to work for
one cent and a half per bushel. 'I'hcir intention, of course, was to starve o'U
the iion-l'nionists ; but the operators, failing to disco\er how their interests
would :l)e promoted by the adoption of a crushing-out jiolicy of this kind,
refused to accede. The Union men then (|uil work, and remained idle for
a fortnight or so ; when, failing to < arry their point, they returned to work
at two cents a bushel.
The Western coal-miner has been more fortunate in obtaining and retain-
ing higher prices for his work than his t'ellow-labo.er in the anthra-
cite regions. Vet, since this strike occurred, several reductions
have been made ; though it is probable that in every case these
were necessary in order to save operators from a loss. Heavy as
the (iecline in wages has been, those o])erating mines in many
cases have lf)st much.
Concerning other strikes among tlie miners, as we shall consider them in
another place, it is unnecessary to say more here. The tlevel-
opment of bituminous-mines has o(•^er involved so much risk 2,^^^^^^^
' and antnra-
•inil large preparatory outby as antirracite-mining, and produc- cite-coai-
tion has kept mure nearly ayiacc with the wants of the people : "'^"jj^ "'"'
•■onsfjuetitly no great panics or collapses have occurred ; and
the hiNtow of the business, as a whole, has been peaceful, and fairly pros-
perous, k is true that disturbances in some localities have arisen from strikes
and other difficulties with the miners ; but, for the most part, these have been
short, and no severe losses have followed in their train.
It is more difficult to collect statistics concerning the production of
Higher
wages
received by
Western
coal-miner.
m
t!
t .."
w
734
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\\ '
I
m
bituminous coal tlian anthracite, on account of the much larger numlicr of
mines, and varied regulations of the different States ; l)ui wc will
Statistics. , , ,. , , . ,
close the chapter by addmg a few, which at once sliow tlie
importance of this branch of coal-production : —
STATE.
Pennsylvania
Maryland .
West Virginia
Ohio .
Kast Kentucky
Tennessee .
Alabama .
Michigan .
Indiana
Illinois
West Kentucky
Iowa .
Missouri
Nebraska .
Kansas
Arkansas .
Texas .
Virginia
North Carolina
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
TONS.
7,800,356
2.34S.'53
608,878
2.S27.3SS
35,488
> 33-1 18
1 1,000
28,150
437.f<70
2,624,163
1 1 5,094
263,487
621,930
'.4^S
32.93-i
61,803
14,000
The above table represents the production of bituminous coal during tlie
year 1869 : the production of anthracite for the same year was 16,375,678
tons,
YKAR. TONS.
1870 17,819,700
1871 i7.3rO.355
1872 22,aS4,oS3
1873 22,880,921
1874 21,6(17,386
1875 20,643,509
1876 19,000,000
1877 21,323,000
OF THE UNITED STATES.
735
n larger munbcr of
States ; bui \vc will
at once show the
TONS.
7,800,356
2,34 5- '53
GoS.SjS
2,527-2^5
133.1'^
11,000
28,150
437,S70
2,f):4.'<''3
1 1 5.004
263,4S7
621,930
'.4-'S
32.93'^
61,803
14,000
iiinous coal during the
e year was 16,375,67s
TOSS.
17,819,700
17.3:0055
22,oS4,oS3
22,SSO,92I
21,6(17,386
20,643.500
19,000,000
21,323,000
CHAPTER VII.
IRON.
THF'.RI'] is no known variety of iron ore entering into the commercial
and industrial transactions of the world, no matter iiow famous or rare,
which docs not iiave its exact countcr|)art in the United States. Tlie cele-
l)Mtc(l ores of Sweden, which supply to lOnglanil the best iron variety of
she makes, have an exact facsimile in those of Central Nortii °"'*'-
CarohiKi ; while New York and other States ])OHsess ores substantially resem-
bling them in great abundance. The etjually famous blackband iron of
Scotland is duplicated in Ohio, Virginia, and Alabama ; the litaniferous ores
of Norway lie in great beds of incaknilable rlclmess ant| value in Northern
New York and Virginia; the spathic ores for steel-making (carbonates) are
ahimii.uit in Connecticut and New York ; and the manganiferous varieties, so
desirable for the manufacture of si)iegeleisen (consumed in the Hessemer
steel-works), exist in Missouri and elsewhere in all luxuriance. The whole
Lake Superior region abotinds in hematites and magnetic ores of the richest
character, and Missouri contains deposits unecpialled in extent and i)urity in
ihe most celebrated regions of other parts of the world. Hog-iron ores are
scattered all along the northern .Atlantic seacoast. Not only in cjuantity, but
in variety, the iron of .\merica is the most remarkable in the world ; and when
we consider that its (juantity is so enormous th.'it it cannot be exhausted for
centuries to come, nor the fuel required in its manufactures, it will be seen
how favored a part of the earth is this republic. Its people, with such sup-
plies of iron to manufiicture, are certain to be rich, strong, free, and aggressive,
even if there were nothing in the character of the race to make them so.
The first iron-mining in the United States was done in Virginia by the
early colonists of Jamestown. The little band of white men who emerged
Ironi tlic ship which had brought them from Fllngland, like the Early iron-
animals from Noah's ark, to populate and occupy a new and mining in
strange w-orld, kept their eyes wide open and their wits about ^''"B'"'"-
them when they took up their residence in Virginia ; and they were soon aware
of all the resources of the region of which they had taken possession. John
h':rif,
^
Mm
IJfi
INP US TRIA I. Ills TDK Y
Smith, havfng returned from his voyage up the ('hjrkahominy River, wliic h he
had thought was a water-way leading to the Pacific Ocean, settled down to
the conviction that the Virginia Colony would have to depend fur its futurt'
wealth on the resources of Virginia alone, and not on those of Inilia ; and he
set about with his people to labor tnily to get a living in that part of tlie world
to which it had pleased God to call them. One of the first discoveries which
was made created a great excitement in the colony, which took the form of
what would be called in the Territories in these times a gold " stampede."
OF THE UN'ITED STATES.
737
Iron pyrites had been found ; and the excited colonists, who immediately
saw tlicnisulvcs rollinjf in wealth in their mind's eye, sent a ship- The gold
load of it to iMigland. 'I'liis was the first iron-miPMig in America, "•tampede."
Gloiiin followed the discovery of the true character of those yellow crystals;
but that did not prevent Virginia from being the first colony, after all, to begin
iron-mining seriously. 'The bog-ores and brown hematites of tlie vicinity were
soon brought to light; and in i6oS a ([uantity of them was sent to lOngland,
ami seventeen tons of good merchant-iron extracted therefrom. In 1620 iron-
works were erected to utilize these ores. In 1 702 the bog-ores of Massachu-
setts were put to use ; and, for a century at least after that date, the spongy
iron crusts from Uie bottoms of the bogs all along tiie whole North-Atlantic
coast were taken out freely, and converted into pig and bar iron by the
colonists.
The stony ores of iron in Connecticut were discovered as early as 1651,
when (iov. Winthrop obtained a license, with extraordinary privileges, for the
working of any mines that he might choose to open. The legis- Salisbury
lature took cognizance of the ores of the State several times ores of Con-
afterward. It does not appear, however, that any iron-mines were "•"='"="*•
worked, in conseciuence of tlie charters and privileges granted, until very
nearly the time of the Revolutionary war. 'l"he famous Salisbury beds of
brown hematite (a hydrated peroxide containing fifty or sixty per cent of
metallic iron) were then opened. These beds were a great source of strength
to our forefiUhers in the Revolutionary war, and they have now been the
means of supporting the population of that part of Connecticut in active anil
profital)le inilustry for a ])criod of over a hundred and thirty-five years. The
Salisbury ore-hill still supplies the furnaces of the IJarnuni-Richardson Com-
pany, and the metal retains its reputation to-day for a good tough car-wheel
iron. The (piantity of shot, shell, and cannon, cast from Salisbury iron during
the fight for independence, was very large. Another iron-mine of Connecticut
was also worked at a very early date. It was opened at Mine Hill in Roxbury
in 1760, as a silver-mine, by Hurlbut and Ibiwley, and was worked again in
1764 under a Cerman jeweller named Fcuchter. It is said that this latter
ingenious person supi)licd the company from time to time with a small ingot
of silver, which he said he had obtained from the mine, but which is at present
believed to have been ol)tained, if at all, from Mine Hill, by a process which
is p(jpularly termed in these days " salting." These ingots affected the com-
]Kiny as the bag of oats on the wagon-tongue affects the charger harnessed
hehind it. They were a stimulus to renewed efforts to reach the rich stores of
silver which were ever thought to be only a few feet farther down in the rock ;
and tlie company kept on until it had sunk a shaft a hundred and twenty-five
feet deep : it then gave uj) in disgust. A New- York company afterwards
tried its hand at silver-mining here, and still later a Cioshen company. Finally
a resident of the locality, by the name of Asahel Bacon, who realized better
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
A
% J^.
1.0
I i
i.i
l^aiM |2.5
:! u° 12.0
12.2
U
1.25 ||U ,,.6
«i 6"
►
'1
Hiotographic
Sciences
Corporation
iV
iV
^
<^
[V
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. MSM
(716)172-4503
4fy
4^ ^
l/j
738
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
than the other owners of the mine that the way ad astra was not up a step,
ladder, and who saw more wealth in hunting, per aspera, for a humbler metal
than silver, tried the mine for iron, and got out an ore which yielded a very
tough iron and an excellent steel. It was thereafter mined only for iron.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Maryland were also mining
iron twenty or thirty years before the Revolution. The first-named State has
iron-minitiK ^^ways been the main dependence of the furnaces of the great
before th:; Lehigh region in Pennsylvania. Its ores are the rich magnetic
ev. ution. Qxides, with some specular peroxides and limonites, and are
needed in Pennsylvania for mixture with the brown hematites of that region.
In New York the mines of the northern part of the State were opened after
1800. The iron of the other States of the Union was taken from the ground,
and manufactured, as fast as the wave of pop'ilation flowing in from the East-
em States and from Europe had subdued the joil, and liad given the different
localities a census large enough to demand the creation of other industries
besides agriculture.
The citizen who is interested in the resources of his country, and desires a
general idea of the subject now under discussion, would not be edified by a
minute account of the beginning of the mining-industry in each of the several
States of the Union. The details would be confusing, and no useful end
would be subserved by relating them. Instead of going into the subject in
that way, it is proposed to give merely a general account of the character of
the principal ores found in the United States, and of their distribution. The
character of the deposits of a few 01 the great iron States will be glanced at
afterwards, with possibly some detail.
There appears to be no better practical classification of the ores than
ciasrificB- Professor J. P. Lesley's. It is as follows : —
tion of orsi. j_ Primary ores, including the specular and magnetic, and the
red oxides or red hematites.
2. Brown hematites (limonites). i
3. Fossil ores.
4. Carbonates, including those of the coal-fields.
5. Bog-ores.
Three-quarters of the iron made in the United States is from the first two
classes. The magnetic ores are the richest of all. They are an oxide of iron
containing about seventy-two per cent of iron and twenty-eight per cent of
oxygen. They are heavy, black, compact, or in coarse crystalline grains, and
mixed with quartz and other rocks. Chunks of the ore are magnetic, and
not only affect the needle, but often support small bits of iron like nails. The
richness of f* is variety of iron ore makes it peculiarly fit for working in a
bloomary-furnace. The Catalan forge, invented in old Spain, was set at work
upon this class of ore ; and in Northern New York and North Carolina, wiierc
it abounds, a large number of bloomaries are still employed in its reduction.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
739
f the ores than
nagnetic, and the
It is often difficult to work, and is conseciuently more generally smelted with
the hematites.
Specular ore, so called from the shining plates in which it is often found, is
a peroxiii of iron containing seventy per cent of the metal and thirty per
cent of oxygen. It is very nearly the same as the magnetic va- Specular
riety, but differs from it in being red (making a red powder instead ""■'•
of a black powder), ard having distinct qualities, which are observable in smelt-
ing. It mfkes metallic iron very fast. It is generally found in the vicinity of
the magnetic ore, and is widely distributed throughout the United States. The
red hematites are merely a variety of the specular ores.
The fossil ores, which comprise the so-called red fossiliferous and oolitic
ores, are found in shale, limestone, and sandstone formations, in bands of ore
which are generally from one to six feet in thickness. Attention has' been
recently called to the enormous deposits of red fossiliferous oxides in the State
of Alabama, where they exist in bands from fifteen to twenty and thirty feet
in thickness. The fossiliferous ores appear to have been formed by the filtra-
tion of iron into beds of marine shells, which they gradually replaced in the
form of peroxide of iron. They vary in richness from twenty to sixty per cent
of metallic iron. Wisconsin has seventy-five per cent ores. The beds abound
in the forms of organic life, encrinital stems, and fossil shells. The oolitic
variety is often found compact ; but, both in Middle Pennsylvania and Wis-
consin, it appears often in the form of grains resembling flaxseed. The fos-
siliferous variety is divided into hard and soft ores, the former often resembling;
red hematite ; but its blood-red powder alw.-'vs betrays its true character.
Tiie red oxides are eagerly sought after wherever found. They contain car-
bonate of lime and silica, and are therefore easily worked ; and their richness
and good qualities make tiiem desirable ores.
The hematite ore is a peroxide of iron containing from seventy-two to
eighty-five per cent of the metal. This class of ore constitutes the great body
of the iron of Pennsylvania, Connecticit, and Tennessee, and is Hematite
found in greater or less degree in all the iron- producing States. It "'■'•
occurs in large deposits of irregular form, sometimes in ledges and strata of
great size, as in Missouri and Pennsylvania, and often in scattered lumps and
blocks. In Michigan it occurs in lens-shaped masses of great extent. The
hematites aiC readily and cheaply worked ; but, as they contain very little silica,
the magnetic ores are generally added to them, these ores containing quartz ;
and a silicious limestone is employed for a flux in smelting.
The carbonates are not of the highest importance ; but they are good ores
wherever found, and are so readily reduced, owing to the amount of lime they
contain, as often to require no flux whatever. They occur in Great Britain in
enormous quantities, but occupy a minor position among the ores of the United
States. The carbonates are found in seam^, in balls, or flattened spheroidal
masses, and are often called the " kidney " ores in consequence. They are
740
IND i KH TKIA L II IS TOR Y
Bog-ores.
easily picked out of the shales in which they exist. The spathic ore is a car
bonate. The mine in Roxbury, Conn., to which allusion has been made, is of
this variety. It contains sixty per cent of tlie protoxide of iron, thirty-six ot
carbonic acid, and some manganese, lime, and magnesia.
The bog-ores form at the bottom of ponds or in sandy loam, being depos-
ited by chalybeate waters. They formerly were worked to a lart,'L'
extent in the coast States, but attract little attention now, except
in Wisconsin, where they are found in extraordinary abundance in \V()od,
Portage, and Juneau Counties.
As for the distribution of the iron ores of the United States, it would be far
easier to tell where iron does not exist than to set forth where it does. 'I'lie
Distribution great magnetic iron-range of North America begins in Maine, and
of ores/ courses thence southward through the coast States in a massive
rampart until it terminates in an abutment upon the dulf of Mexico. In this
range the magnetic, sijecular, red hematite, and liinonite (brown hematite) oris
are found in close jjroximity to each other, and in masses which set figures at
defiance, and absolutely overwhelm the imagination. In Pennsylvania the
magnetic and sjiecular ores about entirely disai)[)ear from the range, though thi y
are present in it, and are occasionally worked. They re-appear after passing
the border of the State, howeser, and are found in every connnonwealth lyiii^
between Pennsylvania and the Gulf, including Kentucky and Tennessee. As
though Providence had designed that this republic should present a front of
iron to the foreigner in every direction from which a foe might invade our
soil, the immense metallic deposits of the Atlantic States repeat themselves in
the Lake-Superior region in the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Missouri,
extending as far south as into Arkansas. The ores are magnetic, specular, and
hematite. Farther westward, in the Rocky Mountains, and in Oregon and
California, these ores have been discovered in inexhaustible beds ; and in the
Territory of Utah a deposit has been recently brought to light in the soiitlum
part of the Territory, which i)resents an iron scowl towaril Mexico, ami whii h
is, perhaps, the richest discovery of iron yet made on this continent. Twenty-
eight mountains, the smallest the size of the famous Iron Mountain of Mi---
souri, stand in a group, absolutely laden with the richest forms of the ore ; and
("hina, Japan, India, and Mexico could draw their supplies of iron and stcil
from that group of peaks alone for ages. Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, lying
within the iron rampart which seems to rear its head upon every border of tlic
republic, contain no important bodies of iron <jre. Indiana and Iowa
contain carbonates and bog-ores which are workable ; but Illinois has very
little iron of any character, and that little so contaminated with sulphnr as to
be worthless. All except Iowa are great iron-working States ; but they get tlicir
ores from Michigan and Missouri. (Jhio receives about five hundred thousand
tons from Michigan. The position of these three States as iron-manufacturing
regions is due to their beds of coal, it being found as a rule that it is cheaper
OF THE UNITED STATES.
741
to transport the ore to tlie coal, and that consequently the great coal States are
more likely to be filled with blast-furnaces and rolling-mills than those which
have iron, but no fuel, and are distant from the coal-measures of the country.
The carbonates appear all to lie within the basin surrounded by the magnetic
iron-range. They are abundant in Eastern Kentucky, in the Hanging-Rock
region of Ohio, and in Central Pennsylvania ; and they exist in West Virginia,
Connecticut, and Indiana. The fossil ores are found in Western New York,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Wisconsin. Titaniferous
iron is found in large ciuantities in Northern New York, and also in North
Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and probably else-
where ; while the manganiferous ores, so valuable for the purposes of Bessemer
steel-making, exist in Georgia, Missouri, Maryland, New Jersey, Arkansas, and
Maine. I5lackband veins are found in Muhlenburgh County and on the east
fork of the Little Sandy, in Kentucky ; in Tuscarawas County, O., where the
IKON-DIMI'S.
largest supply in the countr>' is foimd and worked ; and in small quantities in
Virginia, Alabama, and Pennsylvania. The last ore of any account, the first one
worked in this country (namely, that taken from the bogs), was once worked
extensively in Delaware, where, between 181 4 anil 1841, about three hundred
thousand tons were taken out. Extensive deposits are found under a black
mould near (Georgetown ; but they are neglected now. and there is not a blast-
furnace in the State. Bog-ores are found in all the northern coast States,
though they are no longer worked, and also in Indiana and Wisconsin.
In some of the States of the Union the deposits are of such enormous
extent, and so interesting in character, that they deserve special mention.
New-York State has long been celebrated for its mines, especially for
those of magnetic and specular ores in the wild region lying between Lake
Champlain and Lake Ontario. Not only has New York supplied Lake-cham.
her own furnaces fiom these mines, but also those of other States ; p'"'" "8'°"-
and she has also furnished all the rolling-mills east of the Alleghanies from
742
INDUSTRIAL JIISTOKY
them with the material for fettling or lining the plates of the puddling-fumace.
So important are these ores to the iron-makers of the country, that they con-
tract for them regularly at the l)eginning of every year ; and the mine-owners
pay no attention to orders received after a certain date. The most extensive
deposits are in Essex and Clinton Counties, where they occur in vast cliffs and
ledges, in masses and veins, as black oxides, also as a red jjowder, and in stcul-
bright crystalline masses. West of Port Henry are beds of great purity, now
the property of the Port Henry Iron Company, where the ore is sixty feet
thick, and is worked in an excavation a hundred feet deep, and from a hundred
to three hundred feet wide. This ore, mixed with phosphate of lime, makes
an excellent fertilizer ; and it is a curious fact, that works were once built at tiiis
mine to manufacture fertilizers, to the neglect of the iron. Immense deposits
occur also in Franklin, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, and Warren Counties, ail in
that region ; but they have been scarcely touched as yet. In Warren County
there is a bed of magnetic ore at least eight hundred feet thick. Work ujion
it began some time ago, but was abandoned for the reason that titanic acid was
found present in it in considerable (juantities, and the furnace-men did not
know how to treat the ore. The same is true of other deposits of this rctjion
Titanic acid has been a great terror of the fumace-men of the United States ,
and they have hitherto neglected ores containing it, notwithstanding the fact
that the pig-iron made from them i? worth twice as much in the market as
other iron. The celebrated titanic ores of Norway have been successfully
worked in Kngland ; and the product brings a price three times as great as any
other iron, owing to the circumstance, that, when worked into armor-i)latcs, the
iron will sustain a terrible strain, equal to a hundred thousand poimds t<} ti-,e
square inch. The strongest cast-iron ever tested in America stood no more
than fifty thousand pounds' strain. It is believed that the titanic ores of New
York will now no longer be neglected. Sheffield capital has, it is said, been
attracted to the region within the last five years ; and the ores will probably I)e
mined ere long, on a large scale, for steel-making. Iron-men claim that the
working of titanic ores constitutes to-day one of the most inviting fields for
the employment of capital. In Southern New York, near the mouth of the
Hudson River, magnetic ores exist in Putnam, Orange, and Westchester
Counties, and red and brown hematites in Columbia and Dutchess Counties, in
astonishing abundance. The Stirling mines of Orange County were discov-
ered in r75o by Lord Stirling, who owned them. The iron was sent to Eng-
land, and was noted for its strength and polish.
Rhode Island, without a single blast-furnace, and almost wholly given up to
cotton spinning and weaving, contains more iron, in proportion to her popula-
Rhode tion, than any State in the Union. The principal deposit is at
Island. Cumberland Mountain, which is one great bed of iron. The ores
of the State are magnetic and red hematite. As early as the French war in
I7SS, the colony worked the Cumberland mine, mixing the ore with hematite
OF THE UNITED STATES.
743
from Cranston, R.I., and casting cannon therefrom to be used in battle against
the French and Indians. In iSoo cannon were again cast from these ores, at
the village of Hope, l)y Mr. John Ikown, who had a contract with the govern-
ment, and who cast his guns hollow. One, perhaps more, of these old gjns, is
still in existence. Rhode Island entirely negl cts her mines, owing to the
lack of coal ; but her lines of coal-steamers from Philadelphia ought now to
supply her with the means for working these deposits. The industrial produc-
tion of the State could be easily doubled by the mining of iron.
Pennsylvania contains more than one-third of the blast-furnaces, and
produces fully one-half of the pig-iron, of the United States. Nevertheless,
without her priceless mines of coal, she would scarcely be a great pennsyiva-
iron-manufacturing State. She is surpassed in wealth of iron ore "'■•
by at least fifteen other States in the Union, and is obliged to import hundreds
of thousands of tons of ore annually from New York, Michigan, and New
Jersey, in order tc work her own iron successfully. Magnetic ores are rare in
Pennsylvania, and form no great part of the product of the State. The prin-
cipal dependence of the furnaces, as far as local ores are concerned, is upon
the brown hematites, or limonites, which are found in limitless quantities
throughout the eastern, south-eastern, and central portions of the State.
Fossil ores are found in Central Pennsylvania and the Broad-Top region of
the southern part of the State in great abundance ; but the ores are lean, and
the iron of this great State is principally made from the brown hematites mixed
with the magnetites of other regions. Discoveries of iron are being made
every year by the Pennsylvanians. It is an interesting fact, as showing the
former imperfect state of information about iron in this country, that the old
Cumberland furnace, built in 1 790 at Dickinson in Cumberland County, had
great difficulty in its early years to obtain ore. Most of what the furnace
consumed was taken from mines miles away, and hauled over bad roads at a
great expense of trouble and time. Recent investigations have disclosed the
fact that the furnace was itself actually planted upon a bed of ore of vast
extent, of the existence of which no one had had any knowledge.
The New-Jersey mines have yielded as much as 670,000 tons of ore in a
year, that being the case in 1873 ; but never has there been a production of
pig-iron of over 150,000 tons therefrom, and the production at
present is only about 30,000 tons a year. This result is due to the
exportation of the greater part of the ores to Pennsylvania, where they are
consumed by the great furnace-comjjanies of the Lehigh coal-region in admix-
ture with the Lehigh hematites. The ores are almost entirely magnetic oxides,
with some specular peroxides and limonites. They lie in the counties of Sussex,
Passaic, Morris, and Warren, covering an area of four hundred square miles,
and show no signs of exhaustion, though some of them have been worked for
a century and a half The Franklinite magnetic ore of the Wallkill Mountain
is remarkably curious and refractory. It is a black ore containing sixty-six
New Jersey.
I
744
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
per cent of peroxide of iron, sixteen per cent of zinc, and seventeen per rent
of red oxide of manganese. It supplies an iron of wonderful strength and
hardness, and is greatly used in the construction of burglar-proof safes.
The two Virginias are both full of iron. They produce little in the manu-
factured form yet, being fourth-class States in that respect ; but their future is
The Vir- a great one. The colonial manufacture was of bog ores and bnnvn
ginias. hematites near the sea. Tiie great deposits of the Virginias wcpl
not then known : they have, in fact, only been brought to ligiit of late years.
Every effort at examination now reveals fresh iron in some part of the State
As far as discovery has gone up to the jircsent time, it indicates the cxistLiK c
of the most valuable tleposits of magnetic and red oxides, and rich l)r<)\vn
hematites, all along the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, especially along tiiL-
James-River Valley near Lynchburg. In this iron belt the metal is found in
such quality, that in 1871 it was bringing fifty-five dollars a ton in I'hiiadLl-
phia; while Lehigh iron was selling for thirty-five and forty dollars. Hrowu
Glides and carbonates are also found in the .Appalachian coal-fields. The i;rcs
are lean, but abundant. In West Virginia so much of the country is still under
timber, that its resources with respect to iron are ill understood ; but rich red
and brown hematites certainly exist in Putnam, Giles, Craig, Monroe, .\lie-
ghany, Mercer, and Tazewell Counties. The State has an abundance of timljer
and coal for working them.
The great magnetic iron-range whi<"h we have so far been following goes
on through Tennessee, Kentucky, a ul North Carolina, endowing each of those
States with an immens; wealth of ore, and ends at the (lulf of
Kentucky,
Tennessee, Mexico m the magnificent deposits of the State of .Mahania.
and North Alabama is still a virgin region ; but so huge are her stores of iron
and coal, so near together do the iron, coal, and limestone lie,
and so near are they all to the sea, that it is supposed that to this State tiie
world may look for its future supply of cheaji ]iig-nietal. Iron can be made in
Alabama, and transported to Kngland and sold there, with more profit than the
same grade of metal can be made for in the kingdom. Capital could l)e more
judiciously invested in the mines of this young and aspiring State than mi
lands in any other part of the world. The ores are the red hematites and the
fossiliferous. The latter of these extends from a point near Pratt's F"err\ in
Bibb County to the upper end of Wills's Valley in De Kalb County: on the
west it runs up to Murphree's Valley. The veins often "pinch " to one font
in thickness ; but sometimes they are six, ten, fifteen, and thirty feet in tiii( k
ness. The hematites occur ii enormous beds in the northern part of tlie
State. In the Red-Mountain region the straturr. is of solid ore thirty feet
thick, yielding about fifty per cent of metallic iron of the very finest descrip-
tion. The ore is the red hematite, soft, and remarkably dry. A common
laborer, with a pick and crowbar, can get out a ton of it in a few hours. The
brown hematites yield about fifty or sixty per cent of metallic iron. It is
OF THE UNITED STATES.
745
I seventeen per rent
nderful strength and
ir- proof safes,
e little in the nianii-
:t ; but their future is
f bog ores and brown
of the Virginias witl
J light of late years.
le part of the State,
ilicates the existenc e
des, and rich brown
, especially along tiie
le metal is found in
■s a ton in Phiiadel-
forty dollars, iirnwn
:oal-fields. The ores
country is still under
rstood ; but rich red
Craig, Monroe. Alli.-
abundance of timber
r been following goes
idowing each of those
ends at the ( lulf of
; State of .Alabama.
are her stores of iron
al, and limestone lie,
that to this State the
Iron can be made in
1 more profit than tlie
Capital could l)e more
ipiring State than on
ed hematites and tlu'
near Pratt's Ferry in
Call) Coimty : on tin-
" pinch " to one font
\ thirty feet in tiii< k
northern part of the
r solid ore thirty feet
le very finest descrip-
bly dry. A common
in a few hours. 'Ihe
metallic iron. It is
claimed that pig-iron can be produced in .Alabama at twelve dollars a ton, the
cost in Pennsylvania being twenty dollars a ton.
The Lake-Superior iron-mines were first ojjcned about 1846. The first
trials of tiieir ores in the luist were at the old Sliarpsville (i'enn.) furnace in
1854. In 1S56 the shipments of Lake-Superior ores by Eastern Lake-Supe-
furnaces hatl fairly begun, and amounted to 7,000 tons : since '■'°'' "Bion-
then the shipments have grown to over 1,000,000 tons a year. Michigan and
CIT IN IKON MOCSTAIS.
Wisconsin produced iqo.ooo tons of pigiron in 1S73, but now make only
about 150.000 tons. I''ive->i.\ths of the ore produced is exported to Ohio,
Pennsylvania. Indiana, Illinois, and other States. Only two classes of ores have
been found in the Lake-Superior region, and they the richest anci best : they
are the rich hematites, containing about seventy per cent of metallic iron, and
the magnetic oxides, yielding, when nearly pure, seventy-two per cent. A
number of varieties of these ores are recognized as the specular, the slate, the
soft red-and-brown. and the fuie-grained and steely ores : they all occur in
enormous beds, lying in the ridges running along the southern shore of Lake
746
IND US TRIA L HIS TO/iY
Superior, and off southerly into Wisconsin. It is reported liy tlic gcoloj,'ists
that this iron was probably dissolved out of the pre-existing strata by chcinic.il
agency, and deposited by filtration in great horizontal beds, which were after-
wards exposed to heat and pressure, and then upturned in folds and displaced.
By subsecpient erosion the tops of the ore-beds were removed, giving to the
folds the appearance of fissure-veins. The largest iiematite deposits are 'ear
Negaunee and Ishpening and at Cascade. Near Negaunee the dejjosits an'
lens-shaped, and one or two of them have been worked out. That reninn
has sent 1,300,000 tons of hard and soft hematite ore to market since 1X5(1,
The ore of the Cascade region is a hard slate. In the vicinity of numixildt
and of Smith Mountain, eight miles therefrom in a southerly direction, are the
largest mines of magnetic and specular ore now being worked in the State.
At Humboldt a tunnel has been driven into the mountain to get access to the
magnetic and specular ores of the Washington mine, which lie in four seams
between strata of talcose, schist, and quartzite. The tunnel is 450 feet
long, and cost ;S i ,000,000. At Smith Mountain the richness and jjurity of the
specular ore are unparalleled. The deposit lies against the north face of the
ridge. Upon entering the openings of the mine the visitor is confronted with
a face of ore as glittering and splendid as metallic silver, whose beauty is
unblemished by seams of rock or inferior ores, but whose texture is as uniform
as refined metal. Other rich mines are found to the westwaril of Smith Mour.-
tain, in the vicinity of Lake Michigamme, and also near L'Ance. They (oii-
stitute what are called the mines of the Marquette District, — a region wiiidi
contains the largest deposits of rich iron ores in the world. Northern \\is-
consin contains deposits of the magnetic oxides similar to those in Northern
Michigan : they are found principally in the Pinokee range. The State has
also brown hematites, fossiliferous ores, and bog-ores.
The only other region that need be referred to in detail is Missouri. Tiie
deposits of this State all lie south of the Missouri River, with the single unim-
portant exception of the red hematite beds of Callaway County.
The celebrated Iron Mountain is the largest single deposit of ore
in the known world which is being worked. It may yet find a rival in the
iron-peaks of Utah ; but at present it stands without a peer. Deposits are
frequent all through the southern portion of Missouri, extending also into
Arkansas. Pilot Knob, Shepherd Mountain, Cedar Hill, and Buford Moimtain,
are among the great beds. The great i.->ines are all being actively developed.
The ore is sent out of the State almost entirely to be smelted, the export
amounting to 400,000 tons annually. The principal species of ore are the
specular, red hematite, and limonite. The oldest and richest deposits arc in
the iron-bearing porphyries, — a geological formation which is regarded as
being of the same great age as those of Michigan, New Jersey, and Sweden.
They exist in all sorts of shapes, veins, beds, and pockets, some very regular,
and others broken and irregular. At Iron Mountain there are beds of specular
Mliaouri.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
747
ore on the surface from four to twenty feet thick, and, within the mountain,
masses of ore with (Icconiposcil jtorpliyry between. The ore is nearly a pure
peroxide, containing seventy per cent of metallic iron. There are 2,000,000
tons of it in this d(;posit. Magnetic particles are scattered through the moun-
tain. At IJuford Mountain the ore is rich in manganese. The Pilot-Knob,
IJenton-Creek, and Simmons-Mountain mines are of specular ore, and contain
from 500,000 to 1,500,000 tons each. The red hematites and limonites are
scattered throughout the iron region in irregular deposits.
It ought to be evident from this hasty glance at the wonderful resources
of this republic in respect to iron, and from the additional fact that the blast-
furnace cajjacity of the country is now more than equal to its wants, Richnenof
that the era of high-priced metal through which the country has country in
been passing, and which appears to have terminated with the panic *'''""""*'■'•
of 1873, is really and truly at an end, as well as ajjparently so. With more
iron ore than any other country in the world, with coal in unsurpassed abun-
dance, and with means for :heap transportation fully adequate to the wants
of the age, and an abundance of labor, we have all the recjuisites for the
working of iron upon an enormous scale, and consequently for its production
at a price which will bid defiance to foreign competition. It could only be
by some extraordinary demoralization of the labor of the country, or some
unwonted demand for iron in other jjarts of the world, that iron would ever
be likely to rise again to seventy-three dollars a ton, as it did in the year 1864.
The probabilities are, that America will, m the course of the next five years,
become one of the world's regular sources of supply for pig-iron in competi-
tion with England.
tif -:
748
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER VIII.
MINOR METALS.
A
1
MONO the minor metals produced in the United States, zinc is the most
important. Its existence in this country, in greater or less alninchuv e,
Zinc, where was discovered at a very early day. In one form or another, and
found. often in combination with the ores of other metals, it was repeatedly
found along the Appalachian chain. It was known in colonial days to be stored
away in the tlrand Monadnock in New Hampshire; but only tiie most insig-
nificant quantity has ever been i)ractically mined in that State. Northern New
Jersey and E^astern Pennsylvania were also known to contain several com-
pounds of zinc at an early day. The red oxide is only fotmd near Franklin.
Sussex County, of the former State ; l)ut sulphides, carbonates, silicates, and
other ores, are foimd in that neighborhood and at the Wheatleyand Perkionu-n
mines in Pennsylvania. The one county above specified, and Northamiiton
County, I'enn., are the only two in that section that are profitably engageil in
the production of the metal. We have already spoken of the lead-dejiositi
of Wythe County, Va. : zinc is also found there to a limited extent. The
famous Davidson mines of North Carolina abound in this metal, and they are
credited with an even greater product than those of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. Large deposits of zinc are known to exist in P^astern 'I'ennessee.
One locality spoken of is at Mossy Creek, a little north-east of Knoxville ; and
another is about forty miles from that city, at Powell's River, Campbell County.
As yet, however, this resource has not been developed. A lead-mining region
in Arkansas, including Lawrence, Marion, and Independence Counties, is s;iid
to show the same very favorable indications, but without their having been
turned to account. Zinc is obtained in small quantities from Iowa and
Lafayette Counties, Wis. ; and might also be procured, probably, from tlie
Rocky-Mountain ran^e.
While this useful metal is by no means rare or of recent discovery in this
country, its systematic and profitable production dates back only a few years.
American zinc, or spelter, is of a better quality for some purposes, notably gal-
vanic batteries, than the foreign article ; and we now produce some $800,000
OF THE UNITED STATES,
749
worth annually, whiih is cnoiigli for our home-consumption : we import only
a very small (luantity ; Init the character of the ores was such, that ,.
' * ' ' ItF produc-
the metal «oulil not easily be extracted. In 183S experiments t.on proflt«-
were made with New-Jersey ore at the United-States Assay Office. "«o"'y '"
• 1 • rtcent tlmei.
/inc was ()l)tame<l ; but the process cost more than the product,
and this announc cment (juite discouraged operations for over ten years. In
1850 the New-Jersey Zinc ("umpany opened mines on Stirling Hill, near
which the Passaic ('()n)])any afterward sunk shafts, The New-Jersey Company
have taken out the fmest specimens of zinc ore the world ever New-jeney
saw. In 1S51 they sent to the (Ireat Kxhibition in London a Company,
single mass weighing 16,400 |)()imds. whi( h attracted great attention. The
I'ranklinite which accomp.mied this rich ore, however, proved a great em-
barrassment ; and, after much expenditure, labor wa.s temporarily abandoned.
'I'lu' New-Jersey Company afterward worked mines in the Saucon Valley, north
of Kriedensville, I'enn, ; near wlii( Ii the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Com-
pany .ilso began operations sinuiltaneously in 1853, For this latter corporation
a Mr. Hoofstetter erected a smelting-furnace, and made costly experiments in
1S56; but these .also proved failures. Sul)se(]iiently Joseph Wharton of the
Pennsylvania and Lehigli Conii)aiiy, and Sanuiel Wetherill of lielhlehem,
where the comi)any's furnaces are located, hit upon a new idea. Neither of
them met with encouraging success at first ; l)Ut finally tiie obstacles were all
overcome, and work progressed finely thereafter. The Saucon mine was the
first to get under way again, about 1858-59; and the Lehigh was put on a
paying basis in i860. .Success here soon encourageil it elsewhere ; but these
mines, those of New Jersey, and those of Davidson County, N.C., furnish all
but about one-fortieth of the country'> luoduct.
The manufacture of paint from white oxide of /inc as a substitute for lead-
paint was conducted profitably by the three corporations above named before
they could realize any thing from their efforts to produce metallic ^^^
zinc. The New-Jersey Comjiany was organized in 1849, and its
success led to the formatii)n of the Pennsylvania and Leliigli Company in
1853 ; and the two, in like manner, induced the organization c)f the Passaic
Company in 1856, The discovery of the possibility of economically utilizing
the red oxide for this i)uriu)sc was made in Kurope ; but the process now in
extensive use was invented by Richard Jones of Philadelphia in 1850.
Tin is found in small ([uantitios in several parts of this country, but has
never been mined on any systematic plan. The ores are of too poor a quahty
to pay for working ; although si)ecimens wore found some years ^^^ j y^
."SO near Jackson, N.H., containing from thirty to forty per cent of
the metal in crystals. It has also been discovered in appreciable quantities in
California, Idaho, near Paris and Hebron, Me., and near Goshen and Chester-
field, Mass. Traces of it have also been detected in the iron ores of the
Hudson Valley and in the zinc of New Jersey.
i
750
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Quicksilver.
Quicksilver, or mercury, is a metal which is very rare, and for which the
world is largely dependent upon this country. The greatest producer known
is the Alniaden mine in Spain, from w! '^ the Greeks imported the
ore — red cinnabar — seven hundred )i ,is before Christ. About
half of the total supply oomes from that source. After this mine, that at Iilri:i
in Austria long ranked second ; but for a time the State of California has held
this position, though she may not just at presf.nt. Tliis metal has not been
discovered anywhere in this hemisphere, except in the Rocky Mountains and
Andes. Peru and Mexico yielded large (juantities before California's store
was revealed. The discovery in this last-named
quarter was particularly opportune ; for, in addition
to ils use in making mirrors, certain forms of medi-
cine, and otherAvise, it had been found a particularly
valuable agent in the extraction of gold from quartz
by the amalgam-process.
The existence of cinnabar in California was known
Cinnabar in long before its value was understood.
California, 'j'j^g ^^e was found in a range of hills on
the south side of the Valley of San Jose, sixty miles
QUICKSILVER-WOKKS.
south of San Francisco, and was used by the Indians for a pigment, its ver-
milion hue rendering it particularly valuable in the adornment of their persons.
Indians came thither from as distant a point as the Columbia River to obtain
this desirable paint. As early as 1824 the whites began to search for the ore,
having learned of its existence from the aborigines, and hoping to extract gold
or silver from it. Its real character was not discovered, however, until 1845 :
whereupon operations were immediately begun by Antlres Castillero. Little
New Alma- was accoi.iplishcd, however, owing to the Mexican war, until 1S50,
den mine. when a company of Englishinen and Mexicans engaged exten-
sively in mining and smelting. The mine was named " New Almaden."
OF THE UNITED STATED
7S>
for which the
oclucer known
s imported the
Jhrist. About
I, that at Iciri;i
fornia has held
has not been
Mountains and
ilit'ornia's store
Mgment, its ver-
f their persons.
River to ol)tain
rch for the ore.
to extract gold
ver, until 1845:
\stiliero. Little
war, until 1^50,
ngaged exten-
«c\v Ahnaden."
This whole region of country had already come into (he possession of the
United States ; Ijut the government did not discover the flaw in the miners'
title, and stop proceedings, until 1858. In these eight years more than 20,000,-
000 pounds of (luicksilver were extracted, at a profit of more than §8,000,000.
The production during this period was second only to that of Spanish Alma-
den. The action of the Federal authorities led the American discoverers to
look elsewhere in the neighborhood, and they found cinnabar within a mile of
the first mine. A s!;.tfl was sunk, called " Enreciuita," and a company' formed,
in June, i860, called "The California Quicksilver Mining Association." Nearly
500,000 pounds were obtained the first year from this mine ; and soon after
the same company opened another mine, called "The Providencia," from
which they obtained some cinnabar.
On the same range of hills the Santa Clara Mining Company of Baltimore
opened a mine which yielded 200,000 ])ounds the first year (i860), g^^^^ q,\^^9.
Prospecting has since discovered cinnabar up in Lake County, Mining
and mining and smelting are now carried on there with profit. ompany.
One of the most valuable discoveries of cinnabar has been made at New
Idria, in Fresno County, on the Big Panoche Creek, some hundred and
thirty miles south-cast of San Francisco. The property has been New-idria
in litigation for many years. One McCarrahan laid claim to it on Company,
the pretence of having a title from the l\inochc Indians, (or was it from the
Mexican (iovernment ?) but the United-States Government, not regarding the
title valid, granted the land to the New Idria Quicksilver Mining Company.
The courts have sustained the latter in all contests ; but the controversy is not
yet ended. The New Idria Company are now in possession, and operating
the mines.
It is impossible to get accurate figures of the total production of this
country ; but the exports of <iiiicksilver for 1877 alone amounted to 3,625,713
pounds, and the total yield could hardly have been less than 5,000,- Extent of
000, which is only e(iualled, if at all, by Spain. If California does production,
not now stand at the head of the producers of quicksilver in the world, she
doubtless will shortly. The value of her product can be estimated from the
price, — nearly fifty cents a pound.
Platinum is found in this country only in California and Oregon, where it
exists in pure scales mingled with scales of gold in placers. It is collected in
too small quantities to make any accurate statement of its value
' ^ Platinum.
possible. Its presence has also been detected in Rutherford
County, N.C., and in the copper and lead of Lancaster County, Penn. Most
of our supply is imported, Russia being the chief producer of the world. It
is valued principally because of its power of resisting the action of heat and
the strongest chemical agents ; but this very quality makes it hard to work.
Nickel is a hard, white metal, which for a long time was used almost exclu-
sively to make the alloy known as " German silver," the proportions of its
75 i
INDUSTRIAL J. /STORY
I
^
Nickel.
ingredients being eight parts of copper to three each of zinc and nickel. But
since 1857 it has been utiUzed in our coinage to some extent, and
still more recc 'v the hardness and lustre of the metal have led
to the extensive plating of steel and copper ware with it. For this purpose it
is far preferable to silver. Says "The Eighty Years' Progress," "The metal
has been mined at Chatham, Conn., and is met with at Mine La Motte, Mo.,
and other localities where col)alt is found. It occurs in the greatest alnm-
dancc at an old mine in Lanca'^ter County, Penn..' where it is associated with
copper ores. 'J'he mine was originally worked for co])per, it is said, more than
a hundred and thirty years ago,- and was re-o])ene(l for supplying nickel for
the United-States mint on the introduction of the new cent in 1857. Tlie
sulphuret of nickel, containing, wiien \n\xc, 64.9 per cent of nickel and 35.1
per cent of sulpiiur, is in very large quantity, in two veins of great size, one of
which has been traced six hundred feet and the other over nine hundred feet
in length. In 1.S59 it was producing at the rate of two hundred tons of ni(kel
ore, and ten tons of copper ore, ])cr month. A pyritous variety of nickel ore,
called seigenite, is found at Mine La Motte, Mo., and in Carroll County, Md.
In (laston and Lincoln Counties, N.C., similar ore was fo\md i)y Professor
Wurtz."
Two exceedingly hard white metals, whicji are very rare, and used for
Iridium and scarcely any thing but pointing gold pens, are found witii tlie gold
osmium. ^y^^\ platinum washings of tiie Pacific-coast States : these are
iridium and osmium, and are generally alloyed by nature with one another.
Cobalt, prized particularly for the rich blue color it imparts to glass, and of
rare occurrence, was obtained in this country as early as 17S7 at Chatham,
3L^ Conn., where it is found in combination with arsenic, and associated
Cobalt. '
with nickel. The mine h.is been worked irregularly in the present
century. Traces of it are foimd also in Maryland. Mine La Motte, in Mis-
souri, furnished fur some time an oxide combined with manganese ; but the
vein is now virtually exhausted. A like ore is found in d.iston and Lincoln
Counties, N'.C. : it is mingled with galena, blende, tin-l)earing iron, and other
metallic comuounds.
Chrome, or chromium, occurs in combination with iron, the ore being
called chromate of iron. It is used chiefiy as a coloring-matter iri dyeing and
printing calico. 'Ihe deposits are generally in the serpentine
rocks of the United Slates. The Ilase Hills near lialtimore, the
Marylard line just south of Chester and Lancaster Counties, Penn., Hohoken,
Staten Island, and Northern Vermont, yield it in greater or less (piantities.
'llie locality mentioned along the Maryland and Pennsylvania border, however,
is the source from which the greatest quantity is obtained. In this region the
ore was not only embedded in the rock whence it was mined, but was found
' This is the only establishment returned in the census as producing in 1870.
' This was written in i860.
Chrome.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
753
nd nickel. But
)me extent, and
metal have led
■ this purjiose it
is, rhe metal
La Motte, Mo.,
2 greatest abun-
; associated with
s said, more than
[)lying nickel for
t in 1857. The
nickel and 35.1
great size, one of
ine hundred feet
red tons of nickel
ctv of nickel ore,
•roll Covmty, Md.
iind by Professor
Manganese.
in loose fragments among the serpentine rocks upon the tracts called the " Bar-
rens." This latter supply was exhausted about 1854 ; but mining still continues
at a small profit.
Manganese is a metal of litth value for itself; but one of its ores, pyrolu-
site, by giving up its oxygen readily, is of great use for chemical purposes. It
is largely employed in th2 manufacture of chloride of lime, or
bleaching-powder. Its faintly reddish color makes it serviceable,
also, in destroying the greenish tinge of glass, in the manufacture of which it
is generally employed. Pyrolusite is found, according to " Eighty Yearo'
Progress," along the range of hematite ores from Canada to Alabama, and has
been mined to a considerable extent at Chittenden an'l Bennington, Vt., West
Stockbridge and Sheffield, Mass., on the Delaware River near Kutztown,
Berks County, Penn. ; and it abounds, also, in different parts of the gold
region, as on Hard-Labor Creek, Edgefield District, S.C.
re, and used for
und with tlie l;()1<1
itates : these arc
h one another,
to glass, .and of
87 at Chatham,
•, and associated
y in the present
a Motte, in Miv-
ganese ; Itnt the
sion and Linroln
H iron, and othrr
ts
n.
the ore beint;
tier in dyeing and
in the serpentine
car T.altiniore, tlie
I'enn., Hol)oken,
or less (luantities.
I border, however,
n this region the
ed, but was found
%
ill 1870.
I
i:,
754
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER IX.
QUARRYING.
MINERALOGISTS are accustomed to discriminate between the deposits
of mi 'als and stone by applying the term " veins " to the former, and
Di f " ^"^^^ " ^^ ^^ latter. Our rocks, being mostly of sedimentary
between formation, lie in horizontal strata, except where the same have
mine and been upheaved into mountains by the gigantic subterranean forces
of nature. B:;t metals are usually found in cracks or fissures run-
ning more or less perpendicularly through the stone formations, the deposits
having been made by injection of molten matter from below, or by infiltration
and accretion brought about by the circulation of metal-freighted currents of
water at a time when the rocks were submerged. This distinction between
veins and beds is carried still further by the application of the word " mine "
to the excavation for metals and carboniferous deposits, and of " quarry " to
that made for the removal of stone.
It needs no explanation to show that (juarrying could not have been
carried on in this country until stone was needed for building and paving
Colonists did pwposes, or for such art and minor mechanical uses as the rarer
not engage stones are put to. But, as a matter of fact, quarries were not
n quarry ng. Qpg,^g(j wxiXA long after the need was felt. Of course the early
settler found the log-cabin, the corduroy road, and the wooden bridge,
sufficient for his requirements ; and loose stone enough for foundation-walls
could easily be gathered on the surface of the earth. Yet, even after the
desirability of more handsome and durable building-material for public edifices
in the colonial cities was keenly appreciated, the ample resources which nature
had afforded in this country were slighted, and brick and stone were imported
by the Dutch and English settlers from the Old World. Thus we find the
colonists of New Netherlands, afterwards New York, putting yellow brick on
their list of non-dutiable imports m 1648; and such buildings in Boston as
are described as being " fairly set forth with brick, tile, slate, and stone," were
thus provided only with foreign products. Isolated instances of quarrying are
known to have occurred in the last century ; but they were rare. The edifice
OF THE UNITED STATES.
755
:en the deposits
he former, and
of sedimentary
the same have
lerranean forces
or fissures run-
ns, the deposits
or by infiltration
r\ted currents of
inction between
le word "mine"
of " quarry " to
known as "King's Chapel," Boston, erected in 1752, is the first one on record
as being built from American stone : this was of granite, brought from Brain-
tree, Mass.
Granite is a rock particularly abundant in New England, though also
found in lesser quantities elsewhere in this country. The first granite quar-
ries that were extensively developed were those at Quincy, Mass. ; Qj,ni,e
and work began at that point early in the present century. The where
fame of the stone became wide-spread, and it was sent to distant ''""'^' **=•
markets, — even to New Orleans. The old Merchants' Exchange in New York
(afterwards used as a custom-house), the Astor House in that city, and the
Custom House in New Orleans, all nearly or tiuite fifty years old, were con-
structed of Quincy granite, as were also many other fine buildings along
the Atlantic coast. In later years, not only isolated public edifices, but also
whole blocks of stores, have been constructed of this material. It was from
the Quincy quarries that the first railroad in this country was built : this
was a horse-railroad, three miles long, extending to Neponset River, built
in 1827.
Other points in Massachusetts have been famed for their excellent granite.
;\fter Maine was set off as a distinct State, Fox Island acquired repute for
its granite, and built up an extensive traffic therein. Westerly, R.I., has
also been engaged in quarrying this valuable rock for many years, most of its
choicer specimens having been wrought for monumental purposes. Statues
and other elaborate commemorative designs are now extensively made
therefrom. Smaller pieces and a coarser quality of the stone are here and
elsewhere along the coast obtained in large ciuantities for the construction of
massive breakwaters to protect harbors. Another point famous for its granite
is Staten Island, N.Y. This stone weighs a hundred and eighty pounds to
the cubic foot, while the Quincy granite weighs but a hundred and sixty-
five. The Staten-Island product is not only used for building-purposes, but
is also especially esteemed for paving after both the Russ and Belgian patents.
New York and other cities derive large supplies from this source. The granite
of Weehawken, N.J., is of the same character, and greatly in demand. Port
Deposit, Md., and Richmond, Va., are also centres of granite-production.
Near Abbeville, S.C, and in Georgia, granite is found quite like that at
Quincy. Much Southern granite, however, decomposes readily, and is almost
as soft as clay. This variety of stone is found in great abundance in the
Rocky Mountains ; but, except to a slight extent in California, it is not yet
quarried there.
Granite, having litde grain, can be cut in blocks of almost any size and
shape. Specimens as much as eighty feet long have been taken out, and
transported great distances. The quarrying is done by drilling a Process of
series of small holes, six inches or more deep, and about the same <iu«"y>n«-
distance apart, inserting steel wedges along the whole line, and then tapping
yY
:i:'.Wiil
n:m^
1} ^'f4:r;.:i:
i$6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
each gently with a hammer in succession, in order that the strain may be
evenly distributed.
A building-material which came into general use earlier than granite is
brown freestone, or sandstone ; although its first employment probably does
Brown not date back farther than the erection of King's Chapel, IJoston,
■andgtone. already referred to as the earliest well-known occasion where
granite was used in building. Altogether the most famous of American sand-
stone quarries are those at Portland, opposite Middletown, on the Connecti-
cut River. These were worked before the Revolution ; and their product
has been shipped to many distant points in the country. The long rows
of " brown-stone fronts " in New-Vork City are mostly of Portland st(jne ;
though in many cases the walls are chiefly of brick covered with thin layers
of the stone. The old red sandstone of the Connecticut Valley is distin-
guished in geology for the discovery of gigantic fossil footprints of birds, first
noticed in the Portland (luarries in 1802. Some of these footprints measured
ten by sixteen inches, and they were from four to six feet apart. The sand-
stone of Belleville, N.J., has also extensive use and reputation. Trinity
Church in New- York City and the Boston .Athenaeum arc built of the prudiu t
of these quarries. St. Lawrence County, N.Y., is noted also for a fine bed
Potsdam of sandstonc. At Potsdam it is exposed to a depth of seventy
•andatone. fegj^ There are places, though, in New England, New York,
and Eastern Pennsylvania, where a depth of three hundred feet has ijeeii
reached. The Potsdam sandstone is often split to the thinness of an inc h.
It hardens by exposure, and is often used for snielting-furnace hearthstones.
Shawangunk Mountain, in Ulster County, yields a sandstone of inferior
quality, which has been unsuccessfully tried for paving ; but it wears very
unevenly. From Ulster, (Jreene, and Albany Counties sandstone slabs for
sidewalks are extensively (juarried for city use ; the principal outlets of
those sections being Kingston, Saugerties, Coxsackie, Bristol, and New Balti-
more, on the Hudson. In this region (juantities amounting to millions of
square feet are taken out in large sheets, which are afterwards sawed into the
sizes desired. The vicinity of Medina in Western New York yields a sand-
stone extensively used in that section for paving and curbing, and a little
for building. A rather poor quality of this stone has been found along the
•Potomac, and some of it was used in the interior of the old Capitol building
at Washington. Ohio yields a sandstone that is of a light gray color:
• Berca, Amherst, Vermilion, and Massillon, are the chief points of production.
St. Genevieve, Mo., yields a stone of fine grain, and of a light straw-color,
which is quite equal to the famous Caen stone of France. The Lake-Superior
sandstones are dark and coarse-grained, but strong.
In some parts of the country, where neither granite nor sandstone is easily
procured, blue and gray limestone are sometimes used for building, and, when
hammer-dressed, often look like granite. A serious objection to their use, how-
"*'1»'H
OF THE UN J TED STATES.
757
e strain may be
Limestone.
ever, is the occasional presence of iron, wiiich rusts on exposure, and defaces
;i building. In Western New Yoric they are widely used. To-
peka stone, like the coquina of Florida and Bermuda, is soft like
wood when first quarried, and easily wrought ; but it hardens on exposure.
The limestones of Canton, Mo., Joliet and Athens, 111., Dayton, Sandusky,
MarMehead, and other points in Ohio, Ellittsville, Ind., and Louisville and
ISowiing Green, Ky,, are great favorites West. In many of these regions
limestone is extensively used for macadamizing roads, for which it is excellently
adapted. It also yields excellent slabs or flags for sidewalks.
One of the principal uses of this variety of stone is its conversion, by
burning, into lime for building-purposes. All limestones are by no means
Lciually excellent in this regard. Thomaston lime, burned with Pennsylvania
coal, near the Penobscot River, has had a wide reputation for nearly half a
century. It has been shipped thence to points all along the Atlantic coast,
invading Virginia as far as Lynchburg, and going even to New Orleans.
Sniithfield, R.I., and Westchester County, N.Y., near the lower end of the
Highlands, also make a particularly excellent quality of lime. Kingston, in
Ulster County, makes an inferior sort for agricultural purposes. The Ohio
and other Western stones yield a poor lime, and that section is almost entirely
(lejiendent on the I^ast for its supplies.
Marbles, like limestones, with which they are closely related, are very
abundant in this country, and are also to be found in a great variety of colors.
As early as 1 804 American marble was used for t)urposes of statu-
,. , • T • , , ■ , • , M.rbles.
ary. Kariy in the century it also obtained extensive employment
for gravestones. Its use for building-purposes has been more recent than
granite and sandstone in this country, and it is coming to supersede the latter
to a great degree. For mantles, fireplaces, [)orch-pillars, and like ornamental
purposes, howevei, our variegated, rich-colored, and veined or brecciated
marbles were in use some time before exterior walls were made of them.
Among the earliest marble buildings put up in this country were Oirard Col-
lege, Philadelphia, the old City Hall in New York, and the Custom House in
the latter city, afterwards used for a sub-treasury. The new Capitol building
at Washington is among the more recent structures composed of this material.
Our exports of marble to Cuba and elsewhere amount to over three hundred
thousand dollars annually, although we imjiort nearly the same amount from
Italy. And yet an article can be found in the United States fully as fine as
the famous Carrara marble. We refer to that which comes from Rutland, Vt.
This State yields the largest variety and choicest specimens. The marble
belt runs both ways from Rutland County, where the only quality fit for statu-
ary is obtained. Toward the north it deteriorates by growing Vermont
less sound, though finer in grain ; while to the south it becomes """bies.
coarser. A beautiful black marble is obtained at Shoreham, Vt. There are
also handsome brecciated marbles in the same State ; and in the extreme
I.l '
758
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
(ill i
I
northern part, near Lake Champlain, they become more variegated and ri( li
in hue. The peculiar variety known as "serpentine " is also very plenty in the
Green-Mountain State. Serpentine and verd-anti(|ue were hewn out in slal)^
for fireplaces at Milford, Conn., before 1820, and taken to New Haven, New
York, and elsewhere. Such other marble as is found in New luigland is of an
inferior quality. That (juarried near Thomaston, Me., is nothing more tliaii
limestone ; but the gray and clouded tints have led to its wide use for niantlts.
(Jlenn's Falls, N.Y., is also noted for a limestone that passes for marble, htinu
black, and quite highly prized : it takes a good polish. The pillars of Ciranl
College came from Berkshire, Mass., which ranks next after Vermont in
reputation.
The marble-belt extends from New England through New York, IVnii
sylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia. Tennessee, and
Extent of the Carolinas, to (leorgia and .Mabama. The material of wliii h
(narbie-bed. (1^^ United-States Sub-Treasury of New York was built came from
the Kast-Chester quarries, and the main portion of Cirard College is from
Pennsylvania marble. Chester County in that State yields a fine <iuality of
seqientine also. Brecriated or veined marble is found on the Maryland side
of the Potomac, at the Point of Rocks. This, and some of the variicitcil
and high-colored varieties obtained near Knoxville, Tenn., nearly eciual liiii
of Vermont. The Potomac and Tennessee marbles were used more or Kss
in the new Capitol and other ])ublic buildings at Washington. Good marhlts
in the South and West are of exceptional occurrence. The Rocky Moun-
tains, though, contain a vast abundance and variety.
Slate was known to exist in this country to a slight extent in colonial day-..
It was then largely used for gravestones, and to some extent for roofing, tik >,
and school-purjioses. But most of our supplies came from NN'alcs.
pA'en in the i)resent century it has been quite common for shi]is
to go out from the United States with cargoes of cotton, and bring back slate
in return.
It is stated by one authority that a company was formed to work a
slate-quarry in Northamj)ton County, Penn., as early as 1S05 ; but anotlKT
says no quarry was opened there until 1826, when James M. Porter and
Samuel Taylor engaged in the business, obtaining their supply from Kittan-
ninny Mountain. But the former statement seems to have been applied to
roofing-slate, and the latter to the manufacture of slates for schools. I'roni
1826 the business developed rapidly, the village of Slateford being an out-
growth of it, and large rafts being employed to float the products down the
Schuylkill to Philadelphia. By i860 the industry had reached the capacity of
twenty thousand cases of slates, valued at ten dollars a case, annually ; and in
1854 three hundred thousand feet of lumber were consumed in making slate-
frames alone.
.- In 1839 quarries were opened on the Piscataquis River, forty miles north
Slate.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
759
variegated and ri( h
Iso very plenty in llio
e hewn out in slabs
to New Haven, New-
lew England is of an
i nothing more than
wide use for mantles.
;ses for marble, lieinu
I'he pillars of Ciiranl
xt after Vermont in
gh New York, IVnn-
ijinia. Tennessee, and
'he material of whiiii
k was built tame from
lirard College is from
cl<ls a fine (luality of
on the Maryland side
)me of the variiL'atcd
;nn., nearly e(iiial ihal
;re used more or less
ngton. Good marl)les
The Rocky Moun-
;xtent in colonial day>.
•xtent for roofing, tilo,
ies came from Wales.
uite common for ships
I, and bring back slate
as formed to work a
as 1S05 ; but another
Tames M. I'orter and
supply from Kitlan-
have been applied to
es for schools. From
ateford being an ont-
the products down the
cached the capacity of
case, annually ; and in
umed in making slatc-
of Bangor, Me. ; but poor transportation facilities prevented the product reach-
ing a market exsily. Vermont began to yield perceptibly in 1852. Castleton
and Poultney in Rutland County, and Cuiiford, Windham County, are the
chief points of production in that State. New York's quarries are confined
to Washington County, near tiie Vermont line. Maryland has a limited supply
from Harford County. The Huron Mountains, north of Marc}uette, Mich.,
also contain slate ; and fine beds are said to exist in Pike County, Ga. ; but
they have not been tieveloped.
BURR MILLSTONE.
Grindstones, millstones, anil whetstones are quarried in New York, Ohio,
Michigan, Pennsylvania, and other States. Mica is found at Acworth and
Grafton. N.H., and near Salt T>ake : but our chief supply comes Grindstones
from Haywood, Yancey, Mitchell, and Macon Counties, N.C. ; millstones,
and our jjroduct is so large, that we can afford to export it.
Silex, or ijuartz, for the finer varieties of glass, is obtained chiefly from
Lanesborough, Mass., and Stonington, Conn.
liver, forty miles north
76o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER X.
SALT.
SALT is the one great mineral which enters into the diet of mankind, and
to so wide an extent, that it is called one of the necessaries of life. It is
Utaofamit known, however, that the American Indians never used it until
by indiani. ^f^gf (jjgy learned the habit from the whites.' Their meat w;is
cured by smoke and drying, or "jerked ; " and for seasoning they sometimes
used the ash of certain plants. The craving for salt, nevertheless, seems to
be natural to many wild and domesticated animals, the deer of this country
having been hunted more frequendy at the "salt licks," about which they
rendezvoused, than elsewhere.
The first white men who settled on this continent derived their supplies of
salt from the old country ; but the great distance of this source, and the
Salt in the expense of the commodity, soon stimulated effort to make it fur
colonies. themselves. As the reader is well aware, the principal uses of salt
are for the table, the dairy, preserving meat, and curing fish. The last-named
was the more prominent need of the early colonial days, inasmuch as our
fisheries were among the first and foremost of our industries. Accordingly
there was a great demand for the coarser grades of salt, especially in New
England, at the very earliest period of our history.
How soon the manufacture of salt first began here is not positively known ;
but there are references to salt-works on Cape Charles, Va., as early as 1620 in
the colonial records ; and to such an extent was the business carried on, that,
Ways of ^y '633, this colony was exporting salt to New F2ngland. Salt is
obtaining obtained in three different ways, — from solid beds of the mineral,
from springs or wells which have their origin in otherwise inacces-
sible salt-beds, and from the ocean, which may have acquired its saline prop-
' The Peruvians made and ate salt when Plzarro made his famous conquest of their country, and t>e Soin
found the Florida Indians making salt from springs near the banlcs of the Arkansas River. They employed
earthen pans in the manufacture, and moulds, which turned out small square cakes, which they traded for furs
and mantles. Long before the manufactflre of salt was begun by the whites, it was brought by the Indiani
of Western New York (o Quebec and Albany, with their furs, for trade, from the Onondaga Springs, which
was their source of supply.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
761
erties by dissolving great deposits of this substance, or have retained it from
tiic days of the creation. x)wing both to the nrecedents of the manufacture
in the Old World, and to the fact that as yet neither salt-springs nor rock-salt
iiad been found in this country, the first attempts made by the American
colonists were with sea-water, which was collected in ponds and vats, and
subjected to artificial heat. Doubtless these first salt-works of Virginia were
uf this kind.
The first beginnings in New Kngland were made in 1621. In that year a
company erected salt-works on the present site of Portsmouth, N.H. ; and in
1622 a salt-maker was sent over to Boston by the London proprie- „
■' ' ' Erection of
tors to begin this important manufacture. This indiviilual appears latt-workt
to have made great boasts of what he would accomplish, antl yet "' *"*"'•■
I ' y mouth.
to have treated the art as a peculiar mystery for the sake of blind-
ing those who were employed to assist him. Thus the colony was led to incur
the expense of erecting a storehouse for salt before any had been manufac-
tured. In 1623 he was sent with his pans to Cape .Xnn, so as to be nearer
the seat of the fisheries ; but, before summer was over, he burned the works,
thereby spoiling most of his pans. This and other early enterprises were
under the control of the government ; a fact which has many parallels in
history. The greatness of Venice was, in a measure, due to her monopolizing
the salt-manufacture of her domain ; and for a time that of Rome was under
governmental regulation. The famous salt-manufacture of Syracuse, N.Y., and
of that neighborhood, is partly under the State's auspices, inasmuch as the
government reserves its right to the springs, and sells the salt water to the
manufacturers. After the transfer of the authority over Massachusetts from
Ixjndon to Boston, this industry appears to have been put on a plane with all
others, and to have been conducted by private enterprise. Tiiis was the case
with the salt-works f unded at Salem in 1636. The Colonial Government
encouraged activity and ingenuity in this direction by granting especial privi-
leges to inventors of new methods. We find the Assembly of Connecticut
doing the same thing. The younger Winthrop was authorized in 1647-48 to
take land for the estal)lishment of salt-works at Pequod (New London) and
elsewhere, and the State commissioners were authorized to buy two hundred
tons a year of him at the rate of three shillings a bushel. How far he availed
himself of these concessions does not api)ear.
French people landed at the mouth of the Raritan River, N.J., in 1631,
who began salt-making there. The Swedish Government instructed the gov-
ernor of its colony on the Delaware to engage in salt-making in sait-making
1642. In the Dutch colony on the Delaware, at New Castle, salt »t mouth
was made to such an extent in 1657, that shipping stopped there
for supplies. In what is now New York attempts to make salt were begun
quite early by the Dutch ; but as early as 1649 it was charged against the pro-
prietary West-India Company's servants in the New Netherlands, that they had
l6»
INDUSTRIAL ///STORY
wasted the public money in fruitless attempts to manufarttire salt nnd other
commodities. Hy the middle of the seventeenth century French missionaries
had discovered the saline springs in Onondaga County, N.Y., anil runiors (jf
them had reached the Dutch settlements; but the settlers made no atteinjjt
for nearly a century and a half to utilize this resource. We have already men-
tioned the early attempts in Virginia. That colony still further encouraged the
industry by prohibiting the importation of foreign salt after 1683. The New
Sir Nathan- Netherlands had imposed a heavy tariff on the importation ioii^
iei johnion. i)efore. Sir Nathaniel Johnson, governor of the Leeward Islands,
took up his residence in Stnith Carolina in 1689, and, besides rice, wine, ami
silk, gave some attention to the production of sail. He named the jjlace 011
Sewee Hay, where he conducted his operations, the " Salt I'onils." Colonial
legislation encouraged the industry in 1725.
Without further detail, it may be remarked that the business of making salt
from ocean-water was carried on, with more or less governmental encourage-
Sait impor- ment, in all the Atlantic colonies prior to the Revolution. ( )nly a
tationi. small proportion of what was needed, however, was produced at
home ; and a heavy importation was carried on, mostly as ballast in tlie sliips
returning from Si)ain and the wine islands. It was also obtained from the
West Indies, although our salt-trade with Turk's Island and the neigiilioring
manufacturing localities has been mostly of a later period. \\c also imiwried
English (Liverpool) salt somewhat before the Revolution. Foreign salt was
prized more highly than that obtaineil from Tortugas, as the latter impainij
the quality of the fish cured with it ; and, in order to sustain the tiuality and
reputation of the fish-exports, M;issachusetts declared in 1C70 that no fish
cured with Tortugas salt should be merchantable. So small was the ae( uimi-
lation, and so irregular the supi)ly, of salt in those days, that the arrival of a
cargo of salt greatly depressed the price. Thus (lov. Winthrop writes in
1646, "There arrived yesterday a Dutch ship of three hundred tons, with
two hundred and fifty tons of salt, sent by Mr. Onge of Lisl)on, so as salt was
abated in a few hours from thirty-six to sixteen a hogshead."
During the Revolution salt was very scarce and costly in this country,
owing to the check put upon commerce, to the withdrawal of men from the
Salt-making paths of productive industry to military pursuits, and to the occa-
during the sional destruction of salt-works. A number of these were de-
stroyed in New Jersey by British troops during the war. .'\ special
guard of a hundred men was applied for to protect salt-works in Cape-May
County in 1777; and Congress urged upon the colonies, that they each
encourage salt-manufacturing. Salt ran as high as six dollars a bushel durinj^
most of the Revolution, and even as high as eight, and was always in demand :
indeed, at times, it formed a sort of currency. <
The following anecdote is related of those dark days. During the encamp-
ment at Morr stown, N.J., in 1780, provisions were exceedingly scarce; and
'U'i *
OF THE UNITED STATES.
7^3
<:ontincntal money so depreciated, that four months' pay of a private would not
buy a busljcl of wheat for iiis fainil/. The ordinary army rations were poor
enough even for the rank and file ; but, as is always customary, it was thought
necessary to provide the officers with something more delicate, purchased, of
course, at their jirivate expense. " We have nothing but the rations to cook,
sir," said Mrs. Thomjison, a very worthy Irish-woman and housekeeper, to
<;en. Washington one day. "Well, Mrs. Thompson, you must then cook the
rations; for I have not a farthing to give you." — " If you please, sir, let one
of the gentlemen give me an order for six bushels of .salt." — "Six bushels of
Silk ! l'"or what ? " — " To preserve the fresh beef, sir." One of the aitles gave
the order. I'he next day his ICxcellency's table was remarkably will iiovided.
Washington misunderstooil the source of this bounty, and, sending for Mrs.
Thompson, told her that she should not have expended her own money in this
way, when there was no ( hance of her being repaiil. " I owe you too much
already for the debt to be in( reased ; and our situation is not, at this moment,
such as to induce very strong hopes." — "Dear sir," said the lady, "it is
always darkest just l)efore daylight ; and I hope your Kxcellency will forgive
me for bartering the salt for other necessaries which are now on the table."
She had sold the salt to the country-people, at eight dollars a bushel, in
e.xciiange for provisions.
With a few slight exceptions, all the salt made in this country until near the
close of the last century was obtained by boiling, or evaporation by artificial
heat. ,\s early as 1671, however, tliere had been talk in Massa- How ««it
chusetls of making salt " by tiie sun ; " and the government encour- waiformeriy
aged the formation of a company to try this process. The solar ""* *'
method was employetl to some extent on Long Island, too, by exposing the
sea-water to the sun and wind in shallow \ats. New Jersey also resorted to
this ilevice, the salt water being condenseil by natural evaporation in ponds to
nearly ten times its natural strength, and then being boiled in kettles. It
reiiuired from two hundred and fifty to three hundred gallons of sea-water
to make a bushel of salt. The discovery of particles of salt on clam-shells
along the beach suggestetl the idea of solar evaporation to the salt-boilers at
llanvich, Cape Cod, and led to experiments which were but partially success-
ful in 1774 and the few years immediately thereafter. At length a jjartnership
was formed, in which John Sears, a sailor, was the leader, and which erected
salt-works on this principle at Dennis, Barnstable County. They constructed
a vat one hundred feet by ten in size, with a level floor and a curiously con-
structed roof. At first the sea-water was conveyed thereto by buckets ; but
afterwards, in 1 790, a pump was obtained from the stranded British ship-of-
w.ir " Somerset," and a windmill erected to work the pump. The establishment
met with great ridicule, and was long known as "John Sears's Folly;" but it
was successful, and led to the establishment of a large number of similar works
on Cape Cod, Cape Ann, near New Bedford, and elsewhere. This industry
''Mil
rii^
764
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
H
If i
■*f
was carried on extensively during tiie first quarter or third of tiiis century, hut
since 1830 has declined. A few years ago, however, there were to be seen some
of these old windmills still standing. 'The discovery of richer salines than
ocean-water very naturally destroyed the more costly and laborious enter-
prises.
A great revolution in salt-manufacture was wrought by the utilization of the
valuable salt-springs of Onondaga County, N.Y., to which we ha\e
salt-springs already referred. These were known very early to tiie Indians,
in Onondaga Father Lallemant is the first white who is recorded as having
°"" ^' visited them. Le Moyne, a Jesuit, mentions them in 1O53. In
1770 Onondaga salt was well known in ()uebec antl .Albany, whitiier tlie
Indians brought it. The whites first made salt there in 1787 ; in which year,
or the following one, the Oneida Indians ceded the lands to tlie State.
Leases were then granted to manufacturers, who sunk wells, and went to pump-
ing from the rich salines beneath. iJut the State reserved tiie control of this
mineral production to itself, and soon took charge of the pumping. It still
maintains the management of this work, and supplies the water to consumers,
who pay the State a tax on the salt produced. .At one time the duty was
twelve cents on a bushel of fifty-six pounds ; then it was redv.ced to six cents,
and then to one : but to such an extent has the business developed, that tlie
State has thus obtained an enormous revenue. .At first the system of solar
evaporation ado]>ted on Cape Cod was employed ; but now seven-eighths of
the salt produced at Syracuse, Salina, and tlie adjacent centres of manufacture,
are obtained by boiling. Here, as with the sea-water, expedients have been
devised for separating the other mineral substances, such as Epsom anil
Cilaubcr salts, from the article manufactured for the market.
In 1789 the product from the Ononilaga springs was about five hundred or
six hundred bushels, and the price, anywhere within sixty miles, was reduced
Extent of to half a dollar a bushel, — a remarkable reduction. In 1S59, tlie
production, culminating date of production in this region, the annual jiroduct
was 7,521,335 bushels, which cost the manufacturers to make about six cents a
bushel. To such dimensions has the business grown, that whole villages of
vats and brii k " blocks " for containing the kettles have sprung up around
Syracuse. Tiie commerce in salt, and siijiplies for the salt-makers, has done
much to pay the expense of constructing the ICrie Canal and the railroads
of that section.
An interesting.'; story is told in connection with the early development
of the Onondaga salines. Towards the close of the last century the I'V-deral
Government let contracts for the supjjly of the United-States troops with
provisions at Oswego. At this time Gen. James O'Hara, an enterprising and
well-informed citizen of Pittsburgh, Penn., undertook a contract, believing
that he could execute it at less cost from that basis of supply, in consideration
of certain advantages which he at first concealed, than any one could from tiie
(;/•• THE UX/TED STATES.
765
of this century, hut
were to l)e seen some
; richer sahnes tliaii
nd laborious entcr-
the utilization of the
Y., to which we liave
■arly to the Indians.
recorded as iiavini;
them in 1653. In
Albany, whitlier the
1787 ; in which year,
lands to the State.
s, and went to pump-
:1 the control of this
ic pumping. It still
: water to cons\uiiers.
le time the duty was
reduced to six cents,
s developed, that tlie
t the system of solar
now seven-eighths of
ntrcs of manufacture,
xpedients have l)een
ucli as I'".psom anil
;t.
ibout live hundred or
V miles, was reduced
uction. In 1S59, the
, the annual i)rodu( t
ake about six cents a
lat whole villages of
e sprung up around
salt-makers, has done
iial and the railroads
le early develo]inK'nl
t century the l^'cderal
_Hl-States troops with
an enterprising and
I contract, l)elieving
pply, in consideration
ly one could from the
Mohawk River, whose head-waters were not far from Oswego. Accordingly,
he estabiishetl a line of communication by rafts up the Alleghany and I'Vench
Creek from Pittsburgh, a wagon-portage across to lOrie on the lake of that
name, a l)oat-line to lilack Rock near lluffalo, another boat to cany still nearer
Niagara, a wagon- portage around the falls, and a third boat-line thence through
Lake Ontario to Oswego. Vessels we-.e built on Lakes ImIc and Ontario
expressly for this busiucss. It was a part of 0'Hara"s contract that he shoultl
retain his iiarrcis whin ijieir contents were consumed. 'I'hese barrels he then
filled with salt, which lie caused to be brought from Syracuse in wagons, and
re-shipped them over the same route by which they came from rittslnirgh.
MMIiM. SALT.
At this time Pittsburgh had obtained her salt from Philadelphia by [lack-horses,
which came in trains across tiie mountains. The business of sui>])lying all
these settlements west of the Alicghanies, and down the Ohio River, centred
at this point ; and salt brought eight dollars a bushel. IJut O'Hara was now
able to deliver it at Pittsburgh for half that price, and make a handsome i)rofit ;
and, as he had a monopoly of the Onondaga supply, he could destroy all com-
petition. Capital was soon invested in traile with Syracuse, however ; and in a
few years the price was brought down to twelve dollars a barrel of five bushels.
A few years later, the development of the Virginia and Western Pennsylvania
salines still further reduced the ])rii e.
iS:.im
\^'m
••>■■}
^•i'^i''
-■4-.'
tijki:m
li
I
m
I
766
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Virginia,
There are numerous other valuable salt-deposits in this country, the princi-
pal ones being in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. West
Other salt- Virginia, while yet the new State of that name was included within
deposits. thg original limits of the old one, was famous for salt-wells along^
the line of the Great Kanawha River. Attention was drawn to the springs by
seeing the deer visit them. 'I'he early wells were bored only thirty feet deep ;
but subsequently a depth of seven hundred or eiglit hundred feet became
common, while even fifteen hundred has been attained, (las was obtained
from these wells, which was burned to heat the kettles ; but this practice has
since been discontinued. In 1829 this region produced at the rate of 1,000,-
000 bushels annually ; and by the outbreak of the war the product had
reached nearly 3,000,000, and formed the principal part of the salt manufac-
tured in Virginia. The amount has since been increased to nearly
5,000,000 ; and from its separation, until recently, West Virginia
ranked next after New York as a salt-producing State. The other salt-deposits
of that vicinity are in the south-western part of old Virginia, in Smyth and
Washington Counties, along the north fork of the Holston. Here there are
beds of rock-salt ; but no wells that are available are found outside a very
limited locality. This one product, and the plaster-banks, give almost ex-
clusive business to the branch railroad of the Virginia and Tennessee line
penetrating that section. Prior to the war it had developed its product to
something like 300,000 bushels a year ; but since that period its yield has been
inconsiderable, the census of 1870 returning but 2,063 bushels.
Pennsylvania has a consider: ble salt district along the Alleghany, Kiskiniinc-
tas, and Beaver Rivers. Wells were first sunk here in 181 2 to the depth ot'
Pennsyi- two hundred feet ; and in 1829 salt was produced there at the rate
vania. Qf twenty or twenty-five cents a bushel, wiiile farther west it cost
at least fifty. In 1850 the annual production was over 900,000 bushels, and
at that time Pennsylvania ranked third as a salt-producing State. Since then
Ohio and Michigan have stepped in ahead of her.
Ohio's salt-springs are mostly in the southern and south-eastern jxirts of
that State, along the Muskingum, Hocking, and Scioto Rivers, and on the Ohio
River at Pomeroy, opposite the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
The first attempts in that State to make salt were in 1798, at the
" Old Scioto Salt-Works " in Jackson County. The wells were only thirty foct
deep ; and six or eight hundred gallons of the brine were needed to make a
bushel of the salt, wiiich was dark and i)oor. But even tliis article brought
three or four dollars a bushel as late as 1808. Until after 1850, when the total
product was about 500,000 bushels, the development of tlie business was
slow; but the wells, which were then but four hundred or five hundred feet
deep, were sunk to a depth of twelve hundred, where much strongc* brine was
obtained, and the business so improved, that by 1857 the estimated ]-ro(hiri
of the State was nearly three times that of 1850. In 1870 it had reached
Ohio.
i country, the princi-
iid Michigan. West
; was included within
IS for salt-wells alonj,^
,wn to the springs by
only thirty feet deep ;
hundred feet became
[. (las was obtained
but this practice has
at the rate of i,ooo,-
var the product had
of the salt manufai -
en increased to nearly
•ecently, West Virginia
The other salt-deposits
/irginia, in Smyth and
ston. Here there are
found outside a very
janks, give almost ex-
ia and Tennessee line
veloped its product to
eriod its yield has been
bushels.
e Alleghany, Kiskimine-
1812 to the depth of
iduced there at the rate
lile farther west it cost
■r 900,000 bushels, and
,ing State. Since then
south-eastern parts ot
livers, and on the Ohio
If the Great Kanawha.
lit were in 1798, at the
Ills were only thirty feet
lore needed to ni.ike a
\,'en this article brouglit
[er 1850, when the total
It of the business was
Id or five hundred feet
|nich strongc- brine was
the estimated producl
1870 it had reached
OF THE UNITED STATES.
767
almost 3,000,000 bushels. The heavy carburetted hydrogen gas which comes
from these wells has been extensively used for heating the kettles in which the
salt was boiled. The Wabash salines, well known in early colonial days, have
been the basis of quite a litde salt-making industry in Indiana and other
Illinois, which has now declined. Kentucky and Tennessee have States.
also abounded in salt-licks and working-wells. Kci-tucky has had quite a
reputation for her salt in times past. Missouri, Minnesota, Arkansas, and
several other States, have also salt-springs of slight value.
(^ne of the most remarkable developments in this industry has been that
of Saginaw County, Mich. The salt-licks of the deer were well known to the
first settlers, and in 1838 unsuccessful attempts were made at saginaw
manufacturing salt there. The legislature passed a law in 1859 'egion.
offering a bounty often cents a bushel on the salt produced in the State. This
gave a slight impetus to the manufacture. A well was sunk six hundred and
sixty-nine feet in Kast Saginaw, and in the last six months of i860 a yield of
23,000 busiiels of excellent salt was obtained. Prior to this time the product
hail been insignificant; but in 1870 it amounted to nearly 4,000,000 bushels,
and Michigan then ranked next after New York and Virginia. Since then she
■ has outstripped both ; and though she has >iot yet reached New York's figures
of i860, which were upwards of 7,000,000, the 1 ompetition has cut down New
York's product to less than 5,000,000 bushels annually. The great secret of
the success of the Michigan salt-makers is the economy secured by combining
tiie salt-boiling business with lumbering. The salt-wells abound in the great
lumber-districts around Saginaw Bay. The saw-mills are run by steam, and
the furnaces fed by saw-dust. The wells are pumped by engines, and the
surplus steam is used to carry on the evaporating process. Thus the item of
fuel is entirely saved in the expenses of production, and salt can thus be pro-
duced more cheaply than anywhere else in the country.
The annual product of salt in the United States at the present time is about
20,000,000 bushels ; of which Michigan produces about 6,000,000 ; ^
' 1 Annual prod-
New York and West Virginia, each, 4,500,000 ; Ohio, nearly 3,000,- uct in the
000 ; and the other States, something over 2,000,000. Yet this United
is l)ut about half of our consumption ; for we imported in 1877
over 18,000,000 bushels. A mere trifle, less than 75,000 bushels, — most of
which went to Canada, — was exported.
^r'- it IT
Wsl
wmi ■ ^:
t \'m'
• a
768
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Youth and
eminence
of the
industry.
CHAPTER XI.
PETROLEUM.
ALTHOUGH petroleum is one of the oldest mineral products of wliich
mankind is known to have n^ade use, the business which it has given
to the people of the United States is the most recent of all our
prominent industries. It is less than twenty years since the i>ro-
duction of petroleum in large enough quantities for it to sui)|)lant
our candles, spirit-lamps, sperm-oil, and rosin and coal gas, as tlie
popular means of illumination : and yet our coal and iion are the only two
mineral products which this country now yields in larger measure of value ;
and, except cotton and cereals, it is our most valuable article of export.
Bitumen and naphtha, two forms of this same hydro-carbon deposit, were
found in oth»;r parts of the world in the earliest historic period. Hitunien,
/ *- ^ or asphaltum, was used as a cement in building ancient Balnlon.
The cerements of Egyptian mummies were smeared with it, that
the corpses might be the better preserved ; and it is the prcsenee
of that substance, dried to a rosin, which makes the mummy such
excellent fuel in the Orient. The Scriptures make frequent refer-
ence to the rock giving out fountains and rivers of oil ; and inasmuc h as
Jacob is said to have been embalmed, and as embalming undoubtedly meant
being wrapped after the man. •• of l.ie Egyptian dead, there is excellent
reason to believe that rock-oil was known not only in the days of Job and
Moses, but even before the time when Israel served the Pharaohs, thirty-
six centuries ago. Indeed, we may trace its appearance still farther ba( k.
The Tower of Babel was erected over four thousand years ago,
and its builders used " slime for mortar." In the ruins of C hal-
dean edifices near Bagdad, known to have been conteinporaneous
with the Tower of Babel, there have been found pieces of reed
cemented with asphalt. However, when one remembers that geology proves
the carboniferous age of the world's formation to be millions of years before
our day ; that the era which saw the prod.'ction of the bitumen of Egypt, the
asphalt of Mesopotamia, and the coal and oil of Pennsylvania, was all one, —
Antiquity of
the discov-
ery and use
of hydro-
carbons.
Asphaltum
used in the
Tower of
Babel.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
769
the interval Iietween its discovery and use by those who lived about the Lower
Nile and the people of the United States is but as a day. ;
'I'lie bitumen used by tlie Assyrians came from slime-pits near the River
Is, a tributary of the Kuphrates. It was also found in very ancient vvidedis-
times near the Caspian Sea, and the product of Bakoo still con- tribution of
tinues to su])ply all I'ersia with the means of illumination. The »''= '''PO''*"-
oil there is iigiit-coiored and very choice. Asphaltum, only another form
of tlie same substance, has been found about the shores of the Dead Sea,
which is supposed to cover tiie ancient cities of Sodom and Clomorrah.
In India and Hurmah petroleum has been in use as a medicine, and for
illuminating-puri)oses, no one knows how long ; the excavation of wells and
pits in the Rangoon I )istrict for procuring the oil, its collection, transporta-
tion, and sale, amounting to (juite an industry. Burmah and the Bakoo
District rank ne.\t to America as producers. In China the people have found
this same treasure in the form of gas rather than oil, and have i-^g g^g.
bored artesian wells witliout number, simply to get this product weiii in
as a means of light and lieat. Some of tiiese wells have been ^'""••
bored fifteen hundred and two thousand feet deep, and the machinery by
which the work is performed is verj' curious and crude. When the cavity
where the gas is confmetl is finally reached, an explosion of terrific violence
often occurs, and the orifice of the well is with the utmost difficulty secured,
especially if the escaping gas takes fire. Mgr. Imbert, a Catholic missionary
in China, thus describes one of these catastrophes : —
" The flame, which was about twenty feet high, flitted about without burn-
ing any thing. Four men volunteered to risk their lives in endeavoring to
arrest it. They cast a large stone on the mouth of the well ; but Description
it was instantly hurled far into the air. Three of the men were of burning-
burned, and tiie fourth escaped only by a miracle. Neither water ^' '*
nor earth would extinguish the flames ; until at length, after two weeks oi
incessant toil, a sufficient quantity of water was conveyed to the adjacent
heights, where it was collected in a little lake, and suddenly let loose on the
well in one volume with success."
This gas is conveyed long distances liy bamboo pipes, and is used for
lighting salt-mines and to heat furnaces, the extremities of the pipes being
tipped with metal to prevent their being burned ; although the gas- Economii-
tlanie does not usually adhere to the tip, as in the case of our '"B8"-
artificial illuminating-gas, but hovers about it at a short distance. In Java
and Japan -the oil which yields this gas is found in small quantities.
There is little record of any form of coal, petroleum, or natural gas, being
found in Africa, elsewliere than in I'^-gypt ; but they have been Distribution
found plentifully in Kurope, — though not together, it may be re- of oil in
marked. Wales, the great coal-producing region of Great Brit- "'"P"-
ain, does not yield petroleum, although the burning-well at \\'igan, Lancashire,
, \!iea
77°
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
i ■,
American
•borigines
is in a coal-region. France, Helgium, Northern Italy, and Hungary have
yielded either oil or gas, or botli, in comparatively insigniiicant quantities,
for over two centuries ; but little effort has been made to secure the possible
deposits below by any thing like modern appliances. Very recently something
has been done in South (lermany, and near the Volga in Russia, to utilize
the oil-deposits that have been discovered there ; but as yet no effect upon
the world's supply or the world's market has been wrought.
Just at the close of the last century, petroleum was discovered in small
quantities in the West Indies ; but production has never practically amounted
to any thing there.
The first white settlers who came to the United States found that the
natives were familiar with and made use of rock-oil, which they skimmed from
Petrol ^^*^ surface of springs and pools. It was supposed to possess rare
known tothe medicinal virtues; although it has little recognized effect nowa-
days, except as a cathartic, sudorific, anti-spasmodic, and bane
to the tape-worm. It was also found an excellent balm for
wounds, and a good medium in mixing the Indians' war-paint, tut it is
well known to all students of American-Indian history that there was a race of
aborigines, closely allied to the Toltecs and Aztecs of Mexico, who occupied
much of the territory of the United States before the red men came whom
Raleigh and the Pilgrims found here. That earlier and more highly civilized
people have left many tokens of their former residence here ; and among
them are placed by some savans the devices found near Titusville, Penn.,
for the collection of rock-oil. In the valley of Oil Creek are found a number
of pits, fifteen or twenty feet deep, either circular, oval, or sc[uare, and care-
fully cribbed and walled with timber. The oil has preserved the wood from
decay, no one knows how long ; but their location, character, and resem-
blance to the oil-pits of Burmah, indicate plainly enough that they were
constructed to obtain petroleum ; and as trees have been growing from
the bottom of these pits for two and three centuries, if not longer, the period
of their disuse is carried back to a time precedent to the first white settlements
in the United States.
In various parts of the American continent the early setders have found
what they have called tar-springs, or streams and pools of water mingled
with strongly odorous rock-oil. This substance was discovered
by explorers near the mouth of the Athabasca River, in Britisli
North America, nearly a century ago. It has been found near Lake Huron,
and in other parts of Canada ; but nowhere in that country has its production
become a business of any consequence, except at Enniskilk n, in the western
peninsula of the Province of Ontario. Since i860 the oil-industry has grown
up to quite respectable proportions, though insignificant as compared with the
business of the United States,
The fact is, that the production of petroleum for the world's use is almost
Tar-springs.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
771
and Hungary have
igniricant quantities,
, secure the possible
■y recently something
in Russia, to utilize
s yet no effect upon
t.
, discovered in small
practically amounted
States found that the
;h they skimmed from
pposed to possess rare
cognized effect nowa-
-spasmodic, and bane
n excellent balm for
war-paint, l^ut it is
lat there was a race of
Mexico, who occupied
red men came whom
d more highly civilized
^ce here ; and among
near 'I'itusville, Penn.,
k are found a number
or square, and care-
■served the wood from
character, and resem-
nough that they were
e been growing from
not longer, the period
first white settlements
irly settlers have found
ools of water mingled
stance was discovered
basca River, in British
und near Lake Huron,
^ntry has its production
liskilkn, in the western
oil-industry has grown
: as compared with the
world's use is almost
exclusively a monopoly of this country, and is chiefly confined to the region of
Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, The same series of oil- Petroleum a
bearing rocks extend to Kentucky. Says the annual report of the monopoly.
New- York Produce Exchange for 1875-76, —
" The oil-belt in West Vftginia is now being surveyed, and the survey is
to be continued to the Hig Sandy River, on the boundary-line of Kentucky,
for the purpose of the future development of oil-production. Extent of
Colorless petroleum has been found in Nevada, near a place called o'I-"b'<»>'
Black Rock, where there are two springs, from which flows colorless oil,
aggregating from eighty to ninety gallons daily. In Colorado, six miles north
of Canon City, there are oil-bearing rocks, from which an excellent quality of
petroleum is obtained at a depth of from two hundred to four hundred feet.
In tiie Tulare Valley in California, fifteen miles west of Tulare Lake, there are
petroleum-springs which were first discovered by a government surveying-
party in 1854. The oil from these springs is of the heavy lubricating variety,
and is much more valuable than the burning-oil produced in Western Penn-
sylvania, and is similar to that of West Virginia. In Los Angeles County,
Cal., in the township of San Fernando, a refinery for petroleum was estab-
lished about four years ago by a stock company. At this place there are five
producing-wells, each about a hundred and forty feet deep, giving an aggre-
gate daily product of crude oil of from forty to fifty barrels. There are also
wells at Ventura, and a refinery, turning out twenty barrels of refined oil daily.
At Wheeler's Caiion, sixty-seven miles from Ventura, there are oil-wells ; and
a pipe-line is being laid from the former to the latter place. In the Cumber-
land Valley, in Kentucky, there is an extensive region of countr)' underlaid
with coal-bearing rocks. In boring for salt in 1829 on Little Renox Creek,
about half a mile from Big Renox Creek, in Cumberland County, oil was
struck ; and the well called the ' (Ireat .American ' well continued to flow daily
for a considerable period, producing a thousand barrels of crude petroleum.
Recent borings in Cumberland County have resulted in obtaining oil in large
([uantitie?. The oil-bearing rocks are said by Professor Owen to extend into
Tennessee." To this it may be added, that oil has also been struck in Ohio,
and in 1866 there were some six or seven hundred wells in Trumbull County.
At Pomeroy, Meigs County, still later, highly productive wells have been bored.
There has been some boring in .-\llcghany County, N.Y., but with little result.
Indeed, at points innumerable throughout the country, attempts have been
made to strike oil ; but, except at those here specified, these enterprises have
been mostly failures.
The report we have above quoted continues : " In Western Pennsylvania
the oil-district commences at Edinburg, about twelve miles north of St.
Petersburg, in Clarion County, and extends to a point about two miles south
of St. Jo, in Butler County, being nearly forty miles long, and varying from
twenty to several hundred rods in width. The southern extremity of this belt
772
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
\ \
it
has proved to be the most prolific portion of the pr^'sent oil-prochiring terri-
tory, including a distance of about seven miles on the line of the belt. At
Parker's Landing, about fifteen miles from St. Jo, the oil-belt crosses beneath
the bed of the .Alleghany River.
" A new oil-region has been somewhat developed in McKean and Bradford
Counties, in North-western Pennsylvania, in the territory between the Phila-
delphia and Krie Railway and the .Atlantic and (Ireat-Western. The want of
facilities for transporting oil has checked i)roduction."
Until between 1850 anil i860 the finding of oil in this country was scarcely
ever viewed otherwise than with indifference or annoyance. Its appearance in
. . .. the salt-springs of Ohio and elsewhere i)roved very detrimental
cance of the to the interests of the salt-boilers, and on that account the sight
oii-induBtry ^j^^^j ^y^^}\ gf it were detested. Yet so early as the commence-
until 1839.
ment of this century it was collected for market in Western Penn-
sylvania. Wherever the oil would manifest itself by bubbling up with water
through the soil, pits were dug, and the two litiuids allowed to accumulate ;
and then blankets were thrown upon the surface of the oil (which floated on
the water), soaked with the greasy mineral, and then wrung out into tubs. A
Mr. Cary, one of the more enterprising of the early settlers along Oil Creek,
is reported to have collected or purchased cargoes of this oil from his neigh-
bors, put it into five-gallon kegs, slung one on each side of a horse, and thus
conveyed it to Pittsburgh, a distance of seventy or eighty miles ; and it is
related, that, at a later period, " Gen. Hayes, who settled in Franklin (Venango
County) in the year 1803, . . . purchased at one time the entire product of
the region, amounting to sixteen barrels, which he sold in Pittsburgh for about
a dollar per gallon." These two incidents serve admirably to illustrate the
diminutive proportions of the petroleum-industry of America during the first
half of the present century.
The true beginning of the great era of petroleum-development in this
country, and indeed of the world, was Aug. 28, 1859 ; when an artesian well,
sunk on the lands of the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, near
Drake well, Titusville, Struck a vein of hydrogen gas mingled with oil. We
and it! gj^^u j^^^g more to say presently of this organization, its previous
influence*
experiments, and its employment of Col. E. L. Drake to under-
take this enterprise. This well was sunk to a depth of sixty-nine feet and a
half, where a cavity was struck, and the drill immediately sunk more than a
foot. Previously the natural oil was obtained by pumping from salt-wells, or
from pits, as above described ; the processes being slow and laborious, ami
the product small. But here was a vein of oil struck in such quantity, that it
rose in the well to within five inches of the earth's surface, and yielded four
hundred gallons of oil a day, unmingled with water.
This unparalleled and splendid success opened up to people's imagina-
tions the most tremendous possibilities. Excitement ran high. Attention was
OF THE UNITED STATES.
773
oil-producing terri-
le of the belt. At
elt crosses beneath
Kean and Bradford
between the I'hila-
tern. The want of
country was scarcely
Its appearance in
ed very detrimental
lat account the sight
■ as the commence-
;et in Western Penn-
jbling up with water
wed to accumulate ;
oil (which floated on
ig out into tubs. A
lers along Oil Oeek,
; oil from his neigh-
of a horse, and thus
hty miles ; and it is
n Franklin (Venango
he entire product of
Pittsburgh for about
ably to illustrate the
erica during the first
development in this
rhen an artesian well,
k Oil Company, near
ingled with oil. We
mization, its previous
L. Drake to under-
sixty-nine feet and a
y sunk more than a
Ig from salt-wells, or
w and laborious, and
such quantity, that it
ace, and yielded four
to people's imagina-
high. Attention was
directed to the locality, and to the new mode of procuring this abundant
product. I'jiterijrise was stimulated to a remarkable deuree. „
i> 1 1 .1.1,1,, . Excitement
hverybody wanted to buy land, and to bore. I'ropciiy rose im- produced
niensely in value for miles around : the field of operations was ^^ "^'''
rapidly extended down Oil Creek and Alleghany River, and nu- ^'"°^"'*'"
merous wells were sunk. Few of them paid, however ; and a slight re-action
soon set in. It siiculd be remarked, that as yet jnunps were necessary to
extract the oil; and hence the year of 1X59, with its great accomplishments,
was rather a period of promise than of realization.
The great element of success in the oil-industry was the use of the artesian
well ; but a better application of tiie principle was necessar)'. In i860 some
one conceived the idea of sinkinir wells to a L'reater depth than r.
*- 01 ueeper weUs
formerly, believing that the more productive veins were deeper reach richer
down. Accordingly wells were bored to the third stratum of sand- *"pp''*"-
rock, alternately piercing shales and other deposits, and going to the depth of
several hundred feet. The result of this experiment was startling. An accumu-
lation of oil and gas was struck, which was under such heavy internal pressure
that the boring-apparatus was hurled from the whole length of the bore, and
the contents of the vein gushed forth in a torrent of great impetuosity. These
wells were tubed and secured with great ilifficulty, and the science of managing
them necessarily attained great development in a short time. The cjuantity of
oil now obtained was vastly increased, some wells flowing as much as three
thousand or four thousand barrels a day for a long time. This yield was not
steadily maintaineil, however, the ([uantity and force of the discharge lessening
gradually, — sometimes suddenly antl unaccountably when oil was struck near
by, — imtil pumi)ing became necessary in the course of a few weeks or
months ; and, finally, wells that had made their owners a huge fortune would
become improduitive. Old wells were known, though, sometimes to recover
some of their former productiveness.
From the year i<S6o the develoi)ment of the petroleum-industry was so rapid
and vast as to be without a parallel in .American history, all things considered.
Though the oil-lands proper were contained within a small geo- ^^^ sudden
graphical area, the influence of the excitement and greed of gain and vast de-
thereby aroused extended all over the country, and even to foreign veiopmentof
^ -1 '*'" industry.
lands. C'ompanies were formed to bore for oil in thousands of
places where traces of petroleum had been noticed for years previous. Land
that was theretofore, and even then, worthless, brought fabulous prices. In the
oil-region itself it was next to impossible to buy land. The business of getting
out and refining oil grew like Jonah's gourd. Derricks, tall, strange, but useful,
sprang up l)y the thousand. Cities, even, came into being almost in a day.
Huge fortunes were made in weeks. There was a new class of shoddy aris-
tocracy created by the wealth ]iroduced by petroleum. The ignorant but
\ucky, the low but shrewd, suddenly became immensely rich. New branches
'KVfi:'
l|"'1
W^'-^
*>^r' (.■,,,
774
IND US TK/A L II IS TOK Y
n:
of industry essential to the operations of tlie oil-interff-t — improved mininj^
apparatus and processes, railroad extensions, new kinds of cars, pipe-lines,
oil-boats, tanks, refineries, barrel-facuries, lamp-factories, ship-building, co-i)|)-
erative organizations of producers, transporters, refiners, and exporters — were
reciuired to meet the exorbitant anil pressing demands of the petroleum-traffic.
Hanking, insurance, and other interests, were reciuired to enlarge their tacilitics.
Tile arteries of <lomestic trade ar. ' transportation were made to jjulsate with
unnatural life and vigor, and our whole business-system was ([uickened into
abnormal activity. Our foreign commerce was rapidly extended, petroleum
leaping to the third rank among our exi)orts inside of fifteen years.
Hut the lowering of ])rices in consetpience of increased production ruined
many owners of small wells. Speculators bought land at high prices wlii( 1\
proved good for nothing. Money was lavished on derricks and boring-im|)lc-
ments and labor, which never returned tiic ailventurers one single cent ; and,
as the money was often borrowed, the chain of indiviilual disaster sometimes
had several links. The world hears mostly of men's successes, and little of
their failures ; but along the pathway of the petroleum-interest's progress are
strewn a host of wrecks of fortune.
It is necessary tiiat one know something about the ex])erimcnts which had
been made to produce artificial illuminating-oil before he can fully understand
how C(j1. Drake came to bore for natural oil, and also how the way
was opened for promjnly utilizing these newly-discovered pnxhu ts.
Nearly tliree centuries ago coal gas was discovered in Kngiand.
though it was not used until about 1 792. The exi)eriments connected with its
manufacture yieldetl also various natural oils, and Swiss and French chemists
set themselves to utilizing these. Mr. James Young of Hathgate, Scotland.
took out a patent for distilling oil from coal in 1850, and later got one out in
the United States, which expired in 1.S71. The product of the first distillation
was a dark, crude oil, which it was necessary to refine before using. ( )ur
word "petroleum" means rock-oil, and api)lies more particularly to the natiinil
product distilled from carboniferous sliales in Nature's laboratory by the iuiu r
heat of the earth. The artificial product from distilling coal is known as
"kerosene." The crude oil in each case, however, is very much tiie same in
composition, as are also the refinetl oils from the two sources.
The Kerosene Uil Company founded the first distillery and refinery in this
country, on Young's system, at Newtown Creek, L.I., in 1S54. They utili/cd
I'lrst refine- hitmr.inous coal. The business ra])idly extended, especially in
ry in United Oiiio, where soft coals alK)und ; and in 1S60 there were no less
than twenty-five refineries in that. State alone, six in Kentucky, one
in St. Louis, eight or ten in Virginia, ten in Pennsylvania, five in the immediate
vicinity of New- York City, and seven in New Kngiand.
Coincident with the distillation of an illuminating-oil from coal were experi-
ments to perfect a lamp that would bum it. Used as our old sperm-oil 01
Early exper
iments in
refining oil.
OF THE UNITF.l) STATES.
775
>,.<
— improved mining
of cars, pipe-lines,
ihip-buililing, co-oi)-
11(1 exporters — were
lie petroleum-trat'tie.
iila'ge their facilities,
lacle to pulsate with
was (iiii( kened into
extended, petroleum
en years.
,'d production mined
It high ])riccs wlii( i\
ts and boring-imi)ie-
le single cent ; and,
il disaster sometimes
:cesses, and little of
iterest's progress are
pcrinicnts which lia<l
can fully understand
md also how the way
-discovered products,
overed in Kngland,
ts connected with its
md French cheiniNts
Halligate, Scotland,
later got one out in
)f the first distillation
before using. < >ur
cularly to the natunil
)oratory by the iuiui-
l; coal is known as
much the same in
CIS.
and refinery in this
S54. They utilized
ended, especially in
3 there were no less
,ix in Kentucky, one
ive in the immediate
)m coal were experi-
)ur old sperm-oil 01
r\
,i i-i
1
...:■:■' .■•^^mt^m
776
/XDi'S TKIA I. ms TOR Y
SH
BUieir*
experiment!
spirit-gas was, kerosene had a dee]) red (lame, and ),'ave off smoke an<l an
KaroMita- ulfensive odor. 'I'lie invention of tlie modern Imrner and rinnnu-y
lamp. (,, inaki. (In; consuniption ( omplete, clarity the (lame, and avoid tiif
smoke and sten«h. was larj,'ely the work of Americans, thonj;h the Austrians
assisted greatly. 'I'he kerosene-lam]) was ])racti( ally jjcrfeded helore 1X60.
'Thus it will be seen, that, while kerosene wai not jirodiiccd in large endiigh
<juantities to bring it into very common use, it was widely known, ami all tlu
Eveieth ft (acilities for its use were devised. It only remained to (ind the
natural oil in large ipiantities, therefore, tt) make it chea]). and its
use universal. I'or this latter ( onsununation the worl<l is indebted
to Cleorge H. Missell, formerly of the firm of I'Aeleth & Uissell. In the sum
mer of 1853, while visiting friends at Dartmouth College, where he had gradii
ated, and whither he had now come from New Orle.ms in |>ursuit of healtli,
he was shown a bottle of crude i)etroleum taken Irom the neighborhood of
Titusville, Fenn. .About this time he met a former New-Orleans friend, Mr.
Eveieth, and broached this subject to him. They went next year to Venango
(-ounty, and leased the ])rin( ijial oil-rtgion for ninetv nine years, free of roy.ilty,
paying only five thousand dollars outright. 'I'lie lands were trenched, and the
accumulating surAu:c-water and oil were |>iuni)ed into vats by one hired man
and the a])])ar;itus of a saw-mill. 'I'hree barrels of oil were taken then( e to
New Ilavtn in 1855 to be analyzed by Professor Henjamin Silliman, jun., the
exjK'nse being borne intirely by Kveleth iV Ihssell.
Elaborate and thorough tests were made, which showed that the petroleum
on distillation would yield a nmnber of distinct |)ro(hicts ; among them
Productidis- "''M''^''''*' "'' ^'i*-' hghtest and most colorless of illuminating-oils, a
covered from fine lul)ricating-oil, -Iirk and heavy, ben/.ine, and i)araffine. The
analysis. ^j|^ \siix\i. found to p(.. ».>s certain advantages over other oils, su( h
as less tendency to thicken from cold. I'he gas manufactured from the ])etro-
leum could not be used with an ordinary burner, but gave a good (lame with
an argand.
This re|)ort excited great interest in New Haven, and cajjitalists there
wanted to buy a share in Kveleth & IJissell's interest. They obtained a third
thereof, the original i)roi)rietors retaining two-thirds ; and then they
over all united in forming a corporation known as "The Pennsylvania
Rock-Oil Com])any," whose aim should be the collection and sale
of oil from their lands. The work of trenching was continued ;
l)ut in 1857 it was i)ro])osed to sink an artesian well. This was not done,
however, until 1859, as stated heretofore. The work was done under the
direction of one of the stockholders, ("ol. K. I-. Drake, formerly a conductor
on the New- York and New- Haven Railroad. The result of his experiments
we have already stated.
The transi)ortation of oil is one of the most imjiortant of its dejiendent
JQterests. Next after knowing how to utilize a natural pro(hict, and how to
Silliman's
report.
OF THE VNlTF.n STATF.S.
777
,L' off smoke and an
1 burner and chinnuy
• tlanu', and avoid llu'
thotiuli the Austrian-,
-(ted liefore iS6o.
hired in lar^e enough
ly known, and all the
remained to lind tlie
lake it ( hea)). and its
the world is iniKlilcil
Itissell. In the siiui
•, where he had gradu
s in pursuit of healili.
the nclKhhorhood ol
L-w-()rleans friend, Mr.
next year to Venan^;i»
10 years, free of royalty,
rere trenehcd, and the
vats hy one hired man
were taken thence to
unin Silliman, jun., tlie
ivei
1 that the petroleutti
odiuts ; amon^; them
of illuminatinji-oils, a
■, and parart'ine. The
over other oils, sue h
•lured from the jietro-
ive a good flame witii
and rajiitalists there
They obtained a third
i-thirds ; and then they
as "The Pennsylvania
le collection and sale
ichin^ was continued ;
riiis was not done,
was done under the
formerly a conductor
lilt of his experiments
•tant of its dependent
product, and how to
derive it, the work of carryinj; it from the point of production to the places of
• onsiimption, or at least to the ^reat centres of <listril)ution, is the most essen-
tial fe.iture t)f the interest ; and tiiis is pet uliarly true of petroleum. 'The two
modes of i onveyaiu e utilized at first in the oil-region of i'eiinsylvania were
horse-power and barges.
A barrel of oil weighs about three hundred and sixty poumls. and .seven or
. iglit of these made a load for a team. Sik h was tiie immense amount of
uaming to be done, and so reniimerative were the rates at first. Transport-
ihat small fortunes were made by the projirietors of single estab- '"«o"-
lishments. A thousand teams would often go over the roads from the wells to
■,(iiiie large town the >ame div ; and the mu<l formed by the rain, tlie le.ikage
III oil, and the travel, was soinetiiing fearful. Wagons and teams would often
he ruined in a few days by this severe usage ; but the profits would enable a
111. in to buy anew viry fretpiently without loss. Hut teams were not relied
ii|i(pn, wiiere, ,is was ot'ten the ( ,ise, w.iter-transportation could be had.
I'he oil-region lies along the valleys of Oil Creek and the Alleghany River;
and the wells were never very many miles away from these two streams, and often
(lose to them. .\t first barges were used to carry barrels : after- u»e of
wirds the oil would be dist barged right into liarges made especiallv ''»'K'=»-
for the puri)ose. .\t first liiese recept icles. holding anywhere from twenty-five
barrels to twelve hundred, would be without decks or jiartitions, and thus were
e.isily upset and emjitied : afterwards bulkheads were put in to keep the oil
i'.din being shaken aliout. and to prevent the craft's balance being easily dis-
tiiri)ed. A vast amount of tiinl)er was used in maki'ig them, and the yards
wliere they were built and kejit would show many s(|uare acres of closely-
arranged boats.
The " pond -freshet." a deluge of stored water in Oil Creek, had for many
years been resorted to by the lumbermen of that region in order to carry their
numerous and immense rafts down the shallow stream to the "Pond-
.Mleghany. These rafts, of course, were swept down simultane- ''"het."
ously ; and the great jierils and catastrophes made the occasions highly excit-
ing and dangerous. The adoption of this expedient to carry down the oil-
liarges, in fleets of about two hundred at a time, led to even greater casualties
and adventure than ever. 'I'he price which the shippers paid the owners of the
(lain for a pond-freshet varied from a hundred dollars to two hundred and fifty,
although as high as four hundretl dollars has been ])aid. This was raised by
assessment, the cost being but a few cents a barrel, the oil brought down by
one freshet otten amounting to fifteen thousand or twenty thousand l)arrels;
but there is record of fortv thousand barrels coming down at one time. Pitts-
Imrgh, at the junction of the .Mleghany and Monongahela Rivers, was long the
great centre where the oil-shipments accumulated and were distributed ; and a
fleet of a thousand barges and tow-boats was used on the Alleghany and Ohio
Rivers.
778
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
' !
J
Pipes.
But the railroad companies were soon alive to the imperfection of horse
and boat transportation. All the existing lines in Western Pennsylvania rap-
idly made extensions, and numerous local roads were built by new
Railroads. to^i.i-i^ .
corporations. By 1807 the whole oil-region was covered witli ,1
network of railroads ; and from this circumscribed area many threads of com-
munication reached out toward Ohio, Lake Erie, Buffalo, Olean, Philadclpliin,
Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. The many new towns and villages built up by the
oil-interest had the most perfect railroad-connection with the outside world.
The oil, whether pumped or spouting, was discharged into elevated sheet-iron
tanks of enormous capacity ; from these were extended pipes of greater or
less length to the branch railroad-tracks ; and platform-cars bearing tanks of
from forty to fifty barrels' capacity were thus very easily freighted. The refin-
ing-interest was then developed rapidly at great distances from the prochu int;
region ; but it was confined principally to a few cities either on the Atlantic
seaboard or on Lake Erie.
A still greater step in oil-transportation was taken when the constniction
of long pipe-lines from the oil-region to large cities was undertaken. Iron
pipes of two inches diameter, closely jointed, are laid in shallow
trenches, generally along the railroad-lines. As the cold cannot
affect them, they work as well in winter as in summer. Oravitalion usually
causes the oil to flow through them with sufficient rapidity, althougii pumping-
engines are sometimes employed. The pipe companies receipt for the amount
taken into their pipes from the tanks, as shown by the gauges, and agree to
deliver the registered quantity at the termiiuis of their line, often hundreds of
miles away. This being the cheapest method of transportation, producers are
forced to utilize it, or lose money. .As the pipe-lines have been bought up
and concentrated by a few persons, the transportation of crude petroleum
from the place where it is produced to the place where it is refineil and
marketed is in the hands of a monopoly, who are thus able to control the
markets of tiie world ; and, as the refining and exporting have likewise been
centralized and allied with the pipe-line interest, the production and price of
oil are com])letely controlled by the " ring."
Before proceeding briefly to state the development the oil-interest lias
attained, and to consider the probable future of the production, it may be
Loss of oil by remarked, that few industries of the country have been and are
fire and affected by catastroplie so easily and suddenly as the pclroleui...
°° ' Fire and flood have done dam."ge at one time or another to
petroleum in large quantities, and not only wrought the ruin of proprietors and
speculators, but have decidedly affected the general market. A crush of oil-
boats in an ice-gorge in December, 1862, at Oil City, robbed the owners of over
fifty thousand barrels of oil, and involved a loss, real and contingent, of fne
hundred thousand dollars. Before the event, the ice-blockade in the river and
the scarcity of oil at Pittsburgh put the price up to thirty-ono and thirty-two
¥m
OF THE UNITED STATES.
779
imperfection of horse
em Pennsylvania rap-
aads were built by new
)n was covered with .■>
many threads of com-
o, Olean, Philadclphi;i,
•illages built up by tin-
vith the outside world.
nto elevated sheel-irdn
ed pipes of greater or
i-cars bearing tanks of
' freighted. The refin-
es from the producini,'
, either on the Atlantic
when the construction
was undertaken. Iron
ited, are laid in shallow
;. As the cold cannot
er. Gravitation usually
dity, although puniping-
ps receipt for the amount
ic gauges, and agree to
line, often hundreds of
portation, producers are
s have been bought \\\>
on of crude pctrolenni
vhere it is refined ami
lus able to control the
ing have likewise been
roiluction and price of
ent the oil-interest lias
production, it may be
ntry have been and are
cnly as the petrolem...
nc time or another to
ruin of proprietors m-'A
arket. A crush of oil-
bbed the owners of over
and contingent, of five
)lockade in the river ami
thirty-one and thirty-two
Production.
cents a gallon : a few days after the disaster, when the channel was open, the
price was only nine cents, and it kept receding the rest of the winter. The
next year forty large oil-boats were burned on the creek ; and one of them
burned up a fine suspension-bridge ac franklin, the total loss amounting to a
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The drifting masses of rose-colored flame
afforded at night a magnificent scene. The breakage of bulk in immense
quantities, and the catching fire of oil on the water, have also wrought
devastation to wharves and shipping for miles. Spouting-wells have taken fire
from adjacent engines, and bursting tanks that held thousands of barrels —
first flooding a wide area, including buildings, wells, and machinery, and then
becoming ignited — have also figured prominently in the many disasters that
are recorded in petroleum's history.
There are no statistics to show the amount of oil produced in 1859 ; but
the owners of the Drake well at first controlled the supply, and kept the price
at twenty dollars per barrel the last four months of the year.
During i860 the price ranged from two dollars to twenty dollars,
the average being nine dollars and sixty cents. The production rapidly
increased the latter part of that year and through 1861. While the home-trade
was hardly developed, still less was the export trade. The overstocking of
the market without sufficient outlet ran the price down to ten cents a barrel
during a good part of 1861, the average for the year being forty-nine cents.
In 1862 our foreign trade had become immensely developed, amounting to
10,387,701 gallons, or 250,000 barrels. In 1863 we nearly trebled this, and in
1864 had quite done so. Our total product in 1864 was over 1,000,000 bar-
rels, of which we exported three-quarters. Ten years later, our export was
nearly 6,000,000 barrels, — an increase of eightfold; and, as the exports bore
about the same relation to our home-consumption, the total production had
risen to between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 barrels. This increase was not at
an even rate; yet it was steady. In 1864 the price advanced to an average
of seven dollars and sixty-two cents a barrel, a slight check in the production
having been experienced, and the outlet having been enlarged. During the
next six years it fluctuated between nine dollars and a half and three dollars.
From 1872 to 1876 the average export was over 5,000,000 barrels. In the
last-named year the exact export was 6,594,237 barrels out of a total product
of 10,191,452. The value of the export of 1876 was a trifle under $50,000,000,
and of the total product about 575,000,000. In 1877 our product was in-
creased about one-third ; but the price fell off neariy one-fifth on an a\erage
for the year, and for all grades of oil and residuum. The yield might be
said to have been worth nearly $90,000,000.
This is neariy equal to the amount invested in oil-lands, tankage, and
ir.aclnnery for pumping crude petroleum. The railroads and pipe- capital in-
lines built especially for the petroleum interest represent $25,- vested.
000,000 or $30,000,000 of capital, and the refineries something less. Petro-
i||p«^
780
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
• 1 f
■! i
I
leum, therefore, pays over sixty per cent upon the capital invested annuall} ;
which shows the advantages of a monopoly controlling an interest.
It is a very interesting question, how long our petroleum-supply will hold
out. Thus far, while individual wells have always proved short-lived, our yitlil
Future sup- has Steadily increased through a period of eighteen years. Wo
P'y- have no rival in the world to fear at present, and our increase
keeps pace with the increasing demands of the world. The enlargement of
our yield might be more rapid, were that of the demand likewise; and if (jil
shall be found in other quarters of the globe in large quantities, and our pro-
duction is necessarily reduced in order to avoid overstocking the market, wc
shall be more economical in the exhaustion of our treasure. But the best
judges seem to think that the supply is practically unlimited, as is that of
our coal. Though it may have filtered hundreds of miles laterally from
the point of its formation, owing to the porous character of some of the adja-
cent strata of rocks, the fractured condition of others, and the upheaval of vast
ranges of moimtains from the original level of their composite strata, there
is little question that the oil has been distilled from coal and from carbonifer-
ous shales that could not be used for fuel. As our enormous consumption
of oil does not equal the oil producing possibilities of the coal we conscnie,
as the shales have yielded oil beside that derived from the coal, and as we have
drawn on our coal-account with Mother Earth much more largely than on our
oil-account, it is reasonable to suppose that she will continue to honor o.r
drafts unlimitedly for many generations to coiiie.
9
O STATES.
al invested annual h ;
1 interest,
leum-supply will hold
short-lived, our yitld
eighteen years. \\e
ent, and our increase
The enlargement (if
I likewise ; and if ml
lantities, and our pro-
icking the market, we
easure. But the hest
ilimited, as is that of
f miles laterally from
of some of the adja-
id the upheaval of vast
:omposite strata, there
and from carbon ifer-
normous consumption
the coal we consume,
le coal, and as we have
are largely than on our
;ontinue to honor o«.r
BOOK V.
BANKING, INSURANCE, AND COMMERCE.
CHAPTER I.
BANKING.
EARLY COLONIAL PERIOD.
American
banking.
NO country has ever tried so many experiments in banking as the United
States. This is due to several causes. In the first place, while the
nations of the earth had from a very early day used money of ^ • j ,
various kinds, and individual money-lenders had practised their perimenuin
profession for centuries under more or less rigid governmental
regulation and protection, the idea of joint-stock corporations to
carry on the business, v/hose notes, properly secured, should form a popu-
lar currency, came into notice in the world only after the foundation of the
American colonies. Furthermore, the peculiar forms of colonial and national
government in this country, and the spirit of the people, to say nothing of the
lack of individual capitalists in early times, stimulated and gave free play to
business-enterprise to a much greater extent than was possible under the mo-
nopolistic and monarchical institutions of Europe.
As early as 1715, when the mystery of banking was first attracting the
attention of F^uropean financiers, John Colman of Massachusetts, and other
merchants, proposed to establish a bank which should issue notes, First Ameri.
the security therefor being land. A party immediately sprang up "" project,
which opposed this scheme, and which advocated, instead, a system of loaning
by the Provincial Government to the inhabitant, on interest payable annually,
which should be applied toward the public expenses. The governor and his
council refused to sanction Colman's project, and referred him to the legisla-
ture. Nothing daunted, he effected an association which presented the matter
to that body. The opposition there met them with a counter-proposal for the
issuance of a provincial loan to the extent of fifty thousand pounds ; and this
was adopted. Thus it will be seen that the government of the Bay State in its
early days was, as was eminently proper then, paternal in its helpfulness.
Inasmuch as the mercantile portion of the community regarded the above-
mentioned loan insufficient for their needs, and clamored for more, the Col-
783
ifrn
**■•
"'"ffft. i r f"
.V
ii
( i
n\\
It!
Ml
■ 11
if
i'
784
/A'/J ; 'J 7'AV// /, J//S : 'OK y
of the
system
man party were encouraged to continue their contest fur the establishment of
private banks of issue, but itiiout success.
The system of money-lending adopted by Massachusetts soon found favor
in other colonies, nearly all of which had tried the experiment before the
Extension breakiug-out of the Revolution. Menjamin Franklin heartily ap
jiroved the i)lan ; which, by the way, proved decidedly profitahlr
to the colonies which embarked in it. So long as the security
taken was ample, of course the taxjjayers incurred no risk ; yet there was ( 011-
stant danger of loans being based upon insufilicient security. This system, as
also that devised by Cohnan, was tried with occasional variation ; but all of
these experiments proved somewhat inefticient and siiort-livcd.
The first institution worthy of the name of a bank, organized in this coun.
try, was founded, not with any purpose of enriching those connected therewiiii,
Bank of "O"" ^^' K'cilitatiug ordinary trade, but of patriotically assisting tli&
North infant republic of the United States to achieve its national inde-
merica. pendence. At a meeting of citizens heltl in Philadelphia June 17,
T780. it was resolved to open a "security sul)scription to the amount of
three hundred thousand pounds, Pennsylvania currency, real money," the
same to be used in purchasing necessary supplies for Washington's army. At
this time the soldiers were in extreme need, and on the verge of mutiny ; and
the Federal Government was unable to make the requisite provision for the
emergency, although it was expected to re-imburse the subscribers ultimately.
Thomas Paine, the distinguished free-thinker, and at that time clerk of the
Pennsylvania Assembly, was active in promoting the scheme, and encloseil
five hundred dollars toward making up the fund to Blair McClenaghan, who,
as also Robert Morris, subscribed two hur.i'red pounds in hard money.
Four days later the matter was brought up in the Continental Congress,
which then met in Philadelphia, and a committee was appointed to
confer with the inspectors and din.ctors of the proposed institution.
Subsequently the committee reported a series of resolutions, whii h
were unanimously adopted, appreciatively recognizing the inten-
tion of the associators, accepting their patriotic offer, and pledging
repayment.
The eminent financier and patriot, Robert Morris, then superintendent of
finance, devised, in the spring of 1781, the system on which the bank should
ojjcrate ; and, on the 26th of Mi'.y, Congress approved it. In
riss connec- December the institution was by that body formally chartered as
the Pank of North .America, with a capital limited to 10,000,000
Si)anish silver-milled dollars. The amount of cajjital paid in by
the individual stockholders did not, however, exceed $85,000. The superin-
tendent of finance, to encourage the undertaking, subscribed 25250,000 to the
stock on behalf of the government ; but the national finances were so far
exhausted, that the bank was subsecjuently obliged to release $200,000 of the
Congres-
sional pro>
ceedings
relative
thereto.
tion there
with.
OF THE UXITED STATES.
785
the establishment oi
ietts soon found favor
.'xpcrinicnl before llic
I Franklin heartily aj)-
;(1 ilecideilly profitable
) long as the security
sk ; yet there was < on-
urity. This system, a*
il variation ; but all of
t-lived.
organized in this coun^
se connected therewith,
atriotieally assisting tlm
lieve its national inde-
n Philadelphia June 17,
tion to the amount of
;ncy, real money," the
A'ashington's army. At
f verge of mutiny ; and
:iuisite provision for the
; subscribers ultimately.
that time clerk of the
scheme, and encloscil
air McClenaghan, who,
in hard money.
Continental Congress,
\mittee was appointed to
le proposed institution,
ies of resolutions, which
recognizing the inten-
iotic offer, and pledging
then superintendent of
which the bank should
igress approved it. In
y formally chartered as
limited to 10,000,000
of cajMtal paid in by
$85,000. The superin-
cribed 25250,000 to the
il fmances were so far
elease $200,000 of the
subscription, a.id its remaining stock paid in was sokl to i)ersons in Holland.
The bank was opened for business on Jan. 7, 1782. Hefore the month of
July following it had loaned to the government $400,000, and to the State of
Pennsylvania $80,000.
' \ M
KOIIRRT MORRIS.
The legislature of Pennsylvania granted the company an act of incorpora-
tion of perpetual duration on .Ajjril i, 1782, which was repealed in 1785 ; but
the bank coi..inued its business under the act of Congress. A
1 e 1 1-1. ,,.,. Further his-
change of parties in 17S7 brought with it a renewal of the charter tory and
by the State of Pennsylvania, limited, however, to the term of four- """ess of
teen years, with a capital of $2,000,000. In 1790 Hamilton, in
his report, refers to the " ambiguous situation in which the Bank of North
America has placed itself by the acceptance of its last State charter," and
concludes, that as this has rendered it a l)ank of an individual State, with a
capital of but $2,000,000, liable to dissolution at the expiration of its charter
in fourteen years, it would not be expedient to accept it as an equivalent for
a bank of the United States. The State charfer of the bank was renewed
from time to time until Dec. 3, 1S64, when it became a national bank, retain-
ing its original name, with a capital of $1,000,000, and a surplus of nearly
the same amount. .Although such was not originally intended to be the case,
^\^ tl i I
^^ i!
V\ k^s\
■ fS
M i
A
''*>»«»_
^^l!
(frS' ' ' ' '■'
786
/A'D L'S TRIA L HIS TOR Y
Alexander
Hamilton
moves (or
a national
bank.
the institution has proved profitable to the stockholders; for the annual
dividends from 1792 to 1875, a period of eighty-four years, averaged only a
small fraction less than eleven per cent.
FIRST HANK OF THE UNITF.D STATES.
The experiment of the Hank of North America had demonstrated tlic
value of an institution which should make loans to the government as well
as to i)rivate individuals ; which should take and i)lace govern-
ment bonils as our " syndicates " do now ; arid which should
furnish the people a secure paper currency to sup[)le"ient tin
limited amount of coin in circulation. lUit Alexander Hamilton,
the great Federalist, who had been so influential in securing the
adoption of the new Constitution in 1787, and who was Washington's first
secretary of the treasury, held that the Hank of North America had then
become a State institution, and that a National bank should be organized.
Kngland had such a one, and France also. With a foresight which has
been singularly justified by the experience of the country with greenbac ks
at a later day, he objected to the issue of paper money directly by the
government, as of " a nature so liable to abuse, and, it may even be aftinued,
so certain of being abused, that the wisdom of the government will be
shown in never trusting itself with the use of so seducing and dangerous
an expedient." Accordingly, in an elaborate report made Dec. 13, lyi^o,
covering the above points, he recommended the incorjwration of the
Bank of the United States ; and his plan, substantially unchanged, was
adoptetl by Congress, and approved by the President, the 25th of the follow-
ing I'V'bruiiry.
l"he capital of the bank was fixed at $10,000,000. One-fourth of all the
private and corporate subscriptions was to be paid in gold and silver, and three-
its basis fourths were to be paid in United-States stock bearing six per cent
and govern- interest. Two millions were to be subscribed by the United States.
"*"*■ and paid in ten equal annual instalments by loans from the bank,
or, as Mr. Hamilton describes the operation, by " borrowing with one hand
what is lent witii the o' <er." The board of directors of the bank was
to consist of twenty-fivt persons, not more than three-fourths of them
to be eligible for re-election in the next succeeding ye.ir. The bank had
authority to loan on real-estate security, but could only hold such real
estate as was requisite for the erection of suitable banking-houses, or should
be conveyed to it in satisfaction of mortgages or judgments. No stock-
holder, unless a cit'-en of the United States, could be a director ; and the
directors were to g./e their services without compensation. The bills and
notes of the bank were made receivable in payment of all debts to the
United States.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
787
ers; for the annu;v\
.•ars, averaged only a
ES.
ad demonstrated the
e government as welt
;e and place govern-
• ; arid whiih should
:y to supple -lent tlu
t Alexander Hamilton,
icntial in securing the
was Washington's first
rth America had then
shouUl be organized.
a foresight which ha-^
luntry with greenbacks
money directly by tlu-
may even be aftirmcd.
,e government will \^^
jducing and dangerous
made Dec. 13, no"-
incorporation of the
itially unchanged, was
the 25th of the foUow-
One-fourth of all the
Id and silver, and three-
pck bearing six per cent
|ed by the United States,
by loans from the bank,
jrrowing with one hanii
[ctors of the bank was
three-fourths of thein
. year. The bank ha<l
a only hold such real
mking-houses, or shoul<l
Judgments. No stock-
|be a director ; and the
isation. The bills ami
nt of all debts to the
From the day it was first proposeil, the IJank of the United States was
a bone of political contention ; the Nortii favoring it, and the South disap-
proving. The line which divided its friends and foes was not only sectional,
but partisan : the Federalists, and subseciuently the Whigs, con- pomicai
stituting the former ; and the Republicans, or, as they were also sentiment
called, the Democrats, composing the latter. The original act of "B"'''"e't-
mcorporation was opposed in the House of Representatives by James
■\ ::u
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
Madison (afterwards President) and eighteen others, all but one of whom
were from Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas. Thomas Jefferson (then
secretary of state) and Edmund Randolph (attorney-general), in opinions
recpiested by Washington, also disapproved. The grounds taken by the
opponents of the charter were a denial of the general utility of banking
systems, and opposition to the special provisions of the bill ; but the main
W^^'
t'
■ t
■M
''1 ':-U'
■.-,1
&1
*^
.'i'
'Fa"
'.fh
788
IXDUSTRIAL HlSrORY
force of their objections was directed against the constitutional authority of
Congress to pass an act for tiie incorporation of a national bank. I'he
supporters of the bill in the House of Representatives numbered thirty-
nine, — a majority of twenty, — all of them, except four, being representatives
of Northern States, among whom were Fisher Ames, Flbridge (ierry, and
Theodore Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman and Jonathan i'runi-
bull of Connecticut, Elias Houdinot of New Jersey, and Peter Muhlenberg
of Pennsylvania. Hamilton (secretary of the treasury) and Knox (secretary
of war), in official opinions rendered to the President, maintained the con-
stitutionality and the policy of the act.
The average dividends of the bank from its organization to March, 1809,
were at the rate of eight and a half i)er centum per annum. The 5,000
Success of shares of J?400 each owned by the United States were disposed
the bank. ^f j,^ ^^ years 1 796 to i8o2 at a considerable profit; 2,2:;()
shares having been sold in the last-mentioned year at a premitmi of forty-five
per cent. .According to the treasury-records, the government subscription,
with the addition of the interest which was paid by the United States on the
stock issued for it, amounted to {f>2, 636,427. 71 ; while there was receiveil
by the treasury in dividends, and from the sale of the bank-stock at various
times, !?3,773,58o, the profit realized by the government being J?i, 137,152. 29,
or nearly fifty-seven per cent on the original investment.
The twenty-years' Umit of the bank's charter expired March 4, 181 1 ;
and application was made for its renewal in April, 1808. Again the ([uestion
became political, although party lines were not drawn strictly.
Congress investigated the matter in 1810. Mr. (lallatin, then
secretary of the treasury, favored the renewal, and said of tiie
first bank, that its affairs, " considered as a moneyed institution,
have been wisely and skilfully administered." The vote in tlic
Senate, Feb. 20, 181 1, resulted in a tie; and the Vice-President, George
Clinton, threw his casting vote against the measure. Henry Clay opposed it ;
while Mr. Crawford and Mr. Pickering favored it, the latter acting contrary
to the instructions of the Massachusetts legislature. The legislatures of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia instructed their representatives to oppose it on tiic
ground of unconstitutionality. In the House the bill was defeated by a
minority of one.
Financial evils of a serious character now ensued, and greatly distressed
the country ; the trouble being greatly augmented by the paralyzing e.Tec t
' upon industry of the embargo of 1807 and the war of 18 12-14.
flnandai In the first place, the State banks, and even unchartered institu-
eviu result- ^jons, inflated the paper currency until it sadly depreciated. In
181 1 the outstanding State-bank notes amounted to $28,000,000 ;
in 18 13, between $62,000,000 and $70,000,000; in 181 5, between $99,000,-
000 and $110,000,000; and in 1819, between $45,000,000 and $53,000,000.
Agitation
for renewing
the charter
unsuccess-
Jtul.
,nw
OF THE UNITED STATES.
7«9
tional authority of
tional bank. 'I'Ih;
numljcred thirty -
.'ing representatives
Ibridge Cerry, ami
nl Jonathan Tnim
I'eter Muhlenberg
1(1 Knox (secretary
laintained the roii-
on to March, iHog.
innuni. 'I'he 5.000
ilates were disposal
erable profit; 2,220
)remium of forty-five
rnment subscription.
United States on the
; there was receiveil
bank-stock at various
being 5i,i37.'52-29.
•ed March 4. »^" •
Again the (piestioii
; not drawn striilly.
Mr. (Gallatin, then
wal, and said of the
moneyed institution,
." The vote in the
ice-President, (leorgc
enry Clay opposed it ;
latter acting contrary
legislatures of Penn
[to oppose it on the
11 was defeated by a
and greaUy distressed
the paralyzing e.Te<t
A the war of 1812-14-
fn unchartered institu-
ladly depreciated. I"
lunted to $28,000,000 ;
I15, between $99,000,-
[000 and $53,000,000.
Floods of this currency were in fractions of a dollar, from six cents upward.
Much of this being irredeemal)ie, it passed for a great deal less than its face.
Again: in September, 1814, all of the banks south of New Kngland suspend-
eil specie payments, 'i'his also depreciated their notes. Furthermore, the
United States, which had not yet established treasure-vaults of its own, had
some $9,000,000 on deposit with the suspended banks, which numbered about
a hundred, and from which it could not recover its money for many years ;
in some cases, never. 'I'he government's own credit suffered in conse-
([ucnce. During 1813 and 1814 it issued stocks to the amount of $42,269,-
776, which were to run twelve years at six per cent, but which hati to be
solil at fifteen i)er cent discount. On F'eb. 24, 1815, the war being over, a
loan of $8,856,960, ruiming for nine years at seven per cent, was negotiated
at par; and yet another loan of $9,745,745 for only nine months, at six per
cent, yielded the following year only ninety-five per cent of its face. It
should be borne in mind, too, that, even while selling these bonds below par,
the government was obliged to receive paper money, which was worth mut^h
less than its own face ; so that its loss was double. These were the most
important results of the State-bank system during the interval between the
first and second banks of the United States, — from March 4, i8ii, to Jan. 7,
181 7.
On Oct. 6, 1 814, Mr. Dallas was appointed .secretary of the trea.sury ; and
on the 14th of the same month, in response to an inquiry from the Ways and
Means Committee of the Mouse of Representatives, he reviewed Another vain
all the evils just recounted in an elaborate and earnest argument, attempt at
and strongly recommended the organization of a national bank. "^ ^' "
I'his and the experience of the country revolutiu..ized sentiment in Congress ;
r.nd in January, 1815, that body granted a new charter to the old Rank of the
United States. But Mr. Madison, who had then been President nearly six
years, and who had opposed the establishment of the original bank, vetoed
the bill.
.sixoNP HANK or Tiir, umtf-h states.
On the loth of .April, 1816, a bill was approved by President Madison,
which was the second and last charter of the bank granted by the General
("lovernment. The plan proposed by Mr. Dallas was modelled Re-estab-
upon the charter of the firsi United-States Bank, and the act of "»hment.
incorporation as finally passed did not differ materially from the plan proposed
by him. The charter was limited to twenty years, expiring on March 3, 1836.
The capital was fixed at $35,000,000, $7,000,000 of which was to be subscribed
by the government, payable in coin, or in stock of the United States bearing
interest at five per cent, and redeemable at the pleasure of the government.
The remaining stock was to be subscribed for by individuals and corporations,
one-fourth being payable in coin, and three-fourths in coin or in the funded
^m
Ms
79°
IS'Dl'STRIAI. ///STONY
■* !
ir k
tieht of tlie United States. Five of tlie directors were to l)e appointed by the
President ; and ail of them were reciuired to be resident-citizens of the United
States, and to serve without compensation. The amount of indel)tedness,
exclusive of deposits, was not to exceed tiie capital of the bank. Tlie
directors were empowered to estai>lish branches; and the notes of the bank,
payable on demand, were receivable in all payments to the United .States,
The penalty for refusing; to pay its notes or «lei )sits in coin, on demaml, was
twelve per i ent i)er annum until fully paid. 'I'he bank was reciuircd to f,'ivi'
the necessary facilities, without i harge, for transferring the funds of the gov
ernment to different jiortions of the Union, and for negotiating public loans.
The moneys of the government were to be dej-osited in the bank and its
branches, unless the secretary of the treasury should otherwise direct. Nn
notes were to be issued of a less denomin.'^tion than five dollars, and all notes
smaller than a hundred dollars were to be made payable on demand, 'iiic
bank was not, directly nor indirectly, to deal in any thing except bills ol
exchange, goKl or silver bullion, goods pledged for money lent, or in il.e sale
of goods really and truly jiledged for loans, or of the pnx eeds of its lands.
No other bank was to l)e established by authority of Congress during the
continuance of the corporation, except such as mit'lit be organized in tlu'
District of Columbia with an aggregate capital not exceeding S6.ooo,ooo ;
ami, in consideration of all the grants of the charter, the bank was to pay to
the United States a bonus of 51,500,000 m three annual instalments. The
bank went into operation Jan. 7, 1.S17.
This period was particularly critical. Property had depreciated ; the con-
traction of State-bank circ-ulation w.is rapidly going on, and bank-failures were
Grave diffi- fre(|uent and numerous. Individual and corporate business-enter-
cuities sur- ])rises Were still languisiiing in conseiiuence of the war and cur-
mounte . j-^ncy evils. This made up-hill work for the new United-States
Bank. Its managers were still further embarrassed by an attack on them in
Congress. In November, 1818, a committee was appointed to investigate its
affairs, which, in December, reported that it had violated its < barter in four
instances, and in February, 18 19, recommended a repeal of the same. This
assault failetl, however, as the resolution did not pass. In the last-nameil
year, the bank, feeling the responsibility of its inlhience upon the business of
the country, made an herculean effort. It imported seven millions of spec ie
from Kurope in order to restore soundness to the currency. This enterprise'
cost it half a million ; and, owing to the mismanagement of the Haltimorc
branch, over three millions were lost outright. Yet the bank and the business
of the country eventually recovered. Popular industry and governmental
finance prospered from 1820 to 1835. In this interval the national debt was
paid, and the stock of the bank rose in the market until it commanded a
premium of twenty per cent. " I^ng before the election of Gen. Jackson,"
says Mr. Parton, " the bank appeared to have lived down all opposition. In
OF THE UNITED STATES.
79'
) 1)0 ai)i)ointe(l by llio
lili/.cns of the I'nitcd
unt of imlcbtcdncss,
of the bank. 'I'lu-
ic notes o{ the bank,
to the United Stales,
coin, on demand, was
was reijiiired to nive
the funds of the gov
gotiating i)\ibhe loans.
1 in the bank and its
otherwise direct. No
e dollars, and all notes
ble on deinaml. 'I'he
thing except bills of
ney lent, or in il.e sale
jmxeeds of its lands.
»f Congress during the
U be organized in the
exceeding S6.ooo,ooo ;
the bank was to pay to
nual instahnents. The
deiireciated ; the con-
, and bank-faihires were
orjjorate biisiness-enter-
e of the war and cnr-
ihe new United-States
an attack on them in
ointed to investigate its
ited its charter in four
eal of the same. This
ss. In the last-named
L- upon the business of
even millions of specie
rency. This enteri)rise
;ment of the Baltimore
e bank and the business
stry and governmental
1 the national debt was
until it commanded a
tion of Gen. Jackson,"
3wn all opposition. In
the presidential campaign of 1S-4 it was not so much as mentioned, nor was
it mentioned in that of 182S. In all the political pami)iilets, volumes, news-
papers, campaign-papers, burlesques, and caricatures of those years, there is
not the most distant allusion to the bank as a political issue."
In 1837, when the Federal charter expired, the bank's stock stood at
twenty-five per cent premium, and the institution was making money. The
profit realized by the government hi the mean time will be seen from the
following statement : —
Homis p.iid hy tlio l).ink to the llniled St.itcs .... $1,500,000 00
Diviilcmis paid hy the li.iiik to the United .States . . . 7,118,41629
Proceeds of stmks sold and other moneys paid l)y the bank
to tlie United States 9,424,750 78
Total
Fivc-iier-ceiit stwk i.s.sued by the United States for
its snbscriptioii to the .stock of the l)ank , >7. 000,000
Interest paid on :hc same from issue to redemption, 4,950,000
Profit
$18,043,167 07
11,950,000 00
$6,093,167 07
Andrew Jackson came to the presidency March 4, 1829, and soon began
a crusade against the bank. In i>is message to Congress the following winter
he advised a consideration of the constitutional objections to re- . .
•* Andrew
chartering the institution, .\gitation, mild at first, gradually in- jaci«son
creased. In Julv, 18-12, Congress granted a renewal of the '"»'<"«"
J ■' J ' t^ f' on tlie bank.
charter, and {'resident Jackson vetoed the bill. A few months
later an intention wxs manifested of removing from the bank all the govern-
ment deposits. In the winter of 1832-33 the House passed a resolution
declaring that these moneys were safe where they were. But the election of
the previous tall had insured a Democratic House to succeed this one. After
his second inauguration in 1833, therefore, the President ordered his new
secretary of the treasury, Mr. Duane, to remove the deposits, and distribute
them among certain State banks. That gentleman declined to do so, and
was therefore displaced by the President, who appointed Attorney-Gen.
Taney his successor. Mr. Taney e.xecuted the mandate of his superior, and
gave his reasons therefor to the new Congress on its meeting in December.
The Senate, by a vote of twenty-six to twenty, censured the President for what
it termed a usurpation of authority, and voted, twenty-eight to eighteen, that
the moneys had been sate where they were. The House, on the other hand,
approved the President's course, declared that the Bank of the United States
ought not to be rechartered. resolved that the State banks be continued as
depositories, and authorized the investigation of the bank and its branches.
Mr. Taney announced, that, while the new deposits would go to the State
banks selected as ilepositories, those already in the United-States Bank would
\H&
mm
m
k :'|p'
9 I ) '^.
792
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
only be removed gradually. Its managers, however, although it had specie
Results of enough in its vaults to meet a demand from the government in
removing the full,, made a pretence of fear of a sudden attack from the treas-
epos ts. ^j.y (Jepartment, and created an artificial stringency in the coin-
market. Meanwhile the State banks rapidly increased their issues of paper, the
increase being from $61,000,000 in 1830 to $149,000,000 in 1837. Whereas
in 1830 a committee of the Senate had reported that " the country is in the
enjoyment of a uniform national currency (notes of the I3ank of the United
States), not only sound and uniform in itself, but perfectly adapted to all the
purposes of the government and the community, and more sound and uni-
form than that possessed of any other country," yet, but seven years after
this (on the loth of May, 1837), all the banks then - operation, with the
I mammoth United-States Bank of Pennsylvania among them, went into suspen-
sion a.s if by common consent, or, as Col. Benton has it, " with a concert
and punctuality of action which announced arrangement and determination
such as attend revolts and insurrections in other countries;" and he declares
that " the prime mover and master manager of the suspension was the Bank
of the United States, then rotten to the core, and tottering to its fall, but
strong enough to carry others with it, and seeking to hide its own downfall in
the crash of a general catastrophe." This allegation derives some supi)ort
from the report of the committee of the stockholders, made in January, 1841,
after the failure of the bank. They say, " The origin of the course of policy
which has conducted to the present situation of the affairs of the institution
dates beyond the period of the recharter by tne State." Favored by the
importation, of $20,000,000 of specie, the New- England and New-York banks
resumed in 1S38 ; but the Philadelphia banks made three unsuccessful attempts
before they finally accomplished resumption in February, 1841. But between
1837 and 1843 they had contracted their circulation from $149,000,000 to
$58,000,000.
The managers of the United-States Bank did not wind up its affairs when
the expiration of its charter drew near, but secured a new charter from the
State of Pennsylvania, which was issued Feb. 18, 1836, only thir-
o( the ifnu^ ^^^^ ^^^^ before the old one expired. Under this title it pro-
ed-states ceeded to do business as before. The new charter, however, was
^'"''" obtained on condition of assisting in State improvements, canals,
railroads, navigation companies, and turnpike-roads, to the extent of about
$5,000,000. Col. Benton regards this pledge as a form of bribery, in addition
to which he attributes the grant of the charter to ])ersonal corruption of tlie
legislature by the managers of the bank. The State never received its bonus,
however. The bank, as has l)cen seen, suspended specie payments as often as
other State institutions, and finally succumbed to trials which other banks,
more prudently managed, survived. It made an assignment of certain securi-
ties, on May i, 1841, to secure 5,000,000 of post-notes which other banks had
OF THE UNITED STATES.
793
Ithough it had specie
m the government in
attack from the treas-
tringcncy in the coin-
leir issues of paper, the
)0 in 1837. Whereas
' the country is in the
le Bank of the United
;tly adapted to all the
more sound and uni-
but seven years after
1 , ^ operation, with tlic
hem, went into suspen-
as it, "with a concert
lent and determination
ries ; " and he declares
spension was the Bank
loitering to its fall, but
de its own downfall in
1 derives some support
made in January, 1841,
Df the course of policy
iffairs of the institution
ate." Favored by the
d and New-York banks
:e unsuccessful attempts
ry, 1 84 1. But between
from ;^ 1 49,000,000 to
ind up its affairs when
new charter from the
eb. 18, 1836, only thir-
fnder this tide it pro-
|w charter, however, was
improvements, canals,
|to the extent of about
of bribery, in addition
lonal corruption of the
■er received its bonus,
ie payments as often as
als which other banks,
Iment of certain securi-
which other banks had
taken in exchange for its demand-notes. The second assignment was made
June 7, 1 84 1, to secure its notes and deposits, " amt,ii^ which were notes
and deposits of the late Bank of the United States, incorporated by Congress ; "
so that it appears to have been, up to 1 841, using its old issues. The third
and final assignment, made on Sept. 4, 1 841, covered all its remaining property,
— " to provide for the payment of sundry persons and bodies corporate wliich
the bank is at present unable to pay."
Nicholas Biddle had been the president of the bank from January, 1823,
to March, 1839, when he re-^'gned, leaving the institution, as he said, "pros-
perous." The shares, however, were sold at that time at iii, instead of 125
as in 1837, and were quoted in April, 1843, after iti failure, at i|-.
The liquidation of tlie bank is briefly stated in a letter to the national
comptroller by Thomas Robins, Esq., president of the Philadelphia National
Bank, who is believed to be the only sur\'ivor of its numerous assignees. He
says, " -Vll the circulating-notes of the Bank of the United States, together
with the dfposits, were paid in full, principal and interest ; and the accounts of
the assignees were finally settled in 1856. There were no funds, and no divi-
dend was paid to the stockhoklers of the bank : the whole $28,000,000 was
a total loss to them. The 7,000,000 of stock held by the United States previ-
ous to the institution becoming a State bank was paid in full to the government ;
so that the United States lost nothing by the bank." With this experience
in banking the government was long content.
The exigency of a civil war twenty years later required a fiscal agency
between the United-States Government and the people of the country and of
the world, by which the formerV- loans could be rapidly negotiated. ^^^ present
In the earlier days, the Bank of the United States had performed national-
this work : later, the syndicate of New- York bankers have accom- '" system,
plishcd it. But in 1861 the old expedient was too unpopular, and the new one
was not yet devised, if, indeed, it were practicable. Accordingly, Mr. Salmon
P. Chase, then secretary of the treasury, proposed to enact a general law pro-
viding for the conversion of State banks all over the country into " National "
hanks ; the transformation being fiicilitated by taxing the old banks, and grant-
ing special immunities and privileges to the new ones. The object of the law
was to effect the sale of government bonds extensively. This was brought
about by requiring the banks to in\est their capital in these bonds, and deposit
them at Washington as security for their circulation, which was allowed to
equal only ninety per cent of the bonds so deposited. This gave the govern-
ment ready money, and at the same time secured a uniform paper currency,
which was everywhere receivable, and equal to government notes or " grecn-
l)acks." The proposition did not meet with favor at first, however. A bill
was prepared, in accort.ance with the secretary's wishes, by tlie Ways and
Means Committee, in December, 1861 ; but such was the objection to it, that
it was laid aside for a time : indeed, it was not resuscitated until l'"el)ruary,
fi
794
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
1863, when the Finance Committee of the "Senate reported it to that body.
Ten days later it passed by a vote of twenty-three to twenty-one ; and eiglit
days afterward the House concurred, seventy-eight to sixty-four. Witiiin a
week the President iiad approved the measure, and it went into immediate
operation. This system has continued ever since, with no material modifica-
tion, and is .as nearly perfect as a banking-system can be. The security of the
SALMON P. CHASE.
•,Jf '
notes already referred to, their uniformity throughout the whole country, and
the rigid system of (juarterly statements, of reserves to meet a demand, and of
governmental inspection, account for the popularity with which the national
banks have been reganleil.
STATF, HANKS. — MASSACIU'SF.TTS.
We turn now to survey briefly banking under State auspices. Without
The second examining in detail the history of each jtarticular State, it will sufti( c
local bank in to note the <ourse of events in some of the rci)resentative sections
the United ^f jj^g couiitrv. We have already noted the failure of Colman's
States. ' •'
efforts early in the eighteenth century. But Massachusetts kept
the subject in mind, and was, therefore, peculiarly susceptible to the influ
lllfl''^
OF THE UNITED STATES.
795
State auspices, wiinoui
Kticvilar State, it will sufti( c
the representative sections
jd the failure of Colman's
But Massachusetts kept
y susceptible to the infln
ence of Pennsylvania's example. Already mention has been made of the Bank
of North America, which was opened in Philadelphia in March, 1782. The
success of this institution led, two years later, to the organization of the Massa-
chusetts Bank, which received its charter from the legislature on Feb. 7, 1 784.
This was the first local bank established in that State, and the second in the
United States. Its capital was limited to $300,000, of which $253,500 had
been paid in when it commenced business on July 5 of that year.
During the ninety-two years which have elapsed since this bank was estab-
lished, it has passed but two dividends ; the first instance occurring at the close
of the war of 1S12, and the second during the financial crisis of successor
1836. But, when the bank was converted into a national associa- theexperi-
tion, it compensated for these omissions by declaring an extra divi- ""'"*'
(lend of ten per cent. Up to June i, 1874, a period of ninety years, the ratio
of its losses to the total amount loaned was but four-hundredths of one per
cent. In the eighty years of its existence as a State bank, from 1784 to 1864,
tlie whole amount of circulating notes issued by it was $4,674,177, of which
the amount lost, or not presented for redemption, was $22,111, or not quite
half of one per cent.
No further bank-charter was granted by this State until 1792, in which year
the Union Bank was organized, with a specie capital of $1,200,000, of which
$400,000 was subscribed by the State. During this interval the
currency was in bad condition. Small bills had nearly driven tjon^'"'"
specie out of circulation, when, in 1792, the legislature prohibited ordered, and
any further issue of notes of a less denomination than five dollars, s""^" J^'"*
^ prohibited.
Provision was made for legislative examinations of the Union
Bank, and it was made the depository of the funds of the commonwealth. It
was also required to loan not ex(x*eding $100,000 to the State at five-per-cent
interest, and provisions of a similar nature api)eared in most of the charters
subsequently granted. In 1795 Massachusetts incorporated her third bank,
the Nantucket, with a capital of $40,000 ; and in the same year the Merrimack,
at Newburyport, was established. The prohibition against the issue of small
hills was waived in the case of these banks, each of them being allowed to
issue notes as small as two dollars.
It should be borne in mind tiiat the science of banking was, at this period
• if our history, in its infancy ; not only infancy of proi)ortion, but of idea. It
'.vas not yet understood exactly what tlic true province of a bank u^ygiop.
was. nor yet what was the best way to make such an institution mentof
secure. Then, too. as an inheritance from the mother-country and scientific
' '^ tjankingt
past ages, the grant of the privilege of banking was a special, not a
.uoneral one ; and, in return tiierefor, the grantees were expected to make some
particular return to the government. vVe have noticed this in the lionuses
exacted for the United-States bank-ch.arters both by the Federal (Government
anil that of Pennsylvania. We notice, in the case of Massachusetts, tiiat she
4:\ ■) ''kM'
796
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
exacted a loan from the Union Bank, the second she ever chartered. On the
other hand, the government took the institution under its special protection,
and insured success by subscribing a third or so of the capital of the proposed
bank. In nearly
all the charters
granted subse-
quent to the year
1 793 provision was
made for a State
subscription, usu-
ally about one-
^'*°^^)'^**-=^t^y ^'''Cii^F'^C^^^ third of the c^\^\-
Znmmjy ^^H^imM^ tal. under thL
provisions tlie
State became
largely interested in the banking-business, holding in 1812 about $1,000,000
of bank-stock, the total bank capital in the State being t'/^n about $8,000,000.
Colman's idea was to secure a bank's notes by mortgages on land. The
Colonies and States seem to have trusted largely to the character of the bankers
Govern- ^°'" ^onesty and good management to whom ch^irters were given.
mental But, by degrees, the necessity for some sort of surveillance began
nspection. ^^ |^^ ^-^j^ Provision haf' been made in 1792 for a legislative
examination, which, no doubt, was a pretty thorough and methodical tiiin.t;
in those days ; but this inspection was probably ordered, in a great measure.
on account of the Union Bank being a depository of State funds, and less
out of regard for the business-community. In 1799 ^ '^^^ '^^'^ passed
prohibiting the issuing of notes by unauthorized associations ; so that govern-
mental inspection had a greater value. This enactment was modelled after
one of the British Parliament in 1741 ; but its enforcement in New I^nglaml
almost produced a rebellion. In 1803 the examination was made an execu-
tive function ; and the banks were required to make out returns, like tiie
railroads and insurance companies in certain Sta:es now : these returns were
to be semi-annual, and to be sent to the governor and council. In 1805
another enactment required that they be sworn to.
But all this legislation was insufficient to make the bank-notes sound
money. The law prohibiting the issue of bills in smaller denominations than
Evils arising ^^^ dollars was violated, and notes as small as twenty-five cents
became very plenty. This drove specie out of circulation. The
banks issued larger notes, too, beyond reason ; and in 1809, when
the embargo had paralyzed cotumerce and trade, and business was depressed,
bank-notes were often at fifty-per-cent discount. The crisis was so great, that
several banks failed altogether. In 18 10 the legislature passed a law fixing a
penalty of two per cent a month for failure to redeem notes on presentation ;
which somewhat helped matters.
notwith-
standing.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
797
;ver chartered. On the
T its special protection,
capital of the proposed
bank. In nearly
all the charters
granted subse-
quent to the year
1 793 provision was
made for a State
subscription, usu-
ally about one-
third of the cai)i-
tal. Under these
provisions the
State became
1 1812 about $1,000,000
1 1!- ^n about $8,000,000.
mortgages on land. The
s character of the bankers
horn chijirters were given.
ort of surveillance began
in 1792 for a legislative
gli and methodical tiling
:red, in a great measure,
of State funds, and less
799 a law was passed
iations ; so that govern-
ment was modelled after
cement in New England
ion was made an exccu-
kc out returns, like the
now : these returns were
and council. In 1805
the bank-notes sound
aller denominations than
mall as twenty-five cents
out of circulation. The
ison; and in 1809, when
1 business was depresseil,
e crisis was so great, tliat
ire passed a law fixing a
notes on presentation ;
In 1799 Massachusetts had five State banks. The returns made in 1805
showed sixteen in operation, with a capital of $5,760,000, of which $5,460,000
had been paid in. Only one more was chauered before 181 1; for „
... • .. , History for
the interval was a very trying one for banks. In that year two more the nrst
were chartered, and nearly all the old ones were re-chartered, the i"_"f*<=r »'
new grants reducing the circulation from twice the capital to only '*'" "'^'
fifty per cent in excess. In 1812 the State began taxing the banks one-half of
one per cent on their capital.
The Massaciuisetts banks did not suspend in 1C14, as did so many others
all over the country ; which was attributable, in a great measure, to the fact that
the laws of the State imposed a heavy penalty for non-payment of their notes.
The whole number of banks chartered previous to Jan. i, 1825, was forty-nine,
with an authorized capital of $20,800,000. Of this number, however, nine
had either failed, discontinued, or had nevei gone into operation. Reductions
in capital of many of tiie remaining banks had also taken place, leaving at
the date named forty banks in operation, with $14,305,000 of authorized capi-
tal, of which $13,300,000 had been paid in ; so that, at tiie close of the first
forty-one years of banking in Massachusetts, not less than eighty-two per cent
of the whole number chartered, together with seventy per cent of the capital
authorizeil, still remained in existence. In this year the limit of circulation
was still further reduced to the amount of the capital paid in.
Two measures combined to raise the value of bank-notes : one was
forcing the banks to redeem on presentation at their own counter, and the
other was the initiation of a system by which other banks co- The Suffolk-
operated to secure such redenijjtion. In the present day, when Bank
government-notes and national-bank notes are current everywhere *y^*""-
at par, it is hard to realize how quickly a note depreciated at any distance
from the bank which issued it. This was especially the case with notes from
the banks of other States. There were no facilities for the holder visiting the
l)ank to demand payment, and there was a doubt whether he would get
the money if he did so visit it. In 1813 a movement toward a reform in the
hank-currency began. Bills of banks in other States were then at a discount
in Boston from three to five per cent, and the notes of Boston banks had
nearly disappeared. The New-England Bank, organized in that year with a
capital of $1,000,000, instituted the system of sending foreign bills for redemp-
tion to the banks whicli issued them, and charging the bill-holders only the
actual expense of transmitting the notes and returning the proceeds. This
was the beginning of the system of redemption afterward known as the Suffolk-
Hank system. This system was more fully developed at a later period (1825),
when five of the Boston banks — the Suffolk, Eagle, Manufacturers' and Me-
chanics' (now the Tremont), the (llobe, and State — undertook its manage-
ment. For a long time the system was bitterly opposed by those banks
interested in preventing a return of their circulation ; but it was eventually
V0
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
successful. Its exclusive management was finally assumed by the Suffolk.
Bank ; which bank compelled the redemption at par in Boston of the notes,
of the New-England banks by a system of assorting and returning the notes
to the place of issue, and its operations were continued down to the estali-
lishment of the national-bank svstem. The amount of New-England bank-
notes redeemed at the Suffolk Bank from 1841 to 1857 was as follows, in
millions of dollars : —
'■ ' I
DATE. MILLIONS.
I84I 109
1842 105
1844 I-()
184s '37
1S46 141
1847 165
1848 178
1849 '99
1850 210
i8S' 243
1852 245
'853 288
1854 23'
'85s 341
i8s<> 397
•857 376
The first really comprehensive banking law of Massachusetts was passed in
1829, under which new banks were required to have fifty per cent of their
Newieeisia- capital bona fide paid in specie before commencing business. It
tion for also prohibited loans to shareholders until their subscriptions were
•ecurity. entirely paid in, and limited the amount of loans on pledges of
its own stock to fifty per cent of the capital. Th^ limit of circulating-notes
was increased to twenty-five per cent in excess of the paid-in capital ; and
debts due to or from any bank, exclusive of deposits, were restricted to twice
the amount of such capital, the directors being held personally liable for any
excess. On Jan. i, 1837, there had been organized in all a hundred and
thirty-eight banks, with an authorized capital of $40,830,000. Of this num-
ber, four had never gone into operation ; while, of the remaining hundred and
thirty-four, no less than thirty-two had either failed, or had forfeited or sur-
rendered their charters, in consequence of the financial panic of that year.
The nominal capital of the banks that failed was $5,500,000 : their liabilities
were $11,283,960, of which $3,133,129 was for circulation, and $1,577,738 for
deposits. The loss to their shareholders was estimated at $2,500,000, and to
the public at $750,000 more ; making a total loss of about $3,250,000. or
nearly thirty per cent of their entire indebtedness. During the fifty-two years
from 1784 to 1836 ten banks only had failed or discontinued, the total losses to
OJ'- THE UNITED STATES.
799
ssumed by the Suffolk
in Boston of the notes
ind returning the notes
jed down to the estab-
of New-England bank-
1857 was as follows, in
MILLIONS.
. 109
. 105
. 126
• '37
. I4<
. 165
. . 1-8
• 199
, . 220
. 243
• 245
. 28S
• 231
■ 34«
• 397
• 376
ssachusetts was passed in
k-e fifty per cent of their
lonimencing business. It
il their subscriptions were
of loans on pledges tif
limit of circulating-notes
the paid-in capital ; and
, were restricted to twice
1 personally liable for any
d in all a hundred and
),830,ooo. Of this num-
le remaining hundred and
, or had forfeited or sur-
ncial panic of that year.
,500,000 : their liabilities
ation, and ;?i,577,738 '<"■
ted at $2,500,000, and to
of about $3.250'Ooo- "■■
During the fifty-two years
itinued, the total losses to
their shareholders and the public probably not exceeding a third of a million of
dollars. One of the results of this crisis was the atloption by Massachusetts
of a system of official examinations of the banks through the agency of a board
of bank-commissioners, who were required to make annual examinations of
every bank, and special ones whenever requested by the governor of the
State.
A free banking law was passed in 1851, very similar in its provisions to
that of the State of New York (to which we shall presently refer) ; but not
more than seven banks were ever organized under it, the system of chartered
banks, which had so long prevailed, mainly occupying the field down to the
time of the national banking system. Upon the establishment of ^^^^ ^^„^_
the latter system, the State diil much to facilitate the conversion ing law of
of State into National banks ; and the first institution to avail itself ''^'"
of this privilege was the Safety Fund Bank of Jio^,;on in 1863, under the title of
" The First National Hank of Boston." The conversions progressed so rapidly,
that in October, 1865, but a single bank remained doing business under a
State charter. At the latter date, of the hundred and eighty-three State
banks which existed in 1863, four had been discontinued, and a hundred ; .id
seventy-eight had become national banks.
A writer in "Hunt's Merchants' Magazine" for 1840 has compiled the
statistics of the dividends paitl by the Massachusetts banks in the last half of
each of the thirty-two years from 1808 to 1839 inclusive. As the profits of
State in 18 13 imposed an annual tax of one percent on bank Massachu-
capital, the writer mentioned separates the whoJe time into two ""»''■"''=•
l)eriods, and finds, that, for the five years eniling with 181 2, the average semi-
annual dividends paitl by all the banks was three dollars and seventy-two cents
upon each hundred dollars of capital ; while, for the twenty-seven years which
followed the imposition of the bank-tax, the average semi-annual rate was two
dollars and ninety-six cents per hundred. Taking the whole period of thirty-
two years together, the semi-annual average was about three and one-tenth
per cent. Assuming that the dividends paid in the first half of these years did
not differ materially from those paid in the last half, the average annual divi-
dends on capital were, for the first fi>e years, seven and forty-five hundredths
jier cent ; for the succeeding twenty-seven years, five and ninety-three hun-
dredths per cent; and, for the whole period, six and seventeen hundredths.
per cent ; or at the rate of about six and one-sixth per cent per annum for the
whole period. The average annual ratio of dividends to capital of the national
i)anks of Massachusetts from 1870 to 1876 was nine and six-tenths per cent,
and the ratio of dividends to capital and surplus for the same period was seven
and six-tenths per cent.
NEW YORK.
The Bank of New York began business in 1 784 under articles of associa-
ia
■:^m
8oo
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
I
tion drawn by Alexander Hamilton, who was a member of its first board of
Bank of directors. Thi? bank was ciiartcrcd by the legislature on March
New York, ji, 1791, and was the first bank in tiie State organized under Icgis
lative sanction, and the third bank in tiie United States. It was organi/cd
with a capital of ;^90o,ooo, in shares of $500 each. The State subsciiuentiy
subscribed for a hundred shares, making the capital ;i?95o,ooo ; and the bank
commenced business on Mov 2, 1791. In 1832 the capital was increased tn
$1,000,000 by a State subscriptior of 1^50,000, $15,000 of which was for tin
use of common scho>^!s. $20,000 for tnion College, and $15,000 for Haniiitdii
College. On May i, 1852, it was re-organized as a free bank under the gen-
eral laws of the State, with a capital of $2,000,000. On Jan. 6, 1865, ii
became a national bank, the capital having previously been increased to
$3,000,000. During its seventy-four years of existence as a State bank it paid
a hundred and sixty-two dividends, varying in amount from three to five pur
cent semi-annually, averaj';ing a little more than eight per cent jjcr annum, and
amounting in all to over six times its capital. Since it became a national
bank, dividends have been declared at the rate of ten per cent per annum.
The gross losses during the history of the bank amount to about $750,000 ;
having never exceeded one-cjuarter to one-half of one per cent of capital
during any single year, except during the intervals from 1837 to 1842, and
from 1873 to 1875. The bank was a favorite of the Federal party at the time
of its organization.
The two great features of State-banking in New York are the vast influenc e
politics have had thereon, and the great security devised by her laws. Tlu'
Partisan- ^""^^ charter granted was to Federalists ; and for several years nun
ship and belonging to the opposite party could secure charters only with the
'" "*' utmost difficulty, — a denial the more oppressive because they were
not treated at existing banks with the same accommodation as were Federalists.
The Republicans in New- York City having met with this latter experience, and
anticipating the former trouble, applied to the legislature for a charter for a
water company ; but a provision was artfully introduced which gave the corpo-
ration banking-privileges. The phraseology was not understood fully, and tiie
ruse succeeded. Thus was established the Manhattan Company in 1799
largely through the efforts of Aaron Burr, Hamilton's great rival. In 1792 tiu'
Bank of Albany had been chartered; but it was controlled by Fede^ -"lists.
Accordingly, there was soon a plea for a new bank to be run by Republicans. •
In 1803 some persons appealed to the legislature to charter the New- York
State Bank at Albany, and alleged that the other institution in that city was
very oppressive. The other twc neighboring banks — the Farmers' near
Troy, and the Columbia at Hudson — were also controlled by Federalists.
By admitting the Clinton and Livingston interest to the privilege of hold-
ing some of the stock (a privilege that was very valuable), the charter
was finally obtained from what would now be regarded as a Republicaii-
f.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
80 1
of its first board of
legislature on March
organizetl vmder legis-
:s. It was organi/x'd
lie State subseciuciUly
0,000 ; and the bank
pital was increased tn
of which was for the
$15,000 for Ilaniilton
bank under the gcn-
On Jan. 6, 1865, ii
aly been increased to
as a State bank it paid
from three to five per
L>r cent per annum, and
; it became a national
n per cent per annum,
unt to about $750,000 ;
nc per cent of capital
om 1837 to 1842, and
ederal party at the time
rk are the vast influent e
ised by her laws. 'I'hc
d for several years nun
■e charters only with tlic
:ssive because they were
Ltion as were Federalists,
s latter experience, and
ture for a charter for a
. which gave the corpo-
ulerstood fully, and ilie
:an Company in 1799
reat rival. In 1792 t'^'
ntroUed by Federalists,
le run by Republican^,
charter the New-Voik
jitution in that city was
— the Farmers' near
itroUed by Federalists.
the privilege of hold-
valuable), the charter
[ded as a Republican-
Democratic legislature. A clause was contained in Uic original bill, granting
the corporation tlie exclusive right to the Syracuse salt-springs on condition of
$3,000 a year being paid the State for tlie first ten years, §3,500 the next ten,
and $4,000 annually for the next ten ; but tliis was stricken out before enact-
ment. Tlie same year (1803) the Federalist interest sought a charter for the
Merchants' Bank of New-York City, but was refiised. A fresh application for
a charter was then made in 1S04, business having
been started and contiiuied unilcr articles of asso-
ciation ; but not only was this denied, but a re-
.straining act was passed, especially designed to
stop llieir furtiicr i)rocecdings. Indeed, not only
were tlie Democrats connected with Aaron Burr's
institution desirous of maintaining that and tlic
Maniiattan Bank as monopolies, but they thought
it very presuming in the Federalists to ask a
Democratic legislature to give them anv favors.
' WASHINGTON HALI'-DpLI.AR.
However, tlie petition was renewed ; and after
very hot debates and a violent altercation, in which two senators, both having
the title of judge, came to actual fisticuffs within the senatorial precincts, the
bill of incorporation i)assed the Senate by a majority of three votes.
This unnatural obstruction which partisanship placed upon legislation led,
very naturally, to the use of corrupt means to secure charters. There was no
particular contest after the one just mentioned until 1812, when Bribery in
ajjplication was niaile for a ciiarter for the Bank of .\merica with a bank legisia-
capital of $6,000,000. We have already stated how the Bank of *'°""
the United States paid both the Federal Government and the State of Pennsyl-
vania l)onuses for a charter. It was proposed to give New- York State $600,-
000 for this Bank-of-Anierica charter ; but it was demanded that no other
bank be chartered for twenty years. To catch votes, it was also provided that
immense loans were to be made tlie State to builil canals, and to the farmers.
Hut it was flirt lierniore evident that actual bribery was resorted to in both
houses of the legislature ; and when tlie Assembly had voted, fifty-eight to thir-
ty-nine, to give tiie ciiarter, and it was api)arent that the Senate would concur,
Cov. Tompkins prorogued the legislature. Later, a greatly modified charter
was granted instead. A clause was inserted in the Constitution of 182 1, wliich
rctjuired the assent of two-thirds of both brandies of the legislature in order
to incorporate a moneyed institution. Tlic only effect of the restrictive clause
was to increase the evil by rendering necessary a more extended system of
corruption.
Already reference has been made to the restraining law of 1S04. This \as
nominally to secure the public interest by preventing the circu- Therestrain-
lation of an unsound currency; but it is believed that it was en- '"eiaw.
acted in the interest of existing monopolies. It prohibited any person, under
i^-^U:
/ I
'^ A',
' -<.*■■ /Ill
i'M
8o3
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
FIRST UNITKU-STATKS UOLI.AK.
a penalty of i thcisand dollars, from subscribing to or becoming a member
of nr,y association for the purpost of receiving deposits, or of transacting any
other business which incorporated banks may or do transact by virtue of their
acts of incorporation. This law prohibited associations ci persons from doing
a banking-business ; but 'ndiviiluals and incorporated institutions subsequently
issued bills in denominations as low as six, twelve, twenty-flve, fifty, md
seventy-five cints. 'Jo prevent the Airtl^r
issue by irresponsible persons of currem y in
the similitude of bank-notes, which had become
a great evil at the close of the war of iSu,
the Restraining Act of 1 8 1 8 was passed ; which
. ])rovi(.led that no person, association of persons,
or body corporate, except such bodies corporate
as were expressly authorized by law, should keep
any office for the puqiose of receiving deposits,
or discounting notes or bills, or for issuing any
evidence of debt to be loaned or put in circu-
lation as money. This law remained upon the
statute-books for thirty-two years, and, after
various unsuccessful attempts, was finally repealed in 1837, — one year before
the passage of thi; free banking law.
From 1 79 1, when the Bank of New York was incorporated, until the
d>;claration of var with CJ-eat Britain in 181 2, nineteen banks were char-
PtogresBin tered, with an aggregate capital of $18,215,000. Ten ot them
banking;. g-^jn exist, and are institutions of high rank. Between 181 2 and
1829 tventy-four more were chartered, with a capital of $25,105,000, of which
$13,770,000 was for banks in New- York City.
As yet there had been no legislation looking to the security of bank circu-
lation, so little had the science of banking developed. But in 1829, when the
Safety-fund charters of some forty banks were about to expire, (lov. Van
banks. Buren recommended the passage of a law, which was enacted in
April of that year, pro\'iding a system of insurance of bank-notes 'n'.ecl
upon a custom prevalent among Chinese merchants. The law provide ' ihat
all new or rechartcred banks should pay an annual tax of one-half c
per cent on their capital stock until three per cent had been paic'
the fund should be used by the State treasurer to redeem the nou
pay the debts of insolvent banks. If the fuud became impaired at
time, new contributions were to be made to bring it up to a normal si/e.
The law a'lowed the issue of notes to twice the amount of the capital, and
loans to two and a half times the amount of capital. This safety-fund law did
not accomplish ?cs purpose. In 1841-42 eleven banks failed, whose cai)itnl
was $3,150,000: their liabilities, which the .State had to meet, amounted to
$2,558,933. These eleven banks had contributed but $86,274 to the safety
one
and
ind
any
-,. ' V'
VF THE UNITED STATES.
803
)r becoming a member
5, or of transacting any
nsact by virtue of their
i oi persons from doing
nstitutions subsequently
, twenty-<ive, fifty, ind
lo prevent the further
persons of currtMK y in
-.otes, which had l)ei()iue
)se of tlie war of 1812,
1818 was passed; whi< h
m, association of persons,
ept such bo(Ucs corporate
irized by law, shouUl keej)
ose of receiving deposits,
)r bills, or for issuing any
e loaned or put .n circu-
is law remained upon the
rty-two years, and, after
,827, — one year before
t incorporated, until the
leteen banks were char-
,215,000. Ten ol them
ink. Between 181 2 ami
of $25,105,000, of which
lie security of bank circn-
But in 1829, when the
jut to expire, dov. Van
aw, which was enacted in
ice of bank-notes '^n^ed
The law provide ' diat
il tax of one-half c one
It had been paic' . and
redeem the noic md
)ecame impaired at any
it up to a normal size.
pount of the capital, and
This safety-fund law did
lanks failed, whose capital
lad to meet, amounted td
nit $86,274 to the safety
fund; and even down to Sept. 30, 1848, all of tie- safcty-lund banks had
contrilnited hut 51,876,063. The State issued six-pi.T-cent stock to make
up the <len<iency, and was partly re-imbursed l>y new contributions from the
banks. I'he law was amended, liowever, in 1842, so that the safety-fund
became a security for (■ir(nilatinj,'-notes only, and no other debts.
Tlie law of 1829 also provided that there should he three commissioners
to examine the hanks, and report annually to the legislature on the condition
of those instittilions. I He law provided that one commissioner Bank com-
should be appointed by the (lovernor and Senate, one by the missioncrg.
banks of the south( n\ part of tlie State, and one by the remaining banks,
lint in 1837 the (lovernor and Senate were authorized 10 select them all;
and, this power being abused for political ends, the work of examination
was in 1843 taken from the commissioners, whose office was abolished, and
given to the comptroller. Jn 1851 the present office of bank superintendent
was created instead.
Already we have mentioned how politics affected the procurement of
charters in the early days ; the privilege of banking being a rich one, and
hence regarded as part of the si)oils cf office. This was also More poiiti-
the case with the safety-fund banks, whose stock was sold mostly ='' "bu.es.
to political friends and favorites of the agents selected for that business. This
produced an immense deal of diseonl and animosity in business, social, and
political circles, and much corruption. 'I'he office of bank commissioner was
also made a political prize, and was sought for by men utterly incapable of
performing its delicate judicial duties. It was the re-action in public senti-
ment against this state of affairs, but more particularly against the grant of
special privileges, which led to the enactment of the general banking law.
The free banking system of New York was authorized in 1838. Its two
great features were, that it openetl the privileges of banking, on certain con-
ditions, to all persons alike ; and it provided much better security Free bank-
for the redemption of notes than had yet been provided. The '"« system,
system of deposits with the comptroller for security was the one on which
tlie national banks of a later date were based. It was originally that all
banking associations, on depositing stock of the State of New York or of
the United States, or any State stock which should be, or be made, equal
to a five-per-cent stock, or bonds and mortgages on improved and produc-
tive real esta^". worth, exclusive of the buildings thereon, double the amount
secured by the mortgage, and bearing interest at not less than six per cent
per annum, sliould receive from the comptroller of the State an equal amount
of circulating-notes. Previous to the year 1843 twenty-nine of these banks,
with an aggregate circulation of $1,233,374, had failed; and their securities,
consisting of stocks and bunds and mortgages amounting to $1,555,338,
were sold for $953,371, entailing a loss of $601,966. The avails of the
securities were sufficient to pay but seventy-four per cent of the circulation
m^i%
1
m
mm
I
l\
804
INDUSTRIAL H r STORY
uluiic. The losses to the bill-holilors occurred only in the case of tliose buiik^,
which had (le[)osiled State stoclvS other tlian those of New York. 'I'iie law
was thi.Ti'iipoM so aincndcil as to cxi hide all slocks, except those issued hy
the Slate of New York, and to require tiiose to be made etjual to a fivi
l)er-cent stock. An amendment in 1848 recjuired that the stocks de|)osiii.tl
shouUl bear six per cent interest instead of Ive ; and that the bonds and
mortgages should bear interest at seven per cent, and should be on ino-
duclive property, and for an amount not exceeding two-fiflhs of the value ol'
the land covered by them. Subseiiuently, on April 10, 1849, the law was
again so amended as to reijuire that at least one-half of the securities so
<leposited should consist of New-York-State stocks, and that not more thin
one-half should be in the stocks of the United States ; the securities in all
cases to be, or to be made, ecjual to a st(jck producing an interest of six pir
cent per annum, and to be taken at a rate not above their par value, and at
not more than 'heir market-value.
Two other interesting features of the later Slate-bank legislation in New
York were the reciuirement that the banks reileem their notes at some agenc y
Redemption in New York, Albany, or Troy, and that stockholders shoulil he
and liability, individually liable for the obligations of the bank to the cMciit
of their shares. The latter provision was incorporated into the Consliliiliun
of 1846. The former was a law of 1840, which allowed a discount of one-
half of one percent on redemption: in 1S51 the discount was reduced to
one-fourth of one per cent. The New-York (!ity banks. ho\v(;ver, soon
inaugurated the Suffolk- Hank system already described, rnd divided the dis
count between themselves and the redemption agency. Such banks as did
not provide for redemiHion were forced to close up.
OHIO.
Ohio's first banking institution, incorporated in 1803, five months after the
State's admission to the Union, was called "Tiie Miami lOxporting Company. "
First Its purpose was to build up trade in that new section of country.
ventures. jj^ capital was $500,000, in shares of a hundred dollars each, to
l)e paid for with five dollars cash, and the rest in produce and manufactures,
subject to the a])])roval of the president and directors. It subseiiuently issucil
bills, redeeming them with bank-notes; but it was obliged to clo.se up al'kra
few years. 'I'he first bank in the State was that at Marietta, with a capital of
JS 1 00,000, chartered in 1S08. Another was (bartered at (."hillicothe the same
year, and four more between that time and 1S16; in which year six chartiis
were granted new banks, and the old ones were rechartered. I'^leven more
had been chartered by 1S32 ; but, with two or three exceptions of double
that amount, $100,000 was the nominal capital of all these banks. The
interest on loans was restricted to six per cent by law.
Ol' THE UNITED STATES.
805
he case of those biuik .
• New York. '\\\^ l-^w
cxiept those issiieil liy
nuule c(iual to a live
It tlie slocks ileposiu.!
kI that the boiuls and
iml shoiiUl be on I'l..-
vo-fifihs of the valiu' ul
10, 1849, ll^^- >-^^v ^^'^
alf of the sciiirilics so
luiil that not more than
cs ; the securities in all
,ig an interest of six per
c their par vahie, anil at
-l)ank legislation in New
icir notes at some a^eiK y
L stockhoKlers should he
• the bank to the cxUnt
.Ueil into the Constiuilion
lowed a discount of one
discount was reduced to
ly banks, howc^ver, soon
bod, rncl divided the dis
■n. y. Such banks as ilul
.ip.
S03, five months after the
lami lAporting Conip^i"). "
lit new section of counlry.
1 hundred dollars each, to
[roduce and uianufactures.
Irs. It subsetiuently issned
V.li-cd to close up after a
ilarielta, with a capital ut
led at c;hillicolhe the same
Im which year six charters
Jrcchartered. l^cvcn .tiove
Ihrce exceptions of dom e
■of all these banks, iw
law.
In 1833 tlie Franklin Bank of Cinrinnati was rh.irtered with a capital of
51,000,000; and the Oliio l,ife and Trust (Company, incorporated the next
year, iuul the s?mc. 'I'he latter institution failed in 1857, with Thre«i«rg«
estimated liabilities of ,^7,000,000. In 1845 a State bank was baniii.
authori/.e<l, with a capital of j!6, 150,000, and with sixty-three branches. Not
more than thirty-six brandies were ever established, however.
A particular feature of bank-legislation in Ohio was the comparatively
heavy taxation, based, doubtless, upon the theory that it was a valuable privi-
lege to engage in banking, and upon the feeling against capital Bank-
that has (jften characterized the laboring-classes. As early as t*""'""-
1816, when the Hank of Cincinnati, with a capital of :86og,ooo, was incorpo-
rated, a law was passed reipiiring all banks to pay to the State such a sum as
would, at the expiration of their charters, amount to a twenty-fifth part of their
whole stock. Vn. 1825 this was changed, so that the tax was upon dividends,
— two per cent on all previously made, and four per cent thereafter. The tax
was raised to six per cent in 183 1. In 1852 another tax-law was passed,
which, by a forced construction, imposed upon banks twice, and sometimes
thrice, the burden i)ut upon other property ; but such was the pressure, that
nnich of the capital was sent into adjoining States.
An attemi)t was even made to tax the two branches of the United-States
Hank at Cincinn.ati and Cihillicothe in 1819. The State imposed a tax of
^50,000 on each, should they continue to do business after Sept.
15 of that year. 'I'he bank applied for an injunction against u'^t"'.'
the auditor, and secured it from the United-States Circuit Court ; states
hut that officer, on the pretence that he had not been properly ^^^
served with the notice, seized S9<S,ooo at the Chillicothc banking-
house, and turned it over to the State treasurer. The Circuit Court ordered
its return, however; and in 1824 the Supreme Court of the United States
confirmed this decision.
The Act of 1.S45, establishing the State Bank, required, that, in order to
( rcate a safety-fund, an amount eijual to ten per centum of the circulation of
each of the branches should be paid to the Boaril of Control, The safety-
which was authorized to invest the same either in stocks of the '""•* tyBtem.
State or of the I'nited States, or in bonds secured by mortgages on imen-
cumbered real estate of at least twice the value of the amount secured
thereby, which should be payable on demand to the State Bank of Ohio ; and
each branch was entitled to receive the interest accruing on the stocks and
bonds in which its portion of the safety-fund was invested. In case of failure,
the stocks and bonds of the insolvent bank were first to be applied to the
redemption of its outstanding notes before any part of the safety-fund belong-
ing to the other branches should be so applied. The State was divided into
twelve districts, and a portion of the capital of the State Bank was allotted to
each. Sixty-three branches in all were authorized, with charters to continue
/
8o6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
ed of otl.^'r
banks.
until 1866. Five banks previously chartered were authorized, upon certain
conditions, to avail themselves of the privileges of the act. The branches
were under the supervision of a Board of C-ontrol, consisting of one repre-
sentative from each branch, which was to furnish all the circulating-notes.
These weri limited by the charter to "double the amount of capital on the
first $100 000 ; 150 per cent on the second $100,000 or part thereof, and 125
per cent on the third $100,000 or part thereof." There were thirty-six of
these branches in operation in 1856, with a capital of $4,034,524, and circu-
lation of $7,112,320. At that date the Ohio Life and Trust Company was
the only bank created prior to 1845 ^''" '" existence.
The law of 1845 also authorized the establishment of other banks than
„ ^ the State Bank and branches : but such independent institutions
Further se- ' '
curity exact- were recjuired to deposit with the State as security, not simply one-
tenth of the amount of issue, but an equal amount. In 1856
there were nine of such independent banks, with a combined
capital of $587,500, and a circulation of $893,839.
Thus far the banks had been especially chartered. A general law was
passed in 1851, allowing any association to engage in the business of banking
Free on substantially the same conditions as the independent banks
banking. jugf; mentioned, — the deposit of State and United-States stocks to
the full amount of the issue. Most '^f the batiks so organized were forced by
taxation to go into liquidation.
In April, 1856, an act was passed incorporating the State Bank of Ohio
and other banks, similar in its general provisions to the Act of 1S45, t'^*^
Charter charters to continue until May, 1877. The act, however, con-
renewed, tained a personal-liability clause, and it also prohibited tiie Ciencral
Assembly " from imposing any greater tax upon property employed in banking
under this act than is or may be imi)osed upon the property of individuals."
In 1835 there were, in all, thirty-four banks in operation in Ohio, having
a capital of $5,819,000; in 1837 there were thirty-three banks, with a capital
Summary of of $9,247,000; and in 1840 there were thirty-seven banks, with a
history. jq^^I capital of $10,000,000. Oii ihe ist of January, 1845, but
eight banks were in operation, with an aggregate capital of $2,171,807. In
1855 there were fifty-one banks, whose capital amounted to a little more tiian
$6,000,000. In 1856 thirty-six of the banks which had been organized in
the State had failed, their notes being entirely worthless ; while eighteen others
were in process of liquidation, their notes being (pioted at fifty to seventy-five
cents on the dollar. There were fifty-six banks in existence in the State in
1863, with ail aggregate capital of $5,674,000, of which number seven were
independent banks, with a capital of $350,000, and thirteen were free banks,
with a capital of $1,270,000. The State Bank of Ohio, with thirty-six branches,
had a capital of $4,054,000; loans, $8,653,000; deposits, $5,631,000; cin il-
lation, $7,246,000; and specie, $2,217,000; together with a safety-fund of
;$8i4,8oo invested in bonds and mortgages.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
807
lorized, upon certain
act. The branches
sisting of one repre-
the circulating-notes,
mt of capital on the
part thereof, ami 125
ire were thirty-six of
54,034,524, and circu-
1 Trust Company was
; of other banks than
dependent institutions
curity, not simply one-
lal amount. In 1856
nks, with a combined
1. A general law was
le business of banking
the independent banks
United-States stocks to
^anized were forced by
™e State Bank of Ohio
the Act of 1845, the
he act, however, con-
prohibited the C.eneral
y employed in banking
lerty of individuals."
eration in Ohio, having
;e banks, with a capital
irty-seven banks, with a
of January, 1845, but
lital of ^2,171,807. In
;d to a little more than
had been organized in
; while eighteen others
d at fifty to seventy-five
;istence in the State in
ich number seven were
;hirteen were free banks,
with thirty-six branches,
isits, 5^5,63 1, oo'^; '^''■''"'
r with a safety-fund of
PINE-TREE SHILLING.
INDIANA.
Banking in Indiana under State laws has been chiefly conducted by the State
Bank and its branches. In 1820 the State had but two banks. The State Bank
was incorporated in 1834 with ten branches, afterwards increased ^^
to thirteen : these were made mutually liable for each other's debts, bank the
The only tax laid was twelve and a half cents on each share for *^'^'''' """
&ncc
educational purposes. The parent bank kept the plates and
unsigned notes of the branches, issuing the latter only at the rate of twice the
capital stock paid up. Most of the capi-
tal came from out of the State ; although
the State (lovernment subscribed to a
million, and also lent its credit to other
shareholders to the extent of lialf of their
subscription, taking mortgages on real
estate for security.
The State Bank of Indiana and its
branches were managed witii rare ability.
They began business at a trying period, just before the cris ^ of 1837, which
bankrupted so many institutions in the West and South. The ExceUent
Bank of Indiana suspended specie payments from 1838 to 1841; manage-
in which latter year it held $1,127,518 in specie, had a circulation ""'"''
of $2,960,414, and deposits amounting to $317,890. So well was the institution
managed, that the stockholders received dividends averaging from tsvelve to
fourteen per cent annually for twenty years. In 1854 the charter expired ; but
it was renewed, with a capital of $6,000,000, and fifteen or twenty branches.
During the crisis of 1857 it did not suspend, though it contracted its issues
prudently. In 1861 it called in most of its notes, but re-issued them the next
year to buy coin.
The new Constitution of 1851 forbade the organization of any more banks
except under a general law. Such a one was enacted in 1852, which pro-
vided that United-States stocks, or stocks of the several States, General
including those of Indiana (then wortli about ninety-five per banking law.
cent), should be deposited with the auditor as security for circulating-notes,
the stocks to be made eijual to one bearing six-per-cent interest. The law did
not require a board of directors, nor that the stockholders should be citizens
of the State. In October, 1854, there were eighty-four of these banks; and
the returns of sixty-seven of them at that date exhibit $7,425,000 of circula-
tion, with a total authorized capital of $32,900,000. The oppressive tax-law
of Ohio having driven capital from that State, it was to a considerable extent
invested in the free banks of Indiana. In 1856, of ninety-four free banks,
fifty-one had suspended, and their notes were selling at from twenty-five to
seventy-five per cent discount in Cincinnati.
h«-''M^f
1^i>,s
Mm
{ ).i^i
8o8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
ILLINOIS.
The record of State banking in Illinois is not quite so bright as that of
Indiana in the eailier history of the two States. The first bank was started in
Disastrous Illinois in 1813, five years before it was emancipated from Territo-
beginnings. j-ja] govemmen. to the dignity' of a State. It was located at Shaw-
neetown, and the whole Territory then had but fifteen hundred inhabitants.
A regular charter was not given it until 18 16, when it was incorporated for
twenty years, with a nominal capital of $300,000, T,aige government deposits
were given it, and it greatly extended its credits; but in 1821 it suspended
specie payments, and did little business until 1835. The legislature tlien
revived it by granting a new charter which should run until 1857, increasing
the capital to $1,400,000, and subscribing for the increase on behalf of the
State, authorizing the issue of stocks therefor.
The second venture was a State bank, the Constitution of 1818 ordering
that only such a one should be chartered. The act of incorporation created
Anunsuc- * Bank of Illinois in 1821, with a capital of $500,000, to run ten
cessfui State years, to be owned by the State, and managed by the legislature.
*""''■ $3,000,000 were directed to be issued and loaned on mortgages,
with notes for one year at six-per-cent interest, and in sums not exceeding
1,000 dollars to each individual ; the notes to be renewed on payment of ten
per cent of the principal annually. The circulating-notes of the bank were
receivable for taxes, and for all debts due to the State or the bank. Tiiese
notes were soon thereafter quoted at seventy-five cents on the dollar, then at
fifty rents, and finally at twenty-five cents ; when they ceased to circulate alto-
gether. Members of the legislature received their compensation in depre-
ciated currency at its market-value, which the State was compelled to redeem
at par ; and a loan of $ 1 00,000 received in these notes at par was paid out
at fifty cents on the dollar.
We have already referred to the revival of the Shawneetown Bank in 1835.
Simultaneously a new State bank was charterea. Its capital was at first fixed
Worse luck at $1,500,000, but was increased to $2,000,000, and subscribed for
next time. jjy t^g State. It was required to take up the $100,000 loan above
mentioned, but was allowed fifty days for the redemption of its own bills. But
this institution was shortly compelled to suspend payment, and in 1841 it went
into liquidation. In the same year an act was passed to preserve its charter,
which had been forfeited, provided it would pay $200,000 of tiie State debt ;
but in 1843 two acts were passed, — one to diminish the State debt and put the
State Bank in liquidation, and the other to reduce the public debt by a million
of dollars and to put the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown in liquidation. The
stock of these banks subscribed for by individuals was lost, and about $90,000
belonging to depositors and bill-holders remained unpaid, as well as $46,909
belonging to the government. The State took possession of its bonds held
OF THE UNITED STATES.
809
by them, amounting to $3,050,000 ; and, by direction of the governor, they
were cancelled, and burned, in the presence of the legislature, in the capital
square of Springfield.
During the year 1843 a general banking law, similar in its provisions to the
free banking law of the State of Indiana, was passed. The report of the bank
commissioners for i86i states, that, in 1857, the bank circulation a general
of the State amounted to $5,500,000, wh'ch was secured by $6,500- banking law.
000 of the bonds of various States, of which amount $4,500,000 were Missouri
sixes. In 1861 the amount of Missouri bonds had been reduced to $3,026,-
000, and the circulation increased from $5,500,000 to $12,300,000. About
three-fourths of the securities then held by the auditor were the bonds of the
Southern States.
KENTUCKY.
The Bank of Kentucky was incorporated in 1 804, twelve years after the
admission of the State, with a capital of $ i ,000,000. Forty new ^^ ^ ^^^^
banks were incorporated in 181 7, with an aggregate capital of fewbankK
|io,ooo,ooo; but no provision was made for the redemption °P°°'y-
of their notes in specie. They issued large amounts of notes, and many of
them failed within a year of their establishment.
For relief, the legislature, in 1820, rhartered the Bank of the Common-
wealth of Kentuck/, with a capital of $3,000,000, pledging the public faith for
the redemption of its circulation, and setting aside certain lands a stay-law
south of the Tennessee River for a guaranty fund. If a creditor '^ ""''•
refused to take these notes in payment of a debt, the debtor was allowed by
law two years in which to pay it. This feature of the law was at first declared
to be unconstitutional ; but a new court was appointed, which reversed the
decision. As a consequence, the notes of the bank soon became worth but
fifty cents on a dollar. A very bitter contest ensued between the new court
and old court parties, lasting five years, and ending in the repeal of the stay-
law or replevin act. The bank's circulation was suppressed and finally
destroyed by authority of the legislature.
This bank was conducted under State auspices, the legislature selecting its
president and directors, its dividends accruing to the State, and notes being
issued to the extent of $3,000,000. On the plea that these were ether consti-
bills of credit, and that the State had no right to issue such tutionai
under the Constitution, a debtor of the bank who had obtained a i^'^"""*-
loan in this currency refused to pay ; but the Supreme Court of the United
States held that the notes of the bank were not bills of credit in the meaning
of the Constitution.
In 1834 there were established the Bank of Kentucky, with a capital of
^5,000,000, the Northern Bank of Kentucky, capital $3,000,000, and the Bank
of Louisville, with a capital of $5,000,000 ; all of which were in existence in
8io
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
successful
ventures.
1856, with an aggregate capital of $7,030,000. All of these banks suspend-
Remaining cd payment in 1837, and resumed in 1842, with an aggregate
history. circulation, at the latter date, of $2,800,000. This amount was
increased by subsequent issues, until in 1850 it had reached $6,683,000. The
Southern Baniv of Kentucky went into operation in 1852 with a capital of
$1,300,000, and charters were also subsequently granted to four other banks
with large capitals. Twenty-seven Kentucky banks failed in 1854; but in
1856 there were thirty-four banks and branches still in operation in the State,
with an aggregate capital of $11,730,000, and with a circulation of about
1^13,300,000.
TENNESSEE.
The Nashville Bank was incorporated by the Tennessee legislature in
Several un- 1807, with a capital at first limited to $200,000, and afterwards
raised to $400,000. Several branches were authorized ; but tlicy
soon closed with loss to all parties. Another bank, the Farmers'
and Mechanics', was started in Nashville in i8i9with $400,000; but it became
insolvent within a year.
In 1 81 1 the Bank of the State of Tennessee was chartered and started at
Knoxville. Its capital was $400,000, and nine branches were authorized.
Two State But in 1820 the State Bank of Tennessee was incorporated at
banks. Nashville, with a capital of $1,000,000. The State funds were to
be deposited at the bank, which was authorized to sell $250,000 of six-per-
cent State stocks to be used as capital. It created agencies to loan money in
every county, according to its wealth and population, in sums not exceeding
^500 to any one person. The loans were to be made on a credit of twelve
months, and be secured by mortgage on real or personal i)roi)erty worth
double their amount. The proceeds of Hiawassee lands and other funds were
pledged for the redemption of the circulation, which was guaranteed by tlie
State, and which was issued to the amount of $1,000,000 ; but it was soon at
a discount of ten per cent below the value of United-States bank-notes. The
bank was under the supervisory control of directors elected by the legislature.
Six years after it commenced operations, it had an available capital of about
1500,000, chiefly derived from thi sales of lands. The bank was finally closed
in 1832, with considerable loss to the State. Previous to the passage of tiie
act under which it was established. Gen. Jackson addressed to the legislature
a memorial denouncing its provisions, and declaring the proposed act to be in
violation of the Constitution oi' the United States. Judge White of Tennessee,
in a speech in the Senate of the United States on March 24, 1838, stated, that,
"in 1820, there were two State banks in operation in Tennessee having the
same name, and that laws were passe-i to force into circulation paper money,
and to prevent levies of execution, Luilcsij creditors would agree to receive
irredeemable bank-paper. ,•
OF THE UxVITED STATES.
8u
o ; but it became
Nearly all tlie other banks started for some years were large ones with
branches. The Union Hank, at Nashville was incorporated in 1832, with five
branches, and a capital of Ji3,ooo,ooo, one-third of which belonged The other
to the State. The Planters' Bank in the same city, with six banks,
branches and $2,000,000 capital, of which the State subscribed a part, was
incorporated the following year. The next institution was the Farmers' and
Merchants' Bank of Memphis, chartered in 1835, with a capital of $600,000.
It failed in 1847, greatly to the loss of its bill-holders.
The place of the old State Bank, unpopular and unsuccessful, was taken
in 1838 by the incorporation of a new Bank of Tennessee at Nashville, with
an actual capital of $3,226,000, the nominal capital being $5,000,- one more
000. The capital was made up from the assets of the old SiTte ^***" ''""''•
Bank, and by the sale of $1,000,000 of State bonds. It had several branches,
which were under the direction of the parent institution. In 1849 its capital
was reduced to $2,250,000. Three other ))anks were incorporated, with an
aggrecate capital of $1,100,000, within the next three years. A free banking
law was passed in 1852, authorizing the organization of banks upon a deposit
of uonds of the State ecjual to the amount of their capital.
MISSISSIPPI.
When Mississippi came into the Union in 181 7 she had but one bank, and
no more were chartered until 1830. Meantime, however, the one bank
capital of this one was raised from $100,000 to $950,600. 1817-30-
In the last-named year the Planters' Bank of Mississippi was started with
a capital of $3,000,000. Two-thirds of this was subscribed by the State, which
issued six-per-cent bonds therefor, on which a premium of $250,- ^^ ,g ^„j
000 was realized. This was made a sinking-fund, and the State's prosperous
dividends were devoted to paying the interest on its bonds. The
bank paid ten per cent annually ; and the State sinking-fund steadily grew until
September, 1839, when it amounted to $800,000. The State then transferred
its stock to the Mississippi Railroad Company ; but the sinking-fund was
subsequently lost almost entirely.
In 1837 the number of banks in the State had increased to eighteen, with
an aggregate capital of $13,000,000, more than $5,000,000 of increase of
circulation, and more than $24,000,000 of loans. business.
In 1838 the Mississippi Union Bank was chartered, with a capital of $15,-
500,000, to be " raised by means of loans to be obtained by the directors of
the institution." The State authorized the issue of $15,000,000 of a huge
guaranteed bonds which were to be loaned to the bank. $5 000,000 institution.
were issued in 1838, and were sold to the United-States Bank of Pennsylvania.
The next lot of $5,000,000 were issued in 1839.
The following year, however, the first steps were taken by the State
'^1
8ia
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Repudiation.
authorities towafd repudiating tliis obligation. The governor issued a warning
proclamation against any further negotiation of these bonds ; and
in 1 841 he addressed the legislature, claiming that his proclamation
had defeated the illegal sale of the second issue of bonds. His message to
the legislature showed that
the Union Bank had J!i3,-
491,000 of suspended dcl)t
and unavailable assets, ^3,-
034,000 of circulation, and
;^4,349,ooo of specie. Short-
ly after, he proposed that tiie
is:,,!e of ;S5, 000,000 made in
1838 be repudiated outright.
The legislature declared in
reply, that '"Mississippi will
pay her bonds, and preserve
her credit inviolate." But
they were repudiated, and
have never been paid. The
bonds issued to the Planters'
Bank were not officially re-
pudiated : but the people re-
BA^K OF MOBILE. f^scd In 1 85 2, by a majority
of 4,400 votes, to authorize
a tax to redeem them ; nor is a reversal of that decision now probable.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
813
CHAPTER II.
INSURANCE.
THERE is some dispute about the anticjuity of the insurance-business,
several countries claiming the honor of originating it. There are traces
of it as far back as the Punic wars between Rome and Carthage. Antiquity of
The government of Rome guaranteed to contractors who were insurance,
carrying provisions and arms to Si)ain, that they should be held free from
loss if their boats were destroyed by storm or the enemy en route to the
province. In tiie time of the Emperor Claudius, there was a period of great
scarcity at Rome ; and, in order to encourage importations of corn, the
emperor took upon himself whatever loss or damage mariners might suffer
from shipwreck or tempest while bringing the grain to Rome. Marine-
Tiiis was certainly a species of insurance. It was not resorted insurance,
to as a regular business, but was a resource for an extraordinary occasion.
It is relateil that the generous offer of Ciauilius was taken advantage of in
a way which shows that the human heart is the ^auic in all ages of the
world, and that it makes very little difference under what clime the race
lives, or what language it speaks, in regard to the passions and impulses
which move it. Humanity is tlie same everywhere and under all circum-
stances. Sliipwrecks were pretended to have occ-urred which never took
place : old, shattered galleys were purposely sunk at sea, and the crew
ostentatiously saved in small boats. Large sums were demanded and ob-
tained for tiiese alleged losses. Severr' years afterward the fraud was discov-
ered, and some of the contractors were seized and punished. Spain and
Portugal dispute the real credit of having invented insurance as a practical
business-pursuit. Portugal in 1367 liad a king by the name of Fernando,
who dill more for his realm tlian had ever been done for it before, or has
been since, except by Jean II. Fernando strove to build up commerce ; and,
in order to give security to it, he invented and put into operation some
sort of marine-insurance. Barcelona, in Spam, in 1431, made an ordinance
on the same sul)jcct, and made marine-insurance thoroughly practical and
successful. This was before the days of the magnetic needle, and it was
I'l
m
\i\
8i4
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
in an age when the Saracens swarmed on the Mediterranean as pirates.
Navigation was an extremely perilous affair, and something hke insurance
was necessary to give security and exi)ansion to commerce. Tlie Harce-
loni;i: s nude their port the greatest on the Mediterranean in c:ourse of time
\ ; ii .-ir irsurance and other re«rulations. Marine-insurance thus long pre-
^• .;> all other forms of the bu: .'ss. It was soon adopted by all commercial
Mil ■;■, .
The vt branch of it to je introduced was life-insurance. This part
of the busuKss grew out of tl.s very matter of commerce. Mariners of the
Life- early ages were so exposed to capture, that they came, in time, to
insurance. stipulate with the freighters in whose behalf they undertook a
voyage, that, if cai)tured, they should be ransomed. There are traces of thw
in records at Rouen of 1361, and the practice became (piite general in aftei-
years in Spain. Pilgrims to the Holy I^and made the same arrangement.
Out of this practice grew life-insurance proper. It is interesting to observe
that there was against life-insurance a most violent prejudice from the very
beginning in Continental P^urope. It seemed to be setting a premium
upon murder to insure a man's life, and society was in altogether too lawless
a condition in that age to make it judicious to create extra inducements
for killing. Genoa in 1588 enacted that "securities, bonds, or wagers, may
not be made, without the license of the senate, upon the life of the pope,
nor upon the life of the emperor, nor upon the life of kings, cardinals,
dukes, princes, bishops, nor upon the life of other lords or persons in con-
stituted dignities ecclesiastical or secular." Decrees were made forbidding
life-insurance positively in Amsterdam in 1598, in Rotterdam in 1604 and
1635, and in France in 1681. The opposition to it in France is only relax-
ing at this day. The business was not established in England until 1 706,
when the Amicable Society was started. After that, however, the idea became
popular. The Royal Exchange and the London Assurance Companies were
started in the time of George I. to insure lives ; the Equitable was started in
1 762 ; and the business soon gained a more vigorous foothold in that king-
dom than in any other part of the world, this being due to the greater
security to life in that free and wisely-governed country. The only other
country in the world in which life-insurance has since that age attained any
great stature is the United States. The facts will be more particularly set
forth hereafter.
Fire-insurance came upon the scene next, and accident-insurance last
of all. Somewhat the same feeling was entertained in regard to fire-insuranci'
Fire- at first as with respect to life. In 1609, it is related, an ingen
insurance. JQ,,g person suggested to Count Anthony (Junther von Oldenburg.
that, as a new species of finance, he might guarantee his subjects against
the loss of their houses by fire on condition that they would pay to him a
specified sum annually, according to the value of their houses. The count
OF THE r XI TED STATES.
8^5
jrranean as pirates,
hing like insurance
ucrcc. The Harcc-
\\\ in course of time
mce thus long pre-
ed by all commercial
isurance. This part
::e. Mariners of the
licy came, in time, to
ilf they undertook a
ere are traces of tli's
l\iitc general in aftei-
2 same arrangement,
interesting to obser\o
;juvlice from the very
setting a i)remium
altogether too lawless
te extra inducements
londs, or wagers, may
the life of the pojjc,
p of kings, cardinals,
Is or persons in con-
vere made forbidding
tterdam in 1604 ami
France is only relax-
Kngland until 1706,
ever, the idea became
ance Companies were
uitable was started in
bothold in that king-
due to the greater
itry. The only other
that age attained any
more particularly set
ccident-insurance last
;gard to fire-insurance
is related, an ingen
mther von Oldenburg,
his subjects against
would pay to him a
r houses. The count
did not object to the formation of a company for doing a thing like that ;
but he said fur himself tiiat he doubted if it could be l)y him " honorably,
justly, anil irreproaciifully instituted without tempting Providence, without
KIREMEN AT WORK.
Incurring the censure of neighbors, and without disgracing one's name and
dignity." The sturdy count continued : " God has, without such means, pre-
served and blessed for many centuries the ancient house of Oldenburg ; and
'\
If
,i i ■
■ . - .ti. '■ 1 1
►
l
!
fc
Si6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
he will still be present with me tlirouyh his mercy, and protect my subjects
from ilestnutivc fires." 'I'he plan does not api)e;n- to have been agitated
again in Europe until after tiie great fire in London in 1666, when it was
immediately brought up. 'I'he agitation which the subject e.xcitcd then was
remarkable. We have never IkkI any thing like it in America, as far as
purely business-themes are concerned, unless it was tlie silver-dollar agita-
tion of 1S77 ; and that was comparable to the fire-insurance fiiroie in
England only in intensity, not in tluration. After the fire of 1666, there
ensued in England six years of hot discussion and pamphleteering. It was
proposed that the city corporation should insure the houses of the town.
'I'he city did finally insure a great many houses ; but in 16S2 the Common
Council became frightened, and backeil out, anil cancelled the contracts.
In 1696 the Iland-in-lland Eire Ofiice, a private company, was started to
do what the cor])oralion did not want to do ; and in 1706 the Sim Eire Office
wa.i started. The business then became systematized and practical, and
rapidly attained very large projjortions. The London Assurance \\w, incor-
porated in 1720, ami is still in existence, ami doing a gigantic business.
The Hand-in-Hand Company is tiie only Oi.e of the earlier period now
surviving.
Accident-insurance has all grown up within the present century, and is
Accident- merely a once minor detail of the business, which has now grown
insurance. jq 'a\\{i\\ proportions as to be able to stand alone.
Before proceeding to depict the origin, adventures, and development of
the insurance-business in America, a few words will be proper in regard to
Principles of the principles \\\^o\\ which this extraordinary variety of commercial
insurance. speculation is founded. The general princijjles are the same in
all branches of insurance. A large proportion of the losses and deaths which
take place in the world are the result of the crime or misconduct of indi
viduals. This was more true of the middle ages, when the governments were
feeble ; but it i? also true to a certain extent now. In order to reduce losses
and deaths from crime and negligence to the lowest possible point, govern-
ments have been instituted, whose duty it is to assist by every means in their
power the efforts of individuals to protect themselves and their property, to
support a police for the purposes of prevention, and to maintain courts and
prisons for tiie purposes of punishment. A good government imparts vast secu-
rity to property and life ; but, in spite of all tliat governments can do, losses
and deaths still occur, dales blow in from the sea which the signal-service
flags did not predict in time, and the coast is strewn wilii wre( ked ships ;
conflagrations break out in cities, and on steamboats and railroad-trains ;
collisions, explosions, the foil of buildings and bridges, and other unforeseen
events, occur ; and sickness carries away jirematurely those in the soundest
health. Few men are so rich tiiat they will not feel heavily the weiglit of tiie
loss of a mill or a house by fire, or a ship by wreck. The majority of families
OF THE UNITED STATES.
8.7
protect my subjects
have been agitated
I 1666, when it was
cl ex( iled then was
America, as liir as
L> siher-doUar agita-
nsurancc fuioie in
fire of 1666, there
iphleteering. It was
louses of tlic town.
I 1CS2 tlic Common
x-Ued the contracts,
pany, was started to
6 tlio Sun Fire Offue
I and practical, and
Assunnce wir. incor-
a gigantic business.
J earlier period now
escnt century, and is
which has now grown
t)ne.
and development of
proper in regard to
variety of commercial
iples are the same in
;ses and deaths which
r misconduct of indi
the governments were
jrder to reduce losses
lossible point, govern-
cvery means in their
and their property, to
maintain courts and
nent imparts vast secu-
nmenls can do, losses
lich the signal-service
with wrc( ked ships ;
and railroad-trains ;
ind other unforeseen
those in the soundest
ivily the weiglit of the
ic majority of families
in the world are not so well provided with funds that they can endure without
financial suffering the loss of the life of the men who are their main stay and
support, and the consetiuent termination of their main income. Before the
days of insurance, most men would have been impoverished by the loss of their
buildings by fire ; and a large proportion of the families of lawyers, military
and naval officers, professional men, artists, and mechanics, would have been
doomed to suffering by the death of the head of the family, whose income,
of course, would terminate with his life. In early times, in New- York City, a
man who was burnt out was generally forced to make an ajjpeal to the public
for contributions of money to set him on his feet again. Insuraiice obviates
this distress by death, and loss of property by fire anil accident, which is sure
to fall on a large number of individuals every year, by distributing the loss in
each case among a great many people, instead of allowing it in each case to
fall with all its weight upon one. It is found that losses by fire, wreck, acci-
dent, and death, obey certain laws. Take ten thousand houses in a special
part of the country, for instance, and watch how many of them burn up, year
by year, for a period of twenty years. If an average of ten houses burn up
every year, it can pretty safely be taken for granted that ten houses will con-
tinue to burn up every year regularly, circumstances remaining the same.
Now, a company will be found which will aim to insure ten thousand houses a
year. As it will hp-' \.o pay on an average for ten houses consumed by fire
annually, it assesses upon the ten thousand the value of ten houses a year ; and
each owner of a house pays in to the company ins ten-thousandth part thp'°of
annually : so that the loss of the ten burned houses does not fall on the ten
men who own them, but on the whole ten thousand. Every man is willing to
pay his insignificant rontribution every year for the protection and security it
gives him ; and, when his turn comes to be visited with calamity, his burden is
taken up by the other ten thousand men upon whom it is distributed, and
lifted from his shoulders. That, in substance, is the principle of fire-insurance.
It is expressed the most perfectly in the so-called mutual-insurance companies.
But it is upon this same principle that the joint-stock companies are founded
also. It is the same with life, marine, and accident as with fire insurance.
The a\crage number of deaths and casualties every year is ascertained by
observation and experience, and the business then organized on the same
theory as before.
Now for the story of the progress of insurance in the United States. It is
an instructive one in many respects, and a melancholy one in others. It
certainly is an important one, as will be seen when one reflects proeress of
that the people of the United States are now paying annually the 'n«urance.
sum of $150,000,000 at least for the protection and security which insurance
gives them; and that, in return for this large payment, the companies are
guaranteeing to the people indemnity against loss to the amount of 1 10,000,-
000,000.
^W\
^'•^*
'
\ ym^
8i8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
MARINE.
Marine-insurance appears to have been the first branch of the business
which engaged attention in America, just as it had been the first in practice in
Marine- *'^*-* *^''' ^Vorld. The colonies were pre-eminently commercial, and
inturincein felt the need of marine-assurance from the beginning of their
the colonies. j„jj,in^.^j. activity. At first they took out their policies in I'lnglanil ;
but, even before the Revolutionary war, there was talk about the l)usiness
among the colonies themselves. In lyai an advertisement appeared in ;i
newspaper in Philadelphia, as follows : —
".Assurances from losses hajjpening at sea, &c., being found to be very iinicli
for the ease and benefit of the merchants and traders in general ; and whereas
Colonial ad- the merchants of the city of Philadelphia and other parts have
vertitement. Ijj.^^ ()i)iigcd to send to London for such assurance, which has not
only been tedious and troublesome, but even very precarious, for the remedying
of which an office of public insurance on vessels, goods, and merchaiulise,
will, on Monday next, be opened by John Kopson, at his house in the High
Street, where all persons inclining to be insured may apply ; and care shall be
taken by the saiil J. Copson that the assurers or underwriters shall be |)ersons
of undoubted worth and reputation, and of considerable integrity in this city
and province."
In 1725 Francis Rawle of Philadelphia suggested that there should be a
marine-insurance office under the sanction of the colonial legislature. His
Frandi pamphlet on the subject is said to have been the first work whicli
Rawle. ^jjs issucd from Franklin's press. Neither Kopson nor Rawlc
accomplished any thing, however ; and Mr. Fowler, a writer on insurance, says,
that, for seventy years afterward, the traders of Philadelphia continued to seek
their insurance abroad. In New-York City a marine-insurance office was
opened at last in the year 1759, Kefeltas and Sharpe being the clerks. A rival
office was opened the same year, with Anthony van Dam for clerk ; and in
1778 the New Insurance Office was opened. These were all for marine-insur-
ance. The underwriters were simply wealthy men of the city. P^ich man
subscribed his name for the sum he agreed to pay in case of loss of the ship
or cargo. Insurance was thus carried on by individual underwriters in the
commercial cities for a few years, until, very near the beginning of the present
century, the business assumed a more organized character.
Several companies were being formed for fire and life insurance, and the
idea was applied to the marine branch of the business also. In
1 794 the first two marine companies in the United States were
formed in Philadelphia, the city which was really the birthplace of
the whole insurance system of this country. These were chartered
companies, and were called "The President and Directors of the Insurance
Company of North America," and "The Insurance Company of the State
Formation of
flret marina
companies at
Philadelphia.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
819
of Pennsylvania." 'I'hesf two companies, founded in a city which has been
by no means the {greatest of the seaiuirts of the country, have made the
proudest record of any Auicrican maritime companies. 'I'iiey have weathered
every gale of llie century, and are still doing business to-ilay on an enormous
scale. Boston was second in the field. The Massachusetts Fire and Marine
Company was formed in that <ity in 1795, and did a large business for many
years. It remained in existence until 184S, when its (barter was revoked,
.'v'th the return of i omparatively peaceful times after the Revolution, com-
me/ce increased very fast, anil compani-.'s spranj: up in several places. Thirty-
two insurance companies were formed before 1800, and ten of them were
exclusively, or in part, for the taking of maritime risks. They were as
follows : —
1794. Insu..inc«: C"()mp.iny of North Amcric.i, I'hiladulphia.
1794. Insurance Conipaiiy i)f the State of I'eniisylvania, i'hiladdphiai
1795. .Massachusetts Fire anil Marine, Huston.
1796. ('harifal)le Marine Society, Maltimore.
1797. .Ncw-Ilaven Insurance Company, New Haven.
1797. Charleston Insurance Company, Charleston, S.C.
1798. New-Vork Insurance Cimipany, New York.
179S. United Insurance C'(m>pany, New York.
• '799- Newliiuyport Marine, Newburyport, Mass.
1799. Hoston Marine, Iloston.
The Union Mutual was started in Philadelphia in 1804. All of these
companies had all the business they wanted to do, and prospered finely, until
that troubled period of four or five years just before the war of 181 2 ; when
the interferences of Kngland with our commerce made the busi- Effect of w«r
ness extremely precarious, and subjecteil the companies to great with Great
and unexpected losses. Frightened by the interferences of F>ng- ^'■'*''"'
land, merchants abandoned their vessels hastily to the companies which had
insured them ; and one of the Philadelphia concerns lost half of its capital in
consequence of this i)ractice. The companies met this new state of things by
issuing regulations against improper abandonment of vessels ; but, in spite of
1 precautions they could enforce, they were frecjuent and heavy losers by the
operations of those years of uncertainty and war. After the war the corn-
pan i'"s again became prosperous, losses diminished to a low average, and the
companies made money. The usual result followed, — the formiUon of new
companies.
About the year 1828 the marine companies were subjected to new losses,
aiising from a circumstance which brings back forcibly to rni.nd the example 'A
the Roman navigators in the time of Claudius, and which re ealed Loiieiiio
again the one weak point of insurance ; namely, the temiU aion it '^*^-
presents to the commission of fraud. The companies began about 1828 to be
called on to pay for a large number of vessels wrecked on the Atlantic and Gulf
^%1
820
INDUSTRIAL jriSTOPY
%
:"
•» ■;
coasts and in the West indies by intention. Vessels were deliberately scuttled
at sea, or run ashore in collusion with wreckers, in order to secure the insurance
on them. Others were run into some port in the West Indies, and condemned ;
ships of the most worthless description being abandoned to the comi)anies at
enormous prices. The wreckers added to the evil by decoying honest ships
ashore with false lights. This state of things continued for seven or eight
years. The frauds were finally discovered, and many a merchant of reputa-
tion was ruined by the exposure ; but the practice was not stopped until IIh'
companies had been subjected to a fearful strain.
Marine companies were established in the following States in the years
named, the companies being the first of any kind in tiiose States, and generally
doing a fire as well as a marine business : —
Alabama
Illinois.
Indiana
Mississippi
Missouri
Texas .
Montgomery-County Insurance Company
Alton Marine and Kire .....
Lawrencehurgh Insurance C<jni|)any . . !
( Mississippi Insurance Company (at Vicksburg) )
I Protection Insurance Company (at Natchez) . i |
Missouri Mutual Fire and Marine and others . |
lirazonia Insurance Company ... . i
1836
1832
1833
"837
•837
Although the number of coni])anics increased during this decade between
1830 and 1840 in conseciuencc of the wonderful growth of commerce, the year
From 1830 to 1 840 found the companies in a state of very uncertain pros-
'**°- perity. Several of tlie more recently-organized companies 'vcre
compelled to wind up their affairs. All the other concerns were losing money ;
and this department of the business seemed to be in danger, for a second
time, of being blotted out. The losses of ships by wreck had become so
numerous once more as to set at defiance all previous calculations of the law
of averages ; and there seemed to be nothing in view for the companies, except
to re-adjust the whole system of marine underwriting, or to go out of business.
That which brought about this condition of things, however, was not the
action of the elements ; but it was once more the avarice and misconduct of
man, against which the law of average is of no avail. The wreckers at
different T)oints on the coast, particularly at Key West, were again at work ;
and they followed up their trade with such hardihood as to enter the principal
l)orts of the United States, and attempt deliberately to liribe shi[)-captains to
cast away their vessels. In too many cases they succeeded. Merchants were
either actively or passively engaged in the commission of these frauds. There
was little popular sympathy with the companies. Tiie consequence of it ail
was, that one-third of all the losses of ihe companies from 1820 to 1840 is
estimated to have been the result of the corruption and ungrateful malice of
those whom marine-insurance was establisiied to benefit and protect. The
OF THE UNITED STATES.
521
deliberately scuttled
secure the insurance
lies, and condemned ;
to the companies at
iecoying honest ships
d for seven or eight
. merchant of rcputa-
not stopped until the
,g States in the years
ie States, and generally
ipany
Natchez) .
nd others .
1S36
1S3S
1832
1833
1837
•837
jg this decade between
li of commerce, the year
)f very uncertain pros-
;anized companies ^vere
jrns were losing money ;
|in danger, for a second
wreck had beconie so
calculations of the law
jr the companies, except
lor to go out of business,
however, was not the
Irice and misconduct of
A-ail. 'I'he wreckers at
St, were again at work ;
las to enter the principal
[o bribe ship-captains to
[ceded. Merchants were
, of these frauds. There
|ie consequence of it all
s from 1820 to 1840 i^
and ungrateful malice ot
nefit and protect. The
companies now began to withdraw from the marine-business, and to extend
their fire-risks ; and in a few years the former branch of the business would
-h'-i
have become extinct, had it not l)cen for the cxjiosure of the frauds and the
prosecution of offenders. In 1844 •^'^'-' l^hilailelphia companies organizeil a
ik-j
822
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
m
^f' 1
board of marine underwriters for their own protection ; zvA, by its action,
stability and confidence were once more finally imparted to the business.
The marine concerns which were opened in the West after 1832 were for
the taking of risks upon vessels engaged in lake and river transportation,
j^^^.^ That business became very large after 1850. There were ten or
insurarce twelve hundred vessels on the Northern lakes, mostly sailing-craft,
companies ^^^ about as many more on the Western rivers, which, in turn,
in the West. •' > > .
were mostly steam- vessels. The insuring of these vessels called
for the existence of numerous companies, which were duly formed, an<l did
business on a large scale. There was a fault, however, in the system ui)un
which these companies went to work. Competition led them to take risks
without much regard to the goodness of the vessels. Ship-builders, finding
that slightly-built vessels secured as large a policy at as low a risk as stout ones,
put less and less timber and iron into their work ; and a class of weak vessels
was thereupon created in the tnide of the lakes, which could not buffet tin;
storms, and which in a lilow were almost sure to be wrecked, unless they hap-
pened to be safe in harbor at the time the storm broke out. The grand jury
of Northern Ohio made a report in 1855, Mr. C. C. Hine says, in which they
stated, that, while there were only 1,190 vessels afloat on the lakes at the end
of 1854, tlio wrecks of that and the six previous years had amounted to
1,560 in number. The state of things was so serious as to require public
attention. The evil was finally remedied in 1855 by the formation of the Lake
Under\vriters' Association, which prescribed rules as to how vessels should Ijg
built, and whicli agreed to take no risks except upon vessels which came up
to their requirements. This gave a new life to the business ; and, while the
companies began now to make money under the new order of things, the
public also came to be benefited by it through the greater security tc life and
property.
'I'he war of 1861 formed another era in the marine-insurance buiiness ol
the country. For the first two years of the war, the companies on tlic
Effect of Northern seaboard made a great deal of money. They all raised
late war. |]^^> rates of insurance : and one New-Vork conii)any, whose receipt
of premiums was only $6,ooo,<;oo in i860, took in ;>io, 000,000 in 1863, with
American navigation all the wiiile declining. If the first two years were pros-
perous, however, the following two were not. The cniisers which slipped out
of the iK)rts of England to prey u])on the American ships changed the face of
things materially. During the last two years -jf the war, the companies nearly
d' lo;;l heavily; and one of them, "Tiie Columbian," failed outright in spite of
its gains, because of a loss of ^1,000,000 on ships destroyed by the unexpecttil
cruisers. The <nil of the war found the business very much reduced in
amount ; and it has not yet recovered the proportions it enjoyed before thai
struggle began, simply because there are fewer shijis and cargoes to protect.
The ocean-tonnage of the United States is even now only aijout one-half wli.a
OF THE UN/TED STATES.
823
; .-;id, by its action,
to the business.
St after 1832 were for
1 river transportation.
. There were ten or
es, mostly sailing-craft,
rivers, which, in turn,
Df these vessels called
duly formed, and did
•, in the system upon
ed them to take risks
Ship-builders, finding
ow a risk as stout ones,
a class of weak vessels
1 could not buffet tin.-
jcked, unless they hap-
out. The grand jury
ine says, in which they
n the lakes at the end
ears had amounted to
.IS as to require pul)lir
c formation of the Lake
) how vessels should lie
vessels which canT^ up
lusiness ; and, while the
}w order of tilings, the
ater security tc life and
e-insurance Inuiness ot
the companies on tlu'
noney. They all raised
company, whose receipt
0,000,000 in 1863, witli
rst two years were pros
iiisers which slipped out
lips changed the flice ot"
ar, the companies nearls
failed outright in spite ol
.royed by the tmexpectiil
verv much reduced in
it enjoyed before tli .i
and cargoes to jjroteii.
■nilv ai)oul one-half wlial
it was before the war. The single feature of the situation which was encoura-
ging was, that no new marine companies had been started, and that those still
doing business were generally in a sound condition, and could be relied upon
to give a good guaranty of indemnity in case of loss to such ships as they
admitted to their books. Connected with the losses of the war of 1861 are
the facts concerning the Geneva award. The claims of the United States
against Great Britain were presented in gross, and covered both the losses of
private citizens and those of the insurance companies. The award was
;? 1 5, 000,000. Of this sum, however, the Congress of the United States has
permitted only a part to be distributed. Although the losses of the insurance
companies forined a part of the ground of our claims against Great Britain, the
companies have been refused a participation in the distribution of the award, —
an injustice against which they still protest, and which they are trying to have
corrected.
The marine-insurance companies have been beneficial to the United States
in more wa;,s than one. The security they impart to the commercial ventures
of our merchants is thei** most valuable office ; yet they do much Benefits of
more than that for the comfort and material well-being of our peo- companies,
pie. They prescribe rules and a standard by which ships must be built in
order to secure the most advantageous rates of insurance ; and, as it is cheaper
in the long-run for an honest merchant to have his insurance as low as possi-
ble, he accordingly finds himself obliged to build a good ship. This of itself
is a means of prevention against loss l>y wreck and accident ; and, it is hardly
necessary to say, it also renders voyaging vastly more safe to the people of the
ship, and persons bound across the sea on the pursuits of pleasure or business.
There is an absence of exact statistics in regard to the development of the
marine-insurance business, because tliere is as yet no central authority to
which all the comixinies report. Most of the marine companies
coml)ine a fire -business with their marine operations, and the
returns of the two branches of the business are not kept separate. It is esti-
mated, however, that the marine companies of the United States now have
outstanding risks to the amount of $400,000,000. Of this large sum, $186,-
000,000 are at the port of New York, and perhaps $100,000,000 at the port of
Boston.
FIRE.
It is stated by the insurance authorities that not a single building in
America was covered by a policy of fire-insurance before the year 1752. In
that year the first fire-insurance company was organized, in imita- organization
tion of similar companies in London, by a number of citizx'us of of first fire-
Phila(lel|)hia. It was called "The Philadelphia Contributionship '"»"""«
' ' ' company.
for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire." Benjamin
Franklin was the ])resident of the company. This concern was organized
i-'i-if
m
■■'' ':4\
ini
^'1
i' u
m
824
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
somewhat upon the principle of a mutual society. The man who wished to
have his house insured deposited a sum of money, the interest upon whicii
belonged to the company. The man making such a deposit became a mem-
ber of the company. Losses and expenses were paid out of the deposits ami
the interest arising therefrom, and at the end of se/en years the account was
balanced with each member. The policy ran for seven years ; and each mem-
ber was liable to the amount of his deposit, and half as much more. A good
deal of information has been preserved in relation to this pioneer of American
fire-insurance companies, possibly because so much of it is of a quaint char-
acter. It seems, according to Mr. C. C. Hine, the ecliior of " The Insurance
Monitor " at New York, that, instead of appropriating the two-shilling fines
laid on absentees at the monthly meetings of the company to the use of the
company, the contributors spent them in putting ap milestones on the roads
leading into Philadelphia, 'i'hey dotted the roads wi'i- 'hese stones for twenty
miles around. In 1 783 the house of one of fin cop, rilutors caught fire from
a burning shade-tree; and the company thereupon reused to take risks on
houses with shade-trees around them, ex'upt at enormous rates. Tiiis led to
dissatisfaction ; and the second fire-company in Vmerica was finally started
in consequence of it, called "The Mutual Ajso"- 'ce Company for the Insur-
ance of Houses from Loss by Fire," datinft its oi ,.;:n from 1784. This new
company took for its symbol and trade ir.rk thi' ' gijen tree," and accepted
risks on houses =urrounded by shade tree"';. The ".ymbol of the "Contribution-
ship " was ih; b,t('ge of two clasped hands, - - the same as that adopted by the
pioneer Hand-in Hand Society of London. Like the London company, the
pioneer In Philadrlp!>.ia i-i f\ in existence, and dojig business.
The subject tJ" in .uai ce was agitated in New- York City in 1770, 1784,
and 1785; but nothing appean, to have been do.ie in the way of forming
Insurance in Companies, owing to the bad financial condition of the times.
New York. ^\^q return of peace and the establishment of a strong national
government appear to have given new life to ail business-enterprises, and
then in 1787 New York's first company was started. The Mutual Assurance
Company was immediately formed for the local uses of the city. The same
year the Baltimore Fire-Insurance Company was incorporated. The new Na-
tional Government having fairly got into running-order, charters were applied
for in various States, and by 1800 nineteen fire-insurance companies were
doing business in the United States. Some had the right to do a marine-
business, and some had inland privileges also. They were the following : —
1752. Philadelphia Contributionship. (Fire.>
17S4. Mutual Assurance, Philadeijiliia. (Fire.)
1787 and 1795. Baltimore F'tc. (Fire.)
1787 and 1798. Nfutual Assurance, New York. (Fire.)
1794. Haltimore Equital)le. (Fire.)
1794. Norwich Mutual, Norwich, Conn. (Fire.)
''mm~
OF THE UNITED STATES. 825
1794. Insurance Company of North America, Philadelphia. (All.)
1794. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. (All.)
1794. Mutual Assurance Company, Richmond, Va. (Fire.)
1795. MaryLind Insurance, Baltimore. (Fire and Marine.)
1795. Massachusetts Fire and Marine, Boston. (Fire and Marine.)
1797. New-Haven Insurance Company, New Haven, Conn.
1797. Charleston Mutual, Charleston, South Carolina. (Fire.)
1798. Georgetown Mutual, Georgetown, Maryland. (Fire.)
1798. Massachusetts Mutual, Boston. (Fire.)
1798. New-York Insurance Company, New York. (All.)
1798. United Insurance Company, New York. (All.)
1799. New-Hampshire Insurance Company, Portsmoath, N.H. (Fire.)
1799. Providence Washington, Providence, R.I. \ ire.)
Most of these companies are still in existence, though not all with their
original names. The Mutual Assurance of New York, for instance, retained
that name only until 1846, when it was re-organized as the Knickerborker,
and under that title is still a flourishing concern. In addition to the above,
there was a private concern at Hartford, Conn., as early as 1793; ^^^^ ^
record of it has been losi except a single policy, which has beer found to
indicate that the company once existed.
The Union Mutual was formed in Philadelphia in 1803 ; the Eagle Fire, ia
New York, in 1806; and the .Albany, at .\lbany, N.Y., in i8ii. Other com-
panies were also tiie outgrowth of those times; but liie three whicli iiave Viecr;
named are the only ones which have led a connected existence to the jinjsent
time, and are still extant. The old Norwich Fire (Norwich, Conr..) was
incorporated in 1803, but was crushed in 1871 by the Chicago fire.
One of the features of fire-insurance at that early ilay was the opening of
offices in the principal cities of the country by Lc a companies. Many
people preferred to insure with the London officer .uise they Early ap-
possessed so much larger capital. The Phoenix h:
New York as early as 1805. When the troubles w
war of 18 1 2 took place, howe.er, the hostility felt
toward England caused the State of New York to pass a law ex
eluding the foreign companies from iloing bus — within her territory. In
1809, Pennsyl.-'nia, Maryland, and .South Carolin did the same ; although the
latter State, which was more friendly to Englisii interests, repealed the pro-
hibition the following year.
In 1810 fire-insurance was established on a small scale in a little New-
I'jigland city, which was destined in a few years to become famous for its
insurance-interests, and to have erected upon its principal streets Rigeofin-
a mmiber of buildings, devoted to the occupanc;, 'if insurance surance
companies, finer than any business-structures in th-- country, ex- ^^f,*"j" '"
cei)t those in the great metropolitan communities. It was in that
year that the liartfortl Fire-insurance Company was incorporated at Hartford,
office in pearanceof
, , , London com-
h led to the pa„iesinthe
this country United
States.
•■ --■•'jn-'-siog'^.' ti
III
826
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Conn., with a capital of 5150,000. This enterprise was a timid venture, and
for several years was a plant so tender, that one good fire would have snufft-d
it out of existence prematurely. The total income of the company for the
first year was only $4,498. Its expenses were five hundred and thirty dollar-
only; three hundred dollars going to pay the salary of the only emploje', tlic
secretary, and thirty dollars being expended for rent and fire-wood. By 1820
the income had only risen to $10,102 a year; but after that the business of
the company began to grow, and the corporation soon became a great con-
cern, with a national reputation, taking risks amounting to tens of millions
annually, and with an income which grew in time to exceed two millions.
This, like most of the early companies, was a joint-stock concern. '1 he
capital was small at the start, — only $150,000 ; and, though now $1,000,000,
was increased to $300,000 only in 1854. On the other hand, the risks were
large, amounting in 1854 to over $10,000,000. But the policies were well
placed, and in 1854 the losses annually were only about $300,000; and the
premiums, being adai)tcd to the losses, gave the com])any an income oi'
$500,000 a year, without touching the capital. Thus the losses were all paid
from the premiums, and a handsome surplus left for distribution in the form
of dividends, or for investment as a surplus fund. The success of the Hart
ford Fire, and the sal •'./ of this form of business, led to tlie formation of otiu r
companies. The ^-Etna came first, appearing in 1819 : and then the i'rote( -
tion. The Hartford-County Mutual came along in 1831, the Phoenix in 1854.
Such has been the growth since tSio, that, in spite of the losses caused
by the great fires of recent years and other depressing causes, the city of
Hartford has in the year 18 78 ten insurance companies in full operation,
h-^ving an income of $11,000,000 annually, and insuring property to the
amount of $680,000,000.
The growth of the Hartford companies was in large part due to a cause,
which, being taken advantage of afterwartl by other companies, brought about
Causes of ^" expansion of the whole business of insurance. Until the .Mtiia
their Started in 1819, the business of the several com5)anies had been
growt . almost entirely of a local character. Kach concern was as nnu h
circumscribed by the limits of the neighborhood it was in a'^ the townshiji
cider-mill and the early county flouring-mill. The .'litna appears to have
conceived the idea of creating a network of distant agencies, and ohtaininu;
business in all parts of the country. Possibly the practice of New-l ngland
manufacturers in sending out peddlers suggested the idea; but. whether it did
or not, the .-Etna adopted the agency-system, and soon built up an enormn
and prosperous business. The Hartford Fire adopted the system also, and \\
the course of tweat)' years the tirartice became com'^or. witti all large ant
aspinn« compaiiies The city which invented it. of course, profited by it the
first, and iiroportionatelv the most.
Ever^ thing went swimmmglv with the 'ompanies np to the year 1835.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
827
s a timid venture, ami
fire would have snuffed
if the company for the
dred and thirty dollar^
the only emplo)e, the
id fire-wood. By 1820
er that the business of
1 became a great con-
ing to tens of million-.
exceed two millions,
it-stock concern. 'I'lu-
though now $1,000,000,
ler hand, the '•isks were
the policies were well
)Out $300,000 ; and the
omixmy an income of
5 the losses were all paid
distribution in the form
he success of the Hart
to the formation of other
1 ; and then the I'rotcc-
^31, the rhcjcnix in 1S54.
of the losses caused
ng causes, the city of
)anies in full operation.
nsuring property to the
ge part due to a cause,
onii)anics, brought about
urance. Until the .Ktna
ral companies had been
1 concern was as miu h
was in as thv townHhiji
.'ICtna appears to ha\e
agencies, and obtaining
»ractice of Newl'ngland
idea ; but, whether it did
on built ij) an enornKr:
the system also, and n
•nor, with all large anc
rourse. profited by it the
- to the year 1835,
n
The computation of the average number of losses in the year and the adjust-
ment of premiums thereto was effectively done, and the companies Great fire
had themselves alone to blame if they did not make money. °* ''ss-
■ri;ey did make money, and new and rival organizations were continually
coming into the field to reap a part of the golden harvest they were gathering.
In 1835 the first severe blow was struck at the insurance interest by the great
fire in the city of Mew York on the night of Dec. 1 6. By noon of Dec. 1 7, five
hunihed and twenty-nine stores and forty-one other buildings in that city,
south of Wall .Street, were burned to the ground, and left in smoking ruins,
and $15,000,000 worth of property had been consumed. This totally unex-
pected and overwhelming visitation wiped out of existence every one of the
fire-insurance comj^anies of New- York City (twenty-six in number) except the
Noilh River, tlie Greenuich, and tiie Bowery. All of their $9,450,000 of
capital which could be made available, together witii $2,000,000 placed by
them in Boston and elsewhere, was consumed in paying the losses. They
paid over every cent of money they could realize from their assets; and twenty-
three companies either wound >i[) their affair- -.'ntirely, or began i)usiness again
with capital freshly sub-
scribed, and upon an -_-^ j.;> ^,^
entirely new foundation. '-:: ;v.-iv'^^'^^ ^
'i'his calamity produced a '; - irf
sensation in the Ui.ited
States more extraordina-
ry even than tiie greater
fire at Chicago in 1S71,
for the reason that lire-
insurance was new in this
country ; and from the
experience of the pre-
ceding twenty years, and
the brilli.ant success of a
few notable companies,
jniblic confidence in the
companies had become
excited to a degree which
has ne\-er been r/.-mlleled
in the history -f the
i.'nited States. Insunnce had come to be considered so safe, that the courts
had been m the habit of directing e\pli<-itly that trust-funds and savings
should be invested in the stock of the companies. The best men of the
(lay iiad given the wei-ht of th^eir sanction to these investments, and widows
and orphans had put large sums of their money into the stocks of these
<-ompanies m order to deposit it where it would certainly be - -cure and remu-
llARTKOKU HRr-INSlRANCE COMI'ANY,
|.'
:.;« ■■; f.
m
828
INDUSTRIAL IIISTOKY
Fire of :845.
nerative. The re-action after the fire of 1835 was consequently dreadful.
The whole country stood aghast. Public confidence in the joint-stock com-
panies was profoundly shaken ; and so much did capitalists distrust tiicm.
that new companies could not be formed fast enough to re-insure the
property which had been deprived of protection by the failure ot the New-
York societies. The danger of concentrating the risks of a company in cities
was made apparent, and altogether a new aspect was given to the whole
business.
What little faith in the stock-system was left after the fire of 1835 was
badly shattered by the New- York fire of 1845, when four hundred
and fifty buildings in the business-centre of the city were destroyed,
and $6,000,000 of property lost, — an incident which brought about a fresh lot
of insurance bankruptcies.
The fire of 1835 (and incidentally that of 1845) had two important conse-
Conse- (juences ; one was the improvement of the apparatus in use for
quences of extinguisliing fires; the other was the formation of a vast nmn-
these fires. ^^^ ^j- ,^.,m^^| fire-insurunce companies in all parts of the country.
With reference to the first matter, it may be said that it was throuj;li tlie inllu
Fire- cnce of the companies that attention was now drawn to the subjei i
apparatus. Qf steam fire-engincs, to that of paid fire departments, and to the
need of city water-works. The insurance comixinies of New York gave an
Fire- ordtT in 1840 to have a steam fire-engine i)uilt, and one was buili
engines. |,y ^\^ Hoilgcs, and tested, in behalf of the comi)anies ; ami
inventors, then being set to work at the subject, soon had i)ractical steam fire-
engines in operation in various parts of the country. The C'roton water was
introduced to New York in 1842. Paid fire departments in die principal cities
Paid fire de- Were slowcr of introduction ; but they cume along in a tew years,
partments. ^.^j mostly through the efforts of the companies. Hy 1862 all
large cities had them except New York, and the system was introduced there
in 1865. liesides using their influence to secure these things, the underwriters
iliil one thing more. In 1839 the companies in New York organized and
employed a paid fire patrol, which has ever since been in active and successful
operation, and has been of incalculable benefit for the preservation of property.
Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities, organized similar patrols in
imitation of New York. Their cost is a mere fraction of the value of tiie
property which would be destroyed without tiie agency of their services. The
celebrateil London Corps was organized by Capt. Shaw of the Kire Brigade of
that metropolis, after witnessing the performances of the Insurance Patrol
of New York. The underwriters also effected a salutary change in the
combustible character of buildings, by their action in regard to rates of insur-
ance, &c.
The second immediate effect of the fire of 1835 ^^^•'' ^'1*-' formation of a
large number of mutual insurance companies. There had been some discon-
OF THE UNITED STATES.
829
tent in tlie i)ul)lic mind at the joint-stocii . system, because of the imlimiteil
power which it conferred on the companies for making money from Formation
the public without imi)osing a corresponding liability. For instance, o( mutual
a company would be formed with, say, ;? 150,000 capital, of which ="""?■"'"••
ten per cent would be paid in at the start, and possibly the whole of it within
the course of a few years. Upon this slender basis of capital the company
would proceed to erect a colossal top-heavy superstructure of risks, frequently
amounting from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. The company would assess the
policy-holders from $50,000 to $100,000 a year, and from that sum of jiremi-
ums would pay the occasional losses by fire occurring year by year, amounting
generally from $40,000 to $60,000 a year. The company would then put a
portion of the profits into a surplus guaranty-fimd, and divide the rest, thus
making an exceedingly handsome thing of it. The stockholders of that class
of companies used to got their whole capital back in diviilends every four
years. At the end of twenty years a great fire might occur which would bring
upon the company a loss of $2,000,000. 'I'he concern would have its
$150,000 of capital, perhaps $200,000 of suri)lus fund, and $100,000 of
receipts for premiums for the then current year, in ail $450,000, with which to
meet a two-million-dollar loss. The stockiiolders would have no liability
beyond the $450,000 ; antl though they had epjoyed the benefit of large
profits for twenty years, and had got the amount of their investment back
several times over, the policy hosiers could not compel them, in the hour of
their extremity, to restore one cent of tlic gains thus accjuircd, and save the
owners of the burned property from loss beyond the amount of the $450,000
referred to. After the fire of 1S35, when the field was cleared so suddenly of
insurance companies, the current feeling toward joint-stock concerns found
expression immediately in a demand for mutual charters. Under this system
the corporation has no capital : the losses are paid from the premiums, as in the
original Philadelphia C'ontributionship, and the profits are divided among
the policy holders. No greater security was gained than under the other
system ; but the policy-hoklers who ))aid the premiums secured their share of
the profits, and thus got a part of the benefits of the system which was sus-
tained by their money, and theirs alone. The security was as good, after a few
years, as under the joint-stock plan ; for all the surplus was transferred to a
guaranty-fund, anil a capital thus created. The sole weak point of the sys-
tem was the danger that a heavy loss might occur in the first few years of the
mutual concern. This danger was met by the formation of mixed companies,
with a capital subscribed, which could be called on in case of emergency ; the
business being conducted otherwise upon the mutual plan.
The rage for mutual companies manifested itself first in New- York State,
where a large number of buildings were left without insurance by the bank-
ruptcy of the existing companies, and where there was a demand for new
corporations accordingly. In 1S35 there were only five applications to the
Mm
)« I
830
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
legislature for insurance-charters; hut in 1836 there were over fifty, one-half
Their '^^ thcni being for mutual companies ; and, during that and the fol-
growth In lowing year, forty-four ch.irters were granted for the organization of
New York, ^j^^^ ^j^^.^ ^^ concerns. The applications came principally from the
inland cities and towns of the State, where the people resolved to separate the
fortunes of their property, as far as possible, from the special hazards and con-
centrated risks of large cities. 'I'he excitement over mutual companies soon
Their ipread i-'xtendcd to Other States. During the next ten years they mulii-
in other plied rapidly throughout New Englantl and all the Middle States;
'""*■ and the idea was adopted throughout the West, where a field for
business was just opening. The mutual plan was extremely popular, because
in the rural communities, where capital was scarce, <.onipanics could be formed
without its aid ; and, in the cities, those who paid heavy premiums forinsuranrc
received, in return, part of the profits of the business. As has already been
indicated, this rage for mutual companies received a new impetus in 1845 from
the six-niillion-dollar fire of that year in New York. The failure of more of
the Eastern joint-stock companies was the result of the fire ; and, as these
companies had had agencies in different parts of the country, the localities
where those agents had offices were deprived of insurance accordingly. Local
companies upon the mutual plan were found to fill the gap thus created. New
Orleans, which had theretofore depended on the agency system, was one of the
sections which now organized mutuals for fire, marine, and life purposes. The
mutuals of that city, by the way, secured by their promptitude a monopoly of
the city and river business until 1857, when local stock companies began to
compete for the business.
The mutual system was far more advantageous to the general public than
the other. When prudently managed, the companies were found to afford
Advantages ^'"P'^ Security, especially outside of the large cities, and the
of mutual policy-holders secured protection at an extremely low minimum of
■yitem. expense. The mutual system grew rapidly, therefore, especially in
the three great insurance States of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania.
It was stimulated in New York by the celebrated law of 1849, which was passed
by the legislature without one dissenting voice, and which was simply designed
to be a general law to facilitate the formation of companies without the delays
consequent upon applying for a special charter. That it did " facilitate " things
there is no (juestion ; for forty-two companies had been formed under the law
by 1853. Growth was so rapid, that, by 1855, the bulk of the farm and village
property in the three States above named was covered by the policies of the
mutuals ; and the same was true of other States.
Unfortunately, with this rapid extension of a system which promised to
Defects in be of such public importance, there came demoralization, specu-
system. lation, and fraud. The profits of the companies were large, and
speculators and wreckers forced their way into the insurance system to carry
OF THE UNITED STATES.
831
ere over fifty, one-half
luring that and the fol-
for the organization of
mo principally from the
jsolved to separate the
)eciai hazards and con-
mtual companies soon
t ten years they miiUi-
all the Middle States;
^Vest, where a field for
•emely popular, because
ipanics could be formed
premiums for insurance
. As has already been
:\v impetus in 1845 fron>
rhe failure of more of
the fire ; and, as these
e country, the localities
nee accordingly. Loral
gap thus created. New
;y system, was one of the
and life purposes. The
nptitude a monopoly of
ck companies began to
the general public than
s were found to afford
large cities, and the
;remely low minimum of
■, therefore, especially in
York, and Pennsylvania.
1849, which was passed
lich was simply designed
anies without the delays
it did "facilitate "things
n formed under the law
k of the farm and village
d by the policies of the
Item which promised to
e demoralization, specu-
mpanies were large, and
isurance system to carry
out deliberately-planned schemes of oppression and wrong. The story is the
same, in its general outline, in each of the States of Pennsylvania, New York,
and Massachusetts. Hut the wildest swindling was in New York. In that State,
the law of 1849, which formed the pattern for the insurance legislation of other
States, provided that mutual companies in New-York and Kings Counties
must not start without a hundred applicants, nor with less than $300,000 in
marine premiums, or $200,000 in fire premiums, for which notes must have
been already given. Klsewhere in the State, only $100,000 in notes were
retpiired. Any number of persons not less than thirteen might incorporate.
What followed in New- York State after that law is so well told in the report
of James M. Cook, comjUroller of the State in the year 1854, that the
wonls of the report are copieil herewith : —
"One of the fundamental errors of the law of 1849 was in the method
of aggregating the original capital, by placing no reasonable limit to the
amount of each of the notes forming it. Any mutual company „ , ,_
^ •' ' ■' Errors in the
could be formed out of the coimty of Kings or New York by thir- law, evil
teen persons giving premium notes to the amount of $100,000, '°"**'"
I II 1 .... . quences.
and actually commence the business of insurance without a dollar
in money, even while the property actually insured under the bogus notes was
of less value than the notes represented. These notes could be withdrawn by
the makers as fast as they could get bona fide premium notes from insurers
who actually desired insurance on their property. Thus the original capital, as
it was termed, would disappear exactly in the ratio that agents could cajole
real risks to supply its place. This defect is remedied by the law of 1853,
by the wholesome jjrovisions of its sixth section.
" A greater and more serious difficulty grew out of this apparent and
sometimes real necessity of quickly obtaining policies to supply the place of
the original notes. Connected with this process prevailed a prac- g^^^ ,
tice at war with all sound business-transactions: I mean the modeo. ^
practice of paying both officers and agents by the policy, instead "' " ""*
of fixed salaries. Let me describe the results flowing from this method of
business. Competition reduced the amount for which the note should have
been taken ; and, for the same reason, the cash percentage was, of course, too
small for the risk. Business increased with the reduction of the cost of
insurance, both in the amount received in notes and in cash payments.
Agents redoubled their activity, as the measure of their pay depended, not
on the qualities, but on the number, of the notes they obtained ; not on the
kind of buildings, or the amount insured thereon ; a farm was as good for their
purpose and for their profit as a modern fire-proof store. Salaries increased
for the officers with such magical celerity, that time was flying almost too fast
to even sign policies. Soon losses came, as come they will ; and the money
received to-day was paid for the losses of yesterday. The happy Paul of
to-day paid the percentage upon his premium note which was to insure his
fi!
'1; ■■'-
h \
f > fl
^r^^.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
<^
1.0
i.l
|50 "^ l^B
u 144
Hi us, 112.0
12.2
u&
1-25 il.4
Sk
%
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
\
^
'i?
33 WIST MAIN STREiT
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0
(716)072-4503
>
4r
832
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
property for five years, without the remote suspicion that he was to be the
sorrowful Peter of a comparative to-morrow. ' All went merry as a marriage-
bell.' Soon everybody within their control in the respective beats of agents
was insured j new fields and new agents were sought : but distance lent no
enchantment to the view presented by the agents, or perhaps a new com-
petition was created by some envious neighbor. The number of policies
began to fall off; the receipts of cash on premium notes for the percentage
became ' small by degrees, and beautifully less ; ' property would burn up ;
and the managers began to doubt the policy of taking any but farm-risks.
The summit level of folly, spurred on by avarice, had been reached ; and,
as the ascent was with the speed and splendor of the rocket, the descent,
as a matter of course, was like the stick that guided it upward. Tax upon
tax followed in quick succession upon their premium notes, amid the mut-
tered curses of those who were compelled to pay them. Credit or standing
as a company only existed as the snow of last winter, — a matter of remem-
brance.
" This was sometimes followed by a spasmodic effort to prolong existence.
A flaming handbill in large letters is posted, announcing that " this company
takes none but farm-risks," or that it has separate classes of risks, with a
grand sum total of the amount of their premium notes, and exhibiting a large-
amount of moneys in the hands of the agents and in the course of trans-
mission to it. Under this state of things, the agents, with the sagacity pecul-
iar to their class, retire in rMsgust from the employ of the company; and
while they sing paeans to some younger brother in whose emplby they are,
and who is destined to the same fooUsh and unpitied fate, they fi-eely com-
ment upon and express their doubts as to the management and honesty of
the elder one. The beginning of the end has come. Exeunt omnes of
the managers of the company. The curtain falls ; and a receiver, appointed
by the court, makes his bow before the astonished audience, and gives notice
that the farce of folly, avarice, and mischief has ended, and iliat the tragedy
of collecting a sufficient percentage on the notes to pay the liabilities of the
company will soon begin."
The picture is faithful to the life. The companies in New York adopted
the mixed premium and stock-note plan, and pushed a reckless agency busi
Number of ness in different parts of the country. In less than ten years of
failures. jjjg passage of the law, five-sixths of the companies formed under
it went down, entailing a loss of $2,000,000 on the community. Of the forty-
two organized from 1849 to 1853, thirty-three were swindles, and failed out-
rageously. By 1859 there were left in New-York State only twenty-eigiit of
the sixty-two mutuals doing business in 1853; and of the twenty-eight the
majority had been organized under special charters prior to 1846, and Iiad
adhered strictly to the mutual plan. By i860 only seven of the nearly sixty
mutuals formed under the law of 1849 still survived in New- York State.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
833
Twenty-one mutuals failed in Pennsylvania from 1853 to i860, owing to the
same causes ; that is to say, an erroneous plan of doing business, and the
deliberate swindling of speculators who organized the companies for the sake
of large salaries and plunder. In Massachusetts the mutual companies which
were formed from 1844 to i860 were nearly every one of them closed by the
latter year through the action of the courts, or by consolidation with better
concerns. Pennsylvania was the champion State of the intentionally bogus
companies ; but scarce any State in the North was free from them.
STEAM FIRE-ENGINE.
It is difificult to obtain exact statistics concerning the fire-insurance busi-
ness in the United States, owing to the absence of laws in many of the
States requiring reports ; but the situation in i860 in the New- sj^^.gj.j.3
England and Middle States, including a hundred and forty com-
panies in the South and West, was as follows: 417 companies; capital, ^40,-
000,000 ; cash premiums paid every year, $25,000,000 ; fire-risks, $2,300,000,-
000. After i860 the business was conducted more prudently throughout the
country, owing to the enactment of judi ious laws, and the establishment of
State supervision of the companies in New York and Massachusetts. The
insurance department of the latter was founded in 1S54 ; that of New York, in
834
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
1859. In imitation of those two States, Connecticut established a department
in 1866 ; Ohio, in 1867 ; Iowa and California, in 1868 ; Illinois and Missouri,
in 1869; Wisconsin and Kentucky, in 1870; and Michigan, in 1871. The
wild-cat companies have been nearly driven out of existence by these succes-
sive enactments and the action taken under them.
From i860 to the present time the growth of fire-insurance has been
generally sound, though marked by extraordinary features. The number of
Fire-inmur- buildings in the country — which was only 3,362,337 in 1850, and
•ncesince 4,969,692 in i860 — had increased in 1870 to 7,042,833 in spite
''*°' of the devastation of the four-years' war. Competition and the
mutual system had reduced the cost of insurance ; and the protection of dwell-
ings, stores, and factories, by policies of insurance, had become universal.
. There were causes at work which compelled the companies to exercise great
prudence ; such as the increasing use of petroleum for lamps and for lighting
fires in stoves, the lawlessness engendered by the war, and the temptation to
bum heavily-insured property for the sake of securing the insurance. But
these dangers were, on the whole, offset by the general adoption of steam fire-
engines and paid fire departments throughout the country, and the general
erection of fire-proof buildings. When the war was approaching a close, the
prospects of the fire-insurance business were bright, and the companies were
hopeful and happy. With the b\}^ning of Charleston, S.C., and the loss of
^7,000,000 of property thereupon, and the destruction of other Southern cities
in that last year of the war, there began a series of losses by fire in this country
such as had never been seen on the face of the earth. During the year ending
May I, 1865, over ^50,000,000 of property was burned in the United States,
mostly in the South of course, only 1^5,000,000 of it being in the North. This
loss fell generally on the English companies and on a few Southern companies,
many of the latter being crushed by their losses. On July 4, 1866, a fire
broke out in the city of Portland, Me., caused by a boy's fire-cracker, which
burned out < 10,000,000 worth of property in the business quarter of the city.
This was a heavy blow to the New- England companies ; but it was an " airy
nothing" compared with the experience of 1871, 1872, and 1873. From 1866
the daily record of losses became so large, that, in the country at large, the
companies were called upon annually to make good losses amounting to
1 1 0,000,000 or more. This was sufficiently serious ; but in 1871 came the
shock of a great calamity. On Oct. 7 of that year one of the most destnictive
fires which had ever occurred in Chicago had broken out and been subdued.
On Sunday evening, Oct. 8, a bam caught fire (owing, it was said at tlie
time, to the kicking over of a milk-pail and a lamp by a cow) at the junction
of De Koven and Jefferson Streets, in an inflammable part of the city ; and, at
the end of two days, more property had been consumed than in the historic
London fire of 1666. In London 13,000 buildings were burned, covering
500 acres ; and the loss was 1^50,000,000. In Chicago 1 7,450 buildings were
- .0.'.t'»«k., ..^V~>MlriJ^^Uiitv.>
OF THE UNITED STATES.
835
Ttment
issouri,
. The
succes-
is been
(iber of
,50, and
in spite
and the
)f dwell-
iniversal.
ise great
• lighting
tation to
ce. But
;eam fire-
; general
close, the
nies were
e loss of
»ern cities
IS country
ar ending
»d States,
rth. This
ompanies,
66, a fire
ter, which
the city.
an " airy
burned, covering a tract about four miles long by one wide, an area of 2,124
acres, and worth with their contents, at a moderate calculation, j!!i6o,ooo,ooo'i
This was a quarter of the total actual valuation of the real and personal property
of the city, which in 1871 was only 5620,000,000. The fire rendered 98,500
people homeless, 50,000 of them leaving the city within a few weeks ; and 250
lives were lost. On the burned property there was $98,000,000 of insurance,
123,000,000 of it being by New- York companies. The total loss was dis-
tributed among two hundred companies, of whom sixty four failed in conse-
quence of their losses. Eleven of the companies were in Chicago, sixteen in
New York, five in Hartford, five in Providence, four in Boston, three in San
Francisco, and the rest scattered all over the country. Only about $49,000,000
were realized by the policy-holders. Chicago's actual loss, including loss of
business and depreciation of property, was estimated at fully $150,000,000.
Two fires in Boston followed this calamity. One began Nov. 9, 1872, and in
thirty-six hours destroyed 776 buildings, worth, with their contents, $80,000,000
(the wares in them being valued at $60,000,000), upon which there was an
insurance of $56,000,000. Fourteen lives were lost by the fire. In Boston
the fire was remarkable, because it swept away a large number of imposing
granite edifices which had been deemed absolutely fire-proof. A larger pro-
portion of the insurance was paid in the case of this fire, and again there
was a wiping-out of companies. Another fire occurred in Boston in 1873,
destroying property worth $1,500,000, insured for $1,100,000. Thirty-two
companies closed their doors in consequence of the Boston fires, twenty-six
being Massachusetts companies, and twenty-two of the latter number being
joint-stock concerns, leaving only eleven joint-stock companies in Massa-
chusetts. Tliese great calamities have been succeeded ever since by a num-
ber of smaller ones in other parts of the country. Two or three million-dollar
fires have taken place in New York, and one or two in Chicago. One in
Pittsburgh was more disastrous, and the number of small fires swells the yearly
aggregate now to about $10,000,000.
This is an extraordinary record ; and, should the history of the next twenty
years present a similar picture of destruction, it will become a problem, whether
fire-insurance can continue to prosper. It is confidently believed, however,
that the calamities of Chicago, Boston, New York, and Pittsburgh, have now
called such attention to the subjects of the architecture of cities, water-
supply, patrols, and fire-apparatus, that the chances of any other great city
being entirely or even partially destroyed by fire during this generation are
very much diminished.
In 1876 the fire-insurance companies of the United States had increased
to eight hundred and fifty-one, including thirty-four foreign com- companies
panics doing business here. From the following table no idea is *" '"'••
gained of the comparative importance of the insurance interest in the various
States ; as Connecticut, for example, transacted more business than several other
I
836 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
States which had a much larger list of companies. They were distributed as
follows : —
Alabama II
California . ..' 7
Connecticut 31
Delaware •'*4
District of Columbia ti
Georgia ...• 6
Illinois 9
Indiana 5
Iowa ....>.. 7
Kansas 3
Kentucky 13
Louisiana 17
Maine 43
Maryland . . . .18
Massachusetts 85
Michigan 40
Minnesota ...n 3
Mississippi i
Missouri 29
New Hampshire 37
New York I2i
North Carolina .*...3
Ohio 58 '
Pennsylvania 177
Rhode Island 34
South Carolina i
Tennessee if3
Texas 7
Vermont 6
Virginia ............ 16
West Virginia 6
Wisconsin 9
Foreign 34
Total 851
The risks assumed by these companies amount to something over 1 10,000,-
000,000, the people of the United States paying for this protection a sum
variously estimated from $100,000,000 to 1 150,000,000 yearly. This is indeed
a very heavy tax. to pay in order to be secure from the consequences of one's
own negligence, or the accidents or wrong-doing of others ; but human nature
is such a poor thing, that no man is regarded as prudent now-a-days who does
not carry a proper amount of insurance upon his houses, bams, factories, ships,
or merchandise. It is a very rare thing to see a structure of any sort, pos-
sessing much value, that is not, in part at least, insured ; though occasionally
an insurance-fund is accumulated by companies out of which they reimburse
themselves whenever losses arise. The following was the business done by a
few of the principal companies in 1875 : —
1819
1853
1852
1820
1829
1859
Co
Fir
Frs
Ge.
iSsoGle
1852 Hai
1810 Ilai
1853 Hoi
!'■
ilNiaj
'825Peni
i8S4Phce
Wati
W
Perhj
$50,ooo,<
table ver
risks con
OF THE UNITED STATES.
837
1819
1853
1852
1820
1829
1859
1850
185
1810
1853
1794
1849
1825
I8S4
1867
1837
iEtna (Hartford) .
( Agricultural Insurance Co.
I (Watertown, N.Y.) .
Continental (Hartford) .
Fire Association (Philadelphia)
Franklin Fire (Philadelphia)
Germania (New York) .
Glen's Falls(Glen's Fa'ls, N.Y.)
Hanover (New York) .
Hartford (Hartford)
Home (New York) .
{Insurance Co. of North )
America (Philadelphia) )
Niagara (New York)
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) .
Phcenix (Hartford)
Watertown (Watertown, N.Y.)
( Westchester (New Ro-
\ chelle, N.Y.) .
$3,000,000
200,000
1,000,000
500,000
400,000
500,000
200,000
500,000
1,000,000
.3,000,000
1,000,000
500,000
400,000
600,000
200,000
200,000
$6,878,000
1,058,000
2,845,000
3,457,000
3,308,000
1,710,000
747,000
1,592,000
3,032,000
6,047,000
5,167,000
1,465,000
1,557,000
1,950,000
694,000
823,000
$4,097,000
542,000
1,677,000
1, 34 1, coo
1,208,000
992,000
338,000
1,044,000
2,066,000
3.393.000
3,351,000
864,000
677,000
1,556,000
352,000
807,000
LOSIBS
FOR
YEAR.
$2,059,000
267,000
733.000
507,000
586,000
378,000
187,000
433.000
998,000
1,682,000
863,000
469,000
jj 6,000
871,000
187,000
402,000
RISKS IN
FORCE.
$269,984,000
206,471,000
195,168/XJO
136,990.000
165,380,000
86,814,000
65,192,000
96,948,000
i39.96S.OOO
356,804,000
174,596,000
67,338,000
63.537,000
1 1 5,826,000
109,193,000
72,112,000
Perhaps forty other companies take risks amounting to from $20,000,000 to
150,000,000. All the rest do a business of under $20,000,000. The above
table very fsdrly illustrates the proportion of assets and receipts to losses and
risks common in all companies.
LIFE.
We now come to another branch of the insurance-business which has had
.its own independent growth and history, and which has passed through
vicissitudes as unique and interesting as the others.
Life-insurance in this country is as ancient in its origin as the fire and
marine branches. It was introduced in a modified form as early introduc-
as 1 769. On the 7th of February of that year, the proprietaries of tion of life.
Pennsylvania appear to have issued letters-patent to a company '"""'"'•'•
called " The Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergy-
men of the Communion of the Church of England in America." The object
of this society was to secure to the widows and children of clergymen the
payment of an annuity after the death of the" contributor. The contributors
paid eight, sixteen, or twenty-four dollars per annum, as they pleased \ and, if
fifteen annual payments had been made, their families thereby secured an
annuity of five times the amount of the annual paym.ent, — forty, eighty, or one
hundred and twenty dollars, as the case might be. If the number of pay-
ments was less than fifteen, the annuity was reduced accordingly. Charters
838
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
were taken out for this society in New York and New Jersey, and in 1787
they were renewed in all three States. The New- York and New-Jersey
branches were afterwards discontinued ; although the charters remain in force,
it is believed, to this day. The original society is still running, though on a very
small scale. It scarce attracts attention now, except as an historical curiosity,
although its benefits are really valuable, and are shared by a number of people.
The example of Pennsylvania was followed in Maryland in 1 784. A cor-
poration of Episcopal clergy was formed on exactly the same plan.
No regular life-business was done in this country, however, until 181 2.
The same feeling against putting a price upon the life of a human being was
prevalent as in earlier times in Europe. It was looked upon as a
speculation which the laws of (lod could not sanction. This
prejudice wore away, however, with time ; and in 181 2 the first life company of
the United States was started. It was in Philadelphia of course, the City
of Brotherly Love and of a great many other good things besides. It was
Penniyi- Called " The Philadelphia Company for Insurances upon Lives and
vania granting Annuities." It had a capital of $500,000, and began
company. business in 1813, using the mortality-tables of Dr. Price, which
were then in use in England. This table passed out of use long ago ; but it
may be interesting to quote it here for comparison with the one now in use,
which will be cited farther on. It is as follows : —
EXPECTATION OF LIFE, IN YEARS.
Birth
S •
10 .
«S •
20 .
25 •
30 •
35 .
40 .
45 •
SO .
55 •
60 .
65 .
70 .
75 •
This table was based upon the observation of the average length of life of
ten thousand people. It gave an excessive mortality-rate, however, even for
mm^:''M
OF THE UNITED STATES.
839
in 1787
w-Jersey
in force,
on a very
curiosity,
)f people.
A cor-
ntil 1812.
being was
ipon as a
an. Tl^is
jmpany of
, the City
s. It was
Lives and
and began
rice, which
igo ; but it
low in use.
,1FB, IN VKABS.
WOMEN.
I8.I
37-12
36.89
33-43
30.01
26.8
23.98
21.62
19.25
17.17
15.13
12.89
10.45
8-39
6.16
4-39
Ih of life of
ver, even for
England ; and an experience of about twenty years convinced the company in
Philadelphia that it was e.\cessive also for the United States. The company
therefore reduced its premium-rates in 1831, and again in 1837. Reduction
The first tables of vital statistics in America made up for insurance- °' '■»«»-
purposes were prepared by the Philadelphia concern for its own use from the
mortality-reports of the city.
In 1830 there became apparent a perceptible impulse toward the forma-
tion of regular companies for life-insurance. Some of the fire companies had
joined a limited life-business with their other privileges : but the total business
was a mere thistle-blow in the air to the clouds above, compared with the
business which could be developed by regular life companies ; and
in 1830 the regular companies began to make \\\m debut upon of^UiVr""
companies in
the Stage. The Baltimore Life and the New-York Life and Trust
appeared in 1830. In New York the Farmers' Loan and Trust, '830 and «t a
' later date.
incorporated m 1822, revived its life-privileges. In Philadelphia
the Girard Life and Trust was chartered in 1836, the Globe Life and Trust
in 1838, and the Odd Fellows' Life and Fire in 1840. Then, in the West,
there was incorporated in 1840 the Ohio Life and Trust of Cincinnati ; in tbp
South, the Southern Life and Trust of Mobile in 1836, and the Ocean Mutual
Marine and Life in New Orleans in 1835. The premium-rates of these com-
panies were about the same as the mutual rates now in vogue. Life-insurance
was scarcely understood in the United States when the majority of these com-
panies began business. If the ancient prejudice was gone, the principles upon
which life-insurance was based were not, at any rate, well understood. These
companies had to educate the public. They did it well, and established the
business in permanent favor in the United States. By 1840 the beneficent
results of the business were so well understood, that the State of New York
passed a law by which the benefit of the policj' was secured to the wife, free
from the claims of her husband's creditors. The importance of that law was
seen at a glance. It was soon adopted in other States. It gave a great lift to
the whole business of life-insurance.
Within seven years after 1840 five great companies began business in this
country, introducing a new era in life-insurance. The first to appear was the
New- York Mutual. It was chartered April 12, 1842, with thirty- period of
six of the most prominent merchants of New- York City as the '**"•
incorporators, Aspinwall being the name at the head of the list. There was
no guaranty-capital ; but the law required that the company should not
begin business until it had received applications for $500,000 of insurance. In
order to make a sure thing of it, the company waited eight months, until the
applications had amounted to over $700,000 ; and on Feb. i, 1843, it threw
open its doors for business. It was the first mutual life company in the United
States, and it has been the most substantial and successful. In 1844 the New-
England Mutual was started in Boston. It had been chartered in 1835 ; but
840
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
owing to the monopoly enjoyed by the Massachusetts Hospital and Life Com-
pany, chartered in 1825, it had not thought fit to begin business before the
year stated. In 1841 the Nautilus Company of New York was chartered, with
fire and marine privileges. It did not begin business at once, but got its
charter amended so as to include life-privileges too. It opened it. doors in
1847, confining itself to the life-business entirely. In 1849 '^^ name was
changed to the New- York Life. The State Mutual Life of Worcester, and the
Mutual Benefit of Newark, N.J., completing the list of five great mutuals,
came into the field in 1845.
The one object of all these companies was to reduce the cash cost of life-
insurance, and to perfect the science of the business, so as to popularize these
Object of investments, and make them safe. All except the Mutual Life
companies, adopted the part-note system. In 1846 the Connecticut Mutual
of Hartford was started upon the same plan as the others. These six com-
panies won '.heir way rapidly ; and, in ten years from the time the first of them
opened its doors, they had driven every other life-insurance company from the
field, except the Pennsylvania, the Girard, and Corporation of Episcopal Clergy
in Pennsylvania. These three survive, as do the six pioneer mutuals.
With 1846 the record of unsuccessful life companies begins. The Mutual
Life of Baltimore was founded in that year, but was unable to get business,
Fate of ^"^ '^ disappeared in five years. In 1847 six companies were
varioua formed ; but only one, the Penn Mutual of Philadelphia, now
companes. gurvives. Five companies were started in 1848: three of them
were in Philadelphia, and they soon disappeared: two of them — the Union
Mutual of Maine, and the National of Vermont — were successful. In 1S43
three companies started in Louisiana, and one each in North Carolina, New
Jersey, and Connecticut ; but they soon dissolved. In 1850 twelve more were
chartered, — two of them in the South, and two in the West. Seven of them
soon failed, re-insured in other companies, and went out of sight. The other
five, all in the East, survived. The situation in 1850 was as follows : —
COMPANIES.
Connecticut 6
Pennsylvania '3
.Maryland 2
Louisiina ... 4
New Jersey 3
. Ohio 2
Kentucky 2
New York 5
Massachusetts 3
Vermont i
North Carolina , . . . I
Georgia i
Maine . i
Foreign 3
Total 47
umt^^aa^tnaai^
OF THE UNITED STATES.
841
; Corn-
ore the
;d, with
got its
loors in
iHie was
and the
mutuals,
: of lifc-
izc these
tual Life
t Mutual
six com-
t of them
from the
)al Clergy
le Mutual
business,
mies were
jphia, now
of them
:he Union
In 1843
ilina, New
lore were
of them
The other
JMPANIES.
6
•3
2
4
3
2
2
5
3
I
I
I
I
3
Of this number twenty-eight have since closed or withdrawn, three of them
being the foreign companies. The year 1 850 was very prolific in companies.
Fourteen were started, and about as many more sprang up in the Their fate
next five years. 'I'he competition engendered by these new com- •'"•=" ''**•
panics threw the whole field of life-insurance into commotion. Companies
came up like mushrooms year after year, and suddenly appeared Mode of do-
on the principal streets of cities, with gilded signs, and showy ingbutinest.
buildings paved in colored tiles, and ornamented with frescos and bronze rail-
ings and statuary, with porters in uniform to receive the visitor ; one New-York
company hiring a gigantic colored ex-member of the South-Carolina legislature,
over six feet high, to act in. that capacity. An army of agents was employed
by them to flood the country, and besiege the wealthy to take out policies on
NBW-YORK LIFE-INSURANCB COMPANY.
their lives ; and all the agents were supplied with printed books for their
private contemplation, entitled " A Few Practical Suggestions," or some similar
name, containing such instructions as these : " There must be hard, persistent
work." "Talk life-insurance on its merits. Never let any man who has an
income go without showing him that his life has a money value " (a whole
chapter being given to the work of showing the agent how to put the case to a
man). " Talk large amounts ; but there are many wealthy men whose families
would not suffer in case of their death : these are the men who can best afford
to pay a premium ; they can pay for a handsome insurance, and not feel it."
" Don't make too large promises about dividends." And so on, until the
fxm.
47
84a
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
"Practical Suggestions" have covered every inch of the field. The companies,
in fact, had discovered that there was money in life-insurance ; and they began
a systematic effort to swell the business of taking risks to the utmost possibk-
point, in order to realize therefrom a number of enormous salaries to officers,
and the use of the surplus funds of the business for speculation. Prudent ami
honest companies did much during this j)eriod to elaborate tables-of-mortality
statistics (the New- York Mutual pre-eminently), and to jnit the business other-
wise on a solid basis : but the fever of speculation burned in the veins of half
the existing companies ; and the business was pushed at a reckless rate, nnd
on unsound and ruinous principles. Hy i860 the withdrawals of companies
had been as numerous as their multiplication, and in i860 only twenty-two
of which there is any record were doing business in the United States. Those
twenty-two had outstanding insurances to the amount of $180,000,000 011
60,000 citizens, their receipts of premiums being $7,000,000 a year.
With the war, life-insurance received a new impetus. A new era of
feverish competition, speculation, showy companies, and ruin, began. In 1864
Effector the policies had increased to $400,000,000. In the next four
w«r. years seventy new companies sprang up, and insurances ran up to
$1,600,000,000. Life companies were the especial feature of the tendency
of enterprise in the West. All the offices were run on the high- pressure
system. Mr. Hine says, "Solicitors extolled the merits of their own and
depreciated those of rival companies in almost every town and village in tiie
country, aided by pamphlets, periodicals, and prospectuses, picturing in mag-
nificent figures the attractive features of the new philanthropy. Railroads
and the national debt were about the only things deemed worthy of com-
parison with such a business. Excessive outlays and defective management
were alike concealed by the enormous volume of new business which every
enterprising office was able to report at the end of successive years ; and the
suggestions of speculative re-action and a possible collapse were unheeded in
the rich harvest that was being reaped." The experience of the mutual fire
corporations in the speculative days of their history has already been related.
The wild schemes of the fire mutuals were now more than paralleled by tiic
life mutuals, and wild-cat companies were formed and presented to the public
eye in a manner which forcibly calls to mind the company so keenly satirized
by Dickens in " Martin Chuzzlewit." One would imagine, on reading
Dickens's description, that the satire was levelled at the bubble concerns of
America. The portrait is lifelike, and may be reproduced here : —
"The Anglo- Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life-insurance Company
started into existence one morning, not an infant institution, but a grown-up
company, running alone at a great pace, and doing business right and left ;
with a^ * branch ' in a first floor over a tailor's at the west end of the town,
and main offices in a new street in the city, comprising the upper part of a
spacious house resplendent in stucco and plate glass, with wire blinds in all
OF TUF. UNITED STATES,
S43
Anglo-Ben-
galee Ditln-
■nee Com-
pany.
the windows, and ' Anglo- Ikngalee ' worked into tho pattern of every one of
thorn. On the door-post was painted again in large letters, ' Offices of the
Anglo- Hengalce Disinterested Loan and Life-insurance Company ; '
and on the door was a large brass plate with the same inscriptioh,
always kept very bright, as courting inciuiry, staring the city out »"'"»•''
of countenance after office-hours on working-days and all tlay Life-in"ur-
long on Sundays, and looking bolder than the bank. Within, the
offices were newly plastered, newly jjainted, newly papered, newly
countered, newly ffoor-clothed, newly tabled, newly chaired, newly fitted up in
every way with goods that were substantial and expensive, and designed (like
the company) to last. Business ! — look at the green ledgers with red backs,
like strong cricket-balls beaten flat, the court-guides, the directories, day-
books, almanacs, letter-boxes, weighing-machines for letters, rows of buckets
for dashing out a conflagration in its first spark, and saving the immense
wealth in notes and bonds belonging to the company. Look at the iron
safes, the clock, the office-seal, in its capacious self-security for any thing.
Solidity ! — look at the massive blocks of marble in the chimney-pieces, and
the gorgeous parapet on the top of the house. Publicity ! — why, ' .Anglo-
Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life-insurance Company' is painted on
the very coal-scuttles. It is repeated at every turn, until the eyes are dazzled
with it, and the head is giddy. It is engraved upon the top of all the letter-
paper, and it makes a scroll-work around the seal, and it shines out of the
porter's buttons, and is repeated twenty times in every circular an<l public
notice, wherein one David Crimple, Esq., secretary and resident director, takes
the liberty of inviting your attention to the accompanying statement of the
advantages offered by the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life-
insurance Company, and fully proves to you that any connection on your
part with that establishment must result in a perfect Christmas-box and
constantly increasing bonus to yourself; and that nobody can run any risk by
the transaction except the office, which, in its great liberality, is pretty
sure to lose. . . .
" Lest, with all the proofs and confirmations, any man should be sus-
picious of the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life-Insurance Com-
pany ; should doubt, in tiger, cat, or person, Tigg Montague, Esq. (of Pall
Mall and Bengal), or any other name in the imaginative list of directors,
— there was a porter on the premises (a wonderful creature in a vast red
waistcoat and a short-tailed pepper-and-salt coat), who carried more con-
viction to the minds of sceptics than the whole establishment without him.
No confidences existed between him and the directorship ; nobody knew
where he had served last ; no character or explanation had been given or
required ; no questions had been asked on either side. This mysterious being,
relying solely on his figure, had applied for the situation, and had been
instantly engaged on his own terms. They were high ; but he knew, doubtless,
844
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
that no man could carry such an extent of waistcoat as himself, and felt the
full value of his capacity to such an institution. When he sat upon a seat
erected for him in a corner of the office, with his glazed hat hanging on a
peg over his head, it was impossible to doubt the respectability of the con-
cern. It went on doubling itself with ivery square inch of his red waistcoat,
until, like the problem of the nails in the horse's shoes, the total became
enormous. People had been ':.iuwii to apply to effect an insurance on their
lives for a thousand pounds, and, looking at him, to beg, before the form of
proposal was filled up, that it might be made two. . . . He was grave with
imaginary cares of office ; and having nothing whatever to do, and some-
thing less to take care of, would look as if the pressure of his numerous
duties, and a sense of the treasure in the company's strong room, made
him a solemn and thoughtful man."
With 1872 the second tide of speculation again ceased to flow, and the
re-action came. Companies carelessly conducted, which had allowed their
Re-action expenses, commissions, and salaries to intrench upon their capital,
•ince 1872. began to go down. Collapse followed collapse in all parts of the
country. Disaster was postponed, in many cases, by the officers swearing
deliberately to false sta.tements in regard to the assets of their several concerns.
The salaries of |l 20,000 and $30,000 they were paying themselves were too
large to relinquish without a fight. But State supervision was relentless, and
insisted upon searching examinations into the affairs of suspected concerns ;
and not only were a large number of concerns compelled to close up their affairs
along from 1872 to 1878, but in many cases their officers were sent to prison
for deliberate fraud and perjury. Some of the men thus summarily and sternly
punished had occupied prominent places in the community for integrity and
godly lives. The losses inflicted upon the policy-holders amounted to millions.
No sympathy has, therefore, been felt for the punished officials of the bankrupt
companies.
This era of investigating by State officials, of failure and prosecution, has
Present con- again cleared the air in life-insurance. The business is again on a
dition. sound basis ; and, although the salaries and expenses of some of
the companies are yet too large, it is believed their affairs are again in a healthy
condition. Of course the business of life-insurance has received a tremen-
dous shock by such an awful disclosure of wide-spread mismanagement, and it
will probably be a long time before confidence in the really sound companies
will be fully restored. The innocent cannot help suffering with the guilty, and
this trite truth is emphatically the case with those insurance companies which
are truly worthy of confidence ; but, in the end, the fact that they passctl
safely through such a trying ordeal will increase the faith of the public in
their soundness, and thus naturally bring renewed prosperity.
Sixty-one companies are now doing business in the United States,
distributed as follows : —
I T- — rT<M«»lr i f i ~Tr i --T
OF THE UNITED STATES. 845
Maine i
Vermont .,,2
Massachusetts 6
Connecticut o
New York le
New Jersey 1
Pennsylvania »
Ohio 2
Indiana 1
Michigan i
Wisconsin i
Missouri ^
Iowa , 2
Kansas 1
Kentucky i
California i-
Alabama 2
Georgia i
Virginia i
Louisiana ., , .1
Maryland i
North Carolina i
District of Columbia 2
Total 61
The policy-holders number about 900,000. The sum of $75,000,000 is
paid for premiums, and $50,000,000 is disbursed annually to the policy-
holders. The companies hold $400,000,000 of assets, and have insured lives
to the amount of $1,900,000,000. No other nation except England can show
such a record. In England, in 187 1, there were 136 life-companies, with
1,243,349 policy-holders, the risks amounting to ;£'30i, 213,144. In Germany,
in 1 87 1 (and this includes Austria and Switzerland), there were only thirty-six
companies against ninety-one in the United States. The policies were 424,-
922 in number only, and the insurances 401,000,000 thalers. In France, in
187 1, there were 97,841 policy-holders and 973,000,000 francs of life-insurance.
" The primary relation of a company to its policy-holders," says C. T.
Lewis, " is that of the seller to the buyer of insurance. In its simplest form,
it has no complications or difficulties but those which arise between every
seller and his customer. The company determines at what price it will offer
its insurance : the purchaser pays the price, and his family is entitled to the
amount insured whenever he dies." In taking life-risks, two tables are now
used by the American companies. They are called the American-Experience,
and the Actuaries' or Combined-Experience tables. The former T,jjie» used
is the product of the Mutual of New York. They differ from each in insuring
other by a mere fraction only, and are to all intents and purposes " ''
substantially the same. The following will illustrate the Combined-Experience
table: —
846
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
10
J5
20
as
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
99
NUMBER
OF LIVES,
100,000
96,636
93,268
89.83s
86,292
82,581
78.653
74.435
69.S«7
63,649
SS.973
46,754
35.837
24,100
13.290
S.417
i.3«9
89
NUMBER OP
DEATHS FROM
PRECEDING YEAR.
3.364
3.368
3.433
3.543
3.7"
3.928
4,218
4,918
5.868
7,656
9,219
10,917
11.737
10,810
7,873
4,098
1,230
88
EXPECTATIONS
OF LIFE.
48.36
44.96
41.49
37.98
34.43
30.87
27.28
23.69
20.18
16.86
13.77
10.97
8.54
6.48
4.78
3.36
2.11
1.12
•SO
The following are a few figures relative to the failure of life-insurance com-
panies in the United States. The total number of failures has been one hun-
8tati«tic«of dred and fifteen companies, eighty-three of the number having
faiiuret. \xtti chartered since i860, and seventy-one of the eighty-three
since 1865. The years and the States in which the failures occurred were as
follows : —
YEAR.
1840
I85I
1853
1853
'855
1856
1857
I861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
49
OF THE UNITED STATES. 84.7
VBAR.
1840-69 ^5
1870 6
1871 8
'872 ,4
»873 17
1874 5
187s 9
1876 7
1877 2
Total lie
STATE.
Alabama 2
California I
Connecticut m
District of Columbia I
Delaware ....3
Georgia 2
Indiana |,
Illinois II
Kentucky 2
Louisiana t
Minnesota 1
Michigan I
Maryland 2
Missouri g
New York 31
New Jersey 6
North Carolina 2
Ohio 6
Pennsylvania 12
Rhode Island i
South Carolina 3
Tennessee 6
Texas i
Virginia i
Total 115
It was the disgraceful failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company of
Cincinnati as a bank which is said to have started the panic of 1857. The
first great failure after that date was that of the Great Western
Mutual of New York in 1870. From 1870 on, the companies oMoUfe
came tumbling down like a row of trees in the woods which the and Trust
wood-chopper had prepared for a grand combination crash by |j|'"'P»"y'"
cutting away the trunks so that they were all just ready to fall, and
then starting them so that each one should fall against its neighbor. One
company would be closed by the attorney-general, and its affairs put into the
hands of a receiver. Its policy-holders would be re-insured in some other
brand-new and equally weak company, which would go down in turn, often in
848
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
the very same year. Each failure was worse than the preceding ; and when
Failures in 1876 and 1877 were reached, and the Continental, the Security,
1876-77. ji^g American Popular, and the Atlantic Mutual went down, an
examination of their affairs revealed a shamelessness of corruption, and depth
of inefficiency, in the management of the first three, which shocked the moral
sense of the American people, and led every man to ask the question
of his neighbor, " Well, who is there in the community that we can trust
now?" The Continental had $51,000,000 of insurances, the American Popu-
lar $10,000,000, and the Security $20,000,000, when they went down.
The following is the business which is now being done by the best of the
Business "°^^ existing companies ; the old Mutual of New York being put
done by at the head of the list, — a place it deserves, not half so mucli
present hoTA the magnitude of its colossal business as from the excellence
companies. °
and soundness of its management and the substantial foundation
upon which it stands (the figures being for Jan. i, 1876) : —
PAYMENTS TO
POLICY-
HOLDKRS.
NUMBER OF
POLICIE!.. ^
1847
■ 850
1850
1846
1859
1845
1830
1857
I85I
Mutual of New York .
^tna (Hartford) , .
Charter Oak (Hartford)
Connecticut Mutual
(Hartford) . . .
Equitable (New York)
( Mutual Benefit (New-
I ark, N.J.) . . .
New York (New York)
( North-western Mutual
I (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Phoenix Mutual (Hartford)
.i
$78,534,000
21,822,000
13,314,000
43,410,000
28,585,000
31,300,000
30,505,000
17,044,000
10,133,000
$20,400,000
5,526,000
4,448,000
$12,674,000
3,453.000
2,096,000
92.393
56.743
26,481
9,818,000
6,206,000
66,209
9,571,000
5.335.000
48,700
6,751,000
5,526,000
43.015
7,944,000
4,131,000
44,461
4,053,000
2,004,000
36,428
3,298,000
1,934,000
30,281
3^305.057.000
91,454,000
58,796,000
185,076,000
178,632,000
134,104,000
126,132,000
67,124,000
60,247,000
The Germania, Globe, Home, Manhattan, Life Association of America,
Knickerbocker, John Hancock, New-England Mutual, Pennsylvania, Provi-
dence Life and Trust, Union Mutual, and Union Central, do a large business,
and have risks outstanding amounting to from $20,000,000 to $60,000,000.
ACCIDENT.
This is the last of the four departments of the insurance-business. It is
_ . . the creation of the single mind of one man, — Mr. James G. Bat-
accident- terson of Hartford, Conn, who, while abroad, had noticed tlie
insurance workings of accident-insurance in Europe, and who, upon his re-
coRipan.es. /• j r
turn, organized the Travellers' Insurance Company of Hartford for
introducing the business to this country. His company was chartered in June,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
849
nd when
Security,
down, an
id depth
;he moral
question
can trust
;an Popu-
ESt of the
being put
f so much
excellence
foundation
RISKS.
l$305.o57.ooo
91,454,000
58,796,000
185,076,000
178,632,000
134,104,000
126,132,00°
67,124,000
60,247 .coo
1863. It took some time to get it into operation, and the first contract was
made upon the street. In March, 1864, Mr. Batterson happened to meet Mr.
James Bolter in front of the post-office at Hartford ; and the latter asked him,
" What will you take to insure me for $5,000 if I get killed by accident in
going from here to my house on Buckingham Street?" — "Two cents,"
replied Mr. Batterson. " Agreed ; here is your money," said Mr. Bolter.
This was the first insurance for accident in America. The two cents thus
earned were preserved by Mr. Batterson, and are still exhibited in a frame.
The first written policy was issued to Mr. Batterson himself for $5,000 in April,
1864.
In two years the success of the Travellers' was assured. The American
mind is quick to seize upon new ideas of this sort, and in 1865 and 1866
eleven new companies of various kinds to do a casualty business succen of
were organized and in operation in New York. They all soon the enter-
retired, however, leaving the field to the Travellers'. By the end '*''"■
of 1865, so rapidly did the business of the latter grow under the good
management of its president and founder, that it had 2 7,000 policies in force,
with an income of $500,000, and risks amounting to $85,000,000.
In 1866 seven of the accident-insurance companies consolidated, and
formed the Railway Passengers' Assurance Company of Hartford. Mr. Bat-
terson became president of that also ; and the two concerns, the Railway
Passengers' and the Travellers', have since attained a national reputation and
a great business. The former confines itself chiefly to the general accident
business ; while the latter has a life business also, its risks now amounting to
over $90,000,000.
To the casualty business a Plate Glass company was added in New York
in 1870. Other cities have since formed similar organizations. They have
met with moderate success.
lof America,
lania, Provi-
Ige business,
500,000.
Iness. It is
Imes G. Bat-
1 noticed the
lipon his rc-
iHartford for
Ired injune,
&50
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
CHAPTER III.
COMMERCE.
COMMERCE relates to the exchange of products; transportation, to
the moving of them : and, having already considered the latter sub-
ject, we shall now confine ourselves strictly to the former, although the
two are often treated as identical.
ANTE-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
The history of the foreign commerce of the United States is very sharply
Commerce divided by the Revolution into two periods, inasmuch as the laws
divided by
Revolution^
•in's colo-
nial policy.
regulating it were radically changed by that event. We shall first
proceed to sketch the colonial policy inaugurated by Great Britain,
which was prolific in mistakes, and which finally led to the war of separation
between the colonies and the mother-country.
Great Britain was not slow in declaring her intention to make the colonies
Great Brit- *^ profitable to herself as possible. To accomplish this, she
adopted a policy which required the colonies to buy of her, irre-
spective of competing markets ; and forbade their engaging in pur-
suits which in any way conflicted with the interests of English manufacturers.
Let us briefly glance at the manner in which these ideas were executed.
One of the earliest industries^ in which the colonies engaged was that
I In the second voyage of Capt. Newport to the (Virginia) colony in the latter part of 1608 the company
sent out in the ship — which brought also a crown for the sachem Powhatan, and orders for his " crownation " —
eight Poles and Germans to make pitch, tar, glass, mills, and soap-ashes; which, had the country been peopled,
would have done well, but proved only a burden and hinderance to the rest. A colonial historian says, " No
sooner were they landed, but the president dispersed as many as were able, some 10 make glass, and others fur
pitch, tar, and soap-ashes. Leaving them at the port under the coimcil's care and oversight, he himself carried
thirty about five miles down the river to leam to cut down trees, make clapboards, and lie in the woods." The
council in London, complaining that no gold and silver was sent, wrote an angry letter to the president,
threatening, that if the expenses, two thousand pounds, were not defrayed by the ship's return, they should lie
deserted. To this Capt. Smith returned " a plain and schobrly answer " by the ship, which was at length
despatched with the trials of pilch, tar, glass, frankincense, and soap-ashes, with what wainscot and clapboard
could be provided. This cargo, of the value of which we are not informed, appears to have been the first export
made from the British colonies to a foreign country, with the exception of a load of sassafras gathered near
Ca^ Cod in 1608, and consisted almost exclusively of manufactured articles, in the strict sense of the term.
Of Sh
was 1
theb
Vork
built,
article
were (
and th
the m
cheapl
busine;
constiti
laden i
those o
the sam
The
attentioi
settleme
were adc
olizing tl
n. the .
encourag
" from ar
indigo, g
facture oi
carried,
any land,
such othe
designed
lies, and
Cromwell,
colony bui
time to tin
afterward,
' The doc
possible, to mal
people who sett
ships and other
New York in co
<"• boards of an
'slands. Thee
which proved in,
« was continued
when they were
<"»<) the time <
OF THE UNITED STATES.
851
rtation, to
latter sub-
tiougU the
,ery sharply
as the laws
e shall first
reat Britain,
If separation
the colonies
[h this, slie
lof her, ine-
jging in pur-
inufacturers.
luted.
^ed was that
leoS the company
1 " crownation —
Itry been peopled,
Itorian says, -^o
Ls, and others f»r
Ve himself earned
(the woods." The
Ito the president,
In, they should be
lich was at leng*
lot and dapbonrd
Ln the first export
Ifras gathered near
\ of the term.
lations dur-
In the reign of Charles !"« "'^n of
° Charles II.
of ship-building. The rivers were lined with abundant forests : water-power
was readily utilized, and this industry proved very successful from ship-buiw-
the beginning. In New England especially, and afterward in New *"«•
York and Philadelphia, ships of two hundred and three hundred tons were
built, which were loaded with lumber, fish, live-stock, and other Early
articles, and then sailed for the West Indies, where the cargoes voyagea.
were exchanged for sugars, which were taken to England in the same vessels,
and there sold. Not unfrequently the ships themselves were disposed of in
the mother-country ; for, as timber was so plentiful, they could be made more '
cheaply at that time on this side of the Atlantic than anywhere else. Thus the
business of ship-building, the trade with the West Indies, and the sale of ships,
constituted prominent features of a very lucrative business. Other vessels,
laden with spars and timber, proceeded directly to British ports, as well as
those of other European countries, where ships and cargoes were often sold in
the same manner.
The commerce of the colonies with the West Indies early attracted the
attention of Great Britain. Scarcely had twenty-five years passed since the
settlement of New England before a series of trade regulations trader
were adopted by the British authorities for the purpose of monop-
olizing the carrying-trade thus established.
II. the celebrated statute was passed, entitled "An Act for the
encouraging and increasing of Shipping and Navigation." It was enacted, that
"from and after the first day of April, 16O1, no sugars, tobacco, cotton, wool,
indigo, ginger, fustic, or other dyeing woods, of the growth, produce, or manu-
facture of any English plantations in America, Asia, or Africa, shall be shipped,
carried, conveyed, or transported from any of the said English plantations to
any land, island, territory, dominion, port, or place whatsoever, other than to
such other English plantations as do belong to his Majesty," &c. The act was
designed virtually to secure to the English markets the produce of the colo-
nies, and was but an extension of an act passed in 1650 by the Parliament of
Cromwell, restricting the import and export trade of the colonies to English or
colony built ships.* The list of articles named in it, which was extended from
time to time, embraced what were known as enumerated articles. Two years
afterward, in 1663, it was enacted that "no commodity, of the growth, produc-
' The doctrine of each sovereignty of the world grasping .ind holding the largest number of monopolies
possible, to make the most of its opportunities, and to keep its rivals down, was so ingrained and steeped into the
people who settled this country, that they manifested the same spirit. In order to encourage the building of
ships and other vessels, and increase the trade of Perth Amboy, which at one time sought to rival its neighbor
New York in commerce, the Assembly of New Jersey, in 1694, prohibited the exportation of any timber, planks,
or boards of any kind, hoops, or hop-poles, except directly to England, the XVest Indies, the Summer and Wine
Islands. The object of this measure was to monopolize the transportation of its only export, — an experiment
which proved injurious to both New Jersey and New York. Notwithstanding the obvious defects in the system,
it was continued; and in 1714 duties and other restrictions were imposed on the exportation of some commodities
when they were shipped to neighboring provinces. Indeed, the system was continued with considerable vigor
until the time of the Revolution. •
85 «
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
tion, or manufacture of Europe, shall be imported into the British plantations
but such as are laden and put on board in England, Wales, or Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in English-built shipping, whereof the master and three-fourths of
the crew are English." The effect of this would be to compel the colonies
to buy, as the former did to sell, in the English markets exclusively. But
these laws were very little regarded by the colonies, with the exception of
Virginia, where they excited remonstrance and almost rebellion, and were
not, until a later period, enforced upon them. The primary object of tlic
monopoly was to prevent the commercial rivals of England from supplantirig
her in the colonial trade ; although the deeper object, as we shall very
soon see, was to put most of the trade into the possession of England
alone.
Even at that early date, there were those who feared that the prosperity of
the colonies would pave the way to independence. Said one writer of that
independ- day, " The colonies are beginning to carry on trade : they will
«nce feued. goon be our formidable rivals. They are already setting up manu-
factures : they will soon set up for independence." The " Discourse on
Trade," by Sir Josiah Child, before quoted, thus expresses the prevailing
opinion of this class : " New England is the most prejudicial plantation to this
kingdom. Of all American plantations, his Majesty has none so apt for the
building of shipping as New England, nor none so admirably qualified for the
breeding of seamen, not only by reason of the natural industry of that people,
but principally by reason of their cod and mackerel fisheries j and in my poor
opinion there is nothing more prejudicial, and in prospect more dangerous,
to any mother-kingdom, than the increase of shipping in her colonies, planta-
tions, or provinces."
It was only by an evasion or relaxation of the laws, says Bishop, which was
connived at by the revenue officials, that the colonies were ever enabled to pay
Evaiion of ^^r the enormous amount of British manufactures and European
laws necet- merchandise annually received from England ; which, at the be-
to continue" ginning of the eighteenth century, amounted to nearly ;^4oo,ooo,
purchaiet of and, toward the close of the provincial period, ;^3,5oo,ooo, or
"'"" ■ nearly one-fourth of the English export trade of those periods.
None of the colonies north of Maryland ever had balances in their favor, but
were, on the contrary, much in arrear. The obligations could only be met ])y
circuitous trade, carried on, in contravention of the trade acts, with foreign
countries, whence they derived most of their specie and remittances suitable
for returns to their English creditors. By this illicit traffic English commerce
was as much benefited, probably, as that of the colonies. Lord Sheffield
admits, that, between the years 1770 and 1773, the colonies must, by this cir-
cuitous trade, have remitted to England upward of ^^30,000,000 in payment
of goods taken from her, over and above their remittances in produce and fish.
Ships built for sale, as has already been remarked, constituted an important
OF THE UNITED STATES.
853
itations
i-upon-
irths of
[:olonies
ly. But
ition of
nd were
t of the
,)pbnting
,haU very
England
sperity of
er of that
they will
up man«-
icourse on
prevailing
ition to this
apt for the
fied for the
that people,
in my poor
dangerous,
lies, planta-
element in this foreign colonial trade, the value of which was usually remitted
in specie, or bills of exchange on London.
Let us look across the sea for a moment, and learn how the English over
there carried on commerce with the colonies. Joshua Gea, in a work upon
the " Trade and Navigation of Great Britain," which appeared in
1729, says, " We have a great many young men who are bred to ""^c'^^fied
the sea, and lave friends to support them. If they cannot get on commerce
employment at home, they go to New England and the Northern ^',o*|,[*"'
colonies with a cargo of goods, which they sell there at a great
profit, and with the produce build a ship, and purchase a loading of lumber,
and sail for Portugal or the Straits, &c., and, after disposing of their cargoes
there, frequently fly from port to port in the Mediterranean till they have
cleared so much money as will pay in a good part for the first cost of the cargo
carried out by them, and then, perhaps, sell, their ships, come home, take up
another cargo from their employers, and so go back and build another ship.
By this means, multitudes of seamen are brought up j and, upon a war, the
nation is better provided with a greater number of sailors than hath heretofore
been known. Here the master becomes merchant also, and many of them
gain by this lumber-trade great estates, and a vast treasure is thereby yearly
brought into the kingdom in a way new and unknown to our forefathers ; for
indeed it is gaining the timber-trade heretofore carried on by the Dutch and
Swedes, our plantations being nearer the markets of Portugal and Spain than
theirs are."
Notwithstanding the historic trade acts of Great Britain, which were
designed to cripple colonial commerce, it was actively carried on in the man-
ner described, especially with the West Indies and the mother-
country. It is proof of a pretty lax administration of the laws in
those days ; but there were a great many merchants interested
in making these exchanges, from whom the policy of England, if
rigidly enforced, would have evoked bitter opposition. Probably
tlie government was well aware of the fact, and consequently was more willing
to acquiesce in the infraction of the laws than if they had been in perfect harmony
with the sentiment of the time. So exchanges went on. To the West Indies
were carried lumber of all kinds, fish of an inferior quality, — the better sorts
going to the Roman-Catholic countries of Europe, — beef, pork, butter, horses,
poultry, other live-stock, tobacco, flour, bread, cider and apple9> cabbages, and
onions ; for which was received, in return, molasses, besides silver and gold,
which metals were transmitted to Great Britain to pay for the commodities pur-
chased there. While no gold and silver mines were known in America, the
Spanish settlers in the West Indies were rich in the precious metals which they
were receiving from Mexico and Peru; and from this source the colonists
received something like an adequate supply to discharge their obligations to
the mother-country. But for this illicit trade, the colonies would soon have
Trade car-
ried on, not-
withstand-
ing trade
acti.
-mi
854
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
been drained of their supply of ihe precious metals, and the English mer<
chants would have found only a poor market for their wares in America.
America had only a small supply of the articles which the people of Great
Britain wanted in return for their commodities. Fish, tobacco, and ships
were the chief exports, besides gold and silver, to that country ; and these
alone would have gone only a little way in payment for the goods wanted
of her.
It may not be out of place to describe, in this connection, the fisheries of
the colonial period. In those early times, cod, salmon, mackerel, sturgeon,
Colonial and other kinds of Ash, were abundant along the coast and in the
iiiheriei. rivers, and large numbers of men were employed in catching,
curing, and packing them. But the New-Englanders also frequented the
famous Banks of Newfoundland, as far as the coast of l^brador, where enor-
mous quantities were caught. Indeed, those waters are scarcely less abundant
to this day. Besides their own catch, the colonists used to buy of the New-
foundland fishermen, paying therefor in rum of New-England manufacture,
and also in other things coming Irom either the colonies or the West Indies.
The following statistics will give the reader an idea of the quantity of the
warming fluid which was sent to the provinces of Nova Scotia, Quebec, and
Newfoundland, for the four years preceding the Revolution : —
1770.
1771.
I77».
«773.
West-India rum (gallons)
New-England rum (gallons) .
52,712
590,748
36.873
55o.5'4
47.736
520,525
50,716
608,025
Total . . . .
643,460
587,387
568,261
658,741
The fish obtained by both capture and purchase were properly prepared
for market, and sent to the various ports of Europe. The choicer qualities
were sent to Southern Europe, and the proceeds were remitted in bills of
exchange to England to pay for merchandise consumed in America. A few
of the best fish, however, also found a market in Great Britain ; while the infe-
rior sorts went to the West Indies, and were eaten as a relish to the plantains
and yams which constituted the staple diet of the slaves.
After the peace of 1 763 with France, the whale-fishery, which theretofore
had not been an important industry, developed rapidly ; and the seas between
Whale- New England and Labrador were vexed with a goodly number of
Rahery. vessels engaged in the hazardous but exciting undertaking. As
the tariff on oil and bone was reduced at this time, a new impetus was thereby
given to this industry; so that, before the year 1775, more than a hundred
and sixty vessels were thus profitably employed. The oil and whalebone were
OF THE UNITED STATES.
85s
shipped chiefly to Great Britain ; while candles were made of the spermaceti,
which were also exported thither.
The most unremitting attention was given to every thing likely to yield any
profit, and so thoroughly wide-awake were the colonists as to obtain the appel-
lation of "the Dutchmen of America." Their prosperity was c«uieoi
closely watched from the other side of the water ; and as their commercui
trade diminished with Great Britain, and increased more with other P'»»P«''*y'
countries, in spite of custom-houses and watchmen, while manufactures at
home were growing, the British House of Commons in 1731 instituted
through the Board of Trade an inquiry with respect to the laws made, manu-
factures set up, or trade carried on, detrimental to the trade, navigation, or
manufactures of Great Britain. Among other facts reported were the follow-
ing, which will doubtless interest the reader, as they throw much light upon the
character of the colonists at that time, the extent of their trade, the progress
of home manufacture, and how laws which were designed to oppress the colo-
nies and enrich the merchants of Great Britain had been turned with deadly
effect upon those who had made them : —
" The Governor of Massachusetts Bay informed us, that, in some parts of this
province, the inhabitants worked up their wool and flax into an ordinary coarse
cloth for their own use, but did not export any ; that the greatest part of the
woollen and the linen clothing worn in this province was imported from Great
Britain, and sometimes from Ireland, but, considering the excessive price of
labor in New England, the merchants could afford what was imported cheaper
than what was made in that country ; that there were also a few hat-makers
in the maritine towns, and that the greater part of the leather used in that
country was manufactured among themselves ; that there had been for many
years some iron-works in that province, which had afforded the people iron for
some of their necessary occasions, but that the iron imported from Great
Britain was esteemed much the best, and used wholly by the shipping, and that
the works of that province were not able to supply one-twentieth part of what
was necessary to the use of the country. They had no manufactures in the
province of New York that deserved mentioning (their trade consisted chiefly
of furs, whalebone, oil, pitch, tar, and provisions); no manufactures in New
Jersey that deserved mentioning, their trade being chiefly in provisions shipped
from New York and Pennsylvania. The chief trade of Pennsylvania lay in
the exportation of provisions and lumber ; their clothing, and utensils for their
houses, being all imported from Great Britain. By further advices from New
Hampshire, the woollen manufacture appears to have decreased ; the common
lands on which the sheep used to feed being now appropriated, and the
people almost wholly clothed with woollen from Great Britain. The manufac-
ture of flax into linen, some coarser, some finer, daily increased by the great
resort of people from Ireland thither, who are well skilled in that business ;
and the chief trade of this province continued, as for many years past, in the
856
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
exportation of naval stores, lumber, and fish. By later accounts from Massa*
chusetts Bay in New Kngland, the Assembly have voted a bounty of thirty
shillings for every piece of duck or canvas made in the province. Some other
manufactures are carried on there, as brown Hollands for women's wear, which
lessen the im]X}rtation of calicoes and some other sorts of East- India goods.
They also make some small quantity of cloth, made of linen and cotton, fur
ordinary shirting and sheeting. By a paper-mill set up three years ago,
they make to a value of two hundred pounds yearly. There are also several
forges for making bar- iron, and some furnaces for cast-iron or hollow- ware,
and one slicting-mill, and a manufactory for nails. The governor writes con-
cerning the woollen manufacture, that *he country- people, who used formerly to
make most of their clothing out of their own wool, do not now make a third
part of what they wear, but are mostly clothed with British manufactures.
The same governor (Belcher), by some of his letters of an older date, in
answer to our annual queries, writes that there are some few copper-mines
in this province, but so far from water-carriage, and the land is so poor, that it
is not worth the digging. The surveyor-general of his Majesty's woods writes
that they have in New England six furnaces and nineteen forges for making
iron ; and that in this province many ships are built for the French and Span-
iards in return for rum, molasses, wines, and silks, which they truck there by
connivance. Great quantities of hats are made in New England, of which tiie
Company of Hatters in London have likewise lately complained to us that great
quantities of those hats are exported to Spain, Portugal, and our West-India
islands. They also make all sorts of iron-work for shipping. There are
several still-houses and sugar-bakers established in New England. By later
advices from New York, there are no manufactures there which can affect those
of Great Britain. There is yearly imported into New York a very large quan-
tity of the woolien manufactures of this kingdom for their clothing, which they
would be rendered incapable to pay for, and would be reduced to the necessity
of making for themselves, if they were not prohibited from receiving from tlie
foreign sugar colonies the money, rum, sugar, molasses, cocoa, indigo, cotton,
wool, &c., which they at present take in return for provisions, horses, and lum-
ber, the produce of that province and New Jersey, of which he affirms the
British sugar colonies do not take above one-half. But the Company of Hatters
of London have since informed us that hats are manufactured in great quanti-
ties in this province. By the last letters from the deputy-governor of Penn-
sylvania, he does not know of any trade carried on in that province that can
be injurious to this kingdom. They do not export any woollen or linen manu-
factures ; all that they make, which ore of a coarser sort, being for their own
use. We are further informed that in this province are built many brigantines
and small sloops, which they sell to the West Indies. The Governor of Rhode
Island informs us, in answer to our queries, that there are iron-mines there, but
not a fourth part enough to serve their own use ; but he takes no notice of any
OF THE UNITED STATES.
857
sort of manufacture set up there. No return from the Governor of Connecti-
cut : but wc find by some accounts that the produce of this colony is timber,
iKjards, all sorts of Knglish grain, hemp, flax, sheep, black cattle, swine, horses,
goats, and tobacco; and that they export horses and lumber to the West
Indies, and receive in return sugar, salt, molasses, and rum. We find that
their manufactures are very inconsiderable, the jjcople there being generally
employed in tillage, some few in tanning, shoemaking, and other handicrafts,
others in the building, and joiners', tailors', and smiths' work, without which
they could not subsist."
Upon the conclusion of the war with France in 1 763, Pa.-liament thought
the colonies ought to pay a share of the bills growing out of the contest which
was waged chiefly for their defence. Accordingly, resolutions in Efftct of
favor of a Stamp Act similar to the one which had long been S'*""? Act-
known in England were i)assed in 1 764. This measure was followed next year
by another, declaring all written instruments used in the colonies null and
void, unless executed upon stamped
paper, or parchment charged with
a duty by Parliament. This bill
at once roused intense opposition
here, and was the prelude to the
Revolution, The colonies imme-
diately faced these measures by
declaring that they would cease
their importations from Great Brit-
ain ; and so effectually did they
execute this purpose, that British
merchants loudly clamored for the stami-s.
repeal of those laws which had
worked such an unexpected injury to their trade. Their request was com-
plied with ; and, just a year from the time of their enactment, these obnoxious
laws were swept from the statute-book.
In 1767, however, Charles Townsend introduced into Parliament another
bill, imposing duties on glass, pasteboard, paper, painters' colors, and tea, which
passed into a law, and once more aroused the opposition of the Taxation of
colonists to remonstrances, petitions, and non-intercourse acts. '">?<"■»••
The merchants of Boston, in October, passed resolutions — in which they
were followed by other towns — not to import, or deal with those who should
import, tea. glass, paper, or colors, so long as the duties on those articles
remained unrepealed. Resolutions were at the same time formed to encourage
by all prudent ways and means home manufactures, and glass and paper were
especially mentioned as worthy of encouragement. The British exports to
the colonies at once fell off again from _;^2, 378,000 in 1768 to ;^i,634,ooo
in 1769, and the repeal of the act was loudly demanded. Public excite-
iLWOS/
8s8
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
ment was once more allayed in 1770, temporarily, by the reluctant withdrawal
of five-sixths of the duties, leaving but a nominal tax of threepence per
pound on tea, as a testimony of the asserted legislative authority of Parlia-
ment.
Says Bishop, " The trade acts were, in many respects, a manifest violation
of the rights of the colonist^s to make the most of their industry. Unless
Biihop on exemption were guaranteed by their charters, a right to exact from
trade acts. (hem a contingent for the general expenses of the empire of whic h
they were an integral part seemed to rest upon the same prerogative by wliic h
the parent state assumed in other cases to legislate for its dependencies. Tlie
legislatures of Massachusetts and New York had indeed, ten years before,
enacted a provincial Stamp Act ; the former granting to his Majesty duties on
vellum, parchment, and paper, for two years, toward defraying the charge of
this government. That of New York, passed the following year, continued
four years in operation. But the impost was now resisted upon the principle
that the colonists were not amenable to a statute which they had no voice
in making; and, upon this question of prerogative, the empire was dis-
membered."
How the continuance of this policy resulted the world knows. It was
opposed by the colonies, and in the end came revolution and separation. But,
Effect of the before this step was taken, a long series of experiments in the way
■yitem. ^f imposing and resisting taxes were tried on both sides. Laws
were passed, to be modified or repealed at the next session of Parliament. In
the year 1767 several measures favorable to colonial trade were enacted ; but
the next witnessed a renewal of the fiscal schemes of the previous ministry
by the imposition of a duty on paper, glass, painters' colors, and tea, providing
for the quartering of soldiers in the colonies, and for a more effectual enforce-
ment of the revenue system by the establishment of a custom-house. Al-
though the people had so readily receded from the determined stand taken
against the Stamp Act, and a sum of ^15,000 was voted to be raised by a
tax on foreign sail-cloth and lawns, to be paid in premiums on flax and hemp
imported from the colonies, this and other favorable legislation did not prevent
a renewal of the opposition to the new plan of taxation. Boston, in town-
meeting, Oct. 28, commenced the former system of retaliation and redress by
declaring that the " excessive use of foreign superfluities is the chief cause of
the present distressed state of this town, as it is thereby drained of its mom. y ;
which misfortune is likely to be increased by means of the late additional
burdens and impositions on the trade of the province, which threaten tlie
country with poverty and ruin." Resolutions were made to abstain from the
use, after Dec. i, of such foreign articles as "loaf-sugar, cordage, anchors,
coaches, chaises, and carriages of all sorts, horse-furniture, men's and women's
hats, men's and women's apparel ready made, household furniture, gloves,
men's and women's shoes, sole-leather, sheathing and deck nails, gold, silver,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
8S9
nt withdrawal
reepence per
rity of Parlia-
lifest violation
istry. Unless
to exact from
ipire of which
itive by which
dencies. Tlie
years before,
esty duties on
the charge of
ear, continued
1 the principle
^ had no voice
npire was dis-
tation and
non-exporta-
tion act of
and thread lace of all sorts, gold and silver buttons, wrought plate of all sorts,
diamonds, stone, and paste-ware, snuff, mustard, clocks and watches, silver-
smiths' and jewellers' ware, broadcloths that cost above ten shillings per yard,
muffs, furs, and tippets, and all sorts of millinery-ware, starch, women's and
children's stays, fire-engines, china-ware, siik and cotton velvets, gauze, pew-
terers' hollow-ware, linseed-oil, glue lawns, cambrics, silks of all kinds for gar-
ments, malt liquors, and cheese" Thus the regulations which were designed
to yield such a revenue to Greal Britain signally failed in their purpose.
On the loth of September, 1774, was passed by the Continental Congress,
then in session at Philadelphia, the famous non-importation and non-exporta-
tion resolutions, which constituted a pledge on the part of the
colonists, " under the sacred ties of virtue, honor, and love of ,a°i"'n'^^"
country," not to import, after the ist i,f December, any goods
whatever from Great Britain or Ireland, or British goods from any
place ; not to import or purchase any slave imported after that
time, after which they would wholly discontinue the slave-trade ; not to import
or purchase East-India tea ; to suspend the non-exportation agreement until
Sept. 10, 1 775 ; to request merchants as soon as possible to order their factors
in Great Britain not to ship any goods to them on any pretence whatever ; to
use their utmost endeavors to improve the breed and increase the number of
sheep by killing them as seldom as possible, and not exporting them, but sell-
ing them on moderate terms to their neighbors who might need them ; to
encourage frugality, economy, and industry, and promote the agriculture and
manufactures of this country, especially that of wool ; to discontinue and dis-
courage every species of extravagance and dissipation, shows, plays, &c. ; to
use, on funeral occasions, only a ribbon or a piece of crape on the arm for
gentlemen, and a black ribbon and necklace for ladies, and to discourage
the giving of gloves, scarfs, &c., at funerals. It recommended venders of
goods not to take advantage of the scarcity occasioned by the association
to ask for more than they had been accustomed to ; that goods imported
after the ist of December ought to be either reshipped, or stored at the
owner's risk, until the non-import-ition agreements ceased, or be sold, and
the owner re-imbursed the first cose and charges, the profits to be devoted to
the Boston sufferers. Committees should be chosen, in each county, city, and
town, to carry out the resolutions, and report violations ; and the committee
of correspondence should frequently inspect the custom-house, and inform
each other of the state thereof: that al! manufactures of the country should
he sold at a reasonable rate ; and that no trade, commercial dealings, or inter-
course, be had with any colony or province that did not accede to or should
afterwards violate the agreements, but they should be held unworthy the
rights of freemen, and as inimical to the liberty of their country. T,' -sc
resolutions met with general approval, and continued in force until peace with
Great Britain was declared.
86o
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
POST-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Commerce
during the
Revolution.
With separation and peace came a new era in the history of American
commerce. During the Revolution it had sadly waned ; indeed, it was nearly
ruined. But, as soon as hostilities were declared at an end, the
king removed all legal restraints upon intercourse with the United
States, dispensing with a manifest for a time even on the arrival of
an American vessel in a British port. Trade at once revived ; the imports to
this country amounting to $30,000,000, while the exports were about one-third
of that sum, for the first two years of peace. This inequality in the balance
of trade caused much distress ; but the needed remedy was within reach, and
was speedily applied. Thereupon prices fell, imports were checked, and in
1788 these were nearly equalled by our exports. In 1790 our exports
amounted to upwards of $20,000,000, and our imports footed up $23,000,000.
The remedy to which we here refer was an act of retaliation designed to
put American shipping on an equal footing with that of Great Britain, and thus
Commercial insure reciprocity. The old country forbade that produce he
freedom. imported to her harbors, except in British bottoms. Immediately
Congress enacted that foreign produce should not be landed on our shores,
except from American ships. Under this arrangement, vessels had to go one
way empty. This had the effect of securing a treaty by which Great Britain
conceded equal privileges to American ships with her own, as between tlu
ports of the two countries. This was the first of three great principles in
international usage, all in the direction of commercial freedom, which the
United States established ; the other two being, that neutral ships make free
goods, and that a neutral nation is responsible for the damage done by priva-
teers fitted out in her ports. Thus it will be observed that the young republic
of the West has championed the rights of mankind upon the sea as well as
upon land ; and, as those of the sea are exclusively commercial, her champion-
ship has been of the greatest value to whoever navigates the common high-
ways of the world. The commerce of the world has been benefited and
promoted by the pride, pluck, and conscious dignity of the American nation.
The prompt and decided self-assertion of commercial equality cannot l)e
appreciated in these present days without a recollection of tlie
Importance . /,,-., i i
of maintain, exclusive maritime supremacy of the Dutch over the whole woritl
ing commer- p^jor to the time of Charles II., and of the subsequent monoi)oly
of the world's commerce by Great Britain. Viewed in comparison
with precedent history, it was a singularly bold assumption.
Another noticeable influence upon the development of America's foreign
trade, immediately after the Revolution, was the rise of our enterprising,
Merchant- shrewd, and adventurous merchant-princes, who designed the most
princes. daring and successful commercial expeditions, comparatively
speaking, this country has ever known. They sent ships to all parts of the
OF THE UNITED STATES.
86t
globe, even to China, founding in tliis last-named quarter a ti. ae that has never
ceased to grow ; and so summarily punishing the Algerine pirates in the Medi-
terranean, that American trade on that sea enjoyed unusual freedom from that
pest. Among the most prominent among these men was William wuiiam
Gray of Boston, whose reputation soon became world-wide, and as °''*y-
honored in the East as in the West. His ships navigated every sea, and em-
ployed hundreds of hardy men. The skinul and bold seamen who com-
manded his ships were not of the later class of " dandy captains," who came
in with the " liners ; " but it was his saying, that the best captains would sail
with a load of fish to the West Indies, hang up a stocking in the cabin, put
therein the hard dollars as they sold the fish, and pay out from it as they
bought the rum, molasses, and sugar, tie up the balance, and hand it in at the
counting-room on their return home in lieu of all accounts. The honesty
and judgment of their proceedings were beyond question, and the problem
of the profits between the fish sent and the cargo and stocking returned was
for the clerks to solve. The genius for plotting long and intricate voyages
belonged to the head of the house. New York, in John Jacob Astor, had a
still more extensive operator. He first projected the enterprises to the north-
west coast, and laid out with profound skill schemes which it took ten years to
ripen; and his name was knovM throughout the world. Philadelphia had an
exponent of her commercial power in Stephen Girard, whose en- Stephen
terprises belonged to the same period of large operations and bold G'"'^'*'
conduct. Girard's ships were actively engaged in commerce with the West
Indies at the time of the revolution in San Domingo, and carried away many
rich refugees. His wealth received large accessions from the property placed
on board by those who could not escape. The Patersons of Baltimore led
the commerce of that city : and behind these leading names, which are asso-
ciated in history with vast fortunes, came a crowd of lesser ones ; for the mer-
cantile intellect was as busy in this country at that time as was military,
political, and literary genius througliout the world.
The internal agency that led to the national self-assertion and this bold
individual enterprise was doubtless the enthusiasm of independ-
ence. Already the colonists were a commercial people : triumph
over England inspired them to greater ventures ; freedom and
success stimulated further action ; and the imposition of a tariff",
the organization of a bureau of commercial statistics, and the
establishment of our currency on a sound basis, awakened confidence in our
commercial strength at home and abroad.
Another impulse was given to our commerce by the sudden development
of the cotton production at the commencement of this century, Effect of
which we have elsewhere described at some length. The invention cotton pro-
of the cotton-gin gave a sudden development to this industry,
and gave us a new and valuable commodity for export. In 1 790 we exported
Effect of
independ-
ence in stim-
ulating com-
merce.
862
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
but $42,285 worth of cotton : in 1807 the amount was valued at ;J>i4,232,oo().
Later, still vaster dimensions were attained. But, in the last year here cited,
our cotton alone formed nearly one-third of the value of our total export. It
might be mentioned in this place, that just previous to this time the South iuul
become greatly depressed, business-wise ; for her blacks had not been able to
earn their own living. Hence in 1808, some years after the ovil began to he
first felt, the further importation of slaves was prohibited by an amendment
to the Federal Constitution ; and, as the vessels engaged in this traffic were
chiefly of New-England ownershij), the check was not fully enjoyed by the
commercial interest. Other events, however, at that time, distracted attenti(jn.
and prevented any expression of resentment.
A cause external to American politics and enterprise also gave new stimu-
lus to An .rican commerce soon after tlie Revolution. The ambition of the
great Napoleon led to war between iCngland and France at the
Napoleon. " °
close of the eighteeiitii century, and thus the shijiping of both
nations was unsafe at sea. The carrying-trade was therefore assumed by the
navigators of this country, who brought much cf the West Indies and other
produce designed ultimately for Europe, and much of the exchange freight, to
our shores en route. The stoppage of production in Europe on account of a
general war created a greater demand for .American footl-products and niann-
liictiires, antl thus increased our domestic exjjort trade. An interesting trian-
gular exchange of credits occurred at this time. iMigland had large credits in
this country at that time on account of certain shipments of manufactures :
the United States was ac(]uiring large credits in France on account of siiip
ments of produce. England had no direct trade-relations with F'rancc, hut
wanted to transfer money to the Continent for political uses ; and so botii^hl
these American credits in France, taking tiiem in '\iyment of our debts to iier.
While, on the whole, the .Anglo- Frencli conflict was advantageous to us at
first, it had its embarrassments and was afterwards disastrous in its influence
upon our commerce. In 1793, England, jealous of seeming
benefits derived by France from this arrangement, domineerinu'ly
forbade American vessels to carry food to any port occupied hy
French tr^. ,)s. Siie also exercised tlie right of impressing .Ameri-
can seamen into her own navy. Under these and other orders
.Americans were robbed of much property, and war was threatened ; l)ut
matters were smoothed over by a treaty negotiated by Mr. Jay, by which the
sum of ten million dollars was awarded us. This enraged France, whi( h
began to seize our ships ; but Napoleon put a stop to such proceedings in
1800. But further embarrassments ensued. England declared all of Europe,
from the Elbe to Brest, in a state of blockade, thus prohibiting Americ an
ships from entering there. Napoleon retaliated with the Berlin decree of
November in that year, prohibiting all intercourse with the British islands.
Both sides issued further and more comprehensive edicts of the same insane
Embarrass
ments of
Anglo-
French
conflict.
5 valued at $14,232,000.
the last year here cited,
of our total export. It
) this time the South lunl
ks iiad not been able to
ter the ovil began to W
bited by an amendniLiit
aged in this traffic wore
lot fully enjoyed by the
ime, distracted attention,
se also gave new stinui-
1. The ambition of the
land and France at the
js the shipping of lioih
liereforc assumed by the
: West Indies and otlicr
the exchange freight, to
Europe on account of a
)od-products and nianii-
e. An interesting triaii-
land had large credits in
)mcnts of manufactures :
ice on account of siiip-
ilations with France, but
al uses ; and so bought
nent of our debts to her.
:s advantageous to us at
isastrous in its influence
md, jealous of seeming
angement, domineeringly
any port occupied by
;ht of impressing Ameri-
• these and other orders
ar was threatened ; l)ut
Dv Mr. Jay, by which the
enraged France, wlii(h
to such proceedings in
1 declared all of Europe,
us prohil)iting American
th the Berlin decree nf
with the British islands.
iicts of the same insane
O/' THE UA'U'ED STATES.
863
f.i
■f- ;
"Mm
864
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
sort ; and finally, in 1807, to avoid war, the United-States Government laid an
embargo upon commerce altogether. So violen* was the re-action in Ameri-
can commercial circles, that our government was forced to modify very
essentially this action next year, substituting non-intercourse laws for the first
enactment. Still our commerce was sadly crippled, and was long in recovering
from the effects of this blow. It is an interesting fact in this connection, that,
in 1803, Jerome Bonaparte, brother of the great Corsican, married into tiie
Paterson family of Baltimore, already spoken of as eminent in commerce.
The Paterson interest, through Jerome, was successful in gaining stealtiiy
admission to French ports for what was, after all, much-coveted produce.
This, however, was chiefly before the embargo of 1807.
This was the culmination of a long period of remarkable commenial
activity and prosperity. An immediate and remarkable decline ensued. Before
considering the latter, therefore, it is worth while to briefly review
the former. The treaty of peace which acknowledged American
independence was signed in 1783. The loose confederation of States was
succeeded by the present union under the new constitution in 1 789. From
the following year our commercial statistics date. The embargo occurred in
1807. The following table shows the development of our commerce in the
interval, and the check put upon it by this enactment, and the delay in
recuperation : —
Embargo.
VBAR.
TONNAGE.
DOMESTIC
EXPORTS.
FOKEICN
EXPORTS.
TOTAL
EXPORTS.
IMPORTS.
1790
1807
1808 . .
I815
I816 . .
474,374
1,268,548
1.247,596
1,368,127
1,372,218
$19,666,000
48,669,592
9.433.546
45.974.403
64,781,896
#539.156
59.643.558
i 2,997.414
6.583.350
»7.i38,S56
$20,205,156
108,343,150
22,430,960
52.557.753
81,920,452
$23,000,000
138,500,000
56,990,000
113,041,274
147,103,700
These international complications led at length to war with Eng'and, which
lasted from 1812 to 1815. The result of that war, it will be remembered, was
the establishment of the principle, that England had no right to
with Great board our merchant-vessels, and claim our seamen for her citizens ;
Britain, and ^jjjj ^jgg ^j^j^j ^^ merchant-marine of a neutral nation, in time of
war, might go where it pleased without molestation. It is a well-
known fact that this triumph was accomplished chiefly by the American navy ;
and it is worth remembering that that navy was greatly strengthened by tin-
influx thereto of hardy sailors from our now paralyzed merchant-marine. At
first it was feared that the magnificent British navy would destroy ours in almost
no time, and Congress was determined to send the government ships up the
rivers for refuge ; but, at the earnest solicitation of the naval officers themselves,
OF THE UNITED STATES.
86s
t laid an
n Ameri-
dify very
r the first
ecovering
tion, that,
I into tlic
:ommer(e.
g stealtliy
produce.
:ommer(:ial
;d. Before
iefly review
I American
States was
fSg. From
occurred in
erce in the
he delay in
IMPORTS.
$23,000,000
138,500,000
56,990,000
147.103-"°°
l^'and, which
nbered, was
I no right to
her citizens ;
I, in time of
1 It is a wcU-
(rican navy;
ened by the
Imarine. At
Ijrs in almost
|hips up tlie
i themselves,
they were permitted to go to sea. "The astonishment in Europe," says Kettell,
" the dismay in England, and delight in the United States, could scarcely be
equalled, when the encounter on the seas resulted in the unprecedented spec-
tacle of a series of triumphs over the tyrant of the ocean. In the short
period of twenty years a power had arisen that was thenceforth to know no
master upon the ocean, and submit to no insults ; and this power had been
born of commerce."
War had paralyzed all other industries as well as commerce. Agricultural
produce, finding no outlet, accumulated in warehouses ; ships lay idle at the
wharves ; property depreciated ; and credits became overstrained. ^„ jnduB-
Something like a panic ensued upon the declaration of peace ; tries para-
but general business soon recuperated, owing to the improvement ^" ^ '*'
brought about by the escape of penned-up agricultural produce, the establish-
ment of the Bank of the United States, and the imposition of a tariff on the
heavy importations that followed the war.
Several important changes now took place in our various industries. That
department of agriculture which produced food was depressed, because no
longer called upon by Europe for such large supplies : indeed, our foreign
trade in food did not again develop for thirty years. Cotton was called for
more than ever at home and abroad, and its culture rapidly developed. In
1818 fully forty per cent of 573,854,000 worth of exports were of raw cotton,
or more than double what they were in 1807. The commercial interest of
New England, which had opposed the war, and had been prostrated thereby,
was discouraged by the falling-off in the foreign de.nand for food-products,
and still more by the resumption of their own carrying-trade by the other
countries. It will be discovered, from the table which we shall presently give,
that this latter branch of American industry never regained the dimensions
of the period just before the embargo. Accordingly, capital was withdrawn
from the shipping-interest, and put into manufactures, which were protracted
by the increasing tariffs of 1816, 1818, 1819, 1824, and 1828. These, in turn,
checked the importation of foreign goods after the first rush consequent upon
the peace of 1815. The combined effect of all these causes was to reduce
our imports, lessen our re-exports, increase our domestic exports, keep the
balance of trade very nearly even, and induce a period of unusually quiet,
even trade, whose proportions were rather less than those of the period pre-
ceding the embargo of 1808. This latter fact can be perceived from a
comparison of the following figures with the preceding table : Average exports
of domestic produce for each of the years 1821-30, $53,610,502; average
foreign, $22,964,383; total average export per year, $76,574,885; average
import, $79,863,340.
A notable feature of the commerce of the era of which we are now speak-
ing was the endeavor of Great Britain to control it by more peaceful means,
but not less certainly than before, by making her ports the great point of
i
866
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
exchange between the Uniteil States and such other countries as traded
Warehouta with her. This was largely effected by the " warehouse system."
•y»t«m. « Inducements were held out," says Kettell, " by facilities of
entry, and advances on merchandise, to attract thither the protluce of all
nations ; because, under such circumstances, not only did British manufac-
turers have within their reach the raw materials of all manufactures, but trading-
vessels had in those ample warehouses every variety of goods to make uj) an
assorted cargo for any voyage in the world, and make of them the me<liuni f)f
selling British goods. Thus all the new countries of America, Africa, and Asia,
offered markets which would absorb small quantities of a great variety of
articles ; but a cargo of any one of them would glut them. To make a profita-
ble voyage, therefore, a cargo should be composed of such a variety of wares
as would all sell to advantage. If Virginia was to send a whole cargo of
tobacco to Africa, a portion of it would sell, and the remainder be a dead
stock, and the voyage a losing one. The same thing would happen to a cargo
of rum, or calicoes, or gunpowder, or hardware, or the variety of articles that
make up the wants of a small community. If a vessel's cargo should be com-
posed, in proper proportions, of all these articles, the whole would sell well,
and the voyage pay ; but for a vessel to go around to places where each of
these articles is to be had, and so collect a cargo, is expensive, and would still
result in loss. The English warehouse system sought to supply a want here
by attracting into them all possible descriptions of tropical and other produce.
A ship might then make up her cargo for any part of the world at the smallest
average expense, and every cargo was sure to be completed with British manu-
factures. Under such circumstances, they could compete with any other nation.
The advantage was so manifest, that American ships would go out in ballast
to England, to fit them out for Asiatic markets. It resulted from this, that
England continued to be the recinient of most American produce, not only
for her own use, but for export elsewhere. With her large capital she ad-
vanced on the produce, and so controlled it, becoming the banker for the
Americans. The nations of the Continent, slowly recovering from the effects
of the long wars, began to manufacture such articles as found sale in the
United States ; while they did not purchase largely in return. China furnished
teas and silks, and got its pay by bills drawn against American credits in
London. The new Bank of the United States operated the credit, giving the
China merchant a six-months' bill on London, which he took in preference to
silver, which he before remitted. These bills were paid out for the tea, and by the
Hong-Kong merchant, who received them, were paid to the British East-India
merchant for opium or raw cotton. By the latter it was remitted to London,
where it was met by funds already provided through the United-States Bank by
sales of American produce. This centralization of trade in England, however,
became inconvenient. The American ships that now began to carry cotton,
tobacco, rice, and some breadstuff, to Europe, had thence no adequate return-
OF THE U XI TED STATES.
My
freights, because those countries did not as yet offer a good supply of merchan-
dise. Soon, however, there sprang up an increasing migration to the United
States from Germany, across France, vid Havre j and these passengers became
a desirable return-freight, causing a change in tli model of the ships engaged
in the trade. By this means the freight was reduced ; or rather the ship cofild
carry out cotton cheaper, since she was no longer compelled to return empty.
The result was, therefore, cheapened transportation, in the same manner that
the modification of the navigation laws, enabling ships to carry cargoes both
ways, had chc.".pened freight."
We now approach an important event in the financial and industrial his-
tory of this country ; namely, the panic of 1837. It is not within the scope of
our present purpose to show all its causes and effects, but merely Panic of 1837)
its relations to our foreign commerce. Suffice it, therefore, to say, =■"»=■ »' >*•
that the era of land speculation from 1830 to 1837 undermined the spirit of
industry, and lessened our production. In agricultural circles, cotton was
almost the only commodity that continued to increase in yield and export ;
and this it did steadily and rapidly. As for food, not only did our exports fall
away to almost nothing, but in 1836 we were reduced to the shameful neces-
sity oi importing \\\\QdX from Russia. In 1831 the high tariff on imported
manufactured goods was greatly reduced. It was then discovered, that, in the
movement of capital after the war of 1812-15, more was invested in domestic
manufactures than was wise. There was over-production, and pernicious
competition even at home. The reduction of the tariff let in a flood of foreign
goods at lower prices, and still further paralyzed the manufacturing industry ; sa
that this class of our exports fell off. By consulting the table which we shall give^
a few pages hence, the reader will see how abnormal was the excess of imports
over our exports during the decade 1831-40. In the year 1836 alone this
excess amounted to upwards of $61,000,000, which was twice the balance of
trade against us during the whole ten years prior to 1 830. As a further indi-
cation of the demoralized condition of business, it may be remarked, that th^
increase in imports was chiefly in articles of luxury, — silks, wines, &c. ; yet in
the mean time we were doing less remunetative labor to pay for such things
than usual. Thus, while the imports of silk rose from less than $6,000,000 in
1831 to $23,000,000 in 1836, and silks, wines, spirits, and sugar, from $13,550,-
000 to $41,850,000 in the same period, the export of flour and other pro-
visions fell from $28,000,000 to barely more than $14,000,000. At this period
our credit was remarkably good in London ; and not only was merchandise
sent here on credit, but capital was loaned to start banks in the West wherewith
to promote land speculation. The crops were good in England, money was
plenty, and capitalists felt liberal ; besides, the large fire in New York in 1835
^- which destroyed $18,000,000 worth of goods, and created a special demand
from abroad to that extent — was regarded as a piece of good fortune for
the British merchant, rather than otherwise. One cauaC that operated to blind
':4";T
868
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
our eyes to tlie coming collapse was the over-estimate of the value of our
exports. The course of business at that iiine required shipments of America.)
produce, mostly cotton, to firms abroad, who made advances on the consign
ment at a certain ratio less than the faces of the invoice. The produce after-
wards sold for the account of the owner, and not infrequently did not bring
the amount of the advances. Thus, if cotton were shipped at sixteen cents a
pound, and twelve cents were advanced, the amount realized might be only
eleven cents. Hence the real exports of the country were not always ntcab-
ured by the export value. '
The grand crash came in 1837. Like all such crises in this and other
coiuitries, it took even the business-men two or three years to fully understand
Cauiei not how it camc about, and the people even longer. At length it was
underitood. realized that while speculation in land or any thing else, ample
credits from home and foreign capitalists, and plenty of banks-bills based u|)on
credit, gave a temporary and artificial pros[>erity to a nation, the only basis of real
./ealth was labor in the production of something to sell, and enough of it not
only to supply our own consumption, but al.so to send abroad to pay for what
we bought there. Accordingly, personal and mercantile credits came to an
end, individuals and merchants stopped running in debt, and the country
applied itself to productive industry. The effect is clearly discerned in the
statistics given in our next table. Our imports for the decade ending 1850
were slightly less than for the previous ten years, and our exports vastly more ;
and the balance of trade against us was cut down from 1260,753,154 to
^7,319,199 for the two periods. In the years 1813, 1821, 1825, and 1827,
owing in some cases to abnormal influences, our exports had exceeded our
imports, but only to a slight extent. In 1825 the excess was a little over
^3,000,000, which was more than in any of the other years here named. Ikt
in 1840 the country had so well mastered the teachings of the recent panic
and hard times, that our exports exceeded our imports by $25,000,000. We
could not keep up this advantage, however. Thrice during the next decade
did our exports exceed our imports: in 1842 the difference was $4,589,447,
in 1844 it w^ $2,765,011, and in 1847 it was $12,102,984. Yet in the
other years we ran behind enough to wipe this all out, and remain $7,219,199
in debt to Europe ; which, however, as we have already remarked, was a vast
reduction compared with the previous ten years.
A force which tended to equalize trade at this time was the Irish famine of
1846. In 1842 the British Government removed the prohibition upon inipor-
irish famine tations of American cattle and provisions, and reduced the duties
of 1846. on com, which were finally abolished in 1849. Under the influ-
ence of the former enactments the export of dairy products, bacon, barrelled
pork and beef, and grain, began to grow. But, when the tremenuous demand
of 1846 came, a wonderful impetus was given to food production and export,
and a development imparted to the agricultural interests of this country which
OF THE UNITED STATES.
m
rth it was
,se, ample
ised upon
tsis of real
I of it not
y for wlut
ime to an
le country
led in the
iding 1850
istly more ;
753.»54 to
and 1827,
;eeded our
little over
uned. But
(cent panic
,,000. We
[ext decade
.14,589,447-
Yet in the
$7,219,199
was a vast
has since steadily continued. Our exports rOR<' Trom $106,000,000 in 1841 to
$150,000,000 in 1848 ; and the gain was principally in food, which constituted
one-half of the value of the exports of 1847. The Irish were led at this time
to adopt corn instead of potatoes for the staple of their diet. From this and
other like causes, American produce obtained a permanent foothold in the
foreign market ; and, although a slight subsidence in the trade ensued shortly,
the growth soon increased, and then kept up steadily and rapidly to the
present day, its dimensions rivalling those of our huge cotton export.
The heavy export of produce and its quick cash sales in 1847 brought us
a specie import of $24,121,289, — a receipt never before paralleled in our
history. This enlivened business wonderfully. But the French importation
revolution next year, turning upon property-rights, depressed the °' •?«<:»«.
home-market in France, and, by lowering prices, induced a heavy temporary
export to this country, which soon absorbed our extra cash. This Tariff of
movement was facilitated by a reduction in our tariff in 1846. '"*••
Inasmuch as business was then on a sound basis in this country, no harm was
experienced in consecjuence.
The next remarkable feature of American commerce was the heavy export
of gold bullion resulting from the discovery of mineral wealth in California.
Our cotton and food exports had already risen into prominence. Export of
As yet, petroleum was comparatively unknown j and American buuion.
manufactures, while steadily growing in proportions * and gaining a better place
in our own markets, were advancing but slowly in competition with those of
E^ngland in the other emporiums of the world. In 1848 gold was found
near Capt. Sutter's fort in California. Although the influx of adventurers
quickly attained large dimensions, the product of the precious metal did not
amount to much until 1850, when it was about $9,000,000. This steadily
increased, and our total export of bullion for the following decade was
$507,000,000. The gold furore here and in Australia stimulated the transpor-
tation to both regions of immense quantities of food, clothing, machinery, and
other commodities, thus stimulating both our import and export trade ; the
former, however, more than the latter. In 1847, for the eighth time in our
history, our exports exceeded our imports. This was the case again in 1851.
But the heavy importation of goods for the California trade, and the slight
lelaxation of industry for purposes of gold-seeking and land speculation, turned
the balance heavily against us for the next three years ; and though the scales
turned again in our favor during the next five years, yet the whole decade left
us indebted to the Old World nearly $11,000,000.'
'i
'■•.«i
[;.■'■ (
' The total value of our manufactures caught up with that of agricultural production, and passed it for-
ever in the race shortly before 1850.
' Only thrice since 1834 has the balance of trade been against this country. It is noteworthy, that whereas,
prior to 1850, the balance of Kritish trade was in favor of that kingdom, it has since been increasingly the othet
way. The imports and exports of France are almost identical
S76
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
• * It is unnecessary to point out here the causes of the panic of 1857, or
to show its general resemblance to the one twenty years before. It is eiioiij^li
to say here that it was preceiled by heavy foreign cretlits, and l)v
Panic of 1837. , ' ,■ -• • 1 I I . •
the extensive investment of foreign capital in the railroads ol iIil-
Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, which were called for by the sudden agricultural
development of that region, and to build which immense (piantities of rails
were imported from Kngland. 'I'hc general effect of that j)anic upon Diir
commerce was to slightly diminish our exports, ami largely lessen our imports,
the following year; but that was about all. An attendant circumstance, if not
one cause, of the panic of 1857, was the failure of the Louisiana sugar-crop,
which caused us to import $55,000,000 worth of that commodity, or five times
the amount imported in 1850.
\ It will be seen by the following table, that while it took the country full ten
years to learn the lessons of the panic of 1837, and to recover from the effects
of it, the interval from 1850 to i860 was one of remarkable prosi)erity. Our
total trade with foreign lands during the decade immediately preceding our
civil war was more than during the twenty years prior to 1851.
1791-1800
1801-10 .
l8tI-20 .
1821-30 .
1831-40 .
1841-50 .
1851-450 .
DOMESTIC
II TOUTS.
$293,634,645
383,401,077
462,701,288
536,104,918
892,889,909
1,1 1,458,801
2,71, .^9,881
FORRK.N
BXrOKTS.
1191,344,293
372.536.294
127,190,714
229,643,834
I99.4S'.994
129,105,782
226,950,036
TOTAL
EX(-UKi:i
$484,968,938
755.937.37 1
589,892,002
765.748.752
1,092,351,903
1,260,564,583
3.993.749.9'7
IMPORTS.
$591,845,454
927,663,500
688,120,347
798.633.427
i,302,476,oS4
1,267,783,782
3,004,591,285
BAI.ANl K or
TNAUK.
$106,876,516
171,726,1:9
98,228,545
30.3s J/^^G
260,753,154
7.219. "J9
10,841,368
In estimating the influence of our civil war upon American commerce, it
needs to be remembered that commerce and transportation are not identical.
Effect of civU ^Vhile it was unsafe to ship goods under the American flag while
war upon the rebel cruisers were afloat, there was no interference with such
commerce. xxzAt as was carried on in foreign bottoms. The rebel cruisers
depredated upon our fishing-fleets, especially our whalers ; but still greater
damage was done to this latter branch of industry by the marvellous and
sudden development of our petroleum product just before and during the
war. We may attribute to the war, then, the diminution of our exports of fish
and oil.
The real harm done to commerce by this internecine conflict was the
Effect upon lessening of actual production and the impairment of our credit,
production The former effect was most marked in the stoppage of cotton-
ere t. culture, and consequently of cotton-exports. This is the principal
explanation of the falling-off of domestic exports noticeable in the table which
OF THE UNITED STATES.
871
we shall shortly give. The capture of New Orleans opened up a small supply
of the stored crop of i860, which now l)ej;an to find its way to market. The
great bulk of the hidden cotton, though, was not obtained until 1865 ; and it
figured in the exports of the following year. I'or four or five years after the
war, cotton-culture recuperated slowly ; but since 1870 it has figured as promi-
nently among our exports as before the war. The impairment of credit, and
consecpient high prices, lessened importation ; but, when the Rebellion was
suppressed, confidence in the ability of American merchants to pay recovered,
anil importation increased. The total dimensions of our trade from 1861 to
1865 inclusive was much less than from 1856 to i860 inclusive: but the
balance of trade was even more in our f;xvor during the war-period than during
the corresponding interval before ; so that the people of the country, in the
capacity of private persons, more than paid Europe for what she sold us by
their labor.
Two notable features of the war-period of our history were the sudden
development of our petroleum-industry, and the discovery and i>roduction of
the famous Comstock lode, each of which is treated at length in ug^,^,^
other departments of this book ; but we mention them here to ment of
say that the two products formed a conspicuous part of our exports p**"'*"'"'
during the era of which we are now speaking. Gold had fiillen
off in production and export ; and, shortly after the war, silver lessened gradu-
ally also. The petroleum-export, however, has steadily increased.
Two influences growing out of the war exerted a peculiarly stimulating
effect on production, and so increased our trade immediately upon the termi-
nation of hostilities. One was the imposition of a heavy tariff
on imports, which promoted manufacturing ; and the other was
the invention, manufacture, and extensive use of labor-saving machinery for
both agricultural and manufacturing purposes. These facilities were needed
to replace the men called off by the army and navy. When the survivors
came back, the new facilities enabled the country to hugely augment its pro-
duction in all departments of industry. The effect was to greatly increase our
export of food of all kinds, slightly increase our export of manufactures, and
lessen our importation of the latter.
The panic of 1873 and consequent period of "hard times " were brought
on by chiefly the same causes as induced the paries of 1837 and 1857. First,
there was an immense over-production of manufactured goods; panicof
second, agricultural activity had led to the construction of new ''^a- ' '
railroads, notably the Northern Pacific, which were not really needed ; third,
credits were vastly overstrained for personal luxury and indulgence, commer-
cial extension, and speculation in oil-lands, mining-stocks, and railroad-build-
ing ; fourth, an inflated paper currency had imparted false values to property,
which now began to shrink. That usual prelude to a panic, a remarkable
excess of imports over exports, was noticeable in 1872 In 1871 we exported
War-tariff.
872
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
;J5o,ooo,ooo more than we imported : in 1872 we imported if 68,000,000 more
than we exported. So much for causes. The effect of the panic at home was
to check manufacturing, lessen credits, reduce consumption by promoting per-
sonal and individual economy, lower prices, stay importation, and facilitate
export. Hence, on the whole, our foreign commerce has been enlarged since
the panic ; but, as the surplusage of manufactured products has been worked
off, the export trade has slightly diminished, and importation begun to revive.
This and several other facts referred to in the last page or two will appear from
the following table : — c
DOMESTIC
FOREIGN
TOTAL
YEAR
EXPORTS.
EXPORTS.
EXPORTS.
IMPORTS.
BALANCE.
i86o» . .
$373,189,274
f 26,933,02 2
{^400,122,296
$362,166,254
)?37,956,042
I86I
228,699,486
20,645,427
249.344.913
286,598,135
37,253,222*
1862
213,069,519
8,147.771
222,217,290
205,771,729
14,445,461
1863
305,884,998
26,123,584
332,008,582
252,919,920
79,089,662
1864
320,035,199
20,256,940
341.292,739
329,562,895
11,729,844
1865
306,306,758
30.390.365
336,697,123
234,434,167
2,262,956
1866
550,684,277
14,742,117
565,426.394
445,512,158
119,914,236
1867
438.S77.3'2
20,611,508
459,188,820
417,831,571
41,357.249
1868
454.301.713
22,601,126
476,902,839
371,624,808
105,278,031
1869
4t3,96i,iis
25.173.414
439.«34.529
437,3'4,25S
1,820,274
1870
499,092,143
30,427,159
529,519,302
462,377,587
67,141,715
187 1
562,518,651
28,459.899
59 '.978.550
541,493,708
50,484,842
1872
549,219,718
22,769,749
571,989,467
640,338,766
68,349,299"
1873
649,132,563
28,149,511
677,282,074
663,617,147
13,664,927
1874
693.039.054
23.780,338
716,819,392
595,861,248
120,958,144
187s
5S9.237.63S
22,432,724
581,690,362
553,906,153
27,784,209
1876*
685.545.352
23.3".538
708,856,890
461,818,499
247.038,39i
1877 »
671,632,366
23,618,923
695,251,289
504,013,000
191,238,289
The necessity for finding an outlet for our excessive stock of domestic
manufactures has led to much enterprise in the way of reaching foreign
markets formerly occupied almost exclusively by Europe. To
finding new India, China, and Brazil especially, within the past four years,
outlets for extensive exportation of American goods has been effected. Tills
is particularly the case with cotton-cloths ; although, besides these,
we have been able to stop the sale of other foreign articles in our own markets,
and compete successfully in other parts of the world. Paper of all grades,
from the finest stationery to the coarsest wrappings and pasteboard, now goes
' The figures here given for :86o and the next sixteen years are for the fiscal years enuins June 30, not
the calendar years ending Dec. 31. The calendar year i860 shows a balance of trade against us ol thirty-four
million five hundred thousand dollars, which here enters into the statement of the fiscal year t86i.
* Balance against us. The other balances here given are in our favor.
* Calendar, not fiscal year.
«.' m
OF THE UNITED STATES.
873
0,000 more
it home was
moting per-
id facilitate
larged since
)een worked
in to revive,
appear from
BALANCE.
$37,956,042
37,253,222*
14,445.461
79,089,662
11,729,844
2,262,956
119,914,236
41,357.249
105,278,031
1,820,274
67,i4«.7i5
50,484.842
68,349.299'
13,664,927
120,958,144
27,784.209
247.038.39'
191,238,289
of domestic
[ching foreign
Europe. 'l"o
1st four years,
Iffected. Tliis
Ibesides thesi.-,
own markets,
I of all grades.
lard, nuw goes
,iir.2 June 30. "<"
nst lis ol thirly-foiir
I1861.
abroad. Agricultural implements go in vast quantities to Europe and else-
where. This movement is still further aided by the efforts of the State Depart-
ment at Washington, under President Hayes, to utilize the consular service in
finding out what American commodities might find a better market in each
quarter of the globe where our nation is represented. We can give this chap-
ter no more fitting conclusion, perhaps, than the following analysis of our
export trade for 1875, which appeared in " The New- York Times ; " —
The value of our foreign exports can be expressed by nine figures ; but the
character of that branch of our commerce, — the articles, quantities, and
values embraced, — and its world-wide diffusiveness, cannot fail to vaiue of
interest and instruct those not in the habit of making their own ««?<>««.
generalizations fron» confusing statistical tables. The entire value of merchan-
dise exported from the United States during the last fiscal year, computed in
national currency, was $693,039,054. The gold valuation of the same was
1652,913,445 ; which is greater than the valuation of our foreign imports for
the same period by over $57,000,000, aiid the balance of trade is consequently
in our favor by that amount. Many of the articles enumerated in the list of
exports which are grown or manufactured in the United States are also found
in the list of articles imported from abroad. The simple statement of this fact
should suffice to show the folly of Americans sending their money abroad for
articles which may be purchased at much lower prices, and of equally good
quality, at our own manufactories.
As the United States furnish the principal market for the sale of British
merchandise, so Great Britain and her dependencies offer the principal
markets for our exported productions. We sent to the mar':ets of Q„gntit
that nation during the last fiscal year merchandise to the value of shipped to
$440,045, 8 70 : which is nearly two- thirds of the entire value of all ^"'■'""'»
our exports for that period. Of that amount there was shipped
direct to England $308,876,292, and to Ireland and Scotland $64,690,216.
The value of merchandise received last year from Great Britain was $?55,-
180,597 gold. Next to Great Britain, Gevmany is our best customer, $64, 344,-
622 being our receipts for her purchases. To France and her dependencies
we shipped $50,485,045 worth of merchandise, of which France received
c'irectly over $50,000,000 worth. Spain and her colonies paid us $33,505,549,
of which there was from the mother-country $11,643,715, and from Cuba
$19,597,981. To Belgium we sent merchandise valued at $20,197,515 ; to
the Netherlands, $15,156,309 ; Russia, $10,284,803 ; Italy, $8,378,666; Tur-
key, $2,549,493; Denmark, ,*i2,430,79i ; Norway and Sweden, $2,385,088;
China, $1,629,165 ; Japan, $1,808,107 ; Brazil, $7,562,852; United States of
Colombia, $5,123,845; Mexico, $4,073,679; Hayti, $4,265,686; Chili,
$2,730,617; Peru, $2,518,494; Argentine Republic, $2,478,513; Venezuela,
$2,384,139. The countries named are the largest markets for the sale and
consumption of our productions. The countries which purchased least from
■• !:■
874
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
US are Greece, $32,668 ; Liberia, $123,463 ; San Domingo, $514,633 ; and the
Sandwich Islands, $623,280.
If cotton is no longer called king, it is still the largest and most valuable
article of export, and brought to this country last year $211,223,580. In
Shiptnenu exchange for that large sum of money we exported 2,903,075
of cotton. bales, or 1,358,602,303 pounds. Of that quantity England alone
received over 875,000,000 pounds, and paid us $136,952,187. From France
we received for the same staple $27,187,222; from Germany, $17,250,000 ;
Russia, $8,479,481; Spain, $8,266,178; Ireland, $3,855,303; the Nether-
lands, $2,779,265 ; Italy, $1,974,114. In cotton-fabrics we exported 17,872,-
322 yards, valued at $2,350,000. It will surprise many readers to learn that
England received of those fabrics 1,145,786 yards, valued at $132,857. Brazil,
however, bought most of our exported cotton-fabrirs, the yards numbering
2,236,950, of which the value was $291,674. France, which taxes us so
heavily for fabrics of her own manufacture, bought only $8,000 of our cotton-
fabrics ; while Germany patronized' us in that line of goods to the value of
$46,000. ;: ; - , v " ' . i ■•
The Chinese consumed of our cotton-fabrics 1,749,440 yards, paying us
$204,354 ; which is a sum equal to twice the amount we paid China for fire-
Cotton- crackers. Chili took 1,680,960 yards, and sent us, to pay for
fabrica. them, $210,970 ; while Mexico bought 1,363,915 yards 'or $158,-
366. The remainder of that class of fabrics went to Asiatic and South-Ameri-
can countries, the British East Indies receiving nearly $75,000 worth. The
other exported articles manufactured "rom cotton, and not enumerated above,
are valued at $745,850. Our total receipts for exported raw cotton and manu-
factures of cotton foot up $215,089,081. Our imported manufactures of cot-
ton for the year were valued at less than $25,000,000.
Breadstuffs are next to cotton in valuation of exports, amounting to $161,-
198,864. These were consigned to nearly every nation on the globe, tue only
The BtarvifiK European countries not receiving them being Austria, Denmark,
Greece, Norway and Sweden, and Turkey. Of wheat we exported
71,039,928 bushels, valued at $101,421,459; wheat-flour, 4,094,-
094 barrels, valued at $29,258,094 ; Indian-corn, 34,434,606 bushels, valued
at $24,769,951. England receives most jf our breadstuffs. 43,128,552
bushels of wheat, 1,307,286 barrels of wheat-flour, and 10,299,483 bushels of
Indian-corn, went to her markets last year. Scotland received 3,903,630
bushels of wheat, 353,495 barrels flour, and 2,235,026 bushels com ; wliile
Ireland received 17,609,837 bushels wheat, 43,203 barrels flour, and 13,764,-
814 bushels com, which was more than one-third of the entire quantity of corn
exported during the year. France took 2,223,366 bushels wheat, 7,260 barrels
flour, and 452,951 bushels com ; and Germany bought 886,485 bushels wheat,
31,960 barrels flour, and 825,620 bushels com.
France bought three times as much flour as Germany ; while Germany
milliont fed.
Breadstuff!.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
875
m
Lile Germany
bought three times as much wheat as France, and twice as much corn. In the
same time Ireland consumed six times as much of our wheat as both France
and Germany, thirteen times as much corn as both these countries, six times
as much flour as France, and twice as much as Germany. Belgium received
3,709,694 bushels wheat, 72,401 barrels flour, and 84,798 bushels corn ; Neth-
erlands, 3,160,435 bushels wheat, 26,389 barrels flour, and 51,718 bushels corn.
Of barley we exported 320,399 bushels, valued at $210,738; oats, 812,873
bushels, valued at $383,762; rye, 1,564,48.' bushels, valued at $1,568,362.
Of Indian-corn meal we shipped 387,807 barrels, worth $1,529,399 ; and rye-
flour, 59,820 barrels, worth $388,313. We also exported 11,142,429 pounds
of bread and biscuit, worth $676,197, the greater part of which is consumed
in the British West Indies. Belgium and Germany consumed about two-thirds
of the rye exported, and Cuba more than one-half of the rye-flour. Canada
and the West Indies bought most of the Indian-corn meal ; while the British
West-India islands, Honduras, and Guiana consumed over seven of the
eleven million pounds of bread and biscuit exported. Peru received 135,193
bushels of barley, being over one-third of the entire quantity exported ; Eng-
land took over 79,000 bushels; and 24,752 bushels went to British Australasia.
One half of all the oats exported went to Canada ; the other half going to the
West Indies, Central and South America, and Eastern Asia.
The value of provisions other than breadstuffs exported was $78,317,087.
Bacon and hams, beef, butter, cheese, eggs, lard, pork, fish, anJ vegetables are
embraced under this head, and were distributed over the whole Bacon beef
world. Bacon and ham lead the list; 347,405,405 being the num- and other
ber of pounds, and $33,383,908 the valuation. The beef was p"^'*"""*-
valued at $2,956,676, and the 4,367,983 pounds of butter at $1,092,381 ;
which is just $100,000 more than enough to pay for the sardines we imported
from Europe last year. We distributed abroad 90,611,077 pounds of cheese,
which brought us $11,898,995. It may be stated here, by way of comparison,
that we paid last year for outter and cheese imported $1,354,495 gold. Eng-
land is the largest consumer of our cheese, nearly 70,000,000 pounds having
been the amouit sent her. Germany bought over i ",000,000 pounds, and
Scotland nearly 9,000,000. China and Japan each took about 29,000 pounds,
and 14,000 pounds went to the Sandwich Islands. The West Indies consumed
the greater portion of the remainder. Germany bought from us 64,436,920
pounds of lard; England, 33,581,107 pounds; Belgium, 28,174,335 pounds;
Cuba, 22,186,472 pounds; France, 9,937,387 pounds; Scotland, 9,429,771
pounds. The entire quantity of lard exported was 205,527,471 pounds, valued
at $19,308,019. Ireland, Russia, and Turkey are the only European countries
which did not purchase lard from the United States. Of pork we exported
70,482,379 pounds, worth $5,808,712. About one-third of the pork went to
Europe. Of the West-India islands, Hayti bought 10,976,705 pounds, and
Porto Rico 2,476,262 pounds. For onions exported we received $52,000, and
for potatoes $471,332.
i*
ii/i
m
n
876
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
For green and dried fruits we received $994,163. The dried apples ex-
ported weighed 4,234,736 pounds, the valuation being $294,893. Of this
Dried and article Germany bought 2,811,915 pounds, or more than half of
green (ruiti. all that was exported; the Netherlands bought 489,612 pounds;
Australia, 226,332; England, 209,389; France, 59,358; Japan, 21,644;
China, 2,371. Of green apples we sent abroad 123,533 barrels, worth S204,-
312. Of these England received 36,814 barrels ; Scotland, 27,085 ; Germany,
2,427; Sandwich Islands, 2,109; Liberia, 1,286; Australia, 300; Russia, 29;
Mexico, 6,547 ; and Cuba, 4,729. For fruit other than apples we received
$211,308, and for canned fruits $283,649.
For iron, and manufactures of iron, we received $9,5 78,694, and for steel
$4,119,344. Machinery was shipped to almost every nation in the world;
Iron, steel, bringing US, in return, $3,357,909. For our machinery Germany
machinery, paid $908,883; England, $197,134; Scotland, $84,724; France,
and tool!. $17,773; Belgium, $28,532; Japan, $99,295; China, $7,228;
British East Indies, $2,079 J Cuba, $559,679 ; Mexico, $383,006 ; Peru,
$229,564; Canada, $270,000; United States of Colombia, $208,669. We
sent abroad seventy-nine locomotives, valued at $1,147,366. Of these Russia
took fourteen ; Cuba, twelve ; Chili, nineteen ; Brazil, thirteen ; Canada, nine ;
Argentine Republic, four ; Mexico and the Central-American States, each three ;
and Peru, two. For the forty-eight stationary steam-engines exported were
paid us $74,749 : all these, except one sent to Liberia, were purchased by
neighboring American countries. American stoves to the value of $102,398
were pretty well distributed among foreign nations, England even purchasing
to the extent of $1,000. Of manufactures of steel we sold abroad edge-tools
to the value of $941,016 ; cutlery, $47,162 ; files and saws, $21,496 ; muskets,
pistols, and rifles, $2,340,138; other manufactures of steel, $225,457. Most
of our cutlery went to Canada and to countries south of the United States.
England took $906 worth; France, $510; Germany, $483. For edge-tools
Germany paid us $34,836 ; England, $19,425 ; France bought none. Our
best market ibr edge-tools was the United States of Colombia, where we sold
$324,121. Australia bought from us to the value of $122,945 ; Mexico, $113,-
697; Canada, $97,171 ; Brazil, $75,292. Australia sent us for files and saws
$4,852; Mexico, $2,812; Cuba, $2,547; Canada, $6,667; England, $703.
For fire-arms England paid us $774,598 ; Germany, $288,719 ; France, $1,750;
Turkey, $169,960; Cuba, $496,426 ; Argentine Republic, $239,192 ; Mexico,
$113,846.
The total value of agricultural ' nplements sent abroad was $3,089,753.
These are classified as follows: S....^ -three fanning-mills, valued at $2,645;
Agricultural horse-powers, fifty-nine, valued at $30,685 ; mowers and reapers,
impiementa. 16,139, valued at $1,797,130; ploughs and cultivators, 17,639,
valued at $236,203 ; other implements valued at $1,023,090. All the fanning-
mills went to Canada ; Chili bought all the horse-powers except one, which
OF THE UNITED STATES.
877
was sent to Scotland; Germany purchased 9,613 mowers and reapers, more
than one-half of all exported, for which she paid $1,167,323 ; England bought
3,838; France, 1,030; Sweden and Norway, 462; Russia, 187; Chih, 171;
Scotland, 146; Argentine Republic, 292; Canada, 293; Netherlands, 52;
Australia, 12 : the rest were scattered over the West Indies and South
America. More than one-half of all the ploughs and cultivators exported went
to the British possessions in Africa, the exact number being 10,504 : Chili took
2,423; Argentine Republic, 1,938; Peru, 593; Uruguay, 697; Brazil, 237;
Mexico, 132; Cuba, 274. Only eighty-five were sent to Europe, of which
England received eighty-three, and France two. The Sandwich Islands bought
thirteen ; Australia, sixty-two ; Japan, two. The miscellaneous implements
were pretty widely distributed. About $300,000 worth went to Europe, and
the rest to the West Indies, and to Central and South America.
We exported last year books to the value of $584,950. The records of
the exports show that readers of American books are to be found in all parts
of the world. For books we received from England $95,688 ; and American
from Canada, who was our largest purchaser of books, $138,189. books.
Germany paid for our books $26,515; France, $7,515; Brazil, $82,222; the
United States of Colombia, $77,809 ; Japan, $32,664 ; the Argentine Republic,
$23,821; Cuba, $23,779; Mexico, $16,207; Australia, $14,268; China,
$8,758: Sandwich Islands, $4,627. Other countries purchased in amounts
ranging from $100 up to the lowest sum specified above.
The coal exported reached 763,402 tons, valued at $3,823,750 ; all of which,
except about 2,000 tons, went to American countries. For clocks we received
$1,070,822; England contributing of that amount $533,600; Ger- Unclassified
many, $103,688; Japan, $61,485; China, $12,461. Nearly "**<:•«»•
$10,000 worth of American watches were also sent abroad to record the pas-
sage of time. For carriages and carts we received $578,433, most of the
trade being with American countries. Germany, however, purchased American
carriages to the value of $22,924; and England. $12,840. We sent billiard-
tables around the globe, and received, in return therefor, $59,378 ; of which sum
the United States of Colombia contributed $24,930. For brooms and brushes
we received from nearly all the countries in the world $127,593 ; and for shoe-
blacking, over $76,000. For cables and cordage, rope and twine, we received
$1,379,462 ; and for hides and skins other than fur, $2,560,382. Hoop-skirts
are going out of fashion, and last year we sold abroad only $15,302 worth.
For combs we received $7,535 : on the contrary, we sent to foreign countries
^409,029 for combs during the same period. Whether we should have ex-
ported more combs, had we imported less, is referred to American comb-makers
for discussion. For oils of all kinds, including the products of our oil-wells,
we received $41,121,707. For naval stores we were paid $7,384,570. Tobacco
brought us $32,968,528, — a sum about equal to what we paid for our imported
silk-goods. Tobacco was chiefly exported in the leaf; and the number of
5 i,; 3 IS
878
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
pounas was 318,097,804, and the value ^30,399,181. Over 100,000,000
pounds of leaf-io'oacco went to Germany, and about 63,000,000 to Great
Britain. We received for distilled spirits $1,164,616; and for beer, ale, and
porter, $39,602. During the same period we paid foreigners for malt liquors
over $2,500,000. For 7,435,064 pounds of starch we received $420,809. The
living animals exported yielded $3,310,388. They were, — hogs, 158,581, val-
ued at $1,625,837 ; horned cattle, 56,067, valued at $1,150,857 ; sheep, 124,-
248, valued at $159,735; horses, 1,432, valued at $169,303; mules, 1,252,
valued at $174,125 ; all other cattle exp)orted, together with fowls, were valued
at $30,531. Little more than one-fifth of the entire value of exports was carried
in American vessels, the record standing thus : Exported in American vessels,
$165,998,880; exported in foreign vessels, $521,394,909.
BOOK VI.
TRADE-UNIONS AND EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT.
they dv ^
over their
obedience
that, in su
•noting the
when the i
individual,
trade-unior
be condeni
Trade-i
men were
no organizi
employer o
Great facte
daily assem
same table,
questions ir
have sprung
menting the
Lowell, Pitt
nearly all th
Railways
forming the
render fratei
the operativ
scattered inc
some pecun
among worki
CHAPTER I.
'\
TRADE-UNIONS.
of tradts-
unioni.
NO one will deny the vast importance to which trade-unions have attained,
• 'ess he belongs to that class of persons who fail to see the truth because
they dv lot wish to see it. Moreover, the influence they wield importance
over their members is enormous, and a marvel too, because
obedience is so general, while being purely voluntary. It is true,
that, in submitting freely to organized rule, it is believed they are really pro-
moting their own personal advantage ; yet this doe . not always appear ; and
when the interest is unseen, or thought to be opposed to the interest of the
individual, his temptation to disobey is great. Such discipline, therefore, as
trade-unions often exhibit, must excite admiration, however bitterly they may
be condemned.
Trade-unions have their origin in the rise of factories. So long as work-
men were isolated in their tasks, and could not meet in large numbers,
no organization existed among them ; and the dominion of the origin of
employer over his men was complete. But times have changed.
Great factories have arisen, employing thousands. When they
daily assemble under the same roof, tend the same machine, and work at the
same table, is it not natural, nay, reasonable, to confer and act together upon
questions in which all are mutually interested ? Besides, manufacturing cities
have sprung up, busily engaged in producing the same commodities, thus aug-
menting the mutual personal interest. Sheffield, Manchester, Lyons, Verviers,
Lowell, Pittsburgh, Fall River, are names of great cities, in each of which
nearly all their capita', and skill are united in a single industry.
Railways and other facilities of easy communication also lend their aid in
forming these unions, by bringing workmen together, and enabling them to
render fraternal assistance. A recent writer upon the condition of ^,,^5^ ^,
the operatives in the factories of Wurtemberg remarks, that, if its easy modes
scattered industry had been a source of much inconvenience and °' commu-
detriment to the manufacturers, combinations
trade-
unions.
some pecuniary detriment to the manufacturers,
among workmen have been rendered difficult, if not impossible
'The oper«
vi4jj||
88(
88a
INDUSTRtAL HISTORY
atives of isolated spinning-factories scattered along the banks of woodland
streams or collected together in smaller numbers in the neighborhood of
rural towns, or weavers who worked dispersed in their own domiciles, and (jiily
came into casual contact with one another on their way to and from tlicir
common employer, — these men had little occasion for or incentive to hosiilc
combination." But this state of things has passed away in that country, as in
almost every other, by creating the railway, the factory, and the manufacturing'
city.
While stating this as the immediate or superficial origin of trade-unions, tiie
deeper one, as experience is daily rendering clearer, is the discontent existing
between workmen and their employers respecting the division of
between em- profits. In the language of Mr. Hewitt, an iron-manufactnar,
ployed and whose testimony before the Trade-Unions Commission of (Jrcat
Britain evinced wide observation coupled with the deepest insight
into the subject, "Trade-unions are a symptom of the re-adjustmen of tlic
relation of capital and labor."
Nor can it be said these unions contain only workmen of inferior skill and
intelligence. The proportion between the skilled and unskilled varies, douht-
Unions con- '^^^» '" i^ifferent trades and at different times. "It is proljahle,
uin intent- that, in many trades, some of the best and most educated nun
gent men. stand aloof. It has not, however, been suggested by any one that
the union is ever composed of the inferior order of workmen, though it may
not invariably be composed of the superior. In some trades, and those
requiring the greatest skill, it seems to be admitted that the union contains
the great bulk of the most skilled men, as the engineers, the iron-founders,
the painters, glass-makers, printers, ship-builders, and others." *
Respecting the right to form *hese associations, it is just as evident that
laborers have the right to combine in order to get their dues as masters have
Right to *° resist an advance of wages. As long ago as when Adam Smith
form thete wrote, he said that " masters are always and everywhere in a sort
•■■ociationt. ^j. j^^j^ i^y^ constant and uniform combination not to raise tlic
wages of labor above their actual rate. To violate this combination is every-
where a most unpopular action, and a sort of reproach to a master among liis
neighbors and equals." This is rather too highly colored to represent the triitli
in the United States ; yet the statement is partially true even in respect to
employers in'this country.
The reason for combining is to form a reserve-fund, by means of which
workmen seek to put themselves upon an equal plane with the capitalist in
Reaiona for bargaining for wages. The latter, having such a fund, occupies a
combining, vantage-ground in respect to the workman ; for the capitalist is
a combination hiinself. Workmen, in combining, seek only to get what capi-
talists already possess ; namely, a reserve-force, so that they can bargain fo'
* Messn. Hughes and Harrison, Dissenting Report, p. 33.
* 1
m
woodland
orhood of
s, and only
from their
! to hostile
untry, as in
inufacturing
;-unions, the
:cnt existing
division of
lanufactnrcr,
on of (iroat
epest insight
;men of the
rior skill and
/arics, douht-
is probable,
ducated men
any one thai
lough it may
■s, and those
lion contains
iron-foiniders,
evident that
I masters have
Adam Smith
lere in a sort
to raise the
ition is every-
Iter among his
]sent the trnth
in respect to
tans of wli'.ch
le capitalist in
\d, occupies a
capitalist is
Ut what capi-
In bargain for
O/-- THE UNITED STATES.
883
their labor upon favorable terms. It seems impossible to frame an argument
for preventing the sons of toil from doing this, unless the old-fashioned and
exploded idea be maintained, that workmen are bondmen to the capitalists,
who, consequently, have the sole right to determine the rewards of labor. In
France, where the notion still lingers, we hear now and then of efforts to regu-
late the price of labor by law, but 'n no other country. Freedom to labor is
as universally recognized as any other right. All have their choice to work
separately, or unite and form a partnership or other organization, if they like.
It was a long period before workmen in England were permitted to form
these societies, so strongly intrenched were capitalists in the legislation of the
realm. In lyge; the following act of Parliament showed the Early lawt
willingness of that body to legislate against the combination of relating to
workmen : " Contracts entered into for obtaining an advance of ' * *" '""'
wages, for altering the usual time for working, or for decreasipi^ the quantity
of work (excepting such contract be made between a master and his journey-
man), or preventing any person employing whomsoever he may think proper
in his trade, or for controlling the conduct, or any way affecting any person
or persons carrying on any manufacture or business in the conduct or man-
agement thereof, shall be declared illegal, null, and void."
This statute illustrates how workmen were regarded in that day. Not until
1827 did Parliament repeal all statutes prohibiting workmen fifom combining.
Until then, employers and Parliament had taken it for granted they alone could
regulate wages.
In France the law permitting workmen to combine was not decreed until
1864. Prior to that period the " Penal Code " contained the most rigorous
stipulations against combinations of ..orkmen. They were characterized as
misdemeanors, and the promoters of them were punished with from two to five
years' imprisonment. It is fair to state that the combination of employers for
the purpose of unjustly depressing wages was also declared to be illegal,
though the punishment inflicted was less severe.
In the several states constituting the German Empire various laws were in
force relating to the rights of workmen until 1867, when a new enactment
went into operation throughout the empire, declaring that " all prohibitions
and penal provisions directed against persons engaged in industry, trade,
assistants, journeymen, or factory-operatives, on the ground of their co-oper-
ating and uniting ior the purpose of obtaining more favorable wages and
conditions of labor, more especially by means of strikes or discharge of work-
men, are repealed ; " thus guaranteeing to the industrial classes the right to
form trade-union associations.
In the United States workmen have no just reason to complain ; for they
have always stood upon the same footing with capitalists, and have enjoyed
the unquestioned right to form trade-union societies. It is true, in colonial
times, the price of labor was sometimes regulated by law ; but so were the
I
884
IND US Th'/A I. //AV TOK Y
prices of every thing which were exchanged. Labor was never singled out as
the only thing reciiiiring State regulation. The rights of the laborer li;uc
been as jealously guarded as the rights of those for whom he has toiled. Not
until very recently has the old doctrine been revived, that the State has a ri^^lit
to control the price of labor, (lov. Hrown of Ocorgia, in an annual message
to the legislature of that State, did remark that " labor must be controlled liy
law." There is no occasion for fearing the re-establishment of this do<;triiu'
on republican soil. Liberty to contract for labor is a right too deeply grounded
to be crushed out by the action of (lov. Hrown, or by any one else holding a
similar opinion.
All this by way of clearing the field for intjuiring into the pur|)ose of trade-
unions and the sotmdness of their methods.
Their purpose is twofold : first, that of an ordinary friendly or benefit
society, — namely, to afford relief to the members of the union when ineapa-
object of citated from work by accident or sickness, to provide a sum for
trade- the funeral-expenses of members and their '."ives, and sometimes
un ont. ^^ grant superannuation allowances to members disabled by old
age ; second, that of a trade society, — namely, to watch over and promute
the interests of the working-classes in the several trades, and especially to pro-
tect them against the undue advantage wliich the command of a large capital
is supposed to give the employers of labor.
Many societies exist having only one object in view. Some are |) irely
friendly societies : others are organizations for promoting the interests of mem
bers in their various trades, without any reference to their social welfare. For
years, in all the countries of Europe, societies of the former description have
flourished, while trade-unions are of recent creation. Thus we have seen tliat
workmen in France were not permitted to combine in order to raise the rate
of wages until 1867; ^^t they have helped each other in an organized way
during sickness and old age, and provided for burial, and done other humane
acts, for a long period. And this applies as truly to many other countries as to
France.
It has been found desirable generally to unite the two purposes j and in this
form most trade-unions exist, especially in the United States. Consideral)le
Ar umentt opposition to them as thus constituted has been manifested, l)e
for and cause persons who are friendly to purely benefit organizations, and
aKainatunit- hostile to those organized for purposes of trade, oppose socle-
poiea in ties combining this double purpose. No enemies to friendly so-
trade- cieties have appeared ; for their purpose is a most noble one, and
the good they have done is incalculable. The amount yearly
distributed to sick members, and expended for burial and other like purposes.
is an eloquent testimony to the character of these institutions ; but, in uniting
the two objects, trade-unions taint the sensibilities of some people, who are
moved on this account to compass their destruction.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
885
inglcd ovii as
laborer have
toiled. N'li
te has a rinlu
nnual mcssa^^o
controlled liv
f this dodriiu'
;cply grounded
else holding x
ndly or benefit
n when incapa
(vidc a sum for
and so'nelimcs
disabled by <>l<i
er and promote
specially to pro-
f a large capital
Much can be advanced in favor of and against this coupling of ends.
Did they remain separate, friendly societies would have the sanction and
su])port of all ; for their usefulness none will dispute. Iksides, they would grow
in numbers, and swell their income. 'I'housantls who would not join trade-
unions aiming to affect the price of wages only would gladly join societies of
a friendly nature. A great many workmen beyond the pale of imionism arc
likely to remain outside, who are desirous of joining their fellow-workers in
alleviating distress, and, consequently, of laying the foundation for receiving aitl
in return. Moreover, benevolent men live everywhere who would willingly join
friendly organizations, and contribute moral and financial assistance.
On the other hand, trade-unions are dignified and ennobled by superadding
a friendly and humane purpose to that of a trade society. Though they inflict
much evil, the enmity against them is somewhat softened when the good they
do is remembered. Hut we cannot agree with Mr. Morrier, that the strength
of the Knglish system depends upon the two-edged purpose to which the
funds of trade-unions may be applied. Doubtless they are stronger when
created in this manner ; but their vitality depends upon something more sub-
stantial than this.
Nor is any moral principle violated in bestowing this double function upon
the society. Provided the members know what they are giving their money
for, — whether sickness, burial, strikes, or any thing else, — there is no oppor-
tunity for practising fraud ; and they probably do know, both by personal
impiiry and by experience, how unions employ their funds. Mr. Morrier is
hardly fair in saying they are raised for purposes of peace, but are applicable
to the purjjoses of war. It is known before they are given for what purposes
they may be used. No deception is necessary, nor is it practised, in raising^
fimds for these societies. " ■ '
Whenever a society unites both purposes, it is evident that a separation of
funds for any particular object is cjuite impracticable. The cry is heard every
now and then that a division of the resources for friendly and trade objects
ought to be made. It comes from some one who either does not understand
the nature of the organization, or is so keen as to see, that, by providing
several funds, collision would oftener arise among the members respecting
their appropriation, ending, perhaps, in disunion. This will appear clearly
when the nature of the organization is more fully explained.
Its income is derived from members, who pay a certain sum weekly,
monthly, or annually, according to its rules. This sum, as remarked, is
devoted to several purposes. One purpose is to provide some- „
thing for sick members during their illness ; another is termed deriving and
an accident-benefit, which consists of a sum given to those who •?«"*"»»
income.
lose their tools ; while a third is a burial-fund. Besides these,
some of the richer unions have additional funds for reading-rooms, libraries,
donations, and charitable subscriptions.
m
•li
I
m
886
INDUSTRIAL HISTOliY
United
State*.
The benefits conferred often extend much farther. One of the most fre-
quent nnd costly objects of donation is to members out of work. This is
occasionally so large as to maintain all the workmen of a trade during a period
of disaster. During the year 1867 the engineers of Great Britain spent almost
three hundred thousand dollars in this manner, and the iron-founders nearly
two-thirds of that sum. The great service thus rendered in keeping a large
number of working-men and their families from the cold field of pauperism
no one will question.
The earliest germ of a trade-union in the United States appeared in Phila-
delphia soon after the beginning of this century. In 1806 a remarkable trial
First trade- ^^^^ ixom. the efforts of several members of such an association
union in to prevent, by violent and unlawful methods, others from working.
Eight persons were indicted ; and . the indictment they were
charged for not being content to work at the usual prices, but
for contriving to increase and augment them, and endeavoring to prevent, by
threats, menaces, and other unlawful means, other artificers from working at
the usual rate, and uniting into a club or combination to make and ordain
unlawful and arbitrary rules to govern those engaged in their trade, and
unjustly exact great sums of money by means thereof. Eminent counsel were
engaged on both sides The account of the trial here given is taken from
" Lippincott's Magazine," ' which says that the evidence showed in the clearest
manner that a system of frightful thraldom had been put in force. A witness
named Harrison stated, that, when he reached the United States in 1 794, he
found this system of terrorism prevalent. He went to work for a Mr. Bedford,
and presently got a hint, that, if he did not join the association of journeymen
shoemakers, he was liable to be " scabbed ; " which meant that men would not
work in the same shop nor board or lodge in the same house with him, nor would
they work for the same employer. The case of this man seemed exceptionally
hard. He made shoes exclusively ; and, when " a turn-out came to raise the
wages on boots," he remonstrated, pleading that shoes did not enter into the
question, and urging that he had a sick wife and a large family. But it was all
to no purpose. He then resolved that he would turn a " scab," unknown to
the association, and continue his work. But, having a neighbor whom it was
impossible for him to deceive, he went to him, and said that he knew his cir-
cumstances, and that his family must perish, or go to "the bettering-house,"
unless he continued to work. This neighbor, Swain, replied that he knew his
condition was desperat;. but that a man had better make any sacrifice than turn
a "scab" at that time. He presently informed against him, and Mr. Bedford
(his employer) was warned that he must discharge his " scabs." He refused,
saying, that, " let the consequence be what it might, we should sink or swim
together." However, one Saturday night, when all but Harrison and a man
named Logan had left him, Bedford's resolution gave way ; and he exclaimed.
' March number, 1876.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
887
" I don't know what the devil I am to do ! They will ruin me in the end.
I wish you would go to tlse body and pay a fine, if not very large, in order
to set the shop free once more." The fine ">ffered was refused, and Mr.
Bedford's shop remained " under scab " for a year. Still Mr. Bedford, who
must have been a very plucky fellow, would not give Harrison up, but
removed in 1802 to Trenton. Harrison stated, that although he could not,
had Mr. Bedford given him up, have got work anywhere else, and that he
might have ground him down to any terms, yet he (Bedford) very nobly always
gave him full price. At length, by paying a fine, Harrison became reconciled
to his persecutors, and Bedford's shop was once more free.
William F'orgrave said that " the name of a ' scab ' is very dangerous : men
of this description have been hurt when out at night." He had been threat-
ened, and joined the association from fear of personal injury. A vast deal
more of evidence was given, and eloquent speeches delivered by counsel ; but
the foregoing gives the sum and substance of the case.
In the course of the summing-up, Recorder Levy said, " To make an
artificial regulation is not to regard the excellence of the work or quality of
the material, but to fix a positive and arbitrary price, governed by no standard,
but dependent on the will of the few who are interested. . . . What, then, is
the operation of this kind of conduct upon the commerce of the city? It
exposes it to inconveniences, if not to ruin : therefore it is against the public
welfare. How does it operate upon the defendants ? We see that those who
are in indigent circumstances, and who have families to maintain, have declared
here on oath that it was impossible for them to hold out. They were inter-
dicted from all employment in future if they did not continue to persevere in
the measures taken by the journeymen shoemakers. Does not such a regula-
tion tend to involve necessitous men in the commission of crimes? If they
are prevented working for six weeks, it might lead them to procure support for
their wives and children by burglary, larceny, or highway robbery."
The jury found the defendants "guilty of a combination to raise their
wages ; " and the court sentenced them to pay a fine of eight dollars each, with
ccis of suit, and to stand committed till paid.
After this early attempt at unionism, nothing more was heard of any similar
experiment for fifty years ; though this long period of repose was not due
probably so much to the result of this early venture as to ether
conditions. There was no need of creating trade-unions, inas- ,o"y"<tr«de.
much as every person found instant employment at favorable uniomin
prices. Across t!ie ocean the condition of the working-man was
very different, and he rought to combine with his fellows at a much
earlier period in order to secure higher wages and other advantages. Union-
ism in this countrv atti acted no attention until after i860, when its presence
and power were first felt in the mining regions. Workmen there sought to
obtain higher wages ; and, in order to succeed in this end, they formed them-
United
Statei.
888
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
selves into unions, believing that they would be more likely to achieve success
than if they dealt with their mastt.s single-handed. As wages rapidly ad-
vanced, the miners naturally ascribed the result to the power of unionism j and
forthwith other unions were formed of men engaged in a great variety of
pursuits. Generally speaking, wages were advanced in every trade ; and ihe
members of these associations were swift to conclude, that, as the wages of
miners had rapidly risen, it was due to the resistless power of their associa-
tions. They never stopped to think that the pay of thousands of men wlio
were not members of any sort of a union was also increased ; that the wa^ci
of household servants went up to a high figure, although no combinatiijn
existed among them tor this purpose. The day-laborers — whether employed
on the farm, or engaged in working upon the streets, or working here and
there as they could find employment — all reaped higher rewards for their
toil, although combinations amongst them were never dreamed of, and were
indeed impossible.
Whether we are right in our deductions or not, trade-unions rose as by
magic, and spread themselves over every part of the country. In the larger
Rapid cities, like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago, they
growth. made their power most potently felt, and held numerous meetings,
at which their principles and beliefs generally received an enthusiastic airing.
Communism found many an advocate among them ; and, next to their belief in
unionism in general, this doctrine has struck the deepest root in the mind of
the average working-man. It is not indigenous, but purely a foreign importa-
tion : yet the plant has been carefully nursed ; and, however unwelcome it may
be to many, communism has here found a fruitful soil.
Besides holding meetings, public as well as private, and discussing their
situation, and, to some extent, their principles and beliefs, it cannot be said
that unionism accomplished very much i the way of securing
higher wages during the first stage of its existence, if the advance
in wages to which we have referred were due to other causes than
combinations among workmen. It is fair to say, however, tliat workmen them-
selves ascribed the rise of wages which occurred about the time of the forma-
tion of their unions, or soon after, to their existence. These two facts, how-
ever, none will deny, — that many unions were formed between i860 and 1865 ;
and, during that period, wages rapidly rose. This created the impression among
the working-men that their unions were the cause of their success ; and tlity
were led to embark in a new experiment, a brief history of which we will lay
before the reader in the next chapter.
Succei* of
trade-
unioni.
OF THE UNITED STATES,
889
CHAPTER II.
EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT.
IT was about 1867 when the agitation began among the working-class s for
the enactment of laws prescribing eight hours as a legal day of labor.
Their reason for this law was, that more time was needed for cul- object oi the
ture and pleasure than they enjoyed under the former arrange- •***'•
ment ; and the request to them seemed not only reasonable, but they manifest-
ed considerable surprise if any one differed from them. On the other hand,
many regarded the measure of no importance from any point of view, as no
one thought of making the law compulsory, so as to prevent the making of
contracts for a longer or shorter period of service. The chief opponents to
the measure were those who feared the working-men would demand ten hours'
pay for eight hours' work ; and that, if a reduction in pay were made corre-
sponding with the reduction in service, strikes and other untoward difficulties
would occur. *
The law was enacted in most of the States and by the Federal Government,
and the effect thereof soon began to appear. At first the Federal Government
reduced the number of hours during which the workmen in its l.w every,
employ at the navy-yards and other places were engaged in con- where
formity with the law, yet continued to pay them the old rates ; •^■''*«'-
which was a great victory for the laborers. But there was no uniformity about
the matter. In some trades the day was reduced to eight hours, and a reduc-
tion of twenty per cent was made in their wages. Whenever this result was
experienced from the working of the law, workmen were generally willing,
nay, desirous, of returning to the former terms of employment. In some cases
the men demanded a reduction of hours without a reduction of pay ; and
this demand resulted in strikes, the most important of which occurred at the
works of Messrs. Brewster & Company of New York, the famous carriage-
manufacturers. Four-fifths of the men struck, and remained idle two wl ks,
when work was resumed without any concession on the part of the em-
ployers.
During the year 1872 the movement reached its height ; and in all the large
•Hi
m
1 1'«
II
890
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
cities and important centres of industry there were frequent meetings among
Movement the working-men, at which the subjected was agitated, and strikes,
at its height, and prosecutioHs for violating the law, were threatened. In most
of such gatherings it appeared clearly enough that the chief aim of the friends
of the law was to get the same pay for eight hours' work as for ten ; which, of
course, was an addition of twenty per cent to the cost of labor, — an advance
which employers very generally were unwilling to pay. The clouds of the
impending panic were beginning to form : some trades had already experienced
a slackened demand, and this large advance was not regarded as warranted l)y
the future prospects of business anywhere. In some cases employers were
unwilling to have their laborers do less than ten hours' work per day, whatever
might be the amount of wages paid them. Said a member of the firm of
Steinway & Company, the famous piano-forte manufacturers, in reply to the
question, " Would you agree to the eight-hour system, provided the men did
not ask for ten hours' pay?" "No: we would not agree to any thing less
than ten hours, whether they wanted eight hours' pay or not." Many other
employers similarly situated, or who were unwilling to reduce their production,
entertained a similar opinion. Thus opposition between employer and em-
ployed increased : the meetings of the latter class multiplied, at which the
denunciation of employers became more frequent and violent. Everywhere
strikes were threatened, and many actually broke out. In 1873 a panic swept
CoUapteof over the land. Many factories, furnaces, and shops were closed,
movement, ^nd thousands wr , thrown out of employment. The strife soon
was to get work upon the best terms possible, and the cry for eight hours for a
day's work ceased almost as suddenly as the cry was raised.
=— t iw ^.' » g. liWtf j M W ffi SEWBWWt -.
OF THE UNITED STATES.
891
CHAPTER III.
LATER HISTORY OF TRADE-UNIONS.
WE now pass on to the third stage in the history of trade-unions and
of employment of labor in this country. The eight-hour movement
was ascribed to the influence of these unions ; yet it probably j^j^j ,4,^^
would have taken place, just the same as strikes would, even if of trade-
these institutions had never been created. Perhaps the eight- "" ""*■
hour movement rose more speedily in consequence of the existence of organi-
zations among the laboring-men, and it may be that measures were pushed
with greater force and confidence by reason of the solidarity existing among
them \ and the same thing may be said of the working-men in respect to
strikes : nevertheless, these have occurred where no unions were known ; and
in man" cases, as we shall show before concluding this chapter, unions have
been formed on the edge of a strike, and as a consequence of it, rather than as
its cause.
Strikes, which in the fourteenth century had their counterpart in the
Jacquerie riots, ore the last argument to which working-men resort in order to
get an advance of wages. In England, workmen have oftener Result of
struck to resist a fall than to secure a rise of wages. Says Mr. •twites.
Brassey, " Resistance to a proposed reduction was the cause of the engineers'
strike in 1852. of the strike at Preston in 1853, of the strike in the iron-trade
in 1865, and of the strike of the colliers at Wigen in 1868." The strikes in
the United States have generally sprung from a similar cause. The weavers at
a cotton-mill in New York, having had their wages reduced three cents a yard,
stmck to regain the old price. The sounding-board makers in a piano-factory
struck on account of a threatened reduction of ten per cent in their wages.
One thousand operatives employed in a carpet-manufactory in New York
struck against a similar proposed reduction. The potterymen of Trenton,
N.J., were on a strike which lasted several months, causing a loss of three hun-
dred and fifty thousand dollars to the employers and of fifty thousand dollars
more to themselves, determined to accept no reduction for their labor. The
cordwainers of New York struck for a period of nine months against a pro-
1 Sii
m^
893
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
posed reduction of twenty per cent ; and other instances might be noted. What
Mr. Brassey has observed concerning English strikes applies to all those men-
tioned : " Masters had found it necessarj', in consequence of the depressed
state of trade, to reduce the rate of wages ; but the men, ignoring the circum-
stances of the trade, and looking only to what they believed to be a degrada-
tion of their position is workmen, refused to accept the reduction." This
remark is emphatically true of the strikes which have occurred in the United
States since the panic of 1873. Profits have greatly declined ; prices in gen-
eral have been heavily shrinking ; and a reduction of wages in most cases was
regarded as absolutely necessary. The reduction of wages, however, has been
followed by strikes everywhere of varying degrees of duration, loss, and vio-
lence. During the period when strikes were ordered to secure an advance
of wages, victory crowned the measure ; but the strikes of later years to resist
a fall of wages have rarely met with success.
It would require altogether too much space to recount the story of the
more recent strikes which have occurred in the United Slates ; and we shall,
Recent therefore, allude to only a few of them. Two very notable strikes
strikes. arose among the operatives of the cotton-mills at Fall River to
resist reductions in wages, in which several thousands of employees partici-
pated. The factories had been losing money in the manufacture and sale of
goods, and a reduction of wages was absolutely necessary in order to continue
the business. The operatives deemed the reductions too large ; and, while
they were willing to work for less, they thought the employers demanded a
larger reduction than was necessary to secure them against loss in the manu-
facture of their goods. When the first reduction was ordered, it was hoped
that it would be the last : but, as the prices of manufactured goods continued
to decline, a second reduction soon became necessary ; and it was this which
gave rise to the chief opposition among the operatives. All their efforts, how-
ever, to prevent a reduction, were unavailing ; and, what was still worse for them
in the end, the most active opponents to the reduction were prohibited from
working in the factories. A list of them was prepared, and circulated among
the mills ; and the regulation was rigidly enforced. Not long after, a strike
occurred in the Wamsutta Mills at New Bedford on account of a reduction
of wages, which ended in the same way as the previous strikes at Fall River.
As wages were rapidly reduced in almost all trades, strikes broke out almost
daily in all parts of the country. Even the rice-fields of the South were swept
with the wave of discontent ; and the strikes of the working-men threatened,
at one time, the ruin of the crop.
Thus one strike succeeded another, until a climax was reached in the sum-
mer of 1877, when the workmen employed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Rmiiroad- struck for the retention of the wages they were at that time receiv-
strikes. jng^ but which the company had proposed to reduce. The com-
pany announced, that, on the i6th of July, their resolution would go into effect;
OF THE UNITED STATES.
893
and, for several days previous to the event, mutterings of discontent were
heard among the conductors, brakenien, and firemen, especially among those
who were employed in running freight- trains. On the day fixed the storm
broke forth. The employees who conducted the freight-trains refused to work,
not only in Baltimore, but throughout the line of the road. There was at once
a total suspension of transportation. The company endeavored to procure
other men to run the triins : but it was soon found that the strikers were deter-
mined not to allow them to move ; and they dragged the crews from the
engines and cars, extinguished the fires, and openly avowed their determina-
tion to resist by force the passage of freight-trains until the company had com-
plied with their demand for rescinding the order reducing their wages. The
lawlessness and violence of the strikers rapidly increased, while sympathetic
mobs formed at the various points where the strikers were the most numerous.
The governor soon found that the State militia which had been called out were
tmable to cope with so formidable an insurrection : so application was made
to the President, who immediately responded to the call, and sent troops to
aid in restoring order. The wave rapidly swept northward ; and within two
days the train-hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburg also Pittsburgh
struck, and stopped tiie movement of all trains east and wcjt. ""*•
The attempts of the municipal and county authorities to restore traffic failed ;
and by the evening of the 20th of July, three days after the commencement of
the strike, a large number of trains, containing thousands of head of live-
stock and merchandise, were massed at Pittsburgh. Every effort to move
freight with the aid of the workmen who remained in the faithful employ of the
company proved unavailing. In the mean time, the State troops were ordered
out ; though, three days after the riot began, only six hundred men and offi-
cers had assembled for duty.
Gen. Pearson, who commanded at Pittsburgh, fearing that the majority of
his troops were in sympathy with the strikers, the first division of the National
Guard was ordered to join him. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the
2 1 St, the first detachment of the Philadelphia division, numbering six hun-
dred and fifty men, under command of Gen. Brinton, bringing with it
two Gatling guns and a large quantity of ammunition, arrived at the Union
D^pot in Pittsburgh. Afler a short delay, to feed the soldiers, the movement
to open the road began. Preceded by the sheriff, and carrying the Gatling
guns, the troops were marched down the tracks, between the lines of freight-
cars. For some distance the road was comparatively clear; but, as the
column approaclied Twenty-eighth Street, it met a constantly-increasing
crowd, through which it forced its way into the dense mass at the foot of the
hill. The lines piessed the crowd slowly and with difficulty back on either
side of the road, until that portion of the tracks enclosed by the hollow square
so formed was clear.
An attempt of the sheriff to arrest some ringleaders who had been prom-
%
894
INDUSTRIAL HISTOKY
inent in the previous outrages raised a commotion, during whicii stones wen-
thrown by the '.nob. The troops were ordered to charge bayonets, and, in
doing so, came in immediate contact with the pressing and excited mass,
Several pistol-shots were fired, and a volley of stones thrown from the crowd,
from those on the hillside, as well as others ; and violent attempts were madi;
to wrest the muskets from the soldiers. Having been wedged in among a
surging body of rioters growing more and more aggressive, many of whom
were attempting to crc d the soldiers from the ranks or wrench the muskets
from their hands, and as a few moments more would have broken the ra* '.-;,
and involved the individual soldiers in inextricable and helpless confusioi)
among their foes, the soldiers fired. Under the circumstances, they did right
to resist the attempt to disarm or overpower them. A soldier is stationed or
commandec' to move as a soldier, and has the undoubted right, in the execii-
tion of his order, to prevent himself from being forced from his post, or (hs-
armed. As sc on as relieved of the pressure, the commands of the officers at
once stopped the firing. From proximity to the crowd, the firing was wild
and high as well as desultory, and took effect principally upon the hill.
Panic-stricken, the crowd upon the hillside and adjacent streets, and imme-
diately surrounding the soldiers, scattered in all directions, carrying witii it
many of the Pittsburgh soldiers; and the main body of the rioters fell l)a(k
along the track. In the niHee fifteen or twenty soldiers were wounded, the
majority with pistol-balls, and a number of the mob killed and wounded.
At this time the troops were undoubtedly masters of the situation ; and a
determined advance in all directions, and co-operation of the civil authorities,
would have driven away every vestige of the mob, and, by activity and care,
might have prevented it from re-assembling. As it was, though unskilfully
executed, the movement produced the result intended ; but, though offered
a guard for each one, the railway officials were unable to move their trains,
from the impossibility of finding engineers and crews who were willing to man
them at that time. The troops held their ground an hour or two, during
which time the rioters gradually returned, and collected about in squails.
About six o'clock the troops were withdrawn, and placed wholly within the
round-houses and adjacent buildings. No pickets or guards were left outside.
From this time on the troops were kept on the defensive, which gave the moh
a great and fatal advantage. The mob, rapidly increasing in numbers and
boldness after dark, broke into various gun-stores and armories, arming them-
selves ; and a desultory firing was kept up during the night, without effect ui)on
the soldiers., and with considerable loss to the rioters. From that time on-
ward, for several days, the rioterg vere masters of the situation. Tiie military
were totally inadequate to quell thorn : indeed, the next day they felt obliged
to withdraw into the open country. As no engineers could be found to run
trains, re-enforcements could proceed only at a slow rate : so the insurrection
gained strong headway. Finally, disregarding all law, and consideration for
OF THE UNITED STATES.
895
out of the
State.
private property, the rioters began the wholesale destruction of property —
cars, engines, freight, and buildings — belonging to or in the possession of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The government was called upon to aid
in suppressing the insurrection ; but only a few troops were in the East, though
these rendered very effective service. While several of the State organizations
manifested much sympathy with the strikers, and in many cases refused to
serve at all, the national troops came promptly to the rescue, and never
siiowed any signs of wavering. In a few days, however, the riot at Pittsburgh
had spent its force ; and on Monday, the 30th of July, the railroad companies
centring at that point resumed business, and communication was opened with
all parts of the country.
In the mean time the disturbances spread rapidly over the State. In
Philadelphia, by the courage and activity of the mayor and police, supported
by the great body of the citizens and the press, and in Harris-
burgh, through the coolness and promptness of the sheriff of riots'to other
Dauphin County and the mayor of the city, and the public spirit places in and
of the citizens, who responded to the call of the authorities, the
disturbances were speedily quelled. In Reading the costly rail-
road-bridge over the Schuylkill was burned on the evening of the 2 2d, and
freight-trains stopped. The Sheriff of Berks County proving unequal to the situa-
tion, Gen. Reeder, with two hundred and fifteen muskets of the Fourth Infantry,
National Cuard of Pennsylvania, was sent there by Gen. Bolton ; and in a severe
street-fight after dark, on the 23d, — in which many of his command were
injured more or less severely with stones, and eleven of the crowd killed, and
above fif\y wounded, — the rioters were dispersed. These troops, having been
subsequently demoralized by the action of the Sixteenth Regiment, were with-
drawn ; but the next day (the 24th), upon the arrival of a detachment of
United-States troops under Col. Hamilton, the road was re-opened.
In the middle coal-field of Luzerne County, the miners, under the prevail-
ing excitement, struck on the 25th of July, and all trains were stopped upon
the roads running through that region. At Scranton, on the ist of August,
a large body of men, endeavoring to drive the wor men from the railroad-shops
and factories, were courageously dispersed by the mayor and his posse, in
which conflict that officer was severely injured, and three of the rioters killed
and a number wounded. As the trouble was serious and threatening, and
rapidly growing beyond the control of the mayor and his small force, brave
and determined as they were, the first division, under Gen. Brinton, was
ordered to that region, followed immediately with other forces ; and on the 3d
of August the railroads were once more pj.it into regular open tion. A body
of troops, regular and militia, were stationed there until the early part of
November, when, all fears of any disturbances being removed, they were with-
drawn. Slight outbreaks which had occurred in various other places had been
easily suppressed either by the local authorities or the presence of the United-
8o6
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Stutes Of Stale troops ; and before the middle of August all the railroads
tlirouf;hout the b'ate were running on scUedule time, and by the early part of
November all manifestations of lawlessness had disappeared.
It was in I'ennsylvania, and especially at Pittsburgh, that the riot rose to
its greatest h( ight, was the most destructive, and was least easily quelled. On
the 2ist of July the wave rolled into the State of New York, and was first fell
along the line of the New-York and Erie Railroad. Shortly after, trains wcru
stopped on tlie New- York Central lload, and large and excited crowds of ukii
gathered at Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Horn-illsville, Corning, Elmira ; while the
peace of the city of Ni w York even was seriously threatened. The governor
ordered the entire force of the National Guard to hold itself ready to move m
a moment's notice, and several regiments were ordered to various parts of ilic
State. The prompt action of the governor, and the discipline and efticiency
manifested by the troopf, had the good effect of speedily subduing the disturl)-
ance ; and, within a week, order was restored throughout the State.
But little commotion was experienced in New England, and no trains were
interrupted by rioters. In the West, however, serious delays occurred, thougii
nowhere was such violence practised as in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Many
trains were btopped. In some cases, the reduction of wages which had been
proposed did not take place ; and overtures of one sort and another were
made satisfactory to the railroad employees, and thus their anger was appeased.
Having originated among this class of working-men for the most part, tlie
riv ing extendei no farther; though, in Pittsburgh, others, to some extent,
participated. They were aggrieved over the reduction of their wages, ami
tiiought that various changes in the arrangement of the railroads ought to be
made before calling upon them to accept any lower compensation for liieir
services. Their requests having been refused, and their reason becoming
dethroned, they pursued a wild course, which proved, perhaps, more in-
jurious to them than to any other class of people. It was one of those wild,
thoughtless movements which every now and then break out when least ex-
pected, and which give a great jar to society ; but this last blaze went down as
suddenly as it arose, because it did not spring from any fuel which could burn
long. It was only a flash, terrible for the moment, blindir bewildering, and
frightening many, yet leaving no dangerous residuum. The are persons who
tremble over the possible recuirence of these scenes; i the public is so
aiive to the danger, on the one h md, and those who indu)c;v ' in them must i)c
so convinced of their folly, on the other, that the repetition of this singular
outbreak is not likely soon to occur.
The consequences of striking ofttimes have not been very carefully con
Effects of sidered before engaging in them, otherwise many of these occur
itrikM upon rehces never would have happened. In Antwerp there were at
butineis. ^^^ ^^^^ nearly fifty establishments devoted to the manufacture of
cigars, and employing about ten thousand workmen and apprentices. During
Oi THE UNITED STATES.
897
jl the railroads
Lhe early part ot
the riot rose to
iily quelled. On
and was first toll
after, trains were
d crowds of nun
ilmira ; while the
rt. The governur
ready to move at
irious parts of the
ine and efticiency
)diiing the disturl)-
: State.
and no trains were
s occurred, thougli
nnsylvania. Many
es which had been
t and another were
mger was appeased.
I the most part, the
rs, to some extent,
f their wages, and
roads ought to be
lensation for their
reason becomins;
perhaps, more in-
one of those wild,
out when least ex-
blaze went down as
which could burn
bewildering, and
are persons who
(. the public is so
, ■ in them must bo
tion of this singular
_i very carefully con
nany of these occur-
twerp there were at
the manufactvire of
ipprentices. During
ve
the summer of 1871 all the operatives i . tituted a strike for the purpose of
getting a reducfion of workiug-iiours, though not of wages; and also of pro-
curing a discharge of tiie apprentices. Means were furnished to the operatives ;
so that the strike was prolonged for four mouths and a half, when work was
resumed. In the mean time, wl.at Iiad hapi)oncd to the Antwerp cigar-trade?
It had received a serious blow from whicli it lias never recovered. Those who
iiad been accustomed to obtain a supply of cigars from this cjuarter-went else-
wiicre when their demands could not be fulfilled, and have never returned. i\
i^sss years ago ri strike occurred in the State of Nevada, which l<;d to the same
disastrous conclusion. In the silver-mines of Grass Valley, three hundred
Cornish miners who were receiving four dollars a day struck upon the intro-
duction of a new kind of blasting-powder which was found to effect .1 consid-
erable saving of labor. They insisted upon following the Cornish system of
mining : the result vas, that the mines were closed forever. Phe pottery-
men of Trenton, N.J., by indulging in a strike which entailed a direct
loss of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars upon their employers, and
fifty thousand dollars upon themselves, crippled the business so severely, that
it has not yet recovered ; atul, while the loss has been keenly felt by the
proprietors, the workmen have been the greatest losers. With the sharp com-
petition now raging in every kind of business, it is semitive even to the slightest
shock ; and, when so violent an interruption occurs as a strike, the conse-
(juences not infreciuently are severe and lasting. The foregoing illustrations
are only a few of the many which may be given.
Terrible as strikes often are, they cannot always be laid at the door of trade-
unions. Many entertain the opposite opinion ; and it is desirable to present
the truth upon this point as clearly as possible, even if considerable
space be required for the purpose. All the members of the Trade-
Unions Commission were in accord on this point concerning Eng-
lish strikes, and the language used in the leading and dissenting
reports is almost the same. To quote from the chief one : " It
does not appear to be borne out by the evidence that the disposition to strike
on the part of the workmen is in itself the creation of unionism, or that the
frequency of strikes increases in proportion to the strength of the union. It
is, indeed, affirmed by the leaders of unions, that the effect of the estr.blished
societies is to diminish the frequency, and certainly the disorder, of strikes,
aiv' to guarantee a regularity of wages and hours, rather than to engage in
<o!istant endeavors to improve them."
This evidence throws into bold relief a good feature of trade-unions.
Admitted upon the best authority that they are not the authors
of strikes, the strongest, richest, and mflst extended of these
organizations have had the fewest strikes and disputes ; while
the wages of their members and their hours of laljor show the
greatest permanence. The Society of Engineers, of which Mr. Allan is secre
Trade-
unions not
always re-
sponsible for
strikes.
Richest
unions have
fewest
strikes.
iilii
m
898
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
most fre
quently.
tary, is very minicrou3, embracing the principal portion of tlic worlcmcn
engaged in that business in (Ireat Britain. At one time the society liad a
reserve-fund of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. So great is their
power, that Mr. Heyer, a partner in one of the largest iron-founileries in
England, represented himself as wholly in the control of the union. IJiit
their wages, notwithstanding their jjower, have been scarcely raised for twenty-
five years, except by the voluntary act of their masters.
The feeblest tmions — those just struggling into existence perhaps, or whii h
have the least control over their members — oftenest indulge in strikes. Not
Feebient infrequently unions are formed when the spirit for striking is rife ;
unions strike and, conscfiuently, they are charged with instituting strikes whi( h
would have happened whether unions existed or not. When nicn
are dissatisfied with their wages, they can easily subscribe a small
fund for the jjurpose of striking, and create a union which is not intended to
exist beyond the occasion giving it birth. The proceedings of such bodies
ought not in justice to be charged to the regularly-constituted union. It is
said of the Knglish tailors' and iron-workers' unions, that they " never possessed
the power or the permanent character of such societies as the Amalgamated
Engineers and .Amalgamated Carpenters ; " and these are the trades in wliidi
the loudest comi)laints are heard of the freiuency of strikes. Numerous
strikes and lockouts have occurred in the coal-mining districts of Wales and
Derbyshire ; but no unions have flourished in those regions. In the United
States most of the unions are young, hardly in working-order, having no accu-
mulated funds, the discipline exercised being exceedingly lax; the machine in
every way bearing evidence of hasty and rutle construction. While they have
wrought mischiefs which cannot be excused, yet we may, in a spirit of fairness,
believe that many of these would not have arisen had the unions been in longer
and more perfect operation.
During the years 1875 and 1876 many unions were created in the United
States during strikes, or with special reference to them. The societies grew
out of a striking disposition, but not the strikes from the creation of the
unions. Nevertheless, the hated trade-unions are unjustly accused of originat-
ing grave evils which would have happened in any event. As these organiza-
tions grow older and more stable, and select more capable leaders, they will
be managed with greater wisdom, and capital will have less cause to fear them.
It is (picstioncd whether the diminished frequency of strikes among power-
ful unions arises less from want of disposition to strike on the part of the mem-
Do stronger ^'^''^ t'^^" ^""O'^ ^'^'^ f'^^*^ ^'^''^' ^'^<^''" Organization is so powerful, as, in
unions abuse most cases, to obtain the concession demanded without recourse
t e r power ^^ ^j^j^ measure. Perhaps this is so ; but surely it will not be denieil
that the Trade-Unions Commission, who raised this query, did not glean a
scintilla of evidence upon the point in their most thorough and in every way
creditable investigation. We can comprehend what influence these powerful
OF THE UNITED STATES,
899
organizations roiild exert if they chose, and how masters had better submit
to llicir (Icinantls, liioiiyh (Io( laniig llicuj wrong, than go through the painful
unceitainty of a striiie. In several instances, masters have confessed them-
selves within tlie power of trade-unions : if this he true, they could obtain new
concessions without a conflict of any kind. I'ossibly, if several of the socie-
ties were less strong, they migiit not have received some of the benefits which
iiave couje to then) peaceably, and perhaps none at all. Let us not forget,
though, that there is no evidence on the subject ; and in the absence of
this the <iuestion is purely speculative, and cannot receive a definitive
answer.
The reason why the richer and more powerful unions moderate the dispo-
sition for strikes is not merely to conserve their funds, nor because they obtain
concessions by reason of their power, but because they are more _,
' ' ' •' Stronger
wisely conducteil than the newer ami smaller organizations. 'I'he union* are
covernment of each branch of the union is vested in a committee '"""'^
° guided.
and local secretary elected from time to time by the members;
while the government of the whole society is conuuonly vested in a general or
executive coun«il elected by the branches, and a general secretary elected
by universal suffrage of the entire organization. Hoth the executive council
and the committee of the several branches are required to govern them-
selves according to established rules ; and, when these do not exist, they
must rely upon their juilgment, subject to an appeal to the general bociy
Instituting and conducting strikes is the most important funct''>n of every
well-organized union's council. It is these councils which liave toned
down the disposition of workmen so much in regard to strikes ; for, gener-
ally, the best men are selected for these places, — men of the most intelli-
gence, and who are the best capable of ascertaining the condition and
profits of the business in which workmen are employed. These leaders, from
their superior knowledge and capability to find out the true condition of busi-
ness, can judge butler than the members ; and hence it is that strikes among
the larger ami more wisely-conducted unions are diminishing. And this we
regard as a very hopeful feature of trade-unions. One thing the toiling classes
need is correct information concerning the business in which they are engaged.
They imagine their employers are getting very ricli oftentimes, when they are
running at a loss, though keeping the fact concealed. The strikes which
occurred in the cotton-mills of New England during 1S75 are unanswerable
proof of this remark. Most of them had earned no profits for several months;
yet the operatives in several cases unwisely demanded an increase of wages.
Had they known any thing about the condition of trade, they would have
comprehended the folly of asking for an advance when employers were
keeping them busy at a loss. Personal knowledge or wise leadership would
have saved them from a contest with their employers which was sure to end in
the laborers' defeat. They were the dupes of ignorant and wild leaders,
'='1'
m
n
'','
^
90O
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
instead of wise and temperate ones ; and behold the result ! Every one who
knew any thing about the condition of the cotton -trade was certain the strikes
would end in failure ; for, in fact, the owners were (luite as willing to have the
mf,n unemployed as not. Prejudice and ill feeling between employed and
< mployer help kindle the laboring-man's imagination respecting the profits
iccruing from his labor. Now the leaders of unions are in a situation to
learn more perfectly the exact nature of things, and this is why they advise
more peaceful measures.
Here a streak of light issues from these organizations, especially since the
establishment of boards of arbitration and conciliation for the settlement of
How unions differences between men and masters. Members having confi-
•id concilia- dence in their councils are able to submit questions to third parties
for settlement. They could do what would be impossible were
they unorganized. Should all the men in a shop strike, and the attempt
be made to leave the differences between them and their masters to some
person for arbitration, the difficulty would be in organizing the workmen for
consultation ; and even were a tem^jorary organization formed, and represen-
tatives selected from it to confer with their employer, they would not command
such confidence as those who were recognized as leaders, and thorougiily
knowing the condition of business.
It is asserted that these /ery councils foment strikes when they ought not.
Being paid officers, they regard it as part of their duty, it is said, to advise
Do councils Striking occasionally. This is thought to be their occupation,
foment They are chosen to wage war, not to maintain peace. These
* ' " notions are erroneous. Only a very few persons connected witli
trade-unions receive any pecuniary reward ; nor do they constantly agitate for
higher wages and other benefits. This we suppose they do, in some cases ;
yet it is quite clear, that, in general, the tendency of their advice and counsel is
to moderate the striking disposition of those under their direction and control.
Strikes began long before trade-unions were ever thought of: they are inci-
dental to collecting men in masses as they have been collected by the erection
of factories. The union does give an increased power of striking : it can deal
a harder blow ; but, instead of giving it, an increased sense of order, subordi-
nation, and reflection, is exhibited. Does any one doubt the truth of this?
Listen to what tjie General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Caii)cn-
ters and Joiners says in his last report : " Our demands on our employers for
wages and reduced working-hours, wiiich have been moderate in their charac-
ter, and which have been a consequence, not a cause, of the enhanced cost of
the necessaries of life, have generally been courteously conceded ; and thus
our disputes have been few and unimportant. I sincerely trust that an ami-
cable relationshii) between employers and employed may be permaneiilly
maintained. Although we may be told, that, in accordance with the law of
supply and demand, we are justified in pressing for all the advantages we can
OF THE UNITED STATES.
901
18
possibly obtain in busy times, and that we should accept whatever may be
offered to us when trade is depressed, I hold that such a policy is advan-
tageous neither to employer nor employed, and cannot benefit the general
public. Wherever our employers are disposed to meet us in a fair and concili-
atory spirit, our members will do well to meet them with equal cordiality, to
carefully consider any arguments that may be advanced, and thoroughly
examine both sides of the question at issue. If e.nployers and workmen are
determined to act fairly by their opponents, as well as to secure justice to
themselves, matters of detail may be arranged, differences amicably settled,
and results secured which would be far more satisfactory to all parties than any
thing which could be obtained by a strike or lockout." Who can find fault
with this advice, or maintain that working-men are not better off under such
leadership than they would be each one struggling for himself ? Do
not these words give promise of restored harmony between capital and
labor f Surely trade-unions thus directed ought to be encouraged, not con-
demned.
We have reserved for the close a word or two in the way of contrasting
the trade-unions of the United States with those existing in European coun-
tries. In those, the ranks of labor for centuries ha\ c been full ; the contrast of
power of capital has been enormous : and fairness requires us to working-men
say that the working-man there needed far more protection than spates with
was given him by law ; far more than he, under the most favor- those in
able circumstances, received. Harsh and unjustifiable as are "'°P"-
some of the rules and methods of trade-unions there, they are grounded in
the most solid reasons ; but in the United States the case is very different.
Even if employers be found selfish and too grasping, an enormous public do-
main is open for settlement ; and thither can the oppressed son of toil always
fly for relief. No one has studied the case of the working-men with greater
care and devotion than Thomas Hughes of England ; for years he has fought
their battle without flinching : yet, when he visited this country a few years
ago, he delivered a lecture to the working-men of New York, in which he
said, —
" I have no right to offer counsel to either side, and may possibly be even
regarded with suspicion by employers of labor over here, as I have been till
lately by those of England ; but as I have helped the working-men xhomas
at home to fight their l)attles, and have had the happiness of earn- Hughes's
ing t'leir confidence, I trust their brethren here will take the few "P'"'""*
words I have to say to them in good part, and as those, at any rate, of a friend.
Is it, then, the fact, that you, the working-men of the United States, are running
simply on the old tracks, and arc fiirbishing up the old weapons of trade-
unionism, which have so often run into the hands of those who wielded them ?
Are you really trying by your organizations to control the free will of those of
your body who are not unionists ; to put restrictions and limitations on the
rffl
902
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
hours of labor, the admission of apprentiv .s, the use of machinery, the rate
of wages, and to carry out your ideas by the old method of strikes? These
things have been done often enougli in England. If not wise even there, at
least they had a justification which here is wholly wanting. Where tiie
labor-market is overstocked, and tliere are often two men waiting for one
man's place, I can understand, and have often sympathized with and defended,
rules and practices intended to spread work evenly, and requiring self-sacrifice
from the ablest workmen, that all of fair capacity might earn a livelihood.
Where all the natural wealth of the country (if I may use the phrase) is
already monopolized, where lands, mines, waters — all the raw material out of
which wealth is created — are in private hands, and there is the keenest com-
petition for the use of them, as there is with us, one must not be too critical
as to the methods by which the great body of producers have endeavored to
secure their share of the products. But here you have well-paid employment
waiting for every man who is ready to do an honest day's work. Here the
natural wealth of the country is, for all practical purposes, unappropriated, and
lying around you in almost unbounded profusion. You have nothing to do
but to exercise a little thrift and foresight for a few short months, to spend for
that time less than you cam, and there are tlie means in tlie iiands of every
one of you of obtaining house, land, wliatever form of wealth you are most
eager for, with only too great facility.
" On what possible plea of reason or justice or necessity, or even of hand-
to-mouth policy, can you undertake to control or limit the right to work on his
own terms, in his own way, of any man, when there is ample room for twenty
times your present numbers, and your land is crying out for all the work which
every man among you can put into it? When the great trade-unions of Eng-
land are becoming every day more peaceable and reasonable as they become
more powerful, and are jealous of every expenditure whicli is not for some
provident or benevolent purpose, are the unions and the working-men of
America going to pick up the old armor, instead of leaving it to rust where it
lies, and to spend the earnings which belong to the wives and children as
much as to them in a crusade for preaching the gospel of idleness? I cannot
believe it ; for, if there is one truth which this nation has hitherto preaciicd
faithfully to the rest of the world, it is .he gospel of work."
It is not for us, in narrating the industrial movements in thi"; country, to
add any thing to them in the way of criticism. Unwelcome as trade-unions
Future of ^^ *° most employers of labor, and however unnecessary tlity
trade- may be, their existence is a fact ; and, tliough many a strike lias
un oni. ended disastrously to their members, with only a few exceptions
they have not disbanded, nor have they manifested the slightest intention of
so doing. There are persons who have cherished the belief that a few severe
reverses would put an end to the organization ; but those who have deluded
themselves with such thoughts liave not studied with sufficient care the nature
OF THE UNITED STATES.
903
of trade-unions. Very likely they ought to disband; perhaps there is no excuse
for their existence : but it must be remembered that these are not the thoughts
of unionists themselves. They believe in the necessity of organization in order
to secure and preserve their rights ; and as long as they do, though many more
disasters may befall them, and severer ones than those which they have yet
experienced, trade-unions will probably live, and perliaps thrive even tlie
more because of their defeats.
"IS
.^
BOOK VII.
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
IT is
totl
of the 1
connecti
not beer
newspap
nianufac
of the w
taken pi;
lament tl
ent talc,
occupied
duces 8c
over 20C
of ?250,<
annually,
have bus
Her inch
developm
ployed,
related wi
admiratioi
Dominion
At pre
to the peo
industry tl
easiest am
train a var
&c., \vhos(
ble. The
'/
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
IT is proposed in this book to make a, brief general statement in regard
to the industries of the nation which is growing up on the northern border
of the United States, and with which this country is intimately importance
connected by ties of race, language, trade, and destiny. It has of Canadian
not been unusual of late years to observe laments in the Canadian
newspapers to the effect that Canada has no industries. Certain branches of
manufacturing which are carried on extensively in America and in other parts
of the world are not yet practised in Canada, and general development has not
taken place as rapidly as south of the St. Lawrence. Noting this fact, writers
lament that Canada has no industries. The government statistics tell a differ-
ent tale. Surely a land richly endowed by nature, and happy in being
occupied by a free, intelligent, and active-minded race, which already pro-
duces 80,000,000 bushels of grain yearly, 15,000,000 gallons of petroleum,
over 200,000,000 cubic feet of lumber, 800,000 tons of coal, and a value
of ;j25o,ooo,ooo in general nianufoctures, whose fisheries yield $12,000,000
annually, and which exports in a fair year $89,000,000 worth of goods, must
have busy and profitable industries. Such is, indeed, the case with Canada.
Her industries are numerous E.id vatied, have attained a most satisfactory
development, and are fully sufficient to keep her population profitably em-
ployed. The story concerning them is interesting, and will now be succinctly
related with a pen which will not at any rate fail in its task from any lack of
admiration for what has been accomplished by the spirited people of the
Dominion.
T'TE FISHERIES.
At present the fisheries constitute the greatest individual source of wealth
to the people of Canada. Not only do they employ more men in profitable
industry than any other pursuit except farming, and not only do they form the
easiest and least expensive of occupations, but they carry in their Magnitude of
train a variety of other industries, like ship building, transportation, **"= fisheries.
&c., whose prosperity they insure. They are, besides, practically inexhausti-
ble. The Gulf Stream, flowing northward near the American coast, is met in
907
9o8
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
the vicinity of Newfoundland by currents from the polar basin j and by the
deposits which take place at the meeting of the opposing waters are formed
V. St submarine islands, or " banks," whose shallow waters are the feeding-
grounds of immense shoals of migratory fish which resort thither annually.
I'he reproductive pow . of some of the varieties, the cod particularly, arc
very great ; and there .. probable impossibility that these species can ever be
'", ■•royed by human nv.ans. 'I"he whole sea is their breeding-ground. 'Ihesc
fish .ire not found on >he banks alone; they visit the Gulf of St. Lawrcnc c
and the shores of all the maritime provinces of Canada, in unlimited nuniljcis .
and the cjuantity of them that will be taken for ages appears to depend only
on the efforts that will be put forth for the purpose. This remark refers ukjic
particularly to the cod, mackerel, and herring. Certain of the insiiorc varie-
ties, migratory and otherwise, such as the salmon, shad, smelt, and lobster,
have shown a susceptibilty to decrease with excessive fishing ; but they sliU
exist in enormous numbers, and their capture engages the services of thousands
of men annually. These latter fisheries the (lovernment of the Dominion '.,
taking steps to restore by breeding and by protective laws ; and they siiow
such a capability of responding to fostering measures, that they, too, may he
termed practically inexhaustible. Besides the salt-sea fisheries, there are others
in the interior, upon the lakes and rivers, which are very profitable in their way,
and employ a great many men.
The people of the maritime provinces are peculiarly fitted by origin and
training to turn to account the advantages of their geographical situation.
Early de- ^ '^^ early French, Spanish, and Portuguese navigators of these
veiopmentof coasts, all discovered the plentifulness of the fish in the ncighbor-
the industry, j^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ unlimited abundance of the herds of walrus ami
seals which swarmed on the islands of the (iulf of St. Lawrence. As early as
the first part of the fifteenth century they were aware of the great sources of
wealth which surrounded these shores. The reports they made to their respec-
tive governments brought whole fleets of fishing-vessels to their waters ; and
in process of time the hardy adventurers, instead of coming out in the spring
and going back in the fidl, as they were wont to do at first, went ashore, and
settled permanently on the fishing islands and coasts. This was particularly
the case with the French, who swarmed to this region from the Norman,
Basque, and Breton seaports in great numbers, and became permanent resi-
dents of the country. The most extensive fisheries of the early times witc
Disappear- ^'''^ walrus, seal, and cod ; but, when the former two had nearly
disap|)eared, the setders fell back upon cod, herring, and mackerel.
Great Britain finally contributed her quota to the population of
the maritime provinces from her own fishing-ports ; and thus the country was
taken possession of by a body of energetic men, who, though of differciil
nationalities, were one in their love for the sea and the past training whit li
fitted them for the cultivation of the rich fishing-grounds which they had come
ance of the
walrus.
TIIK INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
go9
over here to enjoy. Agriculture was for a long period neglected, and, in fact,
even despised. Tiie whole population was sustaint-'l by the fisheries and naviga-
tion alone. This state of things changed after a while : for the more far-sighted
began to clear the land, and raise grain and cattle, in order to take advantage
of all the resources of their situation ; and they found their profit in so doing.
IJut, while this change has continued to go on until agriculture has received
a very considerable development in the maritime provinces, fishing has,
nevertheless, always been the main-stay of neo;>le, and apparently always
will l)e.
The government report for the year ^77 s" s the magnitude to which
the Canadian fisheries have now attained. ^ e figiies are as fol- statistics
lows; the statistics for Newfoundland f ij7, oeing added to the '°''"*74-
table, as properly belonging there, altho igh ic /land is still politically inde-
pendent of the Dominion : —
DISTRICTS.
DO ATS.
VALUE OF
BOATS.
FISIIEKMUN.
SHOREMEN.
VAI.UK OF
PKOOUCT.
Gaspe ....
2,970
$213,000
3.306
1,674
$616,309
Konaventure .
1,111
204,000
I.4SS
247
130,715
Labrador
1.86s
416,000
2.795
1,281
954,285
Magdalen Islands .
767
252,000
1,500
597
366,170
Anticosti Island .
375
29,000
416
"7
135,352
St. Lawrence River
1,840
21,000
3,061
....
362,314
Nova .Scotia .
11,064
1,504,000
25.859
....
5.527,858
New Brunswick
3.7IO
285,000
8,307
....
2, 1 33-236
Trince Edward Island .
1,486
77,000
4,28s
....
763,03s
Ontario ....
1,267
6S,ooo
3.867
....
438,223
Manitoba
....
24,023
British Columbia .
161
11,000
444
745
583-432
Total .
26,616
53,080,000
55,295
4.661
$12,034,952
Newfoundland .
12,000
32,000
9,000,000
It is worthy of remark, that, whereas manufacturing and many other pur-
suits have been obliged to curtail production since the flush times prior to
1873, the fisheries of Canada have steadily increased their prod- increase of
uct year by year. There has been no fallin -off owing to the hnrd product
times: on the contrary, the market for fii^h becomes more eager *'"'^''' ^3"
and active every year ; and the larger catch is merely the response to a
growing demand. The completion of the Intercolonial Railroad Effect of
in the maritime provinces within the last few years has been a intercoioniat
powerful auxiliary to the fishermen. Tiie difficulty of distributing "' '°*
fresh fish in former years compelled the fishing-people to salt down their catch
in barrels, or preserve it by canning, in order to save it, and get it to a
9IO
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
market. By the opening of the Intercolonial Railroad they are now enabled
to transmit salmon, cod, iialibiit, lobsters, and other fish, fresh, and i)ackcd in
ice, from the sliorcs of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and otiier fishing-coasts lo
market in a few hours, and at greatly reduced prices. This has rendered the
trade more profitable by reilucing the expense of transportation, and has led to
its expansion by bringing the catch into the centres of population in a per-
fectly fresh state. The same results may be expected when the parts of Canada
more distant from the sea-coast are better united therewith by the future railro;i(Is
of the Dominion. Tiiere will be an enlargement of the market for fish, and a
consecpient increased activity among the pursuit of the treasures of the fishint;
banks and coasts ; tlicre will be less canning and salting, and more jiackiny
in ice (something of this sort being already seen in the abandonment of can-
ning and salting establishments in New Brunswick) ; and there will be more
boat-building, more freighting by rail and ship, more training of hardy seamen
for the merchant-marine, and a larger body of non-agricultural people to pur-
chase the produce of the farms.
Statistics The following table will show the character and yield of the
for 187/. different fisheries of the Dominion (Newfoundland being omitted),
the figures being for the year 1877 : —
Codfish
Herrings
Mackerel
Haddock
Salmon
Alcwivcs, bbis
Smelts, lbs
Lobsters, preserved, lbs
Oysters, bbls
Fish and clams for bait and manure, bbls. .
Kish-oils, galls
Seal-skins, pieces
Pollack, cwt
Hake, cwt
Halibut
Trout
White-fish
Shad .••.......
Whale-oil, g.ills
Cod-oil, galls.
All other fish and products, including fresh and salt
water varieties, the catch in each case never exceed-
ing $Co,ooo
CfANTITIES CAUGHT.
'S.3'3
2,266,:o2
8,085,569
29,50s
222,379
466,579
20,312
58.746
77.454
I3.7>6
225,129
5.1.5<5'.'99
1,522,091
1,667,815
475.7-^2
855,687
67,298
'35.972
i,2ic,8;5
£8,704
'95.7-^1
303.=7'J
43.9' 5
205,611
271,090
4S.73-
«73.'499
210,6:5
80, rw
6,858
112,564
795.479
112,034,95:
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
9"
w enabled
packet! ill
g-coasts to
lulcroil tlic
has k'cl to
w in a pcr-
of Canada
re railro;ids
fisli, and a
tlic fishini;
)rc packing
cnt of cau-
vill be more
irdy seamen
ople to pur-
yield of the
ig omitted),
VALUE.
I,522,0(JI
1,667.815
475.7"
855,687
67,395
135.97:
I,2l-.^,i5
88,704
l9S.7-t
43.9' 5
205,611
27 1,0(^0
4".73:
210,6:5
80, :w
6,S5S
112,564
Cod-flshing.
795.479
112,034,95=
At Newfoundland the principal fisheries arc of cod, seal, herring, and
salmon, ranking in importance in the order named. In 1874 p^^^^j ^^
the catch of cod amounted to 1,500,000 quintals. In 1873 nsherietat
107 vessels, with 8,062 men, were employed in sealing (twenty Newfound-
of these vessels being steamers), and 525,000 skins were taken.
Cod-fishing is the industry upon which the inhabitants of the maritime
provinces and Newfoundland chiefly rely for a living. It is practised along-
shore in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the islands of the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, and at the banks two or three miles from shore,
as well as at the great banks in the open sea. It is mostly carried on in small
boats near shore. The great banks in the gulf and open sea have been com-
paratively neglected. Only a few years ago, the interest of the people of
Newfoundland in the great banks was confined to the sale of bait to the
Americans and French wiio were enterprising, or who, having larger capital,
built large boats for the industry, and pushed out boldly into the stormy waters
avoided by the Canadians. Newfoundland and gulf fishermen now, however,
understand the advantages of deep-sea fishing. Cod being sometimes scarce
along the shore, owing to a lack of food or other causes, they have of late
been fitting out vessels for the bank-fisheries, where cod never fail, by reason
of their always finding there an abundance of food. Cod is found in the gulf
the whole year round. Other specimens of fish frequent the gulf at specific
periods of the year, and seals and whalci follow them in mon* or less. But
these varieties retire, or disappear ; whereas cod, though most abundant along-
shore in the spring, when the herring and caplin strike in, are nevertheless
found eilh';r alongsliore or on the bunks from one end of the year to the
other. Speaking of the abundance of cod in the gulf, Mr. N. Lavoie, the fish-
ery-officer of the gulf, says, " The great extent of the Canadian fishing-
grounds, and, above all, their inexhaustible wealth, are not suflicicnlly appre-
ciated by our own people. Men of cduc?.'aon who visit the coast of Gaspd
for the first time cannot sufficicndy express their wonder at seeing such
abumlance, and arc compelled to own that its shores miglit aflbrd a comforta-
ble living to thousands of adventurers, who would find these sources of wealth
more accessible than the gold-mines of California, and secure more prosperity
than could afford wages paid for working in unhealthy manufactories of the
United States." The reason why these fisheries have not been appreciated,
that is, utilized, is, that, though the richest fishing-banks in the world arc found
in the gulf and about its mouth, the facilities for distributing their treasures to
market on shore have been limited, and the inducement to embark in the cap-
ture of cod upon a scale commensurate with the abundance of the fi '1 has
been lacking. Now that railways are building, a great change is taking place
in the business.
The chief difficulties which beset the cod-industry arise from the scarcity
of bait, from the lack of large boats, and the competition of the Americans.
912
THE IXDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
Oifncuttiei
in cod-nsh-
Ing.
'I'lie cod is remarkable for its voracious appetite. It follows the shoals of
small fisii ill to the shore in May and June, in order to feed upon
them ; and even devours its (jwn young. It fretiuents most the
banks where food is al)undaiit, and migrates along the shores
according as the means of satisfying its eager stomach are provided for it
by the sea. A great deal of bait is consumed in catching it ; so mtw h
indeci", that Professor llind estimates that the cost of bait is one-seventh
in tlie production of all cod and halibut. In order successfully to carry out
cod-fishing, therefore, a large supply of bait is necessary. The fish ordinarily
used for this purpose are herring, caplin, mackerel, launce, squid, smell,
trout, and clams. Some of these varieties, such as the mackerel, have now
grown scarce in certain localities from over-fishing ; and the cod-boats are
at times very much delayed in conseciuence. The demands of the United-
States schooners for bait at the Newfoundland Banks caused the trade in her-
ring and caplin to take such proportions, that the Government of the Domiu
ion has been informed that the enactment of measures to protect the small
fish from extinction would be hailed with pleasure. In 1876 cod struck the
southern shores of the gulf in August ; and the fishermen supposed for a while
that they would have to forego reaping the rich harvest presented to them,
because they had no bait. Those of the (laspe coast were able to avail them-
selves of the rush of cod only by employing several boats during the whole
fishing-time in bringing clams taken on the rocks at low tide from the north
shore, from forty-five to sixty miles distant. No less than five thousand
bushels of clams were thus carried away for bait by the (laspd fishermen while
the fish were running ; but they secured six thousand extra quintals of cod in
consequence of it. It is said that about eighteen hundred boats had to lie
idle for tliree or four weeks in the best fishing-time in 1877, on the (laspd
coast alone, for lack of bait ; and the same general fact is true of other fish-
ing-districts. The attention which has been called to this subject of late
will doubtless be followed by suitable action by the Government of the
Dominion,
The small size of the Canadian boats, growing out of too great a depend-
ence on shore-fisheries, is another drawback. The migration of small fish,
Sman size the temperature of the water and air, and various other physic al
of boats, causes, operate to make the shore-fisheries uncertain ; and, when
the cod are scarce, the fishermen are restrained from i)ushing out to the banks,
where they might always load their vessels, by the small sizQ and frail character
of their boats.
It is also held, in some of the provinces, that great injury has been done by
the United-States fishermen by their over-eager pursuit of mackerel, which has
Trawl- served at times for bait, and by the American practice of trawl-
fishing. fishing offshore, which secures to the Americans the best and
largest cod, and otherwise injures the cod-fishery for the Canadians. The
THI-. INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
9«3
trawl or Iniltow fishing is carried on by a long rope Inioyed and anciiored, to
which are attached from seventy-five to a iuindred hues baited. I'iie trawl
being taken out from the schooner, and set, the men return to the schooner,
and fish with hand-lines ; while the trawl, left to itself, is doing its special work
besides. Sometimes, when the trawl is hauled in, it is found to have fish on
every line. This practice, the Nova-Scoliaiis « hum, gives the best and largest
fish to the Americans, because of the large extent to which they employ it ; it
kills a large nunil)er of small and useless fish ; and it keejjs the fish offshore by
reason of the large quantity of bait used, and prevents them from coming
inshore.
There is nothi;ig in these drawbacks to .he C'anailian industry, however,
which enterprise and i)atience will not overcome, especially if the government
takes judicious action in regard to them.
The salmon-fishery is second in interest among the different branches of
this industry. The catch is less in amount than some of the others ; but the
fishery excites greater enthusiasm l)otii among pleasure-hunters saimon-
and fishermen, and is more eagerly pursued. Before the confed- fi»hing.
eration of tin.' I'rovinces, the salmon were almost extinguished in Canada, owing
to reckless modes of fishing. The iish were netted at the mouths of the
rivers as liiey ran in during the spring to spawn, and as they ran o>it in the
fall. They were taken in the rivers with nets, si)ears, and line ; an<l, on Sunday,
poaching was carrietl on as actively as during the week. Many of the coast
comities had fishery acts ; but tiiey were almost a dead letter. After the con-
federation, laws to protect the salmon were enacted, and the means created
for carrying them out. It was difficult to enforce the law. Respectable fisher-
men were hard to convince that the laws which interfered with p^^^^^n of
them were really in their interest, and poachers would not be the govern-
restrained anyway. The government finally won the day, however ; ""'"*"
and the rivers are now being allowed to restock themselves. Artificial breed-
ing is also going on at several important establishments. Good results are
already apparent at the streams emptying into the gulf; and. Artificial
though there is yet over-fishing on the other coasts, there is little breeding,
doubt but that the public policy will ere long prevail there also. Says Mr.
Lavoie, the fishery-officer, " Had not the government taken the matter in
hand, what would at the present time be our humiliation in seeing these fine
and numerous streams which strangers so much admire left to the discretion
and caprice of net-fishermen, who have no other notion but to desUov-, without
calculating the consequences! To what irretrievable loss and deprivation
would we now be subjected, had not the gover/miint spent time and money
to protect and increase salmon in these streams ! " An iUnstration of the good
results of protection of the salmon is presented by t!ie record of tly-fishing on
the Ste. Anne des Monts River for the last seven years. The catch by angling
was as follows : —
ll
111
w
914
THE INDUiilrcIES OF CANADA.
1871
1872
1874
1875
1876
1877
NUMBER OP
AVERAGS
SALMON.
WEIGHT, FOUNDS.
8
>7
12
i8i
87
•7*
140
19*
69
21
116
•9*
76
i9i
Mackerel.
The measures for the increase of sahnon inchide action in regard to put-
ting sawchist and niill-rubbisii into the rivers in the huiibering districts. 'I'liis
discharge of rubbish is very large. The (luantity of sawdust put into the Ot-
tawa River alone every year is more than 12,300,000 cubic feet, — a bulk
which is considerably increased by bark, slabs, buttings, and other refuse of the
mill. This stuff greatly injures the streams into which it is put. A law has
been enacted against it, and the government is also agitating in favor of tiie
erection of furnaces l)y these mills for burning the rubbish. The law is
little observed in any of the provinces ; but tiiat it will ultimately prevail the
officers arj confident.
Mackerel is caught chiefly by the Nova-Scotians. The fish is plentiful at
times in the gulf; but the catch there is not so great as on the other coasts.
The fish is taken by hand-lines, seines, and trap-nets. The catch
of 1877 was larger than that of the year before, owing to the larger
use of trap-nets. This method is becoming popular with Canadians, and there
are now numerous ai)plications for licenses to use that sort of net. While the
mackerel-catch is large, it is, on the whole, smaller than it used to be, owing
Decrease in in large part to the seining of mackerel on a large scale by the
quantity. American schooners offshore. The fish are intercepted before
they reach the shore, and often do not reach the three-mile limit at all. The
Canadian audiorities have given nnich attention to the mackerel-fishery of late,
owing to the falling-off in the catch. It has been claimed by the .Americans
that mackerel and herring come from the waters of the American coasts, and
that their visit to the Canadian coasts is a migration or accidental fact. This
the Canadian commissioner of fisheries combated before the Halifax com-
mission. His observations convinced him that the fish frequenting the shores
of the maritime provinces merely retired to deep water v/hen the cold weather
set in, still remaining in the vicinity of the places where they were born. He
maintained this view of the case with great animation, and accounted for the
decrease of fish through ex< essive seining by means of it. It is upon this
theory also that Professor Hind and others believe that the fishery can 1)0
fully restored in time to its former prosperity by proper regulations and enter-
prise on the part of the authorities.
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
9«S
OP AVERAGE
,. WEIGHT, POUNDS
>7
i8i
17*
194
21
) 194
) 194
in regard to put-
ig districts. This
put into the (^t-
l)ic feet, — a bulk
other refuse of the
is put. A law has
iig in favor of the
,bish. The law is
;inia^ely prevail the
fish is plentiful at
[1 the other coasts.
[)-nets. The catch
owing to the larger
anadians, and there
of net. NVh.ile UK-
used to be, owing
large scale by the
intercepted before
limit at all. The
[kerel-fishery of late,
by the .Americans
Inerican coasts, and
Icidental fact. This
the Halifax com-
liuenting the shores
n the cold weather
|ey were born. He
accounted for the
,t. It is upon this
the fishery can bo
'ulations and enter-
How caught.
The whale, herring, trout, hake, haddock, and other general fisheries, need
not be mentioned in detail ; but perhaps the sea' and the lobster business may
be referred to, owing to the interest which attaches to them.
Sealing is practised in the spring and fall. The points from which it is
carried on are Newfoundland, Anticosti, Magdalen Islands, Labrador, ard,
though on a small scale, on the southern coast of the gulf.
Sealr
Sealing has enriched hundreds of outfitters ; and the industry,
though not unattended with uncertainties, appears to be inexhaustible. Between
four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand are caught annually, the
number exceeding five hundred thousand in good years. In addition to these,
about six thousand seals are taken annually in Ikitish Columbia on the Pacific
coast. The migrations of seals formerly took place in such dense herds, that
the spectacle lias been described as resembling that of the heads of cattle
crowiled into a narrow lane. This used to last for weeks in old times, and tlie
shores of the islands of the gulf and the mainland surrounding it were fairly
alive with liarking swarms of animals. The migration lasts for only two or
thric days now ; and, when the spectacle is over, the season's fishing is at an
enil. Seals sometimes go very liigh up the St. Lawrence, having where
been seen as far up as the Saguenay. In the gulf the seal are 'o""^-
caught in several ways. They are taken off the coast of Labrador with
nets, which are set in the water to take them as tiiey are hugging
the shore in their migrations. They are also even caught with
hook and line. The Newfoundlanders go out anil hunt them with guns and
spears on the ice-fields. The enthusiasm with which the Newfoundlanders
go into the business has been already exhil)ited in the figures for 1873. In
1 87 7 they fitted out twenty-four steamers manned by 4,000 men, and thirty-
six sailing vessels with 2,658 men, antl despatched them all to the ice-fields,
'i'hey had great success, taking 412,000 seals, whose pelts sold fi-im a
dollar and twenty-five cents to a dollar and fifty cents, and whose oil sold for
forty-five cents a gallon. They were taken chieUy in tlie neighborhood of
Newfoundland, where the captains said they saw thirty seals to one in Green-
lanil. The outfit for these sealing-voyages is very expensive. It includes
houses, stores, trying apjiaratus, (Src-., on the land ; craft with nets, harness, lead,
anchors, guns, boats, &c., and provisions for the men. The cost of steamers
is greater than that of sailing-vessels ; but there is a greater certainty of success,
because the vessel can poke its way around among the ice-floes, regardless of
wind and tide. Half the cargo goes to the owners, the other half to die ship's
crew ; the captain taking half of that half, or a ([uarter of the whole. One of
the steamers sent out in 1877 got a cargo worth ^120,000. The Newfound-
laiid Government does not permit steamers to sail for the ice-fields before the
loth of March, this regulation being designed to prevent too great a slaugh-
ter of the seal. From the islands of the gulf sealing is carried on from shore
by nets, by a few schooners from forty to eighty tons' burden which seek
i
I '
%
|.
gi6
THE INDUSTRIES OE CANADA.
the floating ice in the gulf, and by killing the game on tlie ice grounded near
shore. Great danger attends the latter practice. The sight of a field of ice
covered with these valuable animals, whose slaughter is so easily effected by a
blow on the nose, and whose furs are so precious, throws tiie fisliermen on
shore into a fever of reckless excitement ; and they rush at the chance of gain,
forgetful of the fragility of the links which hokl the field of ice to the shore.
A change of tide or wind is apt to loosen the field, and carry it off to dee|)
water ; and the death of the iiunter, who is too far away to regain the shore, is
almost an absolute certainty. A great many lives have been lost by impru-
dence in this direction. Five seals are taken on the ice, however, to one
caught in the nets ; and the temptation to go out ui)on tlic floating fields is
one which no true Canadian ever neglects.
Very little attention was paid to the lobster- fishery in Canada until the
j^rounds where that crustacean is cauglit on the American coast began to be
Lobster- exhausted. The great fisheries took up all the time of the Cana-
fishing. (lians ; and this rare and delicate shell-fish, so highly prized in tlie
States, was caugiil by them only to a small extent. When the Maine and
Massachusetts coasts had become almost dei)opulated of the lobster, the firms
engnged in canning repaired to the adjoining coast of Nova Scotia, unwilling
to give up a business whicii was exceedingly profitable, and for whose products
there was a lively demand in American families. V>y 11X76 there had been
Canning- forty-scven canning-factories brought into operation in Nova
factories. Scotia (.American and Canadian) between (^ai)e Sable and Sambro
alone ; and others were in jjrofitable operation on Prince Edward Island,
along the IJay of I'undy, and on other tishing-coasts. Excessive fishing soon
reduced the number and size of the lolisters, imtil it rccjuircd, on an average,
two lobsters and a half to produce meat enough to fill i pound can, the
crude fish weighing onl) from two to four pounds. About six or seven years
ago the jjackers thought of taking a look at the gulf coasts, and, to their
delight, found ceri.iin portions of them swarming with shell-fish. No Cana-
dian had yet taken advantage of this mine of wealth, which would yieM such
large profits to the first comjKHiies which should undertake the business.
There was a clear field for enterprise ; and an American firm opened a canning-
establishment in 1874 at Carleton on the Bay des Chaleurs, while a Halifax
concern started another at the Magdalen Islands. Other firms soon followed,
anrl there wa.s a fiiipre in the business The profits made for the first two or
ilvree years were dazzling. The fish were Inrge, often weighing from ten In
fourteen poimds, —a noble size comjjared with those of the puny lobsters on
the American and Nova-Scotia coasts. Inconsiderate fishing, however, com
pletely riuned the grounds at Carleton, Maria, Bonaventure, New Richmon<l.
and other placer, ; ,ind the same thing followed which had previously taken
place in Nova Scotia, — caiming-establishments had to be abandoned, and the
firms had to move to new waters.
m
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
917
Tounded near
a field of ice
^ effected by a
fishermen on
chance of gain,
: to the shore.
it off to deep
lin the shore, is
lost by inipni-
lowever, to one
lloating fields is
:anada until the
)ast began to be
ne of the (^ma-
^hly prized in the
the Maine and
lobster, the firms
Scotia, imwillin.^
3r whose products
3 there had been
oration in Nova
Sable and Sambro
l-',d\vard Island,
^sive fishing soon
tl, on an average,
I pound can, the
six or seven yeav^
asis, and, to their
1-fish. No ( 'ana-
would yield such
akc the business.
)pcned a canning-
Is, wliile a Halifax
ms soon followed,
nr the first two or
riling from ten to
|C puny lobsters on
Ing, however, com
, New Richmond,
d previously taken
landoned, and th<'
In 1874 no less than 216,432 pounds of lobsters were canned at Carleton
and Maria; but only 9,315 pounds at the latter place in 1875, and in 1877
none at Carleton. The factory at the latter place was completely given up.
At the Magdalen Islands the Halifax concern opened establishments which
rivalled in size the largest anywhere on the North-Atlantic coasts. It caught
very large lobsters at first, and made enormous profits. The fish were too
eagerly pursued, however ; and the catch of 240,000 lobsters in Decrease in
1876 yielded only 124,000 pounds of meat. In 1877 the firm's <i"«nt'ty-
three establishments caught 692,760 lobsters ; but the smaller size of the fish
resulted in a product of only 227,104 pounds of canned meat; the large catch
and the reduced size of the lobsters indicating a probable extinction of the
fishery at an early day, unless measures are taken to give the grounds a rest,
or protect the species from inconsiderate fishing. The eagerness with which
tlie lobster has been and is fished in Canada is shown by the yearly increase
of the catch after the Americans first resorted to the Nova-Scotian coast, by
the decrease caused by excessive fishing, and by the revival of the business after
the catch began in the Gulf of St. I^wrence. The figures are as follows : —
1869
1870
1S71
1872
1X73
1874
187s
1 87 6
1877
POUNDS
(in cans).
61,000
591,500
1,130,000
3.565.863
4,864,998
8.047.957
6,514,380
S.373.088
8,090,569
$15,275
92.575-
282,500
882,633
1,214,749
2,011,989
'.638,659
795.052
i.-:i3.cSs
There is no doubt but that the development of the business of iohster-
canring in Canada has been due to the ruin of the New-England Decline of
grounds bv the Americans ; but it is easy to foresee a rapid decline ""'"stry,
' . . ^ . . unless the
in the industry in the early future, unless inconsiderate fishing is government
restraiuc'd by the action of the government. interferes.
It was formerly the custom to chronicle a yearly decline of the fisheries
of the various British provinces in America. Since 1869 the increase in
annals of the business shosv a yearly increase conseciuent upon the fisherie
opening of new markets on shore vid the Intercolonial Railway,
and the ready market which has been found for (\anadian fish abroad. The
yearly product has nearly trebled since 1 869, as will be seen by examining the
following very interesting figures : —
ies
since i86g.
:l|.ii|
'■n
I 1 '■
jii
MX
9l8 THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
1869 ]f4i,376,£^-6
1870 6,577,391
1871 7.S73.«99
1872 9,570,116
1873 10,547,402
1874 11,681,886
1875 io,3S'5.385
1876 11,012,302
1877 i2>034,9S2
The yearly export has grown very large. It amounted to $7,000,402 from
Canada, and about the same from Newfoundland. The purchasers were the
United States, South America, the West Indies, and Europe.
The Government of the Dominion is taking intelligent and energetic action
for the imurovement of the fresh-water fisher-e of Canada, some of which have
Action of liecome nearly extinct by the u.:r.,,tsing spoliation of many gen-
Dominion erations of men. It hai "lowsc-tn public establishments for the
overnment. ^(.jiyg reproduction of fiph ; namely, at Newcastle and Sandwich
(Ontario), Tadousac, Gaspd Hasin, i n(i Restigouche' (Quebec), Bedford in
Nova Scotia, and Miramichi in Nen L'r 5wick. These hatching-houses are
the means of pianing about fcjurlrr-n n(i..ion young salmon, white-fish, and
sea-trout in the rivers and lakes a. nuall} . 'i .le system, though well organized,
is in it 'nfancy. The rcFulrs of its »vork i re already gratifying : what will they
not b; i'^ the future, when the work o»' the present produces its full effect, and
the sysien^ \- .n, rded and developel?
THE LUMI3ER-TKALE.
^J^WM^^-^y
WW
^#'
The magnificent forests of Canada have long been the admiration of trav-
ellers and the pride of the people of the Provinces. They originally clothed
B t t nd "c^r'y the whole surface of the country ; and though now cleared
magnificence away to a great extent along the Great Lakes and in the more
of Canadian thickly-settled regions of the country, yet they rear their heads i \
unbroken majesty in the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa
and in the northern portion of the Province of Ontario, and cover hundreds
of thousands of square miles of territory. Prior to 1759, when (Canada, with
its little population of sixty five thousand souls, was transferred from tiie flag
of France to that of England, the primeval forests of this region had hardly
felt the settler's axe. Fishing, and the pursuit of forest-animals for their furs,
were about the only occupations of the inhabitants. Occasionally a few shi]).s
were built ; but the idea of felling the trees of the forests so as to clear up
the land, or to transport it to distant lands where timber was scarce, never
entered the heads of the people. The entire exportation of the country at
that time amounted only to ;^i 15,415 a year, chiefly in furs and fish. Af' r
the I'jiglish flag was unfurled over the Provinces, the influx of population
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
919
. $4..376,5"6
. 6,577.391
. 7.S73.>99
. 9.570."6
. 10,547.402
. 11,681,886
. 10,350,385
. 11,012,302
. 12,034,952
to $7,000,402 from
purchasers were the
pe.
and energetic action
I, some of which have
)liation of many gen-
establishments for the
vcastle and Sandwich
Quebec), Bedford in
,• hatching-houses are
dmon, white-fish, and
:hough well organized,
tifying : what will they
ces its full effect, and
le admiration of trav-
rhey originally clotheil
though now cleared
ikes and in the more
hey rear their heads i i
..awrence and Ottawa
io, and cover hundreds
59, when Canada, with
^nsferred from the flag
this region had hardly
;t-animals for their furs,
icrasionally a few shii)^
•ests so as to clear up
iber was scarce, never
ition of the country ai
furs and fish. Af' r
influx of population
caused some attention to be paid to timber-cutting; and after 1800 the
scarcity of timber in England and in the West Indies led to the loading of
ships with the products of the forests, and the transportation Exportation
of them in considerable quantities to those parts of the earth, of timber.
The trade became active in 1809, 1810, and 181 1, owing to the duties levied
by England upon timber from the countries of the Baltic. Those duties were
imposed for the benefit of the British provinces in America ; and the people
of the latter took advantage of them, building a great many ships for the
purpose, and freighting timber to the mother-country actively. The war of
181 2 checked the business temporarily The ships of the Provinces were in
danger of capture by American privateers if ever they put out to sea ; Imt,
after the war, Canada was rewarded for her loyalty to England by regulations
which permitted her timber, grain, ar<l provisions to enjoy certain advantages
in the trade to the British West Indies and the mother-country which were not
STEAMSHIP. — A I
accorded to those of the United States. lie trade became active again, and
has remained so ever since, the mark it for Canadian lumber widening year
by year, extending to South Americ. ! elsewhere, until the forests of the
Prov'nces became one of their princijj 1 s urces of wealth. In 184;' the duties
on timber in England were changed. Baltic timber had been taxed a duty of
fifty-five shillings a load, and Canadian timber ten shillings. In 1842, at the
time England was remodelling her whole commercial system, the duty on
Baltic timber was reduced to thirty shillings, and that on Canadian to one
shilling. The change alarmed the lumbermen of Canada, who Effector
feared the ruin of their business. It tun ^ out to be a great help 'ower duties,
to them, however ; and, in place of ruining the market for Canadian Inmber,
it stimulated the market instead. The lowering of the duties cheapened the
selling-price of lumber, and caused a greatly-increased consumption ; and
the difference of duty in favor of Canada gave the timber from that region
A
m
920
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
the preference in the market. In 1872-73 the exportation had reached the
enormous figures of $28,586,816 in one year. Within the last five years the
sales of Canadian lumber have fallen off considerably. This is due chiefly to
the general stagnation of business the world over, but partly to the abroga-
tion of the reciprocity treaty. The depression in the business can be consid-
ered only as temporary. The exportation still remains at the very high figure
of $20,000,000 a year.
There is no means for stating accurately the present production of forestry-
statiitics of products in Canada ; but the timber cut and sawed into h'.mbcr
production, cannot be less than 320,000,000 cubic feet in quantity. In 1870,
according to the census, the production was as follows : —
CtlBIC FEET
OF SQUARE
PINE.
CUBIC FEET
OF SQUAKK
OAK.
CUBIC FEET
OF
TAMARACK.
ni;mber of
pine logs.
NUMBER OF
OTHER
LOGS.
CUBIC FEET OF
MISCEI.I.ANKOUS
TIMBER.
Ontario .
Quebec .
New Brunswici'
Nova Scotia .
16,315,901
9,223,575
391.059
260,658
3.144.554
53.635
7.360
96,494
1,223,444
3,994,878
360,825
116,816
5.713.204
5.011,532
1,214,485
477,187
1,255,090
3,628,720
3,533.' 52
897,595
10,590,943
10,414,710
2,192,608
3,088,003
Total
26,191,193
3.302,043
5,695.963
12,416,408
9.314,557
26,290,264
To which are to be added 1,939,000 cubic feet of maple, and 1,832,000 of
elm. The standard log is twelve feet long and twenty-one inches in diameter.
The above figures would make the product for 1870 about 412,945,903 feet.
The production was one-third larger in 1873; but it has since fallen slightly
below the figures for 1870.
The principal trees are the magnificent white-pine (which often grows to a
height of two hundred feet, and affords a square log sixty feet long and twenty
Varieties of inches in diameter), the red-pine, the white-oak, tamarack, elm,
timber. beach, walnut, cedar, maple, bird's-eye and curled maple, and ash.
The sugar-maple is a prominent feature of Canadian woodlands ; but it is too
valuable a tree for its sugar to be felled for its timber. A cluster of sugar-
maples is a valuable addition to a farm ; and so much is this tree prized and
utilized in Canada, that the product of sugar from it in Canada in 187 1
amounted to 17,267,000 pounds. A single tree yields two or three pounds in
a spring ; and a single farmer will often make 2,000 pounds of it. wordi ten t >
thirteen cent*; a pound. The timber-districts are al! owned bv the government.
How richt n The manufacturers obtain the righc to cut timber by p-aroaasing a
cut timber 1. " berth," or " limit," at public auction, getting possession in this
manner of a tra. t of land at a cost '^f a dollar to a dollar and fifty
cents per square mike. He be< omes the tenant o» the government at a fixed
rate, and, in addition, pays a slight duty per cubic feiot of squared timber cut,
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
931
ad reached the
t five years the
s due chiefly to
to the abroga-
can be consid-
very high figure
ction of forestry-
ived into U'.mber
intity. In 1870,
BER OF
■HER
DCS.
CUBIC FEET OF
MlSCEI.I.ANKOfS
TIMBER.
55,090 10,590,943
28,720 j T0,4I4.7'0
33,152, 2,192,608
97.S95 ! 3.088,003
I4.SS7
26,290,264
and 1,832,000 of
iches in diameter.
12,945.903 feet,
ace fallen slightly
often grows to a
It long and twenty
k, tamarack, elm,
(1 maple, and ash.
lids ; but it is too
cluster of sugar-
is tree prized and
anada in 1871
)r three pounds in
of it. wurrh ten to
V tlie government.
;r by ]iurcnasing .1
possession in this
I a dollar and fifty
•nment at a fixcil
4uared timber cut,
and on each standard log. About twenty-five per cent of the timber cut is
square ; about forty per cent is in logs ; and thirty-five per cent is under-
brush, or useless or damaged wood.
Lumbering is carried on at present chiefly in the valleys of the Ottawa and
St. Lawrence, the operations being on the largest scale in the former. The
large lumber-factories of the Ottawa, especially those of the Chau- Lumber-
difere, severally get out from 25,000,000 to 40,000,000 feet of '»<=»<"!«»•
lumber in a year, and employ 800 men and 300 teams throughout the year.
The (latineau Mills at Chelsea have " limits" covering 1,700 scjuare miles, and
employ 1,000 men in winter and 500 in summer, producing 35,- catineau
000,000 feet of lumber annually. The business is carried on at Miiii.
great expense. Men, horses, and oxen have to be transported into the forest
to the proper point for operations, and camps built for them, and material
accumulated for tlieir support during the long season of felling and hauling.
Hay is purchased as near to the camps as possible ; but, as it has to be hauled
a tong distance into the forest to reach the camps, it is never obtained except
at a very costly rale. The su j i'*. . for the men consist of salt pork and beef,
peas for soup, tea, flour, potatoes, beans, and onions. The fare is simple ; but
it is of the best (juality, because the men are fastidious, and will p^^j g„j
take nothing that is inferior. Spirits are seldom if ever introduced camps of
to the camps. The camps consist of log and board shanties capa- ""^ *''"""•
hie of containing from twenty-five to fifty men apiece. The only opening
through the walls is the doorway. There are no windows, and no chimney.
To compt;nsate for the lack of these.architectural features, a large opening is
left in tlie roof, which is chimney, window, and ventilator all in one. Three
sides of the shanty are occupied by sleeping-berths, and the fourth by that
miportant and ni>)ch-respected personage the cook, with his tables and appa-
ratus. The fire is built in the middle of the floor, h la moik Alaskan ; and the
kettles are suspended over it from the iron crane in the opening in the roof.
In this airy and healthy style of house tlie hardy wood-choppers pass their
leisure hours between the intervals of work. They smoke, read, play cards,
spin long yarns, and comport themselves in the most rational, law-abiding, and
(k)(l-fearing manner possible. When the camps have been prepared, the stores
accumulated, the roads cut down to tlie river or some stream emptying there-
into, afflti all made ready for work, the regiments of wood-choppers are brouglit
up frt'nn the settlements, and work begins.
The land is not cleared entirely of timber, as is popularly sup- oniythebest
j)ost;d. Tiiere is no object in doing that. It is only the farmer,
\wiiK) wants a field devoid of shade and of roots, who completely
( lears the soil. The choppers selec t only the best trees. The small ones are as
worthless to them for timber as freshly-hati hed goslings for feath- Renewal of
ers. They pass the small trees by ; and the corscfiuence is. that forests,
the forests renew themselves ever}' fifteen years. The danger of an exhaus-
trees are
selected.
fi'i
%
%\
933
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
Rafts.
tion of the timber-supply is not, therefore, so great as is supposed. The de-
structive fires \vhii:h sweep through these primeval groves in dry seasons
threaten the timber-sui)])ly to a far greater extent than does wood-chopping.
When the trees are felled, the logs are marked with a brand, or slash,
peculiar to the manufacturer who is working the " limit." They are then
hauled down to tiie river, and set afloat. They float down stream
(if in the Ottawa) to the (Ihauili^re, where they are caught by a
boom strctrlied across the river, and guided into ways leading to the saw-rnills
of their respective owners. A common sight in the lumber-regions is to see
a huge raft of logs securely bound together, sometimes containing a hundred
and fifty thousand cubic feet of timber, coming down stream in compact array.
It is organized like a brigade of troops, the logs being joined together in
" draws," or sections, each one in charge of its special gang of men, and these
sections, in turn, united into' a great raft. At every considerable rapid the raft
is dispersed into its component draws, which are taken down the rapids singly.
At the foot of the fall they are again joined, and the raft glides on gracefully
down stream, fluttering with banners and covered witli shanties, and with
camp-fires burning brigiitly on eartiien heartlis. Sometimes tlie logs are sent
down in confused rafts, or drives, being carried down from tlu' licart of the
woods by the spring freshet, which follows the melting of the snow. In these
instances the logs come down stream in terrific fasliion, thousands upon tlion-
sands at a time, tumbling and turning upon one another at the rapids, getting
jammed here and there into tremendous masses, reiiuiring the desi)erate
efforts of the men to liberate them again-with their iron-shod jjoles, and then
shooting down stream again witii the roar and rush of a cavalry charge, until
they reach some broad, calm sheet of water, where they slacken their pace,
and submit to be caught by a boom, and directed peacefully here and there to
the respective saw-mills to which they belong.
These great forests, which were formerly esteemed only as the haunts of
game which were prized for their fur, and were threaded only by daring adven-
Canadian turers in pursuit of these anitnals, are now justly regarded as a
forests a mine of wealth to the peoi)le of Canada. They exercise a great
influence on the general prosjicrity cf the coimtry. They emjjloy
11,000 men evtMy year in wooil-choi)ping, and the saw-mills
employ 40,000 more. They yield hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of
produce annually in the form of ashes and bark, the gathering of which em-
])loys another large body of men in profitable industry. The distribution of
the enormous tjuantity of ^20,000,000 to i52S,ooo,ooo worth of timber to
foreign lands annually engages the services of hundreds of ships with their
A source of crews of mariners, and contributes largely to traffic of imjjortant
revenue to lines of railroad. The government derives a revenue from the
government ij^gi^ess, and farmers adjacent to the lumber-districts find a most
profitable market for their j^roduce in supplying the camps and villages with
mine of
■wealth.
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
98)
wsed. The de-
in dry seasons
)od-chopping.
brand, or slash,
They are then
jat down stream
are caught by a
to the saw-rnills
regions is to see
ining a hundred
in compact array,
lined together in
if men, and tliese
ible rapid the raft
the rai)ids singly,
des on gracefully
lianties, and with
tlie logs are sent
the liearl of the
: snow. In these
sands upon tli()\i-
:he rapids, getting
ng the despcnito
1 poles, and then
valry cliarge, mitil
;i(.kcn their pace,
lere and there to
as the haunts of
by daring adven-
itly regarded as a
,' exercise a great
ry. 'I'hey employ
nil the saw-mills
dollars' worth of
ng of which em-
le distribution of
irlh of timber to
f ships with their
affic of imjiortant
revenue from the
istricts find a most
and villages with
needed stores. The business quickens twenty other trades, and, like the sun,
gilds every interest which comes within the reach of its rays. With regard to
the future, nothing can be said on the subject which would be better than the
following words from a statement by the Mercantile Agency of putureof
Dun, Wiman, & Company, printed in January, 1877, summing thisindut-
up the business-outlook in Canada: "This particular asset in the *'*''
nation's wealth " [the timber-region] " is gaining in value with a rapidity hardly
dreamed of, and the realization of which is only a question of time. So scarce
has accessible and marketable lumber become, that it is alleged that plots of
land, now cleared farms, with all appliances, are really less valuable than if the
trees stood in undisturbed majesty thereon. F.ven certain towns in former
lumbering-districts would bring less than if the land they occupy were covered
with pine-forests. Over-production has cheapened this great staple, and the
waste of years may well be atoned for by a few years of cessation and depres-
sion. Nothing will eventually be lost by this delay in realization : indeed, the
yearly gain in value of this valuable jiroduct will more than compensate for
what appears to be loss and disaster at the present moment."
MININO.
A large part of the territory of Canada is valuable only for its mineral
resources, this being more especially the case with the region lying along the
shores of Lake Superior. The Ottawa Valley is also rich in min- _. .
' ' Richness of
orals. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have iron and coal in country in
immense (luantities, in close proximity to each other and to the '"'"='"'
' ' ■' wealth.
limestone recpiired m the process of iron-smelting for flux. The
Rocky Mountains are full of the most important commercial ores, and British
Columbia has an endowment in this direction which would make the ever-
lasting fortune of any country with plenty of population and capital. Never-
theless, the mining-industry in Canada is more a matter of the future than of
the present. Scarce any thing has been done toward utilizing the vast stores
of mineral wealth wiiich lie burictl in the rocks and mountains of the country.
It is not even yet accurately known what that mineral wealth is in its character
iind full extent, except in a general way. It is only known that the endow-
ments of the country by nature are such, that at a 'future day Canada will
bring to l)ear a heavy comiK'tition against the United States and England for
tiie supply of the world's market with iron and the other commercial metals.
Quebec and (Ontario have no coal ; but there are rich deposits of this fuel
in the maritime provinces, in Manitoba, the North-west Territory, and British
Columbia. 'I'he principal mining of coal takes place at present coai-mines
in Nova Scotia. The mines there have been worked for a long of Nova
period ; and the production is now very large, amounting in 1875
to 781,165 tons, and in 1877 to 757,496 tons. About one-third of the product
9«4
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
Iron.
is exported to foreign countries. In British Columbia, 154,052 tons of coal
Export of were mined in 1877. The mines are on Vancouver's Island;
product. m^^i {i^g niineral is in very high esteem on the Pacific coast for
gas, factory, and household purposes. Its principal market of sale is the city
of San P'rancisco.
Iron is mined chiefly in the Ottawa Valley, in Nova Scotia, and in the
vicinity of Lake Superior. In the first-mentioned region, magnetic ore of the
best quality is found in all the mountains on the north side of
the river. The proportion of magnetic oxiile in the ore is about
ninety-three per cent, and the yield averages sixty-nine per cent of metallic
iron. It is said that this valley produces a car wheel iron which has wi
superior in America. The metal has been used for that purpose at Toronto,
and Cleveland, O., and is valued for its tenacity and durability. The region
Extent and '^ ^° overgrown with forests, that the full extent of the mints
tuperiority is not knowu ; but that the quantity of iron which can be taken
out is enormous is apparent from the prodigal abimdance in
which it has been found wherever sought for. In places it lies upon the
ground in blocks large and small, and the strata of the mountains wherever
opened are seen to be full of valuable veins. A fire which burned otf
the woods in 1871 disclosed the existence of a hundred million tons of iron
ore in one hill. The only mines which are being worked at i)resent are
in the township of Hull, at the village Ironsides. The situation is somewhat
remote from the principal markets ; but it is very favorable for manufacturing.
Labor is cheap, water-power is abundant, and fuel costs scarce a song. This
region is known to contain plumbago, kaoline, lead, and pyrites, as well as iron ;
but these minerals remain undisturbed in the beds where they were deposited
by the volcanic forces of the early ages of the world. In Nova Scotia the
Production production of iron ore is from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand
of iron ore in tons yearly, it being consumed almost entirely in the blast-furnaces
ova cotia. ^j- ^j^^ -^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ company at Londonderry. Notwithstanding
the great resources of Canada in respect to iron, the manufacturers still con-
tinue to import a large part of their pig-iron, rather than make it at home.
The whole iron- industry, in fact, is only in the very first stages of development.
About twenty blast-furnaces, a few forges, two rolling-mills, and two steel-works,
substantially comprise the iron-enterprises of Canada; and in 1877 only hall
of these establishments were in operation. Recently mining-operations have
Tiie Snow- been begun energetically at the Snowdon mine, in Ontario ; the
don mine. intention of the proprietor, Mr. Myles of Ontario, being to take
out thirty thousand tons in 1878, and smelt the ore at Port Hope. He has a
contract with an American firm for the purpose.
Silver ores are found in the Province of Quebec, and have been
worked for many years. Recently, still richer ores have been found
in the Lake-Superior region. They have yielded wonderfiil results. The
Silver.
THE INDUSTRIES OE CANADA.
925
052 tons of coal
icouver's Island ;
Pacific coast for
of sale is the city
cotia, and in tlie
ignetic ore of the
tiie north side of
tlie ore is about
r cent of nietalhc
on which has no
irpose at Toronto,
lility. The region
jnt of the mines
lich can l)e taken
gal abuntlance in
s it lies upon the
mountains wherever
which burned off
lillion tons of iron
ed at present are
ation is somewhat
for manufixcturing.
irce a song. This
tes, as well as iron ;
ley were deposited
Nova Scotia the
to twenty thousand
the blast-furnaces
Notwithstanding
facturers still con-
make it at home.
s of development.
,d two steel-works,
in 1877 only half
iig-operations have
e, in Ontario ; the
irio, being to take
Hope. He has a
jec, and have been
;s have been found
•rfnl results. The
Gold.
region is now bcin,^ carefully surveyed by the officers of the government,
with a view to ascertain more fully its capabilities. Cold, which, up to 1870,
was found almost exclusively in Nova Scotia (the few ounces gath-
ered yearly in Ontario and (Quebec hardly deserving mention), is
now known to exist in large ([uantities in this same region north of Lake Supe-
rior, which is so rich in all the metals, that it would almost seem as if, in some
great war of the Titans against heaven, the gods had rained mountains of iron
and gold and silver and copper u])on this region in the effort to exterminate
the rebellious giants who inhabited it. Extensive tracts of gold-bearing (|uartz
are reported. Within the basin of the N'ipigon, a hundred and seventy
COHKITIATKI) GDLU-I.UAHT/', WAVKKl KV.
miles long and eighty miles broad, the upper copper-bearing series obtains
its greatest development. Distinct belts of the rock extend along
the line of the lake to Thunder Hay and Fond du Lac ; and in one
of tiiese, called tiie Lakc-Shebandowan band, the gold-bearing rock is found.
Oold-bearing veins are reported at Cross Lake, on the Red-River route. Rich
copper-regions are reported still farther to the west. These mines nearly, all
await the pick and gunpowder.
.Among the other mineral resources of Canada are zinc, cobalt, zinc and
manganese, gypsimi, granite, sandstone, marbles of every imagi- othermetai*.
nable color, slate, and petroleum. A magnificent display of specimens of
i\
h;
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
/.
^>.
4^
1.0
I.I
1.25
■50 ■^™ !■■
■u lii 12.2
^ its,
m
■ 2.0
- 1.
Utau
It
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
23 WIST MAIN STMIT
WIBSTII,N.Y. MStO
(71*)«7a-4S03
^
^
<>
^
926
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
these and all other metals and minerals of Canada was made at the Philadel-
sutiiticiof phia Exhibition in 1876. The following is a statement, from the
production, census of 1871, of the raw mineral product of Canada for the year,
the principal items alone being given : —
IRON
ORE,
TONS.
COPPER
ORE,
TONS.
COAL,
TONS.
PEAT,
TONS.
GOLD,
01.
SILVER,
OZ.
PYRITES,
TONS.
MAN-
GANESE,
TONS.
GYPSUM,
TONS.
PETRO-
LEUM,
GALLS.
STONE FOlf
DRESSING,
CUBIC FT.
Ontario .
Quebec .
N. Rruns-
wick . .
N. ScoUa,
30.7»6
92,001
3,070
3.566
'.934
11,326
50
13,302
657.506
M,597
160
»5
199
34«
«9.33»
69.«97
SOO
2,300
475
160
4.«30
"3.659
96,544
".969.435
".969,435
».093.7>i
•.674.362
810,552
628,1;!
Total .
129.J63
i3.3«o
671,008
«4.77»
22,941
69,197
2,800
63s
•M.433
5,206,796
What a pity that by the side of this modest statement cannot be placed
the figures of the mineral product of Canada a hundred years hence, when the
mining-industry of the region will have grown from the squads of
Future de- , ... , ...
veiopments the scattered recruitmg-sergeants to a grand army planting its
of mineral banners on all the fortresses of trade, and by its achievements wiii-
wealth
ning the applause and respect of the whole world ! Of course, t!ie
figures for 1877 are somewhat better for all the classes of product mentioned,
except petroleum ; but they do not change the embryonic character of the
industry, and would not make p. comparison with the product of a hundred
years hence any less interesting. With reference to petroleum, it may be said
that the product is falling off, owing to the exhaustion of the wells. Tlie
manufacture in the fiscal year of 1872-73 was still 12,168,406 gallons: but iiv
1874-75 it was only 4,009,663 ; and in 1875-76, 4,838,215.
FARMING.
The vast territories of the Dominion of Canada, stretching northward from
the United States, and comprising an area larger than that of the United
Extent of States leaving out Alaska, and not much smaller than that of
territory. Europe, is popularly regarded, by most people who reside beyond
their borders, as delivered over to the austerities of a barren soil and an
inhospitable climate. The old stories that used to circulate in Europe and
elsewhere about the Canadian winters have turned millions of people, seeking
a home in the New World, away from the regions north of the lakes to the
broad and fertile States lying south of them. The Canadians, it was supposed,
would have to dress in furs, and live by timber-cutting, trapping, and fishing.
There never was a more idle fiction. No doubt a large part of the territories
of the Dominion in the extreme north are characterized by long and dread-
ful winters, short summers, and unfruitful soils : but, on the other hand, the
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
927
fact has been repeatedly recognized in debates in the American Congress,
that Canada is, in that respect, no worse off than the United States, whose dry
and burning plains in the Far West appear almost beyond the power of man to
reclaim j whereas these same plains, upon passing into Canada, change their
character. The Rocky Mountains, being less elevated, and having a narrower
base, admit the passage of clouds from the Pacific Ocean ; and the fertilizing
showers descend upon that happy region which are withheld from the plains
in America. At the same time, the isothermal line of 60° for summer —
which, in the eastern provinces, is no farther north than about the forty-
eighth parallel — rises on the Canadian plains to the sixty-first parallel. The
w
^ \\
CANADIAN HORSB.
soil is rich ; and thus, for a distance of twelve hundred miles northward from
the boundary of the United States, there stretch vast plains, upon which wheat,
barley, the grasses, and many root-crops, will thrive bounteously. In Ontario,
Quebec, and the maritime provinces, the land and climate are well y^gj „g,
suited to agriculture ; and farms are seen in every part of the in- capable of
habited portions of the Provinces, as fertile, thrifty, and well kept "="'*'^""°"-
as anywhere on the continent. With the exception of I^brador and the
extreme north, the whole territory of Canada is equipped with rich lands and a
pleasant climate. Its agricultural capacity "s simply enormous, and the value
of the unoccupied regions is incalculable.
Agriculture began to be practised in Canada on a liberal scale about the
!
938
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
time of the war for American independence. That war caused an influx of
Becinnins of population from the States which had formed the American Union ;
ap-icuiture. and, as has been already stated, the population of Canada were
rewarded for their loyalty to the king, both during that war and the one of
immicration i8i2, by special privileges in supplying the West Indies and Eng-
iniSTs. land with grain, provisions, and lumber. This was a great en-
couragement to farming both in the maritime and upper provinces. After
CANADIAN MOWING-MACHINE.
i8i2, considerable immigration to Canada took place. The whole population
Population '^^ *^^ region had been, in 1790, only about 200,000 ; but in 1825
of country what are now the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec alone had
in '790. 637,000. The country after that filled up very fast. In 1871
the population of Canada was 3,602.321, it being distributed as follows : —
Ontario 1,620,851
Quebec 1,191,516
Nova Scotia 387,800
New Brunswick 285,594
Manitoba ".593
British Columbia 10,586
Prince Edward Island 94>02i
Total 3.602,321
tncreate of A very large proportion of the incomers to Ontario and Que-
farmert. \^^^ ^gnj immediately into farming, and agriculture was inspired
with fresh life in all of the Provinces. In 1854 occurred an event which was
Reciprocity * S"*^^* Stimulus to this interest. A treaty of reciprocity with
treaty of America was entered into, being signed by the Earl of Elgin for
'***■ Canada, on the 5th of June of that year. This opened to Canadian
farmers a market for their produce such as they had never known. A de-
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
929
mand for barley suddenly sprang up, and the cultivation of that grain spread
rapidly throughout the grain-growing counties. Barley almost excluded wheat
from among the list of Canadian crops. The wheat-crop of 1856 The barley-
had been a failure, and farmers were discouraged with the idea *='**?■
of planting it. They raised barley instead, buying wheat and flour from the
United States. The war of 1861 in the United States then broke out, and the
era of high prices began. The treaty was abrogated in 1866, but Abrogation
the high prices continued; and until 1873, when the financial of treaty in
crash took place, or, in other words, for a period of nearly twenty ' '
years, Canadian farmers had the benefit of the most lucrative market in the
world for the sale of their barley, wheat, dairy-produce, and other
goods. During that period agricultural exhibitions were insti- farmersfor"
tuted. Dairy-farming, with its concomitants of butter and cheese twenty year*
factories, was developed. Ontario went largely into the pork- |'J!f"'""*
packing business. So profitable did farming become, that farms
rose to the value of a hundred dollars an acre. Since 1873 it has been
found necessary to seek a larger market for the surplus produce of Canada in
South America, Europe, and the Indies. The market has been t.,,^,,
found, however ; and Canada has no more difficulty in disposing progresa
of her grain and provisions than before, though the prevalent "'""'"^a-
depression of prices prevents her from obtaining the bounteous profits of the
era of war and reciprocity. One of her best customers is England.
It is regretted that there are no later returns than those of 187 1 in regard
to the total product of this interest. The figures for that year, statistics
however, serve to give a fair idea of what the farmers of Canada ^*"' ''7«.
are doing. They are as follows : —
Ontario . .
Quebec
New Brunswick .
Hova Scotia
Total .
*2
M.233.389
3,058,076
304,911
337,497
i6.7»3.87»
si
9.461 ,»33
1,668,308
»o.547
396,050
11,406,038
I- 5
< 5
o «
33,138,958
15,116,363
3.°44.'34
3,190,099
u u
> I
"3
Z Ul
f X
S47.6ooj 585.158
458,970 1,676,078
»3.79» «.23'.09«
33.987I 234.i'57
c =
3,148,467 17,138,534 1,804,476
603,356 18,068,333 1,235,646
37,658
'-3.349
4».48o,453 '.064,358 3. 72<'.484 3.803,830
6,56a,355|
5.560,975!
344.793
443.73a
47.330.187 3.8>8,64i
^2-
6.»47.44»
to,497.4iS
380,004
I5«.»9<»
17,376,054
A few later figures are the following : In 1875 the splendid wheat-crop of
that year made the production for the fiscal year ending June wheat-crop
30, 1876, as much as 26,834,680 bushels, of which 8,600,000 'o^'^ts-
bushels were exported in flour and grain. The pork-packing of 1876 was
244,742 head, making about 38,000 barrels of pork.
In regard to dairy-produce, Canada now fully supplies her own market.
930
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
Townships on the border of the United States buy a small quantity of Ameri.
Oairy-prod- can butter and cheese ; but the whole quantity of both will not
*>ce. exceed 250,000 pounds, and is too insignificant almost for men-
tion. On the other hand, '.he export of both of these articles is now very
large, showing how admirably the interest has been developed, and what a
FARM-SCBNI.
large surplus Canada produces beyond the demands of her own consumption.
The increase of the export of cheese has been due to the attention paid to
the factory-system. The exportation has been as follows : —
1869
1870
1871
3872
•873
1874
187s
1876
BUTTER
(rOUNDSh
10,853,268
12,259,887
15,439,266
19,068,348
15,208,633
12,233,046
9,268,044
12,392,367
CHBBSB
(pounds).
4.503.370
5,827,782
8.271,439
16,424,025
19,483,211
24,050,982
32,342,030
35,024.090
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
93 »
The export price of butter has remained at an average from nineteen to
twenty-one cents and a half; and that of cheese, from eleven to twelve
cents and a quarter.
The principal development of the factory system in Canada dates from
1871. The success of a few factories which had been tried led to the rapid
building of a large number of oliiers. The system everywhere introduction
met with the support and encouragement of farmers, who soon of the fac-
came to discover, that by clubbing togetlier, and building a factory *"''' »y»tem.
to which the milk could be sent for conversion into cheese, they could save
themselves the expenditure of much time and labor, and get in return, perhaps,
a better quality of cheese than if they had made it themselves. The Province
of Ontario has been the most active in the building of factories ; and its yearly
conventions of factory-men, farmers, and scientists, interested in cheese and
butter making, are among the most valuable and interesting of the meetings
which take place in the province. Canadian cheese has, by means of the
attention paid to its manufacture, now attained a reputation in the commerce
of the world which is unsurpassed. At the Philadelphia Exhibition it made a
decided sensation, and the demand for it in Europe is increasing every year.
The total exi)ortation of farm-products from Canada now, in- Farm-
eluding live cattle and horses, meats, and wool, amounts to the P'o<Juctt.
very large sum of ;?30,ooo,ooo to $35,000,000 annually.
MANUFACTURING.
Willi reference to general manufacturing, it may be said that the Canadian
provinces have had essentially the same experience as all agricultural and
maritime states since the world began. The people have followed the pursuits
which required the least expenditure of toil, and those which the natural re-
sources of the country suggested the most directly ; and these were, in Canada,
fishing, lumbering, and forming. Some parts of the Dominion are still only
one step removed from this original and natural condition of things, in which
the large body of the population are sustained by open-air pursuits. The
most extreme instance is the case of Newfoundland, which has no manufac-
tures except those simple and necessary arts of carpentry, blacksmithing, &c.,
without which the fishery-business could not be carried on. It has no general
manufacturing whatever. Nova Scotia and New Bmnswick occupy the first
terrace above the position of exclusively agricultural, fishing, mining, and
timber-cutting provinces. They are supplied with nearly all the ordinary
shops for the manufacture of carriages, boots and shoes, clothing, machinery,
iron-work, furniture, and other articles of general consumption, which the
Provinces require ; and they have, besides, a cotton-factory or two, iron and
steel rolling-mills, large ship-yards, and other establishments, the operation of
which requires large capital, and great manual skill on the part of the working-
933
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
men. The two more densely-settled Provinces of Ontario and Q"ebec ar«
Pr vincei *'*° *^" Supplied with the shops needed for the production of
Ontario and articles of common use. They have in addition made a consider-
Quebec able advance into the field of general manufacturing, and have
advanced in "ow fully laid the foundations of that which will become, following
manufactur. the growth of the country, a great and thriving national industry.
"*■ They have cotton and woollen factories, chemical-works, distil-
leries, machine-shops, locomotive-works, great carriage and agricultural-imple-
ment factories, and many other of the higher
and more important classes of establish-
ments. They have not factories enough
yet fully to supply their own market with
cloth, manufactured iron and steel, cutlery,
fancy-goods, glassware, railway-material, and
many other things which their high civiliza-
tion demands ; but neither has their neigh-
bor the United States, which is far more
populous, and has far more capital. The
Canadians are ambitious, and are not con-
Annuai im- tent with the situation, when they
portation. reflect that they are obliged to
import about $70,000,000 of manufactured
goods every year to supply the deficiencies of their own production. They
are anxious for a policy which shall bring about a more rapid
building-up of their own factory-interests. Their spirit in regard
to the matter is that which always moves a free, intelligent, pro-
gressive race ; yet it must be said that the development thus far
is commendable, and will compare favorably with that of any
other agricultural people.
The following table shows the degree of development which the industries
of Canada had obtained in 1871, the year of the census : —
TURBINB-WHSBL.
Desire of
people to
promote dO'
mestic man'
ufacturea.
CAHTAL.
EMrLOYEES.
WAGES.
RAW MATERIAL.
PRODUCT.
Ontario . . •
Quebec .
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia .
$37,874,010
28,071,868
5,976,1 '>
6,041,906
87,281
66,714
»'5.352
•S.59S
$21,415,710
'2.389.673
3,869,360
3,176,266
$65,114,804
44.555.025
9.431.760
5,806,257
$1 14,706,799
77,205,182
17.367.687
12,338,105
Total .
$77,964,020
187,942
$40,851,009
$124,907,846
$221,617,773
The product increased considerably during the three years following the
census.
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
933
Among the largest items in the list of manufactures in 1871 were the
following : —
Boots and shoes ....
Furniture
Carriages
Flour
Machinery and castings .
Leather
Ships
-Spirits
Ale and beer
Woollen cloth
Woollen cloth (home-made), about
Sawed lumber
Chemicals
Engines
Paper . ...
Ropes and cordage . . . .
Musical instruments
Carding and fulling
NUMBER OP
PACTOKIES.
EMPLOYEES.
VALUE OV
PKUDUCT.
4,191
18,719
*i6,i33,638
854
4.366
3,580,978
2,636
7.798
4,849.234
2.295
4.992
39.i'35.9'9
430
7,653
7.325.53"
1,142
4,207
9.>84.932
252
0,046
4,432,262
20
467
4.092,537
'37
918
2, 1 4 1, =29
270
4.453
5.507.549
• • ■ •
7,ooo,coo
S.2S4
35.681
30,256,247
....
8i^?S-
....
1,044,000
....
• • • • •
1,071,651
....
769,000
....
622,162
650
1,224
2,253,794
idustries
|i4,706,799
^7,205,182
^7,367,687
^2,338.»oS
81,617.773
iring the
The period of active development of general manufacturing began in 1855
with the reciprocity treaty ; but was not due to that treaty, however, except in
part. The years of 1855 and 1856 were those in which the Grand _i ,
Trunk Railway was building, — a road which it cost a hundred and period of ac-
five million dollars to get into complete operation. The enormous «>ve develop-
sums spent by the Grj^rd Trunk Company among the people, the
employment it gave to all the spare labor of Canada, the heavy importation of
working-people from the Old World to assist in constructing the road, and the
shops built to supply the road with material, gave a tremendous stimulus to
every business-interest in Canada. In 1859 the protection princi- Tariff of
pie was infused into the tariff of Canada by Mr. Gait ; and after ''m-
1 86 1 the farmers of Canada became extremely prosperous bv reason of the
large prices they were obtaining for their produce in America under the reci-
procity treaty, thns enabling them to become good customers in the purchase
of manufactured wares. These things all assisted Canadian industry. Facto-
ries sprang up .hroughout the Provinces like magic ; and the period was one
of universal activity, bustle, and prosperity. In 1866 the reciprocity treaty was
abrogated. This, in its nature, was a blc \v at Canadian interests. It certainly
was so regarded north of the St. Lawrence and the lakes. It cut oflF the ready
and profitable market the fanners had for so long enjoyed, and placed them
934
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
CORLISS ENGINE.
Vigor dii-
played in
building up
manufaC'
turet.
under great disadvantages for the sale of their produce. It is well known
that whatever seriously afTects the
farming community quickly re-acts
upon every other occupation in the
country. The ill effect of tht abro-
gation of the treaty was, however,
averted by prompt action on the
part of the people of the Dominion.
With true northern vigor they set on
foot compensatory measures, and in-
dustry and agriculture continued to
thrive side by side. What was done is referred to by Sir Edward Thornton,
in his " Memorandum of C^ommercial Relations " submitted to the govern-
ment at Washington in April, 1874, as follows : —
"The industry of Canada had been largely attracted to the supply of the
American market with commodities for home consumption as well as for
foreign exportation; and the repeal in 1866 of the reciprocity
treaty, under which so vast a trade had grown up, rendered im-
peratively necessary prompt measures to open new markets for the
sale of Canadian produce. These measures were at once taken.
Under the influence of the formal notice given by the United
States, in 1865, of their intention to terminate the treaty, confederation of the
Provinces, then under discussion, was hurried up, and became a fait accompli
within fifteen months after the repeal. The Intercolonial Railway was at once
undertaken, at a cost of over twenty million dollars, at the national expense,
to secure direct communication to and from the Atlantic Ocean at Halifax and
St. John on Canadian soil. Commissioners were despatched to the British
and other West-India islands, and to the South-American States, to promote
the extension of direct trade between them and the Dominion. The enlarge-
ment of the canals, and the improvement of the navigation of the lakes and
the River St. Lawrence, the construction of the Ba_,-Verte Canal to connect
the waters of the Bay of Fundy and the St. Lawrence, the subsidizing of
ocean and river steamship lines, ?nd the promotion of the great ship-building
and fishery interests, all received a new and vigorous impulse."
The building of the Intercolonial Railroad was alone, for a time, a great
compensation for the repeal of the reciprocity treaty. At one time, in 1871,
Conitruc. there were employed in the construction of it 133,694 men and
Hon of 11,960 boys, 29,426 horses, and 324 oxen. The huge sums
disbursed in Canada for the labor of creating this road and its
plant did much to atone for the loss of free markets in America.
Another cause operated concurrently with those above mentioned to sustain
Canadian industry during this period. The state of affairs in America, under
the influence of a heavy internal taxation, a protective tariff, and the specula-
Intcrcolonial
Railroad.
THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
935
i'.
\).
live prices which grew out of the war, gave to Canada what Mr. Thomas White,
jun., colls " an absolute, entire, and complete protection of all the industries
of the country." In order to induce the maritime provinces to unite in the
confederation, thii protective duties introduced by Mr. Gait were lowered
almost to a free-trade basis, — to a low-tariff basis, at any rate. But the high
cost of labor and materials in the United States saved Canada from American
competition ; and so her industries went on expanding and thriving in spite
of the repeal of 1866, which seemed so much against her.
Since 1873, manufacturing in Canada has encountered the same re-action
as it has in other parts of the world. The collapse of speculation and unset-
thng of the markets have, however, been met with the same pluck M«nuf«ctur.
and energy which characterized the Canadians in previous crises. »«>« intereatt
Manufacturers have reduced expenses and production to give the ••'"«=• "73-
markets a chance to recuperate, and they have been exceedingly wide-awake
in the matter J. opening up new fields for the sale of their wares. They were
present at the Philadelphia Exhibition in force, and made a display of goods
which attracted marked attention. Their whole exhibit of agricultural tools
was bought by the Australian commissioners for transportation to Australia.
This was followed up by the Canadians sending a ship or two to Sydney
Sydney direct, loaded with goods for the great Exhibition there, Exhibition,
and for sale. They made a better show in that Exhibition than the Americans
did, and they have been active ever since in working up that market. They
have also paid fresh attention to South-American and Indian markets, and are
leaving no stone unturned to find a place where Canadian goods can be intro-
duced, and their sale made to yield a profit. When business revives, they will
be in a most admirable position to catch its first and best fruits.
One of the most characteristic of Canadian industries is ship-building.
The practice of the art by that people is historic, it having come down from
the earliest times. The bulk of the building is done in the mari- ship-
time provinces and on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the facili- •»»"<"»«•
ties for it are better than in any other port of the country, and where the
fisheries make constant demands upon the yards. In 187 1 the distribution of
the yards was as follows : —
I
Ontario .
•Quebec .
New Brunswick
iNova Scotia .
Total
numbkr op
8hif-vaiids.
19
43
78
112
252
WORKMBN.
450
2,164
1.364
2,058
6,046
VALUE OP
PRODUCT.
$3S9.2I2
i.3S».4«6
1,086,714
1,634,920
$4,432,262
936
THB INDUSTRIES OF CANADA.
In 1877 the number of vessels built in Canada was 508, of which 365 were
launched in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. This
Ship* built refers simply to vessels large enough to be registered. There were
In '*n> built in addition a large number of small boats for fishing-purposes
alongshore, the production of which may have been as many as a, 000, there
being built four of these independent small boats on an average to one of the
registered craft. The figures for Newfoundland are not at hand. Of the
508 vessels built in 1877, no were sold to foreigners. The Canadian ships
are generally built of soft wood, — that is, spruce, hackmatack, and pine, — in
distinction from oak, the latter wood being the more common wood in Ameri-
can ships. They are good sailers, and last for from twelve to fifteen years.
The Canadian merchant-marine in 1871 included 5,67a vessels, 399 of thenk
being steamboats, and 3,019 barges.
w
Bltttretyptd and PrinUd hf Rand, Aviry, A* C»., BmU*-
'i