Red lead, 21 cts. per lb.
Pearlash, 17 " "
Nitre, 6 " "
Silex, 0-3/4 " "
We now refer to the early introduction of the manufacture of glass into
England. The English manufacturers, like ourselves, had to struggle
with the various evils incident to the introduction of a new art.
France and Germany, from their long experience in the making of glass,
were enabled for a long time to undersell the English manufacturer in
his own market.
To foster and protect this branch of national industry, the English
government imposed a heavy tax on all foreign glass imported into their
dominions. This measure secured to the English manufacturer the entire
trade, both with their colonies and with the home market, thus giving
such substantial encouragement to the enterprise, that, in a few years,
the manufacture was so much increased as to admit of exportation.
To stimulate the exportation of various articles of English production,
the government, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, granted
bounties, from time to time, on linens, printed cottons, glass, &c, &c.
Until the bounty on glass was allowed, the exportation of glass from
England to foreign countries was very limited; for the French and
Germans, as has before been stated, for various reasons could undersell
the English; but the government bounty changed the aspect of affairs,
and shortly the English manufacturers not only competed with the
Germans and French for the foreign market, but actually excluded them
from any participation,--the government bounty being equal to one half
the actual cost of the glass exported.
An Act of Parliament levied on flint-glass an excise duty of
ninety-eight shillings sterling on all glass made in England, which
excise was paid by the manufacturer, being about twenty-five cents per
pound weight, without regard to quality; but if such glass was
exported, the excise officer repaid the tax which it was presumed the
manufacturers had paid, and a clear bounty of twenty-one shillings
sterling was paid by the government to the exporter on each hundred
weight of flint-glass shipped from England, being equal to five cents
per pound. Under such encouragement the export increased from year to
year to a very great extent, so that the excise duty of ninety-eight
shillings sterling on the amount consumed at home did not equal the
amount paid out in bounty. In the year 1812, fifty-second George III.,
an Act was passed reducing the excise duty to forty-nine shillings, and
the export bounty to ten shillings sixpence. In 1815 the Act was
renewed, and again in 1816. In 1825, sixth George IV. chap. 117, an Act
was passed revising the former as to the mode of levying the excise
duty and bounty, so as to prevent frauds on the revenue, which had
hitherto been practised to a very great extent. This act remained in
force until the Premiership of Sir Robert Peel, when both excise and
bounty were abrogated, and the English manufacture stands on the same
footing in foreign countries as those of other nations. By the
protecting hand of the English government the flint-glass manufactories
multiplied with very great rapidity, underselling all other nations,
and not only rivalling, but far excelling them in the beauty,
brilliancy, and density of the articles manufactured.
The greatest stimulus ever given to the glass manufacture of England
was the abolition of the duty on it in 1845. That abolition has
produced a somewhat paradoxical result. While the quantity of glass
made has increased in the proportion of three to one, the number of
manufacturing firms has diminished in the proportion of one to two. In
1844 there were fourteen companies engaged in the manufacture. In 1846
and 1847, following the repeal of the duty, the number had increased to
twenty-four. The glass trade, after the removal of the heavy burden
imposed upon it, seemed to offer a fair opening for money seeking
investment. The demand for glass was so great that the manufacturers
were in despair. Glass-houses sprang up like mushrooms. Joint-stock
companies were established to satisfy the universal craving for
window-panes. And what was the result? Of the four-and-twenty companies
existing in the year 1847, there were left, in 1854, but ten. At this
time there are but seven in the whole United Kingdom. Two established
in Ireland have ceased to exist. In Scotland, the Dumbarton Works, once
famous, were closed in 1831, by the death of one of the partners,
afterwards reopened, and again closed. The seven now existing are all
English.
The manufacture of the finer kinds of glass was introduced into England
not many years ago from Germany, and German operatives were employed at
very high wages. We understand that the English glass is now superior
to the German.
There is only one plate-glass factory in the United States. It was
commenced only two years ago near New York, and we understand that it
has met with encouraging success.
Soon after the introduction of the business into this country, a very
great improvement in the mode of manufacture was introduced. Pallat, in
his admirable work on glass, alludes to the American invention in only
a few words, and passes it by as of but slight importance; but it has
brought about a very great change, and is destined to exert a still
greater; in fact, it has revolutionized the whole system of the
flint-glass manufacture, simply by mould machines for the purpose of
pressing glass into any form. It is well known that glass in its melted
state is not in the least degree malleable, but its ductility is next
to that of gold, and by steady pressure it can be forced into any
shape. The writer has in his possession the first tumbler made by
machinery in this or any other country. Great improvement has of course
taken place in the machinery, insomuch that articles now turned out by
this process so closely resemble cut-glass that the practised eye only
can detect the difference. Still, the entire field of improvement is
not occupied, and greater advances will yet be made. The tendency, in
this particular, has been so to reduce the cost of glass that it has
multiplied the consumption at least tenfold; and there can be no
reasonable doubt but that, at this period, a much larger quantity of
flint-glass is made in this country than in England. The materials
composing glass are all of native production, and may be considered as
from the earth. The pig lead used is all obtained from the mines in the
Western States; ashes from various sources in other States; and silex
is also indigenous. The materials consumed yearly, in the manufacture,
are something near the following estimate:--
Coal, for fuel, 48,000 tons;
Silex, 6,500 "
Ash, Nitre, &c. 2,500 "
Lead, 3,800 "
for the flint manufacture. How much more is consumed by the
window-glass manufacturers, the writer is without data to determine.
We have recorded the progress of improvement in the manufacture of
glass, and now, relevant to the subject, we propose to examine the
various improvements in working furnaces and glass-houses. To this end
we present to our readers the drawing of a furnace for flint-glass,[1]
with the interior of a glass-house as used by the Venetians, at the
highest point of the art, in the sixteenth century.
[1] See drawing No. 1, at end of book.
The workmen in glass will see, that, as compared with the factories of
the present day, the Venetians in their instrumentalities were
subjected to many difficulties,--they were oppressed by the furnace
smoke, and in no way protected from the heat of the furnace, or enabled
to breathe fresh atmospheric air; in fact, the impression prevailed in
those days that the external air, drawn into the glass-house, was
detrimental to the business, and therefore it was most cautiously
guarded against.
The drawing is taken from an ancient work on glass, and although
limited in the view, shows the general plan. The factory wall was
conical, and rose like a large chimney, with a few windows for the
admission of light. Exposed to the heat of the summer sun of Venice,
and of the furnace within, neither the comfort nor health of the
workman was secured. The construction of the annealing department shows
two tiers of pans, the use of which must have been attended with great
loss of materials. Yet, with all the perceptible inconvenience, no
material change in construction was made for centuries. The same plan
was adopted in France and England, and it is only within the present
century that any change has taken place in the latter country. In fact,
in the year 1827 an Englishman erected a glass factory on the same plan
in the vicinity of New York, which, from its defective construction for
this climate, soon passed out of use.
The Germans, however, departed from the Venetian plan so far as to
place the furnace in a large and well-ventilated building, but without
a furnace-cone to carry off the heat and smoke; still a decided
improvement was thus effected over the system in use in France and
England.
The plan referred to shows to the practical workmen of the present day
the excessive waste of fuel arising from the construction of the
furnace; for the same expenditure of fuel in the American furnace would
melt ten times the material produced from the Venetian.
It is admitted that the American glass-house is far in advance of the
European ones at the present day, in the particulars of capacity,
ventilation, comfort of the workmen, and economy in fuel. An impression
is very prevalent that glass-making is an unhealthy occupation. It may
have been thus in former times; but, as a matter of fact, no mechanical
employment is more healthy. Dissipated as glass-makers have been in
former days, and careless of their health as they are at present, no
better evidence can be adduced to prove the _generally_ healthy
character of the employment than the fact that the Glass Manufacturing
Company in Sandwich, averaging in their employment three hundred hands,
had not a man sick through the influence of the employment, or one die
in their connection, for the space of twenty years.
Drawing No. 2[2] represents the plan adopted in the French flint-glass
furnaces. These at one period were worked by noblemen only,--the labor
of the furnace-tender and taker-in being performed by servants, as
before stated. The apparel and general style of dress, as indicated by
the drawing, shows that more attention was paid to the fashion of the
day than to comfort. The form of the furnace being similar to the
Venetian shows it to have been subject to the same unnecessary waste of
fuel; but it would appear that the French manufacturers had taken one
step towards improvement, in using the waste fuel of the furnace to
anneal their glass. The Venetians had a separate furnace to anneal
their glass, supported by independent fires, as used at the present
day.
[2] See drawing No. 2, at end of book.
The place marked D, over the crown of the furnace, is the door of the
annealing oven; but the drawing is so imperfect that the artist does
not show by what flues the smoke escapes, or in what way the glass was
drawn from the annealing oven; for only the external view of the
furnace is given. But it is fair to presume that the plan was the same
as still exists in France, and as adopted by a French company now
working a flint-glass factory in Williamsburg, near New York;
viz.,--the taker-in, so called, mounts by steps to door D and places
the articles in iron pans, which are slowly drawn over the furnace and
through another door on the opposite side, to allow the glass vessels
to cool gradually. The use of this plan is sustained by writers who
describe the tools used to carry the glass articles into the upper oven
to cool. In connection with the drawings of the ancient glass-furnaces,
we deem it proper to give a drawing of glass-makers' tools[3] in use at
that period, so that the glass-makers of the present day may observe
with what instruments their noble predecessors in the art performed
their labor.
[3] See drawing No. 3, at end of book.
In many of these tools we perceive the same general characters as mark
those in use now. In some, improvements have been effected; while
others are quite obsolete. It is quite curious to observe the etymology
of many of the technical terms of the art in use at the present day.
The name of the present polished iron table, _i.e._ the MARVER, is
derived from the practice of the Italians and French in using slabs of
polished marble. The iron now called the _punty_, from the Italian
_ponteglo_. The tool now called _percellas_, from the word _porcello_.
In fact, nearly all the technical terms in the glass manufacture,
appertaining to the tool or furnace, are derived from the Italian. By
referring to the drawing, we see that the tool marked A is the
blow-iron, that marked B the punty-iron. Their character plainly
indicates that the work made on them must have been confined to small
or light articles. C, the scissors, D, the shears, correspond to those
used at the present day. The tool marked E was used to finish part of
their work. F and G were their large and small ladles,--the small used
to take off the then called alkalic salt, showing that they were
troubled with an excess of this in their time. The shovel, then called
stockle, marked H, was used to carry glass articles to the annealing
oven, forks not being then in use. The crooked iron I was used to stir
up the metal in the pots. The tool L was used to form or hold large
articles, their punty-iron not having sufficient strength. The tool M
was used to carry flat articles to the annealing ovens. The tool N was
used in refining their alkalic salts, and served to take off the salt
as crystallized in course of its manufacture.
The workmen of the present day will see that, as before remarked, many
tools are not altered in form, while in others there is a decided
improvement,--in none more than in the tool E. Tool D is exactly like
those now in use; but many new tools have been introduced since that
period, rendering most of the old tools useless. Improvements in the
form of glass-furnaces, construction of the glass-house, tools, &c.,
have been very gradual,--more so, in fact, than in almost any other
art, when we consider that a period of about four hundred years has
elapsed since the furnaces, tools, &c., herein referred to, were in
use, and that they remained very much the same until the present
century. It is indeed no undue arrogance of claim to say that the very
many improvements in furnaces, working machinery, tools, &c. (such as
enable the manufacturer here to melt with the same fuel double the
quantity of glass that can at present be done in the European
furnaces,) are entirely owing to the progress of the art in this
country. By the perfection of our machines double the product can be
obtained; and although the glass maker is paid at least three times the
wages usually paid in Germany or France, we can, in all the articles
where the value of the materials predominates, compete successfully
with importers of foreign glass; but when the labor on glass
constitutes its chief value, then glass can be imported cheaper than it
can be manufactured in this country. Essentially, however, we may say,
in the realm of art as in that of civilization and progress,--
"Westward the star of empire takes its way."