Plate, Crown, and Sheet Glass.—[Henry Chance.]—(B. 147.) In the 1864 report it was mentioned that cast plate glass is manufactured at Smethwick (Plate Glass Company) crown, sheet, and rolled or rough plate glass at Smethwick (Messrs. Chance Brothers and Co.) and at Stourbridge (Stourbridge Glass Company.) Of these three manufacturing establishments, that of Messrs. Chance Brothers and Co. is the only one now in operation. Antique glass for decorative purposes and glass shades are manufactured at Oldbury by Messrs. W. E. Chance and Co. Crown glass is now almost extinct; Messrs. Chance however still make the very limited quantity required. The price of ordinary sheet glass has fallen from one shilling and twopence per foot in 1884 prior to the repeal of the duty, to three halfpence in 1886. Rolled plate glass is now made by most of the manufacturers of sheet glass, and by several firms who confine themselves to this branch of trade. The Siemens’ regenerative furnace has not only been successfully applied to furnaces containing pots, but by its aid Messrs. Siemens have been able to dispense with pots and employ large tanks made of clay, for the melting of glass. By this means the process of melting and working becomes continuous. The raw materials are introduced at one end of the tank furnace and arrive, after gradual transformation, at the other end, in the shape of melted glass.
Plated Wares.—[Elkington and Co.]—(B. 477.) A great impetus has been given to the trade owing to the development of hotel life in London and all large towns, together with the equipments required for ocean-going steamers, in many cases special designs having reference to the building being required. On the other hand the taste of the public is now for simple and useful designs. The old form of stamping, in which the stamp was lifted by one or more workmen, has been superseded by the method described on [page 172]. A dish cover which formerly required hundreds of blows now requires only six, and instead of the old process of smoothing the surface with hammer and stake a “wheeling” machine is used, and the swage or shape lapped over instead of mounting with a wire, the time consumed being about one twentieth part of that required by the old process. Improvements in metals used enables the hollow bodies of coffee and tea services to be “spun” (see [page 174]) instead of being slowly raised into form by wooden mallets and steel hammers. Spinning oval bodies is now extensively practised, though at one time it was considered impossible to treat German silver in this way. This process (oval spinning) is used only when one or two articles of a particular shape are required. When great numbers are required stamping is the process adopted. Press work in shaping articles has considerably improved, and has replaced, to some considerable extent, the tedious process of chasing and embossing. Enamelling has been introduced, but owing to Japanese competition the trade is gradually falling off. The enamelling, known as cloisonné is performed as follows: The decoration, birds, flowers, &c., is traced on the surface of the object to be enamelled, very thin wire of any metal, but generally silver or copper, is then bent by hand to the various forms traced on the metal. This process requires the utmost care. The wire thus bent is then soldered down to the surface of the object, the different colours put in in the form of paste into the different divisions formed by the bent wire, and the whole is subjected to intense heat until the colours are completely fused. When cold the surface is rubbed down flat, and finally polished. In the champlevé process the spaces for the colours are cut out with a graver. The process of damascening largely carried on by Messrs. Elkington is described at (B. 545.) Soldering arrangements are much improved, the introduction of the patent blowpipe saves time, and the workman is able to solder, cleaner and produce a firmer jointing than with the old process. The sand blast is a new feature in the finishing department.
Refrigeration.—[S. Puplett.]—Mechanical refrigeration owes its development to the enterprise of Birmingham men. The imports of ice into the United Kingdom were in 1884 nearly 300,000 tons. Refrigerating machinery is supplying ice in competition with these importations. In addition, refrigerating machinery is used in brewing for the purpose of cooling wort quickly, in bacon curing, in working of butter and butterine, cocoa, and candles, in oil refining and tar distilling, and in telegraphic works for securing a low temperature when testing cables. Freezing machines have too been used in sinking and tunnelling, the water being prevented from running into the shaft owing to the hardening of the earth by freezing. The cost of imported ice may be taken as 20/- per ton, while machine ice can be made for 5/- per ton. The first commercial machine, patented by James Harrison, of Geelong, in 1856, was an ether machine, and made in London. Afterwards machines of this kind were made by Mr. Philips, of the Atlas Works, in Oozells Street, Birmingham. In 1861 Carré showed the advantages of ammonia over ether as a refrigerant, and since then Mort and Dicholle, of Sydney, and Stanley, of London, have patented various modifications of the Carré system. Pictet has devoted many years to the subject, and has identified himself with sulphurous acid as a refrigerant, and recently claims to have discovered a fluid termed liquide Pictet, SCO₄; in addition to these refrigerants, air, water, chloride of methyl, bisulphide of carbon, carbonic acid, and nitrous oxide have been used. The machines made in Birmingham by the Birmingham Refrigerating Company are ammonia machines. This form of machine consists of (1) a multitubular vessel called the refrigerator, containing liquid (anhydrous) ammonia—in this vessel vaporization takes place; (2) a vapour pump, by which the ammonia formed by evaporation is exhausted from the refrigerator, compressed, liquefied, and forced into (3) the condenser, consisting of a multitubular vessel surrounded by water; (4) a circulating pump for supplying the condenser with water; (5) ice tanks surrounded by a bath of a liquid of a low freezing point, such as a solution of chloride of calcium or of common salt; (6) a circulating pump for circulating the brine through the refrigerator and around the ice tanks; (7) the steam engine or other motor for driving the vapour and circulating pumps.
Rope Making.—[J. T. Wright.]—(B. 578). Within the last few years a machine has been introduced by Mr. Good, an American, for treating fibres as imported, more particularly Manilla. By means of fluted rollers, and a system of bars fitted with strong steel pins which press upwards into the hemp, the fibres are dressed and straightened out, the operation is aided by a patented machine known as Wright and Laider’s Patent Sun and Planet Hacklebus. Finally, the hemp fibres are drawn off the pins and delivered in a compact and continuous sliver into a can placed in front to receive it. These slivers being in one length, are now passed on to the drawing frames to be accumulated together.
Steel Pen Trade.—[Maurice Pollack.]—(B. 634.)—There has been little improvement since 1865. Muffles heated by gas on the plan of Dr. Siemens, have been introduced for tempering and colouring, and ordinary gas is also used in connection with these processes, but these improvements are only used by one or two firms, and more as a matter of convenience than as a means of making pens of a better quality or lower price.
Many patents have been taken out since 1865 for new styles of pens, the most successful have been those which deal with the points; these have been turned up or turned down, thickened, or planished, all for the purpose of producing smooth points to glide freely over paper even with a rough surface. The fashion in paper and ink materially influences the style of pens. The J pens (so called because that letter was embossed upon one of the first and best known broad points) have been extensively used, and have influenced hand writing, especially that of ladies. Calligraphy as an art has fallen off in this country, and this has influenced pen manufacture. The most delicately made pens are manufactured for foreign use. There are, perhaps, not so many pen works now as there were in 1865, but the productive power has vastly increased. The present weekly average of pens manufactured is about 160,000 grosses, requiring from 16 to 18 tons of steel, of which only 8 tons appears in the article, the rest being loss or waste. Pen steel is still produced in Sheffield, the best being made from Swedish iron. The number of girls and women employed is from 3,200 to 3,600, whilst the number of men employed as tool makers, rollers, engineers, stokers, &c., hardly exceeds 500. The increase in make since 1865, of quite 60 per cent. is mainly due to the export trade. No new pen manufactories have been established since 1865, except in the United States, where there are now four pen works, but of these, only one is of importance. In France, there are now only three pen manufactories, and the production is less than it was three years ago. In Germany there is only one, and its make though improved in quality is very inconsiderable in comparison with the large consumption of steel pens in Germany. An attempt has been made to establish works in Russia, where the duty on steel pens is high, but after existing one or two years, the manufactory was burnt down, and no attempt has been made to re-build it. The Customs duty on steel pens with the exception of Russia, are the United States, where it is 6d. per gross, is very moderate, and prevents the importation of low and middle class pens. The price obtained for steel pens depends more upon the reputation of the maker or of the mark than upon their intrinsic value, hence the difficulty of giving an average value of each gross of pens produced.[58]
Stourbridge Fire Clay.—[George King Harrison.]—(B. 133.) The district suffers from high railway rates. The quantity of clay raised per week now is about 3,500 tons, say 160,000 tons per annum. About 40 million bricks are made per annum.
Salt.—[J. H. Hollyer.]—(B. 138.) At the Stoke Prior Works from 500 to 700 hands are employed. The salt manufactured is from 3,000 to 4,000 tons per week. The entire produce of salt in Worcestershire is about 250,000 tons per annum. The Brine pits are about 1,000 feet deep. “Butter salt” is largely exported from Droitwich to India and Australia. Round pans have been introduced since 1865. The aggregate traffic, that is, coal received and salt forwarded, of the Stoke Prior works is about 1,000 tons per day.
Swords and Matchets.—[F. M. Mole, Jun.]—(B. 649.) The conventional ideas as to the extent of the sword trade are very erroneous. Our army is small and only horse soldiers and officers carry swords. When once equipped one single sword forger will produce what is required. Hence the matchet trade is combined with sword manufacture. (The matchet is a large knife used in sugar cultivation in the West Indies and Central South America.) The extraordinary demand for swords at the time of the Crimean war, and the inability of English firms to supply it, gave the start to foreign competition. It is not generally known that the larger proportion of the officers’ swords sold in this country are either German swords imported complete or foreign blades mounted in London. There have been several spurts in the trade, but these died out, and at the present time Messrs. Robert Mole and Son, of Birmingham, are the only manufacturers who take Government contracts. An outline of the method of manufacture is given in (B. 649) and is similar to that of edge tools generally—(see [p. 208]). In ornamenting the hilts of swords fire or mercury gilding[59] is used. The “gripe” is of wood (walnut or beech), and covered with dog fish skin.
Tin Plate Ware.—[A. N. Hopkins.]—(B. 638.) Fifty years ago workmen made a variety of articles with several pieces of tin plate soldered together. The introduction of machinery in the trade is reducing the number of skilled workmen. In 1835-6 Mr. Thomas Griffiths took out a patent for stamping and burnishing; shortly afterwards Mr. J. H. Hopkins commenced the manufacture of “Patent tea-pots.” Candlesticks and other articles made in the same way quickly followed, and stamping and burnishing opened up possibilities which till then had not been dreamed of in the trade. In 1840 what was thought a monster stamp was put down to stamp the top of an 18-inch imperial dish cover. Further improvements in stamping led to the trade being speedily one of the most important, both in this town and the neighbouring one of Wolverhampton. A little time later, tin plate workers turned their attention to the stamping of a few culinary articles, such as colanders, gravy strainers, &c., and of wash-hand basins. In the making of these sheet iron was used, and the articles when finished were tinned by the same process as that used by tin plate makers, and were then sold as “tinned wrought iron hollow ware,” and once more an increasing impetus was given to the trade. Milk pans and “prospecting” pans were made in this way, and the advance made just at this time by the Australian Colonies on the great discoveries of gold opened out a large field, where the goods have been bought in ever-increasing quantities, while shortly after, the Cape and South America as well as Canada became large customers for a similar class of goods. India too came into the market for brass and copper articles, while Egypt, especially about the time of the American Civil War, began to be a most important customer for the copper utensils hitherto manufactured only by the natives, but which the superior machinery the English manufacturer possessed, enabled him to produce much better and cheaper. Meanwhile the French Exhibition of 1855 had shown to our manufacturers specimens of stamping superior to anything they could produce, and one or two unsuccessful attempts were made by them to obtain a nearer inspection of the French method of stamping or more properly pressing. In one way and another it leaked out that the French makers employed a pressure plate and a gradual forcing process, instead of the sharp blow by which the English stamper pounded his material into the required shape. The late Mr. Clutton Salt purchased the patent right for this country, and in 1867 a machine was in operation at the works of the Birmingham Enamel Co., with which Mr. Salt was at that time connected, and Messrs. Griffiths and Browett took out a licence to use the patent. Improvements in stamping followed, keeping well abreast of the new process, and ultimately outstripping it, especially as regards size of vessel produced.