We had an excellent dinner in Mr. Rapp’s house, and the musical members of the society took this opportunity to play their best in front of it. The band consisted of twelve musicians, and performed very well, among them were two who played bugles. Both the Rapp’s, and especially the elder, advised me strongly to settle in their neighbourhood, and purchase at ten miles hence, the Beaver Falls on Beaver creek, for twenty-five thousand dollars. There I might establish iron works, said they, and make a great deal of money; they and their society would assist me in every possible manner!
With peculiar feelings we took leave of the friendly and industrious Economy, at three o’clock. No payment was received at the tavern, and we set out through the same beautiful places by which we had come towards Pittsburgh. Mr. F. Rapp, who had business there, followed us, accompanied by Gertrude. During this ride I had another opportunity of admiring the beautiful rocks as we passed by, and particularly the caverns, probably made in them by water, which remind one of the little caves near Ems, on the Lahn.
We stopped at Alleghany town to examine the new and unfinished penitentiary, which is arranged according to the system of solitary confinement. The whole is surrounded by a high hexagonal wall. The principal building, which is of sandstone, is three stories high. This is to contain the residence of the superintendent, the offices and infirmary. On two of the other angles of the hexagon are high round towers, from which the interior of the house can be overlooked, where the guards are to be stationed. Behind the principal building in the court-yard, stands a smaller building, containing, besides many cells for the convicts, the kitchen and wash-house. In a circle which is interrupted by the above mentioned buildings, stands a one-story building, containing convict cells, which has one row of entrances near the inner circular yard, and the other towards the space enclosed by the hexagonal walls. Each cell is eight feet long by six broad. It contains a bench, and receives its light through an opening secured by an external iron grate; within this is a wooden door, which the prisoner can, at his pleasure, open or shut. Before each cell is a very small open space. The cells are floored, and provided with iron rings to which the prisoners may be secured if necessary. These unfortunates have neither light nor room enough to work; I was informed that each prisoner was to be allowed to enjoy the fresh air for fifteen minutes daily. In this way, this new system can scarcely have any other result than that of destroying the health of the convicts. The prison contains one hundred and ninety-six cells, and it is said, that next autumn the first victims are to be sacrificed to a mistaken philanthropy.[II.32] The expense of maintaining these prisoners, who are not permitted to earn any thing, will necessarily be considerable.
On the 20th of May I went with Mr. F. Rapp, who still remained in Pittsburgh with Gertrude, to visit some manufacturing establishments. We crossed the Monongahela near its mouth, in a skiff, to a salt-work on the left bank. With the earth-borer invented in England, and improved in America, they found salt water at the depth of a hundred feet. As this water was thought to be too weak, a pipe was placed in the well, and bored in another place, until at the depth of a hundred feet a sufficiently strong brine was obtained. The salt water collected and rose to the top. It is now pumped out by a small steam-engine into a boiler, where it is boiled for four hours. It is then poured into a large vat, to the depth of eight inches. It stands in this vat four hours; a little alum is added to precipitate earthy impurities. Hence, by a cock situated above the level of the precipitated matters, the fluid is drawn off into various kettles, in which the now pure brine is again boiled for four hours. Now the white salt begins to form, and is skimmed off with large iron ladles. This is a very simple process, saves expense and room, and appears to me far better than our great salt-houses. In returning to the city, we saw many iron-works, of which there are eight in the city and vicinity. One of them is a nail factory; the nail-cutting machine acts from above, and the workmen holds the rod to be cut with a pair of tongs, and has to move it at every stroke; a hammer strikes the nail which falls through in such a manner as to form the head. We also saw a steam-engine manufactory of considerable extent. I had seen such an establishment previously in England, but as most of the machines are made here in parts, one cannot see a great deal. What most interested me was a double lever, by which the holes are punched in iron plates for the boilers, which are riveted together; a work which requires a great degree of exactness.
We next visited the Union Rolling-mill, near the city, on the bank of the Monongahela; here also is a nail factory. In the patent-office at Washington I saw upwards of seventy different models of nail-making machines. In this factory they were cut by horizontally moving shears, and at the same time the heads were formed by a hammer. A workman can make a hundred and fifty pounds of the smaller kind of nails daily. The preparation of the iron plates from which cut nails are made is very interesting. The crude pig iron is made white hot in the furnace; it is thence taken and rolled seven times through, between two iron cylinders, which are screwed closer together after every revolution. It is then passed seven times more between two narrow cylinders, which are also screwed closer after each time the plate passes. By this time the pig is reduced to a plate less than a quarter of an inch thick. This plate is again made red-hot, and finally passed between two cylinders, which are just as broad as the length of the nails to be cut. The piece in the upper cylinder passes directly in one cut to the lower, where the broad red-hot plate is cut into as many strips as are wanted. The very smallest of these are used for making wire. This machinery is set in motion by a large steam-engine, which works the bellows for the different furnaces and forges. The whole reminded me of the colossal iron-works I saw three years ago in South Wales.
Mr. Rapp accompanied me also to a sieve-maker, who weaves iron and brass wire, &c. which is done in a loom something like, but longer than a cloth-loom, in order to extend the wire properly. This one was twenty-five feet long. Our last visit was to an iron foundry, where, during our stay, different articles, grates and smoothing irons were cast. The smoothing irons were cast four in a mould, and while still red-hot were knocked asunder.
In the evening we went to the United States arsenal, two miles from the city, on the Philadelphia road; it is under the command of Major Churchill of the artillery, who received us at his house and introduced us to his wife, and four lovely children. This establishment contains a place of about four acres, lying between the road and the river Alleghany: the front consists of a large four-story main building, of sandstone, and two smaller buildings, one of which is the residence of the directors and the other of the sub-directors. On entering the court-yard, one sees that the side of the quadrangle facing the front contains three buildings not yet inhabited, which are barracks, and four others, workshops for the repair of arms, &c. opposite to these are two buildings in which are the smith and wheelwright shops. Except the three fronts, all the buildings are of bricks. The arms are kept in the main building, where there may be about twenty thousand stand; most of them are packed in chests: those not packed up, are very tastefully arranged in the hall, as trophies, &c. An arch of steel is formed over this hall by eighteen hundred muskets, which has a very beautiful appearance. Both the adjoining buildings are connected with the centre by roofed passages, under which are kept cannon of various calibers; most of these are English, and trophies of the late Commodore Perry’s victory on Lake Erie.
The 21st of May, was Sunday, and at twelve o’clock, I went with Mr. Bonnhorst to the Episcopal church. I have generally remarked that most of the fashionable people in the United States, either belong to the Episcopal church, or at least prefer to attend service there on Sunday. It is in Pittsburgh style to go to this church, while it would be unfashionable to visit the Methodist meeting, to which most of the lower class of people belong. It is a luxury to have a pew in the Episcopal church, and an especial politeness to invite a stranger to take a seat in it. I sat in Mr. Bonnhorst’s pew, which was rather full, and the air hot. In consequence of this, I was much incommoded by the frequent kneelings, as well as by the long psalms, which were sung standing. We had a very good discourse from a rather youthful preacher upon the subject of the Trinity, this being Trinity Sunday. The service lasted two hours.
Afterwards we paid a visit to Mr. Baldwin, a distinguished lawyer. This gentleman was formerly a member of congress, and had paper and iron factories in the vicinity; he however speculated largely, and in five weeks became a bankrupt. However, Mr. Baldwin lost nothing in public estimation; his practice as a lawyer produced him a very handsome income. He walked with us to the point where the Alleghany and Ohio unite, the former situation of Fort Duquesne, of which no trace now remains. The English did nothing for this fort, as in the year 1759, it was evacuated by the French, who could no longer obtain aid from Canada. The English then demolished the fort, and built one of earth, somewhat in rear of the old one, called Fort Pitt, whence the name of the city is derived. Fort Pitt, of which some remains of the walls and a barracks, now form part of an iron work, appears to have been a pentagon resting upon both rivers. During the American revolutionary war, this fort, which was no longer of importance, was abandoned by the English.
Next day Messrs. Craft and Volz, accompanied me to the cotton factory of Adams, Allen & Co. Mr. Craft is one of the principal proprietors of the firm, which does an extensive business, notwithstanding its recent establishment. The building is of brick, four stories high, and has two wings standing at right angles. This factory employs two hundred people daily. All the machinery is worked by a steam-machine of seventy-five horse-power. The machinery is similar to that in Economy, and the fabrics made at Economy are copied from this factory, &c. I saw nothing particularly new, except the machine which picks the cotton, and thus saves a great deal of filthy manual labour. During winter the factory is warmed by steam, throughout.