“Soles are cut out by machinery. A knife with a curvilinear edge is set in a frame and worked with a treadle, after the manner of a lathe. By a lateral motion in the machine, it can be adapted to the cutting of any requisite width of sole, and being once fixed to a given width, the process of cutting is very rapid, and material is saved by the leather being cut at right angles to the surface, instead of diagonally, as by the ordinary knife.
“When finished, the goods are made up in boxes containing one dozen of assorted sizes. They are then sent in cases to the wholesale dealer, who supplies the retailer. A case contains five boxes making up the 60 pairs of assorted sizes of which a set of the commoner kind consists as manufactured. These manufactures are found in all parts of the New England states, but chiefly in the states of Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The finer quality of hoots for gentlemen are chiefly made at Randolph and Abington, Massachusetts; the heavier kind of shoes, and the coarsest kind, usually called ‘brogans,’ at Danvers in the same state. These ‘brogans’ are chiefly manufactured for the Southern markets, for the use of slaves, and are similar to the shoes worn by the miners of South Staffordshire.
“The following table, compiled from the ‘Statistics of the Condition and Products of certain branches of industry in Massachusetts for the year ending April 1st, 1845,’ will show the extent of the boot and shoe trade in the six above-named towns at that date:—
| Towns. | Kinds. | Number of Pairs made. | Males employed. | Females employed. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randolph | {Boots | 227,131 } | ||
| {Shoes | 332,281 } | 815 | 649 | |
| Danvers | Both | 1,150,300 | 1,586 | 980 |
| Lynn | {Boots | 2,000 } | ||
| {Shoes | 2,404,722 } | 2,719 | 3,209 | |
| Reading | Shoes | 274,000 | 358 | 385 |
| Woburn | {Boots | 909 } | ||
| {Shoes | 350,920 } | 425 | 484 | |
| Haverhill | Shoes | 1,860,915 | 2,042 | 1,680 |
“Pennsylvania is the largest iron-producing state in the Union, although by the census of 1850, twenty-one states are returned as producing pig iron, and only two, Florida and Arkansas, as not having establishments for the manufacture of iron castings; whilst in nineteen states wrought iron is made.
“In the production of pig iron 377 establishments were in operation in 1850; and of these 180 were in Pennsylvania, 35 in Ohio, and 29 in Virginia.
“The capital invested amounted to 17,346,425 dollars (about £4,500,000 sterling), the produce being 564,755 tons per annum, employing 20,291 males and 150 females.
“In the manufacture of iron castings, 1,391 establishments were engaged. Of these 643 were in the states of New York and Pennsylvania,—323 in the former and 330 in the latter; 183 others being in the state of Ohio. The capital invested amounted to 17,416,361 dollars, being about the same as in pig iron. 322,745 tons of castings are produced per annum, giving employment to 23,541 males and 48 females; the value of the castings, and other products, being estimated at about £6,250,000 sterling.
“Wrought iron is manufactured at 422 establishments in 19 states. Pennsylvania has 131, New York 60, New Jersey 53, Tennessee 42, and Virginia 39; the remaining 97 being situated in 14 other states. The capital invested was 14,495,220 dollars, or about £3,500,000 sterling; 13,178 males and 79 females being employed. The quantity manufactured amounted to 278,044 tons, the value of which, with other products, was 16,747,074 dollars, or about £4,100,000 sterling.
“In nearly all the large cities, iron foundries are to be found, cast-iron being largely employed in the construction of buildings both of wood and brick; and in Philadelphia, as also to some extent in other cities, whole elevations of houses, used as retail shops in the principal streets, are of cast-iron. In these cases, the construction of the building is usually modified to suit the material of the front, and, in some instances, an approximation is made towards adapting the decorative part of the elevation to the material and the construction. In general, however, the ordinary forms, as used in stone and wood, are followed, and the whole painted and sanded in imitation of Connecticut red sandstone. The construction of some of these elevations is at once simple and effective, alike for strength as architectural effect, and there appears to be very little difficulty in taking out an old front and substituting a new one, as the whole is well braced together by ties and screws—the side walls sustaining the structure in all essential points. This use of cast-iron may eventually produce a style of street architecture of a different character to that which now prevails, and which is in imitation of European modes of construction and decoration.”