About a mile and a half from the town, we drove upon the platform of the swinging bridge, along with a crowd of horses, cattle and foot passengers, and in less than five minutes were carried over by the mere action of the rapid current to the opposite side, where a drive of another mile or two through gardens and suburbs, brought us to the Breitenbacher-Hof, in the central square of Dusseldorff.
THE END.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
COMPARATIVE PRICES OF MACHINERY IN BELGIUM AND IN GREAT BRITAIN.
As the question of permitting the free export of machinery from this country, occupies at present much of the attention of the British legislature, and its policy cannot be safely estimated without a knowledge of the comparative rates at which the same article can be produced on the continent and with us—in other words, what advantage the mill-owners and manufacturers of Great Britain enjoy, at the present moment, in the outlay for the erection of their works—I have been at some pains to ascertain its relative value in Belgium and in Manchester, and the following extracts, of the prices at the Phœnix works of Ghent, is contrasted with the cost of the same articles in England, as furnished to me by an eminent machine-maker of Manchester.
| BELGIAN PRICES. | ENGLISH PRICES. | |||||||
| Francs | £. | s. | £. | s. | ||||
| COTTON MACHINERY. | ||||||||
| Blowing machine, new plan, 36 inches wide | 1500 | 60 | .. | 38 | .. | |||
| Ditto, 2 beaters, 2 wire cylinders, 36 inches | 3000 | 120 | .. | 72 | .. | |||
| Lap machine, 18 to 20 inches wide | 1375 | 55 | .. | 55 | .. | |||
| Lap machine and blowing machine united, 36 inches | 4000 | 160 | .. | 120 | .. | |||
| Fan serving for 2 or 3 beaters | 400 | 16 | .. | 10 | .. | |||
| Double card, cylinders and flats in mahogany | 685 | 27 | 10 | 26 | .. | |||
| Patent English card by J. Smith | 4000 | 160 | .. | 100 | .. | |||
| Large double card, 44 inches broad | 4100 | 164 | .. | 100 | .. | |||
| Grinding machine for slackening the top cards | 700 | 28 | .. | 26 | .. | |||
| Patent machine for stripping the main cylinder | 325 | 13 | .. | 9 | .. | |||
| Slivering machine | 850 | 34 | .. | 24 | .. | |||
| Drawing frame of 4 to 10 heads, 3 row rollers, per head | 195 | 7 | 16 | 6 | .. | |||
| Slotting machine, 28 spindles | 2025 | 81 | .. | 67 | .. | |||
| Roving frames of 48 spindles, driven by bands, three rows, 9 rollers, double slides, expansive pulleys | 2300 | 92 | .. | 74 | .. | |||
| Tube frame of J. C. Dyer, 16 to 24 tubes, per tube | 150 | 6 | .. | 5 | .. | |||
| Mule jenny of 240 to 264 spindles, per spindle | 6⅑ | .. | 5s. 2½d. | 3 | .. | |||
| Flax and Tow Machinery. | ||||||||
| Heckling machine, complete with hackles | 1200 | 48 | .. | 34 | .. | |||
| Double cutter machine | 1200 | 48 | .. | 36 | .. | |||
| Circular heckling machine, for cut flax | 1741 | 69 | 12 | 42 | .. | |||
| Preparation of Long Flax. | ||||||||
| Francs | Francs | |||||||
| Chain | Spiral | Chain | Spiral | Chain | Spiral | |||
| 1st drawing or spreading machine | 1800 | 2500 | £72 | £100 | £56 | £65 | ||
| 2nd drawing 2 heads, 2 slivers each, per head | 1000 | 1350 | £40 | £54 | £37 | £40 | ||
| Roving frames, drag principle, per spindle | 305 | 345 | £12 | £13 | £10 | £11 | ||
| Regulating motion | 330 | 370 | £13 | £14 | £10 | £11 | ||
| Preparation of Tow. | ||||||||
| £. | s. | £. | s. | |||||
| Batting or opening machine | 500 | .. | 20 | .. | 15 | .. | ||
| Beetle | 500 | .. | 20 | .. | 15 | .. | ||
| Cards (breakers) 48 inch diameter, per inch | 70 | .. | 2 | 16 | 2 | 10 | ||
| Diameter of rollers. | Lift of bobbin. | Pitch. | ||||||
| 1½ in. | 2 in. | 2½ in. per spindle | 34 | 1 | 7 | .. | 18s. 6d. | |
| 2 in. | 2 in. | 2¾ in. per spindle | 36f. 50c | 1 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2½ in. | 2½ in. | 3 in. per spindle | 39 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 2s. 6d. | |
| 3 in. | 3 in. | 3 in. per spindle | 39 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 2s. 6d. | |
| If the back rollers be of brass instead of wood, the price will be increased per spindle | 2 | .. | 1s. 7d. | .. | 6d. | |||
| Reel, 40 spindles | 250 | 10 | .. | 10 | .. | |||
| Bundling machine | 600 | 24 | .. | 15 | .. | |||
The following is a list of some other articles used in various branches of manufactures with the prices at Ghent.