Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1844-06-13
Bristol Briek--A Remarkable EaSt.

Some Of our citizens have no doubt noticed
boxes OF bricks Of precisely the sumo charac.
ter Of the impJled Bristol brick, passing
through town occasionally, on their way 10
Boston and The South. We had The curiosity
the other day 10 trace buck these bricks Ia
The source from whence they came. Ii is
said that The only place in the world in which
these bricks have been made, (except, OF
course, those we are here speaking off, is
Bristol, in England. A small vein Of the
sand was many years ago found near Liver
pool. but it was soon all worked up and eX-
haus'ed. Somewhere about the year 1920,
an Eng!lshman, who had been concerned el.
ther as an owner or operative in the works at
Bristol, came over 10 this country thinking
that he might discover something which
. would enable him To share the monopoly OF
| The trade with the Bristol manuiaclurers.-
I lie travelled in the u. States five years,
making dllIgent inquiry and investigation.
4 without being able 10 discover the object Of
! his search. Just as he was ready to return,
! disappointed, while standing ~ the doorway
ota store IN Boston, IA cart full Of sand stop
| ped at the door. lie immediately went to il,
/ and putting his hand into the sand, pronounc-
/ ed unhesllatingly that 1t was the very article
| for which he had been searching. !Ic nsccr.
! French, Of Southampton, II. II. aud ut once
! repaired to the spot. Here he found little
| over an ncIe of the sand, reaching t6 "A much
! greater depth Than at Bristol, aud the sand
! being in good demand among founders, the
! owner had been IN the hablt of supplying
several iounderies with it. lie attempted to
/ purchase the land, aud failing in this, offered
to go into partnership with the owner Of il,
IN the mapuiacture. Bat with true New
Il Hampshire pcrilnacily. Mr.. French ,Grned II
/ deaf ear to all propositions. lie was oppos-
/ ed To all partnerships, all innovations, and all
/ magnificent speculalions, and would have
/ nothing to do with them ; but II the English
man would 20 10 work aud make some bricks
/ tor him he would pay hlm q good price for
his labor Accordingly, the Engshman manu-
iactnrcd cousi sileroble quantity and received
his pay, the Yankee looking on the work
and probably supposing he had learned the
| art. Bat after The EngIlshman. having given
up all hope of purchasing had departed, Mr..
/ French found l!r had not learned the secret
| Ot tie manufacture ; he could not make
|, single brick. The work was then suspended
until tive years afterwards, when the same
nan came oyer from England again, in the
| hope of bringing the Yankee to terms. But
he found him as obstinate as ever, and after
ascerlainug that he could do nothing with
II the owner Of the land, very good naturcdly
impaired 10 him Tie secret Of the mnnuinc.
turc for a bonus Of $500. This was in 1877,
and from that time TO the present, Mr.. French
has been constantly engaged in the malsilac-
ture. doing mos, Of the labor himself and
hiring but very htle. OF course. the quani-
" made has been limited, but the demand
has been stradlly increasing, and he intends
10 make 100000 bricks thls year.
Il The bricks made 10y Mr.. French arc every
way cQual to the imported Bristol article, and
by some are esteemed superior They com.
mand the same price II, the imported, and are
readily taken by the dealers at $50 q thousand
- they weigh three pounds each The sand
is not quite 50 white as the Erck which con.
lalns portion OF white plpc clay to give it
adheslycness. The grra, secret Of the manu-
iacturc, for which the $500 was paid, Is
process of making the mixture rise similar 10
bread, ard rendering 1t porous. A brick
wris hing one pound and one weighing four
pounds, may bn made Of the same size and
IN The same mould.
The sand j. abon. four feet deep, and GOV.
crs little more than an acre Of low land on
the Powow river. II does not need sitting;
and The pccnlar quality Of it is It's exceeding
sharpness without ert. viewed through q
microscope every particle exhibits u perfect
diamond form. We believe no geologlst has
ever been on the spot, and not knowing the
address of DR.. Jackson or Professor Hitch.
cock, We shall send specimen of it TO the
EDITOR OF one of the Boston agricultural pa
|. ptrs, who, after satisfying his own curiosity,
viii please send II To one OF these gentlemen.
Mr.. frcncb was n sllvcrsmih By trade and
Is now G6 years Of age. Though repuled 10
bo quite wealthy, he makos NO display about
his premises; but is pleased to receive visi-
lcrs, and treats them, as we can bear wit.
ness, in a respectable manner. answering all
their inquiries in irnnk and aInblc manner
On asking him what he would take for his
/ Iot hr offered, as hn had got nearly to the
cnd of Ite's Journey. 10 take 500 GOO and a
mortgage on the lot for $50 600 more. This
seems To be pretty high price for an acre
of sand, bat we do not know but it might be
made a good bargain even at this, should no
more be found IN The country, as there ap.
pears to be no obstacle TO manufacturing II
Ito aH unlimited extent and after supplying
The home market, which requires a large and
steadily increasing supply, shipping 1t to for
elgn countries, as the irlstol works now have
the entire monopoly throughout Europe
.NtwLWNpoH HralG.