The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1844-06-14


as an aperture was made for ventilation
below, draughl was given TO tho fur
mace, the cold air expelled, and the clothes
dried rapidly. The public will thus sec
how easily a serious difficulty in heating
ROOMS may be overcome.
In my last report, an account was Civ
en- of a mode of constructing cheap Gotta
yes of unburnt brick. The numerous cX
perimcnls of similar kind since attcmp
ted in the United States, and the salislac.
lion there experienced, together with the
repeated inquiries on this subject, lead me
to remark, that from accounts of the sim.
liar use of such bricks in Egyt, i, is pro.
we'd that they have been found undccayed
and sound in arches which have even
stood the lapse Of 1000 years. The cot
tagc erected by myself on Massachusetts
avenue, in full sight Of the Capitol, and
which is two stories in height, stands
well, and appears as handsome as the best
brick houses, and being warm in Winter,
and cool in Summer, jnslilies me fully in
recommending similar mode of building,
especially where clay is abundant! and
timber scarce.
Some have doubted the policy of erect
ing such houses in cold climates but it
may be remarked that in Canada these
buildings have been successfully proved.
by means of propagation, by exhaust
ing the air, and then infusing sulphac of
iron or other substances into the pores of
the wood for railroads, it is said the wood
has been rendered so hard that the iron
wheels of the car leaves no trace after
more than years use OF this "metalic'
/ wood.
! BY valuable machine, with ten yoke
of oxen and five hands, a ditch of suitable
depth for draining lands, II inches deep,
and 20 inches wide at the top,) 10 miles
may be cxcavated in one day. at an OK
pense, by contract, of not more than 3
cents per rod. A larger machine, with a
greater humber of oxen, will cxcavale a
ditch 3 feet deep. The great importance
of such an instrument OH the prairies of
| the West will at once be seen and ac-
knowlejged.
The rapid improvement of the Arts
may help TO account for the reduction Of
price as 10 many articles Of manufacture,
and especially in some that are usually
ranked among tho nccessaries of life. In.
dividuals now in Congress can rccoleci
of having, thirty years since, purchased
shifting at 72a cents yard, who the last
year have bought that which was equally
good for | cents per gard only.
Hosiery, too, is now made in this coun-
try with astonishing rapidly, by the and
of the power-weaving loom--an Ameri-
can invention, and which has not yet
been introduced into England. While,
there, it is full days work to knit by
hand two pairs of drawers, a girl here (at
$3.50 per week. will make, by the pow
er LOOM, twenty pairs i'll the same time.
A piece % inches in width, and one inch
long, can be knit in one minute.
The expense of manufacturing this arti-
Gle has thus been reduced to about one
tenth of the former method of hand looms.
The Importance of this improvement may
be estimated from the fact that the quanti-
ty of hosiery used in the United States is
valued al $1,000. 900; and the stockings,
woven shirts and drawers made in this
country at $500.000.
The little articles of hooks and eyes is
another illustration of the same progress
of inventive industry. Thirty years ago,
the price was 81 so the gross pairs now
the same quantity can be purchased at Is
to 20 ccuts. AT one establishment in
New Britain, Conn. $4,000 to 100. 900
pairs per day are made and plated by a
galvanic battery, or the cold silver pro-
cess. The value of this article consumed
in year in This country is said 10 be
$3.50 900.
Another article very essential TO the
husbandman, horse-shocs, furnishes a
similar proof of the bearing of the pro-
gress of inventions. An improved kind
of horse shoes made at Troy, N. Y. for
some time past, is now sold at the price
of only five cents per pound, ready pre-
pared to be used in shoeing the animal.
At factory recently erected, fifty tons Of
these are now turned out per day and it
is thought they can be made and sen, to
Europe at as good profit as is derived
from American clocks, which have hand
somely rcmuneyated the exporter.
The improvements in the manufacture
and making up Of leather have also great
ly reduced the price Of another article
shoes. BY further inventions to render
leather water proof, likewise, much has