Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-01-15
Our NEW YORK CORRESPONDENCE.
New YORK. Dec. "a. 1851


New YORK, Dec "a, 1851.
Mr.. EDTTOR -
just now, every body in New York IS
preparing for Christmas The great fea-
ture of that day, here, is the bestowaI of
Christmas presents. Already the win
dows Of the Jewelry and Fancy stores
are ablaze with glittering trinkets suita-
BILE for souvenirs and cages of love The
contectlonerIes and cakeries are decked
for the sacrifice the booksellers have
marshalled whole regiments of damask-
eened ANNALS on their counters and
shelves; the plate glass lady-traps in
Broadway are baited with profusion of
rich and radiant fabrics toydom has
opened its batteries cf temptation upon
boydom the theatres are preparing for
the holiday week balls and banquets are
IN progress of development; the country
IS getting ready to come 70 town. aud the
town ls thinking about paying 4 visit to
It's friends in the country; boarding
schools are IN a state of efTeresence : and.
in short, even the Kossuth fever IS giving
place to the jovial epidemic which seize8
upon the animal spirits at this season.
/ might say great deal more about
Christmas but | shall not I must dash
into revolutions, discoveries, inventions.
and such like matterof fact subjects
! observe, by articles in various news
papers, thai some good people are becom-
ing alarmed at the prospect Of the speedy
consumption Of all the wood in the world Z
What" say these honest fellows, shall
we then do for fuel, and furniture, and
building materials 2"
must confess, that when / first saw
an article on this subject, in one of our
city papers, / was greatly started, and
agreed. with the writer, " shat, unless
Providence opened up some way of escape.
the time would come, when the inhabi-
tants of the earth would be. to say the
least, sorely perplexed to find materials
out of which to build houses. construct
ships, and make furniture, fences. and all
other things now made, either wholly or
in part, of wood" After thorough in
vestigation of the subject, however. all my
fears vanished and | am now prepared
to snap my fingers at wood. and wooden
headed people, who are foolish enough to
put their trust in anything that grows in
the forest.
Wooden ware. wooden utensils wooden
houses. wooden fences, and wooden ships
are all humbugs. They viii soon 20 out
of use. Iron is the thing This age will
be hereafter known as the IRoN AGE -
Everything will be made Of iron. in few
years more. We now have plenty OF iron
houses. about which there IS not ? 7peck
of wood and in our magnificent bay
may be seen iron vessels Of various di-
meusIOns One great draw back. hither-
to, to the introduction Of iron manufsc
lures has arisen from the fact that only
cast-iron articles have been made and
they are expensive, clumsy and liable to
break. 1t Is only since the discovery
that wrought iron fabrics can be more
readily worked more highly ornamented,
more elegantly designed. furnished at one
half the expense, and warranted to endure
five times the violence Of cast-iron, that
this branch of manufactures has assumed
a position and dignity commensurate with
its importance To the genius of Mr..
John b WIckersham, of this CITY. is the
world indebted for this great discovery
2 discovery which. in my opinion. will vet
place the name Of Wicbersham alongside
Of those Of Franklin. Watts. Arkwriebt.
Dacuerre, Steere, Morse, and Of the 9th
er Illustrlous men, whose genius and prac-
teal skill have contributed so much to
the worlds advancement
Wrought-iron can now be woven into
any desirable shape, and adapted to an
Infinite variety OF purposes. Window
guards.and gratings. for steamships.stores.
dwellings. and all manner of public and
private buildings iron bedsteads wire
railing, for enclosing public and private
grounds, cemeteries, sc. farm fence. at
> rod and, in short, almost every
thing that is necessary IN building and
furnishing house, or in fencing and stock
ing farm with implements. is now made
Of this enduring material These wrought
iron fabrics combine lightness, cheapness
and elegance, with the utmost strength
ana durability; and think they r.dst.
eventually, supersede all others Their
eheapuess and durability are strong points
in their favor. For example. 4 farmer
in Illinois, having five hundred acres of
prairie land to enclose, can send to New
York aud have this I'm perishable wrought
iron farm fence delivered on his premis-
es, for a much less sum taan IL would cost
him, labor included for rails TO fence an
equal amount Of land. Aud he could eu-
close q hundred acres with tie iron fence.
while be would b. putting rail- fence
sra.;II p two s1re III