The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1852-03-11
Old IInb,t,-IIirum Powers.
Extract of a Letter from an American Residin
temporarily in Florence.

Extract ola Letter from m American Residing
temporarily in Florence
Ny correspondent is engaged in putting up
some fixtures and thus deserves some oi the vex-
ntions incidents Of dependence on the meclan'
les ol that city. Ilesays:
"In America might be saved all this loss oI
time; but here. where the carpenters have nothing
but n red hot poker 10 bore deep hoicS ntth' (noi
an nnger in ali Flurence!) what can be expected
from other mechanical A part ol my room Is
fitted I'M like blncksmith's shOp where | ham
Iner through my difficulties us best may. But
Won will ask, how do the Flurenies get onl why,
they get on as their grandlnthcrs did, They work
without tuOls;nnd tuke rs much time Ia dn lhIng
as Yankee would require To do thing twice or
thrice over What would you think to see man
saving wood holding the wood in bolh hands ana
the suw.irame between hn knees. bOhblng up ana
down over it with tho pesrirntion drip
ping from lis nosel And yet this is the way the
sawyprs all do here.
Everything is inside out. or the wrong end
foremost in This country. Tho simblels are made
Ia turn the reverse Of ours; axes are shaped like
grnlbing hoes; and ploughs are made from tnrk
ed tree. Even the ulptnrs are incorrigible.-
Our ceebrnled fellow citizen, Powers has lnven.
ted nnl constructed many ingenious tools and
great improvements in the nrt; and, though all
praise and admire, none will ndnpt them. For
instance, Mr. Powers to prevent his models drying
| in the intervals between work. or IN the nighl
timo, hns an oilcloih cylinder suspended over the
work from pulley. When this ia drawn down
the air is enectually excluded, M there can b."
of course. no evaporation. Well, the native ar
lists have been to see il; but it never had been
done by Cnnova, they couldn't mike up then
minds 10 try it. They returned In their stn'llns
md still adhere to the old method. which is to
swnhe the clay statue from head In feet witt
wet bandagcs of muslin. This sonn rOls and
soils the clay with slime and besides, it rnbs
way the delicate modelling. ltnlSo requires con
siderable time tn put ton aud take II oiiwIereas
by Mr.. Powers method. il is done in an instant
'But Mr.. Powers has gone even beyond all
this for he now models his statues without The
use of clay ut all. He has discovered process by
which he makes tho plnsler as impressIble rs
cny, thus Swing both expense and time Thi'
| is nn immense Improvement; but nevertheless
the old fngies shake their heads nt it, as much as
to say, Our grandiathers didn't do things in this
manner.
Before closing, ought to tell ycn tha, Mr. p
is blocking rut his America in sp0iless piece '
marble. 1t is Of lhp natural size 0f America i
you can guess what that is: or about ak leet one
inch higli | wish Cong ress would order II mhd'
nl coossal size. say ten or twelve feet high. nnt
put ii in the pace Of the ten pin player on th'
eastern portion of the Capitol, 1t is rather NJ
oversight in the Great West Ia neglect their re
nowned fellow citizen. whose genius was ilrst ex
cited on the banks of la belle reviere. MAI. IN
tciigeRcer.