Eastern times., 1856-03-27


much conduct as courage, and which in itself
illustrates the vast superiority that profession
al skill gives on an element that requires prac-
tice to be rendered successfully available
-Cooper's Nara1 History. -
The Manufacture of Enameled Cloth.
The enameled cloth of commerce enters into
many uses as a substitute for leather 1t is
light and pliable, and at the same time firm
and durable. 1t has all the appearance of
leather, with nearly its durability. Its most
important use is that of covering for carriage
tops, for travelling bags and trunks. 1t is ex-
tensively employed for the manufacture of
cushions and upholstering of similar nature,
and not rarely is it worked up into rain proof
coats and pants, answering all the purposes of
the India Rubber cloth, with which it is too
frequently confounded The manufacture is
simple and easily carried on, and yet glance
through the factory is not the most nninterest-
! White, Smith & Co., standing on the bank of
the Lickingwater river, at the lower end of
Maple Street, just where the broad meadows
spread in luxuriance on every hand, is now in
a most prosperous condition, and is rapidly
taking rank among the first establishments of
the kind in the country. q M r
The building occupied for the factory is lS6
by 40 feet and two stories high, guarded, it
would seem, by ramparts Of wood, many hun
dred cords of which are neatly piled about it.
On the first floor is carried on the main part
of The manufacture, the upper story being prin-
cipally used as drying and vanishing rooms.
The foundation of the article now under
consideration is cotton cloth of the best quail
ty, made at Lowell, expressly for this manu-
facture. 1t varies in texture and width, ac-
cording 10 the kind of goods for which it is
intended the width being from 81 10 54 inch
es. The cloth is taken from the bale and
wound upon large iron cylinder, and looks,
in that position. very much like the huge rolls
of home made cloth, seen by the ancients in the
garrets and chambers of New England farm
houses, when weaving was in fashion. 1t is
now ready to receive its erst coat, SO it is
slowly passed through the machine, across and
between huge iron cylinders, from the smaller
OF which at the top, it receives its first coating
of composition, black, disagreeable looking
substance, composed of oil, lamp-black, rosn,
and other ingredients, boiled together, till
about the consistency Of melted tar. From
between the cylinders, dressed in its black
coat, the cloth is carried into the story above,
through an aperture in the floor, and wound
upon huge wooden frame, resembling in
shape the old fashioned reel upon which our
mothers were formerly in the habit of reeling
/ their yarn, before the spinning wheel was su-
perseded by French novels. BY an arrange
ment of spokes upon the arms of this huge
wheel, each LAYER of cloth is kept separate, so
that no two portions of the cloth will come in
contact. The frame with its contents, when
filled, is passed into what is called the heater,
an apartment kept at high temperature, for
the purpose of drying in the coating of compo-
! sition. After remaining in the heater suffi-
cent length of time to complete the drying
| process, it is removed to the lower story from
whence it originally started, TO pass through
\ the hands of workmen, who make all the rough
places smooth. 1t is laid on long tables and
the workmen alternately sprinkle with water
and rub with pummice stone, till the whole
surface is made perfectly smooth. The cloth
is then wound upon the cylinder again as al
first, and passed through the machine into the
upper story, upon the huge reels, and into the
heater, and again under the pummice stone
/ The cloth is passed through the machine five
times, or till the required thickness has beer
laid on. After the last scrubbing down, the
fabric is taken to another department in the
upper story, thoroughly vanished, and agar
passed through the heater. 1t is now repre-
senied as piece of cotton cloth with ihicl
shining coat of black, very much resembling
patent leather. But it has not yet received
its leather finish, so in another department j
is passed through the enamel machine, which
consists of another set of huge rollers, one o
which covers its surface with irregular linden
tations resembling the grain of leather. Th,
cloth is now carefully measured and rolled VI
in packages of suitable size, put up in boxes
and is ready for the market.
We have described briefly the process o
manufacturing the black enamelled cloth
which enters most largely into use. The
method of making the different colors is essen
TALLY the same, the black being the tounda
ton, and the colors afterwards applied by
hand.-Northampton Gdzette.
The Pacific Steamship-An Incident.
Among the passengers upon the Pacific is