Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-08-25

wards spun in lathes into the forms of tea,
coffee and milk pots, cups fagons, and urns,
of tasteful designs after which they are elec-
tro plated with silver, and become beautiful in
appearance. Twenty years ago all our pewter
and Britannia ware was imported from England
now, very little, if any, comes TO US from
abroad We manufacture all we use at home
! Skillful English artisans introduced the art
among US, and there are very large manufac-
tories for making this ware in Waterbury and
| Meriden, Conn, Taunton, Mass and several
other New England towns. Very great ad-
vances have been made of recent years in the
designs or forms of articles formed of this ware
| The old pc wter tedpotS and their adjuncts
were models of uglineSs in comparison with the
same class of articles now manufactured. The
| adoption of classic models has wonderfully i'm
proved the tastes of our people, and such has
been the progress recently made in this art that
elegant articles of such ware with surfaces of
| dazzling pure silver, can now be purchased
! lower than the old-pewter-pots, 80 years ago
/ At some other period, we may refer at further
length to these manufactures we must now,
however coufne ourselves to tin as an article
of commerce.
-Four classes Of tin find their way into our
market. These are denomnated Bancd, Straits
! English and Spanish The first is the best,
and is the principal sort which we employ -
! Our rocks yield an abundance of gold, but
not pound Of American tin has ever beeu
sold in our martS. Traces of this metal have
been found at Lyme, n. H., Gotham, Mass
and in some parts Of Virginia but we have
no tin mines.
Banca tin" is always sold for about two
and three cents more per pound than any other
! because it is q reliable article, and its quality
can be taken upon trust. The honest Holland
er deserves credit for this confidence in the tin
with which he furnishes US. Its name is deriv-
ed from the island Of Banca, where it is obtain
ed, and which is under the government of the
the Dutch East India Company. Great care
is exercised in smelling the ore to obtain the
metal pure and of a uniform quality, and the
manner in which business is done in the selling
of 1t is peculiar The company makes public
sales of this metal only once per annum, in the
month of July, and accumlales the yearly pro-
duets of their mines for this purpose. Rot:er-
dam. in Holland, is the place of sale and
about two or three months previous to this event
the company sends notices to all civilized coun-
tries Of the amount to be sold, with the reiia.
bIe guarantee that not another pound shell be
These annual sales were commenced about 30
years ago. and the promises of this Dutch
company have always been sacredly kept.
although, in many instances, great temptations
have been presented by high rise in the prices
of the metal after the public sales. Those
who purchase Blnca tin at Rotterdam, do so
with the perfect confidence that subsequently
hcod of this metal cannot be poured into the
Z = tbnfr hn
in it, therefore, is very safe, and the Roths-
childs and other large bankers are frequent
purchasers for the purpose of safely investing
idle funds.
In 1856, there was I67 900 pigs of Banca
/ 60 lbs each) sold at Rotterdam in 1857,
| 1911 900 1898 I9l, 900 1859 1879, 900 only
There was quite falling off in the product
/ last year, and, as consequence, there has been
a rise from two to three cents per pound in
Buuca since the news of the annual sales the
last month arrived. OF the amount of this tin
taken by the Uunited States in four years,
there were, in 1856, 80 SIC pigs in 1851
| (year Of the panic) II. 600 in 1858, 81, ,79l
and this year, so far, 81, 600 pigs. Our white
ware" manufacturers do not find hard granuleS
and other foreign substances in this tin, as they
do in other brands hence its high character
for the most important purposes.
Straits tin derives its name from vessels
which trade with ports in the Indian Arch-
pelagO, and pass through the Straits of Malacca.
! They collect this metal at Singapore. at Borneo,
aud other places and although some Of the pigs
are as good as those of Banca, Oh the whole it
is not so reliable, but ranks next in vane
English tin ;" is obtained iG Cornwall, where
the most productive mines of this metal in the
world are located. The best qualities of English
tin it is said, never reach our markets the
poorer qualities only are exported The " re-
fined English which is esteemed as good as
Banca, and sells for the same price in London,
is all kept for British manufacturing purposes,
the demand for it being greater than the sup
ply.
Our "Spanish tin" comes from Mexico and
South America. Its quality is poor, owing to
the slovenly method employed to smeIt the ore.
1t could be refined to equal any other but as
it is, the pigs of it sold in our market are very
impure.
This metal (tin) deserves more attention
from our metalIurgists than it has received, as
its market valne is steady Oh the increase, and
the demand for it advancing rapidly because
of its more general application to various new
purposes in the arts Banca tin is double the
/ price it was 20 years ago the wholesale price
at present is 33 cents per pound, and the pros
pect is that it will attain to a much higher
! figure. DR.. jackson, of Boston, who has dis
covered specimens of tin ore in New Hamp
! shire, advises further prospecting for the metal
and we urge his suggestion upon metallurgists
in every section of our country, as it costs us
about $500, 900 annually for it, the largest
item being plates and sheets valued at 81, 700,-
600, sum which might be saved if We had
Tin mines Of our own
L.. III - IL