The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-05


time Jabez Gorham set up for himself, and he
added to the list of articles tue important item
OF Natch-chains of q peculiar pattern, long
known In New Epgl9nd as the "Gorham chain.p
The old gentleman gives an amusing account of
the simple manner in which business was done
IN those days. When he had manufactured a
uunktul OF jee elry he would Jog away with it
10 Boston, where, after depositlng the trunk in
his room, he would go round to all the jewellers
IN the city to inform hem of his arrival, aud to
say That his jewelry would be ready in his room
Tor inspection on the following morning at 10
O'Clock, and not before. Before the appointed
hour every jeweller in the town would be at his
door; but as 1t was a point OF honor to give
them all an equal chance, no one was ad.
mitted till the clock struck, when all pushed
in in body. The jewelry was spread out
on the bed, around which all the jewellers
OF Boston, in 1920, could gather without GRO Wd-
ing. Each man began by placing his hat in
some convenient place, and it was in his hat
that he deposited the articles selected by him
for purchase. When the whole stock had been
transferred from the bed to the several hats, Mr..
GOrham took a list of the contents Of each;
whereupon the jewellers packed their purchases
and carried them home. In the course OF the
Gay the bills were made out and the next morn
ing Mr.. Gorham went his rounds and collected
the money. The business being thus happily
concluded, he returned to Providence, to work
uninterruptedly tor another SIX months: In THIS
manner Jabez Gorham conducted business for
sixteen years before he ever thought OF attempt
ing silverware. Such was his reputation lor
scrupulous honesty that, for many years before
subjected his work to any test whatever, not
even 10 that of pair OF scales. 1t is his boast
that during the whole of his business career of
more than halt century he, never sold an arti-
Gle of lower standard of purity than the one
established by law or by the nature OF the pre-
cious metals.
About the year 1926 some Boston people dis
covered that a tolerabe silver spoon could be
made much thinner than the custom OF the
trade had previously permitted, and that these
thin spoons could be sold by peddlers very ad-
vantageously. The consequence of this Disco
very was that silver spoons became an article of
manufacture in Boston, whence peddlers con-
veyed them TO the remotest hooks of New Bug-
land. One day, in 1880, the question occurred
to Jabez Gorham, why not make spoons in
Providence, and sell them to the peddlers who
buy our jewelry? The next time he took his
trunk of trinkets 10 Boston he looked about him
for a man who knew something of the art of
spoon-making. One such he found young man
Just "out OF his time," whom he took back with
him to Providence, where he established him in
an odd corner of his iewelry shop. In this
way, thirty-seven years ago, the business began
which has grown 10 be the largest and most
complete mandatory of silver ware in the
world. For the first ten years he made nothing
but spoons, thimbles. and silver combs, with an
occasional papkin-ring, if any one in Provi-
sdence was bold enough to order one. Busi-
nesses grew very slowly in those days. 1t was
thought grand success when Jabez Gorham,
alter nearly twenty years. eXertion, had fifteen
men employed in making spoons, forks, thim-
bles, napkin-rings, children's mugs, and such
small ware. Nor would Mr.. Gorham, of his
own motion, have ever carried the business
much further; certainly not to the point of pro-
duclng articles that approach the rank of works
OF art. We have heard the old gentleman say
mat nc often stood at store-window in Boston,
wondering by what process certain operations
were performed in silver, the results of which
he say Pefore him in the form of pitchers and
teapots.
But in due course of time Mr. John Gorham,
the present head of the house, eldest son of the
founder came upon the scene-an aspiring in
genious young man. whose nature it was to
excel in anything in which he might chance TO
engage. The silversmith's art was then so little
known in the United States that neither work
men nor information could be obtained here in
it's higher branches. MIR. John Gorham crossed
the ocean soon after coming OF age, and exam
ined every leading silver establishment in
Europe. He was freely admitted everywhere,
as no one in the business had ever thought OF
America as a possible competitor; still less did
any one see in this quiet Yankee youth the per-
son who was to annihilate the American demand
for European silverware, and produce articles
which famous European houses would seryilely
COPY. From the time of MIR. John Gorham's re-
turn dates the eminence of the present company
and of the production of the costller kinds of
silverware, on great scale, In the United
States From first to last the company have In
duced siXty-three accomplished workmen to
come from Europe and settle in Providence,
some of whom might not unjustly be enrolled in
the list of artists.
The war gave an amazing development to
this business, as it did to all others minsterug
| TO pleasure OF the sense of beauty. When the
| war began, in 1861, the Gorham Company em-
| ployed about one hundred and fifty men; and in
| 1864 this number had increased to four hundred,
/ all engaged in making articles of solid silver
| Even with this great force the company were
| sometimes unable to supply the demand for
their beautiful products. On Christmas morn
| ing, 1864 there was left in the store in Maiden
| lane, New York, but seven dollars worth of
ware, out of an average stock of one hundred
| thousand dollars worth. Perhaps we ought not
| TO be surprised at this. Consider our silver
| weddings. 1t is not unusual for several thou
| sands Of dollars worth of silver to be presented
on these occasions-in one instance sixteen thou
| sand dollars worth was given, And what
| lady can be married. nowadays, without hay-
ing a few pounds OF sil yer given to her? For
| christmas presents, of course, sverWare is
| always among the objects dangerous to the
sanity of those who go forth, Just before the
holidays, with limited purse and unlimited
| desires.
What particularly surprises the visitor to the
| Gorham Works, at Providence, is to see labor
| saving machlnerY-the ponderous steam ham
mer, the stamping and rolling apparatus-em-
| ployed in silver work, instead of the baser
metals to which they are usually applied
Nothing is done by hand which can be done by
machinery; so that the three hundred men
usually employed in solid ware are in reality
doing the work of thousand The frst opera-
tlon Is to buy silver coin ia Wall street. In
bag OF dollars there are always some bad pieces;
and as the Company embark their reputation in
every silver vessel that leaves the factory and
are always responsible for its purity, each dollar
is wrenched asunder and its goodness positively
ascertained before Ii is thrown into the crucIble
The subsequent operations, by which these
spoiled dollars are converted into objects of
brilliant and enduring beauty, can better be
imagined than described.
New forms OF beauty are the constant study