Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1869-02-02
From the Enquirer and Examiner.
The Manufactures Of Augusta County,

FROM the enquirer and Examiner.
The Manufactures Of Augusta County.
The position held by this county as a produ-
Ger of grain, as shown in former article,
would lead to the conclusion that the manufac-
turing establishments for the conversion OF
these cereals into -four and meal would hold an
important place among those there in opera
tion-and we find that 60 of the 1877 in the
county were devoted to these purposes, having
an invested capital of $685., 900, working up
raw material worth 1891 ,000 employing SO
hands at cost Of $23, $50, and producing S462,-
255 worth of -four and meal. In the number
of its Touring mills, Augusta is by far the first
county in the State-Henrico, alone, had, more
money invested in Touring mills, the extensive
establishments in Richmond, unsurpassed In
the United States, swelling its total.
Next in point of numbers were the twentyS
two numbering establishments, costing $39, 562,
using ST., sos worth of timber, employing
forty eight men for ST, 200, and furnishing
$40, 024 worth of lumber, nearly all of it for
home consumption. Frederick had twenty"six
saw Mills but only produced about half as much
lumber, and at greater proportlonate cost;
Halifax, with sixteen mills, had more invested,
and produced more at less cost; Rockbridge
had forty>three, had less invested, and pro-
duced more, a result easily accounted for when
we remember that she has the advantage OF.
water transportation, by canal, to market;
Washington county had forty-fve mills, but
only about the same amount of production.
The Is distilleries Of the county had $751;
45S invested, used raw material worth $58, 339,
employed 81 men at SO, 10S, and manufactured
$780, worth of liquor Rockbridge had 20
establishments but only 81 ,025 invested, using
not half the raw material or producing half as
much for Market one establishment in Henrico
had more invested and produced more, and one
in Ohio county, now in West Virginia, pro-
duced more Its II blacksmithing establish
ments produced $2l, 676; its II tanyards, with
$50, 300 invested, used $21, S05 worth of raw
material, employed 20 men at cost of ST ,668
and produced $33, 647 worth of leather, more
than was produced in any other county now in
the State, although Rockingham had 2 more
tanyards and had more money invested In the
business; the counties Of Marion, Preston,
Harrison and Hampshire, now in West Vir-
ginia, were more extensively engaged in this
branch of manufacture from circumstances ca
silly explained.
The establishments for the manufacture of
boots and shoes were I, yielding $2l $50; 6 for
confectioneries for making carriages. paying
out $4,000 for material and labor, and produ-
cling $50, 700 worth for sale for cooperage !;
for saddlery and harness; for wool carding,
consuming $1,000 worth of wool: 3 for making
threshing machines, producing 50, 300 worth !;
3 for making cigars, producing $lO,85O 3 for
millinery; for grinding plaster, using SILL
900 of raw material and making it worth $l3,-
500; for making wagons and carts; 2 for dem
tai manufacture, producing $4,000; 2 for iron
castings, making So, $50 Of raw material worth
$4,000; 2 for tin, copper, and sheet>iron ware;
2 tor wooden goods, consuming $40, $50 In value
of wool and turning out 49,, 900 worth Of goods;
l establishment for making mems clothing l
bakery; l cabinet shop; l gas works, 1 hat
making establishment; l for making bar iron,
using $4,000 worth Of material and making S.
600 worth of the manufactured article; l fur
mace for pig iron, with $4,000 invested, and a
production of $4,000; l manganese mine
yielding S., $50; marble factory: paper mill
that, with II hands, at a cost of 5000, con-
verted 1000 worth of raw material into $lS-
900 worth of printing paper; | photograph
establishment, and pottery that, on 5000 OF
investment, cost Of raw material and labor, pro-
duced $1,000. These make the 1877 manutacto-
ries in the county in 1850, with $639,000 in
vested in them, using raw material worth $685.
$40; employing Al males and 81 females at
1929, ia for wages, and yielding products val~
ued at $9l5,713.
In the number of establishments, Henrico
with its 800, and Rockbridge with its 220, only
surpassed 1.-THE one including the manufac-
turing city Of Richmond, the other the numer-
Gus blacksmith shops and saw mills that pro-
duced but little; in capital invested, the cost of
material and value of production it was only
surpassed by the tobacco manufacturing coun-
ties of Henrico, Campbell, Dinwiddie and Pitt
sylvania, the coal and cotton Of Chesterfield, in
Virginia. the iron and glass of Ohio, and the
salt Of Kanawha in West Virginia. Rock
bridge yielded more from the large value OF its
cement. I4)Y
These are the .tacts of l86O-instructiye, in
showing what had been done to bring the loom
and anvil to the land of the plow-share but far
more instructive and useful we hope they will
prove when We point out the undevelOped re-
| sources the unused raw materials, that will re-
pay the augmentation, more than hundred
fold, Of manufacturing establishments. Many
OF those In operation In 1860 we're burned du-
ring the war, but they are more in number now
than then, with more capital invested, using
more raw material and producing far more-in
many things several hundred per cent., for
market. The county has added to its indus
tries the manufacture of buckingham ware
and fire. brick from its native kaolin; of umber
from Its own deposits; OF improved pig iron,
almost as valuable as steel for many purposes,
from its own ores, found in the natural state ct
ted for process Of manufacture OF agricultural
implements and machinery, that are finding
purchasers even beyond the borders OF the State
on account Of the quality of their material and
workmanship; and the opening of valuable
quarries Of marble, whose products are the de-
mand OF fashion liz the metropolitan cities; Its
flour, from its new and improved mills, has at
tracted purchasers from the city of New York,
and secured the patronage of the government.
The exhibit of the fruits of its varied mechani-
cal industries at its inaugural fair last fall, Ito
say nothing of the fair itself, which was mar
vel Of production showed that the county is
fully on the course for being the first in the
Commonwealth always excepting our metrop-
olitan county, in the number, variety and val
ue of its manufactures
Important Legal Decisions.
At the recent sitting of the Board of Regis.