The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-05-22
RICHMOND MANUFACTURES,
Machinery-sloat & Arlington.

from the ores, have been wonder
fully advanced towards perfection in the
last half century. The history of our own
Patent Office, if not that of England, is
mainly limited one as to time, few of the
more important discoveries and inventions
dating back of the decades we have named.
The history of such an office in the time of
Methuselah (who certainly lived long
enough to encourage respectable num-
Der of artisans and mechanics in the at
tainment of perfection in their ar0 would
be decided curiosity in our day, aside
from any archaeological value that might
be attached to it. 1t is true that Tubal-
cain was an artifcer, if not an inventor, of
no small note, and instructed many artisans
in the forging of brass and iron into useful
implements of war and husbandry; but he
had no such artificial stimulus to spur him
forward in his avocation as that of mod
ern Patent Office--itself the most valuable,
as we'll as remarkable in results, of all the
inventions of modern times. Tt was not
simply poetic idea with the ancients that
led them to classify the ages as those OF
gold, silver, brass, and iron, in their order
of succession; for it had far more real
than allegorical foundation in fact. But
while we have lost some of the arts by
which they successfully impressed value
upon these metals, the machinery for man.
ufacturing them into implements of human
use, with the wonderful adaptation Of ends
to means to accomplish enlarged results,
has been chiefly advanced to its present
high state of perfection under the stimulus
of government patent offices, in securing to
inventors, in this and other countries, the
exclusive right to use and vend their own
individual improvements for term of
years. u.-. ... ..--.s.. .,s.- Is a.a
There is one thing, however, that we
ought to know, and the master-workers in
iron in this country might well afford to
send an emissary, if necessary, among the
natives of India, to find out the process by
which their celebrated wootz steel is manu-
featured, as well as the ingots that come
from Golconda, from which the Damascus
blades, no less renowned now than
in the Middle Ages, are manufac.
tured. The processes of their manu-.
facture are not, like the Egyptian pro-
cess Of tempering copper, among
the lost arts, and there is no good reason
why they should not be known. Tt is dis
creditable to England, as well as this coun.
try, that, with all our improved machinery
for working iron, and our advanced pro.
cesses of reducing the ores to metal, We
should be behind the rude and primitive
methods of these semi-barbarous peoples.
But it is not the fault of Messrs. SLoAI
& ADDINGToN, of this city, that the steel
of these eastern countries is, for all pur.
poses Of cutlery, so infinitely superior to
the best English cast steel. Were they
among the representative men of England
in India, the world would soon be apprised
of the method of manufacturing the wootz
steel, as practiced by the natives of that
country. 1t would not long escape then
sharp, practieed eye and quick, intuitive
skill at mastering the possibilities of IRON
This we infer from the character of theil
Machine shop, situated at Nos. 1422-24-2f
and % Cary street, and at Nos. 10 and 1;
South Fifteenth street. The dimensions o
| this shop are rs feet front on Cary street
with depth of 200 feet back, and a from
of 40 feet on Fifteenth street, will
a depth of 100 feet in the rear and it il
safe to say that there is not a more com
plete establishment of its size, nor neate
and better appointed one of any size, ii
any part of the country. The first thing
that strikes the visitors eye is the perfec
order, neatness, and system which pervade
every part of their shop, from the count
ing-room to the pattern loft, and from from
to rear, on both streets, of their entir,
buildings. The principle that there is
place for everything and everything SHOULD
have its place, is one rigidly observed by
every machinist, blacksmith and artisan il
the establishment, and nowhere more man
ifestly adhered to than in the counting
room of the proprietors. In the machine
shop proper, which is forty by one hun
bred feet in floor dimensions, there are a
many as thirty planners and lathes of various
sizes, and the machinery by which they arr
run is almost as noiseless as that of com
mon sewing machine. s
They keep for sale a large quantity o
machinery, such as hosting engines o
every desirable horse power; the same
mounted on wheels for quarrying, wreck
ing, pile-driying, etc., with or without
hammers, and all the fixtures for pile
driving; upright engines and boilers, 0
different horse power, the running qualities
of which can be tested on the premises
before sale; portable and stationary en-
gines with boilers, of different sizes anG
descriptions, from one to sixty horse
power portable grist-mills, with French
Burr stones the A lden fan blower; lathes
of all kinds, foot and screw-cutting slide
Earl's patent steam pumps force pumps
with different sized plungers shafting
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