The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1872-06-08
Stolen Secrets.


We take the following from an en-
tertaining article in HaIper's Mdga-
zine:
A manufacturer in these our days
holds his own against competition by
force of capital, knowledge of science,
and skill of workmen. He has no Sc
cret beyond that of producing the
best article at the lowest price. One
hundred years ago the case was diff
ferent. What man discovered in
the arts he concealed. Workmen
were put upon their oath, in the name
of God, never to reveal the processes
used by their employers. Doors were
kept closed, artisans going out were
searched, visitors were vigorously eN-
cluded from admission, and false oper
ations blinded the worl1men them
selves. The mysteries of every craft
were hedged in by quickest fences Of
empirical pretension and judicial atfir-
nation.
The royal manufactures OF porce-
lain. for example were long carried on
in Europe with spirit of Jealous ex-
clusiyeness. His Majesty of Saxony
was especially cireumspect. Not con-
sent with the oath of secrecy imposed
upon his work people, he would not
abate his kingly suspicion in favor of
Il brother monarch. Neither king nor
kings delegate might enter within the
tabooed walls of Meissen. What is
enormously called the Dresden porce
lain-that exquisite pottery of which
the world has never seen the like
was produced by process so secret
that neither the bribery of princes
nor the garrulity OF operatives ever
revealed it.
There is still standing, close by
Temple Bar, III London, an old chem
lists shop. The proprietor of it in
days gone by enjoyed the monopoly
of making citric acid. More favorably
circumstaneed than other secretmanu-
faeturers, his was a process that re-
quired no assistance. He employed
no workmen. Experts came to sample
| and assert and bottle his products.
They never entered his laboratory.
| The mystic operations by which he
grew rich We're confined to himself.
One day, having locked the doors and
blinded the windows, sure as usual of
the safety of his secret, our chemist
went home to dinner. A chimney
sweep, or Il boy disguised as such,
wide awake in chemistry, was on the
watch. Following the secret keeper
so far on his way towards Charing
Cross as to be sure he would not re-
turn that day, the sooty philoso-
pher HE'D rapidly to Temple Bar, as
cended the low building, dropped
down the tiue, saw all he wanted, and
returned, carrying with him the mys-
terry of making citric acid. The
monopoly of the inventor was gone.
A few months after, and the price of
the article was reduced four fifths.
The poor man was heart broken, and
died shortly afterward, ignorant ofthe
trick by which he had been victimized.
Like Miss Tabitha Bramble, when
informed that the thunder had spoiled
two barrels of beer in her cellar, he
might have said, GLOW the thunder
should get there, when the cellar was
double-locked, | can't comprehend
The manufacture OF tin-ware in Eng
land originated in stolen secret
Few readers need to be informed that
tin-ware is simply thin iron plated
with tin by being dipped into the
molten metal. IN theory it is an easy
matter to clean the surface Of iron
dip it into bath of the boiling tin
and remove it, enveloped with thu
silvery metal, to Il place for cooling
| In practice, however, the process is
one of the most difficult in the arts
1t was discovered in Holland, anf
guarded from publicity with the ut
most vigilance for nearly half a cen.
tury. England tried in vain to dis.
cover the secret, until James Sherman
| Il Cornish miner, crossed the Channel
| insinuated himself suTeptitiously int
IL tin-plate mandatory, made him
self master of the secret and brough
it home.
The history of cast-steel presents /;
curious instance of manufacturing
secret stealtlily obtained under thu
Nio"N VI "h ttPPGdi " l'hildiIHiVpA
The main distinction between iron
iand steel, us everybody knows, is tina
the latter contains carbon. The on,
is converted into the other by being
heated for considerable time in con.
tact with powdered charcoal in IN iro1
box. Now steel thus made is unequal
The middle of Il bar is more carbon
lied than the ends, and the silrfac,
more than the center. it is, therefore
unreliable. Uniform work cannot bt
made out of it. For many purpose,
/ it will answer, but where accuracy i.
| required it fails. Nevertheless, be
fore the invention of east-steel there
was nothing better.
In 1860 there lived at Attercliffe
near Sheffield, Il matchmaker named
| Huntsman. He became dissatisfied
with the wateh-springs in use, anf
set himself to the task of making
them homogeneous. ii" thought
he, g | can melt IA piece of steel ant