The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-11-03
Our Ce.aGennIal letter.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. /, 1876

have determined not to extend the
time q single day beyond Novem-
10th, the time originally set for
closing. Those who do not see this
wonderful exhibition will miss q
rare treat. The attendance has
reached $1,000 a day, and is still
Among the exhibits in Machinery
Hall is a very fine display of wire,
and wire cables, of every size and
description. Among these is sec
ton of the cable that Is to be used
in the construction of the great
bridge across the East river, be-
tween New York and Brooklyn.
This cable is about Is inches in d.
ameter, is composed of 5000 No. Z
galvanized cast steel wires, and will
bear q strain of $4,000, 600 pounds.
Ii is by far the largest cable in the
world, and will span the largest
space ever crossed by single span
of bridge. The Americans lead
the world in bridge building, and
the American system is being fol-
lowed by all other nations.
Among the saws exhibited, of
which there is very fine collection,
is circular saw 100 inches in di-
ameter, the largest in the world. In
this line America is now the &C.
knowledged leader of the world,
and to-day the Americans sell their
saws in large quantities in Sheffield,
England, the very centre of the steel
trade. Owing TO the scarcity of
wood in England, the large circular
saws such as may be seen in nearly
all of our saw mills, are not used at
all. In all England there is not q
200 acre tract of timber land. To
the French we are indebted for the
of the band saw. The
French do not use the American
hand saw at all, but use only those
that are placed in q frame, like our
wood saws. A year or two ago, q
travelling salesman for one of our
saw manufacturers, went to Paris
with an assortment of our hand
saws, but not only could not sell
them, but was laughed at for trying
to introduce such things. He left
them with the French dealers to see
if they could get their carpenters to
use them, but some of these dealers
who have visited this exposition,
say they still have them on hand.
Germany buys most of her saws
from America.
Owing to the abundance of wool
in this country, and the use of ma
chinery in every thing that we
make, America supplies England
nearly altogether with carpenters
levels, cages, and other such instru-
ments. The English stick to hand
labor and refuse to use machinery
uDtil they find that Yankee ingenu-
Ity and "push" are driving them out
of the market, and then they do so
from sheer necessity alone. This is
the case in the manufacture of files.
The English still make their fiat files
by hand, while the Americans use
altogether, and make
them just as well and many times
as fast.
The exhibit of metal working
in Machinery Hall is
very fine in every sense of the word,
and is probably the finest ever
brought together. In nothing is
the Yankee ingenuity and invent
iveness SO fully shown as in these
labor-saving machines. The Con-
London Times, as well as
every intelligent foreigner, admits
that the American machinery is the
best, most complete, and finest in
the world. The German Commits
sioner, Mr.. Lowe, in writing home
to his government, spoke so highly
of our machinery, and said 80 en-
that the Germans could
not compare with US in this line,
that he was reproved for it by some
of the German authorities. In or
der to prove what he said, he has
purchased some of our lathes, which
now lie packed in the hall for trans
to take back with him.
The American lathe is a mystery to
the balance of the world. so won
aerful are its many appliances for
the workman to adjust his
work in every possible position,
give it every desired motion, and
TO enable him to work more rapid.
~. Take the best English or French
and put him to work on
one of our lathes, without first fully
drilling him in its use, and he would
be able to do nothing with it, where
As If an American mechanic had to
work with their machines, he would
be puzzled TO find that their useful
ness was SO limited. Take an Eng
Ziish or French mechanic and put
them at hand work beside an Amer
Ican and they would excel him so
Tar that there would be no compar-
Ison between them, for the Ameri-
can does almost everything by ma
chinery, and is constantly inYenting
new machines TO accomplish what
little he now does by hand. In
France, in the mighty machine shop
Of the Calls, which covers 10 acres,
hey are still using machines that
we're abandoned % years ago by the
Americans as being too Ineffective.
machinery is to-day be-
ing sent all over the world, aud is
more than successfully competing
against all other The English have
he best hand screw cutting machine
hat is exhibited. but the American
screw cutting power machine is far
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