The Penn's Grove record., 1882-12-30
only a Brick.
The history Of a Useful Building Mat
-Briokmakiug in Ancient and
Modern Times.
1t would seem 80 utterly absurd

-Briokmakiug IN Ancient and
Modern Times.
1t would seem so utterly absurd
uncalled for to accuse anything as
prosaic and notably ''ssay-inthe-
house" ~ q common red brick Of mas
%querAding, that 1t is very likely
that the definition, "a kIud OF ficti-
tlous stone made of a fatty earth
into a parallelopiped," would float
through the ordinary brain some
time before it attached itself to "a
brick" Such, however, Is the diction-
airy definition ofthe word.
The use of brick as a building ma
terisl, both burnt and unburnt, dates
from a very early period. Burnt brick
is recorded in the Bible to have been
used in the erection of the To wer of
Babel. We have the testimony of
Herodotus to the effect that burnt
bricks were made from the clay thrown
out Of the trenches surrounding Baby
lon. These bricks, which were used
in building the wall about the city
were cemented together with bitumen,
and at every thirtieth row, crater OF
reeds were stuffed in. Statement Of
travellers showed that the Babylonian
brick ia very much like tile. being
IL to 10 inches square, and 81 inches
thick. Most of them bear the name
inscribed In cuneiform of Nebuchad-
nezzar, whose buildings no douH re-
placed those of an earlier age. They
were sometimes glazed and enamelled
n various colors. SemiramIs Is sad
by Diodorus to have overlaid SOME of
her towers with surfaces of enamslled
bricks.
S~un-dried bricks were exclusively
used in ancient times, especially In
Egypt, where the manufacture wai
considered a most degrading employ
ment, and as such formed the primes
pal part of the occupation of the Isl
r~aeiites during their bondage, aftef
the death Of Joseph. These Egyptisn'
un.dried bricks were made OF clay
mixed with chopped straw, which
was furnished to the children of Israel
by their Egyptian taskmasters, before
the application of Moses to Pharaoh
in their behalf. After this the obliga-
ton was put upon them to furnish
their own straw, which appears TO
have been like the last straw upon the
cancels back-too much to be borne.
More clearly does the monarch's des-
potism shine out when it is renlem-
bered that as ~captives they had no
harvests of their own, and that. there
was in the fields 'only stubble.o
1t appears from the details given,
that the Israeiites worked in gangs
under the snperintendence of n OF
their W nations, who was provided
with all the necessary tools, and then
personally responsible for the labors
of his men. Some Egyptian bricks
were made without straw, and are
now found as perfect as on the day
when they were put up, in the reign
of Amunoaolis and Thotmes, whose
names they bear: When made OF
Nile mud they needed straw to keep
them together, but when formed OF
clay taken from the torrent beds on
the eige of the desert they held to-
| gether without aid. Among the
| paintings at Thehes, one on the tomb
of Rekshars, an officer Of the court OF
Thotmes III. (B. q. 1900 represents
the enforced Iabors of captives, who
are distinguished from the natives by
the colors with wyfch they are drawn.
Watching W. thu laborers are the
task masters" who, armed with
sticks, are receiving the tale of
bricks" and urging on the work. The
process of digging out the clay, OF
moulding and of arranging are ali
duly represented. The process o.
manufacture in Egypt was very SINH
lar to that adopted at the present
time in that country.
The clay was brought in baskets
from the Nile, thrown in a heap,
| thoroughly saturated with water, and
worked to a proper temper by the feet
of the laborers. This appears 70 have
been done entirely by the (lifht-eol-
ored) captives, the (red) Egyptian
| stunning the work which mut have
been oppressive and unwholeome as
| possible in that hot climate. The clay
when tempered was cut by aDinstru.
ment resembling very much sn agri'
| cultural hoe and mouldedin ~anoblong
trough. The bricks were thet dried
in the sun.
BURNT BRICKS
were used in Egypt for river walls and
hydraulic works, but not TO AM great
extent. Enclosures Of gardns or
granaries, sacred circuits encompass
sing the courts Of temples, wallis of
Notifications and towns, DWELLING
houses and tombs in short,all but
the temples themselves were d crude
brick, and so great was the temand
that the Egyptian goytrnmentobserv-
ing the profit which would accne from
a monopoly of them, undertook to sup
ply the public at q reduced pfee, thus
preventing all unauthorized persons
from engaging in the manufacture.
The Jews learned the art q brick
making in Egypt, and that thy used
it greatly is proved by the ntnplaint
of Isaiah, that the people ballr affairs
of brick instead of unhewn some, as
the law directed. The Romans used