Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-12-18
CHINA ANuFACTuR
The Interesting Process to Which the
Clay Is Subjected.

SIdy rs subjected.
A visitor to the great china manufac.
tories at Stoke-on-Trent describes as fol-
lows the more interesting part of the
process OF manufacture:
''To %earthenware the blue clay gives
toughness and solidity, flint gives white
ness, .kaolin whiteness and p~orousness,
and Cornish stone acts as a sort OF tlux
binding all together. These materials.
being weighed and measured, are
placed. together with a large quantity of
water, in huge vats fitted with an agi-
tator called a 'blunger,' by which they
are thoroughly stirred up and mixed to-
gether. AS my courteous guide raises
the lid OF one of these 'blunging' ma
chimes, l descry, as it were, the interior
OF a vast churn filled with a strong white
sea, as if the cliffs had got mixed with
the tide in the manner depicted by some
painters OF seascapes. This beautifully
white fluid run Off. when its parts are
Judged sufficiently mixed. into troughs.
and is strained through sieves of lawn,
varying in tineness from twenty-five to
thirty>two threads to the inch. 1t is
next tested by weight. a certain measure
being required to weigh a certain num-
Der Of ounces. The slipnow reposes for
a wilhelm quaint receptacles shaped like
the Noah's ark given to children. To
get rid of the s%upertluous dampness of
the compound Slip til forced by means
of pumps into bags of strong cloth. 1t is
then pressed, and sometimes cut up and
nroCcpH oraio hninr tno~ ,.nolx, fo,, kLo
thrower.
''This is hardly the place in which to
descant upon the potter's wheel as used
by the Egyptians. Suffice it to note
that the main distinction between the
modern and the ancient potter is that
the latter turned his wheel with his foot,
while his descendant is supplied with
motive power by steam. When the sort
OF sausage machine Just described has
done its work and the Slip has been
pressed, the material is of the c~onsistence
of stiff dough. In this condition it
comes into the hands of the potter, but
not directly. Before it reaches him it
is weighed out in Jumps and handed to
him by the girl who acts as his assist
ant. When the lump of clay is finally
handed to the potter he deals with it in
a wonderful manner Placed on the
horizontal wheel revolving before him,
the clay is made to perform the most
extraordinary evolution. 1t spreads
out, leaving a hollow center, and grows
like a mushroom under his skillful hand.
1t becomes anything he likes--it may be
a bowl, a cup, or any other shape. As
the clay r%evolves rapidly, the work.
man has only to change the posi-
ton of his hands to produce any shape
he may wish. To an imaginative
person this is the prettiest part Of the
manufacture OF earthenware. 1t is in
credibly rapid. The workman has hard
ly his piece Of clay placed before him
by the girl attendant than he spreads it
out and draws it up as if by magic.
There are many industrial operations
picturesque enough, nay, really grand
in effect. Grand effects are to be got
from smelling furnaces and rolling mills,
the work Of an emigrant ship out of
harbor, the landing of a great catch of
herring, mackerel OR pilchard, and
beauty may be sought IN the eve lovely
picture of loading and carrying corn
but, for sheer prettiness and swiftness,
the potter's wheel still holds its own
The whole proceeding is SO rapid, the
touch of the workman so clever, that it
is just a little bewildering. One stands
and wonders whether one could do it
ones self by the aid of the outer and
inner gauges which appear to be the
only aids to workman, beyond his fin
gers, to throwing off by the dozen cups
Of the same size. The principle of the
,.-AA..s. ,,Io~ Al-x - -,,1s>,. t1- -
ticle to be operated upon ~revolve while
some kind Of tool is held against it in
one fixed position, is carried out in many
departments Of pottery.--Englash Nlats-
hGted Magasine.