New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-08-05
ALL MADE OF CLAY.
A PEEK INTO THE TRENTON LOTTERIES.
CONTAINING A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT
WAS SEEN THERE TOGETHER WITH LEs-
CON IL r,tAr ir1c Al. ECONOMY.

CONTAINING A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT
WAS SEEN THERE TOGETHER WITH hEs'
SON IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.
In many respects this Is not an appreciative genera
ton To a great extent 1t is characterized by an
unfoytunste intellectual stoldity. The matcrialistic
tendeacy against which so much Just complaint is made
ts nowhere shown moro sharply than In the general
absence of any feeling of wonder at the marvellous
mechanical performances which arc being accom-
p,shed every day. Education, skill and inventive
genius are constantly making mastery trumphs
over unpromising matter. And yet so dun Is tho
curiosity of the that It scarcely stops to think by
what means these remarkable floats arc performed
Even upon tho perfected triumph itself, as stands
onsricrousy placed in shops, parors, or museums,
people look with but lsneuid interest. So accus-
toned arc they TO the sight Of mechanical prodgics
that they scarcely think it worth while to ask quos-
tons even to their own minds. The betrayal of any
ssionishmcnt Is looked upon almost a confession
OF ignorance In spite OF all that has been said and
written during the past twenty years concerning the
various applications to which electricity has been put
how few the people who really understand the
principles Of even the most ordinary device animated
ty this magical force. OF the tens OF thousands who
daily converse with each other through miles Of In
tcrvcnne space, how many have taken the trouble to
inform themselves Of the delicate and elaborate ma
ehincry by which this tremendous phenomenon is ac
complished'
There never more general and refined taste
for decoration than exists now. There never was
lsfe,r better opportunity for It's qualification
There never was much money in the world and
never befolc was 1t generally distributed The
natural result OF this condition, OF course. Is to en-
courage the production OF all that IS beautiful and
pleasing The public generally is able to crafty Its
taste and supply always follows demand as air rushc
into vacuum II has taken good long WHILE how
ever for the people nations to reach this state OF
pfN1
mechanics the arts and the sciences have had plenty
OF mc to attain the high development which is now
expected Of them Here the people had wealth and
taste before they had access 10 those things upon
which 10 expcnd thcr stores OF all the marvellous
achievements which have challenged worlds adj
mlration is grand as the Industrial develop
nicnt Of America
The good swimmer almost always enters the water
head first So too, does the wise writer enter upoa
his subject. IntroducOnS usually waste of
time. and yet have chosen by thescs exordial re-
msr.1s 10 make distinct appeal to public curiosity
To say al once that going 10 write an industrial
article together with an essay on political economy
would be. know simply to court abuse. People
voall sar. 30, lord, more tariff And then thcy
would glance up Al the thermometer, and when they
glanced down again il would be at some other part OF
III, PAPER Perhaps however, when promise 10 tell
aanller of facts. which have been facts for from
twenty to five thousand years, but which are still
generally unknov g. concerning vha, is probably 'hc
odcs; Of all the nGumcrabe branches of human
Industry perhaps even if do say something about the
isrla. and notviihs andIn. The disagreeable humcr
OF the Thermometer, shah get hearing
In one o! The largest stores uptown stands a vase
nat n 80 than twelve inches high II weighs eight
pounds. and he salesman who habitGally stands
nrEr H. a. IL the better TO show OF his own figure,
SAYS that tie price OF It is 1880. The material in
81 and On II Is dirt and paint, worth, ! should say,
much GGiy cents Certainly, it Is not worth
mill Eioiv The person who gives 1850 for that
vasc Is paying SG40 30 for human ingenuity and
labor, and hfty Gems fog raw material, and within
the reaches of that interesting fact Is the whole story
of the putiers art. They that about 5000
years ago those everlasting Clncse. who knew much
about .csythiag la has sncs been forgotten. made
porcelain so fine aud beautiful as 10 dcis the rcpr"
ductivc talent of modern potcrs None of the people
who arc responsible for these Chinese stories has
profcsscd personally to have seen any OF the
remarkable things concerning which they so gllbly
give evidence If l the Emperor of China. or
his Lord High Everything Else, think shonld do
something TO dlspel the notion that my people had
done their evoluting backward, and from nation
al philosophers, scientists artists and musicians had
become nation o. washwOmer and cooks. But
SIN It Is probable that pottery great industry in
China 5000 years az, Ger sinly, II was well al
vsnccd In Egypt during the days of Joseph, and 1t
has always been known in it, rudcr forms TO even
tie most basbarous savascs in the remotcst places
and in the obscurcst times. To-day II has becom>
moro than industry. II Is high art, ana until
within the past few months It never hourished at
better advan age than it was doing down in Trenton
on the banks OF the Raritan Canal
It IS an extraordinary industry in which ort Of
every dollar Of expense less than cent is paid for
material and obviously when fifty cents worth Of
dirt and paint is so utilized finally 10 be worth
$3.50 II must 60 through great variety OF remarkable
processes Pottery, In IFS cridost FORMS Is Oh
recent manufacture In America. In fact, II Is only
within tho last twenty years that you could DuS an
entire dinner set OF American manufacture Now
however. the very finest decorative ware. sclnns
in competition with the c0slcsi French and EnghSh
b,tr a-brac is produced in Trenton. where no less
than twenty two factories cover immense territory
employ $500 workmen, and produce $6,OOO,OoO of
goods every year on capital of $425O,ooo'
II ha, been supposed that the reason Why the pot
tor, Of America have concentrated ia Trenton has 10
40 with an access TO clay deposits. This is GIRO
neous Next 10 labor the potteis heaviest item Oh
expense is coal and at Trenton the coal fields are
almost within a stones throw The component
pats Of clOckery are pulvenzcd quartz, commonly
Known flint rUvcrizcd fcdspar and china cray
ksolin. A great deal of work must be done 10
prepare these deposits for the potters use. Inc
dirt and spar found in parts of the country
usually in lodges OF rock. from which theS arc quar-
ried. Such pieces contain foreign substances arc
available and thrown away. caicihe
process reduces them into condition that readily
admits of their being ground TO powder and In ms
condition they shipped to the potteries The
staple material ksolin comes from the territory
about the borders Of Pennsyk ania and Delaware,
though excellent clays found In the Carolinas
Even accepted by the potters the CLAWS contain
from forty sixty per cent of matter which has
la hi he'd ont and thrown The clay Itself
is light and water easily holds 1t in solution, so that
the material having been well mixed with water
and through a series Of trOughs. when 1t finally
escapes into settling trough the foreign particles
Of sand, mica. quartz and spar have been cleared
away and only the kaolin remains. This IS still