Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-02-22
GLASS BOTTLE MAKING.
GREAT DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED
IN THE UNITED STATES.

Here and What Are Some Of the OBJ
stacies That stand In the way Of IL.
Further Progress.
IL has been said that no material in
vented by man has been of more service
than glass. IL is certainly one of the
greatest necessities of civilized life, COM
ing into use in almost every department
OF activity, and itis one of the most in
teresting industries. How the process of
making it was ever discovered is a mys-
terry, and it taxes the imagination to con-
ceive some happy accident by which the
possibility of such substance was dis
closed. The ancient Pliny has yarn,
which perhaps he believed to be the ex-
PLANTATION, but nobody believes it today.
He SAYS that some Phoenician sailors
landed ON the bank of a river in Pales-
tine aud looked about for stones on which
to rest the kettles in which they were to
cook their food. The best they codld find
were Jumps of "nitrum" probably soda
is MEANT. When these had become af-
fected by the fire they fused with the
sand and produced a transparent liquid,
which vitrifed and became crude glass.
This pleasant fiction is discarded as
throwing no light on the matter, because
the heat of camp fire would be entirely
insufficient TO prsduce the result de-
scribed.
The great antiquity Of the industry is
clearly proven BY the discovery of YES
sells with inscriptions to show that they
could not have been made later than 1000
Al.
making was for many centuries confined
wholly to vases and other forms of hol-
low ware, and although plate glass was
known as early as the Third century,
more than a thousand years passed be-
fore it came into general use for win
dows except in churches. 1t is said that
the first window glass taken to England
for ecclesiastical purposes was carried
there by the Abbot Benedict in ga A. d.
AS late as the Sixteenth century it was a
mark OF great wealth to have glass in
the windows of ones house.
The industry was introduced into this
country soon after settlements had been
established, and though in the early colo
NAL days il did not make much Roadway
IL has now become a very important
feature of our manufactures, and in
some departments it rivals any produc-
tons in the world. 1t took its prosper
Gus start soon after the end of the Revo-
lutionary war. In the finer ornamental
grades no one would affirm for a moment
that the famous products of Venice and
Bohemia are duplicated here. They may
never be, as some OF the ingredients are
not found in America, and the expense
of importation is so great as practically
TO debar domestic enterprise in this direc-
ton.
Americas best hold on the glass in
dustry is in the way of plate glass for
windows and the manufacture of bottles.
There are many prosperous factories in
both these departments scattered all
over the country, and the most marked
improvements i'm mechanical contriv-
ances during the last quarter of cen
fury have been introduced by American
manufacturers. The extent of the in.
dustry at present compares curiously
with the disheartening results of colo
NAL enterprises. That there was a fac
tory in Gloucester, Mass, in the latter
part Of the Seventeenth century is clear
from some vague records, and the name
of portion of the town, Glasshouse
Field Washington refers in his diary
TO factory at New Haven, Conn. In
other places IL is known that the in
dustry was established, and disappeared
because Dutch and Germans could get
the product TO this market cheaper than
we could make It, Probably the Oldest
house in the country now is the Whitney
works, at Glsssboro, n. j. Bottles only
are made there. The factory was estab-
hshed nearly 1875 years ago. Plate glass
began TO be made in America as recently
as 1858, at Lenox, Mass. This factory
is still in existence, but its work is mainly
directed to rough plate that is, glass
intended for conservatories, hothouses
and other uses where clear, polished
surface Is not necessary.
Probably 90 people in 100 IL asked
what glass was made of would answer
sand" So it is in great part. Sand of
n certain character is the main ingredi-
ent, but not necessarily the most impor-
tant. 1t is an old puzzle problem to de.
termine which factor Of a number, say
20, is of the greater importance, 2 or
10. Ten is certainly the greater factor,
but Of what use would it be in consti-
tuting 20 if it were not for insignifi-
cant little 2? So with glass. Sand is the
greatest factor in bulk, but with it must
be used other substances-soda, potash,
lime, magnesia, alumina, oxides of iron
and lead, etc, one or more OF these in
different proportions, according 10 the
style Of glass desired.
OF course! exclaim the ninety nine, we
might have mentioned soda or potash If
we had supposed that such trifling in
gredient as 20 ID per cent. of either
were To be included in the answer. Very
good, but unhappily for American manu-
facturers these triaing ingredients are
absolutely necessary, and sometimes they
are very hard to get. This is especially
the case with makers of hollow ware. To
make n good bottle soda is necessary,
and soda of particular kind which has
to be imported. II our manufacturers
OF bottles could get the soda, even from
Europe, at what il actually costs, they
could more than compete with the Ger
mans. As II is, German beer bottles and
the Like are crowding our markets every
year and making the domestic manufac-
turers hustle to secure a reasonable profit.
The trouble comes that the tariff schedule
compels Americans to pay 20 per cent.
more than its value for the soda they
need in their work. This difference on
q small factor in their industry prevents
them from entering the field as fair COM
petitors with Germany.
The Germans make better bottles, as
American manufacturers admit, at rates
that are cheaper than we can make them.