Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-03-02
wAKEMAN's wASDERIyGs.
About siatrordshirc Batteries and
Folk.

sfhttf w. -
Staflordshlrc, tho principal seat Of
the English potterios, Is nh inland
county, lying near the center Of Eng
land. Long and narrow, something
like rhombus In form, 1t separates the
four midland counties Of DERIVE Leices-
ter, Warwick and Worcestershire, on
the east, from the two important west
ern shires Of Cheshire aud Shropshire,
and extends north aud south, onc.Hfth
the length Of the kingdom.
IL has no great place In history. The
old monks were not attracted TO II NJ n
region In which to build splendid
sbbcys. Anliquarlans have not
found much In Il TO wmngle
over. II has inspired little In romance
and song. No ono ever came to II
second time for IL beauty. Forbid.
ding and unfertilo hills merge Into Hat
ard monotonous meadows In the south.
Along It, middle reaches are the coal.
pits, aud the near forges with the dis.
nal laundering. In the north, even
less comcly than the south, begin the
bleak, bare elevations Of Buustcr and
Viewer, tho true English moorlands
which stretch, with varying height
and drcariness, north through the en-.
tire kingdom, spreading Into the wild
aud dc-olatc mounlain.moors Of York.
,hirc, Durham aud Northumberland,
lntli lost among the mlsts Of Scotland
which sway and sweep abov. the
mournful Iarrow and murinurous
Tweed. II has few commonplace
streams; one little lake, measured by
yards; aud one river. the
Trent, the third In size and
extent In England, though unnayl.
gable, which springs from little New.
pool, near Blddulph nj the edge Of
Cheshire, flows southeas,erly through
the entire shlsc; hut with never n glen
To invite legend, nor cascade<o make
or inspire song.
Two Roman roads or military ways,
Waiting Street and icknlcld Street,
interesting, cross tho shire from east
10 west. IL you will tramp 10 the
Longwynd Hills, over In Shropshire,
YOU can trace the tfackway worn
white and bare 10 the eternal
stone, over which the Romans brought
supplies Of pottery, 1900 years ngo,
from the Severn Valley and Stafford.
shire, 10 their military stations south
aud southwest of ancient Uficoulum.
At least tire curious oil books will
bravely tell you that Is how the huge,
bleached furfow you viii sec was dug
through the g0rse and hare-bcll- VI the
wild anti uulovcly waste. BETTER ways
than these now traverse the shire.
Canals cream along valleys, glistrn
above viaducts and penetrate noun.
tains, making seanorts Of every busy
town; aud with tie railways they
have cut old Stafford Into more curious
patterns than "a gtandanI's "brOkcn-
dish" patchwork quilt.
The shire wus once nil forest land.
That was not long ago. but they as
sed In S,alofdshire that all these old
forests were iellcd and the whole shire
formerly made bare, simply TO ilfc tho
old fashioned ovens. Out Of these camo
the tygr, p,ssct-cule aud pots of the
Roman time, when huge, strong mugs
Were good enough for drinking.pur-
poses, the Deln, pitchers and porting
ems Of the Norman period, down 10
even those marvellous achievements Of
the wcdgwOOd time, when the price.
less Barbereni, or Portland, vase was
not only duplicated but vxcellcd Ia
MY wondrous copies. Then came tho
era OF coal and clay In Stafford
shire. or more properly speaking Of
wedgwOod, clay aud coal. Somebody
has computed that you could walk on
crockcry overall the area of Stafford.
shire which comprises about 10000
acres u land, n all tint ever went out
Of the shire could be brought hack and
set down piece by piece within Il. But
without oue primeval tree, aud with
room for but few others save In parks
and demesnes Of the nobility aud
potter gentry, Slaii6rdshire IA still
forest; Ia The south and center mighty
forest OF chimncys where coal and iron
endlessly burn and fuse and pollutc the
land from flaming cavcrnr nj tho feet
Of leviathea thrce.lrunks Of brick, from
whose tops ovefsprcading arms Of
smoke wheel aud turn with the wind,
and the blessed sunlight rarely filters
through their thick and sulphurous
pall.like foliage. In the north, still
forest OF chimncya In the Pottery Dis.
triot 40 dense, here with the great
ovens at their feet looking like mons.
tibuH w htehN11 'AtN sNshN'hh
In the tower ofthe old church ut Henley,
the metropolis Of the potteries, through
the stacks OF Turnstali, Burslom, Mil
ton, Bucknall, loDgton, Stoke.on-
Trent, Honford, Lane End, Ponkhull,
Newcastle and Etrurla, you cannot
clearly define In half n dozen tiny
spots the dr,ary horizon-line.
This hldeous transformation, out Of
which such vast utilitarlan stores and
countless articles Of beauty have come,
has been the work " little more than "a
century. Pottery work Of 800 years ago
can be definitely traced TO Buniem.
The town was then known as
butter pottery, that II, pot
terry where pots for koeplng bul-
Ter were made. Then Ia 1880, along
came two ingenious Hollandcrs named
Elor. They introduced u new form OF
glaze secured by superficial vltrifica-
ton OF the clay through the supeIheated
fumes OF common salt. The Elem also
brought 10 Stafford the unglnzed red
China method from the east. This was
all very wonderful nj that time, but by
and by white ware made Its appearance
through an accidental discovery.
ON a Journey to London, one OF the
Bursiem potters had powdered Hint
recommended by an inn.hOstler, for his
horses dlsordorrd eyes To more easily
pulycrizo II, u illnt stone was thrown
Into the flrc. The potter saw that
the flame changed II TO a pure white.
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