Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-02
A Quaint Jersey Town and the Fun
to Be Found There.
H0W TERRA GOTTA Is MADE
Ornaments for Buildings Made Out
Of a Geological Deposit.
HAWK AND CURLEW HUNTING

strike Perth Amboy. The town was dead.
people used to say. Having been the seat
Of New Jerseys colonial government 1t
was for long time a place of great i'm
portance. As years rolled by it sank into
sort of se1ile decrepitude. But, to the
surprise of every one. 1t has been recently
passing through process of resurrection,
figuring as an extremely lively ghost. 1t
has become the seat of new and important
industries. such as the manufacture of
terra Gotta oil and whiting. Chemical
works here produced enormous quantities
or chioroform at price 50 surprisingly
low that Perth Amboy il likely before long
to supply the markets Of the world with
that anaesthetic preparation.
The population Of the town has Increased
during the last ten years from $500 to I0,5OO
Is mainly composed Of workmen who have
come hither to take part In the new indus
tries aforesaid. Nearly all Of them are Hun
gartans. Poles and Italians. who are i'm
ported into this country because they are
content to labor for smaller wages than
American workingmen Thanks TO their
patronage. Perth Amboy has now more
saloons In proportion to fits population than
any other town or city in the United States
Perth Xmboy produces the finest terra
Gotta in this country for architectural pur-
poses This is the most interesting of the
manufactures carried on here. 1t depends
for it's supplies of raw material on a pecu-
liar geological formation, which lies along
the Harftan and South rivers, extending
entlreiy across the state In a southwesterly
direction to the Delaware The formation
| IN question Is OF cretaceous origin and COW
ers go square miles; Driving about the
country in this neighborhood every now
and then one comes upon enormous exca-
vations. usually filled with water These
are clay diggings.
The Peculiar Clay.
Millions Of years ago certain sediments,
/ which their fuf In .
OF conglomerate rocks far to the northward.
| were brought by water and laid down over
this part OF New Jersey From age to age
the character OF this material changed ac-
| cording to the source from which 1t was
fetched. Thus. on digging into the soil
like cake. First the spade win turn up a
red brick clay. This deposit will extend to
e deRth OF or 4 feet perhaps Beneath
It Will be a stratum of clay quite different
IN appearance and speckled with iron. I'm
| derneath the latter is q layer technically
Clay No. M Next comes snd below this
stratum. and finally a layer Of what is
called extra sandy" which is at the bot
| All OF these clays are useful. being ap-
piled to various purposes. according to
character and quality. They 60 through
factories, by which they are freed from
| impurities and made smooth and perfectly
plastic. Such is the raw material, which is
1
shapes for decorating houses and for other
purposes Of architectural characterization.
This work at present employs artistic skin
made by sculptors of the first rank, who
consider it not beneath their dignity any
more than did Michael Angelo. to expend
inss. In fact. many of the objects of art
In terra Gotta. which now grace private
dwellings and public edlfces; seem almost
| too admirable, tnasn.uch AZ they cannot be
| seen closely enough to be admired as they
| deserve.
But the designer of such works has one
sculptor In marble. His productions are
| susceptible to multiplication ad infnitum
| so that the same statue or art object may
| Illustrate his talent on ever so many diff.
| ferent buildings. OF course. however. mos,
| OF the things made In terra Gotta are purely
convent conven tio n, and not much originally is
They are made after drawings. which are
| either supplied by the architect or turned
model in clay has been produced, il is next
| necessary TO obtain a mold from it IN
plaster Of paris. For this purpose a sort OF
box Of plaster is built around II and per
mitted to become hard as rock. Then liquid
plaster Is poured in and allowed to harden
Finally the plaster is sawn apart to per
init the clay model to be taken out, and
thus the mold is formed
Reproduction Easy.
Now, by means Of this mold. as man,
copies in clay of this clay original can b,
obtained as may be desired. The process II
very simple. A workman takes the mol'
and covers the inside of 1t With clay, which
he forces into every contour and crevice b!
dashing handfuls Of clay with all hi
| strength against the interior surface. Hav
ing thus covered the whole Of the interio
with layer of clay two or three inche
thick, he fastens the parts of the mold to
gether and leaves the clay to dry. Ate
three or four days the mold. still locked. i
carried to the kiln to undergo sort .
| for oil Rrin o A 10,
may be got Of the gigantic scale on whic
this industry Is conducted from the fac
that one of the factories described has fort
kiins, each of them sixty feet high. Fac
kiln is twenty feet in diameter at the bas
and approaches the cOnical in shape. ter
minating at the apex in round chimney.
and day. The interior of the great cone /
going UP through the middle The space in
side Is entirely filled up with the terra colt
objects which are to be fired. They'a are ar
, ranged on temporary shelves composed o
fre-bricks, which are stacked up in muc
the same fashion as children stack buildn
, blocks. thus afording support for successiv
, the fires are lighted in furnaces beneath
|, From one to three days are required for tn
firing. By the allowance of time for thi
process, and by the manipulation of tn
| clay, various colors are secured In the fins
! product, such as old gold. yellow. rec
, speckled and white.
the evaporation Of the moisture that was 4
1t. Accordingly. an allowance for this
made In all measurements, which mus
, necessarily be very exact to satisfy the ar
, chitect. For example panel that Is to
two feet in length must be twenty-si
: inches long In the raw clay.
r Being mere hollow shells, these objects @
? terra Gotta have the advantage Of light
| ness. Though not enduring as stone
they Withstand fire much better. Befor
, they are sent out Of the factory they ar
| carefully fitted together according to tn
original drawings. If any mistake ma
= terra Gotta Is enormously cheaper tina
J stone for ornamentation of buildings-henC
| the extenslveness of it's employment a
present. The large designs, after bein
r modelled complete In the clay, cut u
) into sections, which are nodded and fire
separately to be put together subsequent
1y. By using the same mold over ana owe
| again, section Of ornamental panelin
only two feet long can be extended in
continuous ribbon around an entire build
ing. The heads Of lions and other animal
IN terra Gotta are very popular nowadays.
A Mineral Substance.
The fire clay, from which fire bricks ar
made, is quite an elaborate mineral sub
: stance One Of its principal ingredient
! is alumina--the ore from which is obtain
: ed the wonderful metal aluminium, at pres
) ent favored by the populists for money
, Since every clay bank is mine Of 4
everybody might be rolling in wealth,
only Uncle Sam would go into the bushes
of coming aluminium. Already it has com
down in the market to 81. pound. wholt