Connecticut western news., 1899-05-25
THURSDAY, MAY %. 1899.
Manufacturing in Western Connecticut

THU hSDh1s Mh1 6os Aooo'
 Manufacturing In Western Connecticut
 The article on "Iron Mining in Col : necticut," by W. H Pynchon, which appears in the Connecticut Magazine for May, is . reminder of the great v changed industrial conditions that have taken place in the western part of th's state. As the article points out, there were important furnaces at Lime Rock I.akeville. Salisbury, Kent, Cornwall Sharon, Canaan and other places. The writer says:
 have mentioned a number of them. but besides these there seems to have been . great many scattered through all of The region of Western Connecticut Before 1900 the town of New Milford alone had seven forges, and at one time Litchfield county contained as many as fifty. By reHneries are meant establish ments for making wrought-iron rom the piQ-iron of the furnaces. Shepard, 1'' his report, states that most of the iron from the furnaces of tho town of Sails bury was sent to Winsted and Canaan tn be refined into bar-iron for musket ant rife barrels, and for innumerable com mercial purposes. There were reiner- ies at Mount Riga, and unquestionably st other places. Certain 1t IS that from the Salisbury region for years the gov ernment arsenals ct Springfield and Harper's Ferry were supplied with metal suitable for gun barrels, Tn fact this has been one of the chief uses for the iron of Western Connecticut.
 "The old order changeth, yielding place to
 tho new"
 The great Pennsy lvania plants turn out in . day more iron than the best Connecticut furnace ever put out in n month vet the cold and crumbliug stacks along the Housatonic have done their work and have earned their rest They saw the youth of the nation ;they forged for it's hand the implements of war and peace, and it's glorious history IS theirs And perhaps it is fitting that with the passing of the wooden frigate should pass the ancient industry that gave her her anchor and her guns. Honor alike to the moulding hull of the "Constltu :. ton" and to the crumbling stack of Mount Riga furnace. comrades of war who entered into their rest.
 The decline of the iron industry, which gave employment to so many and made SO much business in this region in earlier times, is matter of regret from practical standpoint, in spite of the sentimental considerations to reconcile us to its fate which are so eloquently given by MT Pynohon. But perhaps the promised utilization of the great water powers of the Housatonic river for generating electricity f,r manufacturing purposes will revive manufacturing in Western Connecticut, and on far greater and more desirable scale than in the past. We will hope so. Certainly if the euticing industrial change shall not come, 1t will not be the fault of Editor Beckley of Canaan who in an able and energetic manner has set forth the reasons why the water powers of the Housatonic river should be made to benefit to mighty extent the people in this part of the state. = New Milford Gazette.
 Editor Beckley does not expect to see such great revival in the iron busi- ness of Western Connecticut that fifty forges will again be in operation in Litchfield county, but he does expect to see greater demand for Salisbury iron for car wheels and other purposes where strength and safety are required. The civilized world is finding out that there is no satisfactory substitute for Salisbury iron. But electricity genera ted by the water power of the Housa- tonic river will principally be used as motive power for other manufacturing industries that will locate in the Housa- tonic valley. Editor Bolles of New Milford deserves much credit for his efforts to develop the water power of the Housatonic river. During the winter and spring of 1891 he published valua ble information concerning the water power of the Housatonio river for manu- featuring purposes, but his efforts were not crowned with success because the age of electricity had not then arrived. Conditions have changed during eight years and now water power is every where in demand to generate electricity. Editor Bolles has not ceased his efforts to develop the water power of this val ley. but of course he now advocates its development for electrical force instead of for direct application to water wheels to drive machinery with. B. H. Hull, civil and hydraulic engineer, Bridge port. Conn deserves the most praise. It was he who furnished Editor Bolles and Editor Beckley with facts and fig urea concerning the extent of the water power of the Housatonic river.
 One of our young scorchers barely