The Portland daily press., 1900-04-05

than sixty-nve varieties, thsss including
fire engines Of various sizeT, and oheu l.
cal fire engines, and hose wagons. ana
hook and ladder tru3ks, IRE chiefs wag-
ons. ara Hre patrol wagons. Many Of the
fire en- zines ars drawn By three horses.
Many OF these IRE engines, and other aps
paratus, are provided with gonRs, and
some Of the larger ones are nowadays
equipped with rubber-tIred wheels 30 that
they srS not 80 noisy when they are
drawn about. and don't scratch floors.
some OF the engines are provided with
hose, and so made that tre can be built
under the boiler, TO give the realistic ef-
fect Of smoke coming out of the stack.
There is an iron hte engine With q mt
chAnioAl attachment which when wound
up, sets the two small wheels In front Of
the kotler and the pump to working rap
Idly, like those Of an engius at work at
fira
OF tafIroad trains alone there are pro-
duoed in iron toys a hundred and flfty or
more varieties In different sizes and
styles, and these nowadays include
trains with oars made Of steel Instead CT
iron. And not only ears Of many sizes,
bus all sorts Of cars; hst oars, and box
oars, and stock oars, and cabooses, an5.
teal des regular passenger cars. vestibule
cars and so on. The iron toys include
alse many other vehicles and other things
OF one sort and another; express wagons,
trucks. Ice wagons, milk wagons, practi-
cal GOAL carts, hanson cabs. sulkies with
horss and driver. mules with cast and
wish riders, gravel dump carts, circus
band wsgons, and 90 on. There are some
b oats made Of Iron, and there are toy
yachts Of various sizes With huns hand
somely modelled OF s,esl. there are also
steel hand organs, iron scales, q variety
of styles and sisss OF toy ranges correctly
fashioned, GOAL hods, iron shovels. AMI so
on.
There are also produced In shis coun-
try various kinds Of gong toys and q
great variety Of toys Of rubber. The sale
Of American mechanical toys Is constant
ly Increasing. Most OF them are q little
more expspsive than the imported toys,
bus they are all better than the foreign
goods. Thy are more substantially
made, have better movements and are
put together better, so that they work
better and are less likely to get out Of
order. Thsss toys are made In many
kinds of locomotives and railroad trains.
There are various kinds OF dancing and
ther msohanicsl figures. as stump
speakers, hddiers, acrobats, mechanical
animals. and 90 90. There are meohani-
cal horses and wagons. One American
mechanical toy Ia o lire engine house oon-
tanning q fire engine. When this toy Is
d ut In operation an alarm strikes, the
engine house doors hy open and the
horsss gallop out with the engine. There
are mechanical trolley cars and mechani-
cal cabs In Imitation OF electrical cahB.
The various kinds Of iron toys are now
sold much cheaper than they were even
up TO q very few years ago; they range In
price from n few cents up to dollars
apiece. Within q year or two, as has been
the case with all manufactured produots.
the cost Of the materials entering into
1 thafr OnEtRnntfnn has AnganlAn that
the cost of their production OF late has
been more or less increased 1he same
would be substantially true OF the ma
teriAls and cost OF manufacture OF all
toys. OF whatever nature, and all OF
which while producsd in greater variety
than ever, are also now sold cheaper than
they formerly were; but this Increased
cost of production has not yet seriously.
II { all, affected retail prices.
As with many lines Of production In
this country, the manufacture OF toys 10
largely divided into speoialtisN Thus.
there are factories devoted TO iron and
me chanical toys. There are concerns that
produce tin toys, and one at least In this
country producing pewter toys, inoIud-
ing soldiers In American uniforms.
There are factories making wooden toys,
and other toy things of wood In large va
risty, as toy trunks, toy furniture, and SO
Oh; Including, perhaps, wash sets, these
comprising such things as wash boards
and little tubs, and miniature clothes
wrinRers and clothes frames. There are
manufacturers making speoialtiss OF tool
chests, blocks, domiDoes and so on, and
there Is ons making speciality OF toy
desks and toy furniture. 1t Is q familiar
fact that there are manufacturers prouuo-
ing only games of one sort and another.
here are manufacturers Of toy printing
presses. There is one concern that makes
nothing but bagatelle boards, and one
that makes O speciality of toy bsttleships.
There are concerns that make only toy
reins, such as children play horse with,
and toy rattles and 80 on; and there are
concerns masking toy whips and canes.
ono toy whips being now prcduosd so
theeply that they can be sold at retail
for ore cent, and ranging in price from
that up to 10 cents aud over. 10y whips
and toy canes are each produced In hfty
or more varieties and there are conosrns
| that make specialties of rocking ami
swinging horses, and some that make
specialtiss OF toy wagons, these being
made OF wood, and also, nowadays, oil
| steel. Boston, New York and Philadel-
| ph Ia buy toy wagons Of wood; PittshurR
buys them OF steel, as the people of other
| cities and regions. familiar with coal
and iron, to whom steel construction
would naturally appeal, are likely to do.
or American mechanical toys there
are exported enough to mako an lem
worth taking into account in the trade.
| They 20 to China, Australia, and some
have hsen sent to Spain. They 40 more,
perhaps, to England than any y here else.
Their weight is against them as an ar
| ticle of export, adding to the cost OF their
| transportation, aui also TO tho duties
| they have to pay in foreign countries,