Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1901-12-13
FAMILY TRADE SECRETS.
pome That Bring Great Wealth to
Their Fortunate POasessors.


| Their Fortunate Poasessors.
That silence is golden no one win
deny, but they who Will most ready ad-
NIT the truth OF this maxim are the
members OF those families whose
silence, lasting In some cases for cen
turtles, has brought them untold wealtl
And the most curious part of It 10 that
outsiders, try as they Will, have beenI
unable to discover the secrets theseI
lucky families possess.
Few people know where Bank OF
England note paper comes from, and
Fewer still how it is made, because its
manufacture is a family secret. and
has been so for nearly two centuries.
In 1717 man named Portal discovered
how to make this paper, and the gov
eminent thereupon contracted with
him to supply all that was required for
bank notes. The contract still holds
good, and once week a quantity IS
sent from Laverstoke. in Hampsbire
where the family still exists, the paper
being guarded by number OF detec-
tives throughout the journey. No one
has yet succeeded in discovering how
the Portals make the paper, and prob
ably no one ever will.
Minton ware is another family mo-
nopoly, though unprotected by the
patents act. In 1893 Thomas Minton.
a Staffordshire potter, discovered how
10 make a peculiar china with a green
glaze unlike any other in vogue. He
kept his secret to himself, made the
ware by stealth, and In due time &C.
cumulated a fortune. Before he died
he gave the secret to his eldest son.
and it has been handed down from
generation to generation to the present
time. The works are now situated at
Stoke-on-Trent, and every year the
Mintons turn nearly 100000 tons of
clay into the famous ware that bears
their name.
Sword forging is one OF. 1.-The most DIFF
1cult branches OF the mechanics art.
and only one family, residing in Biz
mingham, knows how to do 1t to per
lection. There is O secret In sword
forging which this family alone has
conquered, and it has been in its pos
session for upward OF half q century
and is still unknown to outsiders. y
sword made by workman belonging
to this family is worth twice as much
as one made. by any other firm, and al
though enormous sums have been Of
fered for the secret from time to time
every member remains true. to- his
trust
One OF the oldest family secrets is
that connected with the manufacture
OF eau de cologne, for 1t has been own
ed by the Farinas since 1855. In that
year an Italian, Giovanni Farina. in
vented the perfume, and only his eldest
son was admitted into the secret. At
the present moment the Farinas have
twenty-eight factories at Cologne.
This silence on the part of the family
through so many years has brought
untold wealth, for nine out of everv
ten bottles Of the perfume purchased
all over the world is of Farina make.
1t seems hard to believe that we are
to great extent indebted to one fam.
lily for our supremacy On the seas. but
such is the case. All the iron used in
the navy is made by the family of
Crawshay. the descendants of York
shire farmer, who discovered q method
OF making the metal harder than any
one else could do, and in consequence
received a contract to supply the iron
Tor the navy. The secret still. remains
with the family, and foreign nations
nave periodically offered millions for
us possession, but without success.
In the wine trade there are endless
secrets some of them Of great i'm
portance and owned by single families.
Iokay, rare and costly wine and the
ravorite, drink Of the emperor of Aus
tria, is made only by the Counts of
Lempien from secret recipe. while
lie equally famous Lachrymee Christi
cannot be procured except from the
'amiiy Of. Adrienne, the owners of the
'ineyards on Vesuvius. Marascbino
90, Is made In secret solely by Dal.
NATHAN family called Nanis, who first
discovered the recipe three centuries
Tit-Bits.