New-York tribune., 1903-03-01
WHERE POTTERY IS MADE.
INcEssANT CARE THE WATCHWORD Al
TRENTON WORKS-THE PROCESSES.

TRENTON WORKS-THE PROCESSES.
II one of the ancient Egyptians who MADE
pottery in the valley Of the Nile thousands Oh
years before the coming OF Christ shoulu oe
brought back to that particular part OF the
oortb which is occupied by Trenton, the New
Jersey capitaI and the centre of the Eastern
potterv industry, he would find thousands OF
men and women handling clay in much the
same fashion that he handled 1t long ago
He couJd say with truth Here I am at
home; at least, more at home than "ouio oe
In any other American factory.
After going through the formallty OF joining
the labor union which guards the orothernooo
or guild of potters, ne could begin work without
apprenticeship. There would be no ciatter ana
clamor of noisy machinery to frighten or ds-
turh him for as yet machinery has little part
in tie making of pottery. IN all but one or two
departments lie would find cause to exclalm:
This is Just the way we die. it in Egypt hVe
thousand years ago! How little the suOSequeH'
ages have improved on our art!
And the enterprising, energetic MANUFACTURES
would have to stammer an admission that IN
this particular line the genius of inventors hao
been expended almost in vain. II he showed MIN
the mixing room, where machinery does the work
which the Egyptian did with his toll hardened
hands and feet the ancient one might say:
That is not much Of al Improvement we
u,ould not have mixed cay by hand had our
trade been as brisk as yours seems to be-
Look at our jigge- machines" the manufact-
urer might lay, pointing out the device Dy
which plates and saucers and other fiat ware IS
worked out. You had nothing Ike IhA' III
Egypt in the old days!"
we lad our potters Wheel" would be a truth
fuI answer 1T threw our ware exactly the
same principle as this does. We used our hands
a little more and worked slowly, but really the
Improvement is trifng.
And so they might go through the entire rae
tory The manufacturer would hnd little TO
show that was not at least development OI
ancient ideas and methods In these DAYS "hen
machinery is king and Americans most for
ward in it's use; when a-lost everything
is made by steel arms and steam mus
cIes pottery stands g thing apart. is em-
pLatically a product Of the human hand. Inc
fact that a piece OF pottery Of average size
passes through no less than forty pairs OF hanos
from the time the clay leaves the storage bins
until It is packed and ready for shipment Is
sufficient proof
The Trenton potteries, more than tnlrty IN
number. are scattered all over the city, and
in each of them the process is pracucally tne
same and most of the work is done by manu.
Long known for the superior quality OF the COM
mercial ware which the potteries produce the
manufacturers have of recent years Deeh euIn-
ing their attention to high grade china. Ihere
is at least one factory which makes BeHeeK ware
a vitrified translucent china which Is salo 10
be as fine as the famous Irish Belleek Ihe
finest work of the Dresden, Derby and Dent
factories is being duplicated and in some cases
even improved on. 1t will not be long, unless the
manufacturers are very much mistaken DeIore
the mark of a Trenton pottery will carry as
much weight as that Of e. Stafordshlre maker
does in England, and .dy they are calling
Trenton the Staffordshire Of America
Some of the older Trenton potteries are along
the shore of the Delaware and Raritan Canai, IN
low, rambling buildings of brick, the most strik-
ing feature of which is the rounded domes OF
the firing kilns. One of the Oldest OF these is
the international, which makes much OF the
pottery used by the United States army and
navy Permission to visit the factory is not
hard to secure for there is little that is secret
about pottery making, and none of the opera
tiOns are dangerous to the visitor.
over the door by which one enters the pot
terry basement, where the materials are
stored and mixed. the unskled hand of some
workman has painted these words: