Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-09
VALUABLE TRADE SECRETS LOST
Some That Were Handed Down from
Generation to Generation.

Sono NAT Wero ranooo boWn IToW
Generation to Generation.
Numerous are the trade secrets
handed down generation by genera
ton from father to son, and vast is
the capital made out of some Of them
in the commercial world Of today.
Particularly, perhaps, Is this the
case among the numerous manufac-
turers Of piquant sauces and the count
less vendors Of patent medicines,
But there Is also, 1t must be re-
membered, another side to the case.
Many, alas! are the priceless trade
secrets buried far down below the
molding dust of the misty past, and
lost to the world, perchance never
again to be recovered.
To cite the first example that oc-
ours to the mind Of the writer, for
instance, what would Royal Aca-
demician Of the present day give to
be in possession Of the secret held
by the Old Masters-Raphael, Rubens.
Corregio, Van Dyck and their COM
peers-for mixing their colors so as
to render them imperishable and Inn
pervious to the ravage Of time?
The red colors, especially, Of these
artists Of bygone epoch are every
whit as bright now as they were three
long centuries ago. On the contrary,
the colors of pictures painted only 100
years ago have lost their luster, and
are faded and decayed to deplorable
extent.
Again, in the world Of music, the
manufacturers Of violins-Old Mas
ters, as one may justiflably term them,
In another branch of art--treasured
a recipe for varnish that sank into
the wood Of their Incompatible in
struments, and mellowed as we'll as
preserved It. ~
With such extreme, relentless jeal-
ously, however, did they guard their
great secret that, too, Is lost to all ap-
pearances, irretrievably. ie3f.. 90 "a
Rather more than 100 years ago
there lived in quaint, old-world VII
lage In Wales working blacksmith,
who had managed, by some means or
other, to bring the welding of steel
to such pitch Of perfection that the
joint was absolutely invisible, and the
temper Of the steel as fine as on the
day 1t left the testers hands. By
his process he was able to join the
very finest Of sword blades, and after
he had finished with them they were
absolutely as good and as sound as
when they had left the factory. -. =
The blacksmith's fame spread far
and wide, and naturally enough, he
attained a great reputation; but he
made a point Of invariably working in
solitude. He was offered large and
tempting sums to divulge his secret, 4
but kept 1t obstinately to himself and
when his span of life had run its
course he took it with him to another
world.
The ancient Greeks had q substance
which we call Greek fire, and which
they used in naval warfare.
Their method Of employing 1t was
simply this-to throw the substance
upon the surface Of the water. where
1t famed up and set fire to the ships
Of the enemy. What was It? The only
known substance Of the present day
that would do this Is the metal potas-
sium, but to set fire to q ship In the
manner described would necessitate
the use Of at least half ton Of metal.
Where did the Greeks obtain the sub
stance they used with such effect? Or
how did they make It? II Greek fire
was potassium, the secret Of the pro-
cess is another that must be numbered
with the lost.
The man who could disinter the
buried recipe for Roman mortar would
be bowed down to and worshipped by
the builders Of the present day. How
they made 1t Is a profound secret, and
bids fair to remain so.
The mortar Is as firm now as 1t was
1000 years ago; 1t has calmly scoffed
at the ravages Of time and weather.
The above are but a few-a very
few-of the lost and buried secrets Of
antiquity which modern scientists and
mechanicians would give much to
learn.-Answers .