Part 2 — Chapter VIII. MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES (Birmingham and District.)

BY C. J. WOODWARD, B.Sc.

In the following pages an attempt is made to give to the reader some idea of the extent and variety of the manufactures of our town and neighbourhood. The method followed is to state at the outset the classes of material which come into the town, and to follow these in the mind’s eye through smelting furnace, forge, or workshop, until they come out in a wonderful variety of articles, one or more of which will ultimately be found in the possession of every nation of the earth. To carry out the proposed method with fulness and accuracy would require a strict blockade of the town, similar to that adopted for collecting town dues in continental towns with agents to report the quantities and qualities of the goods passing in and out. Failing this, we may, through the agencies of the railway and canal companies obtain at least some idea of the character and extent of our trade.

In preparing some statistics relating to goods brought into and taken out of the town, I am particularly indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Henry Wiggin, M.P., one of the directors of the Midland Railway, and also to Mr. John Noble, general manager of that railway; Mr. J. Grierson, general manager of the Great Western Railway; and Mr. G. Findlay, general manager of the London and North Western Railway. Mr. W. Pilcher, of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and Mr. George, of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, have also been good enough to supply information. In considering the traffic of our town we must remember that Birmingham is not only a manufacturing centre but a distributor of goods which arrive here in bulk. This, coupled with the circumstance that, from its inland position, there is a great deal of through traffic, renders it difficult to obtain such satisfactory figures as I hoped to have done when I commenced this work.

Statement of principal classes of goods coming into and going out of Birmingham by railway during the year 1885, with weight in tons of each class.

Inwards.

Coal and Coke897541

Lime5327

Limestone, Bricks, &c.14315

Glass7689

Iron and Steel115874

Tin Plates and Zinc10382

Spelter or Zinc22564

Hardware and Miscellaneous134204

Stone15621

Timber63591

Paper Making Materials5550

Drugs and Drysaltery14867

Grain126783

Grocery and Provisions61888

Leather3599

Outwards.

Bedsteads34976

Brass & Copper, Ingot and Wire4697

Galvanised Wire and Ware11705

Glass6151

Hardware and Lamps110597

Iron and Metal Tubes13570

Iron Wire and Sheet2999

Iron Castings9166

Nails18936

Rolled Metal7619

Paper and Stationery9490

Machinery}33754

Hides and Leather

Miscellaneous

From one wharf alone in Birmingham there were delivered into the town by canal last year about 40,000 tons of various goods, of which the following will serve as examples—Timber, 3810 tons; salt, 443 tons; metals, 3948 tons; road stone, 10,821 tons; potatoes, matches, mill stones, glue and groceries, 1221 tons, whilst traffic over one of the canals in the course of the year was 7,327,269 tons, including merchandise, 972,749 tons; pig iron, 586,434 tons; coal, 3,333,865 tons; iron stone, 495,912 tons; sand, 115,791 tons; lime and limestone, 140,828 tons; road materials and manure, 525,249 tons; and bricks, 460,359 tons.

Nature of the Manufacturing Industries of Birmingham and the District.—It is difficult, if not impossible to classify satisfactorily the varied industries of Birmingham and the district. The one adopted has as its basis, the raw materials of different kinds as used up in the trades of the town. In order to obtain information as to progress of the trades, or change in their character, I have extracted from Kelly’s Directory of 1864 the number of each trade as then given, and compared it with the number in the last Directory published, viz., 1884:—

Trades of Birmingham and the Counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.

I.—Production of Materials from Ores, including Chemicals.

A.—Non-metal.

No. in Directory.

18641884

Black Lead2

[41]Chemicals3354

Colour Grinders and Manufacturers2951

Glue, Isinglass67

[42]Mungo01

Optical Glass11

Paper3121

Ice01

Glass4162

B.—Metal and Alloy.

No. in Directory.

18641884

Alloy Makers01

Aluminium01

Brass and Yellow Metal06

Copper710

German Silver1410

Iron88103

Nickel & Cobalt22

Steel1821

II.—Finished Articles.

A.—NON-METAL.

No. in Directory.

18641884

Barometer and Thermometer24

Leather Articles2857

Bicycle Saddle03

Wholesale Boot and Shoe1142

Clay—

Pottery, Encaustic Tiles, Terra Cotta, Parian4343

Telegraph Insulator01

Ivory, Pearl, and Bone Workers5954

Chocolate26

Floor Cloth2

India Rubber Goods514

””Stamps03

Bristle, Fibre, Hair, Feathers—

Besom11

Chimney Sweeping Machines02

Hearse Plume1

Whip3533

Brushes88106

Cotton24

Measuring Tape76

Wooden Articles—

Boxes (and Paper)2777

Clock Case117

Cork Cutters912

Clog and Patten85127

Rules3723

Picture Frames4099

Tobacco Pipe2918

Railway Carriage1113

Bellows1014

Casting Mould Pattern Makers3027

Glass Articles—

Lighthouse11

Bottle, Plate and Window, Decanters, Tumblers, &c., Looking Glass, French Shade5065

Toys133

Artificial Eyes16

Horn—

Lantern Leaf50

Combs64

Paper and Pulp—

Paper3121

Papier Mâché1915

Black Ornament024

Account Books1020

Bags416

Gun Wads64

B.—Metal.

No. in Directory.

18641884

Gold—

Chains4350

Brooches and Jewellery346472

Pencil Case2121

Ring329

Leaf2014

Watch Case1043

Silver—

Spoons, &c., Lockets, Bracelets, &c. (Silversmiths)51103

Leaf

Reflectors (Plate)16

Copper—

Pans, Kettles, &c., Sugar Pans (Coppersmiths) Tubes2120

Plate Engraving218

Wire

Lightning Conductors04

Percussion Cap54

Lead—

Pipes01

Pumps

Iron and Steel—

Anchors1222

Bedsteads (Metal)5148

Bicycles

Bird Cage & Wire Work4459

Bridle Bit10467

Boarding Pike12

Boilers

Buckles2525

Nuts and Bolts1981

Chain45131

Coach Furniture, &c.6048

Coffin Furniture1714

Corkscrew1716

Door Spring46

Earth Boring App.01

Forge (Portable)32

Frying Pan79

Fencing Foil01

Fender4555

Fire Irons5755

Fish Hook6836

Gun (27 Branches)553424

Gas Holder85

Gas Meters11

Hair Pin67

Hammer1812

Handcuff34

Hyd’lic Machinery12

Hinge (and Brass)4751

Hollow Ware1023

Hooks

Hook and Eye1413

Ladle

Roofing815

Tanks1220

Boats99

Bridge912

Girder79

Jews Harp68

Keys87140

Lance and Javelin11

Locks (13 Br’nch’s)164252

Lasso Rings

[43]Matchet46

Mariner’s Compass

Needles (7 Br’nch.)172126

Nutcrackers310

Nailmakers207235

Pens1819

Pen Holder1614

Quoit Makers

Quicksilver Bottle Rings (Split, &c.)1316

Scale and Weight2525

Screws7142

Sewing Machines1030

Spectacle Frames916

Safes1527

Spring Makers814

Spring Mattress02

Steel Toy5839

Sword174

Toasting Fork

Tack

Umbrella & Parasol Furniture1211

Vice4932

Brass—

Ammunition cases12

Bedsteads

Belt clasp73

Coach beading54

Candlestick129

Coach handles25

Cocks2935

Chandelier4051

Church Furniture46

Clock movements

Cornice pole312

Curtain hook010

Curtain ring414

Door bolts

Door handles

Electrical bell & apparatus27

Fog signal11

Ferrule

Gas burner44

Gauge613

Mathematical inst.1010

Military ornament1215

Paper fasteners

Roasting jack72

Stair rod (case)67

Theatrical jewellery01

Thimble1312

Watches (29 branches)496790

Tin Plate—

Coffin Furniture1714

Dish Covers17

Grocers’ Canisters22

Lamps

Baths

Cooking Utensils

Candlesticks

Tin Alloys, hard and soft—

Beer Engine1910

Bells1017

Dram Flask

Medals

Measures, Tankards

Composition Pipe

Stencil Plates

Tea Pots

Cream Jugs, &c.

Britannia Metal Ware Manufacturers2013

German Silver—

Cruet Frames

Tea Pots

Spoons, &c.

Electro-plated Ware & Electro-platers & Gilders110215

Dessert Knife & Fork

Implements and Tools used in Manufactures.

Awl Blade, Auger, Anvil, Brace and Bit, Bookbinders’ Tools, Bellows, Bullet Mould, Brushes, Coach Wrench, File Cutter, Glaziers’ Diamond, Gun Implements, Hammer, Hoe, Iron Ladle, Last and Boot Tree, Nails, Rivet, Saw, Screw, Tack, Gimp Pin, &c., Vice, Press Tools, Punches.

Dependent Manufactures and Processes.

A.—Non-Metal.

Box Makers (Wood), Box Makers (Paper), Brick (Fire), Bookbinding, Casting Pot and Crucible, Emery and Glass Cloth Paper, Embossed Paper, Engravers (Block), Felt, Glass Mould, Jewellery Case, Lamp Wick, Lithography, Printing, Pitch Paper, Pearl Workers, Rouge, Rope and Twine, Sealing Wax, Tortoise Shell Workers.

Dependent Manufactures and Processes.

B.—Metal.

Assayers, Bronze Powder, and Gold and Silver Leaf, Die Sinkers, Iron and Steel Hoop, Letter Cutters, Music Smith, Rollers, Refiners, Sweep Smelters, Water Tuyere Iron Manufacturers, Weavers’ Mail.

Processes carried on for the Trade.

Brass Polishers, Buckle Plater, Chasers, China Decorators, Coach Painters, Dippers and Silverers, Diamond Cutter, Engravers and Woodcutters, Enamellers, Electrotypers, Electro-platers, Engine Turners, Galvanisers, Glass Quicker, Glass Painters, Glass Grinders, Glass Benders, Glass Cutters, Harness Platers, Iron Planers, Iron Casters, Iron Braziers, Jewellers’ Stampers, Jewellers’ Glass Cutter, Lapidaries, Metal Spinners, Metal Perforators, Metal Fluters, Machine Rulers, Magic Lantern Slide Painter, Stereotypers.

Dealers and Merchants.

Asbestos, Carozo Nut, Cotton Waste, Copper and Metal, Grindstone, Iron, Salt.

Variety of Materials used in the Manufactures.

It may be expected that in a variety of manufactures, such as those just given, numerous materials would be required. In order to ascertain as far as possible what materials are used in the town, circulars were sent out to many firms, and from information supplied, in reply to these circulars and from other sources, the following list has been prepared.

STATEMENT OF MATERIALS USED IN THE MANUFACTURES OF BIRMINGHAM AND THE DISTRICT.

Note.—After the name of the material, which is printed in small capitals, is given in ordinary type the trades, or a few typical ones, in which the material is used.

ORES.

Antimony.—Nickel and cobalt refining.

Brown Iron Ore.—Gas works.

Copper Pyrites—(Spanish Ore).—Copper extraction and refining, sulphuric acid works.

Cobalt and Nickel.—Nickel and Cobalt refining.

Hæmatite.—Iron smelting, nickel and cobalt refining, malleable iron casting, polishing works.

Galena.—Refining lead slags and products.

Iron Pyrites.—Sulphuric acid manufacture.

Manganese Oxide.—Weldon’s process for chlorine.

Tin Ore.—Nickel and cobalt refining, bedstead manufacture, tin plate works.

METALS.

Antimony.—Britannia metal works, pewter working, stereotyping, engineers’ brassfounding.

Aluminium.—Aluminium bronze, metal beating, pen and pencil case, gauge making, sewing machine.

Bismuth.—Engineers’ brassfoundry, solder making.

Copper.—Alloy makers, coppersmiths, copper and brass tube works, gas fitting, railway carriage works, brass founding, stereotyping, nail making, gun making, roast jack, clocks, electro works, jewellers, mathematical instrument makers.

Gold.—Jewellery, gilt toy, thimble making, brassfounding, chains, spectacles, watch chains and cases, electro-plate, gun making, swords, pens.

Iron and Steel.—All trades.

Lead.—Chemical manufactures, alloy makers, pewter and Britannia metal, nickel and cobalt refining, electro-plate, whip, pen, nail, stereotyping, india rubber stamps, railway carriage, gun, brassfounding, thimble, ship’s log.

Magnesium.—Mathematical instrument.

Nickel.—Electro-plate, pen and pencil, stereotyping, whip button, needle, sword, photo-frames, fire-irons, tin plate, sewing machine, coach furniture and harness, bicycle, steam gauge.

Platinum.—Mathematical instrument, nickel and cobalt refining, photo-frames, electro-plate, wedding ring, thimble, brassfounding.

Iridium and Palladium.—Pen and pencil.

Quicksilver.—Optical instrument, nickel and cobalt refining, stereotyping, thimble and whip, gauge, electro-plate, art metal, clock.

Silver.—Silversmith, jewellery, carriage furniture, whip mounts, sword, electro-plate, hook and eye, mathematical instrument, gun, silver plating, button, stereotyping, spectacles, chains, bedstead, thimbles.

Tin.—Cocoa, stereotyping, whip, rolled metals, toilet pin, nail, needle, railway carriage, mathematical instrument, tool making, gas meters, roasting jack, engineers’ brassfounding, axle boxes, clock, bedstead, thimble, gauge, electro-plate, brassfounding, wholesale boot and shoe.

Tin Plate.—Various branches of the tin plate trade, ship’s log, steam gauge, art metal, nickel and cobalt refining, button, cocoa, printing, electro-plate, needle.

Zinc and Spelter.—Brass and alloy makers, yellow and sheathing metal, thimble, whip, art metal, galvanising, copper extraction, button, stereotyping, alkali, electro-plate, nail, watch chain.

Note.—The applications of the compound metals or alloys, such as Brass, Britannia Metal, Bell Metal, German Silver, Gun Metal, Phosphor Tin, Ferro-Manganese, Hard and Soft Solders, and others, are not given for want of space. The most important trades consuming metal in the form of leaf and powder—Gold Leaf, Silver Leaf and Bronzes—are bedstead manufacturing, picture frame making, japanning, lithography, art metal work (planishing.)

ACIDS.

Acetic (Vinegar).—Gelatine manufacture, button, lithography, whip, sword, art metal, gas fitting, bedsteads.

Boracic.—German silver, electro-deposition.

Carbolic.—Gelatine, soap, ammunition works.

Citric.—Lithography, art metal.

Hydrofluoric.—Glass, gas fitting, nickel and cobalt works, button making, railway carriage.

Hydrochloric (Muriatic or Spirits of Salt).—Metal trades generally, gas manufacture, gelatine, printing, chemical trades, railway carriage.

Hydrocyanic.—Button, pen and penholder, electro-plate.

Nitric (Aqua Fortis).—Metal trades generally, especially brass, gelatine, button, whip, sword, gun, hook and eye.

Oxalic.—Tin plate, art metal work, button, tool making, whip, pen and penholders, wholesale boot and shoe trade.

Pyrogallic.—Gas manufacture, art metal.

Sulphuric (Oil of Vitriol).—Iron wire, nails, bedsteads, button, pen, gelatine, chemical trades, soap, hook and eye, tin plate, brass trades, gun, whip, sword.

Tartaric.—Gelatine, nickel and cobalt, art metal.

CHEMICALS.

Ammonia and Ammonium Salts.—Gas manufacture, brass trades generally, galvanising, buttons, tin plate, printing and lithography, nails, paper.

Arsenious Anhydride or White Arsenic.—Brass founding, chandelier, electro-plate, buttons.

Alum.—Gelatine, paper, rolled metal, buttons, wholesale boot and shoe.

Borax.—Metal trades generally, jewellers, gelatine.

Copper Sulphate or Blue Stone.—Iron wire, electro-plate, buttons, fibre dressing, printing.

Glycerine.—Gas fittings, soap, printing.

Iodine.—Copper extraction.

Iron Sulphate or Copperas.—Buttons, fibre dressing, brass founding, emery paper, wholesale boot and shoe, rouge manufacture.

Lead Acetate (Sugar of Lead).—Gelatine, buttons, tin plate works, oil and colour works.

Mercuric Chloride (Corrosive Sublimate).—Buttons, jewellery, optical instruments, gold beating.

Nickel Sulphate.—Trades in which nickel plating is used, bicycles, sewing machines, bridle bit, &c.

Potassium Salts (Caustic Potash, Cyanide, Carbonate, Sal Enixum, Ferrocyanide, Ferridcyanide, Permanganate, Bichromate, Chlorate, Argol or Tartar).—Brass founding, electro-plate, bedstead, jewellery, gelatine, glass, buttons, soap, whip, tin plate.

Platinum Chloride.—Electro-plate, buttons, optical instruments.

Sodium Salts (Caustic Soda, Carbonate, Brown Ash, Acetate, Salt, Sulphate).—Brass founding, jewellery, alloys, electro-plate, fibre dressing, tin plate, soap.

Sulphur.—Chemical works, rolled metal works, sword, tin plate.

Zinc Salts (Chloride, Sulphate).—Gelatine, buttons, printing.

PIGMENTS.

Brunswick Green, Carmine, Chrome Yellow, Cobalt, Gamboge, Indian Red, Indigo, Ivory Black, Lamp Black, Ochre, Orange Chrome, Orpiment, Prussian Blue, Red Lead, Scheele’s Green, Smalts, Umber, Ultramarine, Verdigris, Vermilion, Yellow Ochre, Zaffre, Zinc White, White Lead.—(Red and white lead are used for lutes as well as for pigments, red lead too is largely consumed in the manufacture of flint glass). Brass founding, tin plate works, japanning, bedsteads, lithography, brush works, coach and carriage works, buttons, ammunition works, cycles, art metal work.

STONES.

Quarry Stones, Limestone, Bilston and Derby (Grind) Stones, Lithographic Stone, Whetstone, Ragstone, Water of Ayr Stone, Turkey Stone, Arkansas.—Iron smelting, chemical works, nickel and cobalt refining, sword, edge tool, and tool grinding generally, printing and lithography, tin plate, brass founding, gun, button, sword, art metal, electro-plate.

Apatite, Sombrerite, and Native Phosphates.—Phosphorus manufacture.

Flur Spar.—Alloys, engineers’ brass foundry, roasting jack, hydrofluoric acid manufacture.

Mica.—Gas fitting, stove makers, brass founding, ship’s log, optical instrument.

Felspar.—Pottery, art metal.

Rock Crystal.—Spectacle manufacture, art metal, electrical apparatus, optical instrument.

Agate, Bloodstone, Hæmatite.—As burnishers in many trades.

Diamond Bort.—Diamond cutting, lapidary work, spectacle manufacture, railway carriage.

Diamond.—Jewellery, glaziers’ diamond manufacture.

Amber, Amethyst, Crocidolite, Garnet, Opal Ruby, Sapphire, Carnelian, Topaz, &c.—Cut stones in jewellery, lapidary work, watch and clock manufacture, art metal work, electro-plate, whip, fine wire drawing.

GUMS.

Arabic.—Brass founding, printing and lithography, optical instrument, electro-plate, pen, whip, light metal trades, wholesale boot and shoe.

Benzoin.—Wire mattress, railway carriage.

Copal.—Button, printing and lithography, electro-plate, needles, optical instruments.

Damar.—Button, optical instruments.

Dextrine.—Printing and lithography, pen and penholders, optical instrument, thimble.

Gutta Percha.—Electro-plate, brass founding, railway carriage, printing and lithography, rolled light brass metal work, needle, thimble, wholesale boot and shoe.

India Rubber.—Vulcanised India rubber works.

Mastic.—Buttons, printing and lithography, tin plate.

Sandarac.—Buttons, printing.

Shell-lac.—Lacquer manufacture, brass founding, light metal work, railway carriage, pen and penholder, whip, button, printing and lithography, sword, optical instrument, roasting jack, thimble, electro-plate.

Tragacanth.—Printing and lithography, wholesale boot and shoe trade.

OILS, VARNISHES, &c.

Animal Oils (Lard, Neat’s Foot, Sperm, Seal, Whale, Tallow, Train).—Rolled metal, electro-plate, buttons, pen and penholder, nails, fire irons, bedstead, wedding ring, brass founding, gas manufacture, printing and lithography, optical instrument, alloy making, railway carriage, engineers’ brass founding, soap, wholesale boot and shoe.

Vegetable Oils (Colza, Coca Nut, Linseed, Rape, Olive, Palm, Pine).—Gas manufacture, fibre and brass dressing, printing and lithography, electro-plate, rolled metal, tin plate, carriage furniture, optical instrument, soap, paper, button, alkali works, iron wire, bedstead.

Mineral Oils (Petroleum, Petroline, Coal Shale).—Fibre dressing, brass founding, gas manufacture, spectacles, lapidaries’ work, lithography and printing, railway carriage.

Benzoline, Bisulphide of Carbon, Coal Naphtha, Ether, Methylated Spirit, Spirits of Wine, Tar Spirits, Turpentine, Terebine, Wood Naphtha.—Papier mâché, japanning, lacquer, printing and lithography, electro-plate, button, thimble, cycle, whip, soap, brassfounding, railway carriage, bottle jack, optical instrument.

Asphaltum, Bitumen, Gold Size.—Printing and lithography, tin plate, papier mâché, bedstead, picture frame, ornamental glass, brassfounding, art metal.

Pitch, Resin.—Soap, electro-plate, tin-plate, bedstead, carriage furniture, printing and lithography, thimble, paper, brassfounding, wholesale boot and shoe trade.

Varnishes (Copal, Mastic, Japan, Pontypool).—30 or 40 varieties are known in the trade, the names often implying the purpose for which the varnish is used as coach-body varnish, oak varnish, undercoating, finishing, &c. Coach and carriage works, house decoration, furniture, tin-plate, papier mâché, bedstead, coffin furniture, fog signal cases, iron hollow-ware, enamel leather.

LEATHERS AND FABRICS.

Basil or Sheep Skin, Buffalo, Bull Neck, Calf, Crocodile, Cow Hide, Dog Fish, Donkey, Gnu, Horse Hide, Kangaroo, Pig Skin, Russian, Skivers, Chamois, or Wash Leather, Sea Horse, or Walrus, Vellum.—Wholesale saddlery and leather trades generally, wholesale boot and shoe trade, polishing in the metal trades, parts of articles in the electro-plate, tin plate, whip, and many other trades.

Buckram, Cloth, Flannel, Plush, Satin, Silk, Velvet.—Railway carriage works, tin plate, brassfounding, button, needle, optical instrument, cocoa, leather trades.

Felt.—Corrugated iron, brassfounding, light brass rolled metal works, railway carriage works, printing and lithography, electro-plate, art metal, optical instrument, glass polishing.

Paper.—Paper box trade, papier mâché, wrapping up in all trades.

WOODS.

Ash, Baywood, Beech, Birch, Elm, Fir, Maple, Oak, Pine, Teak.—One or more of them used in most trades, railway carriage, cabinet, tin plate, brass founding, edge tools, clog, electro-plate.

Beef Wood.—Gun trade, ramrod.

Blackthorn.—Whip.

Boxwood.—Used in metal trades, generally for chocks.

Cedar.—Railway carriage, cabinet, pen and penholder, needle, art metal, optical instrument.

Cocus Wood.—Optical instrument.

Ebony.—Gun, gas fitting, brass founding, button, electro-plate, tool, art metal, railway carriage.

Hickory.—Whip, rolled metal, needle, ferrule, railway carriage.

Holly.—Tool, whip.

Holder Wood.—Clog.

Lancewood, Partridge Wood, Satin Wood, Snake Wood.—Gun, clog, whip, needle, pen and penholder, brass founding, optical instrument.

Lignum Vitæ.—Button, whip, brass founding, art metal, rolled metal, tool, corkscrew.

Malacca Cane.—Gold beating.

Maple.—Gun, railway carriage, cycle and sewing machine, brass founding.

Peach.—Electro-plate.

Pear.—Coal mining, glass, printing and lithography.

Rosewood.—Gun, railway carriage, cabinet, printing and lithography, pen and penholder, electro-plate, tool.

Sycamore.—Railway carriage, electro-plate, printing and lithography, art metal.

Tulip.—Art metal.

Walnut.—Gun, electro-plate, brass founding, railway carriage, cabinet, pen and penholder, art metal, matchet.

Yew.—Whip.

Zebra.—Button, electro-plate, pen and penholder, optical instrument.

DYE STUFFS.

Aniline Colours, Alkanet, Archil, Burwood, Cudbear, Catechu, Divi divi, Dragon’s Blood, Fustic, Indigo, Gall Nuts, Logwood, Myrabolans, Red Sanders, Shumac, Turmeric.—Furniture and cabinet works, button, railway carriage, fibre and bass dressing, art metal, whip, paper, printing and lithography, matchet, wholesale boot and shoe trade.

NOT CLASSED.

Asbestos.—Gas fitting, paper, railway carriage, printing and lithography, electro-plate, tin plate.

Bones and Bone Waste.—Glue, buttons, electro-plate, light brass rolled metal works, carriage furniture.

Beeswax, Paraffin Wax.—Brass founding, alloy, whip, bedstead, electro-plate, printing and lithography, light brass rolled metal works, optical instrument.

Burdock, Keck, Elder Pith.—Watch Finishing.

Bath Brick.—Gas fitting, whip, light brass rolled metal works, ships’ log, optical instrument, railway carriage.

Black Lead.—Black lead works, gas fitting, railway carriage, electro-plate, tin plate, nails, whip, buttons.

Chalk, Whitening, French Chalk.—Gas fitting, brass founding, electro-plate, printing and lithography, sword, railway carriage, tin plate, fibre dressing, buttons, pen and penholder.

Coal Tar, Creosote.—Tar distilling, railway carriage, soap, electro-plate, light brass rolled metal works.

Catgut.—Bands for lathes in nearly all trades.

Camel Hair, Sable Hair.—Railway carriage, electro-plate, watch chain, brass founding, art metal, optical instrument.

Cotton Waste.—In nearly all the metal trades.

Cotton Wool and Wadding.—For storing and packing in jewellery and other trades.

Cotton, Thread, Tape.—Nearly all trades.

Cuttle Fish.—Printing and lithography, jewellery.

Crocus, Colcothar, Rouge.—Brassfounding, gas fitting, bedstead, electro-plate, tin plate, jewellery, glass grinding, and polishing.

Charcoal.—brassfounding, gas fitting, bedstead, electro-plate alloy, wedding ring, nails.

China Clay.—Porcelain (Worcester), paper, engineers’ brassfounding.

Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao).—Cocoa and chocolate manufacture.

Eggs.—Printing and lithography, photographic frame and cabinet work.

Emery.—For grinding and polishing in all the metal trades, glass grinding, lapidary work, wholesale boot and shoe trade.

Flour.—Tin plate, brassfounding, alloys, railway carriage, printing and lithography, bedstead, nails, papier mâché, paper box, pocket book, wholesale boot and shoe trade.

Flax.—Whip Manufacture.

Flock, Feathers.—Upholstery and bedding manufacture, artificial fly.

Fire Clay.—Furnaces in all manufactures.

Fuller’s Earth.—Pin, cycle and sewing machine.

Flints.—African gun trade, nickel and cobalt, chemical works.

Founders’ Dust.—For casting, metal trades generally.

Gall Nuts.—Ink, brassfounding.

[44]Gypsum and Plaster of Paris.—Gold beating, paper, gas manufacture, railway carriage, printing and lithography, whip, brassfounding, nails.

Gas Carbon.—Electrical apparatus makers, ship’s log, thimble, whip, art metal, optical instruments.

Gelatine and Glue.—In nearly all trades.

Gannister.—Alloys, rolled metals, iron and steel works, brassfounding.

Gold Beaters’ Skin.—Gold beating, electro-plate.

Hares’ Feet.—Gold beating, watch chain, whip, tool, thimble, printing and lithography.

Hemp, Hurds, Tow.—Rope and twine, alloy, electro-plate, carriage furniture, tin plate, brassfounding, gas fitting, railway carriage, anchor, sword, thimble.

Honey.—Bronze powder, cocoa and chocolate.

Horse Hair.—Railway carriage, whip, fishing tackle, upholstery and bedding.

Ivory.—Bone and ivory and billiard ball turners, electro-plate, optical instrument.

Irish Moss, Tannate of Soda.—Used generally to prevent scaling in steam boilers.

Jute, Kittool Fibre.—Paper, glue, fibre, dressing, electro-plate.

Liver of Sulphur.—For bronzing in various metal trades.

Lime.—Building, paper, glue, chemical works, iron wire, brassfounding, electro-plate, printing and lithography, railway carriage.

Marine Glue.—Alloys, railway carriage, rolled light metal, optical instrument.

Nuts (Betel, Coquilla, Carozo).—Buttons.

Oilstone Dust.—Gun, clock, watch finishing.

Paraffin Wax.—Railway carriage works, axle box, rolled light metal works.

Polishing Thread.—Watch chain, spectacle, cycle and sewing machine.

Pumice Stone.—Grinding and polishing in most metal trades, printing and lithography, papier mâché.

Pearl Shell.—Pearl workers, papier mâché, bedstead, electro-plate, optical instrument.

Putty Powder.—Lapidary, electro-plate, diesinking, needles, whip, sword, thimble.

Quills.—Whip, fishing tackle.

Rottenstone.—For polishing in the metal trades, papier mâché, pearl work.

Sand (Fontainbleau, Trent, Silver, Loam, Core, &c).—Glass manufacture, glass grinding, moulding in the metal trades, for sand blast in the electro-plate trade.

Sandifer or Glass Gall.—Jewellery, electro-plate, watch chain.

Sawdust.—Gas manufacture, brass founding and brass trades generally, railway carriage, printing and lithography.

Sealing Wax.—For parcelling in nearly all trades.

Silk.—Railway carriage, button, tin plate, printing and lithography, needles and fish hook.

Size.—Railway carriage, printing and lithography, tin plate, optical instrument, house decoration, electro-gilding.

Slate and Slate Pencil.—Jewellery, railway carriage, printing and lithography, electro-plate, tin plate.

Slag Wool.—Gas fittings, engineers’ brass founding.

Soap.—Nearly all trades.

Sponge.—Tin plate, art metal, rolled light brass trade, whip, electro-plate, printing and lithography.

Stale Beer.—Electro-plating and gilding, wire working.

Sugar.—Cocoa, electro-plate, tin plate, ships’ log, printing and lithography.

Straw or Hay.—Bedding, packing in nearly all trades.

Swan’s Down.—Electro-plate, bridle bit, tin plate.

Tortoise Shell.—Tortoise shell workers, button.

Vulcanite.—Button, ammunition, railway carriage.

Whalebone.—Whip manufacture.

Wool.—Railway carriage, felt, printing and lithography, bedding, needles, optical instrument.

In reference to some materials, Mr. Arthur Robottom, who has introduced a variety of new products for use in Birmingham sends me the following notes: Cryolite from Greenland, is used in making glass globes for the electric light. Nitrate of soda, from Chili.—Mr. W. R. Lloyd, merchant, Newhall Street, sold the first small lot to W. C. Alston, about 50 years ago; since then I have sold large quantities to the manufacturers of nitric acid. Lard oil was first used in Birmingham. Carnubia wax (Brazil) was first used in Birmingham for wax tapers. Mica.—The first import of large plates from India was sold to Griffiths and Browett for lanterns to be used in powder magazines. Istle or Mexican Fibre.—The first bale was sold by me to Mrs. Grew, of Church street, and used for brush making. Kourie Gum, from New Zealand, first used in Birmingham by Barratt, Postans and others for varnish making. Cow Hair from River Plate used for circular brushes in glass cutting. Carozo nuts or Vegetable Ivory.—The first arrivals from Venezuela were sold to Mr. Burgiss, of Great Charles Street, for toys; afterwards some were obtained by Mr. Bricknall, button maker, who first made buttons from this material. Subsequently the late Mr. J. S. Wright, then a clerk with Smith and Kemp, took up the material, and it soon became generally used. Now some thousands of tons are consumed every year for this purpose. Piassava.—“I sold the first small lot to Richard Deen, and got him to retail it to Irishmen living in London Prentice street and neighbourhood, to make into bass brooms for hawking. At the present time some 200 tons per week of this material is made up into brooms. Gum Animi, largely used in Birmingham for varnish. Button Lac was first used in Birmingham by Joseph Shorthouse, Market Street, who had the first five cases from Calcutta, for the manufacture of lacquer. Kiltool, from Ceylon. The first shipment came to me, I put it aside in some stables at my house in the Coventry Road, intending to sell it for putting under ripe strawberries, but by accident I found out that by putting it into hot oil it took a beautiful black colour. Upon this Mr. Lovedee, of Bartholomew Street, at my suggestion, dressed and prepared the material for the brush trade. It is now used in great quantities.” Lemon, Orange, and Citron Peel.—Large quantities sent to Birmingham to be candied at Mr. Pattison’s works, Spring Hill. They are imported from Sicily.

The reader having now some idea of the materials entering our district, let us see generally, though in mere outline, how these materials are worked up in the metal trades.

Ores.—The only ores smelted in our district on a large scale are iron and nickel and cobalt. Small quantities of galena and copper pyrites are used. Spanish ore, an iron pyrites containing two or three per cent. of copper, has the sulphur burnt off in the chemical works, and the copper is subsequently precipitated and refined.

Metals and Alloys.—Iron and steel are now extensively produced from cast iron in our district by the modern methods as well as by the older ones of puddling in the case of iron, and cementing in the case of steel. The basic Bessemer process has been adopted on a large scale by Mr. A. Hickman, of the Spring Vale Furnaces, Bilston. Three converters are used, one lined in the ordinary manner (gannister), the other two with a paste made of dolomite (magnesian limestone) and tar, the process of conversion being commenced in the first named converter, and finished in the others. At the same works are modern type blast furnaces in which the waste gases are utilised for heating the blast on the regenerative principle, two stoves being those of Mr. Cowper’s system, while there are three new ones invented by Ford and Moncan. Messrs. Hatton and Sons of Bilston, adopt a fixed Bessemer converter in which blast of low pressure can be used. At the same works the Wilson gas producer is used for re-heating furnaces, and an arrangement on the Ponsard principle is adopted for raising the temperature of the air used in the combustion of the gas. Mr. Smith-Casson has in use at the Round Oak Works a novel gas furnace of his invention. At the Patent Shaft and Axle Tree Works a modification of the (Siemens) open hearth furnace (an improvement by Dick and Riley) is being used.[45] At Messrs. Cox Brothers and Holland, Alcester Street, crucible steel is made. The cementing process is carried on at the Brades Steel Works, Oldbury.

Copper.—The crude copper known as Chili bars and precipitated copper from chemical works, where the sulphur of the ore has been previously utilized, are refined extensively in the neighbourhood of Birmingham.

Lead.—Lead refuse of various kinds, together with galena, is treated at one small works in the town.

Alloys.—In most cases manufacturers mix their own metals. However, brass, German-silver, and other alloys are extensively manufactured for the trade.

The metal or alloy having been made, is subject to various general processes, either as preliminary to manufacture, or in the course of manufacture, of which the following are the principal:—

Casting.—From a drawing the pattern is made in wood—⅛ of an inch to the foot longer in case of cast-iron, and ³⁄₁₆ do. in case of brass to allow for shrinking. The pattern is laid in sand, often contained in a casting frame, which, from its plasticity, non-fusibility, and other properties lends itself admirably for mould making. The mould is dusted over with charcoal, or with a mixture known as founders’ dust, and the casting then made by pouring metal in. With small articles in brass, metal patterns are used. For gold articles, such as wedding rings, an iron frame is used, filled with the finest red sand. For small gold work, the cuttle fish bone is used as a mould, the pattern being pressed in the same manner as in sand.[46] A special feature in the process of casting in our district is the production of “chilled” castings for rolls. The mould for the barrel part of the roll is a heavy cylindrical casting of iron truly bored out to a size sufficient to allow of the roll being turned to the required size. The molten iron is run into the mould sidelong, and from the bottom, so as to give the metal a rotatory motion. This rotatory motion causes the dust and slag to keep in the centre, leaving a pure metal in contact with the mould. This metal chilled by contact with the massive metal mould, produces the hard and close texture required.[47]

Keys, stirrups, hob nails, and many small articles are produced by casting, the casting being afterwards rendered malleable by the process of cementation, which consists in packing the articles in an iron box with powdered hæmatite, and heating from three to seven days. Iron castings are also annealed by packing with cinders in a box, which is then heated for some time, as with the malleable cast iron.

Rolling, Wire and Tube Drawing.—Iron, brass, steel, and German silver are used up in the form of sheet, wire, and tube. With large firms producing finished articles, these processes are done on the premises, but there are several works devoted to the production of sheet metal, wire, or tube only, and rolling for the trade. In the jewellers’ district, the cast ingots of the precious metals are taken to rolling mills in the neighbourhood to be rolled down to the required degree of fineness. For some articles, such as spoons, where a blank is required of varying thickness, strips of metal are thinned in parts by what is known as “cross rolling,” the rolls being exposed at one end, so that a strip of metal may be passed through, which is thus thinned down at one end.

Tube drawing is effected by cutting a strip of metal which is then passed through rolls to give it a gutter form. One end of the gutter is now beaten up to form a tang that can be gripped by the tongs of the draw bench, and the gutter is pulled through a conical hole which roughly forms the tube. The open seam of the tube is now brazed, and after cleaning, this roughly formed tube is slipped over a steel rod or mandril. Both mandril and tube are drawn through a smooth circular hole when a smooth uniform tube is formed. Fluted taper tubes are made as described at (B. p. 324[48]) by means of “tins,” but a novel method is now adopted for smooth taper tubes. A wedge-shaped piece of metal is roughly made into a conical tube which is put on a taper mandril revolving in a lathe. A flat steel burnisher is pressed on to the tube as it revolves pressing the metal to take the shape of the mandril. Twisted tubes are produced by drawing the tube through a revolving nut (B. p. 325[48]), embossed or ornamented tubes by drawing a plain tube through a die, composed of a series, four say, of small wheels or pulleys on the edge of each wheel being impressed the desired pattern. As the tube is drawn through the die, the wheels turn and impress on the tube the pattern they carry on their surface. As stated (B. p. 326[48]), the invention is due to Mr. Fearn. It should, however, be mentioned that the process failed in his hands, but was subsequently taken up by Messrs. Winfield and Co., who, with the help of their engineer, Mr. Thomas Preston, brought the process to perfection.

Press Tool Work.—The next general process in the manufacture of many metallic articles is cutting out a blank into the requisite shape. This is done by what is called a press tool consisting of two parts; one a firm block of steel, in which is an aperture, circular, oval, or whatever shape may be desired, and the other a punch of corresponding shape, a piece of metal being placed over the aperture, the punch is forced down by a screw of high pitch on to the metal, when a blank is cut out at one blow, and falls into a pan placed to receive it.[49]

Stamping.—Used for hollowing blanks in a number of trades. The blank cut by hand or tool is placed on a mould or die, and a heavy weight, carrying on its lower surface the counterpart of the mould, working in guides so as to fall true, can be lifted up and allowed to fall on the blank until the metal is forced into the shape of the mould. As the metal hardens by successive blows, the blanks are annealed (that is heated and allowed to cool) as often as may be found necessary.

The weight which gives the blow is supported by a strap passing over a wheel in constant motion. So long as the strap hangs loosely over the wheel, the friction of the moving wheel is insufficient to lift the weight, but immediately the workman makes the strap taut, the weight is carried up and is let fall by the workman releasing his hold on the strap.

Shaping.—Thin metal is shaped by pressure applied by means of a screw press, the metal being placed between a die or mould and its counterpart.

Automatic Machinery.—A number of articles produced from wire, such as pins, nails, hooks and eyes, hair pins, etc., are made completely by automatic machinery, the wire being wound off a reel at one end of the machine and transformed into the various articles as it passes along until it comes out at the other end of the machine, a finished or nearly finished article.

Automatic Turning and Shaping.—Gun stocks, boot lasts, tool handles and other similar articles are automatically turned. With a gun stock for example, the rough form cut from a plank is put in a lathe, above is placed a steel model or dummy of the form required to be turned, the model and the wooden blank are made to revolve at precisely the same speed, and a rotating cutter travels slowly along from one end of the blank to the other, the movement of the cutter inwards or outwards being regulated by the dummy. The wooden blank having been put in the lathes, the cutting is started, and it then goes on until finished, when the lathe stops automatically. The shaping of gun locks and many other parts of the gun is effected by causing a revolving cutter to be moved over a fixed steel model or dummy, the cutter thus shapes the blank to a fac-simile of the pattern or dummy.[50]

Spinning.—Tea pot bodies and a variety of articles in Britannia metal are “spun.” A piece of wood 4 or 5 inches in diameter is attached to the lathe head, and in this a hollow corresponding to the bottom of the tea pot is turned. A sheet of metal of a foot or so diameter is now put against the wood and pressed into the hollow by a wooden cylindrical mould with a round base which corresponds to the concavity. The disc is rotated very rapidly and the workman presses the soft metal over the mould so as to form a vessel in shape somewhat resembling a coffee cup with upright sides, the cylindrical mould is taken out and replaced by a disc of wood in two halves, held in place by a spindle from the back centre of the lathe. The metal cylinder is now gradually closed in until the opening is reduced to the required size, when the body is complete. The spindle is withdrawn and the divided disc of wood easily shakes out.

Drawing Through.—Umbrella ferrules, pencil cases, cartridge cases, and a variety of articles are made by “drawing through.” The finest example of this process is seen in the manufacture of a metallic cartridge case, such as is used in the new Enfield-Martini rifle. I am indebted to Mr. T. R. Bayliss, Managing Director of the Birmingham Small Arms and Metal Company, for the following particulars. The brass is rolled to the required thickness.[51] It is then passed into a machine which forms it into a shallow cup. This machine consists of a tubular punch which cuts out a disc of 1.25 inch diameter, immediately upon which a solid plug passing through the tubular punch, presses the disc through a steel ring, so that it falls to the ground as a shallow brass cup. Three of these are produced by one blow of the press. The cups are heated in a muffle to a red heat, then dipped in dilute sulphuric acid to remove scale, washed, coated with soap and oil, and then passed through a second machine in which a slightly narrower punch forces the cup through a slightly narrower ring, and thus the cup, while retaining the same thickness at the bottom, is made slightly narrower and much deeper. Repetitions of the process (six altogether) produce a case rather more than half-an-inch wide and three inches long, which, when cut off to proper length, indented at the bottom for reception of the cap, and some other finishing processes gone through, is ready for the charge of powder. The process is applied to small articles like pencil cases, and at the Small Arms and Metal Company to cases as large as 5·20 inch diameter and 15 inch long.

Soldering.—Hard soldering or brazing consists in fusing an alloy of high melting point between two junctions of the metal to be soldered so as firmly to connect them. The solder in fine powder is mixed with powdered borax, and made into a puddle with water, and then spread about the parts to be soldered together. The article is now heated by fire or gas, and the moment when the solder runs, is carefully watched. Gold and silver soldering used in the jewellery trades is on a small scale similar to brazing, the solder used is a gold or silver alloy of slightly lower melting point than the article to be soldered: the borax is commonly applied by previously rubbing down a crystal on a piece of slate and the white puddle thus obtained applied by means of a camel hair pencil to the junction on which the solder is placed. The article is supported on a piece of pumice stone and the necessary heat produced by the flame from a mouth blowpipe. In soft soldering an alloy of tin and lead is used, the melted alloy being spread by means of a “bit” or “doctor,” consisting of a piece of copper attached to an iron rod set in a wooden handle. A flux called “monkey” or “spirit,” consisting of muriatic acid with dissolved zinc, having previously been applied. Formerly resin was used as a flux, but this is now to a great extent superseded by the mixture just spoken of.

Scratch Brushing is used to produce a rich rough surface previous to gilding. Revolving brushes of brass wire scratch the surface of the article which is kept well moistened with stale beer or with water to which size has been added.

Of late years the SAND BLAST has been introduced for roughing surfaces. Sand is fed into a powerful blast of air, and a fine frosted surface produced. If the article is protected in places by a mask of paper or soft metal cut out in any desired pattern, an ornamental pattern is produced requiring only a little chasing to finish it. The sand blast is used too in the production of an imitation of engraved glass, in embossing glass as a substitute for hydrofluoric acid, and for re-cutting old files.

Dipping.—In order to clean brass articles, they are dipped into a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, the temperature and strength of acid determining whether the dipping is bright or dead. The bright articles are now finished by burnishing or polishing, and are then ready for

Lacquering.—The articles are laid on an iron table heated to a temperature of about 230° F. by super-heated steam. When warm, the lacquer, which is a solution of shell-lac in spirits of wine, is brushed over, the spirit evaporates and leaves a protecting coating of gum.

Gold Cutting or Lapping in jewellery consists in pressing articles against a rapidly revolving disc or “lap,” composed of lead and tin, to the surface of which fine emery has been applied. The faces of the article which have thus been “cut” are subsequently polished on a “bob,” that is on a wheel covered with leather on its edge or circumference.[52]

Colouring in jewellery refers to a rich gold colour obtained on gold articles. The process at first could be applied only to jewellery of high quality, but now 15 and 18 carat gold is coloured. The articles are heated to dull redness to destroy grease and dirt, then hung on platinum wires and immersed in a boiling mixture of salt, saltpetre, and muriatic acid and water. After drying out in sawdust they are scratch-brushed.[52]

There are many extremely interesting processes in the trades of our town besides those which apply exclusively to the metal trades, but for these I have no space. Those who wish for full information respecting the history, position, and general character of the Birmingham industries, must consult “Birmingham and the Midland Hardware District,” edited by Mr. Sam. Timmins. This volume, which was published on the occasion of the visit of the British Association to the town in 1865, is exhaustive, describing the trades as they then existed. In order, however, to supplement Mr. Timmins’ book, application has been made to various gentlemen who have been good enough to provide the following short notices (or the substance of them) of the various trades referred to at length in the volume. In addition there are some notices of industries which have been introduced since the year 1865.

SUPPLEMENTARY DETAILS OF BIRMINGHAM TRADE SINCE 1865.

Introductory Note.—The references to “Birmingham and the Midland Hardware District” volume are quoted as “B.,” followed by a number indicating the page. Thus (B. 77) means, See “Birmingham and the Midland Hardware District”, page 77. The trades are arranged alphabetically.

Assay Office of Birmingham.—[H. Westwood].—(B. 499). The assay marks continue to be so highly valued by the public that all goods are now sent to be assayed and marked except those of the commonest quality, and a few richly wrought articles that would be injured in the process.[53]

The statistics of the Assay Office form an index to the condition of the gold and silver trades of the town. The following tables are a continuation of those given by Mr. Ryland (B. 507).

Weight of Gold and Silver Wares Assayed and Marked in Birmingham.

Year ends June 24thGold. oz.Silver. oz.

186530,73399,688

186635,70590,736

186734,11483,501

186836,17079,642

186947,69487,027

187048,12384,323

187158,32381,248

187275,93391,988

187398,134106,415

1874116,325134,949

1875113,642141,123

1876120,019142,148

1877114,772163,047

1878104,202159,847

187987,042166,469

188081,606239,835

188170,466331,209

188286,837511,743

188391,053851,957

188499,799926,968

188597,618888,391

Amount of Plate Duty Collected.

Year ends July 24th. Date.Amount.

1865£11,114

186611,493

18679,941

18689,761

186910,505

187010,767

187111,270

187212,603

187314,889

187417,898

187518,202

Year ends June 24th.

187618,689

187719,053

187818,406

187915,752

188013,898

188115,141

188218,649

188319,663

188420,943

188520,221

Number of Assays made in Birmingham.

Date.Number.

18431,685

18532,477

18636,823

187338,138

1883101,012

Bedsteads, Iron and Brass.—[L. Brierley.]—(B. 624.) In 1849 there were only about eight manufacturers of metallic bedsteads in Birmingham and the neighbourhood, whose united production probably reached 400 finished articles per week. In 1865 the number had increased to twenty, with a weekly output of about 5,000; the number of makers within a radius of fifteen miles is about forty, and the weekly production not far short of 20,000. As the number of manufacturers increased, and competition necessarily became keener, so improvements were continually being effected. The old imitation bamboo cane gave way to more artistic effects of colour. The pillars and rails were decorated with flowers and Dutch metal, or with gold—accomplished partly by hand, and partly by the process (long known in the potteries for ornamenting china ware) called transferring. This somewhat pronounced, if not “loud” style of decoration, though still in demand for foreign countries, has in its turn been replaced by plain polished surfaces, relieved at intervals with brass, nickel, or silver plated joints, and mountings. Prices range now (1886) from 5/- or 6/- for a plain stump bedstead to £100 for electro-silver plated canopy or fore part constructed to suit Oriental taste. The United States now buys and also makes metallic bedsteads. Australia, New Zealand, the Cape, Mauritius, Canada, East and West Indies, the States of South America, Egypt, China, and to some extent, Japan, purchase.

About 500 persons are now employed in Birmingham and neighbourhood in the bedstead trade; the average earnings of men are about 23/- per week, and of women about 14/- per week.

Within the last ten years wire mattresses have been introduced. The price was formerly £4 to £5 for a mattress, according to width. Now a good one may be obtained at a price varying from 20/- to 40/-.

While Birmingham and the district is the principal seat of the bedstead trade there are extensive manufactories in London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Bristol. Metallic bedsteads are also made extensively in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and of late years in the United States also. A great number are, however, still exported to Spain and America in spite of the native competition, and protective duties amounting to 45 per cent. Our trade with Spain is very much reduced of late years in consequence of England being denied the advantage of “the favoured nation” clause.

Block Paper and its Uses.—[J. B. Gausby.]—(B. 574.) Since the previous paper on this subject was written, there has been no alteration in the process of manufacture, nor has there been any marked development of the trade as a whole. The manufacture of panels of various thickness has increased in consequence of their adoption in the place of wood, where bending or exposure to varying conditions of moisture are required. The great quantities of trays imported from Japan for some time checked the demand for moulded paper tray blanks, but the demand is now returning. Fashion has however dealt less kindly with the manufacture of slabs in blocks for the purpose of manufacturing artificial jet ornaments. This branch of the trade is entirely destroyed.

Boiler Plate and Gas Holders.—[W. S. Sutherland.]—(B. 93.) In spite of heavy duties, boiler and gas apparatus are still exported. Within the last twenty years many types of tubular boilers have been introduced, but the one fluted or Cornish boiler, the simple egg-end, and the Lancashire and double boiler with cross tubes are most generally used. Mild steel has been introduced into boiler making and plate making during the last few years, though it is still a contested point whether it is superior to iron when all things are taken into consideration. It requires to have all rivet holes drilled, and it must be carefully annealed, though the writer is informed by Mr. Edwin Danks, of Oldbury, that steel makers often prefer to have their plates either worked cold or at a red heat, and not in the intermediate condition. Drilling machines especially designed are now used. Hydraulic machines of greatly improved construction have come into use for facilitating the operations in the boiler yard. These machines are portable, the water being supplied through a flexible tube. Improvements in the construction of the internal boiler flues have been made to enable them to resist increased pressure, and further to allow the expansion and contraction of the flue without injury. Of these improvements, the most noted are Fox’s corrugated flues, the bowling ring, the flanged flue, and Arnold’s flue.

An improvement introduced by the writer into boiler plate working, is the system of welding by gas, adopted in Birmingham by Messrs. Piggott, and by Messrs. Lloyd and Lloyd, for tubular and other work and applied by Mr. Puplett for welding plate sheets of steel only, 12 and 13 w.g. thick into ice moulds. It is found that the strength of the weld equals that of the solid plate, and the process is a cleanly and convenient one. Hemispherical sugar pans of 8 and 9 feet diameter without a joint are made by Messrs. Piggott, who use this process. Gas Holders.—Since 1865 much larger gas holders have been made. The two designed by Mr. Hunt, and recently erected at the Windsor Street Works, Birmingham, have each a capacity of 6,000,000 cubic feet, and are at the present time the largest in the world.

Brassfoundry.—(B. 225). No important changes have taken place in this trade since the last report was written. At Messrs. Winfield’s and other makers, light and elegant “electroliers,” for electric lighting, have been added to the usual run of work. A general cheapening of brass articles has resulted among other causes from the reduction in price of copper. In the table (B. 259) it will be seen that in 1855 copper was £126 a ton, the prices since 1865, when it was £92, have been—

£

186688

186778

186876

186975

187070

187175

187296

187392

187487

187588

187682

187775

187867

187963

188067

188166

188272

188367

188459

188548

The increased imports from America account for the fall in price, the increase in Lake Superior copper alone being from 25,439 tons in 1882, to 35,000 in 1885.[54]

Button Trade.—[J. P. Turner.]—(B. 432.) A fashion for covered buttons in various qualities of mohair or its imitations, in diagonal patterns, has prevailed at home and abroad for some years. These are largely made in Birmingham, but as many or more are imported from Germany, where the covering is wholly produced, and, further, a better finish to the buttons is obtained. Vegetable Ivory or Carozo Nut Buttons.—The Germans produce more beautiful designs and superior finish at the same prices, and the Birmingham markets are now almost annihilated. The foreign trade Birmingham once had is extinguished. Pearl Buttons.—Since 1865 a new supply of pearl shell has been obtained from various parts of the coast round Australia, and this locality is our chief source of supply. It is worth £200 per ton for picked parcels, and about £150 per ton when delivered here. The best of this shell is equal or nearly so to the best Macassar shells. Panama shells are now found in but small quantities, and instead of only fetching £20 to £30 per ton, as quoted in 1865, they are now worth £50 to £70. Glass Buttons.—Some fancy glass buttons made in Birmingham are still unsurpassed in style, but the sale is a limited one. More than ever come from Bohemia, where they are better made than formerly, and equally low in price.

The button trade in Paris has had to yield to German competition equally with that in England.[55]

Cast Iron and Hollow Ware.—[W. Kenrick, M.P.]—(B. 103.) Since 1866 the increase in the trade is remarkable, and some important improvements have been introduced by which the public has obtained a very superior article, at a price quite as low, if not lower than before. Roughly speaking, the trade has doubled in twenty years. Enamelled iron ware has become better known and more appreciated. Ten firms are now engaged in this manufacture. Messrs. Baldwin, of Stourport, have introduced and patented a new process, whereby they claim the production of a better enamel at a lower price, owing to the use of a single coat. This variety is called mottled enamel ware.

Messrs. Kenrick were the first in the trade to introduce a cover stamped out of a single piece of metal without rivet or seam, and this was manufactured under a patent taken out by Mr. Ryland in 1868. Since then the adoption of a solid cover has extended generally throughout the trade. By another patent, the firm fixed the tubular handle to the saucepan by means of a socket in which the tube was securely locked without a rivet.

The process of annealing has been improved by a saving of time occupied in the process. Machinery has been introduced into the moulding of hollow-ware, the stamping and finishing of covers, and the dressing of hinges and sash pulleys.

The odd work which comprises most small articles of cast iron used by builders’ furnishers, &c., has undergone a great change in appearance, owing to the introduction of a new style of finish from America. A coat of transparent varnish is now applied, the iron being previously polished on those parts in relief, and the result is an appearance somewhat resembling antique bronze. This, together with greater lightness and elegance of design, has given an impetus to the trade, and has led to the introduction of iron where brass was previously used.

The favourable conditions of labour described in 1866 still prevail, though it may be added that progress in this direction has at least kept pace with the advance in progress of manufacture, and the greater excellence in the ware produced.

The provisions of the Factory Acts have long applied to this industry with beneficial results. The hours of labour have been reduced, and thanks to the Education Act of 1870, the intelligence and docility of the younger operatives are their notable characteristics. What is now wanted is the establishment of Science and Art classes where the principles which underlie processes may be learnt, and the power to add beauty of form to articles of utility may be acquired. When these branches of technical training are added to the course of elementary instruction in our public Schools, all that is needed to secure the prosperity of British industry will have been done.

The best relations as a rule now exist between employers and employed; the former are less exacting and more sympathetic, the latter take juster views of the relation of capital and labour, and are more ready to co-operate with their employers to a common end. The wider introduction of machinery has been attended with the larger employment of female labour, and this seems to be an inevitable tendency of modern processes of manufacture. On the other hand many more skilled workmen are required in the fitting and machine shops, which now form an important department in large works of the class here described.

Clocks.—Within the last year or two a new industry has been imported into the town by Mr. Edward Davies, formerly of the Ansonia Clock Company, Brooklyn. A company has been formed under the name of the British United Clock Company, of 34, Farringdon Road, London. The works are in Great Hampton Street, Birmingham. The company make the round or drum-like time pieces, the works of which are machine-made, the parts being interchangeable, and are supplied retail at a few shillings each.

Coinage.—[Ralph Heaton].—(B. 552). Coining presses devised by a German named Uhlhorn, but manufactured and improved by Messrs. Heaton, have been supplied to the Royal Mint. The great advantage of the new presses is that they require no foundation, and are silent and automatic in action. The blanks are dropped into a tube, and the machine carries them forward one by one to the dies, where they are finished and fall into a box in front of the workman.

With regard to the manufacture of blanks, Birmingham has from time to time furnished these to a number of States, and is doing so now. Nickel coinage (an alloy of 20 per cent. nickel, and 80 per cent. copper) has been supplied to Jamaica in pence, half pence, and farthings. In 1884, seventy-five tons nickel alloy were coined for Servia, and an entirely new coinage of both silver and nickel for the Republic of Ecuador. At the present time (1886) Messrs. Heaton are supplying Columbia and Egypt with nickel coinage. The nickel alloy is an excellent material for coinage.

In 1872 the Birmingham Mint delivered silver blanks to the Royal Mint, for a coinage of the nominal value of £1,000,000. This was completed in six months.

The letter H below the date will be found on many of the bronze coins in circulation; this implies that the coins were struck at the Birmingham Mint. At the time of their introduction in 1875, it was supposed that an extensive gang of forgers were at work, and the mint authorities were communicated with by an anonymous writer, who stated that the counterfeit coins could be distinguished by the small letter H below the date.

Messrs. Heaton have supplied coins to no less than 39 states or authorities. In 1868, the Italian Government ordered five million lire in pieces of 10 centimes; and in consideration of the satisfactory manner in which this and other coinages had been carried out, his majesty, King Victor Emmanuel, conferred the honour of knighthood on the firm.

Electric Lighting.—[Henry Lea, M.I.M.E.]—The period of fifteen years following the last Meeting of the British Association in Birmingham, in the year 1865, was devoid of any undertakings in electric lighting, other than in the direction of the application of powerful arc lights for lighthouse purposes, as practised by Messrs. Chance Bros., of Spon Lane, near Birmingham, who, beginning in 1862 with apparatus having optical adjustments for electric arc lights of small power, proceeded to introduce more and more powerful lights, of which the Souter Point revolving light of the 2nd and 3rd order built in 1870, the South Forelands fixed lights, two in number, and of the 3rd order, built in the same year; the Sydney Heads light of the 1st order and of 11,000 candle power, built in 1880; and the flashing light at Tino, near Spezia, a lamp of the 2nd order, finished in 1885, are examples shewing the great progress made during the period referred to. The Sydney Heads light is said to be the leading light of the world. The motive power employed for it is the Otto silent gas engine. The carbons are 23 millimetres, or upwards of ⅞″ in dia. Particulars of these undertakings will be found in a special paper upon Lighthouse Work in another part of this volume. The first application of arc lighting for ordinary business purposes in this district is believed to be that of the Birmingham Household Supply Association Limited, which was fixed in the year 1880-1 under the superintendence of the writer, who employed a pair of 8″ × 12″ Horizontal Tangye Engines to drive a Brush Dynamo working sixteen arc lamps. Amongst other examples of arc lighting subsequently put down may be named those at Messrs. Brown Marshalls & Co.’s Carriage Works at Saltley, Messrs. John Wilkes and Sons’ Rolling Mills in Liverpool Street, Messrs. Elkington & Co.’s Show Rooms, in Newhall Street, the New British Iron Co.’s Works at Corngreaves, the Lower Grounds at Aston Park, and Messrs. Cadbury Bros.’ Cocoa Manufactory, near Birmingham, the latter being only very recently started upon the Gulcher system.

The incandescent or glow electric lamp, first made its appearance upon a large scale in Birmingham, in the year 1882, when the Birmingham Town Hall was successfully illuminated for the Triennial Musical Festival, by Messrs. R. W. Winfield and Co., who had allied themselves with Messrs. R. E. Crompton and Co., of Chelmsford, for electric lighting undertakings. This installation was established under the writer’s superintendence, and consisted of 440 Swan glow lamps, suspended from ornamental pendants placed around the walls of the Hall, a chamber having very nearly the proportions of a double cube, and measuring 165ft. × 65ft. × 65ft. high. Various lamps in other rooms raised the number to 500. Cables were laid underneath the streets, for a distance of about a quarter of a mile, to the works of Messrs. Winfield and Co., in Cambridge street, where nine Bürgin Dynamos, separately excited by two similar machines, were employed to generate the electricity, the motive power being the old rolling mill engine, from the flywheel of which a belt conveyed the motion to the electric machinery. This wheel, being 25ft. diameter, weighing about 25 tons, and revolving 50 times per minute, afforded a source of motion, the steadiness of which left nothing to be desired. The marked difference of temperature in the Town Hall during the evening performances, as compared with the previous use of gas—70° at the ceiling instead of 110°—was fully appreciated by the large audiences of that festival. Subsequently the number of lamps was increased to upwards of 600, by the addition of two pendants. The same means of illumination were used for the 1885 Triennial Festival, as well as on many occasions of concerts, etc. The whole plant still remains the property of Messrs. Winfield and Co. Upon somewhat similar lines the same firm fitted up the Leeds Town Hall, for the Festival of 1883, where, however, the whole of the light was derived from pendants suspended from the ceiling by steel wire ropes. The machinery in this case was also situated about a quarter of a mile from the Town Hall.

In the year 1882, Messrs. Elwell, Parker, and Co., commenced electrical business in Wolverhampton, with secondary or storage batteries constructed upon a modification of the Planté method of manufacture. Shortly afterwards, the same firm began to make dynamos for charging their batteries, since which time the output has increased, and now amounts to a total of about 500 dynamos, besides several thousands of storage cells, the latter being now made under the joint Patents of the Wolverhampton Firm, and the Electrical Power Storage Co., Limited, of London. The London Stock Exchange, Lloyd’s Shipping Offices, the Manchester Art Gallery, Lord Shrewsbury’s seat at Ingestre Hall, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co., the Blackpool Electric Tramway, the Giants’ Causeway Electric Tramway, the Cannock Chase Colliery, the Grosvenor Gallery and many other establishments are lighted or worked by means of dynamos manufactured by the Wolverhampton firm.

Amongst installations set up in Birmingham under the writer’s superintendence may be mentioned the Theatre Royal, in New Street, and the Prince of Wales Theatre, in Broad Street, in each of which the plant consists of a 16-H.P. Otto silent gas engine, driving a 300 light Ferranti alternate current dynamo with a Siemen’s exciter, and with appliances at the prompt side for lowering or turning out the light at will. 200 lights are run very brightly with an expenditure of about 800 cubic feet of gas per hour. A similar number of ordinary gas burners would require from 1,000 to 1,200 cubic feet of gas per hour. The Birmingham Liberal Club, in Congreve Street, another example, has 160 lamps which are worked from a 10-unit compound dynamo, made by Messrs. Crompton and Co., of Chelmsford, the motive power being a 12-H.P. compound steam engine, by Messrs. Marshall, Sons, and Co., Limited, of Gainsborough. This machine is an excellent specimen of a self-regulating dynamo, the commutator not having been touched with anything coarser than well-worn emery cloth since February last, its surface presenting a highly-polished appearance. No storage cells are used, the lighting being derived directly from the machine.

In the suburbs, the house of Mr. Mitchell, Hagley Road, Edgbaston, has about 40 lights, and is worked from a 2-H.P. Otto silent gas engine, and a 2-unit Crompton shunt-wound dynamo, charging 24 storage cells of the E.P.S. (Electrical Power Storage Co.’s) type.

The writer’s house, 7, Clarendon Road, Edgbaston, is also electrically lighted by 24 E.P.S. cells, charged by a 30-light Chamberlain & Hookham dynamo, worked from a ½-H.P. Otto gas engine.

Messrs. Chamberlain & Hookham began, a few years ago, the manufacture of dynamos having permanent steel magnets, but they subsequently adopted the more usual type of electro-magnetic machines. Particulars are not to hand of this firm’s work, but the residences of Messrs. Walter Chamberlain and Herbert Chamberlain are amongst the examples of domestic electric lighting carried out by the firm, whose attention, however, has been directed principally to the manufacture of dynamos for electro-depositing purposes, where very heavy currents of low electro-motive force are required.

The public supply of electricity was in 1882-3 the subject of much attention on the part of Messrs. Winfield & Crompton, under whose auspices the Incandescent Electric Lighting Co. Ld. was registered. An Act of Parliament was obtained, and plans and estimates were made by the writer for lighting a large district in Birmingham from central stations. Carefully collected statistics of the gas consumption in the proposed district afforded some interesting information, such as, for instance, that the average cost of gas per burner per annum, called the burner earnings, varied from 2d. to 43/6 per burner per annum, and showed a mean earning for the whole district of 10/2 per burner per annum, the average price of gas being about 2/3 per 1,000 cubic feet. From various causes, chief amongst them being the adverse restrictions of the Electric Lighting Act of 1882, the operations of the Company have remained in abeyance. The Birmingham Act is, however, still in force, and should the efforts which are now being made for the removal or substantial modification of the obnoxious clauses of the Act meet with the desired success, Birmingham may yet enjoy the advantages of a public supply of electric light, the luxury of which only those who have lived in an electrically lighted house can fully appreciate.

Flint Glass Manufacture of Birmingham.—[A. C. Osler.]—(B. 526.) Further inventions have been made with regard to furnaces. Frisby’s patent, the fuel inserted from below, instead of being thrown on the top of the fire, has met with some amount of favour, having been adopted by several Stourbridge houses. Bœtius’s patent, by which the earlier stages of combustion take place below the floor of the furnace, and a current of heated air is supplied to complete the combustion as the inflammable gases pass through an opening in its floor into the furnace itself, has now been in use at Messrs. Osler’s for many years.

The process of etching by hydrofluoric acid, has been largely developed as a means of ornamenting glass, and has to a large extent superseded engraving. Highly artistic designs are produced by a combination of etching and engraving. Mechanical methods are adopted in producing many effective borders.

Among new inventions for the ornamentation of glass, should be mentioned the process of “threading,” that is, the surrounding and partial covering of a body of glass of one colour with a continuous thread of glass of another colour, by which many beautiful effects of varying and toned colour are produced.

Recent years have also seen the revival of what is termed cameo cutting on glass. A body of glass being formed of layers of different colours, the outer layer or layers are partially removed by eating away by hydrofluoric acid, and the remaining portions are then wrought into designs with the chisel or graver. A reproduction of the Portland Vase is one of the most remarkable specimens of this revived art, which offers excellent opportunity for the combination of lustrous colours of varied hue with delicate and exquisite ornamentation.

Marked progress has been made in the production of coloured glass, formerly almost a monopoly of the Bohemian makers.

Hinges of Wrought Iron.—[F. E. Martineau.]—(B. 610.) Material consumed at time of British Association Meeting, in 1849, was about 700 tons; in 1865, about 2,500 tons, and this year, 1886, about 3,500 tons per annum. In 1865, about 300 people were employed in the trade, there are now about 380. Strip steel has to a certain extent replaced strip iron in the manufacture.

Hydraulic Machinery.—[Messrs. Tangye.]—(B. 647.) The Cornwall Works have rapidly extended, now occupying six times the area covered in 1865. 2,000 men are employed. In addition to hydraulic machinery, steam engines, machine tools, machinery for gas works, patent retort lids, gas stoking and charging machines, gas engines of a novel and economical type, steam boilers of all kinds, and fixed and portable steam cranes are manufactured. These works will now turn out per month 200 steam pumping engines, 40 steam boilers, 100 steam engines used for other purposes than pumping, 800 cranes, crabs, and lifting apparatus. 300 hydraulic presses, lifts, and jacks. 5,000 complete sets of pulley blocks, and 1,000 gas retort mouth-pieces and lids.

Jewellery.—[John Bragg.] (B. 452).—Extent of the Trade.—This general title includes a number of so called “Trades” which appear in the Directory under separate heads. It covers not only gold and silver “Jewellers,” but gold and silver chain makers, gilt, plated, and black ornament jewellers, as well as all those subsidiary branches which exist solely for the general trade, such for instance as lapidaries, stone dealers, gold cutters, chasers, engravers, jewellers’ die sinkers, tool makers and stampers, enamellers, case makers, and also jewellery factors. In several large establishments, many of these separate departments are carried on within the walls and under one central management. The Post Office Directory for 1885 gives 1,123 master-men thus engaged in Birmingham. To these however must be added a large number of “garret” masters or “out workers” whose names do not so appear, and who employ perhaps only one, two, or three persons each. It is estimated that 14,000 to 16,000 persons are actively employed in this trade in Birmingham, while probably 40,000 to 50,000 are locally dependent upon it. The amount of capital here engaged in it is enormous, and, without doubt, larger than any other distinct and separate trade of the town. The manufacture is still, as at last report, aggregated in one locality, though it is extending its area. The central point is near to where Warstone Lane is crossed by Northampton Street or Vyse Street.

Labour and Wages.—The increase of female labour, particularly in silver jewellery and in warehouse duties, is very considerable, and has tended to keep down the wages of men. Still, these have risen to very high points in seasons of prosperity, and even in the present time of depressed prices, a skilled journeyman jeweller earns with his own hands 30s. to 45s. per week of about 54 hours. A trade society exists, but nothing approaching to a “strike” is possible, because of the infinite variety of departments, the constant change of patterns, and the habit of each workman agreeing personally with his employer or foreman as to prices of piece work. Most of the manufactories are well ventilated, the newly built ones being large and commodious in every respect.

Bullion Used.—An estimate has been made by those most competent to judge as to the value of gold and silver used by this trade in Birmingham per annum. Taking the last three or four years as a basis, it seems probable that the annual consumption of gold here is about £750,000, and of silver (at the present low price) from £300,000 to £350,000. One large manufacturer of silver jewellery has, within the last three years, used upwards of 3,000 oz. of fine silver per week. Sovereigns are still extensively used to melt instead of grain gold.

It may be asked, “Why melt sovereigns when gold, commercially pure, can be had from the dealers without paying costs of minting?” The answer is: the cost of minting is so small that against the other advantages attaching to the practice, it is of no account. These advantages are—1st, the grain gold of commerce cannot be relied upon for absolute freedom from accidental or superfluous alloy; and 2nd, that other qualities, such as uniform hardness, tenacity, and ductility—of the utmost importance to some branches of the trade—are ensured by using them. The metallurgical science and technical skill of our national assayers and melters at the mint, are therefore freely used by our manufacturers to enable them to alloy to the utmost nicety, and yet with a certainty of their goods, when made, passing the “Hall.” This, therefore, is a question of economy.

Changes in the Trade.—The immensely increased production of silver jewellery has tended to almost obliterate two departments which twenty-five years ago were of large proportions—viz., the gilt and the plated jewellery trades. The workmen in these branches have mostly turned their hands to silver working. Notice must be taken of some new developments, which have become practically new trades to the town. The manufacture of costly official insignia, such as mayoral chains, municipal badges, presentation caskets, gold and silver ceremonial keys, &c., is new since last report. More than seventy such mayoral chains have been made here since then. The manufacture of watch cases in gold and silver, but particularly in silver, is also a new and very considerable trade, employing hundreds of people. Not fewer than 60,000 to 80,000 silver watch cases per annum are now turned out from Birmingham manufactories. Another new trade, though at present not a large one, is diamond cutting, but there is no reason why it should not become an important business here.

Artistic Progress.—How far the trade has led or has followed public taste it is impossible to say, but that a general improvement has taken place is undeniable. In place of the huge bracelets, brooches, earrings, and lockets of twenty years ago, we now have small and elegant articles of the most tasteful designs. Even such jewellery as is produced greatly by the aid of machinery, for the sake of cheapness, is often characterised by perfect style. Silver brooches may be bought wholesale for one shilling each which would not disgrace any wearer of the most refined taste. In the gold trade also, the productions for the great middle classes are equally neat and commendable, both as to form and detail of decoration. The greater use of gems, both in gold and silver jewellery, is a distinct feature of present requirements. A most remarkable evidence of the above statements is afforded by one branch of the trade, which now exports to France, Germany, and Switzerland goods in large and increasing quantities, winning its way by style as well as price against the best makers of the Continent. Compared with the like classes and prices of goods twenty years ago, there is no doubt but that beauty of design is greatly improved; nor can there be a doubt either but that our National Art Teaching has chiefly contributed to the improvement.

Chemistry.—Chemistry has considerably improved the various processes in which its aid can be applied. Alloying is more skilfully and exactly performed. The art of melting is better understood. “Coloring” (which must not be confounded with “gilding”) is now carried to a pitch of remarkable excellence. At date of last report, this, which is a purely chemical process, was done without much intelligence, and nothing lower than 15 carat gold could be with certainty so finished. But now those who devote themselves specially to this branch of work, can produce a beautiful “color” on 12 carat gold. It must, however, be stated, that upon the lower quality, such bloom and rich colour is fugitive, while upon the higher qualities it is permanent. Gilding by electric processes is done with increased economy and skill. Parcel gilding, oxydising, and gilding with various colored alloys in solution, are carried to a high pitch of excellence. The chemical treatment of waste, such as shop sweepings, and the water used for washing of hands is much improved. In the business of refining, scarcely anything is lost.

Mechanical Conditions.—So much depends, and will always depend upon skilled handicraft in the Jewellery trades, that there is not much to record in the way of mechanical progress. Still, in some tools there are notable improvements. The ingenuity manifested in the mechanical production of gold and silver “parts,” to be afterwards put together into great varieties of patterns, is remarkable. “Sand blast” is a new mechanical means used for producing the rich dead surface so much admired on gold and silver. The lathe, draw bench, die stamp, and press, effect much more than they did for the trade 20 years ago. Gas engines are now commonly used, even in small shops.

Precious Stones.—The gem and precious stone business together with that of the lapidary form a most important element of the jewellery trade. We have some 35 local stone dealers and lapidaries. Besides these, Birmingham is visited constantly by dealers from London, Paris, Hamburg, and elsewhere, who do large trades here. Diamonds and other gems in the rough are also sold here increasingly. Compared with date of last report, the sales of diamonds and other gems to the trade in this town is probably twenty times larger. Single firms will each buy and mount up £20,000 or £25,000 worth of gems in a year. It is now a recognised and distinct name of this branch of the trade, “Diamond and Gem Mounter,” and the Directory gives about 25 of those who do not ordinarily interfere with other jewellery. Many Birmingham factors now carry magnificent stocks of diamond goods manufactured here, which was not the case twenty years ago.

Prices and Cheapness.—Any comparative notes which did not recognise the cheapness of modern jewellery would be incomplete. This cheapness is a real thing and not a delusion. Genuine gold and silver brooches, rings, bracelets, &c. set with gems, are now offered throughout the country, at prices which often cause doubts of their quality. Gold, it is true, remains at the same standard value; but silver is one-fifth lower in price. Several causes have acted together, resulting in this considerable reduction in retail selling prices of both gold and silver goods. First, workmen’s prices are much lower, although their total weekly earnings are not materially altered. This is effected by mechanical improvements; by the larger quantities of one pattern made at once; and by the employment of girls and youths under men. Secondly, the rates of profit realised by manufacturer, factor, and shopkeeper are lower. Lastly, diamonds and some other gems extensively used are much lower in price, especially their second and third qualities, than at date of last report.

Distribution.—as a rule, manufacturing jewellers neither cultivate trade with shopkeepers nor with the private purchaser, but sell to the factors, or middle men. A factor sees all their stocks, selecting from each to compose his own, and so offers a better variety to the shopkeepers throughout the kingdom than could otherwise be done. There are in Birmingham about fifty of such factors. But the line of demarcation is somewhat indefinite, because many of them manufacture certain specialities for themselves. Still the system is the best under present circumstances, and works on the whole to the mutual good of all parties. The factors in London, and merchants generally, are also large purchasers from Birmingham manufacturers. The Post Office is the chief engine of distribution for small parcels, and all little orders and repairs. Two private firms, however, do a considerable business by collecting, through agents, in London, Coventry, and Birmingham, small jewellery parcels, conveying them by rail, and then delivering them very quickly and cheaply in those towns. The losses are practically nil, although perfect shoals of such little packages are despatched and delivered daily by these means, together with the railways.

Lighthouse Apparatus.—[J. Kenward].—(B. 153). The Lighthouse Works of Chance Brothers and Co., Spon Lane, near Birmingham, are the only works of the kind in the kingdom. The improvements since 1865 may be noted under: (1) the optical agents, (2) the lamps and burners with the illuminant or fuel used in them, (3) the mechanical appliances. The six original orders of optical apparatus distinguished by their radii and height are no longer the only types. There is the hyper-radial first order lens, whose focal distance is 1,330 millimetres, and diameter about 104¾ inches, the usual first order being about 72½ inches diameter, and there are several varieties below the 6th order whose radius is 150 mm. Of these the Ship Light introduced by Messrs. Chance with a focal distance of 125 mm., is the most important. Various new arrangements of condensing lights where from one flame, certain sea sectors are strongly illuminated by means of vertical prisms, while other sectors are less intensely lighted, have been adopted with signal success, as have also several special designs where a coloured and a white beam of equal intensity are concerned. The new lenses for port and harbour lights, and those used with the electric arc on board vessels of war for search purposes, introduced by Messrs. Chance, may be named. The present two most powerful lights in the world are the Macquarie at Sydney Heads (a revolving electric light of the first order) and the Tino near Spezia, a revolving electric light of the second order. In both a single optical agent is employed, and carbons from 15 to 25 mm. diameter. Another improvement is the ship light lens designed to give adequate intensity and penetrating power in a vessel’s signal lights, especially her side lights, whereby an increased luminous range can be secured and the risk of collision greatly lessened. The vertical angle subtended by lenticular refracting apparatus has been increased from 45° and 47° to 80°, and even by the use of dense flint glass to 92°. In this way the normal power of the central or lens portion of a light, always two-thirds of the whole power, has been so augmented that it is found advisable to dispense with the prisms both upper and lower, and to depend on the refractors alone. When higher degrees of intensity are needed, a second tier of lenses can be superposed on the first, and a third and fourth added, a separate flame being in the focus of each tier. This has been done by Mr. Wigham, of Dublin, with gas flames, and by Sir James Douglas with oil flames. The two great divisions of lighthouse apparatus into fixed sections and revolving sections have been extended. Thus the old fixed light, the revolving light with equally recurring single flashes, the composite fixed and flashing light, always objectionable from its unequal power, have been supplemented by the occulting light, and the group flashing light which last was designed by Dr. John Hopkinson, and first constructed by Messrs. Chance. In this arrangement the beams are sent out in groups, each beam of the group being separated from one another by a short interval of time, and each group by a longer interval. The lights on a coast can thus be distinguished by their single flash, double flash, or triple flash.[56]

Illuminants and Burners.—Mineral oil has been introduced, and special burners designed in order to burn it. The largest of the old colza oil burners (known as Fresnel burners) has an intensity of 230 candle units, or 23·6 candle units per square inch, while a similar burner for paraffin has been reported as affording 415 candle units, or 44·3 units. The latest developed Trimley burner of Sir James Douglas, with nine concentric wicks, gives 49·8 units. The oil used has a flashing point of 154° F. The average cost of mineral oil is one-fourth that of vegetable oil. Gas is also freely employed, and in the 108-jet burner of Mr. Wigham it has attained a power of 2,433 candles, and in the 10-ring burner of Sir James Douglas, a power of 2,619 candles. Beyond the highest reach of oil or gas burners, say 2,500 or 2,600 candles, is the electric arc giving an intensity of beam of ten millions of candles. At the other end of the scale is the duplex burner, which, with the new Chance lenses, is available in the smallest apparatus for a horizon of from seven to ten miles.

The Spon Lane Lighthouse Works have been extended greatly since the last visit of the Association. The unique methods of grinding and polishing the optical glass have not been materially changed, but the number and variety of machines have been largely increased. In the mechanical shops there is now a complete outillage for turning, drilling, shaping, screwing, &c., applicable to all the old designs and processes, and also the newer branches introduced since 1865. There are about 200 workpeople employed, many with consummate skill and intelligence, as may be assumed from the precise and highly finished work in which they are engaged.

At this date about 260 complete sea lights and about 300 complete harbour lights have been sent out, together with about 200 smaller port lights and about 370 of the recently designed ship lights.

Very striking specimens of optical science have been contributed by Messrs. Chance, as exemplified in the list of dioptric lights they have supplied around our own coasts, of which The Longships, the Wolf Rock, the Flamborough Head, the Hartland Point, the Start Point, the South Stack Rock, The Casquets, Bull Point, Anvil Point, the Eddystone, and many others are examples.

Mr. Kenward will be glad to give further information to any member of the Association who may take an interest in the subject.

Locks and Lock Making.—[J. C. Tildesley.]—(B. 77.) The price of cheap padlocks is still lower. Iron padlocks of the cheapest class are now being made in this district (Willenhall) and delivered free in Bombay and Calcutta, at fivepence halfpenny per dozen!

In reference to the table (B. 89), the number of employers may be set down as 100 less (that is 350) and at least 1,000 must be deducted from the total number of workpeople, bringing it to about 3,950.

The production of locks in the district may now be computed at 25,000 dozens per week, as against 31,500 dozens per week, as estimated in 1865. The reductions being chiefly in the pad, cabinet, chest, and till departments, which are being driven hard by America and continental competition. On the other hand, door locks (rim, dead, mortice, and drawback) are being made in larger quantities than ever, and are being sold at prices which would have been regarded as fabulous twenty years ago.

The average earnings of locksmiths are 15 to 20 per cent. less than the figures given at (B. 89.) American competition in castings has, so far as the lock trade is concerned, considerably diminished since 1865. By grinding English sand to the fineness of flour, and by the adoption of Plaster of Paris moulds and improved methods of casting, transatlantic supremacy over England no longer prevails. While in the matter of cheap and clear castings they have maintained for their productions the reputation for practical qualities which has so long distinguished them. Artistic design and ornamentation have improved. Germany is now the most formidable rival to the English lockmaker, owing to the low wages and long hours endured by the German locksmiths. The remedy for this state of affairs ought, in the interests both of commerce and humanity to be found not in a retrograde movement on the part of England to Germany, but in the uprising of the German workman, to secure the same status as that enjoyed by his English confrere.

Magic Lantern Slide Painting.—[H. H. Stanton.]—The old fashioned method of tracing from a drawing or engraving though still used, has given way to a great extent to the introduction of photography. Special drawings are made, photographed on to glass, and subsequently painted. Girls and also artists are employed in the work. Photographic slides from various parts of the world come to Birmingham to be finished.

Measuring Rules and Tapes.—[John Rabone.] (B. 628.) It is noteworthy that in the “garret” at Heathfield Hall, near Birmingham, where Watt amused himself during the latter years of his life with his copying machines—the prototypes of those afterwards known as the American and Enfield—is still to be seen an example of Watt’s early work in London before he entered upon his remodelling of the steam engine in connection with Matthew Boulton.

In one of the drawers there are preserved several of the old fashioned tools, formerly, and still used in rule making by hand, and also carefully wrapped up in paper by Watt himself, is a “brass sector with a French joint,” which, unlike his compasses and other mathematical instruments, has undergone no wear, and is as faultlessly clear and perfect as it was on the day it left the maker’s hands. The only assumption that can be made respecting it is that it is the identical “brass sector with a French joint,” of which young Watt so glowingly wrote to his father, now a hundred and thirty years ago; and if that be so, it is the only known specimen of the great engineer’s work as a rule maker.

Prior to the last meeting of the British Association in Birmingham, in 1865, machinery had been brought into the trade to but a small extent compared with what has since been the case in the making and marking of all kinds of rules. Accurately engine-divided, 2-feet folding steel rules, retailed at a shilling each, are a new feature of the trade, which is a boon to mechanics they never before had. The employment of automatic machinery has quite revolutionised the trade, by bringing larger capital into it, and increasing the number of workpeople sixfold, at the same time enabling employers to pay higher wages than they could possibly do when all depended upon unaided hand labour. The trade has always been in comparatively few hands, three-fourths of the names appearing in one directory as makers, being merely dealers, or journeymen; in one case fifteen of the men so described being merely journeymen of one employer. The bulk of the trade is now in the hands of as few makers as might be counted on the fingers of one hand, but competition is not rendered thereby less severe, but is rather more excessive. During the past twenty years a great change has taken place in many countries by the adoption of the metre as a standard measure. Since 1870 all the numberless measures of little German towns, many with both decimal and duo-decimal divisions, have been abolished, and the use of the metre alone legalised. Other nations have followed the example of Germany. Many of the rules made for export to such countries as Russia, which have not legalised the metre, are marked with it in addition to the local measures, thus preparing the way for its future adoption. Its use has been legalised in Great Britain, though not made compulsory, and many of the measures made for export to foreign countries where English customs prevail are marked with both English and metrical divisions.

Military Arms Trade.—[J. D. Goodman.]—(B. 381.) At the date of the notice of the gun trade, published in the transactions of the meeting of the British Association held in Birmingham in 1865, the British forces were armed with muzzle-loading guns. The arm of the service was that known as the “Enfield Rifle.” It was adopted by a committee of military officers, appointed by Lord Hardinge, Master General of the Ordnance, in 1853.

In 1865 the breech-loading system was receiving much attention. The Wesley Richards’ Breech-loader had been for some time in use in the service on an experimental scale, and had been tested in the field, both in China and New Zealand. So far back as 1861, a thousand breech-loaders, on Terry’s principle, had been issued to the troops, but did not prove successful. Trial was also made of Sharp’s American Breech-loading Rifle. The successful use of the Needlegun Breech-loader, by the Prussians, in the Danish war of 1864, gave great urgency to the enquiry.

In August, 1864, the English Government invited proposals for the conversion of the Enfield rifle into a breechloader. Fifty different systems were sent in, of which five only were ultimately selected for trial. Four of these were capping and one was a non-capping arm—that is, one in which the cartridge carries its own ignition. On 14th March, 1865, the Woolwich Committee issued their Report on the various systems which had been submitted, in which after speaking of the obvious disadvantages which a breechloader requiring a cap presents, when contrasted with one adapted for a cartridge carrying its own ignition, proceeds to say:—

“The Committee have now respectfully to submit their observations on the whole question.

“The ultimate armament of the infantry with breech-loading weapons is determined upon. It would be done at a comparatively small cost by conversion, but it is now well known that the calibre, twist, and form of rifling of the ‘Enfield’ is not the most favourable for fine shooting, and it is quite certain that no converted arms can possess the precision which will be easily attained in a new breechloader of smaller gauge and quicker twist. Nor will the soldier be able to carry that increased quantity of ammunition, which is so desirable, without a reduction of calibre.

“There are certain circumstances in which, notwithstanding all the inconveniences which will attend the co-existence of unaltered arms, converted arms, and new arms, with their different ammunitions, it may still be desirable to proceed with the conversion on the ground of its small cost, and of the less time in which the arms can be turned out; but the Committee do not feel in a position at present to recommend such a measure.”

In the end, the economical view prevailed, and it was determined to convert the Enfield rifles to the Snider system. The effect of this decision was to postpone to 1871, when the Martini rifle was adopted, the advantages recognised in the Woolwich Report, which would be obtained by a smaller bore, quicker twist, and a different form of rifling.

In July, 1866, the Birmingham Small Arms Company was instructed to proceed with the conversion of the Enfield rifles to breech-loaders to the full extent of their power. The London Small Arms Company was very shortly afterwards established. They received similar instructions. The result was that the whole of the Enfield rifles available were converted, as follows:—

Enfield (Government Factory)296,352

Birmingham Small Arms Company156,000

London Small Arms Company85,200

537,552

As this number was insufficient for the requirements of the service, and as it was indispensable that there should be but one description of arm in use, it became necessary that new Sniders should be made. In 1869, and subsequently, orders were issued to the trade, and the following supplies were made:—

Enfield200,523

Birmingham Small Arms Company92,837

London Small Arms Company42,525

National Arms Company2,000

337,885

Making a total of 875,437 Snider arms.

The adoption of the Martini-Henry rifle resulted from an invitation to inventors, issued by the War Department first in 1866. More than 100 different arms and 49 descriptions of ammunition were sent in, but the committee appointed to make the selection reported that none came up to the requirements. The invitation was repeated in December, 1867, resulting in 45 additional arms being submitted. In February, 1869, the Committee reported recommending a combination of the Martini Breech Action and the Henry rifling, and for the ammunition, the Boxer coiled case. During the following year, trials of this arm were made in the service, and finally, in 1871, it was definitely adopted. Orders were afterwards issued to the trade, and the following statement shows the numbers which have been manufactured at the Government Factory, and by the trade, up to March, 1885:—

Enfield583,798

Birmingham Small Arms Company107,219

London Small Arms Company74,131

National Arms Company12,456

777,604

It has now (July, 1886) been decided to adopt a new arm, embodying the improvements suggested by the experience gained in the use of the Martini, during the service it has undergone. It has been found that the calibre of the barrel if still further reduced would much improve the shooting, an increase being made at the same time in the twist of the rifling. A Committee has for some time past had the matter under consideration, and finally have recommended an arm which is to be known as the Enfield-Martini.

In the new arm, the Martini action is retained, the outside dimensions of the barrel are the same, but the bore is reduced from ·45 inch to ·4 inch. While the twist of the rifling is increased from 1 turn in 22 inches to 1 turn in 15 inches. The weight of the bullet is reduced from 480 grains to 384, the powder charge being the same as in the former rifle, 85 grains. A wooden hand guard is fixed over the breech end of the barrel to protect the hand of the soldier when the barrel becomes heated by rapid firing. The barrel is no longer imbedded in the fore-end of the stock; it was found that the exterior of the barrel was liable to rust from contact with the wood. The fore-end is now so shaped that the barrel simply lies upon it, held in place by the bands which surround both stock and barrel. The back sight is provided with a wind gauge, and a locking bolt secures the trigger when the arm is at full cock. A sword bayonet is substituted for the former triangular-shaped bayonet. A “quick loader” will be used with this arm. It hangs on the side of the body of the action, and holds six cartridges. The cartridges are acted upon by a spring which forces the head of the cartridge through an aperture in the lid, ready for the soldier’s hand. With this “quick loader,” six rounds can be fired in about 25 seconds, whereas, in loading from the pouch, 40 seconds are required. This description, of the new arm may be subsequently modified, as the recommendation of the Committee has not yet been confirmed.